NOVEL NEXT Chapter 69
069 – Viewer 220,000
When I brought the “Charging Ketchup Bottle” back from the treasure exhibition, many people couldn’t hide their admiration for my grand intentions and unique insights.
But!
Some foolish ones asked, “What on earth do you need a ketchup bottle for?”
I realized it was time to kindly answer their questions.
Zhee-ik, squish-
In a moment of crisis facing the monster, I pulled out the “Charging Ketchup Bottle” from my lower body.
Even Chang-sik, who was terrified at the astonishing sight, couldn’t help but marvel.
“Isn’t that a ketchup bottle! Where did you even pull that from? Where on earth!”
“Chang-sik, that’s not the important part. The key is what I can do with this.”
Splat-
I raised the ketchup bottle above my head and squeezed its contents with all my might.
“Watch closely! And don’t you dare tell anyone!”
Splat, splat-splat-
As a liquid redder than blood and tastier than seasoning began to drip down my head, moistening my entire body, I raised my hands and smeared ketchup all over myself.
“Transformation!”
Yes.
At this moment, I became the very essence of ketchup, a ketchup human, surpassing the monster itself. According to my theory, ketchup humans are an upgraded version of monsters.
As proof, the astonishing transformation had even captured the attention of the monster Jin Eun-byeol.
[Name: Jin Eun-byeol
[Prediction Lv.2] – Possesses foresight akin to ancient shamans.
Status: [Bewitched] – Captivated by the bright red color.
As a ketchup human, I opened my mouth and shouted.
“GRROAAAH!”
My roar instantly dominated the space.
All attention was focused on me, making me feel exceptionally pleased.
“DAHAYAT!”
Seizing the moment, someone shrieked outrageously.
It was Baek-Yeoul.
“BAEKDANG BIGI MANCHEONHWAW!”
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh-
Baek-Yeoul began hurling the chopsticks she was holding, one of which hit Jin Eun-byeol right in the torso!
“I… I hit it!”
“Ugh!”
BANG-
Jin Eun-byeol fell to the ground, struck by the chopsticks.
I seized the moment and shouted.
“Now’s the time! Everyone, beat it up!”
Our strategy was always the same.
I would draw attention, then everyone would ambush while the opponent showed vulnerability, joining forces to attack.
“Diamond Position!”
Surrounding the monster Jin Eun-byeol, we each beat her up with our hands, feet, and tools.
Thud-thud-thud-thud-thud-thud-!
When Bang-dae took out a frying pan and smacked the back of Jin Eun-byeol’s head, it made a ringing sound, like a bell.
“Yes, yes, say your name! Your name!”
While stomping on Jin Eun-byeol, Chang-sik shouted.
That obsession with names bordered on madness.
The problem was that Jin Eun-byeol’s body began to distort grotesquely as if she didn’t like Chang-sik’s flirting.
Her arms and legs stretched sideways, reaching nearly two meters, her long black hair turned feathery, and her face elongated, resembling a crow.
“Haaaak!”
“Hyah!”
“Ugh! My ears, I think they’re going to burst!”
“Whew…”
CRACK, CRASH-!
After a bizarre scream, Jin Eun-byeol broke a window and fled.
Having grown accustomed to Seoga-eul’s insane screams, I found it bearable, but Bang-dae, Chang-sik, and Deok-soon seemed overwhelmed.
“Let’s chase after her!”
# # #
Model Jeon Som-i was too scared to enter the villa and waited on the road for the kids from “No Leftover Day.”
How much time had passed since the broadcast ended?
Woo-woo-.
When the police arrived blaring sirens, Jeon Som-i calmed down and regained her sense of reason.
Then she realized how reckless she had been.
‘Am I going to get caught by the police? If the ad and broadcast get canceled because of an incident, I’ll have to pay a penalty!’
Jeon Som-i had stirred up trouble out of revenge against Wang Ja-hyeon and Jin Eun-byeol.
But tumbling her life into a deeper abyss because of it was a different problem altogether.
‘At this point, I need to earn money through broadcast sponsorship. Just how much did I get today? One, ten, hundred, thousand, ten thousand…’
So when Jeon Som-i started her personal channel again, a huge commotion erupted from inside the villa, and a bizarre monster popped out.
“What, what is that!”
Even Jeon Som-i found its appearance terrifying.
The police trying to storm Jin Eun-byeol’s villa instantly drew their guns and began firing.
Bang, bang-bang-!
After a loud barrage rang out for a moment,
“GRROAAAH!”
The monster’s scream made people cover their ears and collapse.
[Spinosaurs Like: What the hell is that? Is it a crow monster?
The viewers were equally confused.
For some reason, Hanam-jin, who was completely red, jumped down from the broken villa window and landed on the monster.
“Hey! Don’t run away!”
In an instant, the monster and Hanam-jin began to struggle.
“Uh, uh…”
Being an active explorer, Jeon Som-i could vaguely tell that it wasn’t an ordinary ‘monster.’
To Jeon Som-i, who had faced many monsters, this was closer to ‘human’ than any monster.
[Ding-!
It was strictly illegal to broadcast or film while hunting monsters due to the “Awakened Control Act” passed by Nam Tae-geon and the ruling party.
Unregistered Awakeners would sometimes stream their illegal activities or post videos, but those were quickly deleted.
Thus, the general public still knew little about ‘Awakeners’ and ‘monsters.’
For that reason, the fight happening right before their eyes was raw and unfiltered.
As the chat room grew hotter than ablaze, the police began to unleash fire from their guns.
“Fire! Fire!”
“Shoot!”
Brrrrah-!
The bullets ricocheted off the monster’s body, as its feathers were as tough as steel, rendering the gunfire useless.
In fact, all it did was provoke the monster further.
“Uh oh, it’s coming this way!”
“Shoot! Keep shooting!”
Whoosh-!
As the monster swung its long arms, police cars crumpled like paper, crushing the officers beneath them.
In an instant, the cars caught fire.
“Help! Help me!”
Officers trapped under the cars screamed.
But the police struggled to rescue their colleagues.
The monster’s gaze was directed right at them.
Having lived lives far removed from beasts or Awakeners, they found themselves dizzy with the shocking scene unfolding before them.
Then, realizing that there was an Awakener who might fight alongside them, they looked at Jeon Som-i with mixed emotions in their eyes.
“Why, why are you looking at me!”
However, Jeon Som-i felt panicked and took a step back.
She recalled being told by some of her senior explorers to ‘run away when encountering a monster that resembles a human in a maze.’
“Nam-jin, Kheeek!”
At that moment.
Hanam-jin soared high into the air and unleashed a powerful kick at the monster.
BANG-!
The monster slammed into the wall.
“What are you doing! While the monster’s distracted by my ketchup, you should be escaping quickly! Go call a tank! An armored vehicle!”
The monster’s pitch-black eyes reflected the red Hanam-jin.
Like a bull charging at a matador’s red flag, the monster lunged at Hanam-jin, drenched in bright red ketchup.
What followed was a back-and-forth battle.
[Wow, Spinosaurs: Hanam-jin fights well, huh?
Though terrified, Jeon Som-i was also an Awakener.
Having trained with many instructors until just last year, she could accurately judge the scene and dynamics of the fight between Hanam-jin and the monster.
“It seems the physical stats are superior on the monster’s side, but it lacks technique. It’s not experienced in fighting. On the other hand, Hanam-jin may not be as physically strong, but he’s much more skilled in combat!”
[Wow, Spinosaurs: What’s suddenly happening ㅋㅋ
While it was true she didn’t want to fight, Jeon Som-i couldn’t reasonably intervene in their brawl—an accurate assessment.
Hanam-jin was facing an opponent many times stronger than him, yet managing to attain an even footing.
He leapt off walls to soar in the air, or launched himself from midair back down to collide with the monster out of pure elasticity.
It resembled a circus performance.
“If he gets hit even once, it could all go south!”
Entering without a “pairing” might usher in unexpected variables.
Sometimes, staying put is more helpful, and right now was one of those times.
“AAAHHH!”
It was then that a police special tactics officer went into a panic and started spraying bullets with their machine gun.
Ting-ting-ting-.
A bullet grazed Hanam-jin’s thigh, bumping into the monster’s feathers.
“Ah, sh*t! It hurts like hell! My leg!”
“Kekekek-.”
In an instant, the monster lunged its arm toward the off-balance Hanam-jin. If he hadn’t quickly sprung off the ground to leap backwards, he would have been captured by that massive claw.
Thus, a stalemate was reached.
The monster, having suffered wounds from Hanam-jin’s attacks, seemed hesitant to move recklessly.
Hanam-jin said.
“I think it’s time to take out another secret weapon. My ‘Jump’ will soon rise to Level 3. You better not move from there.”
Hanam-jin rummaged through his belongings.
Feeling impending doom, the monster took a deep breath.
“HAAA!”
With its lungs filled with air, the monster opened its gigantic beak-like mouth to let out a massive shriek.
CRASH, CRASH-!
The windows of nearby buildings shattered, and parked cars triggered their alarms with a loud blaring sound.
That shriek produced a noise of such magnitude it seemed to possess some physical destructive power itself.
“HAAAA!”
With the relentless noise, Hanam-jin also knelt down on one knee.
A state of absolute crisis loomed over the situation.
Even Jeon Som-i dropped her phone and covered her ears.
In this scenario, the concept of a “devil” sought to inflict harm on as many beings as possible just like its essence.
So it turned around, heading toward the bustling area where there were the most people.
“What, what is that?”
“Monster! Run away!”
Panic erupted among the masses crowded in the city center.
The “devil,” watching the chaos, puffed out its chest with satisfaction.
And it let out a sound.
“…….”
But then, something strange happened.
As if the sounds of the world had been neatly erased, everything fell into silence.
Thump-thump-.
The “devil” quickly spotted a female student dancing oddly among the fleeing people. A girl with her bangs covering her eyes.
Who was she again?
So insignificant that her name had slipped from memory.
She might have lived her entire life as a supporting character, yet in this perfectly silent world without accompaniment, she shone like the lead.
The student abruptly froze.
The world remained enveloped in stillness, yet for some reason, the voice of Oh Deok-hee resonated clearly for all present.
“You probably know the reason I’m doing this better than anyone.”
Oh Deok-hee was still terrified by the monster before her.
But it wasn’t as intense as before.
“Well done, Deok-soon!”
POW-!
Hanam-jin, who jumped out from behind Deok-hee, threw something he was holding with great force as if he were pitching.
“Nam-jin Meteor!”
It was a small object.
As it flew through the air, it sank into the heart of the “devil.”
SPLAT-.
From within the “devil,” something broke.
The concept stone deeply embedded in her chest was shattered.
“No!”
“Wow, it really is a USB, so it can’t move. Thanks to you, my jump has also risen to Level 3. How cool is my jumping USB!”
THUD-.
As the demon collapsed before the boy, the heavy silence that had pressed down on the people dissipated.
They felt relief and instinctively moved.
“We… survived!”
“Thank you!”
Clap, clap, clap, clap-clap-clap-clap-clap-!
Cheers and applause fell like rain.
Then it happened. CLICK-CLACK-!
“Hanam-jin, Baek-Yeoul, Choi Chang-sik, and Oh Deok-hee! You are all under emergency arrest as special criminals under the ‘Awakened Control Act’!”
Just as if they had been waiting, special forces appeared on the scene, presenting handcuffs to Hanam-jin.
The students who had taken down the monster were now subdued by the late-arriving police.
The informant, Wang Ja-hyeon, appeared delighted.
“Hanam-jin! You’re a criminal! Everyone saw it on the broadcast, so this time, there’s no escaping!”
The fate of arrested Awakeners was twofold.
Become a “suicidal special force” or—
As Wang Ja-hyeon wished for Hanam-jin’s misfortune, he yelled.
“When the monsters go wild, those just watching suddenly show up after everything’s done, shouting loudly!”
A loud outcry erupted.
“Let them go! Release the students!”
“Shameless fools! Can you even call yourselves adults? Be ashamed!”
In an instant, discontent spread like wildfire. As if a riot was about to break out, the police exchanged wary glances, while Hanam-jin reached out to the handcuffs and said.
“Everyone! Don’t worry! I’ll be out soon due to lack of evidence! And this arrest is also part of my plan, so let’s not hassle those doing the nation’s work!”
As the boy confidently declared, the people exchanged doubtful glances, looking at each other’s faces.
‘Being arrested is part of the plan? This dirt-backed loser is talking nonsense.’
Wang Ja-hyeon couldn’t comprehend how getting caught could possibly be part of the plan.
He had no idea that all this was being broadcasted through Jeon Som-i’s phone, nor could he anticipate the number of viewers.