After finishing the delicious meal, Subin and Auntie went into the kitchen to wash the dishes,
I ended up talking separately with Uncle for a moment.
"Take this."
"What is this?"
Uncle handed me a paper envelope,
and I opened it to check the contents.
One million won. I had expected it, but as expected, it contained a hefty sum.
"I'm fine."
"I didn't do it to receive something like this."
Since I hadn't saved someone while expecting anything in return,
I slowly pushed the envelope back and politely refused, but
Uncle pushed it back toward me and said,
"If it hadn't been for you then, our family would have died."
"The fact that we can run the shop like this now is all thanks to you, so please, I insist you accept it."
It was a situation where refusing once more would be difficult.
As I worried about what to do, a good idea came to mind, and
I asked him to donate the money somewhere else instead.
"Very well, if that is what you want, I'll do so."
"Where would you like me to donate it?"
I asked him to donate it to an orphanage or childcare center, and
after saying he understood, Uncle added one last thing.
"How was the food at our shop?"
"It was delicious."
Uncle smiled, saying he was glad,
and told me that since I wouldn't take the money, I should come by the shop whenever I was hungry.
"Then I will be sure to stop by again next time."
Just as I finished saying goodbye and was about to leave, Subin hurriedly came out of the kitchen and said to me,
"Oppa! Can I get your phone number?"
When she asked for my number, I nonchalantly gave it to her.
"Thanks, Oppa. I'll call you later."
"Got it. See you next time."
After leaving the shop, I went to a nearby park to aid my digestion
and started taking a light walk, organizing the things I needed to do in my head.
"Should I send a message now?"
I contacted the owner of the letter that had only a phone number written on it, and
while thinking about when we should meet, a reply came back in less than five minutes.
Along with words of deep gratitude for that time, they said they wanted to greet me together with their parents, and
when they asked when would be okay, I replied that I thought meeting within this month would be fine.
What remained now was the question of whether to join the Tigers or just continue living as I was.
If I just lived like this, I would spend peaceful days, but if I joined, I would face various dangers.
"Maybe I should take this chance to join and learn a thing or two."
Lost in thought, I returned home, and
as time passed and a leisurely afternoon came, I went outside with Teacher to go grocery shopping.
"Suhan, what should we eat for dinner today?"
"I think stew would be good?"
"Then shall we make kimchi stew?"
"With lots of pork and tofu."
Deciding on the dinner menu, we headed to the mart, and the moment I naturally looked up at the sky.
'Fzzzt...'
"Huh?...."
In the blue sky, I could see black electrical currents flowing.
'Fzzzt...!'
"Wait... is that...?"
"Hm? What's wrong, Suhan?"
In the moment I was thinking.
I judged it was too late and quickly wrapped my arms around Teacher, diving to the ground.
And with a tremendous roar, the sky flashed and something fell to the ground,
and I heard people's screams along with a fierce gust of dusty wind.
The bizarre phenomenon that had just occurred in the sky.
It was definitely one of the phenomena that occurred before monsters appeared.
I had happened to see it on the internet and knew about it, but this was the first time seeing it with my own two eyes.
"Teacher, are you okay?!"
"Yeah... Teacher is fine."
I hurriedly tried to help Teacher up and get away from the spot, but
the ground shook as if convulsing, and from the dust, something like a large rock
was rolling quickly toward Teacher and me.
'Kwagagagaga!'
Fortunately, I wrapped my arms around Teacher and dodged to the side before impact, but
like this, I couldn't evacuate her,
and the monster that had hit the building unfurled its body, slowly revealing its form.
"Grrrr...."
The creature resembled an armadillo, but seeing the mace attached to its tail and
the two protruding fangs, I felt a sense of pressure.
Though there was a way to quickly evacuate while holding Teacher,
if I didn't hold this thing back, I didn't know what kind of damage would occur.
"Teacher, run away quickly."
Having resolved to fight the creature, I rolled up my sleeves.
"...Do you remember the promise you made with Teacher?"
"Yes."
"I'll be right back, so don't worry."
Last time, there were many of them, so fighting consumed a lot of stamina, but
this time there was only one, and I had my ability, so it shouldn't be a big problem.
"Kiyaak...!"
The moment the monster slowly turned its head toward me,
I signaled Teacher and immediately kicked off the ground, shooting forward.
'Ta-at.'
I didn't know if I could beat this thing with my current strength, but
resolving to buy as much time as possible until the Tigers arrived,
I leaped into the air and created several fireballs, sending them at the monster.
「Flare Shot」
'Kwagagagang!'
But the monster defended against the attack with its hard shell, and
then as it swung its mace-tipped tail fiercely, sharp spikes flew toward me.
「Flame Wall」
After spreading flames thickly to block the attack, as I landed on the ground,
the monster began rolling again, curling its body into a ball.
'Kugugugugu.'
'Ku-ung!!'
It would be dangerous if it hit me even once, but
thanks to the pattern of only rolling in a straight line, it wasn't difficult to avoid.
"Need to raise the firepower a bit more...."
I concentrated my power more and launched an attack, but
due to the hard shell, I couldn't deal proper damage.
"Kiyaak..!"
'Shu-uk.'
'Shu-uk.'
As the monster launched another spike attack, I quickly dodged to the side, and
though I kept trying to attack, it was insufficient to deal damage to the creature.
"(As expected... to land an attack, I have no choice but to aim for the inside..?)"
I tried attacking from afar as best I could, but everything was blocked by the hard shell, and
to properly inflict damage on the creature, I had to dig inside and attack.
"(It's dangerous, but I'll try it once.)"
I might get attacked in return if I wasn't careful, but I decided to attempt it once.
"Kiyaak...!!!"
The timing was when the creature finished its rolling attack and unfurled its body.
'Kugugugugu.'
'Ku-ung!!'
"(Now..!)"
The moment the creature, having hit the building wall, unfurled its body,
I quickly dug in close and launched an attack.
「Hell's Mesh」
'Kwa-ang!'
I wrapped my fist full of flames and struck, but
"...?"
What I felt when I threw the punch wasn't the sensation of tearing into flesh, but rather the impact of hitting a hard wall.
Only then did I realize.
That not just its back, but its entire body was composed of armor.
"Kiyaak...!!"
"Damn...!"
'Pueo-eok!'
Taking advantage of my momentary confusion at the unexpected situation, the monster swung its foreleg and attacked.
There was no time to dodge.
I took the attack head-on, and from the impact, I was sent flying straight into the building wall.
"Kugh...."
I thought I had still inflicted some degree of damage.
But what remained on the monster's body was only a slightly scorched mark.
There was no visible damage worth noticing.
On the other hand, blood flowing from my head was slowly trickling down my face and dropping to the ground.
'Ku-ung.'
'Ku-ung.'
"Grrrr....."
"(I thought I could win if it was just one, but I was mistaken..)"
When I thought about how weak I was, the flames gradually died down.
"(Let's run... I can't win with my strength...)"
"(I'm not even a Tiger...)"
I judged that I couldn't defeat this monster with my skill level.
I tried to hurriedly leave the spot, but perhaps due to the shock from the attack I had taken earlier, my legs wouldn't move easily.
My body wasn't responding properly.
My heart was beating, but my muscles were stiff.
'Shu-uk.'
In that moment as the monster's foreleg gradually approached.
'Ka-ang!!'
"?......"
A Tigers agent holding a large shield appeared and blocked the attack.
"I'm sorry I'm late."
He turned his head slightly toward me, spoke, and then immediately used his ability
to emit a shockwave from the shield, blowing the monster away.
'Ku-ung!'
The monster raised its body again and roared, but
before it appeared various Tigers agents wielding different weapons.
"Lee Seunghyeon, please take care of this student."
"Yes, leave him to me."
The man with the shield entrusted me to another agent and headed toward the monster,
and I was carried on someone's warm back toward the hospital.
***
'Flicker.'
"Ha... I ended up at the hospital after all."
"You awake?"
"What, how long have you been here?"
"Since three hours ago?"
When I came to and opened my eyes, Hayun was sitting beside me.
When I asked where Teacher was, she said Teacher would be here soon, and
at the moment I was feeling disheartened about not keeping my promise properly,
the hospital room door opened and Teacher came in, and upon seeing me, immediately hugged me.
"I'm sorry... I said I'd be right back..."
"It's okay. As long as you came back safely, that's all that matters...."
"..........."
I must look like such a fool.
A guy with no proper skill tried to fight a monster and win,
and couldn't even keep the promise he made with Teacher,
so what help could someone like me be even if I joined the Tigers?
"Why are you so down?"
"No one was harmed thanks to you, so cheer up."
Hayun pressed the remote and turned on the TV, and the news came on.
News about the monster that had appeared then was being reported, and Hayun spoke to me while watching the news.
"The Tigers said that if you hadn't bought time, there would have been casualties."
"It's because you fought back that no one got hurt."
If I had evacuated with Teacher then,
the monster would have headed elsewhere and attacked people.
"Fighting one-on-one with a monster like that, you're pretty amazing."
"I think I would have run away immediately."
As the screen changed, the image of the monster subjugated by the Tigers appeared.
Its hard shell was completely shattered, and seeing the wounds all over its body,
I realized once again how weak I was.
"..........."
*Clench.*
To protect what's precious, I have to become stronger,
and realizing that if I am weak I cannot protect anything, I made a resolve.