With the monsters’ escape, downtown Seoul turned into chaos in an instant. And their home, the “Seoul Monster Park,” was no exception.
“If you have mouths, speak up! Have we been managing this place so carelessly all this time? Is this even possible? Dozens of monsters escaping all at once?!”
The chief administrator, Ju Min-Sung, gathered the managerial staff and shouted angrily.
“…Sorry.”
“Who said they wanted to hear apologies? Tell me how this could have happened!”
“….”
“Are you going to report or not?”
Under Ju Min-Sung’s stern gaze, one of the administrators quickly explained the situation.
“After reviewing the CCTV footage, it was revealed that a rookie tamer in charge of the Caspian Tiger was responsible. He opened the cage of the albino troll, which led to the escape of other creatures…”
“A tamer? This is insane. So, our own staff caused this mess with their own hands… Ugh. So, where is that employee now?”
“…He’s, uh, deceased.”
The Caspian Tiger tamer was found dead near the Seoul Monster Park. It appeared he had been attacked by the escaped monsters based on the wounds on his body.
“This is madness.”
Curses slipped out involuntarily. Upon hearing the details of the incident, Ju Min-sung clenched his fists. But he couldn’t just stand there. He was the chief administrator of the Seoul Monster Park. He had to handle the situation.
“Immediately delete the problematic CCTV footage. The monsters’ escape was due to the facility’s outdated infrastructure. Remember that.”
“Yes!”
“And gather all the tamers still in the facility, and contact the retired tamers as well. Anyone we can bring back alive must be brought back. Understood? Especially, the albino troll must be captured alive.”
Unlike the regular green trolls, the albino troll, with its white body, captivated people’s attention. It was born and raised in the “Seoul Monster Park,” born from the womb of a captured mother troll and raised by tamers from birth. A creature perfectly trained by human hands.
So it was Ju Min-Sung’s judgment that they couldn’t easily kill the creature that had become the mascot of the Seoul Monster Park.
“The tamer in charge of the albino troll has already left for the scene. Considering he personally hatched and raised it, he will do everything he can to bring it back alive.”
“Unfortunate yet fortunate news. Notify me immediately upon receiving any updates.”
It seemed like the internal chaos was being sorted out.
But only for a moment.
Knock knock.
Someone knocked and opened the door simultaneously. With a pale face, he urgently exclaimed,
“I, I’m sorry. I think I need to inform you right away.”
“What’s going on now?!”
“We just received a report from the artificial hatchery that an egg they were keeping there has gone missing. The staff guarding the area were found dead.”
Certainly not unrelated to the monster escape incident.
“It seems like it may have been taken outside. We are reviewing the CCTV footage, but I thought I should inform you first…”
As if things couldn’t get any worse.
Ju Min-Sung wore a defeated expression in the face of this double blow. It felt like his mind was about to go blank, figuring out how to handle the situation.
At that moment,
The fleeing monsters raced down the road. They could have scattered, but they didn’t.
“Uukkakaka. Kakakak!”
Leading the pack, the albino troll reached out ahead, as if pointing to their destination.
“Kiaaaak!”
“Goooo.”
The rest of the monsters, forgetting their relationships, moved in a trance-like state towards the direction indicated by the albino troll.
Meanwhile, those who received the disaster message followed the instructions to stay indoors, and those already outside hurried to public shelters.
The destination of the white car driving on this road was also a public shelter.
The driver, a man in his 30s, had just picked up his wife from the hospital and was heading home when he received the urgent message.
News that monsters had escaped from the monster park and were wandering nearby.
With the alarming news, the man immediately thought of the public shelter. It was closer than home. If he stepped on it at top speed, ten minutes would be enough.
“But….”
The problem was he couldn’t speed up. Yet abandoning the car and running was not an option.
It was because of his newborn baby and his wife who had just been discharged from the hospital. The newborn wasn’t just any newborn. Born premature, the son seemed as fragile as a flying moth.
“So….”
While he could have sped up, worrying about his son choking, he also worried about his wife, who was struggling to move comfortably.
“My eldest daughter said I could just hold her and run, but taking care of my wife and youngest is too much.”
In the end, he chose to drive at a slower pace. Because of that, the car behind him started aggressively honking its horn.
Beep beep! Bang!
“Hey, what the… Are they suggesting we all die together? What’s up? Didn’t they read the message?”
“You, you jerk. Roll down your window!”
Normally, he would have exchanged the same kind of curses, but he couldn’t do that now. He understood their feelings enough.
“I’m sorry, but this is the best I can do.”
But the young child was undeniably a young child. The eldest daughter in the backseat burst into sudden tears at the people’s aggressive behavior. Children’s crying is contagious. Following her, the youngest son also cried out, “Wah!”
“Waaaah! Dad, I’m scared.”
“Wahhh!”
“Seulgi, you have to be quiet. Your little brother is watching, you know. People yelling and honking outside are like celebrating Seulgi’s birth. It’s like setting off fireworks on Seulgi’s birthday. It’s the same thing.”
“Wahhh!”
“Waaah!”
Despite his wife’s attempts to console them, the children couldn’t stop crying. It seemed like a total disaster. The father’s heart raced with anxiety.
Just then,
Screeeech!
The car in front suddenly slammed on its brakes.
The family’s bodies lurched forward.
Before they could grasp the situation,
Kwoong!
Screams echoed along with a loud noise. It was clear that something terrible had happened. The woman who emerged from the car in front took a few steps forward to assess the situation, then started running backward.
“…It’s a monster.”
The father instinctively knew that. His wife felt the same. In a moment of foreboding, she made a decision.
“Oh, honey! Quickly, take Seulgi and get out!”
“What are you talking about? You!”
“I will just be a problem, Think of Seulgi! Hey, I told you to get out quickly. I… I will stay here with Seulong.”
Her and the youngest son would be a burden. She made the best decision she could in the current situation. But her husband wasn’t having any of it.
“You want me to leave with just Seulgi? I can’t leave.”
“Stop it. We’ll all die like this.”
“Whether we die together or live together, it’s the same. So don’t say such things again.”
Sob.
Even as they spoke, the noise grew louder. It was becoming clearer by the moment. That meant the distance between them was narrowing.
“Oppa!”
“Enough. Stop talking. Because I won’t leave with Seulgi.”
Waaah!
The man spoke with a trembling voice.
“First, silence the kids. Maybe if we don’t provoke them, they’ll just pass by. Honey, take care of Seulgi. Seulgi, come to Daddy.”
The daughter reached out her hands towards her father, whimpering. The man picked her up and tucked her under his legs, slightly muffling her cries.
The daughter, like a statue, remained motionless. Suddenly, the wife also followed her husband’s lead. Holding their son, she carefully covered his mouth and curled up her body.
And then,
Kwaaah! Crash
A scene appeared beyond the front windshield.
Two orcs were hurling a stopped car aside. A following kobold was climbing onto the bumper of the immobilized vehicle.
Kwaaah! Clang!
That was the source of the loud noise.
“…Please. Let our car just pass. There’s plenty of space next to us.”
Soon, they would reach the car in front of them.
The man begged and begged.
As his heart rate peaked,
The kobold’s body suddenly split in half.
The two halves fell to the ground.
The man’s eyes widened as he watched, his breath caught in his throat.
“…? A, a hunter. A hunter’s here!”
The public hunter team, alerted and arrived.
They were hunters closely affiliated with the ‘Seoul Monster Institute’. And the team leader shouted as he looked at his team.
“Who’s acting solo!”
It was in response to seeing the kobold split in half a moment ago.
“Not me, sir.”
“There seems to be another team of hunters who came to support separately?”
“Could it be Team 2? Weren’t they supposed to capture?”
The team leader squinted at the front, listening carefully.
At that moment,
“Kwaaaaah!”
An excited orc appeared. Unaware that his body was split in half, he let out a roar. Just like that, two fleeing monsters were killed. It happened in an instant.
And all of this was the work of Jong-sik. The public hunter team leader raised his voice harshly at the ensuing slaughter.
“Hunter on the opposite side. Cease the killing the moment you hear my voice. These creatures are the property of the ‘Seoul Monster Institute’. They’re to be captured immediately, so refrain from actions that agitate them!”
Of course, Jong-sik paid no attention to such feeble warnings.
‘Capturing them alive is nonsense.’
The roads were flowing with red blood. Human blood. Meaning, they had already harmed humans.
They must not be spared. Jong-sik continued to stride forward without hesitation.
Even when his eyes met with the man inside the white car, the monsters in front of him were sliced in half.
Growing desperate were the tamers and the public hunters who took the money. Especially the albino troll tamer couldn’t contain his anxiety.
Risking his safety, he rushed forward. It was to protect his childlike Backdo.
“Backdo-!!”
A moment later.
The tamer found his childlike albino troll. But he didn’t only find the albino troll. He saw the back of a man holding Backdo.
“…Who is that man? No, don’t!”
The tamer shouted desperately.
“Please, don’t do anything! This is the child I’ve raised. I can control him. So, please, just stay there and wait! Now that I’m here, there won’t be any more issues.”
The tamer shouted, and Jong-sik sighed. He thinks he can control it? Isn’t this like saying, ‘Our house dog never bites’?
Especially when the enmity of the troll’s enemy is so apparent, and yet he seems oblivious. Jong-sik looked at the tamer with a pitiful gaze.
‘And he claims to control a troll, not just an ordinary troll? He doesn’t seem that powerful. How on earth does he think he can control it? Tsk.’
The tamer gestured for Jong-sik, who had stopped in his tracks, to relax. Relieved, he approached Backdo.
“Backdo, it’s me, hyung. Hyung. Should you lie down?”
He activated his taming skill.
At that moment,
The albino troll, known as Backdo, slammed the ground.
“Kwaaaaah!”
As you can see, the taming failed, and the troll erupted with the anger he had been holding back all this time.
