Have I Become a Monster?

"That man's features are obvious, and his back glows. We should find him soon."

"By the way, is he really an examinee? I'm starting to suspect he's a BOSS deliberately planted by the officials."

Jiang Yan was hardly the first person to be mistaken for an official-arranged opponent. The officials had truly taken a stray hit this time.

Jiang Yan was awakened by waves of dense footsteps.

Opening his eyes, he saw a vast procession of examinees ahead. For some reason, none of them were fighting each other over points.

Stop the fighting for profit.

Clearly, these people had banded together because of a shared interest.

"So what is it?" Jiang Yan rubbed his chin with his knuckles, deep in thought.

"Hey, handsome guy up front, want to join us?"

At that moment, a young girl suddenly ran over and verbally invited him.

"Are there any benefits to joining you?" Jiang Yan asked casually.

"Of course there are." The girl put her hands on her hips and secretly leaned close to whisper in Jiang Yan's ear. "We're going to fight a big BOSS. If we kill it, we'll probably get a lot of points."

Jiang Yan was immediately intrigued.

"What big BOSS?"

"I don't know either. Last night, I only peeked at it from far away. That thing looked like a person, but also like a monster. It had wings on its back and sparkled in the night."

The girl gave Jiang Yan a strange description, leaving him even more baffled.

He summed it up and repeated it back to her. "Human but not human, with wings, and it glows?"

The girl nodded. "That's right. That's exactly what I mean."

"Then will you join our extermination team?"

She extended another sincere invitation.

"Sure." Jiang Yan smiled, clearly interested in this so-called big BOSS.

And just like that, Jiang Yan inexplicably joined this extermination team.

Of course, he merely wanted to see what this big BOSS, so terrifying that people would rather form a team to eliminate it, actually looked like.

"Strange. Why haven't I seen it before?"

Jiang Yan never imagined that someone would describe his handsome cape as wings like those of a fluttering moth.

In the girl's description, he could no longer even be considered human.

The team continued to grow. Along the way, almost no one dared provoke this group. Before long, examinees from all around had joined them, and their numbers quickly reached five hundred.

The figure hanging in the sky last night had cast an indelible shadow over everyone. And because his cape glowed, Jiang Yan was backlit from the front, so almost no one could recognize him.

As the stories spread from person to person, that thing hanging in the sky could no longer be called human.

Some said it had a mouth full of fangs and could devour an examinee every second.

Some said it was covered in tentacles and loved crawling through holes in animals.

Some even fucking thought the monster was a pervert who specifically preyed on delicate young girls before eating them.

If Jiang Yan could tell they were talking about him, his family would truly need to invite an expert.

When the livestream camera switched over here, the two commentators both fell silent for a while. The footage simply played on quietly, carrying a calm sort of madness.

The bullet comments were having the time of their lives. They had never imagined that one day, someone would join a team formed to exterminate himself.

They began eagerly anticipating the stone-stiff reactions of these people when they discovered that Jiang Yan was actually the BOSS they wanted to kill.

"Hey, up ahead, want to join us?"

Li Qingle held a spear in her hand. Her hair was tied into a ponytail behind her head, her face untouched by makeup. She possessed a heroic air that inspired awe even without anger, standing tall and slenderer still against the backdrop of her spear.

"What is it?"

She was clearly not one for talking.

"Did you see that monster in the sky last night? We're a group dedicated to exterminating that monster."

The leader was a boy, and after seeing Li Qingle's cool, aloof face, he became especially enthusiastic.

This was exactly his type.

"No. I will deal with it myself."

Li Qingle turned and left.

There were too many people here. She disliked this chaotic atmosphere.

"Ah, what a pity." The man sighed and continued recruiting people nearby.

"This lord can deal with the monster you people are talking about all by himself."

Elsewhere, Xiao Ziming likewise rejected the invitation of this rabble.

"Heh, so that's the one who defeated Shang? I'm really looking forward to it~"

Xiao Ziming tightly gripped his longsword as a faint air of slaughter radiated from his body.

It had to be said that most geniuses possessed their own pride. Before experiencing defeat, they all believed they could overcome their opponents.

Compared to them, Jiang Yan was far more easygoing. He stayed among the team, listening to people share amusing gossip about that monster, enjoying the spectacle immensely.

At last, night fell.

"Quick, it's dark! Everyone, stay alert!"

"That monster likes hanging in the sky, and it's very fast. You must all be careful!"

The atmosphere within the team instantly grew tense. Everyone raised their heads toward the sky, their faces grave.

Jiang Yan followed their example and glanced upward a few times. The more he looked, the stranger it felt.

Suddenly, a familiar figure appeared ahead.

Jiang Yan focused his eyes and discovered it was Shang Xingren, who had escaped from his hands last time.

"Heh, found you."

Without another word, Jiang Yan activated Battle Saint Armor.

Amid the dim campfire light, a beam of golden divine radiance illuminated everyone's faces.

Jiang Yan flew into the air.

Following the source of the light, everyone stood frozen in place.

Not far away, Shang Xingren's legs trembled, and he instinctively wanted to run.

"No, I can't run!"

Shang Xingren gritted his teeth. Last time, he had fled on bodily instinct. But what would it mean if he fled again this time?

Xiao Ziming's words resurfaced in his mind, and the disappointment in his tone was still fresh in his memory.

Once, he had been such a proud person!

Suddenly, the dejection in his eyes swept away, and Shang Xingren's gaze filled with intense Battle Intent.

At worst, I'll be eliminated. I, Shang Xingren, need a battle to reclaim myself!

"H-He... he's that monster!"

The extermination team turned into a tangled mess.

People screamed in terror and even began scattering in every direction. The team that had once stood united became like a heap of loose sand.

This temporarily united group had not the slightest cohesion. The tiniest external force could easily shatter it.

Subdue the enemy's troops without fighting.

Jiang Yan understood in an instant.

Fuck, so I'm the huge fluttering moth you people were talking about—the one that eats people without even spitting out their bones, devours ten children in one meal, and loves crawling into people's holes?

"Heh, you people really know how to spread rumors upon rumors, don't you?"

Jiang Yan grinned ferociously at the fleeing examinees, as though he had truly transformed into the demon they described.

Just then, several figures moved against the fleeing crowd, flashing toward him like lightning.