There’s a Monster Inside Me Chapter 24

There’s a Monster Inside Me

Chapter 24

Time passed by quickly.
“Oh!”
Only after checking the challenge letter placed at my bedside did I suddenly come to my senses.
I almost forgot today too. Realizing the date only when it became late at night….
I quickly glanced to my side.
Fortunately, Gurumi had fallen asleep early.
I quietly slipped out of bed and rushed to the meeting place.
I wonder how many will come today?
Since I took care of an intermediate-advanced level skilled opponent last time, today a high-level skilled Opponent would definitely appear.
“WHOA!”
My mouth automatically opened when I saw the lineup spread out on the other side of the darkness. Even a rough count showed about twenty people.
No, twenty people came to face one freshman?
I was dumbfounded.
How scared must Gurumi have been whenever those kinds of guys summoned him? Each day would have been filled with fear and suffering. Thinking about that made my teeth grind.
Unlike when one or two guys showed up, today I felt I needed to properly teach them a lesson.
One of the seniors stepped forward. The massive silhouette standing firm like a bear with bulky limbs was unmistakably Geombau.
He smirked while looking at me.
“What, all three of you?”
What, three? But I’m alone…
When I turned around sharply, I saw two guys hiding in the darkness.
“TSK, seems like we’ve been spotted.”
“Can’t be helped.”
I could tell just from their shadows that the two people trudging over were Gurumi and Jin-dallae.
“Why are you two here…?”
Gurumi, who had rushed over, wrapped his arm around my head.
“Hey, you crazy bastard! Can’t you just keep your mouth shut?”
“Can’t you read? Don’t you see it says at the very bottom that you can bring companions, you idiot!”
Jin-dallae scolded me while waving the challenge letter.
“But still! Why did you come here? And how did you get my challenge letter…?”
“Shut up, Maru!”
“I didn’t know you didn’t consider us friends, Bada Maru! I am very, very upset!”
The two guys stood firmly on either side of me. Hah, since when did they know about this…?
“These little runts aren’t even amusing?”
Geombau snickered.
“Tsk, I didn’t expect so many to show up.”
Jin-dallae clicked her tongue.
“Cowardly bastards! Ganging up on a freshman, and you really call yourselves seniors?”
Gurumi vented his indignation on my behalf.
“Why did you even come? You could get hurt.”
I tried my best to furrow my brow at Gurumi and Jin-dallae. It wasn’t easy because the corners of my mouth kept turning up.
“Don’t worry, kid! If we get hit together, it hurts less. Isn’t that what friends are for?”
Gurumi’s arm pulling my neck felt reassuring.
“HMPH, I won’t get hit anyway. You guys just make sure no bruises appear on this lady’s body.”
Jin-dallae’s grumpy response was equally appreciated.
“…I’m sorry, I’m sorry!”
The bridge of my nose stung.
To think I just abandoned such good people like you in my previous life!
I was too busy making excuses, saying I was weak so there was nothing I could do.
I’m truly sorry for not protecting you, no, for not getting beaten up together with you.
“This crazy bastard, going on about being sorry again! At times like this, you’re supposed to say thank you, you idiot!”
Even while hearing Gurumi’s curses, my lips twitched happily.
“Those kids have lost all discipline even in front of their seniors!”
Geombau’s voice was laced with anger. He clearly didn’t like how we were giggling among ourselves instead of trembling in fear.
“Today, we’ll teach you a proper lesson!”
As he spoke, all the seniors stepped forward at once.
Jin-dallae rummaged through the bag she was carrying, and Gurumi pulled out the rotating blades strapped to his back.
I raised both hands and formed hand seals toward the approaching guys.
My heart heated up.
There wasn’t an ounce of fear.
“Spatial Formation!”
I created a knee-high space under the feet of the approaching guys.
“AACK!”
“What’s this all of a sudden?”
The approaching guys tripped and tumbled over the transparent space.
“Spatial Disruption!”
One senior raised his sword and destroyed the technique. Though the obstacle at their feet disappeared, their confused scrambling was still amusing.
“Maru, create the space formation again. As large as possible. Even better if you can trap them all.”
Jin-dallae whispered as she covered her nose and mouth with a white cloth.
“Got it, Spatial Formation!”
I immediately created a large space as Jin-dallae said.
“I made it from this side to that side!”
As a space large enough to contain all the seniors was instantly created, curses flew from Jin-dallae and Gurumi’s mouths.
“You crazy bastard! You can make this so quickly?”
“Bada Maru, that’s not normal….”
“You guys… are complimenting me, right?”
The seniors scrambled in the huge space I created, but it was disrupted again by someone with a sword.
“Hey, Bada Maru. Now’s the time! Make that again!”
“Space Formation!”
The moment I created the space, Jin-dallae rushed forward. Then she pulled out a white powder from her bundle and threw it with all her might.
POOF!
Something that looked like cigarette ash spread out.
“That’s sleep powder.”
Gurumi whispered.
The seniors frowned intensely when they saw the scattered powder.
“What is this… uh…?”
Within the enclosed space, sleep herbs scattered. It wasn’t just simple plant powder but contained Jin-dallae’s spiritual power.
“Spatial disruption!”
One senior immediately slashed with their sword to break the space, but those who had inhaled the sleep herbs from the front collapsed right away.
“Spatial formation! Spatial formation! Spatial formation!”
The seniors’ faces turned pale, not expecting that I would create layers of space again.
They must have been shocked to see me quickly creating new spaces as soon as they destroyed the large ones.
“What kind of madman is this?!”
“How can he create spaces so quickly, so endlessly?”
Geombau, who was observing from the very back, couldn’t believe the situation before his eyes.
It seemed impossible to create spaces at this speed even for a master who had practiced barrier techniques for decades. Unless one had overwhelming divine power…
But he’d heard that this Bada Maru guy had terrible spiritual power…
Everything he knew must have been completely wrong.
Meanwhile, Jin-dallae was wildly scattering sleep herb powder infused with divine power.
“Spatial disruption!”
“Spatial formation! Spatial formation! Spatial formation!”
The face of the senior who was destroying the spaces changed from anger to surprise, and now became completely exasperated.
Of course, even that didn’t last long.
Because Gurumi’s spinning blades followed.
WHISH!
PABABAK!
The spiritually charged spinning blades hit the heads of the three who had avoided the sleep herbs in sequence and returned to their place.
Naturally, all those hit by the spinning blades immediately collapsed.
“Gurumi. Your skills has improved.”
“Thank you very much!”
It was only natural that Geombau went crazy seeing us being so relaxed in this situation.
“You bastards! I’ll rip all your heads off!”
“Spatial formation!”
I created another space toward Geombau who was approaching with heavy steps.
PAAT!
Jin-dallae scattered sleep herbs.
WHISH! WHISH!
THAAK!
Gurumi’s spinning blades were a bonus.
“URRRGH…”
Geombau, who was hit in the temple, collapsed right there.
He struggled desperately to the end, his fingers trembling, but it was no use.
“Oh-ho, you’re all dead! Be grateful it ended with sleeping herbs!”
Jin-dallae, who had covered her nose and mouth with a white cloth, turned toward us.
“Next time you attack again, it’ll be diarrhea herbs and hemorrhoid herbs!”
Jin-dallae left these terrifying words and wiggled her bottom.
She looked excited, just like when she received lots of food.
“I’ve decided! I’m never going to fight with Jin-dallae.”
Gurumi said after confirming the seniors had collapsed, drooling and covered in sleep herbs.
“Me neither!”
I absolutely refuse both foaming at the mouth while sleeping and having diarrhea until my butt falls off!
In an instant, the surroundings became quiet.
Jin-dallae dusted off her hands.
“Even seniors aren’t much.”
“I was nervous for nothing.”
Gurumi agreed.
“By the way, you crazy bastards!”
Now it was my turn to curse.
“What are you going to do if you get targeted by the seniors?”
Both of them shrugged at my finger-pointing.
“It’s not just me getting targeted, it’s all of us.”
“Yeah, it’s better for the three of us to be targeted together than just you alone.”
Somehow my eyeballs felt hot like they might pop out.
“Both of you… what if we get expelled from the Thousand-Year School…”
“If we get expelled, you take responsibility, friend!”
“There’s no law saying we must die. Life always has a way, friend!”
My heart swelled at the word ‘friend’ even in this situation.
Ah, what should I do with these guys!
My foolish heart pounded, not knowing what to do.
But one thing was certain.
I absolutely… absolutely… won’t let these guys give up on the academy midway!
No matter what happens, I’ll make sure they graduate properly in this lifetime!
I’ll definitely make sure they return triumphantly as spiritual powers of the Thousand-Year School!
This was a firm promise and vow I made to myself.
***
Early the next morning.
THUMP! THUMP! THUMP!
After hearing rough footsteps.
BANG! BANG! BANG!
The sound of someone knocking on the door was noisy.
There was no one in the academy who could make such a commotion in front of Geum Tae-min’s door.
Geum Tae-min, who had just finished his business with Jujak, had returned to the Thousand-Year School last night.
As he was about to open the door, someone flung it open.
To invade Geum Tae-min’s special space, separated from the regular rooms, so rudely!
His handsome face crumpled in an instant.
“Young Master Geum!”
Geum Tae-min’s expression changed instantly when he confirmed that the owner of this rude act was the beloved daughter of the Grand Duke Sudeok.
“What brings you here, Princess?”
The cold light in Geum Tae-min’s golden eyes disappeared, replaced by a gentle smile.
Princess Eun-deok, who had been furious as if steam might burst from her head, stopped in her tracks.
“Why…?”
Princess Eun-deok furrowed her brow.
For some unknown reason, Geum Tae-min emitted a light so bright it was difficult to look at him directly.
Like facing the sun floating in the blue sky, her eyes stung.
Suddenly her anger subsided, and her burning fury began to disappear.
“No!”
At the last moment, Princess Eun-deok shook her head hard.
Only then did she clearly remember why she had come here.
“Someone… tried to harm my benefactor! My benefactor and my friends! You should be able to find out who it was, right?”
Last night, Princess Eun-deok discovered Jin-dallae had disappeared.
After pressing the returned Jin-dallae, she learned that ‘Benefactor Maru’ had received a challenge from Thousand-Year School seniors.
At the same time, she was convinced that the challenge Maru received was related to her.
“What do you mean…?”
“This!”
Princess Eun-deok held out a blue letter to Geum Tae-min. It was Geombau’s challenge letter.
‘How stupid…’
Geum Tae-min gritted his teeth at Geombau’s foolishness.
Despite his clenched fist, a gentle smile remained on his face.
“This appears to be a challenge letter.”
“You should be able to! You, the highest chairman of the Thousand-Year School student council! You can prevent this from happening again, right?”
“That’s an excessive evaluation.”
“No, even if the academy officials and professors can’t, you can! You must be able to! Young Master Geum Tae-min, please ensure such things never reach my friends again.”
Geum Tae-min’s eyes turned cold for a moment.
“…Is that an order?”
Princess Eun-deok, much smaller than Geum Tae-min, raised her chin.
Her arrogant green eyes showed no sign of backing down.
“The Geum family lives on royal provisions! Naturally, all words from the royal family are orders, aren’t they, Young Master?”
“Your words are correct. I shall obey the Princess’s command.”
Geum Tae-min knelt on one knee.
“Of course you should.”
Princess Eun-deok turned around swiftly, her silk skirt fluttering.
While her back, covered with elaborate patterns, moved away, Geum Tae-min watched her with cold eyes.
KWANG!
His clenched fist struck the table. The table crumbled into powder.
It wasn’t human strength.
Geum Tae-min’s golden eyes sparkled intensely.
Moments later, a seemingly empty wall silently disappeared, revealing people.
It was Geombau’s group, who had been hiding their presence with a barrier.
“Ch-Cheongun…”
“S-senior…”
They had clearly seen Geum Tae-min being humiliated by the Princess because of them.
When his brilliant golden eyes turned toward them, chills ran down their spines.
“UGH! URGH!”
An irresistible powerful spiritual force overflowed around them. Those touched by the spiritual power immediately knelt.
“UURGH!”
“Huh, I… can’t breathe…!”
Everyone rolled on the floor under the terrible pressure crushing their bodies.
“BLECH!”
“BLERRRGH!”
They vomited blood under tremendous force.
“…Never touch that guy again. Within the Thousand-Year School. Ever!”
Each of Geum Tae-min’s words struck their ears.
“Yes, yesss!”
“KUHURGH!”
One by one… blood burst from their ears.
Unbearable pain washed over them.
“Please… s-spare us…”
KWANG!
Geum Tae-min kicked open the door and left, leaving behind those writhing in agony.
“HUH, HUHH…”
“UHUUURGH…”
Only then did Geombau and the others finally exhale their held breaths.
Death had approached them closely before receding. Fear made every hair on their bodies stand on end.