Chapter 2: Teleportation user

An intense swayback posture formed as a fresh wound carved across the creature’s back. Yet the creature made no sound, even though its posture said otherwise. Instead, it swung its arm backward, aiming straight for the young man’s head.

The young man stepped back and successfully dodged. It was a clean evasion, as there wasn’t a single vine around them. But the creature gave no time to breathe—its assault continued relentlessly.

The young man leapt and used his teleportation ability—but strangely, he only teleported a short distance, about two meters away from the creature. The creature immediately pounced, closing the distance in an instant. The young man’s teleportation was deemed useless.

“What?!” the young man shouted, rolling to the right to avoid the hit.

From the young man reaction, it became clear—he could only teleport over short distances, roughly two meters at most. That meant if he wanted to strike from a blind spot, he could only teleport behind the creature or above it. Whether he hadn’t thought of teleporting upward, or avoided it due to the lack of leg and hip power mid-air, he stuck to teleporting behind.

The creature kept attacking, but the young man skillfully dodged each strike—until he teleported behind the creature once more.

This time, the creature had learned its lesson. The moment the young man vanished from sight, it whipped its arm back. The young man reappeared—only to take a heavy blow to the chest. His knife barely softened the impact. He was launched backward, crashing into a wall. He noticed Nova when he flew in mid-air.

“Hey, you! Cough! Help me!” shouted the young man, wincing from the pain.

Nova’s eyes went wide, his pupils shrinking in shock at the sudden shout.

‘I—I want to help you, really… but I don’t have any skills, unlike you, a teleportation user. What do you expect from a normal person like me?’ Nova thought, gripping the corner of the wall tightly.

His body trembled—not just from fear of the creature, but from the crushing weight of his own powerlessness too.

“Hey, you heard me, didn’t you?! Come help me!” the young man shouted.

Seeing the creature close in, he tried to get up, even though his back felt like it was being gripped by a molten hand.

But he couldn’t. He collapsed almost instantly—like a handkerchief trying to stand. He tumbled forward, his gaze fixed straight ahead. Right in front of him, the creature’s bulky hand came swinging in from the right.

He had no time to dodge. The impact hit him hard, sending him rolling violently through the dust and debris.

Nova surged forward on reflex as the violent rolling sound echoed in his ear. He drew a knife from his pocket and stripped off its sheath.

Clutching his knife, Nova thought, ‘Urgh… let’s just let the flow lead the way. I want to help him anyway.’

Then, he shouted in his mind, ‘My death just a bonus!’

At that moment, the creature stomped the ground and charged toward the young man.

Nova was still too late. The creature reached the collapsed young man first and pinned him down, pressing its hands against his chest and weighing him down with its full body, sitting on his legs. A mouth—one that hadn’t been there before—opened beneath its jaw, filled with rows of terrifyingly sharp teeth. It lunged forward, trying to gnaw down on the young man's head.

“Wait!” shouted Nova.

The creature ignored Nova, its massive mouth stretching open even wider. Luckily, the young man managed to block it just in time, holding his knife vertically along its jaws. Bracing himself against the ground, he strained to push back the creature’s enormous mouth and its sharp teeth.

But his body was too weak, and the creature’s strength was overwhelming. The flat of the knife pressed against his face, pinning him down in a desperate struggle.

Thanks to the young man’s perseverance, Nova had enough time to close the distance. The creature still ignored Nova as he slipped to its right side. With all his strength, Nova drove the blade into its ribs and shoved the creature off the young man. The creature toppled sideways, rolling once before coming to a halt.

“Cough! Thank you! Just give me a moment—I’ll help you after I rest for a while.” said the young man, glancing at the person with thick facial hair standing before him. At a time like this, it didn’t matter whether it was an old man with a beard or some other creature offering help—anyone would’ve been welcome.

Nova smiled. “Haha, sorry. This was just a spur-of-the-moment. I will probably not last even for a second. After I die, prepare to run, okay!”

The young man froze, shocked by the unexpected answer. It was a declaration of suicide.

A few seconds of silence passed… then—

“No, don’t be so pessimistic. You have a well-built frame and look very fit. You only need to stall time for now. Later, once I draw its attention, you can help me land the decisive blow," said the young man, after regaining his composure.

The creature rose and charged straight at Nova. On the way, it grabbed a steel pole and lashed it around as soon as Nova entered his attack range.

“My muscles are just from martial arts training I was forced into… I—" said Nova, leaning back to dodge the creature’s strike. He barely avoided it, with an inch to spare—then was cut off mid-sentence. 

The creature's next attack had come. But again, Nova slipped to the side, avoiding it with mere inches to spare.

“I haven’t trained in years,” added Nova.

As the creature struck again, Nova ducked and slipped behind its back. This time, not only did he dodge by a hair once more, but he also landed a clean slash across its spine.

The young man's eyes were wide, his mouth clamped shut as he watched the battle scene. He noticed a clear contrast between Nova’s words and what he saw. It was a total scam.

“Don’t joke around at a time like this! You’re practically his sparring partner now!” the young man shouted, a vein bulging on his forehead.

“As much as I want to forget it… looks like my body still remembers,” said Nova, surprised—but his eyes narrowed, and his lips pressed into a thin line. Even though he wore a serious battle face, deep down, he was just as shocked at himself.

“Just please concentrate on the monster right now,” said the young man.

Nova did as the young man said. He focused on every movement the creature made—even down to the twitch of its fingers. He tried to dodge each attack and counter when he could. But this time, there was no opening at all.

The creature had grown even more savage than before.

It leapt and swung its massive limbs wildly—punching holes in the road, twisting street signs, and knocking over trees. It was turning everything around it into a mess.

Whenever Nova dodged, something was crushed where he had just been standing. Sweat poured down his face as the thought that he was still there crept in.

The sweat wasn’t just from fear—it came from exhaustion too. His body was already drenched in sweat. Meanwhile, the source of that fear—the creature’s wild, unrelenting momentum—showed no sign of fading.

“Hey! Are you done restin—” Nova shouted to the young man, but when he looked around, the guy was nowhere to be found.

Suddenly, a sharp splashing sound burst out, followed by a spray of gray blood—the young man had stabbed the creature’s head from above.

But whether it was a death spasm or signs of life, the creature moved.

‘I can’t take any risk.’ thought Nova.

Nova stomped the ground and lunged forward. Using the full momentum of his body, he drove the knife into the creature’s heart. All three of them collapsed to the ground.

The creature writhed for a moment—then stopped.

“Alright. Our time’s limited.” rattled the young man. “Just do what I say. No questions. No talking. I saved your life, and I didn’t run—so listen, and trust me,”

“Okay—” said Nova, interrupted.

“Shhh! Don't talk!” said the young man, pressing his index finger to his lips.

“First, keep touching the monster’s body. You can absorb its power. In three seconds, it’ll start. Three, two, one…” said the young man.

Nova still had his hand on the knife buried in the creature.

“What is this?!” shouted Nova, startled. Something was flowing through his hand.

“It’s some kind of energy. Listen! Based on your reaction when fighting, I don’t know why, but it’s clear you don’t know anything. You were shocked when the creature’s stamina didn’t run out after consecutive attacks. So, I’ll summarize things for you. Once we’ve absorbed this, we must go to the stairs, or we die.”

Nova stayed quiet and followed the young man’s instructions, realizing how serious the situation was.

But in his mind, he muttered, ‘Actually, it’s because I woke up at noon… I must’ve already missed a ton of things.’

The young man pulled his hand back, and Nova had already felt the energy stop flowing.

“Follow me!” shouted the young man as he stood up and sprinted—not toward the stairs, but in the opposite direction. He vaulted over a tangle of vines with ease.

"Wait! The stairs are that way!" shouted Nova, pointing toward the path he’d been heading for earlier.

"There are too many monsters in there. I have another safe route in mind," said the young man.

"I’ll explain everything on the way. Now that we’re in this together, your lack of info might get us both killed." the young man added.