Listen to me, mortal," Time's voice resonated inside Hero's mind, cold and laced with heavy gravity. "This [Blaster] technique is exceptionally volatile. Your current vessel is nowhere near ready to handle it seamlessly. With a single discharge of this skill, you can obliterate the earth up to 20 meters deep. However... never make the mistake of channeling it through your hands." Hero gasped in his mind, 'Not my hands? Then how?' "Through your legs," Time commanded flatly. "Attempt to wield it with your hands, and your arms will be ripped into shreds, your bones ground to ash. Furthermore, this destructive power has a strict constraint—for now, you can only deploy it 10 times a day. As your level ascends, this limit will expand. For now, you must master both the skills I bestowed upon you—[Distraction] and [Blaster]—if you wish to survive the impending cataclysm." Hearing Time's grim revelation, Hero's heart sank. Sensing the sheer danger vibrating through the air as the city-wide sirens wailed, Hero wasted no time. He bolted toward the nearest underground bunker to avoid being caught in another catastrophic crossfire.
The wheels of time turned, and five grueling years flew by. Day and night, Hero pushed his body past its absolute limits, enduring bone-breaking training to master the two divine skills. Yet, Time's techniques were so transcendent that even after five years of absolute devotion, Hero could only reach Level 1 of [Distraction], and his [Blaster] capacity remained locked at 10 uses per day. Nevertheless, his physique was now remarkably honed, harboring a quiet, explosive power.
Meanwhile, in a desolate sector of the city, a routine F-Rank Dungeon gate stood under guard. Suddenly, a sickening, pitch-black miasma began to ooze from the dimensional rift. A low-ranking hunter stationed nearby chuckled, "Hey, look at that. Some movement from an F-Rank gate. Not like anything big ever comes out of these trash dungeons anyway. Besides, it'll take ages for the gate to fully destabilize." But his laughter died instantly as a monstrous silhouette breached the vortex. It was an unknown, grotesque creature, its hide carved with glowing demonic runes, its eyes burning like pools of fresh blood. A haughty D-Rank Hunter stepped forward, drawing his blade with a sneer. "An unknown monster? Doesn't matter. It crawled out of an F-Rank gate, meaning it's an E-Rank trash at best. As a D-Rank Hunter, I'll slice it to ribbons!" With a roaring battle cry, he lunged. But what happened next paralyzed everyone with sheer horror. Without even blinking, the unknown monster casually flicked its massive claw through the air. A sickening tear echoed, and the D-Rank hunter was instantly blown into bloody pieces. His shattered sword clattered onto the concrete.
"This... this thing is an anomaly!" a hunter shrieked, his hands trembling violently as he dialed the Hunter Headquarters. "Hello! HQ! An unknown, catastrophic entity has emerged from the F-Rank gate in Sector 7! It just obliterated a D-Rank hunter in a millisecond! We need immediate backup!" The control room replied with grim urgency, "You must hold the line and stall that creature for one hour! Fortunately, an S-Rank Hunter happens to be in your city right now. He has been deployed, but it will take him exactly one hour to reach your coordinates." An hour! The monster was reaping lives by the second, and they were supposed to hold it for an hour. Left with no choice, the remaining hunters threw themselves into the fray, but the monster began a ruthless massacre, bringing down buildings and turning the street into a graveyard.
At that very moment, Hero was passing through the area. The sight of the utter devastation made him freeze. Through the thick plumes of dust and debris, his eyes locked onto a shattered bus. Huddled behind it were several injured, terrified children, trapped under the rubble. A little child sobbed, clutching his wounds, "Mommy... help..." The sirens wailed relentlessly as waves of civilians fled toward the bunkers. Hero thought to himself, 'Backup should be arriving soon... I should just head to the bunker too. That monster is on an entirely different level.' Suddenly, Time's calm yet commanding voice echoed, "There is no need to hide in a bunker, boy. By precisely executing the two techniques I taught you, you can annihilate this insect in exactly 3 attacks."
Hero's entire body shivered with dread. 'What? Three attacks?! Look at the size of that thing! I don't have that kind of confidence. If even a single punch lands on me, I'm a dead man!' Time let out a soft, mocking chuckle. "True. If a direct hit connects, you will indeed be erased from existence. But with my skills, it won't even be able to graze your clothes. The choice is yours." Hero looked back at the crying children, then at the spreading ruins. He gritted his teeth. 'If I can just hold it off for a while, the S-Rank hunter will get here and save everyone.' Swallowing his fear, Hero called out in his mind, "Time... I'm terrified. Will you guide me through this?" "You are still a coward," Time chided. "But very well. I wish to see how much you have mastered my arts over these five years. You must place your absolute faith in me and execute my commands without a single shred of hesitation. Otherwise, you will end up just like the corpses painted on these streets." Hero clenched his fists, his gaze hardening. "Fine! I trust you. My life is in your hands." "Splendid. Strike only when I command, and hold when I tell you to. A fraction of a second's delay means your death. Understood?" Time ordered. Hero replied, "Understood. I'm ready."
"Now, walk toward those children at a casual, relaxed pace," Time instructed. The grotesque monster was already lumbering toward the trapped kids. Hero stepped out, walking forward casually as if taking a stroll in a park. Inside, his mind was screaming, 'I'm moving too slow! At this rate, the monster will slaughter them before I even get there!' Yet, forcing himself to trust Time, he kept his pace steady, stepping right in front of the children just in time. Hero spoke softly to the kids, "Don't worry. Stay behind me. I will take care of this thing." The monster noticed the new prey and unleashed a sonic-boom-inducing swipe aimed straight at Hero's head. "Now! Activate [Blaster]!" Time barked. The moment the command hit his brain, Hero forcefully channeled [Blaster] through his leg. A localized kinetic force caused the ground beneath him to violently crater, sinking by 5 feet! Because of this sudden drop in height, the monster's deadly swipe missed entirely, hitting the empty air and shattering the building behind them. Hero stared at the massive destruction, sweating profusely, but his legs were unharmed. However, the sheer friction and thermal energy of [Blaster] had completely incinerated his shoes.
Roaring in frustration, the monster immediately swung its second heavy fist downward. "Now, redirect the kinetic energy of its attack directly into its own legs!" Time commanded. Hero unleashed Level 1 of [Distraction]. As the colossal fist neared him, Hero intercepted the invisible shockwave, inverted its trajectory, and reflected the massive force straight into the monster's lower body. A reflected devastating force exploded against the monster's legs, shattering its reinforced bones into splinters. Screaming in agonizing pain, the behemoth collapsed heavily onto its knees, brought down to Hero's eye level. Time scoffed inside his mind, "Well, your shoes are already burnt to crisp anyway. Looking at this ugly creature's face annoys me. Shove your ruined, burnt shoes right into its disgusting mouth." Hero panicked internally, 'Insulting a monster like this?! What if it goes berserk and unleashes an attack I can't block?' But knowing better than to disobey, Hero slipped off the smoking remnants of his footwear and jammed them directly into the monster's agape jaw.
The absolute humiliation triggered an unprecedented rage within the beast. Its hidden 'Regeneration Power' and latent demonic energy ignited. Gathering every ounce of its life force into its remaining fist, it unleashed a cataclysmic final punch. The sheer atmospheric pressure of the coming strike made the air suffocatingly heavy, cracking the surrounding concrete before the hit even landed. Hero felt the terrifying pressure. 'Even if this punch doesn't hit me directly, the sheer shockwave will pulverize my bones!' The massive fist was now inches away from Hero's face. Death was knocking. "Now! The final strike of [Distraction]! Redirect the entire kinetic force of this punch straight back into its own skull!" Time shouted. Without losing a single millisecond, Hero thrust his palms forward. [Distraction] activated at its absolute peak. Hero cleanly absorbed the cataclysmic kinetic energy of the monster's ultimate strike, doubled its velocity, and hurled it right back into the beast's face! A blinding flash consumed the battlefield. The monster's own apocalyptic force rebounded directly beneath its chin with twice the speed, completely obliterating its head into a fine red mist. The gargantuan, headless body crashed heavily onto the floor, utterly lifeless. It was over.
"Now, point your finger toward the South-West direction, turn your face that way, and flash a dark, stylish smile," Time suddenly requested with a strange amusement. Hero thought, 'What kind of bizarre request is this at a time like this?' Yet, keeping his absolute faith, he complied. He turned his face toward the South-West, raised his hand, pointed his finger, and delivered a sharp, captivatingly cold smile. Immediately after, he turned around and swiftly vanished from the scene, knowing he couldn't afford to be around if more monsters emerged from the unstable gate.
Five hundred kilometers away from the city, on the topmost floor of a magnificent skyscraper, a mysterious and immensely powerful figure stood on the balcony. It was a High-Rank Vampire. Utilizing his divine sensory perception, he had been watching Hero the entire time. When Hero pointed directly at him and flashed that chilling smile, the high-rank vampire's heart skipped a beat. 'How is this possible?! I am standing 500 kilometers away, yet that mere human brat detected my presence?! Not only did he perceive me... he pointed right at me!' A cold sweat broke across his face. 'I injected my own 'Demonic Energy' into a measly F-Rank monster, evolving it into an absolute SSS-Rank calamity... and that boy slaughtered it in exactly three strikes! Who is he? What is the source of his monstrous strength? He is a dangerous variable that could destroy my grand plan. I must eliminate him immediately before he becomes my undoing!' With a mixture of wrath and fear, the vampire unleashed two massive black wings from his back, transformed his visage into a monstrous bat-like creature, and soared into the storm clouds. However, unbeknownst to both of them, amidst the rubble where Hero had slain the beast, a damaged but fully functional security camera was humming to life. It had recorded everything—from the moment Hero walked up to the beast, to the 3-attack absolute decimation, right down to that final, spine-chilling stylish smile. The footage was captured, and a storm was about to brew...