Chapter 81 - Seoul In Flames

Seoul.

The metropolis, bathed in bright sunlight spreading across the earth, looked no different than usual.

Yesterday, today, and tomorrow. It was an ordinary city expected to always stay the same.

Although terrorists occasionally appeared and monsters popped out, the city was always consistent, excluding those events.

While no one could predict it would look the same in ten years, it felt like it would remain peaceful at least until next week.

Therefore, no one expected it.

That the end of daily life would arrive so suddenly.

Ordinary ground.

Between the tall buildings, a person was looking at the view from a rooftop.

That person was the first to notice the anomaly.

It was the same scenery they always saw.

Tall buildings, the mountain range faintly visible against the dark background behind them, and something massive next to it.

Something that someone staring blankly probably wouldn't have noticed at all.

However, it was something a sharp-eyed person would have caught immediately.

Oh, shit.

What is that?

One side of downtown Seoul.

Far off, beside the mountain range.

Something massive stood there, looking down at the city.

A gray torso, like a cylinder with a semi-circular head. Two long legs made of steel. And long, dangling steel arms.

Something that looked like a giant mechanical weapon, something unbelievable to be standing before this city.

And while people rubbed their eyes, wondering if they were seeing things.

It began to approach the city center, crushing the ground.

Thump—.

Thump—.

With every step, the earth vibrated, and with every other step, the ground shook as it approached.

Like something out of a movie, it approached, smashing everything beneath its feet.

"Aaaaahhh!!!"

Only then did the people notice the anomaly.

Everyone in its path stopped what they were doing and began to flee.

The peaceful city instantly began to turn into a scene of chaos.

Kaboom—.

Soon, it reached the middle of the city without any hindrance.

Towering in the heart of the buildings, it exuded an overwhelming sense of dread.

The asphalt where the giant weapon's legs stood was already completely shattered.

In front of it, countless people were screaming and running away.

The blaring of car horns, the sound of people's screams.

It was as if everyone in the city had woken up, trying to escape from it as quickly as possible.

Just like that, it paralyzed the city center, despite simply standing there and doing nothing yet.

From the thing that stood still, looking down at the chaos it had wrought.

Finally, a voice began to be heard.

[Dogs of the government and the Association.]

A voice ringing through the entire city at an incredible decibel level.

Like metal scraping, filled with static, making it even more bone-chilling.

That voice was echoing from the giant weapon.

[O remnants of the old humanity, who stand in the way of us progressing toward the new humanity.]

[Incompetent and inferior species who cannot accept evolution and innovation.]

[Your narrow-minded and selfish way of thinking has finally brought down Haneun, who was to open a new horizon for South Korea.]

[You who have destroyed something, prepare to be destroyed yourselves.]

Having said that much, the speaker seemed to take a moment to catch their breath.

Soon, in a voice much clearer and louder than before,

They declared, as if issuing a final ultimatum.

[Today, Seoul—including the government and the Association—]

[Ends here.]

[Every single soul in this city.]

[No one will make it out alive.]

And at the same time as those final words.

That massive entity began to move.

Kaboom—!

Simultaneously, it swung its arms, smashing the buildings in its path as if they were nothing.

Skyscrapers that looked as though they would stand tall for decades were pointlessly shattered in half.

With that as the start, the weapon began to destroy the city indiscriminately.

Countless buildings erected over decades of industrialization.

Began to collapse helplessly within its grasp.

Rumble—!

Like an unstoppable calamity, like a mythical being, it crushed every building in front of and around it without pause.

Only tens of minutes after its appearance, having already half-destroyed the city, it finally caught up to the fleeing crowds.

"Ugh, ugh...."

"P-please, save me...."

"Waaaah! Mommy!"

"Ah, ah..."

Soon, even the people who had been running with all their might.

Collapsed to the ground unconsciously beneath the shadow looming over them.

Ah.

No matter how much they ran.

There was no escaping now.

This was the end.

There, in front of the terror-stricken people.

At a point where just one more step could slaughter hundreds, even thousands at once.

It spoke once more, for the last time.

[Farewell.]

[Blame the incompetent Association.]

[Go to hell, humans.]

With that, it tore a nearby building from the ground as if pulling up a radish.

It aimed its arm, clutching the dangling structure with its outer walls stripped away, toward the gathered crowd.

At the moment the people resigned themselves to their fate and closed their eyes.

Suddenly, the giant weapon began to twitch.

"....?"

When the people, who had been waiting for their imminent death with closed eyes, felt something strange and opened them again.

The thing remained stationary with its arm still raised, twitching sporadically.

Then, an unidentified scream suddenly began to flow from the weapon.

[What are you?! You! Argh, aaaaaagh!! Resear...cher. Ugh. Gack.]

....

Static.

The sound of something breaking, someone screaming, and things being smashed.

Then came the sound of heavy thuds—thump, thump—as if something was being struck.

And then, silence.

"....."

The city center was suddenly plunged into stillness.

The city, which had been echoing with the weapon's speaker just moments ago, fell into an eerie silence.

In that place where only the intermittent sound of people's sobbing could be heard, the giant weapon remained frozen, still clutching the building as if to swing it.

Like a statue.

***

"Take that!"

"Aaaaagh!"

I repeatedly struck the man sitting in the cockpit with my wrench.

He slumped over, powerless.

"Who the hell is this guy?!"

"Kill him!!!"

As the nearby researchers lunged at me.

I shouted to Choi Se-hee, who was behind me.

"Electchu! Thunderbolt!!!"

"Here you go. Zap."

As Choi Se-hee simply fired off a burst of electricity.

The Haneun Group lackeys all collapsed, their bodies convulsing.

And at the end of it all, there was Doctor Kim Seonwoo, alone, backing away against the wall at the edge of the spacious cockpit.

"Hello, Doctor Kim Seonwoo. Nice to meet you, I'm Egostic."

I greeted him with a smirk.

Kim Seonwoo. The final boss of Phase 1, and the enemy of both Seo-eun and Subin.

Seeing him in person for the first time.

He looked even more pathetic and miserable than I had imagined.

"Y-you! Why are you doing this?! Weren't you a villain?!"

"Me? I am a villain. I was resting at home when a cool robot suddenly appeared. If I didn't steal it, would I even be a villain?"

"Do you have any idea what you're doing?! You idiot, you're blocking the evolution of a new humanity!"

"Haha. I fail to see how massacring Seoul's citizens has anything to do with evolution. And hey, old man."

I laughed for a moment before lowering my voice and speaking.

"Stop talking bullshit and shut up, you senile, crazy bastard."

"What! You little...!"

"Se-hee. Shoot him."

"K."

As Se-hee fired a jolt of electricity at the charging, crazed Kim Seonwoo, he slumped over instantly.

After giving the man on the floor a kick, I promptly locked them all away in our Ego-Underground Base.

With that, the cockpit was empty, leaving only me and Choi Se-hee.

"Hehe... Hahahahahaha!!!!"

Then, I found myself laughing like a madman.

"Hahahahaha!!!!"

"Hey... What's wrong?"

Ignoring Choi Se-hee's worried gaze, I continued to laugh maniacally for quite a while.

I mean, it was just too funny.

Something like this—the final boss of Phase 1, the trigger that plunges South Korea into anarchy, the cause of tens of thousands of deaths, and the thing that truly turns Stardus's life into a tragedy.

That it was suppressed this easily.

"Haha...."

Wiping away a tear that escaped from laughing too much, I looked around.

Clean white walls, a wall covered in dozens of monitors, and a cockpit with a view of the outside.

From this vantage point overlooking thousands of trembling people, I quietly approached the controls.

The final masterpiece created by the people of Haneun Group, who poured their everything into it.

A symbol of advanced technology that could completely destroy a city if left unchecked and could withstand almost any impact.

This giant weapon, truly something that makes a man's heart race.

"Now, shall we try operating this?"

There's a lot to do. For starters, it's a given that I'll be taking this thing to go fight Stardus. It's been a while, so let's give our little Stardust a serious power-up.

But before that, I should probably reassure the citizens shivering in fear over there.

"Ah, ah."

I switched on the microphone and spoke.

Time to get this show on the road.

***

And just like that.

The giant weapon, which had halted abruptly right before it could attack the citizens, began to move again after a short while.

Then, a voice suddenly began to broadcast once more.

[Ah, ah.]

The people were momentarily bewildered by the voice, which was much brighter and more cheerful than the one they had heard before.

Before they could even wrap their heads around the situation, the voice from the giant weapon continued to ring out.

[Hello, everyone!]

[Greetings. I am Egostic!]

Indeed.

Suddenly, truly out of the blue, a name that no one could have ever anticipated was heard.

While the crowd was falling into a state of confusion, his voice continued to echo.

[The Haneun Group folks really made something impressive, didn't they? Anyway...]

With a slight hint of laughter in his voice, he continued.

[So, I took it.]

[This is mine now.]

Those were words that truly no one had seen coming.