A couple hours earlier. Shin Ye-Jun's POV.
We left the building behind, its broken windows reflecting the early sun like shattered teeth. There were no monsters in sight, but that didn't mean the city was safe. I could feel eyes watching from behind cracked doors, people too afraid to come out, waiting for someone else to save them. Waiting for the gods to roll the dice in their favor.
I didn't blame them. If it wasn't for Ye-Rin's and her side quest, I might've done the same—stayed somewhere quiet, somewhere I could pretend the world hadn't lost its mind. But we didn't have that choice. Not anymore.
Our pace was faster than yesterday. Maybe we were getting used to this madness—or maybe we were just overconfident.
My old studio house was on the outskirts, nestled near a cliff that overlooked the sea. I used to record monthly podcasts there, interviewing celebrities, athletes, and other creators. This month's guests were supposed to be Park Seo-Yeon and Seong In-Ji. Today was their arrival date.
Tomorrow was going to be the shoot.
It would've been a surprise for Ye-Rin—she practically worshiped Seo-Yeon, even though they were close in age. Funny how fate works.
"We need to avoid the main streets," I said, leading them through the broken alleyways.
I was up front, mother in the middle, and Ye-Rin at the rear—classic triangle formation. We'd been walking nearly an hour and still hadn't run into a single monster. Maybe Ye-Rin's Lucky Roulette Nature was finally kicking in.
We'd been walking for over an hour now, and not a single monster had shown itself. The air was too still, like the city was holding its breath. No alarms. No screams. No wind. Just the sound of our footsteps echoing between hollow skyscrapers.
Too quiet.
"Maybe we're just lucky," Ye-Rin said, trying to sound casual, but I could hear the tension in her voice.
"I don't trust quiet," I muttered. "Quiet gets you killed in horror games."
Right on cue, something slithered in the shadow of a broken car.
Three wolves stepped out—black as a moonless night, their fur clinging to them like oil. Their eyes were hollow sockets, their maws dripping red, and their claws looked too long, like they'd been growing underground.
They didn't growl.
They just watched us.
"Wh-what the hell are those?" Ye-Rin asked, freezing in place.
"Shadow wolves," Mi-Sun said flatly. "Undead. Low-tier, but aggressive pack behavior."
The wolves began to fan out. One circled left. Another right. The largest kept staring at me like I was a snack he didn't want to share.
"Curse of Slowness!"
Mi-Sun raised her scythe. A wave of black mist erupted from her hand and latched onto two of them. Their legs buckled mid-step as the spell drained their momentum.
That was our cue.
I surged forward, calling to the spirits. My staff shimmered, reshaping into a spear with a flash of emerald light. The transformation now felt instinctive—like a handshake with something old and wild.
I lunged. The spear pierced the slowed wolf's neck cleanly. It let out a choking whimper before collapsing.With a flick, the spear returned to its original staff form. I swung again, smashing another wolf in the jaw. Its head twisted unnaturally, then fell limp. It is stunned.
Mom's scythe sang through the air. One stroke. One clean decapitation.
The third one?
It was smarter.
It dashed toward Ye-Rin, then disappeared mid-stride.Before her hammer could connect, the damn thing dove into its own shadow.
"Where'd it—"
It burst from behind her, snarling.
Ye-Rin didn't hesitate. She twisted her hammer mid-swing and rotated her entire body. The move was wild, clumsy even—but it landed perfectly. The hammer crushed the beast's stomach. A sickening crunch, and then silence.
~ Shin Mi-Sun has leveled up.~
"Level 6," my mother said, brushing the gore off her scythe. "Not bad."
"This was easier than expected," Ye-Rin muttered, flicking blood off her face.She exhaled, shaking spoke. "I thought I was done for."
"You improvised," I said, nudging the wolf carcass with my foot. "That shadow-counter wasn't bad."
"Didn't plan it," she mumbled. "I just—moved."
I smirked. "Welcome to the chaos curve."
"I'm surprised," Mi-Sun added, her tone neutral but faintly impressed. "Those things didn't give us much trouble. Guns didn't work on them during that livestream yesterday."
"Maybe that's the trick," I said, shifting my spear back into a staff. "Levels make the difference. The faster we level up, the less bullets we waste."
"We still need to move," Mi-Sun warned, scanning the street ahead. "We've made noise. Something might've heard."
We started walking again, quieter this time. The kind of quiet that comes after surviving something you weren't sure you could survive.
We moved on.
But something still felt off.
"Still no police, no soldiers," Mom said, scanning the buildings.
"Like they'd help," Ye-Rin replied, her tone flat. "I'm more worried about the monsters not appearing."
"Ah, so you're Detective Conan today?" I teased. I believed it was her NATURE ability that we are not constantly facing danger.
Then suddenly.
From the rooftops, two spider monkeys spiraled through the air, their bodies crashing into a construction site wall just meters from us.
Instinctively, I raised my staff and widened my stance. "Incoming!"
"Wait," Mom said. "Look... mana threads."
Threads of glowing blue mana still clung to their bodies.
"You think someone—?" I started.
"Yes," she cut in. "Someone is fighting back."
Ye-Rin pointed toward a side street. "They came from there."
We followed the trail.
And then, just like that—we saw them.
"Is that... Park Seo-Yeon and Seong In-Ji?" I blinked.
The guests. My guests. Why the hell were they here?They were surrounded by monkey corpses and clumps of white fur soaked in blood.
A larger horde of spider monkeys—twenty, maybe twenty-two—crawled along the buildings and poles, twitching like bugs on caffeine. And then I saw it.
Standing tall among them was a hulking three-foot alpha, with two scarred arms crossed and eight beady eyes staring us down like it had already won.
"That's a boss monkey if I've ever seen one," I muttered.
"We don't have time to be polite. Accept the party request." Mother had already sent them out. A second later, the system pinged:
**– Shin Mi-Sun has formed a party.
– All party members synced.
I watched as they tapped their menus. Accepted.
I took stock of the area—narrow alleys, closed shops, rubble everywhere. The west side was our entry point. Right was a dead end. The left and front were blocked by monkeys.
They didn't move.
Then one of them—a bigger one, nearly 3 feet tall—let out a screech.
Chaos.
I tapped my staff to the ground. "Spirits—give me bat."
The staff twisted, grew, and reformed into a thick, obsidian-colored bat. The grip felt good. Familiar. Comforting.
What followed was chaos, but it was our chaos. We didn't need saving—we were the threat.
Ye-Rin roared as she spun her Axe like a turbine, sweeping monkeys off their feet. Mi-Sun's scythe blurred through the air, limbs and fur flying. I took on the left flank, smashing through skulls, one after another.
The monkeys were fast—dodging, leaping, webbing from wall to wall. But they were uncoordinated, twitchy, too sure of their numbers.
In-Ji started firing his gun—it actually worked on these things.
Ye-Rin darted across the street toward Seo-Yeon.One of them shot a thread at my eyes. I was blinded—just for a second.
When I peeled the web off, I saw it midair, tangled in something I didn't know.
I crushed it.
Mom moved like lightning. One monkey leapt from behind—and was met with a shield. It was the guy with the my guests.
Seo-Yeon kept her focus, threads glowing from her fingers as she yanked one monkey mid-air and flung it into another like a wrecking ball.
But the alpha wasn't impressed. It screeched again and rushed me with terrifying speed, two arms weaving threads while the other two clawed forward.
"Little help?" I shouted, stumbling back.
"Already on it!" Ye-Rin yelled.
I ducked as her axe crashed into the alpha's ribs, launching it sideways. Before it landed, Seo-Yeon snagged it with her threads mid-air and slammed it against the wall with a sickening crunch.
It twitched once. Then went still.
The others paused.
And then—panic.
Like someone flipped a switch, the rest of the monkeys scattered, climbing walls, vanishing into alleys, screeching in fear.
~Sang woo level upto 4~
~Seong In-Ji level UpTo 5~
~Park Seo-yeon level UpTo 4~
~Shin Mi-sun level UpTo 7~
~Shin Ye-Rin level UpTo 6~
~Shin Ye-Jun level UpTo 6~
Silence followed, heavy and thick.
In-Ji immediately ran toward Seo-Yeon, who had collapsed onto one knee, chest heaving. He placed a hand on her shoulder, checking her for wounds. She looked up, nodded weakly. They didn't say much—but they didn't have to.
At the same time, Ye-Rin bolted toward Mi-Sun, who was leaning on her scythe for support. "Mom, are you okay?" Her voice cracked slightly as she reached out.
Mi-Sun gave her a tired smile. "Just winded. Nothing I can't handle."
That's when I noticed something twitch near one of the corpses.
I took a step closer, squinting. Nestled beside the torn-up body of what I assumed was its mother... was a tiny spider monkey. Barely the size of my palm. It blinked at me.
"It's... a baby?" Ye-Rin appeared beside me again.
My instincts flared. I raised my bat.
"Wait," she grabbed my arm. "You're really gonna kill a baby monkey?"
"It's a monster," I said, but even I sounded unsure.
"It's literally holding a leaf like it's a blanket."
"Yeah well—monsters can pretend too."
The baby spider monkey stared up at me... and sneezed. Loudly.
Ye-Rin tried to hold in her laugh and failed miserably. "Oh no. Look out. It might kill you with pollen."
I sighed, dropping the bat.
– [Infant Spider Monkey] shows affection.
– 100% Taming Chance Detected.
– Do you wish to tame? [Yes] / [No]
It waddled over, eyes full of something like... trust? Grief? I didn't know. But it leaned against my leg.
I looked at the prompt. I looked at the sneezy furball clinging to my leg. I looked at Ye-Rin.
She handed me her water bottle. "You're already a dad now. Might as well hydrate your kid."
"You naming it?" I asked, picking the monkey up. It
blinked at me. I could feel its tiny heart racing.
Ye-Rin smirked. "If it poops on you, I'm calling it Ye-Junior."
That made me snort.
Then—
BOOM.
The wall behind us exploded.
Something fast—too fast—charged straight through the alley and crashed into Sang-Woo's shield.
A cracking noise. Then screams.
Dust and debris clouded our vision. When it cleared, the shield was shattered, Sang-Woo was lying on the side, and half of his upper torso... was gone.
The horse beast stood above him, chewing.
I knew, even before I saw the party screen grayed
out.
No one moved. No one scream. Just the voice of the horse chewing.
He is dead.