The moment I stepped through the Gate, I was hit by the stench of rot and wet moss. A thick, humid heat clung to my skin, and the ground gave slightly underfoot.
The whole place reeked of still water and if you know, you know.
It's a swamp.
Fog drifted low across the muddy terrain, masking shattered helmets, broken blades, and rusted armor half-buried in muck.
Some of it looked ancient, untouched for years. A forgotten battleground, maybe.
I'd wonder if those scraps were worth selling.
But right now, I wasn't alone.
Something shifted ahead, a faint squelch, like mud sliding under weight.
I stopped moving. With ordinary senses, it would've blended in. But to me, it was like hearing a pin drop in a silent room.
A sound that didn't belong.
Then something grabbed my ankle.
Before I could react, I was yanked upward with violent force.
"Agh—!"
My body flipped through the air before slamming into the muddy water. A wall of swampwater exploded outward with a dull boom.
I stood, drenched but uninjured.
Thank you, [Super Durability].
But that throw told me something.
My body might be tough—but my weight hadn't changed. If I didn't stay braced or powered up, anything with enough strength could toss me like a rag doll.
Another sound. Behind me this time.
I didn't hesitate. When the pull came again, I was ready.
I twisted with my full strength and kicked upward.
My boot connected with something heavy—something soft underneath and dense above. A thick, muddy mass disguised as part of the terrain.
The impact sent it staggering back with a gurgling screech.
That's when I saw it.
The Bog Lurker.
It rose from the swamp like it had always been part of it—six limbs made of twisting roots and muck, a body hunched low to the ground.
Its head hung forward, faceless except for a slit that dripped algae and bone fragments.
Moss clung to its chest like rotting armor, and its back was layered with wet, pulsing growths that moved like breathing sacs.
It had no eyes. But it see me.
I watched it flattening slightly, almost blending back into the swamp.
Trying to disappear, huh?
Oh no, you don't.
I activated [Super Speed], blitzed through the swamp, and slammed a full-force punch into its center mass.
The impact detonated in a boom of green muck and shredded vines—like confetti made from swamp rot.
But it didn't die.
Its body burst apart, only to collapse into wisps of black sludge and reform—latching onto my arms and face like a living net. I staggered back, gasping as it tried to smother me.
Then the rest of the swamp moved.
The surrounding mud surged toward me, crashing over my legs and waist like it had a mind of its own trying to pin me down, bury me alive.
Not happening.
I ripped the slime off my face and took a deep breath, clearing my lungs.
A normal team would need backup to handle something like this. But me? I was built different.
Still, that last punch didn't seem to do any lasting damage. The thing had no bones, no core to crush. That was... interesting.
It shifted tactics.
The mud flung forward in webs, trying to blind me again. But with [Super Sense], every splash, every ripple was telegraphed before it even left the ground.
I tilted left, then right and the globs flew past me harmlessly.
Okay. So, I've got the edge in speed. But unless I hit something solid, I can't do any real damage.
So how do I kill something that doesn't have a body?
While dodging another volley, I stomped the ground as hard as I could.
The entire area shook. Water erupted upward in a wide arc, exposing the swamp's underlayer.
And that's when I saw it.
A mesh of pale, root-like fibers spread just beneath the surface—thin, veiny lines like fungal nerves, branching through the muck. I'd seen them before wrapped around my arms, twitching when I tore the slime off.
So that's how it moves.
I smiled.
Then it got angry.
The attacks ramped up. Streams of mud, whips of water, blasts of compacted muck—it was throwing everything it had at me, and it was coming from all directions.
Dodging wasn't enough anymore.
I slammed my fists into the ground, over and over.
Each shockwave tore through the roots beneath, leaving cracks and dead zones in the swamp's control. Everywhere I stomped, the nerves blackened and shriveled.
The swamp growing weaker.
That was the key.
Kill the nervous system.
I surged forward, fists and feet tearing through mud and root alike.
I was dismantling it. Bit by bit, the swamp lost control. Patches of land returned to stillness.
And then—
[Gate Cleared — Time Left Before Collapse: 30:00]
[Lives Saved: 22]
I stood in the middle of a crater, surrounded by still water and broken earth.
"That was exhausting..."
I bent over slightly, breathing hard. Even with 100 times the strength, speed, and durability, my stamina hadn't improved at all. Guess cardio was still going to be part of my life.
There was no [Super Stamina] skill in the system. If I wanted to last longer in a fight, I'd have to build that up the old-fashioned way.
I looked down at myself. Caked in mud, drenched from head to toe, and probably reeking. I couldn't wait to get home and take a shower. Hopefully the mud wouldn't clog the pipes. Maybe I should rent a room for the night and make it someone else's problem?
No… not worth the hit to my credit score.
I stepped out of the Gate's shimmering veil, stretching my shoulders.
Someone was waiting.
A girl stood near the gate's boundary.
Long blonde hair, tied neatly. Glasses. She wore the standard STF support uniform—no armor, no visible weapons. That meant she wasn't here to fight.
"I already cleared the Gate," I said, stopping a few feet from her. "No need to come all the way out here, miss."
"I'm not here about the Gate, Mister John," she said, voice calm, and cold.
"I'm here about a murder case."
She adjusted her glasses.
"Let's have a chat."
It wasn't a question.