Level Up Monster

Chapter 19

The only difference between the Ebony Wolf and the Werewolf, not taking into account the gap in strength, was that the Werewolf could assume the appearance of an animal or a human. Although nominally he was still on his Ebony Wolf Form, but on the outer appearance alone, it would be more appropriate to call him a Werewolf now, instead.

[Absorption is still ongoing. It is impossible to be transformed into the form of a savage beast. ]

Sae-Jin grits her teeth hard. His current form, the two-legged wolf beast, the Werewolf, was too eye-pointing. That was why he wanted to turn into something that moved with four legs but even that was impossible.

"Make one mistake, and I die. '

Right now, he was without a doubt, a monster. He was the No. 1 target for extermination by the Knights or even the Hunters. Sae-Jin lowers her body as much as possible and also uses her arms to move.

Fortunately, his incredible sense of smell helped him find the back passageway without the presence of Knights or Hunters. Plus, Ebony Wolf was highly specialized in being stealthy. No matter how trapped he was in this Beast Mode, the people who were busy leaving the scene were unable to sense his movements that had fused with the shadows.

"* Sighing in relief, animal style *"

After walking for a while, Sae-Jin senses that she has escaped the initial bloody battlefield between Monsters and Knights and breathes a sigh of relief. But the situation around him was still not really safe just because there were no Knights nearby. Low-ranked and Medium-ranked Monsters attacked buildings, or were busy killing citizens while cutting roads.

A monster falls on top of a car parked inside a damaged building, and flames erupt from the exploding car. A child fell when the explosion nearly swallowed him. But Sae-Jin can't do anything. For the sake of his own survival, he had to ignore everything and run away.

In other words, he had to ignore the cries of the child that entered his ears.

"Mommyyyy !!"

"S, Su-Jung !!"

At the cry of the child, the mother's voice called back. The face of a woman whose mother must have been colored black.

And there was debris from the building that fell on top of this kid who collapsed on the street with his leg bruised.

"… !!"

He did not doubt for long. His feet moved first.

He's using "Whirlwind Dash". Covering a distance of over 500 meters in one breath, Sae-Jin hugs the boy in a protective embrace. Immediately after, a large amount of building materials and steel beams collapsed onto them. The mother's screams that were raging tears tore through the air.

“Not sick. '

As expected, the body of the Ebony Wolf in Beast Mode was sturdy. He could not see because it was under the tone of the debris, but instead, he could feel zero pain. He quickly confirmed the safety of the sobbing child in his arms.

Then, he extended a hand and swung it strongly.

Ohhhhh !!

The hill of rubble weighing down the back of the beast scattered into the air.

"Su-Jung.. Eeeek !!"

The first person he saw was the child's mother. She held the baby in one hand as she approached to save her other child. Unfortunately, there was one ferocious beast that completely filled his gaze.

A huge body that easily exceeded 2 meters and a wolf head that proudly displayed its terrifying fangs. Although it was covered with black fur, it could not hide all the intimidating muscles of the beast.

The woman retreated from her fear-inducing form before falling on her butt. But in the arms of the dreadful beast was his daughter. He found a piece of courage and tried very hard to stand up with his two trembling legs ….

"Krnng."

"Yes !!"

However, the savage beast moved first. The woman screamed in fear but the beast walked over with pounding footsteps and placed the girl in front of her.

Unable to know what had just happened, he glanced back and forth at his son and at the ferocious beast before finally understanding the situation, then he hugged the little girl tightly.

[500 Meters, To the North. Many strong men. ]

Sae-Jin can't just watch this reunion scene casually. Knights who quickly subdue the Monsters move out of the origin of the plague and begin sweeping through the outer suburbs of Seoul.

He rolled his legs and quickly got out of there.

"This .. eh?"

The woman raised her head wondering if she should thank the strange beast or not, but like the mirage on a summer day, the wolf beast was long gone.

*

Military shut down part of Seoul to reduce damage from Monster Outbreak. Sae-Jin can understand this fact without much difficulty by the faint scent of firearms in the air, and hence, instead of trying to leave Seoul, he decided to hide somewhere until the absorption of the Mana Stone was complete.

As he wanders quietly around the city of Seoul, he finds the entrance to the sewer by chance and hides there.

'… I feel like dying. '

Sae-Jin lies on the wet, heavily breathing stone floor. He could slightly tolerate the pitiful atmosphere encased in the frightening darkness and moist air. But he could not resist that stench. And perhaps due to the side effects of absorption, the strange cold temperatures also proved to be somewhat difficult to tolerate.

His eyes closed little by little. It is dangerous to fall asleep because someone can find it. But drowsiness, caused by the side effects of absorption, easily overpowers his worries.

'Because they are too busy wiping out Monsters, so hopefully they won't think of going down the gutter …'

Wishing this to be true, Sae-Jin slowly falls asleep.

*

A Fissure appearing near a nameless church located in the suburbs of Banpo burst open before it could be erased, and this event caused a great disturbance in Seoul . – A crack appears near an unnamed church located on the outskirts of Banpo explodes before it can be removed, and this event causes major disruption in Seoul. As the Republic of Korea's credit rating is expected to suffer from the first Outbreak Monster in 5 years, citizens bitterly voiced whether the Knight Order, who was caught unprepared by the open-air exploding Fissure, was not available, to blame for this …

"Don't mind that."

Right now, after subduing the Outbreak Monster to some degree, the tired and injured Knights rested by lying down or sitting on the ground. High-level Knight Kim Yu-Rin comforted the worried subordinate Knights as she watched the news.

"It was always the same story after a Monster attacked a city, right? Although it may be difficult this time, do not be too discouraged because after all it is not our fault."

added Yu-Rin in her head, her face crumpled in irritation at these thoughts . … It was not our fault but a private security company that ignored the repair and maintenance of Fissure detection equipment, Yu-Rin added in her head, her face wrinkled irritably at these thoughts.

Initially, it was left to the Knights Orders to monitor the Monsters and the possible appearance of Fissures. However, the government took and handed over the responsibility to some private security companies after someone argued with unreasonableness that the burden was placed on Knights Orders trying to manage such high-tech departments as well it would be too much for them to handle.

To be honest, it's only a responsibility on behalf of, because, in all honesty, it's a responsibility, it was all a very unfair type of deal where they only cared about the profits and the real responsibilities thrown in front of the Knights Order's door. Because it was the Knight Order that was to blame if the Monsters rampaged around, like today, even though it was the one that was paid to monitor the Fissures.

"… . Yes yes . "

He left the subordinates who were still depressed and headed to the temporary medical facilities set up to house the injured people.

But the atmosphere in that place was strange. Of course, there were no horrible injuries like someone losing a limb or something similar playing a role, but at that moment, it was, the Knights crowded in one place and were busy making strange faces while watching the hologram projection from the mobile phone. Their expressions were full of surprises and puzzles.

"…What are you all doing?"

Many people lost their lives and the amount of property damage was difficult to measure. Of course, that doesn't mean everyone should observe a religiously sad mood, but still, such behavior doesn't fit the current situation.

"Huh ?! Oh, hello there!"

"You don't have to bend my waist that much because you're hurt. I only asked you because I was curious. What were you all watching?"

Hearing Yu-Rin's words, the instigator who showed the projection to another Knight, a male Intermediate Level Knight of the Raven Order, Yi Soo-Han replied hesitantly.

"There was some strange news coming out during the evacuation of civilians, so …"

"What news?"

"Ah, well, it's just .. uhm, Miss Yu-Rin. I'm asking this just in case .. but we actually killed that Werewolf, didn't we?"

Yu-Rin's face is wrinkled. What does this person say …?

"of course. Where did the Werewolf Stone come from, otherwise?"

"…. Doesn't it? But, the thing ... seems like there are other Werewolves out there. A citizen took a picture. Even if it's an emergency situation, there's always someone out there filming. Somehow, we convinced him not to upload the tape.for SNS for now, but. "

Yi Soo-Han continues her words when a hologram is projected from a cell phone.

"It's a Werewolf picture but seriously, it's really unbelievable. A Werewolf should be a rare monster, right? But the problem is stranger this time."

The first image shown was debris falling from a building piling on the ground while a woman screamed in front of her. Kim Yu-Rin looks at this terrible scene and angrily reprimands the subordinate Knight for having bad taste, but Yi Soo-Han, while sweating, begs her to look at the following image.

"…Huh?"

As he said before. The next image was so unrealistic, he had to wonder if it was Photoshopped or something. With a loud explosion, debris flew through the air, and from there two life forms appeared. One was a wild beast, while the other was a small child with tightly shut eyes.

"Any, right? Looks like the Werewolf is protecting the boy. There is also a clearer recording. Since this area was a bit far from where the original Monster Outbreak was, some CCTV cameras managed to survive the mess."

Yi Soo-Han then plays the footage from the CCTV camera, and Kim Yu-Rin watches it all with a completely confused expression. The building materials that fell on top of the boy. The black life form moved so quickly, leaving only a blurry blur on the tape. That's certain. The werewolf must have jumped among the falling debris with the intention to "save."

"I showed this to a handful of Soo-in Knights, and their reaction was not a matter of laughter. They stirred up a commotion, saying this could be the legendary Lycanthrope. But, obviously, it's all empty bi-chings. Ah, I don't swear – it's really bi *ch. They are Soo-in's dog. "(TL: This guy here makes a pun, which is a bit lost in translation. I tried my best to preserve the tried jokes but oh, well.)

Hearing his words, Yu-Rin nodded in agreement. Lycanthropes do not migrate to Earth. Returning to the "other" world, they were a race that received treatment ranging from being exiled to even being subjected to annihilation. And now, they would remain as creatures of legend, or even of myth.

"…. It's a little weird, sure. But now is not the time to watch something like this. Before I confiscate the phone, put it down and concentrate on healing your wounds. And, it would be troublesome if the mass media were to know this information, so you better check your mouth as well. "

"Ah, that .. I'm sure it's better to let the media know about this."

"What rubbish are you throwing away now?"

Kim Yu-Rin frowned and looked at the man.

"I mean, it's not our fault anyway, but we still have to swallow a lot of bad intentions. So why not circulate this footage to the mass media and distract it from us? The pain for the victims may come later. I'm I'm really sorry. "

As she was about to continue her words, Yi Soo-Han finally realized that her expression was getting darker so she quickly lowered her head.

"It's better to learn to filter your mouth more carefully."

After spewing out threatening warning words, he turned around and went elsewhere.

***

In a dark, damp sewer where there is no light. Kim Sae-Jin opens her eyes after smelling a human smell.

[300 meters, to the North. One Man, one Soo-in. ]

At that moment .his half-conscious consciousness felt a chill. He quickly checked his current body situation. There's a lot of feathers. He was still in Beast Mode, but his fear was assuaged as soon as a new message window appeared.

[The absorption is complete. Active Skills "Beast Mode/Human Mode" have been acquired. (It is possible to change the Form from now on.)]

►Beast Mode /Human Mode [Growth Level: F]

– Can change between Beast Mode and Human Mode on Wolf Form.

– ►Beast Mode: Body turns into 'Werewolf', all Stats related to Ebony Wolf Form will be increased 3 times during this mode.

– ► Human Mode: Body turns into 'Human', all Statistics related to Ebony Wolf Form will not be reduced during this mode.

– Calculated from the current Energy Manipulation Statistics, the 'Beast Mode/Human Mode' skill can be maintained up to (450 minutes) per 24 hours.

►Stats

[Physical Strength 134]

[Power Resistant 133]

[Agility 175]

[Energy Manipulation 30]

[Mana Affinity 20]

[Magic Power 20]

[Luck 7]

As soon as the message goes up, Sae-Jin quickly activates Human Mode.

But there is a problem . The difference between human Kim Sae-Jin and Kim Sae-Jin Ebony Wolf activating Human Mode is not "small" at all.

junior down there was now the size of a mace… . His height must have grown, judging from the height of his eyes which were higher than before, and the muscles at a glance of his body looked like he had been pumping iron all his life, and … junior down there is now the size of a mace ….

"Who's there?"

Suddenly, a man's shout and a cold sensation of extremely sharp Mana were directed towards his location.

"I'm human !!"

Sae-Jin answered quickly. And at his voice, the Knight quickly approached him.

"Hm …"

"God…"

In front of Sae-Jin, two Knights, one man and one woman, are "studying" his appearance.

"…. I escaped from the Monsters and hid here. I took off my clothes after they burned."

After hearing the reason, the male Knight turned around as if he was unhappy about something, while the female Knight continued to observe her body with her completely red face. He covered his face with both of his hands as if implying he was embarrassed, but actually, both of his eyes were busy peering from between his fingers.

And his observation continued for a while longer until the male Knight finally told him to stop him.