The Chain-Bound Abomination lunged, its massive, eight-foot frame obliterating the asphalt beneath its feet. To anyone else, it was a terrifying blur of muscle and rusted iron. But through my burning, newly awakened vision, the world slowed down. The bright, ethereal veins of pulsing light inside the beast flared crimson, telegraphing its exact trajectory a full second before it actually swung.
But before I could capitalize on the opening, a desperate yell pierced the sound of shattering concrete.
"Hey! You! Help me, please!"
Yoon Sul was still on all fours, scrambling backward like a frantic insect as the debris from the creature's advance rained down around him. His expensive athletic gear was torn and coated in grime. He looked up at me, his eyes wide with tears and blind terror, completely oblivious to the fact that I had just rewritten his entire destiny. "I have money! My family has money! Just get me out of here!"
I didn't even look back at him. My focus was locked entirely on the creature, but my mind was suddenly assaulted by a completely new set of system notifications.
The dormant power of the Dragon's Eyes was reacting.
Passive Effect 'Mana Path Visualization' has triggered an evolution echo.]
[Your S-Rank Trait bypasses baseline target encryption.]
[You can now perceive the Status Windows of other entities.]
Instantly, transparent holograms flickered into existence right above the heads of both the pathetic coward on the floor and the raging boss monster charging toward us.
[Entity: Yoon Sul]
[Level: 1]
[Class: None]
[Attributes: Strength 8 | Agility 9 | Sense 10 | Mana 5]
[Evaluation: A baseline human completely driven by fear. Zero combat value.]
My gaze shifted past him, locking onto the giant mass of muscle swinging a rusted iron pendulum directly at my head.
[Regional Boss: Chain-Bound Abomination]
[Rank: C-]
[Attributes: Strength 42 | Agility 22 | Health 50 | Mana 15]
[Current Condition: Enraged (Focusing entirely on the holder of the stolen core).]
Strength 42 vs my Strength 16, I calculated instantly. A direct hit would pulverize my bones. But its Agility was only 22—and thanks to my desperate point dump in the alcove, my Agility was sitting at a sharp 30.
I could outrun its perception.
"Minsoo, now! Execute the flank!" I barked, my voice cutting through Yoon Sul's pathetic whimpering.
As the Abomination's massive, chain-wrapped fist came crashing down toward the center of the plaza, I activated my upgraded stats. My feet dug into the shattered pavement, and I vanished from the creature's direct line of sight, leaving nothing but a slipstream of wind behind. The massive fist struck empty air, cratering the ground and sending a shockwave that threw Yoon Sul rolling backward across the dirt.
Through the Dragon's Eyes, I watched the glowing mana paths in the monster's right shoulder dim as it overextended, transferring all its kinetic energy into the missed strike. It was completely open
Using the momentum of my 30 Agility, I pivoted on my heel, bringing my steel crowbar up in a vicious, sweeping counter-attack aimed directly at the glowing mana junction in its exposed knee.
Clang!
The heavy steel bit deep into the creature's leathery skin, hitting the exact structural weak point I had targeted. A sickening crack echoed through the plaza as the monster roared in genuine agony, its massive frame tilting violently to the left as its balance shattered.
But my grim satisfaction was cut short.
The creature's featureless mass of teeth twisted into a grotesque, mocking grin. Despite its shattered knee, the rusted iron chains fused into its left forearm suddenly flared with a blinding, toxic purple mana path I hadn't seen coming.
Before I could pull my crowbar back to retreat, the heavy chains whipped backward blindly with terrifying speed, wrapping tightly around the shaft of my weapon and locking me in place. The C-Rank boss wasn't just a mindless brute—it was willing to take a crippling blow just to bait me into close quarters.
The rusted metal links groaned as the Abomination yanked the chain with its massive 42 Strength. The sheer force threatened to rip my arms right out of their sockets.
"Oppa!" Minsoo yelled from the left flank, her steel crowbar raised as she sprinted toward the monster's blind spot.
Don't stop, Minsoo! Strike the base of the neck!" I roared, my eyes straining as the Dragon's Eyes burned a furious crimson.
Through my altered vision, the world didn't just slow down—it revealed the monster's next move in excruciating detail. A torrent of dark, toxic purple mana was rapidly traveling from the core in the center of its chest, surging directly down its remaining good leg. It was preparing a ground-shattering stomp to crush me into paste while I was pinned.
[Warning: Boss Monster is casting 'Abyssal Tremor'.]
[Time remaining until activation: 0.4 seconds.]
If I held onto the crowbar, I was dead.
With an Agility stat of 30, my reaction time was operating on a completely different plane than my physical strength. In a fraction of a microsecond, I released my grip on the weapon. Dropping low to the asphalt, I used my explosive momentum to slide directly between the Abomination's massive, mutated legs just as its foot
came crashing down.
BOOM!
The shockwave tore through the plaza, shattering the remaining pavement into a web of lethal stone shrapnel. A sharp piece of concrete sliced across my cheek, drawing blood, but I was already behind the beast.
"Now!" I yelled.
Minsoo leaped from a collapsed transit barrier, leveraging every single one of her newly allocated Agility points. Her movements were a fluid blur as she brought her crowbar down with a sickening crunch directly into the mana junction at the back of the creature's neck.
The Abomination threw its head back, a high-pitched, agonizing screech tearing from its jawless mouth. The purple mana paths running through its body violently destabilized, fracturing like broken glass.
[Critical Hit! The target's mana flow has been temporarily disrupted.]
[The Regional Boss has entered a 'Stunned' state for 3 seconds.]
The massive creature stumbled forward, completely paralyzed. Unluckily for him, its massive, staggering momentum was carrying it directly toward the stairwell where Yoon Sul was still huddled on the ground.
"No, no, no! Stay back!" Yoon Sul shrieked, wetting himself as the towering, eight-foot abomination toppled face-first right toward him.
I scrambled to my feet, my chest heaving as I retrieved my trapped crowbar from the monster's limp grip. Three seconds. That was all the time the system was giving me before those deadly chains started swinging again. My gaze locked onto the pulsing, exposed core visible through the fractured skin of the monster's neck.
The dormant dragon inside my eyes growled in anticipation, practically drooling for its first meal.
"Your core," I muttered, sprinting forward with my crowbar raised high, "is mine."