Chapter 17: "Project Chimera Unleashed"**
> **"It wasn't evolution. It was deviation. And it didn't climb the food chain—it devoured it."**
> — Underground Forum User: *RustPulse*
---
### **\[1] — The Beast Wakes**
A steel door hissed open.
Lights flickered in a sterile underground corridor. Two men in hazmat suits hesitated as they stared at the chamber's occupant.
Straps lay snapped. The restraints weren't broken. They'd been *chewed* through.
From the dark, eyes blinked once—vertical slits, glowing faintly.
"Project Chimera... is active."
The radio went silent.
---
### **\[2] — Baekho's Last Card**
Baekho sat with his fingers templed. Sweat beaded on his brow.
"The target zones?"
"Sector 9 and 10 cleared. Civilians rerouted. Media suppressed."
Baekho nodded. "Release it near the arcade. That's where Jungho goes after school."
"Sir, it's uncontrollable."
"Exactly. Let it off the leash."
---
### **\[3] — The Arcade Ambush**
Jungho was playing an old-school boxing game, sipping strawberry milk, when the ground trembled.
The machine beside him exploded outward.
Something moved—fast, four-limbed, and wrong.
A kid screamed. Then silence. The creature stood up. Eight feet tall. Fused muscle and steel. Face stitched like a failed experiment.
Jungho blinked.
"You're not from around here."
The Chimera launched.
Jungho dodged by a breath. The claw tore the air behind him.
He didn't panic. He didn't even flinch.
He *grinned.*
---
### **\[4] — No System, No Limits**
It was built to counter system users.
But Jungho wasn't a system user.
He was raw, instinctive brutality.
The first strike came with bone-breaking weight. Chimera's arm came down like a piledriver. Jungho met it with a low elbow—redirected, twisted, *snapped.*
The monster howled.
Jungho didn't give it space.
He mounted the beast mid-air and *punched* through its jaw.
---
### **\[5] — Baekho Watches in Horror**
The monitors shook with static.
Chimera's vitals dropped.
"He's... *winning?*"
Baekho stood. "This isn't possible. Chimera neutralized over 12 targets in simulations."
Another screen blinked. Jungho lifted Chimera's body over his head.
Then he slammed it through the concrete floor.
---
### **\[6] — Daniel and Suhyeon Arrive**
They found the aftermath first.
Suhyeon gagged. Daniel stepped carefully over the debris.
In the center of the crater, Jungho sat on the Chimera's corpse, sipping from a juice box.
"You good?" Daniel asked.
Jungho wiped blood off his cheek. "Was fun. Better than that boxing game."
Suhyeon stared. "That thing was a *bioweapon.* You took it down with your bare hands."
Jungho shrugged. "Don't need powers when you're the end of the food chain."
---
### **\[7] — Whisper Threads Go Nuclear**
> *RustPulse: He tanked Project Chimera. No enhancements. No cheat skills. Just fists.*
> *MystPunch: Is he even human?*
> *IronTeeth: Doesn't matter. Baekho just crossed a line. Now Jungho's going to redraw the city in blood.*
> *BleedByte: There's no going back after this.*
---
### **\[8] — Jungho's Message**
Later that night, a package was left outside Baekho's headquarters.
Inside: Chimera's spine. Wrapped in the same map Baekho used to mark Jungho's territory.
On it, written in permanent marker:
> **"Burn your maps. You've lost the right to draw them."**
---
### **\[9] — The Calm Before the War**
Jungho stood on a rooftop overlooking Gangbuk.
Daniel joined him, quiet.
"What happens next?" Daniel asked.
Jungho stared into the dark.
"I stop reacting. I start hunting."
---