### Chapter 290 – Room 204, Mission Room – ‘Hotel Cinema’ (13)
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– Cha Jinchul
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Let’s be honest here.
I don’t think I can catch that monster before my drink gets cold. Was my drink even boiling hot to begin with? It wouldn’t take more than 10 minutes to cool down, and there’s no way I could take down that thing in such a short time.
But everyone’s going to understand, right?
As a man born in a primitive war zone wielding a halberd, it’s perfectly okay to deliver a famous line from Guan Yu before I go, right?
But let’s get real for a moment. I’m the one who rushed in saying I’d take that creature down.
Kurta is not like Murthani.
If I dive in naively thinking I’d just “endure with determination” like last time, I’d be lucky to last three seconds. This calls for strategy. What could possibly be Kurta’s weakness?
The first thing that caught my eye was Kurta’s lightning bolts. They’re not falling from the sky but emitted from Kurta’s own body. A shining blue current swirled around the creature, resembling sparkly thread floating around it.
When one of those strands suddenly thickens, that’s the sign of an incoming lightning strike.
*
Thirty meters away—that’s practically in its face. My ears were ringing from the rumbling noise Kurta was making. The creature’s eyes, which had been slaughtering soldiers, fixed on me, as if mocking me for coming to my death.
I focused all my thoughts on piercing through Kurta’s intentions. What to do next? Charge in for a smackdown? Or…
Lightning attack?
The white spark swirling on Kurta’s shoulder flashed brilliantly, and in a burst of instinctual energy, I leaped diagonally with all my might.
The earth-shattering thunder grazed me by an inch. Even dodging it sent a searing heat that felt like it would fry me alive!
But I managed to evade the attack!
If I dodged the enemy’s strike, logic dictates it’s now my turn. In that split second, Kurta’s body—having blasted lightning—came to a halt.
I took a half-step back, twisted my waist, and stretched my right shoulder back as far as I could. Twisting my whole body, I maximized the divine strength granted by my blessing.
Like a bowstring sprung loose, I unleashed all my strength in a glorious eruption. The sound leaving my body was unbelievable, as if it couldn’t possibly come from a human—my spear sliced through the air, propelled by my grasp.
—Whoosh!
As the spear flew like a projectile, it lodged itself into Kurta’s shoulder, making the elephant-sized wolf stagger.
For that one glorious moment, I marveled at myself! Throwing a single spear and landing a hit on a giant wolf—that’s something even Guan Yu couldn’t accomplish!
‘You won’t go down easily!’
A dreadful voice echoed in my head, sounding disturbingly human-like. Could that pup use telepathy? Is that a possible skill for a god’s hunting dog?
Kurta’s eyes, trembling in pain, shifted from me to the spear in its shoulder. Was it thinking of pulling it out? As I realized the wolf’s gaze had left me, instinct kicked in.
The heavens had granted me an opportunity!
I dashed. Instead of pausing to think, I thought while I moved.
Why? Why is my instinct telling me to cling to the beast? Wouldn’t it be smarter to keep my distance and throw spears?
Nope.
Keeping my distance wouldn’t do against such a beast. Its mobility is vastly superior. That last hit was just a fluke due to Kurta’s carelessness.
Therefore, I had to stick to it. Not just fight nearby but literally climb aboard the beast!
Why?
A long-lost documentary I saw on TV popped into my mind. It said thought people have long been using falcons or eagles to hunt wolves.
Even though birds of prey are strong, their weight difference could be five to ten times against a beast as big as a wolf. Yet, they can pull it off.
It’s all due to the physical limitations of such animals. They can’t defend against an overhead attack from the birds, which makes them easy targets. This isn’t going to change even if the wolf’s size increases.
So…
I hoped Kurta had a similar weakness. As I leaped to the side, evading the spear lodged in its shoulder, I prayed and prayed again.
Please don’t let that monster suddenly throw its front paws back like a monkey or unleash a hidden fifth leg from behind!
But nothing bizarre happened. The second round began.
*
As soon as I grabbed onto Kurta’s back, brilliant white lights zipped past me. I barely evaded another laser-like attack, feeling as if I was jumping rope, but I nearly lost my grip as Kurta shifted during my air time.
“Let’s see who wins: you or me!”
I clenched my teeth and grabbed fistfuls of the wolf’s pencil-thin fur, then threw everything I had into a mighty punch on its back!
What’s that? An elephant-sized wolf? The power behind my punch could scare an elephant!
—Boom! Boom!
I kept throwing punches. The strength was so great; my own body felt like it was launching into the air from the recoil. With all my might in my thighs and calves, I clung to the wolf’s upper body—
“Son of a b—!”
Another fiery orb of light was coming for me!
Is this guy unfazed by such power swirling around him? Sure, if this lightning-wielding wolf got fried by its own thunder, it’d be funny in a way.
This time, I buried my upper body into the wolf’s fur. Thank goodness for that!
The white light just hovered around Kurta’s body, not penetrating deep enough to scorch me to ashes. It seemed that if it got too close, even Kurta wouldn’t be able to endure.
Having dodged the crisis, I redoubled my effort in hammering down on Kurta’s back. I swung so hard my body felt like it would break, and the skeleton I had earned the title of “indestructible” against Murthani might start to give way.
—Roar!
Kurta’s bellow shook the battlefield.
That cry was undeniably different from previous howls. Pain’s raw emotion mixed with the sound—almost as if even a god’s hunting dog couldn’t withstand it anymore.
Unceasingly beating Kurta’s concrete-like back, I soon felt my fists nearing their limits. The skin had peeled off; my left index finger was shattered, exposing the bone underneath.
With my teeth clenched, my mind raced. If I don’t take this monstrous wolf down, I’m the one who’s going to die!
Then, at that moment, my whole body swayed, and the world flipped upside down.
“Huh? What the—”
It didn’t take me long to realize what was happening.
Kurta figured it couldn’t shake me off by merely moving, so it decided to roll over onto the stony ground, gouging itself.
The wolf’s massive body tumbled over, and as I turned my head back, I was greeted by a rocky graveyard, sending shivers down my spine!
Am I going to die? Crushed under the weight of a wolf as big as an elephant? Seriously, I didn’t want to go out like this!
…
As I trembled in fear at the prospect of a horrid demise, both Kurta—the wolf trying to scrape me off—and I had missed one crucial point.
Wolves are covered in thick fur, unlike humans. Kurta was wearing large, pencil-like strands of fur longer than my leg.
In other words, instead of getting crushed against the stone, I found myself embedded deep within its fur. While its coarse yet sharp fur dug into my body, it was still a thousand times better than getting ground into gravel.
With the pressure squeezing down on me, my face embedded itself into Kurta’s back.
Struggling to balance, I realized my face was touching the very spot where I had struck dozens of blows, skin barely hanging onto the flesh, now half chewed off.
Right now, I was hanging onto the wolf with my arms and legs. But… I suddenly became aware of one last means to attack.
The most primitive weapon of beasts living in the wild is their mouth! I chomped down on Kurta’s back like a dog!
I was seriously going mad here. Sure, I’d heard of wolves biting people, but who knew I’d bite a wolf myself!
For the first time in my life, as I sank my teeth into my enemy, I realized: a human mouth isn’t a bad attacking tool after all. I hadn’t really put my all into biting stuff before this. My jaw strength enhanced by the blessing was likely closer to that of a crocodile or hyena rather than a normal human!
Tearing at chunks of flesh produced a sound that felt like it could split my head open.
‘You savage little brat! I’ll fry you alive!’
Oh, hell!
Now I’m getting called barbaric by a wolf! Just wait—I’m going to yank your spine out and boil some soup with it!
As I spread my arms wide over the spurting blood from the open wound, just when I was about to sink my teeth in again—suddenly, the wolf shook violently and stood back upright.
All at once, its stiff hair jabbed into me from all sides. It seemed like it flexed its back. What’s the plan? Are you going to stab me with hair?
When I snapped back to reality, I realized I couldn’t move at all due to the rigid fur enveloping me. As if it were waiting for this moment, that glowing white light from earlier began to close in on me.
Only then did I understand Kurta’s intent. The god’s hunting dog was intent on burning me alive with the wrath of thunder.
If Kurta blasted me with lightning while I’m stuck to it, it would likely get hurt too. But let’s be real; given the size difference, I’ll kick the bucket long before Kurta does.
I was immobilized.
Though Kurta’s muscle tension was immense, my body was already too wrecked. My fingers were exposed from various injuries, and my legs were stripped raw, blood oozing everywhere.
When the lightning strike came perilously close, I accepted my fate. This is it. There’s no way I’m winning against this insane beast.
…
‘Let me help you a bit.’
Huh?
‘I’ve been frustrated watching you.’
What in the world?
‘Once, I despaired of the imperfection inherent in human bodies. The evolution that could mend such flaws is far too slow.’
“Who… who are you?”
‘Thus, I decided. I would achieve a million years of evolution in an instant.’
My skin started to seethe.
My muscles twisted.
My bones trembled.
In the agony of transformation into something unrecognizable—I asked her,
“What are you! Who the hell are you?”
‘Who could I be?’
The figure of the girl gliding through the hazy illusion seemed genuinely curious.
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