SSG 234
by CristaeThe only thing an empty crater proved was one thing.
‘That thing moved!’
Yooseong clutched his head.
‘Did I think about this too lightly?’
Just the fact that it preemptively attacked robots already set it apart from other kaiju and beasts. Why had he assumed something like that would stay in the crater forever?
‘It must be searching for me.’
Otherwise, there’d be no reason for it to come toward the Korean Peninsula.
‘At least, it doesn’t seem able to detect me from that far away.’
If it could, there’s no way that monster wouldn’t have found him by now.
He didn’t know exactly what kind of power separated it from other kaiju, but a kaiju was still a kaiju. If it knew where a human was, it would go mad to hunt them down.
‘So the most plausible theory is it’s searching using places where robots have appeared.’
The moment he realized that, he thought about hiding. But Yooseong pushed the idea away as soon as it arose.
‘I can’t just give up all external activities using robots. Besides, it’s not only smashing up my robots.’
It was also smashing up every relay station and solar power generator it came across.
‘It’s certain. That thing considers not just humans but anything made by humans as a target.’
That might be why, upon finding a robot, it realized some remnants of humanity still existed, and started searching. From the situation, that seemed the most likely.
‘And I can’t be sure it’ll just turn back right away just because it doesn’t find people. Worse, if it roams all over the peninsula it’ll destroy everything I’ve built.’
All the relay stations and outposts he’d built from the peninsula through Manchuria, the Russian Far East, and up north. The amount spent to set those up was huge.
It wasn’t like he couldn’t rebuild them, but they weren’t things he could just shrug off.
Most importantly—
‘I know for certain it isn’t invincible to attacks.’
Yooseong was no longer the person who just hoped never to meet a kaiju. He now had the power to hunt them—and the track record to prove it.
Even as a giant kaiju bore down on him, all Yooseong felt was annoyance and frustration—no despair like in the past.
‘I want to avoid danger, but letting that thing roam is even more dangerous.’
So then, there was only one answer.
‘Let’s take it down.’
He watched coldly as another relay station’s signal vanished.
Though Yooseong decided to face the giant kaiju, he couldn’t go in unprepared. He mobilized robots for forceful reconnaissance, trying to pull as much information as possible from the giant kaiju.
It cost him some assets, but he learned a few things.
‘It’s worse than I expected.’
Yooseong shook his head.
The range where it actively exerted influence was about 50 km in radius. The instant a robot came within 50 km, it would destroy it as if it could sense it perfectly.
‘The attack is a straight red energy beam. Not a laser exactly, but something closer to a beam weapon—though I don’t know for sure.’
It was unbelievable that a living creature could fire something like that, but after seeing kaiju that spit lightning, what was there to be surprised about anymore?
He just had to accept that it could attack like that and work out a counter.
‘The power is intense, too.’
His robots, built with tough alloys, were instantly disabled by the energy.
‘And its detection ability.’
He’d used all kinds of tricks to get information—buried mines, installed cameras.
But it picked them all off, as if it instantly noticed anything within 50 km.
‘It didn’t even seem like it was searching. The moment something entered within 50 km, it sensed it and destroyed it.’
He had to assume it had some sort of special detection ability.
‘I wasn’t planning to hide, but let’s just erase that as even a fallback.’
With such detection, even if he lay low in his hideout, he’d likely be found the moment the kaiju’s range passed through.
‘And the other kaiju and beasts moving with it.’
Was it leading the ones from the crater? Or just picking up others as it moved?
Maybe both.
The important thing was that it was traveling with a huge swarm of kaiju and beasts.
One giant kaiju was trouble enough, but now there was an entire army with it. The challenge level rose dramatically.
‘And finally…its attack range.’
That might be the scariest part.
Both the detection radius and swarm’s bounds were all centered at 50 km radius from the giant kaiju, so that was his working idea of its range.
But when it came to actual range, that was different.
‘Honestly, I don’t know at all.’
He tried firing a railgun from outside 50 km, at the edge of its range. The moment he did, the robot was destroyed. Even at the railgun’s maximum range, same result.
In other words, it only targeted things within 50 km because it could sense them, not because its attack couldn’t reach further.
‘And for hostile actions, it can probably sense much further.’
Which explained why it instantly retaliated the moment a railgun was fired from outside its perimeter.
Summing up, it could detect and attack anything within 50 km and could sense hostility far beyond that range.
And its actual attack range seemed immeasurable. Plus, it had a huge swarming escort.
‘It’s literally a moving fortress.’
With a mass of support troops surrounding it.
He had to laugh at the information he’d gathered.
‘Could this be the one that destroyed the satellites too?’
With such ridiculous range, it probably could attack targets in low orbit.
And when it came to defending itself, even the boundary wasn’t enough. It could have destroyed military satellites targeting it from space.
‘And this thing was completely immune to conventional weapons?’
He could really grasp why humanity was wiped out.
‘But I’m different.’
How many kaiju had he slain already, ones that humanity couldn’t even touch?
Besides, based on this, there was at least a lead for an attack strategy.
‘The only unknown left is its defense….’
He hadn’t scored a single hit; everything that attempted was countered.
‘But I don’t want to give it any more information either.’
During the forced reconnaissance, the kaiju subtly adapted to his attacks, learning each time.
It was definitely learning.
‘So that’s probably how it figured out my existence from my robots and equipment.’
So he stopped all reconnaissance and decided to leave the rest to improvisation.
‘Even so, I’ll win.’
No matter what.
Yooseong began preparing in earnest.
After that, Yooseong spent more time focusing on reality than on Arc. He poured the money from the four cities into his efforts and transported whatever he needed from the other world through the guidebook.
He wanted to prepare so thoroughly that it was almost excessive before taking on the giant kaiju. But he couldn’t afford to wait forever.
‘I need to strike when it enters the area I’ve planned.’
Against such a monster, exploiting the terrain was essential.
He picked the northern Korean Peninsula, at the Gaema Plateau.
‘Here, I can block as much of its attack as possible.’
The kaiju’s attacks traveled in straight lines; in rugged, mountainous terrain, that advantage would be blunted.
‘Luckily, it doesn’t seem to have enough firepower to blow apart an entire mountain.’
Yooseong moved his base to the Gaema Plateau in preparation. These preparations were on a whole other level from what he’d set up against previous kaiju or beasts.
‘This isn’t a fight. It’s a war.’
It wasn’t just about facing a single kaiju. It was a full-on war against a giant kaiju and its entire swarm of kaiju and beasts.
Calling it a war was not an exaggeration.
‘This is ready. And this is ready.’
He meticulously checked everything, paranoid he might have forgotten something. Once he was satisfied almost everything was prepared—
‘They’re here.’
The enemy had entered the Gaema Plateau.
Yooseong stared at the screen. Footage from his robots appeared on the display.
Far away, the giant kaiju appeared. It was huge—big enough that Yooseong had thought it was a small mountain at first. Zooming in with robot cameras, it was easy to check on it.
‘No matter how many times I see it, it’s grotesque.’
The monster had no arms or legs. Only huge, earthworm-like heads sticking out all over its body.
It used those heads as feet. In a way, it resembled a giant sea anemone he’d seen in the other world.
Around the giant kaiju was an army of kaiju and beasts. They reached the Gaema Plateau even faster than the giant kaiju itself, acting as advance cavalry or scouts.
‘Guess I’ll treat them as they wish, then.’
He glanced to the side.
A row of items he’d brought from the other world was lined up.
Cannons.
Each was loaded and ready, with piles of shells stacked nearby.
Yooseong turned his attention back to the screen. The kaiju horde was getting closer. A few robots began firing at them, drawing their attention.
Apparently clever, the giant kaiju refused to fall for any lures to the north. Judging from its first contact with Yooseong’s robots coming from the south, it seemed convinced Yooseong was in the south—on the peninsula.
But it could still be steered a bit, with minor course corrections.
Again, now.
Whoooom!
It disabled the attacking robots with a surge of red light, then shifted slightly in their direction.
Just as planned, they came into Yooseong’s desired kill zone.
“Fire!”
Yooseong gave the order.
Boom! Boom! BOOM!
Cannons roared in unison. At the same moment, the giant kaiju moved.
Whoosh!
The massive, earthworm-like heads—all previously dangling limply in the breeze—whipped toward the direction of the cannons.
Screeeech!
Their mouths opened wide. Red light gathered inside.
Pop! Pop! Pop!
Dozens of crimson beams shot toward the cannons. But the attack didn’t destroy the weapons.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
A giant mountain blocked the beams. The rays melted fiercely into the mountainside but couldn’t bore through—the mountains were simply too thick.
Ssshhh!
In the end, the giant kaiju stopped firing.
The cannon shells soared over the mountains and struck the designated area.
That area was full of kaiju and beasts.
“Kyaaaak!”
“Kieeek!”
Bombs rained down, tearing kaiju and beasts apart. These were special shells made from Arc’s metals and explosives that even kaiju couldn’t brush off.
It was a satisfying sight, but Yooseong’s expression stayed unchanged as he ordered another volley.
Shells sailed through the sky again. But this time, the result was different.
Pop pop pop pop!
Again, the giant kaiju fired red beams—but this time, not at the cannons.
It aimed for the falling shells.