Within a single day, the world was once again thrown into chaos.
The creatures that had only carried the label monsters, until now no different from ordinary bugs, suddenly grew stronger.
The most threatening of them were Mosquito Monsters. Overnight, more than 3,000 young children across the globe died after being bitten.
Most were under three years old, with a few cases among the elderly.
Even healthy adults were not entirely safe, many reported itching after mosquito bites and even sought treatment at dermatology clinics.
The number, 3,000 deaths worldwide, was not, in itself, considered enormous.
But because they were almost all infants, and because it had occurred simultaneously across the world in a single night, the impact was devastating.
For parents, it was pure terror.
"Damn it…"
Hyunseok bit his lip.
He had received the notification of entering Easy Mode, and the very next day, this disaster occurred.
There was no doubt about it anymore. This was not a game.
Yesterday, his mood had been good.
Thanks to the "First Merchant" title, he had received 3 bonus stat points, which allowed him to raise every stat by +1, neatly rounding all his attributes to 100.
It didn't make an immediate difference, but seeing those perfectly aligned numbers made him strangely satisfied.
And what was more ridiculous, every time he became the first to break a stat threshold, he received another title, each giving bonus stat points. He had already accumulated 12 bonus points in total.
When he arrived at work, everyone was talking about the same thing.
"Senior, did you hear the news from last night?"
The one approaching him was Kim Sohyun, age twenty-seven.
Not a stunning beauty, but with her bright personality and considerate manner, she was well-liked in their workplace, KEPCO (Korea Electric Power Corporation), a company filled mostly with men.
"Yeah, I heard."
"It's really scary, isn't it? Something terrible might happen, right?"
"Hmm…"
Hyunseok chuckled softly and shrugged his shoulders.
If he wanted to, he could probably take Sohyun to bed, but he avoided intimate relationships with women in his immediate surroundings.
Entanglements at work only caused problems.
Sohyun handed him a paper cup of instant milk coffee, smiling.
"But, Senior, do you know this?"
"What?"
"There's a rumor floating around online… You know how monsters started showing up? Well, apparently there are people who can deal with them. They're called… what was it… ah, Slayers…"
"Se–Senior?"
Hyunseok dropped his coffee without realizing it.
It was lukewarm enough not to burn, but the brown liquid stained his pants badly.
"Ah! S-sorry. Did I scare you?"
"No, I don't mind that… but your pants, Senior. Wait here, I'll get something to clean it with."
Hyunseok's mind went blank.
Slayers.
Rumors said they existed. Which meant… he wasn't the only one.
Work hours hadn't begun yet. He quickly turned on his computer and checked online.
No official announcements. But in message boards, rumor threads were spreading.
― I became a Mayfly Slayer. My stats are over 20. I got super strong.
― Grats, lol. But you better fill up your Vitality Points fast.
― Yeah. I just need +3 more. I think I'll clear the Tutorial soon.
― Guys, don't forget to raise Intelligence. Later you'll unlock Battle Fields, and that's linked to Int.
There was even an online community forming for Slayers.
Most seemed to be young people.
'No, there must be older ones too, they just don't bother joining.'
Still, from the way they wrote and acted, they looked very young. Kids calling themselves Slayers, posting about stats and skills. Normally, Hyunseok would have dismissed them as trolls.
Tutorial Mode? Stats? Intelligence Points?
That was all game jargon.
But Hyunseok knew, this was no game.
Monsters had appeared. And now… ability users were appearing too.
"What the hell is going on…?"
After the night when more than 3,000 children died, countries across the world took swift action.
Most advanced nations already had monster-response agencies in place. Since most monsters were bug-type, they launched nationwide pest-control campaigns, and developed vaccines to counteract mosquito venom, selling them cheaply.
Deaths plummeted rapidly. That much was fortunate.
But that was only the story for some advanced nations.
Even among them, only about ten countries, including the U.S. and Japan, acted decisively, and mostly in major cities. Rural areas remained vulnerable.
Korea's handling wasn't flawless, but at least nationwide extermination campaigns started immediately, nearly wiping out Mosquito Monsters.
The real problem was the lack of a dedicated response agency.
President Kim Geunhee issued a public statement promising swift action and the creation of an official agency.
Online opinion flared. Though the pest-control efforts were effective, trust in the government waned.
Especially among parents who had lost children. Nobody could blame them. Their grief needed a target, and the government became it.
― Honestly, this is pretty good already. What more do people want? The government isn't some superhero squad.
― Exactly. Nationwide extermination in one night, death toll reduced to single digits. I don't trust the government either, but credit where it's due.
There were supportive voices, but criticism dominated online. Offline, opinions were more balanced, most admitted the government had handled it fairly well.
Hyunseok closed his eyes slightly.
"Yeah… they did as well as they could."
He wasn't concerned about politics.
He cared more about what was happening to him.
Easy Mode… what's actually different?
So far, monsters were just slightly stronger. The new bug-types were wiped out quickly by exterminators.
But even now, more kept appearing.
"Where are these things coming from…?"
Then a system chime rang.
[Lowest-rank Monster: Mayfly detected.]
[Easy Mode permits opening of a Battle Field.]
[Open Battle Field? Y/N]
When the Battle Field opened, Hyunseok nearly gasped.
"Shit… what the hell is happening!?"
He stretched his hand toward the mayfly on the table, then his body moved without his control.
KWA-BOOM!
The table shattered to pieces. Not just broken, pulverized.
[You have hunted a Lowest-rank Monster: Mayfly.]
[Lowest-rank Monsters do not generate Monster Stones.]
This was different from before. His body in Easy Mode felt nothing like Tutorial Mode.
[Excessive strength for Easy Mode detected.]
[Stat bonuses and EXP disabled due to exceeding standard limits.]
[Level system restricted.]
[EXP system restricted.]
Messages kept flooding in. He was too dazed to process them, staring blankly at the ruined table.
"What… the hell is this?"
[No target detected. Battle Field closed.]
Suddenly, all strength drained from his body. His movements grew heavy.
So when the Battle Field opens… all my stats become active at once.
That must be it. With a target present, the Battle Field triggered, unleashing the power of his 100-aligned stats.
"…That's it."
But control was difficult. If he accidentally activated a Battle Field near people, he could kill someone without meaning to.
I'll need to practice… maybe tonight, in the mountain behind my house.
He needed monsters nearby to trigger Battle Field. The forest would be the best place to train.
His once-boring, stable life was beginning to change.
The world too was shifting rapidly.
These phenomena could not be explained by science.
Hyunseok's Tutorial Mode had evolved into Easy Mode, but not only him. Across the world, more people began appearing, claiming to be Slayers.
What started as rumor was becoming fact.
They were roughly divided into three types:
Combat SlayersRecovery SlayersSupport Slayers
The most dangerous were Combat Slayers. Individually, their stats varied, but most were far beyond ordinary humans.
Many used their newfound power for crime, or harmed people by accident.
Governments responded with strict crackdowns, restricting their freedom and even detaining them.
"Combat Slayers, Recovery Slayers, and Support Slayers…"
Hyunseok pondered.
Tests showed that Combat Slayers couldn't maintain their Battle Fields alone for long. At best, five minutes. Stronger than average during that time, but afterward they reverted to normal.
But with Support Slayers, it was different.
Support Slayers had no combat power of their own but could extend Battle Fields and activate Recovery Fields.
They also, though Hyunseok didn't yet know this, could restore inanimate objects inside Battle Fields to their previous state.
Recovery Slayers acted like healers or priests in games. Their power worked only on injuries sustained within Battle or Recovery Fields, and only while a field was active. Alone, their field duration and efficiency were weak.
Most accidents caused by Combat Slayers involved young people, teenagers and those in their twenties. Older Slayers caused fewer incidents statistically.
Still, their power was not invincible. Modern weapons remained effective. In America, one twenty-something Slayer was even killed by police gunfire.
Better to lay low for now and observe.
Governments worldwide began managing and restricting Slayers, treating them as unpredictable unknowns.
A few days later, another discovery was reported:
― Near Dobongsan, a newly-appeared Wild Boar showed strong resistance to weapons. This phenomenon has been named a "Shield."
Shields.
Monsters with physical defense barriers began to appear.
A veteran boar hunter in his forties, armed with a shotgun, died after failing to pierce such a Shield.
In effect, a Shield acted like extra HP. Even the weakest monsters, like mayflies or mosquitoes, became stronger when they had Shields. Where once an electric flyswatter killed them instantly, now it took several hits.
And in the case of larger monsters like wild boars, Shields could withstand even firearms.
― However, it has also been confirmed that Shields are vulnerable to Slayers' attacks…
Modern weapons struggled, but Slayers' power cut through Shields with ease.
(End of Chapter 3)
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