Chapter 6: Approach of a Femboy
Author: Mouse_Kun, Advisor: Shadowknight_950
Jaemin leaned against the cold, cracked wall, still breathing heavily from his escape. His heart pounded in his chest, adrenaline coursing through his veins. He glanced at the remains of the abomination, still steaming from the grotesque explosion. The stench of burnt flesh and decay clung heavily in the air, making it almost unbearable to breathe.
After taking a moment to catch his breath, Jaemin wiped the blood from his face and crouched down to pry the crystal from the abomination's remains. He carefully wrapped it in cloth, avoiding direct contact, his hands trembling slightly from the intense pressure radiating from the crystal. The moment he touched it, even through the fabric, the ominous energy in the air seemed to spike again.
"I was lucky I didn't maintain direct contact for too long, or my fate would've been just like that abomination's..." Jaemin muttered under his breath. He paused, then frowned. "But how am I going to carry this home without anyone noticing?"
A sudden thought flickered in his mind. Jaemin straightened, his eyes shifting between the system panel hovering in front of him and the black crystal resting in his palm.
"Wait... If this system works like a video game, it probably has an inventory feature too," he reasoned.
Without wasting any time, he moved closer to the system panel and gingerly pushed the black crystal toward it. To his relief, the crystal was slowly absorbed into the panel, an icon of it appearing on the screen.
"I'm a genius!" Jaemin exclaimed, unable to contain his excitement. The tension he had been feeling moments earlier eased as he marveled at the system's functionality.
With the black crystal safely stored away, he turned his attention back to the abomination's remains, spotting another crystal nestled within the charred flesh. He quickly picked it up—a pseudo D-rank crystal—and glanced at the system as it issued a familiar notification.
"Ding! Pseudo D-rank crystal detected. Absorbing it will grant 200,000 experience. Would you like to proceed?"
Jaemin's brow furrowed as he read the message. "Only 200,000 experience? That's lower than I expected. It seems the higher I level up, the less experience I gain from lower-ranked crystals." He sighed. "It's not even enough to push me to the next level."
He checked his progress, noting he still needed roughly 300,000 experience points to reach level 17. With a frustrated shake of his head, Jaemin turned and made his way toward the staircase. When he reached the rubble blocking his path to the surface, he clenched his fist and, with a single punch, obliterated the debris, clearing the way with ease.
Once outside, Jaemin scanned the area, eager to test his enhanced combat abilities. Spying a towering 20-story building in the distance, he walked over and threw a punch at it. The sheer force of the air pressure alone tore the structure apart, reducing it to rubble in an instant. Jaemin's eyes widened in amazement, his heart racing with exhilaration.
"F*cking awesome!" he shouted, unable to contain his excitement.
Now fully aware of his newfound strength, Jaemin ventured deeper into the city. He waited until night fell, knowing that this was when the abominations roamed freely. As darkness blanketed the city, he spotted several abominations emerging from the shadows—most of them non-ranked, though a few F-ranked ones stalked the streets.
Jaemin gripped his dagger, preparing for battle. But as he tightened his hold, the dagger snapped in half, the blade clattering to the ground. He stared at it in shock.
"So fragile..." he whispered, though he quickly realized the issue wasn't the dagger's fragility but his own overwhelming strength.
He clenched his fists and stepped into the dark, abomination-infested streets. Strength coursing through his body made him feel invincible. Who needed weapons when his fists could rip apart buildings?
As he ventured deeper into the city, the night came alive with the sounds of distant roars and the eerie groans of the abominations. Their shadows stretched across the walls, their grotesque forms moving with predatory intent. Jaemin smirked, flexing his fingers.
A large abomination, hunched and deformed, slithered out from behind a crumbled building. Its body was covered in misshapen limbs, with skin that looked like it had been melted and fused together. Its hollow eyes locked onto Jaemin, and without hesitation, it lunged forward with a screech.
Jaemin planted his feet, his muscles tensing as he prepared for the impact. When the abomination was close enough, he sidestepped its charge and threw a brutal punch into its side. The force of his strike sent the creature flying into a nearby wall, its body crumpling from the impact.
"Not bad," Jaemin muttered, his fist tingling with the aftermath of the hit. The abomination twitched, struggling to get back up, but Jaemin didn't give it the chance. He leapt forward, driving his knee into its torso, crushing its chest with a sickening crunch.
As the abomination's twisted form went limp, Jaemin could hear the familiar sound of experience points flowing through his ears.
"Ding! You gained 50,000 experience for defeating an F-rank monster."
Without a weapon, Jaemin relied entirely on his body. He darted toward another approaching abomination, a hulking mass of muscle and teeth, and leapt into the air. Twisting mid-air, he delivered a powerful spinning kick to the side of its head. The sheer force of the blow decapitated the creature, its head flying off and rolling across the ground.
"Ding! You gained 50,000 experience for defeating an F-rank monster."
Another abomination, faster and more agile, rushed him from the side, its claws outstretched. Jaemin ducked, narrowly avoiding the swipe, and grabbed the creature by the arm. With a sharp twist, he tore the limb clean off, then drove his fist into the abomination's face, reducing it to pulp.
"Ding! You gained 50,000 experience for defeating an F-rank monster."
Jaemin's confidence grew with each encounter. His raw physical power had become overwhelming. Every punch and kick sent shockwaves through the air, tearing apart the abominations as if they were made of paper. He relished every moment of it.
Suddenly, the ground beneath him shook. Jaemin froze, his eyes narrowing as the street cracked open. From the fissure emerged a creature far larger than any of the abominations he had faced so far. Its body was grotesquely muscular, its skin glowing with faint, pulsating veins of dark energy. Its eyes burned with a savage intelligence.
"Well, that's more like it," Jaemin muttered, a grin creeping across his face. His blood boiled with anticipation.
The abomination roared, shaking the very air around them, and charged at Jaemin. This time, there would be no holding back.
Jaemin tightened his fists, bracing himself as the beast closed the distance. He met the creature head-on, launching a devastating punch that collided with its chest. The impact sent shockwaves rippling through the ground, but the creature held its ground, snarling in defiance.
Jaemin grinned, feeling the thrill of a real fight. "Now we're talking."
He ducked under the abomination's wild swing and countered with a flurry of punches, each strike faster and harder than the last. His fists hammered into the beast's flesh, but the creature's tough hide absorbed much of the impact. Jaemin didn't let up, weaving between its attacks and delivering blow after blow.
Suddenly, the abomination caught him with a heavy backhand, sending Jaemin crashing through a nearby wall. He groaned, picking himself up from the rubble. Blood trickled from the corner of his mouth, but the pain only fueled his excitement.
Wiping the blood from his face, Jaemin dashed forward again, this time aiming for the creature's weak points. He feinted a strike to its head, then ducked low, delivering a crushing uppercut to its exposed jaw. The force of the blow sent the abomination staggering back, its legs wobbling from the impact.
Seizing the moment, Jaemin leapt into the air, his body twisting as he delivered a powerful kick to the side of the abomination's head. The creature's skull cracked, and with a final roar, it collapsed to the ground, defeated.
Breathing heavily, Jaemin stood over the abomination's corpse, his fists still clenched, adrenaline still coursing through his veins. The night was far from over, but he could feel himself getting stronger with each fight.
"Ding! You gained 300,000 experience for defeating an E-rank monster."
"Ding! Congratulations, your level has increased."
Jaemin collected the fallen crystals from the dead abominations and absorbed them. After converting the crystals into experience points, he rushed off to find more abominations to fight.
After several hours, as the sun rose, Jaemin sat atop a mountain of abomination corpses. He had killed every single abomination in the city but had failed to level up again.
Standing up, Jaemin dusted off his clothes, deciding to return to the military base to apply for a higher-ranked battlefield.
Back at the base, he handed over fifty non-ranked monster crystals and a few F-rank crystals at the counter, earning himself a total of 500,000 won.
Jaemin was ecstatic, unable to hide the grin spreading across his face. This was more money than he'd ever seen before. After a brief moment to compose himself, he left the counter and headed toward the exit gate of the military base, already planning his next steps. He knew he needed a stronger battlefield to continue leveling up and gathering more resources.
As Jaemin neared the gate, a voice called out from behind him.
"Hey, wait up!"
Jaemin turned around, his heart sinking as he spotted Minjae approaching. He groaned inwardly, trying to maintain a neutral expression.
"What the hell... Why is this femboy approaching me again?" Jaemin whispered to himself while forcing a polite smile. He hoped his internal frustration wasn't obvious.