I put a leash on Catastrophe

The time when the sun disappears behind the horizon.

The Central Museum in the heart of Manhattan was still crowded, though about an hour remained until closing time.

Usually, this place wasn’t so popular, but a recently acquired exhibit suddenly attracted everyone’s attention.

The sacred inverted pyramid.

The mysterious king in deep sleep.

Zhi-wu clenched his hand, looking at the banner fluttering in the light breeze on the white marble wall, shining golden in the light of the setting sun.

The brochure in his hand crumpled, but he didn’t care.

Instead, he was absorbed in contemplating the image of the pharaoh printed on one side of the banner.

“…A mysterious king, huh.”

A faint smile appeared on Zhi-wu’s face. However, it wasn’t a kind one.

What people were looking at with curiosity was not something mysterious and favorable, as the banner claimed, but the reaper of death who would bring everything on this earth to ruin.

However, only Zhi-wu knew about this now, so visitors rejoiced looking at the monster. For those who didn’t know the situation, it was just a corpse that died long ago, though in reality, it was a monster that could easily tear off their heads like flower buds.

His eyes, full of incomprehensible mockery, were filled with complex emotions for a moment, but soon became calm again, as if nothing had happened.

At the same time, the museum guide brought the microphone to his mouth and began introducing the pharaoh to the people.

[This nameless king was discovered in the middle of the desert where there was nothing. Recently, he was found inside an inverted pyramid hidden in a crevice in the earth formed as a result of a strong earthquake. The inverted pyramid is…]

In the quiet museum, only the guide’s voice echoed from the speakers. Zhi-wu, blending in with tourists who seemed to have arrived as part of one tour and wore identical badges with the name of the tour company, pulled his hood lower and looked at the mummy lying in the sarcophagus behind the glass.

[Even more surprisingly, this nameless king’s pyramid was discovered not in Egypt, but in the United States. Pyramids, oddly enough, are found in other civilizations as well, but the form of an inverted pyramid doesn’t exist anywhere except in modern architecture. This is the first case of discovering an inverted pyramid among ancient structures. Even more surprising is that…]

Only after the guide explained various facts about pyramids did his explanation end. People followed the guide to the next exhibit, but some remained in front of the glass display. Zhi-wu stayed too.

“Wow, this is amazing.”

“Look at these jewels. They’re the size of a baby’s fist. It seems there are more jewels than iron in this dagger?”

“Whoa, the body is completely covered in gold. I wonder how much this would cost if sold?”

Although they spoke different languages, it was clear that everyone was in awe.

While other mummies were simply wrapped in linen yellowed with time, the mummy before them was covered with luxurious items, so it’s not surprising that it elicited such a reaction.

The pharaoh, wrapped in cream-colored silk with yellow spots, was enveloped in chains as thin as golden thread.

Moreover, these chains were adorned with multicolored precious stones about the size of large grapes. Although the pharaoh’s face couldn’t be seen, the external decor alone was enough to impress.

Furthermore, where the pharaoh’s head was presumably located, a luxurious golden funeral mask was placed, which even without facial features exuded arrogance.

Despite the sign saying “No Photography”, everyone with faces full of materialistic excitement was secretly photographing the pharaoh, but Zhi-wu just impassively looked at the funeral mask, then sighed.

Although Zhi-wu had returned in time and everything had disappeared, his anger and thirst for killing towards this being hadn’t vanished.

Nevertheless, soon he would be able to vent his indignation.

After all, Zhi-wu had returned to the past to destroy this demon.

* * *

One day, the world changed in an instant when things that were difficult to explain by science began to happen.

So-called Gates opened all over the world, from which beings hostile to humanity poured out.

Fortunately among the calamities, some people gained the power to defeat the monsters. These were superpowers.

There were some difficulties, but what captured the hearts of people who had overcome the catastrophe were crystals found inside the bodies of these beings.

From the size of a fingernail to an adult’s fist.

Surprisingly, even a small piece of these stones of different sizes contained enormous power. People who had lived relying on oil began to marvel at this wonderful source of clean energy, and called these stones ethereal stones.

Soon they became a valuable resource that everyone wanted to possess, but few could obtain.

This was because ethereal stones were found inside monsters from another world, and only new people with superpowers could defeat these monsters.

Thus began the era of hunters.

Society, which revolved around capital, gradually began to prioritize power and superpowers. Of course, not all countries were like this.

“They say China won’t use coal anymore. Looks like they’re converting all power plants to ethereal stones.”

“Really? How is that possible? Do they have so many ethereal stones because of their large territory?”

“Maybe that too… but there all hunters belong to the state, so all the stones that hunters get belong to the state.”

“Hmm.”

People who couldn’t understand how this was possible soon learned the truth.

If the Gates weren’t closed, monsters continued to come out of them. Most countries quickly closed the Gates to reduce environmental damage, but some countries didn’t.

They left the Gates open. You could say they were engaged in endless farming.

“Is this okay?”

“At least they forcibly relocated people from that land, so civilians weren’t harmed…”

Upon learning about this, everyone expressed concern. Despite ethereal stones being a rising energy source, they were found in the bodies of monsters coming out of the Gates, and these monsters didn’t come out onto empty land, considering human circumstances.

However, seeing the huge profit that the country gained despite the risk, people began to think.

If they could do it, why can’t we? It doesn’t seem that dangerous.

Greed settled in people’s hearts. And so all countries began not to close the Gates, pursuing insatiable desires.

Not knowing what consequences this would lead to.

* * *

[Announcement. Our museum closes at 6:00 PM, in 15 minutes. Please check if you haven’t forgotten anything. We announce again…]

After a short bell attracting attention, the closing announcement sounded, and people looking at exhibits began to move.

Zhi-wu, who had been wandering around the museum, also followed them to the exit. However, he didn’t go outside.

Pretending to exit, he entered the nearest restroom, went into a cubicle and, feeling for a certain spot on the ceiling, squeezed through the opening that appeared.

Closing the gap and holding his breath, he spent some time there. The closing announcement sounded again, and someone’s footsteps were heard.

“…Good. No one’s here. Check complete.”

Probably it was the museum security guard. Doors of cubicles could be heard opening, apparently he was checking each one, then the footsteps began to recede.

A long time after this, Zhi-wu opened the ceiling gap again and descended into the darkened restroom.

Fortunately, there was no one nearby. However, even if someone were there, they wouldn’t have seen Zhi-wu. From the moment he hid in the restroom ceiling, he used his ability.

His body, blurred thanks to the invisibility ability, was difficult to notice in the dim lighting left for security.

‘At this time of day, there shouldn’t be any hunters, so I shouldn’t be detected…’

Nevertheless, he remained vigilant. What he was doing was an important first step towards changing humanity’s future, so he couldn’t afford to relax and ruin everything.

Zhi-wu, who had memorized the museum’s layout, headed to the control room where the surveillance cameras were located, but strangely enough, no guards were visible either inside or outside.

‘Strange. Did they go on patrol?’

He knew that on-duty guards worked in pairs of two, and the absence of both caused him some concern, but Zhi-wu had no time to hesitate. He changed the settings on the control panel so that the cameras wouldn’t record, and disabled the sensors guarding the exhibits.

‘…I hope everything goes smoothly.’

Leaving the control room, Zhi-wu headed to the special exhibition hall. There was what he was aiming for.

Carefully stepping through the museum, so quiet that he felt a ringing in his ears, Zhi-wu stopped in front of a large glass display in the center.

Looking at the pharaoh, still wearing the arrogant mask behind the transparent glass, Zhi-wu reached into the small bag he was carrying. In the bag was a thermos with unusual contents. It was gasoline.

“I wonder if I can destroy him with this.”

This monster. Zhi-wu examined the pharaoh behind the glass wall with eyes full of fear and hatred.

At this time, the pharaoh was just a corpse that died long ago. Only after some time would he become a calamity destroying humanity, so now he should burn even from gasoline.

If this wasn’t enough, he needed to somehow take him out and destroy him. Like Frodo from “The Lord of the Rings”, even if he had to throw the pharaoh into lava.

In any case, to do this, he needed to get the pharaoh out from behind the glass, so Zhi-wu put his hand on the glass. His palms were covered with a thin layer of silicone from the moment he entered the museum, so he didn’t leave fingerprints and acted without hesitation.

He had carefully examined the glass display during the day, so he knew where the fastening devices and locks were located.