Chapter 31

The distance is twenty steps.

Quite far, but for a superpower user, it’s within arm’s reach.

Just one second.

I accelerated using repulsion.

A bit risky, but a surefire method.

The bone awl narrowly misses my face.

Even compared to the Security Chief, my speed is noticeably faster.

The fact that I could react was largely because I knew how he fights.

At that speed, pure reflexes alone wouldn’t have been enough to dodge.

I immediately swung my fist.

He easily dodged my punch and tried to grab my wrist.

But that was also expected.

I used repulsion to bounce back and create distance.

Glass shards. Should I use them now?

I considered throwing the cluster of glass shards floating above my hand at his path but decided to hold onto them for now.

I didn’t have many weapons at my disposal.

Metal balls were unlikely to work on him, and sadly, our office’s front yard was depressingly empty.

But…that doesn’t mean I came out here without a plan.

“You little rat.”

“Isn’t that a line from a third-rate villain? Oh, right, you were chased out of Seoul’s underworld, weren’t you?”

“You bastard…”

I kept poking at his traumatic past.

He’s stronger than me.

In experience, ability, and technique.

So, I can’t win using ordinary methods.

Direct combat isn’t my specialty, and in that kind of environment, he’d be stronger than me.

So—

I do what I can.

I don’t hold back.

Because I don’t want to die.

Because I have…something to protect.

I leaned forward. This time, it was my turn.

I bounced back, glaring at him with gritted teeth.

Using repulsion to boost my speed, I swung my fist at him.

A clumsy punch, but infused with repulsion.

He smirked and dodged my punch with a slight tilt of his body.

Then, he immediately swung his arm to strike me.

Before his arm could hit my face, I used gravity to lean back.

His fist narrowly grazed my cheek.

It stung.

But…in return, the distance between us was now almost zero.

In that moment, I fired the glass shards at his face.

The glass sphere, held together by my ability, scattered like buckshot, hitting his face. A normal human would’ve had their face torn apart.

But his face remained relatively intact.

Aside from the glass shards sticking to it.

“As the boss, I should treat my guest properly, right?”

“You damn bastard!”

No significant damage was done.

But with the glass shards in his face, eyes, and mouth, he wouldn’t be able to freely transform his body for a while.

Transforming with foreign objects inside is dangerous.

If done wrong, the glass shards could pierce his organs…

He lost like that in the original story too.

I used repulsion to create distance and shook off my hands.

I couldn’t fight with glass shards stuck to my hands.

I moved away from the struggling guy and gathered some dirt from the ground.

“Ever tasted dirt?”

I threw the dirt clump at him.

Of course, he dodged with a sidestep and slid toward me.

As the distance closed, his arm extended.

In the center of his open palm, a sharp bone awl grew.

Wherever it pierced, it would be a fatal wound.

I threw the dirt clump at his face and flung myself to the side. My target was the abandoned building next to our office.

“Quite the deadly thing you’ve got there, loser.”

Wow, look at his red face.

I smirked at him, his face red with rage from the taunting.

This much provocation should be enough.

I jumped through the window of the abandoned building.

Inside, it was dark and eerily quiet, as if it had been abandoned for a long time. I rolled my eyes, searching for anything that could serve as a weapon.

The wooden planks…were rotten.

A metal pipe wouldn’t do much damage to him.

I turned my gaze to the corner.

A shovel.

Well, it’s better than nothing.

I grabbed the old shovel and swung it at him as he charged into the building.

Aiming for his side.

He blocked my strike with his bone awl, as expected.

At the same time, he thrust the other awl toward my stomach. If this hit, I’d be gutted.

In that moment, I used gravity to pull him and the shovel toward me.

He seemed prepared for my repulsion, but could he handle gravity?

“Damn it!”

His stance broke.

His balance was thrown off, including his own strength.

Confirming that the awl aimed at my stomach missed, I used repulsion to spin my body and the shovel in the opposite direction.

Like a top, I spun at a terrifying speed, aiming for his opening.

An unexpected rotation at close range.

I felt a heavy impact in my hand.

“Wish it had hit your neck.”

The shovel was embedded in his shoulder.

He glared at me with murderous eyes and pulled the shovel out of his shoulder.

That should’ve completely disabled one of his shoulders.

He glared at me while rolling his eyes.

He seemed to realize it was time to retreat.

Even if it wasn’t a fatal wound, it was a serious injury.

If he just ran away and played dead, he’d have no choice but to retreat.

But I had no intention of letting him go.

Because he was too dangerous to let live.

Only by killing him here could Mina and Seolhwa finally be safe.

After a brief silence, I spoke.

“What, planning to run away again? Like in Seoul?”

“…How the hell do you know that!”

“You should’ve hidden your tail better. Oh, it’d be fun to tell your underlings about this. That you’re actually—”

“Shut up!”

His enraged voice closed the distance.

A past he never wanted revealed.

Born in the slums, ignored by the crime syndicate.

He tried to prove himself by honing his abilities…but his power as a child was too insignificant, so he couldn’t prove anything.

After struggling, he was mocked and abandoned.

The cruel brand on his back, a mark that he’d never rise above.

His trauma-driven desire to rise poured out unfiltered.

“Who are you! How do you know my past!”

“Possessor, ring a bell?”

“More nonsense…!”

“Your head’s as hard as a rock.”

I dodged his attacks.

A calm strike would’ve been hard to avoid, but his rage-filled attacks were too straightforward.

I tilted my head to dodge.

Used repulsion to nudge myself out of the path.

I avoided his attacks in every way possible.

Until he tired himself out.

And exposed a fatal opening.

“You damn bastard…”

“Huh?”

His anger was palpable.

I used repulsion to push him back, creating about five meters of distance.

A short distance.

I stood in front of a concrete pillar with exposed rebar. The bent rebar slightly poked my back.

This should be enough.

I spoke to Salmusa one last time.

“Seeing you so angry, I guess you admit it deep down. You—”

Before I could finish, he closed the distance.

A speed I couldn’t have reacted to without preparation.

The moment his body reached me, I pushed myself to the side.

And—

Thud.

“F…uck…”

“Did you get your tetanus shot?”

I brushed off the dust and looked at him, impaled on the rebar.

A definite fatal wound.

But…I know.

“I’ll kill you…kill you…”

Body transformation abilities are prone to going berserk.

As his body began to grotesquely swell, I immediately flung myself outside.

Now…it was too dangerous to fight in a confined space.

At the same time, I heard the sound of the building collapsing.

It shouldn’t affect the office, right?

It’d be really sad if I won but lost my home.

“…I’m not…weak…”

“Now you’re a real monster.”

Actually, wasn’t the guy I met in the bunker also a body transformation user who changed like that?

I clicked my tongue as I saw him break through the wall.

There’s no trace of humanity left in him.

His body had swollen nearly five times, bones piercing through his skin, and veins bulging grotesquely.

Every part of him was horrifying.

“You should’ve just died as a human.”

That’s no longer human.

So…from now on, it’s monster-slaying time.

Shall we play tag?

I immediately turned and ran.