Become Overpowered CEO of Hero Clan

Become Overpowered CEO of Hero Clan – 035

An executive belonging to DRR, known to be human. However, in reality, he is a cosmic being inheriting the blood of the overlords who rule the macro world, a discarded child from beyond the galaxy.

Since Season 1, the only guy who knows how to turn people captured by negative emotions into monsters is that guy.

‘If it’s really related to that guy, it’s a big problem.’

Already feeling dizzy, now a big concern arose. The change in my mood immediately affected my body.

[Everything has become annoying.]

[Rest is needed.]

– Thunk –

While venting alone, hwang Man-deuk opened the door leading to the chairman’s office. Since I needed to focus on the boss battle now, I tried to ignore the black cloak as much as possible.

However, the headache was inevitable, so I wiped away tears and used another consumable.

‘Hold on, stomach.’

[Used ‘Packaged Iced Caffè Latte, size M’.]

[Stomach has become messier.]

Instantly, a sense of fullness surged, and the effect of caffeine spread. Feeling the irritation that seemed about to explode calming down, I followed the members into the boss zone.

‘That… is it a tree monster?’

The floor of the Chairman’s office was filled with roots of trees. A purple sphere containing a male body bowed like a fetus was visible upfront. It was deeply embedded in the surface of the trunk.

– Kurururururur –

– Whoosh! –

As if waiting for us, the entire building shook. Dust and lime powder poured down as if the ceiling would collapse.

– Kwaddd! –

Transforming into a Werebear form, hwang Man-deuk enveloped us with his massive body. Sheets of metal falling and fragments of rock bounced off in all directions from the muscular back of the giant bear.

I felt a subtle warmth from the members who gathered together. They were preparing to enter battle by circulating magic throughout their bodies.

– Kurururur! –

– Roar—Kwaaang! –

[The rooftop battle begins.]

Suddenly, I felt the ground tremble. It wasn’t an illusion, the entire Chairman’s office was rising.

The ceiling completely collapsed, and dust scattered everywhere.

– Hoo! –

Just before the dust engulfed us, seo Eun-ha shone brightly, creating a thin shield to protect us. While avoiding respiratory distress caused by dust, visibility dropped to almost zero. Then, hwang Man-deuk emitted magical wind, instantly clearing away the dust.

– Hooaaaaah! –

‘Good handling, guys.’

The quick response of the members was truly reassuring. They instinctively protected me without being told. I felt a strong desire to upgrade the members quickly.

– Gooo……

–

As the dust settled, a huge tree came into view. It looked like a combination of a redwood and a water pine, embedded on the rooftop of a department store. The sky above the rooftop was obscured by a hazy gray whirlwind, creating an apocalyptic atmosphere.

– Thump-thump-thump –

– Gulp.

–

Survival instinct surged, making my chest tremble.

Beneath the branches extending from the trunk just below the canopy, the terrifying features of the tree monster were attached. Even just looking at it made my spine tingle.

‘I trust you, guys. You can do it.’

The memory of the cloaked figure haunted me. My tense mind considered the worst-case scenario that all of this might be a trap.

And it didn’t seem impossible for the members to defeat this tree monster with their strength alone.

The monster had various mutations, but its level was only 57. It seemed like a spec worth trying to conquer.

– Geee…! –

The monster tree let out a roar. Branches from the bottom of the tree trunk attached to the purple sphere, swallowing it into the stem.

Similar to how the purple sphere served as the driving force for the tree monster, the monster, which had been still, vigorously shook its branches.

– Shooaaaah! –

The branches collided, creating a tumultuous noise like a sudden downpour. The already apocalyptic atmosphere became even more somber.

“Leader?”

I snapped back to attention at Seo Eun-ha’s voice. Glancing around, I saw the members giving me sidelong glances. It seemed like they were eagerly awaiting my orders.

‘My head is going to explode.’

Under the children’s expectations, I felt suffocated. The pressure to come up with the best strategy surged through me.

– Beep-beep! –

My brain spun madly, and a ringing sound echoed in my ears. I struggled to formulate a tactical plan, considering the weaknesses of the tree monster, the strengths of the members, the battle items and consumables I possessed, the terrain and landmarks on the department store rooftop, and peculiarities related to Lee Du-man.

[Remaining time – 16:35]

‘The battle must not drag on.’

The time limit was about 15 minutes. If we couldn’t bring down that giant tree within that time, the department store was inevitably going to collapse.

– Ssshaaaaaak! –

Thousands of leaves surged towards us. Faced with the terror of potentially facing death, I gritted my teeth to maintain a cold rationality.

“Hwang Man-deuk, Yeo Jin-soo, target the pile of trees surrounding the purple sphere.”

“Yes!”

“… Got it!”

Upon my order, Jin-soo shot like a bullet. Hwang Man-deuk hesitated as if concerned about Seo Eun-ha and Gil-seong, but when our eyes met, he dashed forward with renewed determination.

– Swoosh—thud! –

Just as Seo Eun-ha was about to emit radiance, I threw a broad disc onto the floor, preventing her from unleashing her brilliance.

The disc was a rechargeable shield purchased on sale a week ago, and as soon as it landed, it unfolded into a rounded shield, blocking the intrusion of the tree leaves.

– Clang clang clang clang clang! –

The shield emitted a cacophony of loud metallic clashes. Each leaf shot from the monster was, in fact, a sharp blade!

“Are you guys okay?!”

I was taken aback when Hwang Man-deuk and Yeo Jin-soo dashed in a surprising direction. Seeing Hwang Man-deuk, who had a thick layer of tree leaves stuck to his fur, shaking them off as if to say it wasn’t a big deal, I sighed in relief.

– Shoo-shoo-shoo-shoo! –

Yeo Jin-soo was so fast that there seemed to be no worry about getting entangled in the leaf currents. It appeared as if the leaves automatically avoided him while he casually shook his shoulders.

– Thunk! Swoosh –

The punches from Hwang Man-deuk and the sword strokes from Yeo Jin-soo penetrated the pile of branches suspected to be the weakness of the tree monster.

– Kwooooh……! –

As expected, the grotesque face of the already ferocious tree monster twisted strangely when its presumed weakness was hit.

“Good.”

It seemed reasonable to assume that the purple sphere containing Lee Du-man was the core of the tree monster.

– Squelch squelch.

–

– Swoosh –

At that moment, numerous branches shot out like long tentacles from the thick trunk, attempting to entwine Hwang Man-deuk and Yeo Jin-soo.

Due to the sudden increase in their numbers, the relatively slow Hwang Man-deuk ended up tightly bound. However, Yeo Jin-soo’s nimble footwork flashed, and dozens of branches were swiftly severed, overcoming the crisis.

I heaved a sigh and instructed Gil-seong to consecutively launch explosive bombs at the spot where the face-shaped image of the tree monster was embedded.

– Boom! –

It hit accurately. However, even as consecutive explosive bombs detonated from the top of the trunk, the tree monster’s gaze was still fixed on Hwang Man-deuk and Yeo Jin-soo.

The face was apparently a non-vital area.

– Ssshaaaaaak! –

– Clang clang clang –

The storm of tree leaves and the tentacles of branches both exerted tremendous force in an attempt to separate the two. Hwang Man-deuk, who had been holding his ground with confidence, had no choice but to step back. Even Yeo Jin-soo, who had missed all attacks due to his elusive footwork, was pushed backward.

The expressions of the two heroes darkened, but I nodded involuntarily at the straightforward attack pattern of the monster.

“Is it time?”

The main attack strategies of the tree monster were leaf bombardment and summoning branch tentacles. Among them, the branch tentacles only grew and interfered with attacks near the purple sphere, doing little else.

It wasn’t a particularly challenging opponent. As long as there was enough time, it seemed manageable.

Just then…

[The tree monster seems exhausted.]

[This might be an opportunity.]

At that moment, a message hinting at the open damage time appeared. The tree monster let out a groan as if it were dying, and the wide-area attack units that had been pouring like a waterfall suddenly lost momentum.

It was time to exploit the weakness with all our might.

“Unleash your radiance.”

At my command, seo Eun-ha, who had been calmly closing her eyes, opened them. As she gracefully raised her hand, a brilliant golden wave spread out, enveloping the members.

Checking the buff effects, I immediately ordered a full-force assault.

– Swoosh! –

– Kwaaack –

The piles of trees collapsed like a waterfall in response to the coordinated attacks of the members. The lower part of the thick trunk split open like a gaping mouth, exposing the purple sphere inside.

A powerful punch from Werebear struck the tightly bound area, and Jin-soo’s blue stride precisely cut through the same spot. In addition, Gil-seong’s penetrating bullet pierced deep into the outer wall of the sphere, causing a visible crack.

The simple pattern and friendly damage time structure of the tree monster made me feel much lighter.

It seemed like the presence of the black cloak hadn’t caused any strange behavior from the tree monster. If it had, the strategy wouldn’t have been so smooth.

[Gil-seong recalls the promise with the child.]

[Gil-seong strengthens her resolve.]

“Huh?”

Along with that, a positive status message from Gil-seong appeared. Her mental state had been quite unusual since a while ago. The apocalypse at the department store seemed to have taught her a lot.

‘Feels good.’

I felt happy and patted Gil-seong on the shoulder. Although there seemed to be no visible changes, the information window showed the addition of a status effect called [Firm Resolve].

The effect of Firm Resolve only strengthened determination and didn’t have any impact on combat power. Nevertheless, the emotional turbulence had a meaningful effect on the ‘Limit Break Gauge’, increasing the probability of a hero’s rapid enhancement.

“Whoooa!”

For a moment, satisfaction with Gil-seong’s transformation was overshadowed by the monster’s roar, which resounded fiercely. The force was so violent that I almost lost my balance.

[The tree monster has regained its strength.]

[The tree monster becomes more ferocious!]

– Crash! Sssshhh…

–

Hundreds of branches extended like arrows, enveloping and swallowing the purple sphere that had been heavily attacked by the members.

Seeing this, I quickly reactivated the rechargeable shield that had been temporarily turned off. The charging gauge of the shield was at 55%. It had consumed 45% of the gauge during the monster’s leaf baptism pattern. With an uneasy heart, I used a Low-grade Magic Stone Fragments to recharge the shield back to 100%.

“It seems like the pattern is straightforward. Let’s endure until the next damage time.”

Before the next attack arrived, I collected the disc and moved the base behind a large outdoor air conditioner with a high-capacity fan. There were about a dozen of them densely packed, making it look like a good place to take cover.

– Splat! –

‘Sigh!’

As the tree monster stripped the tree trunk bare, sharp leaves flew, hitting the outdoor units and the shield. Surprisingly, the large outdoor units that I trusted were torn apart like pieces of paper in an instant.

– Re-jae-jae-jae-jae! –

– Kwajik-Kwapppuk! –

– Swoosh—Squish! –

Nevertheless, the shield remained robust, deflecting the densely packed leaf assaults. The gauge was depleting rapidly, but there were still low-grade mana shards in the inventory acquired while conquering the third floor.

Holding onto my almost tripped leg, I carefully observed the front.

‘I’m just grateful if we can hold on.’

The number of leaves seemed denser than before, and their speed appeared faster. Even the sturdy and agile Hwang Man-deuk and Yeo Jin-soo seemed to have difficulty attacking the monster’s weakness within this leaf storm.

[Seo Eun-ha is staring at the back of your head.]

[(Leader, you are really sincere with your orders… You could probably defeat a monster like that with just one finger.)]

As I anxiously rolled my head, I felt Eun-ha’s gaze. In response to the exploding inner thoughts, I was momentarily speechless.