Can I win?
Facing the colossal 100-meter-tall creature, shrouded in ominous magic— the Great Beast —was it even possible?
"...Impossible. There's no way. Unless it's someone at the level of the Tower Lord."
For someone at Gordius’s level, with all the knowledge he possessed, there was no way to land an effective blow against such a massive creature. That thing required a nation to face it.
Civilization was strong. It was currently floundering due to the sudden appearance, but soon, the military would mobilize. Bullets, missiles, bombs—the refined violence of science would rain down.
So, what could an individual do? The only option was to flee.
Was this luck? The magic exuding from the Great Beast rapidly increased the concentration of mana in the air, making it almost like his original world.
There was no need to conserve magic as before.
Gordius quickly scanned his surroundings and soon spotted a helipad. A perfectly drawn circle with an 'H' inside—ideal for converting into a magic circle.
He erased the 'H' and engraved a magic circle inside. With a short chant and a surge of mana, it activated.
" Golem Creation: Flight Form ."
Rrrrrip—!!
The rooftop tore apart and quickly transformed into the shape of a small boat. Literally, a flying ship. Gordius boarded the vessel and fled from the Great Beast.
Fortunately, the beast didn’t pursue him.
Unlike the violent destruction it unleashed upon its appearance, leveling nearby buildings, it now stood still, its arms hanging quietly at its sides.
"..."
The screams of civilization, the sound of collapsing buildings, gradually faded.
Then, the cries of the people, previously drowned out, filled the silence. Pain, fear, despair, sorrow. The weak humans could only wail in the face of such sudden disaster.
The sight below was hellish.
"Mom! Mom, where are you...?!"
"My leg... my leg's stuck! Somebody help! My leg's trapped!"
"Move! Get off the road, you idiot, can't you hear me?!"
Horns blared from cars, alarms sounded from collapsed buildings, and footsteps echoed as people ran in chaos. Those who tripped or fell down stairs inadvertently caused further harm to others, contributing to the collateral damage.
Chaos was killing those who should have survived.
Gordius frowned and muttered, "What a waste."
It was indeed a waste. The upcoming battle with the Great Beast was inevitable. So, the loss of life purely due to disorganization was an absurd waste.
It bothered him. A scene from his past kept flashing in his mind, provoking his emotions.
If he only thought about his own safety, it would be smart to simply speed up and flee. But the cries for help below were holding him back.
And he had the power to help.
"...In that case, this is an investment. One of these people could be important, maybe even useful in the distant future..."
He couldn’t save everyone like some kind of miracle worker. But clearing the roads, removing debris, and guiding people to safety—that much was within his power.
Taking a deep breath, he chanted. His studies allowed him to calculate the properties and structure of the materials around him, so more people could escape the Great Beast.
"Mother Earth, absorb the mana and move. Earth Shift ."
Grrrrrk, grrk!
The road shifted left and right, widening.
"Branch out like a tree limb, Alejandro’s Path ."
The ground softened like clay, stretching out to create narrow paths for people to move along. These makeshift roads crossed over shattered windows on the second floors of buildings or bypassed the streets, moving along the y-axis to avoid disrupting existing roads.
" Cough, cough... Release the boots of the traveler now, Partial Liquefaction ."
For those trapped beneath debris, he liquefied the ground around them. A man with his leg stuck crawled out, and a family emerged from the wreckage of a collapsed building.
A girl missing an arm pushed her way out from the rubble, glancing up at Gordius, realizing that he had saved her. She bowed her head in gratitude.
Gordius didn’t bother to respond. Instead, he flew ahead of the fleeing crowd, becoming a guidepost. That’s how a man speaks—through his actions.
The mage from the Golden Tower had given a dying city a breath of life.
The speed of the evacuation increased, and those who would have perished were now being saved. Gordius swallowed the blood rising in his throat and smiled faintly.
It was the backlash from excessive magic use. If he had more energy, he could’ve summoned golems to assist with the evacuation. But he didn’t have the endurance to use any more magic.
If only that monster would stay still for just one more hour...
Then, suddenly.
Sshhhh, ssssshhhhh.
Purple patterns swirled on the surface of the Great Beast’s skin. Simultaneously, an invisible wave, detectable only by mages, radiated outwards.
The wave penetrated through matter, reaching Gordius. His mind reeled, filled with an overwhelming compulsion to approach the creature. It was a mental attack!
Gordius immediately enacted mental defense protocols, practiced repeatedly during his training. He erected a temporary mental barrier and followed the memorized sequence to shield his mind from the attack.
Without training, he would have been helpless. But thanks to the Crazy Professor’s brutal methods, he could react instinctively to an attack of this magnitude.
"Professor, thank you!"
It was genuine gratitude from the depths of his heart. Though he was still dizzy, distancing himself from the creature would help.
Relief was short-lived. A horrifying thought crossed Gordius’s mind.
The people of this world knew nothing of magic or mana. They couldn’t defend against a mental attack. Even for someone like Gordius, who had been trained by an expert, the hypnotic wave was disorienting.
What about the civilians, who were exposed to it without any resistance?
"Aaaah... Aaahhh..."
"Ugh..."
"Where are you going?! Have you lost your minds?!"
"Stop going the wrong way! Why are your eyes rolling back like that?!"
Those caught in the hypnotic wave had their pupils dilated and were staggering towards the Great Beast, minds completely overtaken. Gordius reached out desperately.
"Damn it, Earth’s Grasp !"
He grabbed hold of them, blocking their way. He built walls to stop them. But those caught in the hypnosis seemed to have no other thoughts in their heads, scratching at the walls until their nails broke. Those restrained by the earth screamed and thrashed wildly.
Gordius’s face turned pale.
The evacuation, which had been progressing well, was undone in an instant by the Great Beast’s mental attack. Could he save them? No, he couldn’t.
He couldn’t afford to be buried in guilt. He had to let it go. Gritting his teeth, he steered the flying golem away. The sight of people walking backwards toward the creature haunted him, but there was nothing he could do.
For some reason, a few survivors hadn’t fallen under the hypnosis. Gordius took solace in the fact that they would likely make it to safety.
Soon, the military would arrive, bringing the powerful weapons of modern civilization.
Surely, they would be able to bring down that immense disaster. Gordius believed in that.
_____________
Day 2 of the Great Beast Incident
"You idiot! Where the hell are you aiming?!"
"I-I can't aim properly! I swear I had the Great Beast in my sights..."
"Is that supposed to be an excuse? How can you miss something the size of a building... Damn it, it's moving! Fire! Fire, now!"
"I told you, I can't aim...!"
Observation results: firearms and mortars are ineffective.
The swirling purple patterns on the surface of the Great Beast’s skin appear to be constantly emitting a form of hypnosis. All long-range firepower, beyond a certain distance, becomes useless.
The shooters themselves believe they are aiming accurately, but from the outside, it’s clear that they are targeting a spot far from the Great Beast.
Even mechanical targeting and launching systems appear to miss. Several missile strikes were attempted, but none made direct contact.
"Then let's see if we miss at point-blank range. Driver! Move out!"
"No, sir! If we get too close, that thing will—"
Boom!
A point-blank shot was confirmed to hit. However, a constant magic barrier is deployed on the surface of the Great Beast's skin, minimizing damage from non-magical attacks.
Sshhhhh.
The Great Beast’s accelerated regeneration was observed. Injuries healed rapidly. A prolonged battle seems hopeless.
"Give me back Seoul! Give me back my family, you cursed monster—!"
Boom.
Tank destroyed. Three casualties.
The Great Beast reacts to enemies within a certain range but remains still otherwise. It may be preparing for something, or perhaps it's already in the process of executing it.
Following this, the military remains in a standoff with the Great Beast. A magically reinforced hidden observation post seems to have avoided detection. Food supplies are running low. Will visit a convenience store when there’s time.
Summary: To fight the Great Beast, weapons infused with magic are required for close combat.
_____________
Day 10 of the Great Beast Incident
"This area is ours, so back off! You want to burn to death too?!"
"Primitive magic? Is it because the world is saturated with mana? I’d like to test its destructive power—how about using it on that wall over there?"
"I said get lost, you bastard!"
While searching for food, I encountered a newly awakened mage. It seems some people have naturally awakened to their abilities due to the mana that flowed through the crack.
Fwoosh!
" Earth Wall. I meant on the wall over there, not me."
"Wait, you're an awakened one too? Damn, you should’ve said something earlier. Look, we've got three women in our group, all good-looking. If you join us, I'll let you choose one—"
"...Not quite what I had in mind. Earth Drill. "
Squelch.
The city was descending into lawlessness. Order and morality were fading, and the once-brilliant city of lights was now dim and lifeless, day and night.
Survivor groups had split up, each fending for themselves. With the Great Beast standing still and not moving, the most dangerous enemy was now humanity itself.
The military attacked the Great Beast several times but eventually abandoned the area entirely. It seemed something urgent had drawn their attention elsewhere...
Why wasn’t any country taking a more active role? Sure, South Korea was overwhelmed, with Seoul practically wiped off the map, but what about global powers like the U.S. and others?
Why hadn't they fired a nuclear weapon?
If they were going to, I'd need to be long gone by then. But something was holding me back. It was strange.
_____________
Day 17 of the Great Beast Incident
The number of awakened individuals using primitive magic continued to rise. I frequently observed them fighting each other, flinging lightning and wind. They were mostly the leaders of their respective groups.
I acquired a radio from a nearby hardware store.
"Breaking news: a shocking report has come in that a nuclear war has broken out in the Western world. This catastrophe has sent shockwaves across the globe, and governments are swiftly discussing emergency measures.
The reasons behind the outbreak and the full extent of the damage are still being assessed, but reports indicate that millions of lives are now at severe risk.
Major cities worldwide have declared states of emergency, and the international community is urgently seeking ways to respond. We will continue to provide updates as more information becomes available."
I heard news that a nuclear war had broken out in the West.
"A nuclear war... That wasn’t exactly what I meant when I suggested they fire at each other."
The timing of this sudden event felt unnatural. It was likely the work of the Great Beast.
I suspected the Great Beast hadn’t been idly waiting. Instead, it had been projecting its influence to the opposite side of the Earth. I had proof.
I managed to scavenge a computer and router from an internet café (not one near the Great Beast, mind you; there are plenty of cafés in this world), and after connecting to the internet, I confirmed information contamination.
Posts spreading doom and despair about the end of the world were popping up everywhere. Websites were glitching and flashing, attempting to imprint hypnotic patterns directly into people's minds.
Now it made sense how World War III started.
The Great Beast had polluted the flow of information, ensnaring global leaders, and this contamination led to the nuclear conflict. This creature seemed to possess succubus-like traits, manipulating minds.
The symbol the Professor had left on my wrist didn’t react when I infused mana into it. Does this mean we’re not yet in a life-or-death situation?
Maybe I should just flee. Staying here, watching this monster from a distance, seemed pointless...
Mid-section skipped.
I had finally gathered all the materials I needed and began developing the mana engine.
_____________
Day 30 of the Great Beast Incident
The once-loud radio broadcasts had grown quieter, and as the city neared its end, the silence deepened. I heard the crackling of static.
Carefully placing the prototype mana engine on the table, I fiddled with the radio’s dial, tuning it until the signal cleared.
Bzzz. Bzzzzzz.
Suddenly, the audio came through clearly, and a woman's voice could be heard.
"...we will kill it. If you wish to join, come to the following coordinates. 37. 126."
"I think I missed something important..."
Luckily, the broadcast repeated. After waiting a bit, I was able to hear the message from the beginning.
"My name is Woo Chaerin, and we are a group called Stellaria. We are conducting research to fight the Great Beast, and we are gathering awakened individuals to aid our progress.
Woo Chaerin.
A familiar name from research papers. I leaned in, focusing on the radio.
"There were dragons and witches in the old tales, right? I believe these stories are traces of ancient mana-wielders. And even now, they might still exist.
So I ask of you all. If you know anything about mana, if you’ve studied it or possess any knowledge about this fifth power that has reappeared in the world, please help us at Stellaria.
Let’s save the world together.
We are going to kill the Great Beast. If you wish to join, come to the following coordinates. 37. 126. That is all."
"...Research, huh."
I stood in front of a broken mirror. My beard had grown wild, and my hair was sticking up in every direction. I crafted a stone razor and started shaving.
Why had I stayed here, at the top of this building, watching the Great Beast day in and day out?
Why had I been studying its traits and tinkering with the mana engine while depriving myself of sleep? Wasn’t I here simply to seize the opportunity to create a giant golem in this world?
I was an outsider. I could just leave. I’d already gathered plenty of useful data.
Yet I didn’t know why I’d stayed. Something had told me I couldn’t leave things as they were, and I’d simply followed that instinct.
For some reason, I felt that if I joined the woman behind that voice, I would find the answer.
I donned my robe, packed up the mana engine, and set out for the coordinates Woo Chaerin had provided.