Chapter 36

Episode 36. The God-Slayer (1)

***

The world is full of irony.

I’m currently sitting inside a mobile command center.

That mobile command center is inside the Foundation’s medium-sized infantry fighting vehicle. That armored vehicle is inside a forgotten city overrun by monsters…

Next to me is a cat I’m supposed to treat as my superior. Let’s not overthink it. Mentioning all the weird stuff would just be a waste of time. After all, standing guard over the weird is my job.

Inside this armored vehicle, aside from me, there are five people. Three tank crew members, one engineer, and one special forces member.

Most of them were screaming, unable to accept the sudden change in the situation.

“Kyaaaaah!”

I pressed my temples. I don’t even know which of the five is screaming. Not that it’s not a situation worth screaming about.

The armored vehicle was moving at a fairly high speed. The 105mm main gun of the vehicle had hit multiple times, but there was no significant effect.

I thought of a solution.

I turned on my headset again and connected to the vehicle’s internal communication system. I had turned it off earlier to avoid interference during combat, but now I needed it.

“Tank Commander, stay calm.”

“Yes.”

“There should be special ammunition prepared for situations like this in the tank. Can you check?”

“Yes.”

“Can you load the special ammunition into the main gun now?”

“Yes. It’ll take about a minute.”

“…”

There was a sound of something being moved and bumped. The tank crew was probably moving the ammunition.

“Director Kim. There are several types of special ammunition. Which one should we fire?”

How should I know? But I can’t just say I don’t know. They’re probably looking for a solution, so I have to come up with an answer.

“Do we have any God-Killing Bullets?”

If there’s God-Killing Gas, there must be God-Killing Bullets.

“We have a few. Does that count as a god?”

I don’t know.

“Yes.”

“Moving the ammunition. Preparing to fire.”

I looked at the monster through the screen. A moment later.

Boom!

A giant reptile fell. Its head blown off by the tank’s main gun. It seemed to be regenerating immediately, but we had to move fast.

The machine gun raked the fallen monster.

Boom!

The monster regenerated and resumed pursuit.

The bizarre reptile was faster than expected. It was running fast enough to keep up with the armored vehicle. A few smaller monsters were also chasing us.

Can we even stop it?

Screeeech!

The monster disappeared from the camera’s view.

“What the—”

“The monster is on top of the tank!”

“Activating reactive armor!”

Can you just activate it like that?

Boom!

With a loud noise, the reactive armor on the armored vehicle exploded all at once. The crocodile was pushed back. The armored vehicle fired at the fallen monster.

“The communication equipment and cameras are destroyed.”

What do we do? I don’t want to die yet.

The crocodile recovered in no time. The monster jumped back onto the armored vehicle.

“Can it tear through the armored vehicle?”

“F***, I don’t know.”

The crocodile was bigger than the armored vehicle.

The monster’s claws scraped against the armored vehicle. Under normal physical laws, a dinosaur’s claws shouldn’t be able to pierce an armored vehicle, but…

Well.

Look, it’s already starting to break through.

“It was an honor serving with you, Director.”

Thud, thud.

The sound of wooden dolls crawling onto the armored vehicle. The reptile monster hadn’t stopped scraping the armor.

We have to survive.

It took a while for the monsters to get in. The armored vehicle was apparently made sturdier than expected.

“Administrator. Do something.”

“I’ll watch over your final moments.”

“And?”

“I’m going to run.”

As expected, no help.

Screeeeeech!

The sound of metal tearing echoed in my head. The monster stuck its head into the armored vehicle. The metal tore further—

Boom!

The armored vehicle was torn in half. Sunlight became visible again. I gripped my shotgun.

“Keeeeeeeh!”

The monster let out a roar.

***

Death is right in front of me. Time slowed down.

0.5 seconds elapsed.

“Ah, I remember.”

God-Killing Bullets and God-Killing Gas.

They said it was made by mixing cinnamon and mistletoe or something. But the reptile monster chewed through the God-Killing Bullets, the machine gun, and the gas.

Why?

Because of its regeneration ability.

It doesn’t matter if the God-Killing Gas or Bullets can harm its body. This monster regenerates any wound instantly.

1 second elapsed.

The monster was still roaring.

Then.

What if it’s a wound that can’t regenerate? What kind of wound can’t regenerate? If it’s damage unrelated to the body’s condition, maybe it’ll work.

I have a few artifacts in my bag. Which one could cause that kind of damage?

1.5 seconds elapsed.

The monster slowly started closing its mouth.

The Foundation controls supernatural phenomena.

The Foundation controls the world. We control people’s perceptions. How do we control perceptions? Through people’s memories.

The material that sustains the Foundation.

A god exists only if it’s remembered.

Vertebrates share many hormones.

I thought of a solution.

I shoved a vial of white liquid into the barrel of my shotgun. It’s a good thing the vial fits inside the shotgun.

I pulled the trigger.

Bang!

My shotgun fired, and the giant reptile monster fell in one shot.

***

Christopher screamed.

“What, what did you do?”

The giant reptile was twitching on the ground in front of me. Around it were the wreckage of the armored vehicle and the bodies of people.

The engineer who was with me is dead. I don’t know where the others are.

“Dr. Kim!”

The cat was chasing after my feet. I don’t have time to play with the cat now.

Click.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

I fired my shotgun at the zombies. Blood and brain matter splattered everywhere. I’ve survived this long, so what’s a few zombies?

“How did I do it, Administrator?”

Ugh.

Now even zombies look cute.

Thud! I smashed a zombie’s head with the butt of my shotgun. There’s no evidence these are zombies, but they look like it.

“There was a vial of Memory Erasure Agent in my bag—”

Damn. I’m out of shotgun shells.

I swung the shotgun to push a zombie away, then dropped it on the ground.

“There was. So—”

I brought multiple guns.

I pulled a pistol from my waist—

Bang! Bang! Bang!

“So I loaded the Memory Erasure Agent vial into the shotgun and shot it into the monster’s mouth—”

Thud.

A zombie fell from a kick. Crunch, I crushed its skull with my boot.

“Anyway. That’s how I did it.”

“Wait, Dr. Kim. You had a vial of Memory Erasure Agent? You carry that around? How did you know Memory Erasure Agent would work on a crocodile?”

“Administrator. Let’s move and talk.”

I picked up an assault rifle from the wreckage of the armored vehicle. It’s what I was looking for.

FR-20. A Foundation-made weapon. It’s not the best gun, but it’s an assault rifle with both vertical and horizontal recoil control—

“No. Wait. The rifle isn’t important, let’s talk—”

The cat stared at me in shock.

“Then. Let’s meet in the city center!”

First, we move to a safe place. There aren’t many hiding spots left. I ran as fast as I could toward one of the few intact buildings in the city center.

“Director Kim! Where are you going?”

***

Christopher Patreus.

The 9th Administrator was panicking.

The destruction of the Foundation’s medium-sized infantry fighting vehicle alone was a major incident. It seems everyone except Director Kim is dead.

Director Kim took down the crocodile in one shot, then spouted nonsense and disappeared into the city. How the hell did he kill the crocodile?

“Royal Guard. Royal Guard, are you there?”

[Connected.]

“Director Kim killed the crocodile and ran away. I don’t know how he killed it, and he seems to have gone crazy from adrenaline and anti-hallucinogens.”

[Understood. We’ll rescue him.]

At least that’s something.

***

I don’t know why I feel so good.

Every time a zombie’s head explodes, a wooden doll is crushed, or some grotesque humanoid monster falls, I feel happy.

“Hehehe…”

My clothes were soaked in blood from head to toe. Wearing a gas mask, I’m not in danger, but I feel like there’s something I’m supposed to do.

Sigh.

I’m going to die.

I leaned against the wreckage of one of the few remaining buildings.

My head is spinning from the drugs and cognitive disaster. What was I doing just now? Who am I? Where is this?

I wiped the blood off my gas mask goggles.

First, stay calm.

I feel like I say that ten times a day.

It’s probably a temporary phenomenon.

If I think about it a little, I’ll remember.

But I can’t take off my gas mask and take anti-hallucinogens here. This place… well. I don’t know, but it’s a sh*thole. Let’s try to remember what I was doing.

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