Raon had fought dragons.
Raon had fought cyborg centipedes.
Raon had even fought Manager Kimchi after he discovered she'd "accidentally" filed her expense claims as religious donations.
But she had never faced anything as cursed…
as this.
A shadow fell over her and Shion.
A very large, very illegal, very monetized shadow.
The ground cracked as something titanic landed before them with the force of forty unpaid interns hitting rock bottom.
Then the smoke cleared.
And standing there was—
A skyscraper-sized humanoid, made entirely of video players, loading wheels, and banner ad frames. Every inch of its body flashed with 5-second countdowns.
At the center of its chest blazed the logo:
AD-X: THE UNSKIPPABLE
"OH COME ON!" Raon pointed accusingly. "I just fought the Subscription Overlord! Why is everything suddenly monetized?!"
Shion's tablet beeped.
"Economists estimate this dimension's GDP is 97% ad revenue."
"That's illegal!"
"That's capitalism."
Ad-X's voice boomed, glitching like twelve browser tabs autoplaying at once:
"PREPARE FOR YOUR 15-SECOND UNAVOIDABLE EXPERIENCE."
A giant, spectral Skip Ad button hovered high in the air—just out of reach.
Raon snarled. "Bet."
---
1. Opening Gambit: 0/15 Seconds Remaining
Ad-X stomped its foot. A shockwave blasted outward, launching a barrage of pop-up ads like shrapnel.
Raon weaved between them—
but one grazed her shoulder.
Instantly a hologram screamed:
"TRY CRYSTAL-KALE DETOX WATER! SPONSORED BY—"
Raon roundhouse-kicked the hologram so hard it subscribed to silence.
Shion was already scanning.
"Vital signs stable. Ego mildly bruised. Also, you have been cookied."
"…what."
"You've been cookied by the entity. It's tracking your preferences."
Raon's blood ran cold.
Ad-X raised an arm, assembling new weapons:
A Banner Blade
A Clickbait Catapult
A Sponsored Morning Routine Laser titled "I woke up at 4am to kill heroes, here's how!"
"RECOMMENDED: PAIN." Ad-X declared.
It fired.
---
2. Shion Hacks Reality (Again)
Shion sprinted toward a fallen ad-panel, fingers flying over her tablet.
"I'll try bypassing the ad renderer—"
"No hacks!" Raon shouted.
"Raon, it's an eldritch advertisement monster—"
"I DON'T CARE. I'm beating it manually."
Ad-X: "MANUAL OVERRIDE ACTIVATED. DISPLAYING 1080P PAIN."
A spotlight shone on Raon.
Music swelled.
It was the intro theme to a motivational YouTuber.
Raon screamed.
Shion screamed.
The universe screamed.
Shion grabbed Raon's hand. "Okay, Plan B. I'll distract it!"
She ran forward—yes, SHION ran toward a titan—and hurled a USB stick.
It bounced uselessly off the giant's shin.
"…Why did I think that would do something," Shion whispered.
Raon sighed. "Because you're cute and smart. Now get behind me."
Before Shion could protest, Raon launched herself into the air.
Straight toward the glowing Skip button high above.
But the titan anticipated it.
A massive video window materialized mid-air.
Raon crashed into it.
A narrator boomed:
"THIS EPISODE OF YOUR SUFFERING IS BROUGHT TO YOU BY—"
---
3. Raon Declares War on Ads Themselves
Raon punched through the video window, emerging furious and crackling with absurd protagonist energy.
"That's it," she growled.
"I'm uninstalling your whole species."
She kicked upward—
Launching herself like a rocket—
A blur of orange, white, and sheer anti-ad rage.
Ad-X swatted at her, but every strike missed.
The countdown timer ticked:
7… 6… 5…
Shion shouted from below:
"Raon! The countdown resets every time you attack!"
Raon froze mid-air.
"WHAT?!"
"I'm sorry—Ad-X is an infinite ad-loop generator!"
"AN INFINITE WHAT?!"
"An unskippable ad that keeps renewing itself!"
Raon's soul briefly left her body and filed a complaint.
"So what, just never attack?!"
"Correct!"
Raon plummeted back down, landing beside Shion with a thud.
"Okay. New plan. Running."
---
4. The Loop That Shouldn't Exist
Ad-X raised both arms.
A massive projection began forming — an ad so large it dimmed the entire world.
Shion's tablet beeped frantically.
"Raon… this is bad. It's deploying a—"
The projection flickered into clarity.
A glowing, endless, swirling tunnel of recommendations.
Shion whispered:
"…a Suggested For You Blackhole."
"Nope. Nope nope nope."
Raon dragged Shion backward.
"I've lost teammates to those. They come out three hours later talking about crypto."
The blackhole pulsed.
Everything began pulling toward it:
floating debris
shattered pop-ups
Raon's patience
Shion's dignity
Raon grabbed Shion, anchoring both of them with sheer thigh strength.
Ad-X roared:
"AFTER THIS, YOU WILL WATCH ANOTHER. AND ANOTHER. AND ANOTHER…"
Shion's eyes widened. "Raon. I've found its weakness."
"Please tell me it's 'kicks.'"
"No. It's something much, much dumber."
Shion tapped her tablet.
"Its entire body…
is running on a free, unsecured version of…
AdBlockPro+ Trial Edition."
Raon gasped.
"No way."
"Yes way. It only has one vulnerability."
"…the expiration date?"
Shion nodded.
Raon grinned.
---
5. Nuclear Plan: EXPLOIT THE FREE TRIAL
Shion lifted her tablet.
On-screen was a countdown:
AdBlockPro+ (Free Trial) — 00:00:43 remaining
Raon cracked her knuckles.
"Alright. I'll hold the titan off."
Shion blinked.
"Raon, no. I'm the hacker. You do the kicking."
"No, Shion. You'll be exposed if you get too close. Stay behind me."
Shion hesitated.
"But if the titan hits you—"
Raon put a hand on her head.
Soft. Warm.
Reassuring.
"I'll be fine. I've survived worse. Remember that time a vending machine fell on me?"
"You kicked it because it ate your coins."
"And I survived."
Shion sighed.
"…You didn't."
"Semantics."
The blackhole intensified.
Raon stepped forward, cracking her neck.
"Alright, tall dark and monetized. Let's dance."
Ad-X fired an entire arsenal of hyper-targeted, algorithmically optimized attacks.
Raon countered all of them without attacking back — she dodged, rolled, deflected, and occasionally bullied the trajectory with insults alone.
Shion watched her with awe.
Her Raon was unstoppable.
Her Raon was brave.
Her Raon was stylish.
Her Raon—
"SHION!"
She snapped out of it.
"Yes! Sorry!! Updating the trial clock now!"
00:00:07
00:00:06
00:00:05
Ad-X unleashed its ultimate attack:
A 10-hour compilation of "Top 500 Emotional Music Mixes."
Raon screamed as the nostalgia hit physically.
"HURRY SHIONNNN!"
00:00:02
00:00:01
FREE TRIAL EXPIRED
The titan froze.
Every ad window flashed the same error message:
"PLEASE PURCHASE FULL VERSION TO CONTINUE."
Raon and Shion looked at each other.
Shion whispered, "Kick it."
Raon nodded.
---
6. THE FINAL KICK
Raon leapt.
Time slowed.
The titan's core flickered, desperately trying to load one last unskippable ad.
Raon twisted mid-air—
Her eyes blazing—
Her leg drawn back—
ONE
HEROIC
KICK.
She struck the titan's core.
Everything shattered like glass.
The titan exploded into harmless pixels, dissolving into digital dust.
Raon landed in front of Shion, arms crossed.
"Unskippable my butt."
Shion threw herself at Raon in a hug she definitely meant to be casual but definitely wasn't.
"You did it! You actually did it!"
Raon blinked, flustered.
"…It was just a kick."
"No! It was heroic, dramatic, theatrical—"
"You're embarrassing me."
"Good."
---
7. Aftermath — But No Peace
The battlefield quieted.
The blackhole collapsed.
For the first time since entering Ad Hell… silence.
Shion exhaled.
"Raon… let's go home."
But the air behind them shimmered.
A new figure appeared.
Smooth. Suave. Wearing a suit made of pure dark UI themes.
It smirked.
"Congratulations on defeating my subordinate."
Raon groaned.
"You've gotta be kidding me."
The figure bowed politely.
"I am Dark Mode Emperor… ruler of the deepest preferences."
Shion's tablet glitched.
Raon clenched her fists.
"Oh great," she muttered.
"Another boss."
---
END OF CHAPTER 96