I Activated Cheat Mode in a Bizarre Game

Maybe it was because my provocation worked when I raised my sword, or maybe the thing was just naturally short-tempered—but the hulking muscle monster was the first to make a move.
“Uwoooaaah!”
As it roared, a tremendous shockwave swept over us, strong enough to make the entire bridge tremble.

The sound was loud enough to tear eardrums. My head rang from the blast.
With that roar, the monster stormed forward—thump, thump—its massive feet pounding the asphalt as it hurled a gigantic fist in our direction.
The punch was fast, but far too direct.

Shun and I—almost like we’d planned it—lightly leapt to the side at the same time, dodging the blow with ease.
The spot where we’d just been standing exploded with a deafening crash—KWAANG!—as its fist slammed down, crushing the asphalt like tofu and leaving a brutal scar on the surface.
A single graze from that would’ve shattered bones beyond repair.

Just as the monster began to pull its fist back, long-range support came into play.
“Now!”
With Bora’s shout, her talisman and Hanbit’s crimson energy round fired simultaneously toward the monster’s face.

Hanbit’s bullet was aimed precisely at the creature’s eye. No matter how tough it was, even it couldn’t have trained its eyes to be bulletproof.
Sensing danger, the muscle monster retreated with unexpected agility, its huge frame moving faster than anyone would’ve guessed.
It narrowly dodged Hanbit’s shot—but there was something it had overlooked.

The bullet might’ve been faster, but Bora’s # Nоvеlight # talismans, once locked onto a target, never gave up.
Paparak!
Zzzzt!

The talisman finally latched onto the creature’s side and, with a flash of blue light bright enough to blind, discharged a powerful bolt of lightning.
“Gwaaaargh!”
The pain made even that rock-hard muscle monster scream and stagger back.
Black smoke rose from its body.

This was our chance.
Shun and I didn’t miss the opening—we charged forward.
The smell of seared meat, sickening and foul, wafted from the monster’s lightning-scorched body.

Now it was our turn.
The closer I ran to the creature, momentarily frozen by the electric shock, the more overwhelming its sheer size and grotesquely swollen muscles became.
To be honest, I had a moment of doubt—Would my fist even register against a body like stone?

But this was the perfect opportunity Bora had carved open for us. Neither of us had any intention of wasting it.
“I’m going first.”
As we ran toward the monster, Shun gave me a wave and, without a trace of hesitation, latched directly onto the monster’s massive leg.

David and Goliath.
That story flashed through my mind. The size difference was that ridiculous. But Shun didn’t hesitate at all—he clung tightly to one of the creature’s legs.
He’d won awards in countless martial arts tournaments. Using his whole body like a lever, he locked the creature’s leg in a precise, powerful joint hold.

The monster had a vaguely human shape, so the hold worked perfectly.
“Ggwoaah?”
Startled by the pain of a technique it had clearly never experienced before, the monster flailed its arms wildly.

But it was too late.
Its own massive body weight only increased the pressure on the joint.
Its enormous body lost balance, and it began to collapse—one knee slamming into the ground first.

Thud!
“Now!”
Shun shouted, and I immediately moved into position.

I instantly understood what he intended. He had thrown his body into danger to give me the perfect chance for a finishing blow.
The monster’s head—so high before—was now lowered. Right at a perfect height for my punch to land.
I poured all my strength into my right fist, not letting the moment slip by.

Thud. Thud.
Step by step, I dug my feet into the asphalt, hard enough to leave cracks.
Unlike before, I wasn’t holding back at all.

I gathered every ounce of energy in my body, focusing it into this one punch—this one strike that would end this maddening battle.
“GWAAHH—!”
Maybe it sensed the danger instinctively.

Kneeling on one knee, the muscle monster crossed its arms to shield its head in a last-ditch defense.
Its arms, solid as boulders, formed a barrier over its face.
But—it didn’t matter.

Still mid-charge, I reached out with my left hand and grabbed that solid guard, tearing it down like crumpling a piece of paper.
As its arms were forcibly yanked away, its face was exposed.
This monster that had terrified so many was, for the first time, struck with fear itself.

I aimed straight for the center of that face.
And with all my strength, with all my emotions, I launched my fist.
The moment my punch connected with its skull—it was like the entire world went silent.

KWWAAAAAANG!
FWOOOOM!
Then came a deafening blast, followed by a gust of wind like a shockwave that swept across the bridge.

My clothes flapped, and my fist tingled from the impact.
Crack—!
The monster’s head literally flew off from the punch.

Launched like a cannonball, its head smashed directly into the round meatball-like monster that had been hiding behind it, screaming.
Both of them exploded with a grotesque crunch, disintegrating without a trace.
But even that wasn’t the end of it.

The decapitated monster’s enormous body couldn’t withstand the shock either. It skidded backward across the bridge, scraping up the asphalt, until it finally stopped.
“…Haa…”
A heavy silence fell over the bridge.

Breathing heavily, I slowly looked down at my smoking fist.
At last, true silence returned to the bridge.
As my boiling adrenaline and rage finally began to subside, my thoughts turned—belatedly—to Shun.

Shit. He’d been right under that monster.
I whipped my head around—and there he was, flattened against the bridge’s surface.
I rushed over in alarm, but thankfully, he was already pushing himself up, seemingly unscathed.

Dusting off his clothes, he casually explained that he’d released the leg and dove to the side just as I threw the punch.
“I almost got caught in your hit.”
Then, for the first time in a while, he spoke in very clear Korean:

“I almost fucking died.”
Shun gave me a sharp look.
“I—I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to hit so hard…”

I scratched my head awkwardly. He stared at me, then at the monster’s mangled corpse, before letting out a short laugh.
“That was a good punch.”
Before he even finished his sentence, the dense fog that had surrounded us began to clear like a lie unraveling.

The haze that had blocked our vision vanished, revealing the familiar nightscape of Incheon and the flashing police lights at the far end of the bridge.
The support team and officers who’d been watching from a distance must’ve realized the mission was over, judging by how they shouted:
“You did it!” “Are you okay?!”

Some clapped. Others called out to check if we were safe.
Still tingling from the force of the punch I’d thrown, I looked at the people cheering for us in the distance.
The long extermination mission… was finally over.

After the chaos at Mapo Bridge, writing the report took us into the late hours of the night.
Dragging the rare physical exhaustion I hadn’t felt in a long time since coming to this world, I finally made it home.
And yet—despite my body being so tired, my heart felt light as a feather.

I’d spent every day in this world feeling like I was walking on thin ice just to survive—but after this fight, something felt different.
Now that I’d fully faced my power—and accepted it—I felt a newfound confidence.
Like I’d finally set down a massive burden I hadn’t realized I was carrying.

“Grrr.”
“Rrrrrng.”
As I opened the front door, Leo and Daeho came padding over to greet me, purring and rubbing against my feet—whether they knew how I felt or not.

Their warm presence seemed to melt away the last of the fatigue clinging to my body and heart.
Smiling, I reached down to pet their heads—and then froze.
Hovering right above Leo’s head, clear and tiny, was a bright yellow exclamation mark: [!].

“…?”
Not Shun, not Park Sunja—but Leo, our Leo at home—had a sub-quest marker above his head.
I rubbed my eyes again and again, thinking I must be imagining things.

But the exclamation mark didn’t disappear.
What on earth… was he trying to ask me for?
To be honest, the timing wasn’t bad for a new quest.

The main quest wouldn’t unlock for a few more days, and Bora’s sub-quest was still far from done—it required perfecting her talismans.
So in a way, I was happy to see a new quest marker pop up.
But—

“…Leo, you want to talk about what’s on your mind?”
“…Grr?”
Leo and I stared blankly at each other.

There was no way he was about to pour his heart out in fluent human speech.
Just what exactly… is your problem?