I Became a National ‘Disaster’ Level Monster

Chapter 135 Season 2 – Is This the Future?

The *gakkeokjeon* (individual combat training) that had its difficulty increased by the regimental commander was, thankfully, completed without any serious issues thanks to my extensive experience.

In fact, the three trainees who performed well during the training were all later assigned to different units.

“I got accepted for long-term service!”

“Me too!”

“I passed as well!”

Luckily, based on what they told me later, it seemed like they all achieved their goals.

As for the regimental commander who imposed that difficult training on us—when he left the base, he looked utterly drained, riding off in a military vehicle. I didn’t know why at the time, but I later learned the truth.

Apparently, he’d had a run-in with someone terrifying—a proverbial grim reaper who completely drained his spirit.

…But why was I reminiscing about this now?

“…Hey! …Hey!”

“Ugh…”

“Shin-woo!”

“Katarina…?”

When I opened my eyes, Katarina, the leader of the Monster Group, was shaking me awake. That’s when I realized I had been dreaming about the past.

“Did I… fall asleep?”

“Yeah, you weren’t the only one. Everyone in here passed out as soon as the time machine started moving.”

“It’s a temporary brain overload caused by time travel. We call it ‘time trouble,’” said Jae-won, offering an explanation.

We were currently seated inside the cramped time machine, which was filled to capacity. I remembered now—after pressing the button to travel 20 years into the future, I had blacked out immediately.

The only ones unaffected were Jae-won and Katarina.

“How are you two doing okay?”

“I’ve experienced this once before, so I’ve gotten used to it.”

“As for me, I swapped places with a version of myself from a parallel world who passed out. So, I didn’t experience it at all~,” Katarina said nonchalantly.

The rest of the passengers, including members of the Kurumi family, Yoo Che-ran, Sister Kang Mi-rae, Ria, and my children from the Empire, were all still groaning in their sleep.

“Are they dreaming of the past like I was?”

“Probably. When I first experienced time trouble, I saw memories from my past,” Jae-won explained, looking a bit somber as he recalled those memories.

Meanwhile, Katarina glanced down at my children, who were still asleep, with a hint of suspicion.

“These kids… they’ve traveled back in time before, haven’t they? Why are they experiencing time trouble now?”

“It’s likely because the technology we used is different,” Jae-won answered. “They traveled instantly thanks to the future rings, but this time machine takes much longer to reach its destination.”

Katarina turned back to me with a skeptical expression.

“Was it really the right call to bring them along?”

Just like before, she didn’t seem thrilled about having them on board.

“Because of these kids, we couldn’t bring other important members of the Monster Group or key fighters like Jin-ah.”

“Well… that’s true.”

“And let’s be honest, when we reach the future, they might betray us. Can you really trust them, even though they tried to take Sophia from you?”

Trust, huh…

It was true that my children played a role in Sophia being taken to the future. But how could I, as their father, hold that against them when they were simply following orders to win their father’s approval?

“I trust them.”

“…!”

“They’re my children. Leon, Shin-ah, Yujin, and Yulian—all of them are my kids, and I want to trust them.”

“Hah… you really are something…”

“They’re my family. Even if I get hurt by trusting them, I have to keep believing until they come back to me.”

“You’re going to get yourself killed, you know…”

Katarina, being unmarried and without children, clearly couldn’t understand my perspective.

Sure, I had my doubts since these kids were created by my future self, but I wanted to give them the kind of trust I never received from my own father.

“Katarina, please trust me. You don’t have to trust them, but trust in me and my belief in them.”

“Sigh… When you put it like that, what am I supposed to say?”

I did my best to persuade Katarina, and just then—

*Thud!*

“?!”

“That vibration…”

“It seems we’ve arrived,” Jae-won said.

The time machine shook violently for a moment before the floating sensation disappeared. I glanced out the window, where there had been only darkness before.

“…What is this?”

Was I seeing things wrong?

We had traveled 20 years into the future, but we should’ve arrived in the same spot in Gangnam where we started. However, instead of the vibrant city skyline, all I saw was desolation—nothing but ruins.

“This is… Gangnam?”

“More precisely, this is Gangnam 20 years in the future.”

As soon as the time machine’s door opened, I rushed out to see for myself.

Snow was falling from the sky.

Which was strange, considering it was supposed to be early August, the height of summer.

“What’s with the weather?”

“Well, thanks to your future self burning most of the planet, there were a lot of nuclear explosions and other disasters. This is actually good weather, considering.”

Jae-won explained that in this future, it sometimes rained diamonds, which could shred a person’s body into pieces. Other times, thunderous sandstorms would alter the very terrain. And there were still other phenomena, like acid rain or hurricanes made of fire.

This world had become one where such extreme weather was considered normal.

“The empire your future self built is protected by ‘The Wall,’ but the outside world has become a place where people can only survive underground.”

What in the world had my future self done?

Could this still be called our blue planet—our Earth?

“Ugh… have we arrived?”

“Onii-chan, I think I had a nightmare where I became an experiment because you didn’t save me…”

“Ria! And Miss Kurumi!”

Just then, Ria and the head of the Kurumi family woke up, rubbing their eyes as they stepped out of the time machine.

Yawning, they suddenly froze in shock.

“Wh-whoa?!”

“What is this place?!”

They looked around at the deserted, ruined landscape of Gangnam, reacting just as I had.

“Where… are we? This can’t be Korea, can it?”

“It’s freezing! Onii-chan, did we land in winter or something?”

“No, we traveled exactly 20 years into the future from the day we left.”

“So you’re saying this is August? Did the future August turn into winter?”

“This is all because of humans causing global warming! It’s so unfair! And cold!”

The two huddled together, shivering. Seeing the thermometer read below freezing was proof enough that this world was no longer normal.

“But why am I fine?” I wondered aloud.

“Well, Father, you’ve grown more accustomed to fighting as a monster thanks to your battle with your future self. Look, I’m not cold either,” Jae-won pointed out.

“Ah, I see.”

Perhaps it was due to my upgraded monster abilities, but I hadn’t even noticed the cold. To me, it just felt pleasantly cool. But I couldn’t leave Ria and Miss Kurumi out in the cold for long.

“Why don’t you two head back inside the time machine and change into something warmer?”

“Okay, will do.”

“Onii-chan, let’s build a snowman before we leave after rescuing big sis!”

“Sure, let’s do that.”

I made a promise to Ria that we’d build a snowman—as long as it didn’t melt in some freak weather event before we had the chance.

Once I sent the two of them back inside, I noticed—

“Yahoou!!”

—Sister Kang Mi-rae, who had somehow already changed into a thick coat over her nun’s habit, darted out of the time machine, her eyes sparkling with excitement.

“It’s snow! It’s snow!”

“Father… what’s up with her?”

“Let’s just ignore her.”

“A world with no humans left, and yet it’s snowing! This is awesome! I’m gonna build a snowman~ la la la~.”

You’d think someone who hated people as much as her would still be shocked by this deserted wasteland with no trace of human life. But nope, she gleefully rolled a giant snowball and built a snowman, acting like an utter maniac.

I was left speechless.

“You… seem to be having a lot of fun.”

“Of course! One of my bucket list goals was to build a snowman in a city with no people!”

“So, are you satisfied now?”

“No! A snowman is just the beginning! It looks like it’ll take a while for the others to wake up, so I’m going to make a Neo Cyclone Jet Armstrong Cannon next!”

“…You’ve lost it.”

“Actually, the level of detail is pretty impressive,” Jae-won added.

Katarina stayed inside the time machine, trying to reconnect with the past. Ria and Miss Kurumi were changing into winter clothes. Watching Kang Mi-rae build her absurd snow cannon, I waved to Yoo Che-ran, who was the last to step outside.

“Che-ran, are you okay?”

“Ugh… that was worse than seasickness. Time travel is awful…”

“Haha…”

“By the way, the children your father allowed to come along haven’t woken up yet. Isn’t that strange?”

“Yeah, I guess Yujin might still

be recovering since he’s all bandaged up, but the others… they’re taking a while.”

“Oh, those kids? They woke up a while ago. But they seem to be having some sort of conversation amongst themselves.”

“…Really?”

Che-ran approached with the grace of a seasoned Hunter, unfazed by the cold as she stepped into the frozen wasteland of future Gangnam. Meanwhile, I couldn’t help but feel a sense of unease about what my kids were up to.

‘Surely… they’re not going to destroy the time machine or anything, right?’

They’re good kids, after all… at least to me.

I could only hope they wouldn’t cause any trouble as I silently prayed for the best.

Then, out of nowhere—

*Vroom!*

*Vroom!*

“Huh?”

“That sounds like a motorcycle…”

“Shit! You said all the humans were dead! Why are there motorcycle sounds?”

We all turned to face the direction of the approaching noise. The deserted ruins of Gangnam had been silent until now, but the roar of engines was getting closer.

“…! It’s a gang of bandits, Father.”

“B-bandits?!”

Wait, the world’s ended, and there are still bandits?

No… maybe it’s because the world has ended that bandits are roaming around in the middle of Gangnam.

As we watched, a group of people riding hover bikes appeared, tearing through the snow.

“Pillage! Let’s take everything!”

“Kill the men and capture the women!”

“…What kind of cliché line is that?”

“Yup, definitely bandits…”

We quickly decided to capture them and get some answers.