Chapter 36: Got Kidnapped
Screams echoed through the streets as rankers and powerful warriors fought with everything they had. But it was useless.
The oppressive aura radiating from the Harrowers pressed down on everyone like an invisible mountain, crushing their will to fight.
Hyun-woo, however, stood calmly on the sidewalk, his hands hanging loosely at his sides.
Euryale had already vanished in a blur, heading toward Elijah’s house. He trusted her to keep the old man and the kids safe. Even though this battle didn’t really concern her—she certainly didn't care about a world that had abandoned her sisters—she was helping because of him. And he appreciated it.
He would gladly repay her later.
“Focus fire on the big ones!” Captain Lila Voss shouted from above, her silver-white hair whipping wildly in the winds she controlled. Lightning crackled around her as she directed the gathered rankers. “Don’t let them reach the civilians!”
The local heroes unleashed everything they had. Holy light, blue fire, wind blades, and mana blasts lit up the street in a dazzling display. For a brief, hopeful moment, dozens of Carrion Angels disintegrated under the heavy barrage.
Then, the monsters reformed from the black mist, laughing with voices made of screaming faces. The Harrowers barely even flinched.
One of the larger Harrowers flicked a metallic finger. A wave of condensed black energy swept outward.
Three B-rank heroes were cut in half mid-scream.
“Shit!” Lila cursed, desperately reinforcing her lightning barrier. “They’re regenerating too fast! Heavy hitters, push forward!”
The tide turned rapidly.
The golden-armored hero was brutally backhanded through the brick wall of a building. The fox-eared swordswoman was swarmed; her arm was torn open when a Carrion Angel's wing brushed past her, the horrifying faces embedded in its feathers biting chunks of her flesh off.
Lila dove through the chaos like living lightning, cutting down smaller monsters while trying to shield the fleeing civilians.
But one of the Harrowers locked onto her.
It moved far faster than she expected. Its long metallic claws slashed through her lightning barrier like it was wet tissue paper. Lila barely twisted out of the way, but the follow-up backhand caught her squarely in the side.
She crashed hard into the asphalt, skidding twenty feet and carving a trench through the street. Blood trickled from her mouth as she struggled to stand.
The massive Harrower loomed over her, raising a clawed hand wreathed in crackling black energy.
“Pathetic little spark,” it rasped. “Die.”
Lila’s eyes widened. She tried to summon another lightning storm, but her battered body wouldn’t respond fast enough. For the first time in years, genuine, paralyzing fear flashed across her face.
This is it…
A blur shot past her.
BOOM.
Hyun-woo appeared instantly between Lila and the Harrower, his fist already buried deep inside the monster’s chest. The impact sounded like a cannon shot. The twenty-foot abomination’s torso caved inward with a sickening crunch, black ichor exploding outward as its body folded around his punch like wet cardboard.
The Harrower’s goat-like eyes bulged in shock.
Hyun-woo twisted his fist once and casually yanked it back. The upper half of the monster disintegrated into scattering black mist.
Hyun-woo landed lightly in front of the fallen Captain Lila, his back still turned to her. He casually shook out his fist like he had just punched a solid wall, not a nightmare monster from the Higher Floors.
“You okay?” he asked without looking back, his voice calm and almost gentle.
Lila stared up at him, stunned, blood still dripping from her lips. The pretty, black-haired young man who looked like he should be studying in college had just one-shot a Higher Floor boss monster.
The battlefield fell into a shocked, breathless silence for a heartbeat.
Then, the remaining monsters roared and charged.
Hyun-woo sighed. “Stay behind me for a second.”
He moved.
There were no flashy techniques. No dramatic, heroic declarations. It was just raw, overwhelming efficiency.
He blurred through the horde like a ghost. A straight punch turned a charging Harrower’s head into black mist. A casual backhand crushed two Carrion Angels into paste mid-dive. He grabbed another horror by the face and slammed it into the ground so hard the street cratered beneath them.
Every strike carried impossible, world-breaking power. His infinite level and Primal Adaptation turned his body into a weapon that completely ignored the monsters’ defenses.
Lila pushed herself up, watching in absolute disbelief as the young man casually dismantled the horde her entire team had been losing to. The fox-swordswoman and the golden-armored hero stared with their mouths hanging open.
In under two minutes, the immediate area around the rift was completely cleared of smaller monsters. Only the biggest Harrower—the true leader of the vanguard that had nearly killed Lila—remained. It had fully emerged from the portal, towering over the ruined street.
It glared down at Hyun-woo with pure, concentrated hatred.
“You dare—”
Hyun-woo jumped.
It wasn't a flashy leap. It was just a simple, explosive bound that carried him straight up to the monster’s head level.
“Get the fuck out of my neighborhood.”
CRACK.
His uppercut connected perfectly with the underside of the Harrower’s jaw. The monster’s head exploded like a rotten melon. The rest of its massive body froze for a split second before disintegrating from the top down, raining black ash across the street.
The violet rift above flickered violently… then began shrinking rapidly.
Hyun-woo landed softly in the middle of the carnage, breathing only a little heavier than usual. He looked at his hands in quiet wonder. Is this what infinite stats feel like? He never would have imagined he could do something like this in his lifetime.
But when he looked around, everyone was staring at him.
He scratched the back of his neck, looking mildly embarrassed by all the attention.
“Uh… you guys good now?”
Captain Lila Voss finally found her voice. She staggered forward, still bleeding but alive, and stared at him like he was some kind of myth made flesh.
“Who… what the hell are you?”
Hyun-woo gave her an awkward little smile—the exact same soft, pretty face that made Ebonara and the Gorgon sisters weak.
“Just a guy trying to protect his home.”
Lila’s subordinates were whispering furiously. “Who is this guy?” “Which guild does he belong to?” “What is his rank?”
The system finally pinged for Hyun-woo:
[ System: Special Event Contribution Recognized ][ Major Contribution – Rift Leader Eliminated ] > [ Reward Calculation in Progress… ]
Hyun-woo exhaled, already dreading the mountain of questions coming his way. He really just wanted to go home and set up that gaming console with Euryale.
He walked over to Lila and offered her a hand. “Come on, Captain. Let’s get you patched up before more shit shows up.”
Lila took his hand, still dazed. The surviving rankers watched the unassuming young man as if he were the strongest monster on the battlefield.
That’s when someone shouted, “Why isn’t this portal closing?!”
Both Hyun-woo and Lila turned toward the rift. Even though Lila could barely walk, she forced herself forward, ignoring the pain.
The violet-black rift that had been shrinking moments ago suddenly stabilized. It pulsed with renewed malevolent energy, black lightning crackling along its edges as if refusing to obey the laws of reality.
Hyun-woo, still dusting black ash off his torn shirt, frowned. “Captain Lila,” he called out, not taking his eyes off the anomaly. “Is there a reason this isn’t closing?”
He took a few steps closer, curiosity and caution mixing in his chest. This was the first time something like this had happened. Other portals always closed after the boss monster was defeated, but they still hadn’t received a clear system notification.
“Step away from the por—” Lila started to warn him.
It was too late.
A long, shadowy tendril shot out from the depths of the rift like a striking serpent. It wrapped securely around Hyun-woo’s waist with terrifying speed and yanked him inward.
“Catch him!” Lila shouted, but her voice was already fading.
Hyun-woo was pulled into the portal with violent force. The world twisted into violet-black chaos around him.
He landed hard on cracked obsidian ground, rolling once before springing back to his feet. The air was thick and heavy with the stench of blood and sulfur.
Hyun-woo looked up.
“…Holy shit.”
Stretching out before him was an endless, barren wasteland under a blood-red sky. Millions—literally millions—of monsters covered the landscape as far as the eye could see.
Carrion Angels filled the skies in dark, swirling clouds. Harrowers and worse abominations marched in endless ranks. Towering behemoths, swarms of insectoid horrors, and twisted shadow beasts all turned their hateful, glowing gazes toward the newcomer.
A single human had just been dropped into their midst.
The Sex Beast class inside him roared to life, but Hyun-woo just gulped. He was scared, no matter how strong he had become.
Isn’t this a little out of my pay grade? he thought wildly. It’s not like I’m even getting paid for this in the first place!
“Can we, you know…” he muttered, swallowing hard as he raised his hands in a placating gesture, “talk about this?”
The horde of monsters charged.
For two whole days, Hyun-woo fought without rest.
He became a one-man apocalypse.
His fists shattered Harrower exoskeletons like glass. His kicks sent massive behemoths flying into their own ranks, crushing dozens with each impact. He fought like a beast unleashed.
On the first day, he carved a bloody path through the front lines, leaving literal mountains of dissolving monster corpses behind him. He punched through swarms of Carrion Angels so dense they blocked out the red sky. When a colossal multi-headed serpent tried to swallow him whole, he ripped its jaws apart from the inside and used its own fangs as improvised weapons.
By the end of the second day, the landscape around him had been transformed into a cratered graveyard of monster remains. His clothes were in tatters, his body covered in minor cuts, bruises, and black ichor… but he was still standing. Still moving. Still fighting.
His breathing was heavy but steady. His pretty face was streaked with blood and dirt, yet his brown eyes burned with unyielding ferocity.
The remaining monsters had begun to hesitate. Even these Higher Floor horrors recognized the true monster standing before them.
Then, the world shifted again.
A powerful suction force grabbed him, pulling him violently through space. The battlefield blurred—
And suddenly, he stood in an opulent throne hall carved from black crystal and bone. Massive pillars rose into the darkness above. Crimson banners bearing unknown, ancient symbols hung from the ceiling.
At the far end, seated upon a towering throne made of fused monster skulls and obsidian, was her.
The Mother of Monsters.
She was breathtakingly beautiful in a terrifying way—tall and regal, with skin like polished midnight marble, long flowing hair that shifted between crimson and silver, and six glowing golden eyes. Curved horns crowned her head, and massive draconic wings rested folded behind her back. Her presence was absolutely overwhelming.
And her breasts… well, they were completely bare, hanging freely in the air. If Hyun-woo had to guess, they were easily an H-cup.
Wait, what the fuck am I thinking? he thought, violently snapping himself out of it. This is the main boss of this floor. Why the hell am I noticing her boobs right now?
The Mother of Monsters leaned forward on her throne, resting her chin on her hand, which only squished her already massive chest further. She studied him with open curiosity and amusement.
Hyun-woo stood there, his chest still heaving from two days of nonstop combat, his fists clenched, covered head-to-toe in the blood and remains of her children.
For a long moment, neither spoke. Hyun-woo stayed quiet because he was trying to organize his racing thoughts, while the monster queen waited, fully expecting him to say something.
Then, the corners of the Mother of Monsters’ lips curled into a slow, dangerous smile.
“My, my… what a rude little guest,” she purred, her voice like velvet wrapped around thunder. “You killed millions of my precious children in just two days?”
Hyun-woo wiped a streak of blood from his cheek with the back of his hand. His soft, boyish face still somehow looked innocent despite everything.
“Yeah… about that,” he said, rolling his stiff shoulders. “They started it. I just wanted to go home.”
The Mother of Monsters laughed—a rich, genuine sound that echoed through the massive hall.
She rose from her throne gracefully, her six golden eyes glowing brighter as she descended the bone steps. Her massive draconic wings spread slightly behind her, casting long, intimidating shadows across the hall. As her boobs did that boing boing.
“Two days of endless slaughter, and you still have the audacity to joke,” she said, tilting her head while studying him like a rare, fascinating specimen. “You are no ordinary human. That power… that endless hunger for battle hidden behind such a pretty face. Tell me…”
She stopped a few meters away, smiling and revealing a row of sharp fangs.
“What are you going to do now that you’re standing before the one who rules them all?”
Hyun-woo exhaled slowly. He really wasn’t joking when he said he just wanted to go home. But looking at her face, he could already guess she wasn’t going to believe him.
Also… why the fuck is this monster woman so beautiful?
“Can’t we just, you know… talk?” he asked quietly.
The Mother of Monsters’ smile widened into something feral and delighted.
“Let’s see if you are even worthy to be my husband.”
“Wait, I never agreed to that?!”
Of course, she completely ignored him.
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[Author's Note: Due to the Tower’s restrictions, the monsters that came through the rift into the human world were weakened. That’s why rankers like Lila Voss could kill the cannon fodder like the Carrion Angels. But even then, it wasn’t nearly enough to take down the Harrowers.]