I Became a National ‘Disaster’ Level Monster

Chapter 25 If you want to live, just live.

I wanted to be loved.

I wanted to be noticed.

I wanted to be acknowledged, and since I was terrible at studying, I chose to focus on sports instead.

I chose Kyokushin Karate, a martial art famous in the East.

I thought that if I won a gold medal, maybe my mom, who I had never seen, would come back.

Maybe my dad, who only drank and told me to get lost, would finally pay attention to me.

My ‘Kyokushin’ was a solid wall built solely to chase that ‘hope.’

Whether it was someone trying to gain ‘love,’ someone wanting to become an object of ‘admiration,’ or someone valuing ‘honor,’ no matter how much they trained for their precious things, nothing would be more precious than ‘family.’

So I endured, and I won.

But in the end, my dream never came true.

“Dad…”

“……”

The national team qualification I received through recommendation was naturally revoked after I became crippled in the military.

And when I returned home after a long time, what I saw was the corpse of my father, who had died among bottles of alcohol.

The cause of death was loneliness.

The reason was that I trained in Kyokushin solely to be praised and acknowledged, and thus rarely came home.

After sending my powdered father off to the sky, I suddenly thought as I locked myself in a small one-room apartment.

If I had another life,

—at least if there was someone I could help beside me, I would help them no matter what it was.

“Oh, oppa…”

“……”

“Was it wrong for me to be born…?”

It rained.

As if understanding the feelings of the little monster, the sky started pouring down heavily.

And maybe because it was looking up at me while getting drenched, the little monster seemed to ask with a crying face.

Seeing that expression, filled with endless pain, loneliness, and not knowing the reason for its existence, I didn’t answer.

Instead, as someone who had been alone, I knelt down and hugged the lonely monster tightly, as if to say there was no way it shouldn’t live.

“Krrk krrk.”

‘That can’t be true.’

“Can… can I… live…?”

“Krrrr.”

‘What do you want to do?’

The little monster, slightly apart from my embrace, now truly cried as it faced me.

Its trembling lips formed the words ‘I should die.’

But the little one couldn’t bring itself to say those words out loud.

Because it wanted to live.

Because even if the whole world was its enemy, it now had one sanctuary that would always stand by it.

Because it wanted to live together with that sanctuary.

So, even though it knew it was a nuisance, it soon spoke.

“I, I… I! I want to live!”

The little monster answered tearfully.

“Krrk.”

‘Then live. I’ll somehow raise you.’

I answered while hugging the little monster again.

Of course, it was a promise I couldn’t possibly keep.

I wasn’t even a Beast Hunter, and capturing or dealing with monsters, let alone raising one, was unheard of.

It was a statement that could potentially turn all of humanity against me.

But even so, I couldn’t just ignore it.

I had already experienced the feeling of suffering from the mere existence of my own being, and that had shown me hell.

I hated hypocrisy.

At the very least, if I could save it with my own hands, I would willingly step into that hell.

“Are you done talking?”

“Krrk.”
‘Yes.’

I had sworn to myself right before locking myself in my room.

The hunter with red hair in front of me.

People surely called her Jin-ah Lee, right?

Anyway, she started walking towards me, and after I patted the little monster one last time, I began walking towards her as well.

Soon, we stopped about a meter apart and faced each other.

“Nice to meet you. Monster of Jamsil. I suppose it’s appropriate to introduce myself first?”

“……”

“Hoho. I am Lee Jin-ah, the head of the Hunter Association’s Korean branch, and currently the only constant national power-level hunter in Korea.”

“…!!”

Even though I was a humanoid monster, she greeted me with dignity and formality like a gentleman.

But what shocked me was not her actions.

‘Is she really the head of the Korean branch?’

I could say for certain.

‘What do you mean by “mine”?’

Even though I knew she wouldn’t understand, I reflexively asked back. But perhaps she read my expression. Lee Jin-ah smiled and nodded over my shoulder.

“The little monster behind you is a creature I created through genetic combination.”

“…!”

“For the sake of ‘humanity.’ It was arduously extracted from the lower half of the entity named Angel, which you killed 10 years ago.”

I had suspected it was born in a lab. But I never imagined that its creator would be the head of the association’s branch.

“That little monster has infinite potential. And I can unlock all of it.”

“Krrk…”

“As the representative hunter of a nation, obtaining that little monster and becoming stronger means the national power of this country also increases. Do you understand what I mean?”

It was not completely wrong. The head of each country’s branch, except for the U.S. headquarters, represented the nation’s hunters. The current representative hunter of our country was Lee Jin-ah before me. If she took the little monster and became stronger, the standing of Korea would also rise.

“Show me that you are on the side of humanity… no, Korea. Monster of Jamsil.”

Lee Jin-ah spoke while showing me her palm. It was a gesture asking me to return what was hers.

“Oh, oppa…”

“……”

I wanted a happy ending for this world. I had played for thousands of hours but had never seen the universe achieve perfect peace. And to do that, it would be right to hand the little monster over to the head of the Korean branch.

But I refused.

“Krrk.”

“Why…?”

Since she couldn’t understand my words, I instead walked a bit to the side, completely blocking her view of the little monster. Understanding my intent, the smile disappeared from her face for the first time.

“Aren’t you… on the side of humanity?”

“……”

Of course, I am. I am on the side of humanity. If there was someone I could save with my power, I wanted to save even one more person. I didn’t want someone like me, who locked themselves in a room because no one extended a helping hand despite desperately needing help, to appear again.

So I wanted to reach out, and among the people I wanted to save, the ‘little monster’ behind me was included.

Most importantly.

“Krreuk!”

I pointed at Lee Jin-ah, who had been lying from the beginning, and cried out.

“Crkk crkk!”

“……Hmm.”

In the status window of , there were a total of five stats.

Strength, which signified power.

Durability, which signified defense.

Agility, which signified speed.

Magic, which released mysterious power.

And even ‘Skill’, which greatly heightened precise techniques or the five senses.

Since facing Jin-ah Lee, I felt an inexplicable uneasy energy pricking my skin.

Then, when she started talking about the baby monster, I understood.

Why I always felt particularly uncomfortable in front of this woman.

This woman was cleverly mixing ‘lies’ among the truths.

“Could it be… you’ve discovered my true intentions?”

Nod.

Since words didn’t work, I nodded instead.

Then, Jin-ah Lee returned to her faint smile and soon shrugged her shoulders as she revealed her true intentions.

“Yes, you’re right. Actually, it’s not so much for the sake of the country as it is for my own desire to become stronger that I wanted to obtain that baby monster. But is that a problem?”

Jin-ah Lee’s hollow eyes glared at me as she continued speaking.

“It’s just that my greed is a bit more involved. This benefits Korea… no, humanity as a whole. Only I can save it. Only I can change it, and only I know how to end this dreadful world.”

In that sense, were we in the same position?

No, we were not.

The method to end this dreadful world.

Someone who knew that wouldn’t have such a madness-filled gaze.

That’s why I took a step towards Jin-ah Lee, as if to warn her not to overstep any further.

“Hmm…”

As I moved, she quickly calmed down, showing a disappointed expression.

“Is the negotiation broken?”

To her question,

“Crkk.”

‘Yes.’

I answered promptly.

Soon after, with a sigh from Jin-ah Lee, the shadow beneath her feet began to spread widely.

Then, just before summoning those things from the shadows, she spoke.

“Come to think of it, I lied to you about one more thing.”

“…?”

“Just now, I said I was Korea’s representative hunter, didn’t I? I’m sorry, but my level is not at the primitive country’s level that only occupies half of this tiny peninsula.”

The level of a nation-power hunter varied significantly depending on the country that bestowed the title, not on a global standard.

Just as each country’s level was divided into underdeveloped, developing, and advanced nations.

And the place that considered Jin-ah Lee an uncontrollable national-power figure and relegated her to Korea was the only country in the world where the Hunter ‘Headquarters’ was established.

The United States of America, which held the world’s number one hunter power.

Drdrdrdr.

From within the shadow she spread, two entities began to reveal themselves.

Simply by appearing, the entire city of Seoul, beyond just Gangnam, began to tremble.

At the overwhelming presence of those that finally revealed themselves, the baby monster, watching from afar, chattered its teeth in fear and collapsed on the spot.

“M-m-monsters…! B-b-big bro…!”

I gulped and examined the two ‘monsters’ before me.

First, on the left was a humanoid monster with an incredibly huge body, roughly five meters tall, and a fat figure. It wore a flamboyant outfit similar to a Western military uniform, holding a bottle of liquor in one hand while swaying its body. It wore a strange chicken mask without a beak on its face.

I looked from that side to the right.

There stood a ‘knight’ who constantly emitted a brilliant blue magic, turning everything around him blue. His eyes were closed, and he had neatly combed black hair. His height was similar to my human form, and he wore armor that seemed to sprout raven feathers. He held a rapier in one hand and a saber in the other, appearing almost human at first glance.

However, my shock was not merely due to their appearance.

‘These guys…!’

Why?

How?

How could such beings emerge from a human’s shadow?

Memories of fighting the angel ten years ago vividly resurfaced. My fists clenched tightly, and I began to feel a bit tense.

And it was no wonder—these two before me exuded an unmistakable aura of a national disaster level.