The Devouring Genius of a Destroyed World-Chapter 46

The force was terrifying, as though artillery shells were falling from the sky.

Seongho dodged all of the attacks by a hair’s breadth.

Thud.

Each time Seongho moved, dust and fragments of rock flew around him as Oh Jonghyuk relentlessly chased him.

Rolling on the ground to evade, Seongho suddenly turned to look behind him.

The sense of impending danger had grown sharper.

He couldn’t keep running in this back-and-forth cat-and-mouse chase.

Even if he was injured, he needed a meaningful strike.

‘Don’t retreat!’

Seongho gritted his teeth and held his breath, just as he had when he first arrived on this world, watching zombies charge at him.

At the moment when the creature’s maw, bigger than his own torso, was almost upon him—

Whoosh!

The massive blade, extending without end, drove deep into Oh Jonghyuk’s mouth.

At the same time, Seongho’s body, unable to withstand the force, was pushed back, his shoulder impaled by sharp fangs and his side slashed open by the razor-sharp claws.

Despite the injuries, Seongho did not retreat and continued to endure.

The long blade, now extended to 3 meters, skewered Oh Jonghyuk’s body like a spear, causing him to spasm violently.

The massive body soon collapsed with a heavy thud, crashing to the ground.

Seongho, pressing down on his shoulder, staggered backward to catch his breath.

As he took a moment to relax, Jo Gyu-hyun, who had hesitated, approached with a trembling voice.

“Is, is it over?”

Seongho glanced at him but shook his head.

“Not yet.”

“What? What do you mean...?”

Oh Jonghyuk was certainly dead.

But the battle was far from over.

As evidence, an unusual occurrence soon unfolded.

Thud.

A strong, rapid heartbeat echoed, causing the air to tremble as Seongho maintained his stern expression, backing away.

The foreign sound of the heartbeat grew faster, and soon, Oh Jonghyuk’s body, which had been lying motionless, began to stir.

‘This is the real threat for those with beastification abilities.’

Awakened individuals with beastification abilities don’t particularly undergo what one might call growth.

If anything, their physique grows slightly, depending on what they consume.

At first, their limit might be making a small flame, but compared to other awakened who could burn down an entire city, the difference was massive.

So, their abilities were often seen as insignificant compared to others.

However, that wasn’t the whole story.

In the original, three episodes had major casualties caused by beastification awakened individuals.

It was due to another unique phenomenon they exhibited.

A particular exception that only occurred in those who had awakened the beastification ability.

The rampage that begins the moment their life ends.

‘When the rampage starts, not only does their size increase, but their power does as well.’

It had never been confirmed whether they retained any sense of self.

But one thing was certain: they didn’t feel pain or fear.

Even when their necks were severed, they continued to move, killing and trampling everything in sight.

That was why Seongho had warned Jo Gyu-hyun and Seo Minhee to avoid confronting Oh Jonghyuk.

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Because carelessly provoking him would only bring back greater danger.

‘Just like now.’

Oh Jonghyuk’s corpse began to swell.

Realizing the rampage was imminent, Seongho took a deep breath and shouted toward Jo Gyu-hyun.

“If you don’t want to die, get away quickly. I’m not confident I can handle that thing properly.”

At that moment, Oh Jonghyuk, now 1.5 times bigger than before, stood up, and no further explanation was needed.

Jo Gyu-hyun, carrying Seo Minhee, hurriedly left the area, and Seongho widened the distance from Oh Jonghyuk.

It wasn’t immediately dangerous, but it was important not to break the line of sight.

Maintaining that distance, Seongho swallowed dryly.

‘If he somehow gets pushed toward the Humanities and Social Sciences building, the civilians will be in danger.’

So he planned to lead Oh Jonghyuk toward himself.

The possibility of hunting him hadn’t been part of the plan from the start.

Even in the later parts of the story, the protagonist only captures a beastified awakened without suffering serious injury.

At Seongho’s current strength, comparable to the durability and physical abilities of a beastified form, it would be nearly impossible to completely overpower him.

‘Let’s just stall while retreating.’

The rampage would eventually end.

If Seongho could just endure until then, it would be a matter of time before he won.

Calmly, Seongho took a deep breath and slightly lowered his body.

Kiiiiaaa!

Standing on two legs, Oh Jonghyuk let out a terrifyingly high-pitched roar, announcing his resurrection to the world.

A wave of terrifying energy spread in all directions.

The killing intent, carried through the air, felt so sharp it was almost unbearable to the skin.

‘This is bad.’

The increase in power during a rampage can vary greatly.

Some remain nearly unchanged, while others grow dangerous enough to crush tall buildings.

Oh Jonghyuk clearly seemed closer to the latter.

Seongho, prepared for any unforeseen situation, pulled out his fortune cookie.

Having already checked his fortune, he grabbed the cookie, which was now split in half.

Whoosh.

A gust of wind blew, followed by a rumbling of the ground.

It wasn’t based on a conscious decision; Seongho reacted almost reflexively, throwing himself sideways and rolling along the ground.

The spot where he had been standing a moment ago vanished into Oh Jonghyuk’s open maw.

Crunch!

The ground and pavement were torn away entirely.

Without a second thought, Seongho sprang to his feet and slammed his body down onto the ground again.

Almost simultaneously, the spot where he had stood disappeared once more.

Without checking behind him, Seongho ran desperately, unable to track the movements fast enough.

The difference in speed was staggering, and before he knew it, Seongho shoved the entire fortune cookie into his mouth.

Boom! Boom!

At the same time, a dark shadow loomed over Seongho’s head.

Even though he didn’t look back, he could already feel what was about to happen.

Desperately, he threw himself forward, but the immense presence continued to close the gap.

In that split second, Seongho instinctively curled his body, protecting his head, bracing for the impact.

Whoosh!

Seongho’s body was swept sideways by the intense water pressure.

Oh Jonghyuk’s front paw, cutting through the air, stopped just short of Seongho and slammed into the ground.

Seongho quickly assessed the situation and swallowed the cookie and wrapper in a single gulp.

“I blocked his sight!”

As Seongho was shoved by the water pressure, he realized that Oh Jonghyuk’s presence had disappeared.

Thanks to that, Seongho, now fully upright, saw the system message pop up before him.

“You have consumed a Fortune Cookie.”

“All injuries and abilities have been restored.”

“Your physical abilities will increase by 100% for 1 hour.”

“00:01:00”

Energy surged through his body, and he felt as if he were weightless.

However, there was no time to check the exact change in stats.

Seeing that the water had surrounded Oh Jonghyuk’s head, Seongho quickly shouted.

“Make the ground mud!”

The water, which had pushed Seongho earlier, now spread across the ground.

Clearly, this was Seo Minhee’s ability, turning the area into a vast sea of water in an instant.

With all the structures destroyed, the exposed ground became soggy, soaked with water.

As the water slowed down Oh Jonghyuk’s mobility, Jo Gyu-hyun’s urgent shout echoed.

“H-Hyung! The mirror’s cracking!”

Oh Jonghyuk was tearing through the mirror, blocking his sight.

Despite hitting his own head in the process, Oh Jonghyuk, in his rampaged state, felt no pain.

Suddenly, standing tall, Oh Jonghyuk twisted his head sharply and raised his front paw without hesitation.

“The scent...!”

The moment Oh Jonghyuk’s front paw, having located Jo Gyu-hyun and Seo Minhee, began to fall downward.

Seongho’s body shot forward with terrifying speed, like a spring being released.

In the blink of an eye, he leaped several meters, landing on Oh Jonghyuk’s shoulder.

Without time to be surprised by the overwhelming performance that no human could ever match, Seongho drove his military-grade sword into Oh Jonghyuk’s right front leg.

Swoosh!

Seongho’s arm muscles bulged as the blade sank deep, severing Oh Jonghyuk’s front leg.

Seongho quickly twisted his body to avoid Oh Jonghyuk’s turning head, leaping off the shoulder while shouting.

“Move back!”

But beyond the shattered statue, Jo Gyu-hyun and Seo Minhee, still curled up and paralyzed with fear, didn’t move.

Both of them lay on the ground, frozen, staring at Oh Jonghyuk’s twitching front leg, now lying on the ground like a fish.

Realizing the situation, Seongho stepped forward and grabbed them both, pulling them away from danger.

He was already too late to avoid the danger approaching from behind.

As Seongho tossed them aside, Oh Jonghyuk, using his remaining front paw, swung it at Seongho with tremendous force.

Boom!

Unable to brace himself in time, Seongho was flung backward and collided with a nearby building.

The wall crumbled, debris raining down with a loud crash.

“Cough...!”

The powerful impact left Seongho feeling as though his insides had turned to mush.

Even as blood poured from his mouth, he wanted to expel even more, but it wasn’t the right time to tend to himself.

Thud, thud.

Oh Jonghyuk, relentlessly charging at Seongho once more, was closing the distance.

The ground, now sunken and damaged, and the three remaining paws slowed him enough that Seongho could see the movement coming.

This gave him just enough time to dig through the debris and get back on his feet.

Hurriedly, he freed himself from the wreckage, trying to distance himself, but just as he did...

The building’s exterior collapsed, and a zombie, caught under the debris, grabbed Seongho’s ankle.

Already nearly on top of him, Oh Jonghyuk’s front paw came crashing down toward the debris.

Seongho couldn’t spare a moment to pry the zombie off, instead slamming his feet into the ground.

Thanks to the zombie holding his leg, it was yanked along with him.

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