The steel door buckled inward.
One more hit, and the hinges would give up.
I sat leaning against a wall that vibrated every time the monster outside slammed its body against the metal. On my thigh, the emergency bandage was already soaking through with dark red. The alcohol burned my nerve endings, making my leg muscles twitch uncontrollably. It felt like a hot wire was being pulled through the meat.
[Status: Mobility -40%]
[Status: Exhaustion (Stamina Critical)]
I checked my analog watch, its glass face already cracked.
Two minutes. That was the time I needed to turn this cramped generator room into an industrial oven.
On the floor, diesel fuel pooled, reflecting the dim red light of the generator's indicator lamp. The smell was overpowering, sharp and chemical, masking the scent of blood and cold sweat. I had spilled two full jerrycans—about forty liters—creating a path from the entrance to the center of the room.
This wasn't magic. This wasn't a Skill Card.
This was a Grade-1 workplace safety violation.
I dragged my body to the open electrical panel on the back wall. Exposed copper wires dangled out. My hands shook as I stripped the wire insulation with the [Bone Spike] knife. Not out of fear—fear was a useless emotion right now—but because of hypoglycemia. My blood sugar had crashed. My body was starting to eat its own muscle for energy.
But the only thing I had to eat was high-voltage electricity.
CLANG!
The top hinge of the door snapped with a metallic scream. Light from the outer warehouse spilled through the gaping crack.
I could see the snout of the Scrap-Metal Alpha there. Its teeth coated in dried paint and black blood. Its yellow eyes stared at me through the gap, filled with pure hatred. It was no longer roaring. It was hissing.
It knew I was cornered. It thought it had already won.
"Amateur," I whispered, wrapping the wire end around the manual circuit breaker lever.
I retreated to the farthest corner of the room, climbing onto a steel workbench that I designated as my emergency Safe Zone. I dragged my injured leg up with difficulty, leaving a trail of blood on the table leg.
In my left hand, the [Chain Whip] card flickered dimly, awaiting command.
In my right hand, was a pebble I had picked up from the floor.
The plan was simple:
Let it in.
Light the fuse.
Finish the rest.
The problem was, I didn't have a lighter.
So I had to create a spark manually, using a method that might kill me too if this wire insulation leaked.
CRUNCH!
The steel door finally gave way. The door leaf tore from its frame, falling with a heavy thud onto the diesel-soaked floor.
Scrap-Metal Alpha stepped inside.
It was big. Too big for this room. Its iron shoulders scraped the door frame, creating a teeth-grinding friction sound.
It paused, sniffing. The smell of diesel was intense, but its mutation-modified brain likely didn't recognize the danger of fossil fuels. It only smelled bleeding prey.
It stared at me on the table.
Only four meters separated us. A pool of diesel lay between us.
[Elite Boss: Scrap-Metal Alpha]
[HP: 75%]
It still had three-quarters of its life. I probably had only 10% left in my body's fuel tank.
The wolf bent its hind legs, muscles tensing beneath its iron plating.
"Now," I decided.
I threw the pebble in my right hand.
Not at the monster.
At the electrical panel with the jumpered wire.
The pebble hit the circuit breaker lever. The lever dropped.
The exposed wire I had prepared touched the panel's iron frame.
ZAAAP!
A blue spark popped. Hot. Bright.
The spark fell straight into the pool of diesel below.
WHOOOOSH!
There was no Hollywood explosion. Just the vicious sound of air being sucked in as fire caught the fuel vapor. The oxygen in the room was consumed instantly, making my ears pop from the pressure change.
In a split second, the floor in front of the Alpha turned into a sea of orange fire.
The room temperature spiked from 25 degrees to 400 degrees.
The Alpha screamed.
Not an angry roar, but the panicked shriek of an animal.
Fire didn't just burn; fire ate everything. The fur and flesh between its iron plates caught fire instantly. The smell was horrific—burnt meat and melting plastic.
The monster backed up, trying to run, but the floor was slick with diesel. It slipped, falling into my man-made inferno.
It thrashed, its stump tail bashing the walls, knocking down tool racks.
I covered my face with my sleeve, shielding against the heat that singed my eyebrows and hair. Black smoke rolled across the ceiling. I coughed, my eyes watering and stinging. My lungs felt tight, as if an invisible hand was strangling me.
If I wasn't careful, I would die of asphyxiation before the monster burned to death. Bad risk calculation.
The Alpha got up. Its iron skin began to glow red. Blinded by smoke and fire, but its ears twitched. It heard my cough.
With its remaining madness, it didn't run out. It lunged toward me, punching through the wall of fire.
It chose to die with me.
Crazy.
It leaped onto the workbench. Distance: zero.
I could feel the heat radiating from its burning body. Its jaws opened, ready to chew my head off.
This was it.
I had no room to run. I had no more traps.
I only had the last asset I had saved—an asset that might burn out my brain.
I activated the card in my left hand.
"Activate."
[Mana: 10/10 -> 5/10]
It felt like a concrete nail being driven into my temple. An instant migraine hit as 50% of my mental energy was forcibly sucked by the Grimoire. My vision narrowed (tunnel vision).
From empty air, a two-meter iron chain appeared in my hand. It was heavy, barbed, and glowed cold blue—a stark contrast to the fire surrounding us.
I swung the [Chain Whip].
Not a random attack.
Card active skill: [BIND].
The chain moved like a living snake, guided by the system, not my tired muscles. It wrapped around the neck of the Alpha mid-air. The iron barbs bit into the neck flesh that had softened from the burning.
"Sit!" I snapped.
I yanked the chain to the side.
The Alpha's jump momentum was arrested. Its neck strangled. Its massive body slammed sideways, crashing into the generator room's concrete wall.
CRACK!
Its head hit the concrete.
It howled, choked.
But it wasn't dead yet. Its HP was still 15%. Boss Monster durability was nonsensical. It tried to rise again, claws scratching the steel table, inching toward me.
I checked my Mana status.
[Mana: 5/10]
One more attack.
After that, I pass out.
My brain flashed a warning: Shutdown Imminent.
If this attack failed to kill it, I would collapse in front of an angry monster inside a burning room.
Risk: 100%.
I stood on the table, ignoring the pain in my right thigh where the stitches had surely torn from the sudden movement. Warm blood flowed down my leg again.
I raised the chain high.
I didn't aim for the body. The iron was too thick.
I didn't aim for the eyes. Too small.
I aimed for its mouth, wide open, trying to gasp for thinning oxygen.
"Swallow this."
I swung the final strike.
[Mana: 5/10 -> 0/10]
My world spun. Darkness encroached on the edges of my vision. The sound of fire around me muffled, sounding distant like underwater. My brain felt empty, like a battery yanked out by force.
But my hand had already moved.
The tip of the chain whip shot into the Alpha's jaws, pierced the throat, and tore through the insides.
SPLAT.
The Alpha choked. Its body convulsed once. Twice.
Then collapsed.
[You have killed Elite Boss: Scrap-Metal Alpha]
[Exp +450]
[Level Up!]
[Level 2 -> Level 3]
[Level 3 -> Level 4]
Level-up light washed over my body.
It didn't feel like magical healing. It felt like being doused with ice water when you have a high fever. Shocking, but uncomfortable.
The pain in my thigh subsided to a dull throb, but didn't vanish. My torn muscles knit back together, but left stiff scar tissue. The dizziness from Mana Exhaustion lessened, but left a pounding headache behind my eyes.
Leveling up fixed the hardware, but my software was still crashing.
I stood in the center of the burning room. The fire began to die down as the diesel was consumed, leaving thick black smoke and the smell of death.
The Alpha's corpse lay on the floor, charred and smoking.
I climbed down from the table, coughing.
Hot. Thirsty.
But I won.
I approached the carcass.
Most of its iron skin had melted or warped. The flesh was severely damaged by fire. Quality destroyed.
"Asset depreciation," I mumbled in disappointment.
Killing with fire was effective, but it ruined the loot. The hide was unusable. The meat was inedible.
Market value dropped 70%.
But damaged loot was better than being a corpse.
I placed my hand on the charred remains of its head.
"Forge."
The process was slow. The Grimoire seemed reluctant to accept these damaged goods.
Finally, the corpse dissolved.
Two cards appeared.
[ITEM: SCRAP METAL PLATE]
[RANK: UNCOMMON (Damaged)]
[EFFECT: Crafting material. Low quality due to extreme heat exposure. Durability 10/100.]
Trash.
Just raw material. Even though I had hoped for a Rare Armor card from an Elite Boss. This was a major loss. I sighed, my lungs protesting the remaining smoke. This was the price of dirty tactics. Hazard Pay.
But the second card caught my attention.
It wasn't White, Green, or Blue.
It was a faded Purple.
[ITEM: BEAST CORE (IRON)]
[RANK: EPIC (Consumable)]
[EFFECT: Energy core from an iron-type monster. Can be used for Pet Evolution or temporary Power Up.]
My eyes widened.
Core.
The energy heart survived. Fire couldn't burn pure mana essence.
This wasn't equipment. This was an investment.
The market value of this item in the future... incalculable.
I closed the book with a cold sense of satisfaction.
I lost blood, lost fuel, and nearly lost consciousness.
But the ROI was positive.
I limped out of the generator room, leaving the dying embers behind.
Back to the main warehouse.
The warehouse was silent. Racks collapsed. Pools of blood, paint, and detergent mixed on the floor. This place was done. No more monsters to kill. No more goods to take. Local resources had been depleted.
I walked toward the main exit—a large Rolling Door facing the highway.
I pressed the open button. No electricity. Of course.
I pulled the manual chain.
Clank... clank...
The iron door rolled up slowly.
Purple light from the afternoon sky flooded in, blinding eyes accustomed to darkness.
Wind blew in. The smell of ozone, smoke, and urban panic.
I stepped out.
The view... was chaos.
The highway was gridlocked with abandoned cars. Smoke billowed from skyscrapers in the distance. Sirens wailed endlessly far away.
Across the street, a Goblin was smashing a car window with a club, trying to drag out a screaming driver.
The Apocalypse System wasn't just happening in my warehouse. It was happening everywhere.
The old world was dead. A new market was opening.
On the sidewalk, I saw a group of humans. Three people. They wore sports gear—bicycle helmets, baseball bats, knee pads.
They had just killed a small Goblin. They cheered, breathing hard, their faces pale but full of the euphoria of a first victory. They high-fived each other, feeling like heroes in a comic book story.
Then they saw me exit the warehouse.
They saw my torn clothes, covered in dried blood, paint, and black soot.
They saw my steel claw gloves and the chain whip hanging at my waist.
They saw the empty, tired look in my eyes.
Their cheering stopped.
They took a step back, their baseball bats lowering.
In their eyes, I didn't look like a fellow survivor.
I looked like a Boss Monster freshly emerged from its lair.
I ignored them. They were just amateurs. Potential consumers, or future victims. Irrelevant right now.
My eyes focused on a cargo crate overturned in the middle of the road, not far from them.
Beneath that crate, something moved. Something small, black, and... hungry.
Not a normal monster. The aura was different.
The System gave me a quiet notification, like a whisper.
[Rare Entity Detected nearby.]
My lips curled up slightly.
The warehouse was empty. But it seemed there was a valuable asset lying on the street, waiting to be claimed.
"Let's see," I whispered.