Chapter 81

EP.81 Seoul in Flames

Seoul.

The bustling metropolis, bathed in bright sunlight, seemed no different from any other day.

Yesterday, today, and tomorrow. A city that was expected to remain largely the same.

Though occasionally terrorists and monsters would appear, aside from such events, it was always a consistent and unchanging city.

While it was hard to predict if it would look the same ten years from now, it seemed that for at least the next week, it would remain peaceful.

Therefore, no one could have predicted that the end of their daily lives would come so abruptly.

An ordinary landscape.

Between tall buildings, a person on the rooftop gazing at the view.

This person was the first to notice the anomaly.

It was the same familiar scenery.

Tall buildings, the faint outline of mountains in the dark background behind them, and something massive beside them.

Something that a person staring blankly might not have noticed.

But something that a keen-eyed person would have immediately recognized.

"Shit."

"What the hell is that?"

In one corner of Seoul's downtown.

Far away, beside the mountains.

A massive something stood, looking down at the city.

A gray body, with a head shaped like a semicircle atop a cylindrical base. Two long steel legs and extended steel arms.

Something that looked like a mechanical weapon, something that seemed out of place in front of this city.

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

It began to approach, destroying the ground as it moved.

Boom.

Boom.

With each step, the earth shook, and with each step, the ground trembled.

It was like something out of a movie, destroying everything in its path.

"AAAAAAH!!!"

Only then did people realize the anomaly.

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

The once peaceful city quickly turned into a chaotic scene.

BOOM.

In no time, it reached the center of the city, standing tall amidst the buildings, exuding an overwhelming presence.

The asphalt where its massive legs stood was completely destroyed.

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

The sound of car horns, the sound of people screaming.

Everyone in the city woke up, trying to escape as quickly as possible.

Even though it was just standing there, it had paralyzed the city.

From where it stood, it looked down at the chaos it had caused.

Finally, a voice began to echo.

"You dogs of the government and the association."

A voice that reverberated throughout the city, at an incredibly high decibel.

A voice that sounded like metal being scratched, with static, making it even more chilling.

The voice echoed from the massive weapon.

"We, who are evolving into the new humanity, are being blocked by the remnants of the old humanity."

"You, the inferior and incompetent subordinates who cannot accept evolution and innovation."

"Your narrow and selfish thinking has finally brought down Han Eun, who was opening a new horizon for the Republic of Korea."

"You, who have destroyed something, prepare to be destroyed yourselves."

After saying this, the voice paused for a moment.

Then, in a much clearer and louder voice, it declared:

"Today, Seoul, including the government and the association, will end here."

"Everyone in this city."

"None will survive."

And with those final words.

It began to move.

BOOM.

Swinging its arm, it destroyed the buildings in front of it.

Proud skyscrapers, which seemed to have stood for decades, were effortlessly split in half.

With that, the weapon began to wreak havoc on the city.

Buildings that had been built over decades of industrialization.

Began to collapse under its hands.

BOOM.

Like an unstoppable disaster, a mythological presence, it destroyed everything in its path.

Within just a few minutes, it had already devastated half the city and caught up to the fleeing people.

"Ugh, ugh...."

"Please, save me...."

"AAAAH. Mommmm."

"A, a."

The people who had been running.

Fell to their knees, overwhelmed by the shadow that loomed over them.

Ah.

No matter how much they ran.

They couldn't run anymore.

This was it.

In front of the terrified people.

Just one more step, and it could have killed hundreds, thousands of people at once.

It spoke again, for the last time.

"Farewell."

"Blame the incompetent association."

"Go to hell, humans."

Then, it tore apart a nearby building with its arm.

Holding the damaged building, it aimed it at the crowd.

As people resigned themselves to their fate and closed their eyes.

Suddenly, the massive weapon began to twitch.

"....?"

People who had closed their eyes, waiting for death, opened them again, sensing something strange.

It twitched, still with its arm raised.

Then, an indistinct scream began to come from the weapon.

"What! You! Ugh, AAAH!! Research, lab. U. Ugh."

...

Static.

The sound of something breaking, someone screaming and being destroyed.

Then, the sound of something being stabbed.

And then, silence.

"....."

The city suddenly became quiet.

The weapon's speakers, which had been blaring moments ago, stopped, and the city became eerily silent.

Only the intermittent sound of people crying could be heard.

The massive weapon remained in the same position, poised to swing at the buildings.

Like a statue.

***

"Bang!"

"AAAAAAH!"

I hit the guy in the cockpit with a wrench.

The guy fell helplessly.

"What the hell is this guy!!!"

"Kill him!!!"

As the nearby researchers attacked me.

I shouted to Choi Sehee, who was behind me.

"Sehee! 1,000,000 volts!!!"

"Got it. Yea."

With Choi Sehee's simple electric shock.

The Han Eun Group lackeys all fell, trembling.

At the end, Dr. Kim Sun-woo was alone, leaning against the wall at the far end of the spacious cockpit, taking a step back.

"Hello, Dr. Kim Sun-woo. Nice to meet you, I'm Egostic."

I smiled and greeted him.

Kim Sun-woo. The final boss of Phase 1 and the enemy of Seun and Subin.

Seeing him in person for the first time.

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

"Y-You! Why are you doing this! You're a villain, aren't you?"

"Me? I am a villain. I was resting at home when a cool robot suddenly appeared. If I didn't take it, would that make me a villain?"

"Do you know what you're doing! You're blocking the evolution of the new humanity, you idiot!"

"Haha. I don't see how massacring Seoul citizens has anything to do with evolution. And old man."

I laughed and then lowered my voice.

"Shut up and stop your nonsense, you senile lunatic."

"What! Youuuu!"

"Sehee. Shoot."

"Okay."

As Kim Sun-woo, with his eyes rolling back, charged at me, Choi Sehee behind me shot an electric shock, and he collapsed.

Kicking the guy on the ground, I had him and the others locked up in our Egostic base.

With that, the cockpit was empty, and it was just me and Choi Sehee.

"Ha ha ha ha ha ha!!!!"

I couldn't help but laugh like a madman.

"Ha ha ha ha ha!!!!"

"Hey... why are you like that?"

Ignoring Choi Sehee's worried gaze, I laughed madly for a while.

It's just so absurd.

This, the final boss of Phase 1, the trigger that plunged the Republic of Korea into anarchy, the one who killed thousands and ruined Stardust's life.

Was so easily defeated.

"Ha ha...."

Wiping away the tears from laughing too much, I looked around.

The clean white walls, covered with dozens of screens. The cockpit with a view outside.

From here, where thousands of trembling people were visible, I quietly approached the control panel.

The ultimate masterpiece of the Han Eun Group, who poured everything they had into it.

A weapon that could destroy a city without restraint and withstand any shock, a symbol of cutting-edge science.

A truly awe-inspiring mechanical weapon.

"Let's try operating it, shall we?"

There's a lot to do. I plan to use this to fight Stardust and give our star dust a good boost.

Before that, let's reassure the trembling citizens over there.

"A, a."

I turned on the microphone and spoke.

Let's start the show.

***

That's how it happened.

The massive weapon, which had suddenly stopped before attacking the citizens, began to move again after some time.

Then, a voice began to echo from it.

"A, a."

A different, brighter, and more cheerful voice, which made people momentarily confused.

Before they could understand what was happening, the voice continued to echo from the weapon.

"Hello, everyone!"

"Greetings, I'm Egostic!"

Indeed.

Suddenly, unexpectedly. A name no one had predicted.

While people were in confusion, his words continued to echo.

"The Han Eun Group kids made something cool, right? Anyway...."

With a slight hint of laughter, he continued.

"So I took it."

"It's mine now."

It was a statement no one could have predicted.