I Activated Cheat Mode in a Bizarre Game

When the girl-like monster refused to take his side, the man was on the verge of tears as he desperately tried to persuade her.
"Kid, please, get a grip! Just look at that guy! What’s so cute about him?! He looks mean as hell—you can tell just by looking that he’s a bad guy!"
"...You can tell I’m a bad guy just by looking…?"
It was pure, unfiltered criticism.

I let out a hollow laugh.
After throwing around “that bastard” and “this bastard” like a tantruming child, he seemed to switch tactics, now pointing back and forth between me and himself as he tried to reframe the narrative.
"I’m the good human who’s with you! He’s the bad human who came to hurt us! So hurry up and punish that bad human!"
"Hmm~"

But the girl-like monster’s reaction remained the same.
She shook her head and stated her opinion.
"I’m not a monster that attacks humans. I’m a good monster who turns poor other monsters into cute little dolls so they can be loved by humans. So I can’t attack a human that cute."
"He’s a human who attacks humans, I’m telling you!"
"Isn’t it just like an animal dominance fight or something?"

…What the hell.
My mind blanked for a second.
If Choi Yerim had a monster fetish, then did this monster have a human fetish or something?

The world was wide, and it seemed bizarre tastes weren’t limited to humans—monsters had their quirks too.
The man, realizing he couldn’t sway the girl, gave up and turned to the giant teddy bear standing at the far end of the room, shouting at it.
"Ugh… Teddy Bear! Get up! Deal with that guy!"

Was it the name “Teddy Bear” that triggered it?
In the distance, the huge teddy bear—taller than a person by several spans—suddenly had an eerie yellow glint flicker in its black button eyes.
Then, with a loud creak, the unmoving teddy bear jerked up to its feet.

The girl-like monster might not have listened to him, but that giant teddy bear certainly seemed to obey.
With its glowing yellow eyes locked onto me, it began dragging its massive body forward at a slow but deliberate pace.
Thud, thud.
The giant teddy bear advanced toward me, heavy and creaking, every step radiating threat.

"Hmm."
The little dolls had been sharp, but this one seemed a bit slower than expected.
Or maybe it was just built to obey the man no matter what?

I was starting to think I had no choice but to fight—
When suddenly, my hoodie began to shake violently, and with a loud pop!, Leo burst out from under the hood and landed on the floor.
Then, facing off against the teddy bear that looked dozens of times his size, Leo bristled and let out a low growl, "Grrrr…", keeping his eyes fixed on the monster.

"Leo… don’t tell me… are you doing this for me?"
A wave of emotion surged through me.
That tiny body, standing up bravely to protect me from that hulking monster—how could I not be moved?

What I saw in the message window earlier, that Leo trusted me, wasn’t a lie.
The teddy bear glanced down at the little black cat blocking its path and twisted its stitched mouth into a mocking smirk.
Of course, it didn’t actually laugh—it was a doll. It simply moved in an exaggeratedly expressive way.

"Grrrrng!"
Was it that mocking gesture that finally set Leo off?
Leo opened his mouth wide at the teddy bear, as if ready to devour it.

And at that moment, I saw it.
Leo’s black shadow, cast beneath the teddy bear’s feet, began to writhe like a living thing—and opened its mouth, identical to Leo’s.
Only, the shadow’s mouth was absurdly, monstrously large—far beyond anything Leo’s real mouth could manage.

And the moment Leo snapped his jaws shut—
Chomp!
The shadow beneath the teddy bear swallowed the monster’s enormous upper body whole.

There was no sound. No struggle.
The instant the shadow devoured it, the upper body of the massive bear doll vanished without a trace, sucked into the darkness.
"…"

Thud!
The bear’s remaining lower half swayed unsteadily, then collapsed to the floor.
I stood frozen, speechless at what I’d just witnessed.

I had just glimpsed a fragment of Leo’s power.
"Leo… you’re pretty strong, huh?"
"Grrng."
Leo lifted his nose a little at the compliment.

Both the man and the girl in the room were stunned silent, too.
They hadn’t expected the teddy bear monster to be defeated so completely, so absurdly easily.
But the man, only briefly shaken, quickly regained his composure. Like a child asking for a broken toy to be fixed, he turned to the girl with a cheerful request.

"Sweetie, that one broke. Could you sew it back up for me?"
"Hmm… okay!"
The girl gave a light wave of her hand.
At her gesture, pure white stuffing floated in like puffed clouds from somewhere in the massive workshop, and strong-looking spools of thread shot across the air like spiderwebs.

Then, giant needles and scissors began to float, as if alive, elegantly following her movements.
Of course—why had I only realized it now?
This entire space called a lab was itself one enormous monster phenomenon.

The teddy bear’s torn body was restuffed, stitched back together, and its wounds closed in the blink of an eye.
Moments later, the teddy bear stood up again, as if nothing had happened.
No, it looked even better than before—reborn with superior craftsmanship.

"Grrrrrrng!"
Crunch!
Leo growled again and this time bit into the teddy bear’s lower half with his shadow.

Now, the bear, with only its upper half remaining, flopped to the floor, awkwardly dragging itself along with both arms.
Another strong attack.
But it didn’t matter.

With one more wave of the girl’s hand, the teddy bear floated gently into the air, and its tattered lower half was restored in an instant.
Unless someone directly took out that girl, this fight wouldn’t end.
As Leo realized this and prepared to lunge at her, the fully restored teddy bear swung a massive arm to block him.

Leo darted backward, dodging the blow.
Boom!
The bear’s fist—supposedly filled with nothing but fluff—slammed into the ground, cracking the concrete like a spiderweb and sending shards flying.

…That’s no fluff punch. That thing might as well be a block of steel.
An infinitely regenerating steel teddy bear, controlled by a doll-making monster girl.
An impossible combination.

I slowly stepped forward and stroked Leo’s head.
Now it was my turn to step in. I looked at Leo and said:
"Leo, I’ll take your sentiment to heart. But now, watch closely. I’m not afraid of anything anymore…"
"...Grrng."

Leo ~Nоvеl𝕚ght~ looked up at me, blinked slowly, and stepped back.
I understood exactly how he felt.
Now, it was time for me to show what a real master looked like.

I stepped forward, slowly.
As I approached the massive teddy bear, the girl monster suddenly shouted out in a panic.
"Kyaaah! That’s dangerous, Mister Human!"

A monster, worrying about me? I let out a dry chuckle and stared down the teddy bear raising its fist toward me.
Then I punched back.
Boom!

The monster’s fist, the same one that could crack marble, burst apart the moment it collided with mine—exploding into a cloud of white stuffing.
Stuffing fluttered down like popcorn falling from the sky. It felt like a scene from a movie.
Unbalanced, the bear stumbled sideways.

I walked right past it and struck the floating pair of giant scissors that had been waiting to repair it.
Clang—!
With a piercing shatter, the sturdy-looking scissors broke into sparkling fragments like glass.

My fist got a slight cut from the shards, but it was nothing serious.
"...Oh my."
"This… this can’t be!"
The man frantically urged the girl again.

"Come on! Hurry, fix the teddy bear again! Quick!"
But the girl shook her head, on the verge of tears.
"I can’t! If I do, that cute Mister Human might get hurt! And… there’s no scissors left, either…"

Only then did the man seem to realize the teddy bear was no longer an option.
As if resorting to his last option, he pulled out a handgun from his belt with trembling hands and aimed it at me.
The moment the barrel pointed my way—right before he could pull the trigger—I yanked a bundle of talismans from my pocket and dove to the ground.

Bang!
A bullet struck the spot I’d just vacated, sparking on impact. The man, now in a panic, kept pulling the trigger.
Bang, bang!

But he clearly wasn’t used to handling a gun—he shut his eyes tight every time he fired.
Because of that, the bullets flew in random directions, punching holes in various dolls instead of hitting me.
Leo, still wary of the teddy bear’s potential regeneration, stayed near it while dodging stray bullets.

I took cover behind the nearest pillar and crouched low.
Then I began to crush the talismans in my hands together. One sheet, two sheets, ten sheets… As I compressed them with force, the talismans grew harder and harder.
"You gonna keep hiding, you monster bastard?! Come out and fight me!"
"Hmm…"

What would happen if I actually got shot?
I knew my body was tough, but I really didn’t want to test it.
The man kept firing blindly, shouting all the while.

By now, the talisman bundle in my hand was as solid as a baseball.
I held my breath and focused on the sound of his gun.
And then—I heard it. The empty click of the slide: Clack! He was out of bullets.

Now!
"Wh-What…? Why isn’t it—"
"Now."

I sprang out from behind the pillar and hurled the compressed talisman ball with all my strength.
It sliced through the air with a sharp whistle—and struck the man squarely in the stomach, right as he fumbled to reload.
Thunk!

"Ghak!"
The high-speed talisman ball hit like a baseball.
Clutching his gut, the man collapsed on the spot and couldn’t move.

"Looks like… the hierarchy’s been sorted…?"
The girl-like monster glanced between me and the man now lying on the ground.