Chapter 13 : Day 4 (1)

The first thing I heard was coughing.

Wet, raspy, tired coughing—like someone who had just been dragged back from the grave.

Mother stirred first.

I turned the corner of the hallway, rubbing the back of my neck, and saw mother stirring under the sheets. Her eyes fluttered open.She sat up slowly, wincing, her hands still faintly glowing from the last of her mana strain. Her eyes swept the room.Ye-Rin was curled up in a blanket.

"...We're alive?" she asked groggily.

“Mom?” Ye-Rin’s voice cracked, due to suddenly waking up from sleep.Ye-Rin didn’t wait. She lunged forward, practically tackling her mother in a hug that looked more like a chokehold. Mother gasped for air, but she laughed—quietly, tiredly.

I stood by the door, arms crossed. “…Took you long enough to wake up.”

“Mm. I suppose I was tired,” she rasped. “And mana-dead.”

“Yeah. That too.” I looked away. “Glad you didn’t die, by the way.”

We let her rest a little more before dragging ourselves to the dining table. The kitchen was half functional, but at least the coffee machine still worked. I took the liberty of warming some canned stew. Was it gourmet? No. Was it edible? Barely. But no one complained.

Seo-Yeon and In-Ji weren’t up yet.

So it was just the three of us.

Mi-Sun sipped quietly from her chipped mug. Ye-Rin was poking at her soup, looking better than yesterday—but still pale. Me? I was trying to not look at my bruised knuckles and ribs that still cracked every time I breathed too hard.

“Hey,” I said finally. “Did you notice something… off about the rabbit that came in yesterday?”

Ye-Rin raised an eyebrow. “The one that jumped the horse?”

I nodded. “Yeah. That wasn’t the same rabbit. I mean—it was, but it wasn’t.”

Mi-Sun set her cup down. “Explain."

“That rabbit was maybe three feet when we saw it last. But yesterday… it was easily five feet. It had bulked up. Got claws like razors. Strong enough to throw itself at that abomination.”

“…So it leveled up,” Ye-Rin said, slowly.

“Yeah. But not just by waiting in a bush. It got stronger by eating other monsters.Atleast that's what I think.” I leaned forward. “I think… monsters are evolving by devouring each other. Like some kind of grotesque cannibal EXP system.”

"So that explains why we were not seeing too many monsters yesterday." Ye-rin said.

"Wow..You are talking smart today." I teased Ye-Rin, who is often an airhead.Then I continued “And if that’s true,” I muttered, “we’re not just on a timer. We’re on a race. A leveling race.”

Silence hung over us.

Then Mi-Sun broke it.

“…There was something else too, wasn’t there? Before I collapsed, the whole area was destroyed. Like a hurricane."

I looked at her.

“Seo-Yeon.”

Ye-Rin stiffened.

I exhaled. “You both didn’t see it. But I did.”

I leaned back, tapping my spoon against the bowl.

“She awakened something. Some kind of… new mechanic. A hidden feature. The system called it ‘Hidden Nature Awakening.’”

“Another power tree?” Ye-Rin asked.

“No idea. But it wasn’t just strength. It felt like she... exploded emotionally. Like her whole soul cracked open and the system went: ‘Sure, have this rage-bomb power.’”

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

Mi-Sun frowned. “And it came from trauma.”

“Yeah. Severe emotional trauma,” I confirmed. “Trigger condition said as much. At least that is what the system said."

We all went quiet again.

Because we all knew what triggered it.

A few minutes later, the door creaked open.

Seo-Yeon walked in, pale but upright, wrapped in a sweater that looked two sizes too big. In-Ji followed behind her, holding two bowls of soup.

Their eyes scanned the room—saw us—and softened.

“Morning,” Seo-Yeon said. Her voice was hoarse.

“Hey,” I said. “Take a seat.”

They joined us without a word. I slid them spoons. Ye-Rin got up to pour them tea.

For a few minutes, no one spoke. Just the quiet clinking of bowls and slurps of soup.

Then Seo-Yeon looked up. Her eyes were still red—but steady.

“…Thank you,” she said. “For… saving us.”

In-Ji bowed slightly. “If it weren’t for your healing and teamwork, we’d be dead.”

Ye-Rin nodded. “You saved us too.”

Mother waved her hand. “We’re all alive. That’s what matters.”

I cleared my throat. “Actually… there’s something else.”

Everyone turned to me.

I looked at Seo-Yeon. “I don’t know how you are dealing with it— but you need to be strong.”

Seo-Yeon’s lips trembled.

“I’m sorry,” I said. "But we need to move forward now." I didn't wanted to come off as an insensitive person but we need to plan for the future.

In-Ji closed his eyes. His fists clenched under the table.

Seo-Yeon just nodded. No words came.

We didn’t force any.

“Alright. Here’s the deal.”I looked around the table, making sure every eye was on me.

“You’ve got two options now,” I said. “One, you stay here. Rest. Be safe. Let us handle the fighting.”

They didn’t respond.

“Or two… you come with us. We’re gonna level up. We’re gonna get stronger. And we’re going to tame that.”

I pointed out the cracked studio window.

Far off in the distance, perched like a demon king on a shattered radio tower, was the Dragon.Its wings wrapped around its massive frame.

“That thing,” I said "we need to tame it before the Day six ends, other wise Ye-Rin here will die."

Ye-Rin shows to the both of them her taming mission and her failing penalty which was an instant death.

"Wait—what?" Seo-Yeon blinked.

There was a pause. They looked at each other.Seo-Yeon and In-Ji stared at it for a long time.

Then, without hesitation, they both nodded.

“We’re coming,” Seo-Yeon said.

“Good,” I said. “Because I don’t think the world’s going to wait for us to catch our breath."

“Let’s rest here,” I continued. “We move tomorrow.”

Everyone nodded.

Day Four.

We left the studio just before noon.

The sea breeze carried the stink of salt and rot. Wind howled against the cliffside, brushing strands of Ye-Rin’s hair into her eyes as we crept down the overgrown coastal trail. The old roads were cracked and broken, patches of asphalt giving way to wild grass. No signs of life.

No signs of people.

Only monsters.

“I think we should let Seo-Yeon and In-Ji get some warmup kills,” I muttered, cradling the fevered monkey in my hoodie like a demon-baby burrito. “They’re still stuck at Level 4.”

Ye-Rin cracked her neck. “And we’re just supposed to spectate?”

“Think of it as babysitting. With guns.”

We didn’t have to wait long.

A rustle of broken gravel. A dry hiss, like bones grinding.

Then it lunged from a shattered billboard frame.

It looked like a wolf… if a wolf had a *snake* for a tail. Not a metaphor—a literal snake, fused to its spine like some twisted biological accessory. The wolf’s back was hunched, black fur mangled with barbed scales. The snake-tail flicked forward with its own head, fangs snapping.

Seo-Yeon’s eyes flared. In-Ji stepped in front of her with his gun raised.Her palm flung forward. A short-range telekinetic blast—raw and crude—threw the creature sideways. It smacked into a rusted truck door with a metallic thunk, stunned.

She blinked. “That was… clumsy.”

“That was badass,” I corrected.

He aimed, took a breath, and fired one clean shot through the wolf’s eye socket.

BANG.

The snake hissed and tried to lunge—but Seo-Yeon crushed it mid-air with a flick of her fingers, spine snapping like a twig.

[EXP Gained. Party Members Leveled Up!]

~Seo-Yeon has reached Level 5!

~Force Spike

Unstable telekinetic burst that knocks enemies backward. Chance to stun the target.

In-Ji has reached Level 5!

~ Ballistic Craftsman

Allows creation of customized bullets using scavenged materials.

Requires recipes and compatible crafting tools

Ye-Rin glanced at me. “He can make bullets now?”

“Great,” I said, nodding. “Now we just have to find him a crafting bench, a blueprint, iron, sulfur, and God knows what else.”

In-Ji stepped away from the kill, reloading. “You make it sound harder than it is.”

I raised an eyebrow. “You say that now. Wait till you’re digging through crab guts looking for shell fragments.”

Mi-Sun stepped forward, placing her hands to the earth. “Let’s patch up what we can before anything bigger shows up.”

[Skill Activated: False Healing – All Party Members]

A circle of withered light spread out from her fingertips, licking across our injuries. My muscles loosened. Ye-Rin flexed her shoulder and grunted with relief.

“Thanks, Mom,” I muttered.

“Don’t call me Mom in battle.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

We reached near the beach when suddenly the ground rumbled.

“Ah hell—what now?” Ye-Rin groaned.

Out of the sands below the cliffside trail, the earth heaved—a bulge of soil cracking open like a hatching egg. Something monstrous clawed its way out.

First came the legs—long, armored, crustacean-like. Then the torso—chitinous plates glinting with ocean scum. A giant crab. Not just big.

Ten. Feet. Tall.

Its pincers were the size of vending machines. Barnacles clung to its shell like battle scars, and one eye glowed blue—a mutation.

“Oh good,” I muttered. “An actual seafood platter of death.” Before I could use my beastification,

Bang.Bang. Bang.

In-ji open fired. One actually hits the right eye of the crab.

BOOM.

Suddenly, the crab stomped, creating a shockwave. Sand and rock flared outward, knocking us all back.

The blue box appeared.

Name : [None]

Race: Crustacean Age: 4 days

Level : 9

Title : [Candidate for Boss]

Nature : Shell Smash

Strength : 120

Hp: 280

Mp: 20

Agility: 40

Stamina: 180

~Nature : Shell Smash

Increase its attack power by twice.

Ye-Rin dashed left and swung hard—her axe bit into the armor, but bounced off with a clang. Sparks, no blood.

In-Ji aimed and fired—two shots, one grazing the crab’s joint. Mother used "Curse of slowness" on the crab.

The beast reeled back with a gurgling hiss, claw swiping at the air.

Seo-Yeon took her moment. With her "physic spike", she pushed the crab back and stunned it. Mother tries to take advantage of this and strikes the crab with her scythe for it to say.

"Requiem Strike : Instant-kill if enemy is stunned" Failed. level difference is too high.

Ye-Rin strikes the Crab's joint which was already shot by In-ji, causing it to fall down. Then similar to before, a purple message box appears.

"Nature : Shell Smash is active."

The crab Strikes the ground, causing a literal Earthquake in the area.

I used Beastification, fusing with my tamed pet monkey, Junior. I jumped upward and landed on the beast itself. I crawled under its belly and started striking with my might.

Seo-yeon, using her power slams a truck door on the crab. It falls down on its belly. I was almost crushed under it. I swiftly webbed all its legs. Pinning the thing down. Ye-Rin slams and cuts off another limb.

Mother used False healing, healing us and further weakening the crab in the process. In-ji fires another bullet hitting its left eye. Now it was completely blind.

The thing was now just blinded, pinned seafood. It was just mere moments of time before we completely killed the damned thing.

Ye-Rin followed me in—one downward cleave—

CRACK.

It stopped moving.

[Candidate for Boss – Defeated!]

[EXP Gained – Party Leveled Up!]

[Extra Reward is being awarded.

[Junior has level UpTo 5]

[ New ability: sixth sense. Detect danger arounda you]

“Yo,” I blinked. “Baby’s growing up.”

“Good,” Ye-Rin said, panting. “We’ll need all the help we can get. Damn this thing had a hard shell and underbelly."

~ Sixth sense : Activated. Danger near by.

Then I saw it.

Standing in the distance, where the cliffside met the winding forest trail, was a figure. No—a monster.

Mantis-like. Twelve feet tall. Vertical body like a razor blade. Bladed arms curved like scythes from hell. Green, but not leafy—green like rusted copper and poison. Its head turned sideways, clicking unnaturally.

Its red eyes are fixed on the dead crab.

Then on us.