Level 4 Human in a Ruined World - Chapter 2

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Episode 2 1. The Chaebol Transform into Dragons (2)

“…Huk.”

Young-woo, who witnessed the moment of Bong-hee’s disappearance, froze stiffly in place.

‘What, what was that just now?’

His fingertips trembled faintly, but this was definitely not because of Bong-hee’s death.

What captivated Young-woo now was the very fact that something supernatural had exercised physical force.

He had just confirmed that this massive purge called Reset was being carried out by real power.

The shock and disgust from learning that someone who had shared the same room for nearly a year was actually a rapist came much later.

“Ha.”

Finally, a proper sense of reality set in.

Young-woo swallowed dry saliva while staring intently at the spot where Bong-hee had been.

Then, as if urging him on, a new notification appeared.

「1 minute remaining until individual filtering deadline.」

|Currently, Mr. Jung Young-woo has 3 remaining Karma Points.

3 Karma Points.

Three chances to kill whoever he wanted.

However, Young-woo couldn’t bring himself to use this opportunity.

The first reason was that there was no one he wanted to kill badly enough to borrow incomprehensible power, and the second reason was…

‘Ominous. The disappearance vote I saw earlier too, it seems like you’re definitely held responsible for whatever actions you take.’

Couldn’t you tell just by looking at Bong-hee, who was now dead?

If that guy hadn’t randomly targeted celebrities in the first stage filtering, he wouldn’t have been hit by Death Strike and died in the second stage.

When this whole thing started, that bastard apparently had as many as 20 points.

In other words.

‘Let’s not do anything unnecessary. Even if all my remaining points end up disappearing, there’s no reason to deliberately use them.’

Having made up his mind, Young-woo remained silent even as he watched the countdown begin before his eyes.

「Individual filtering deadline is imminent.」

…3 seconds.

…2 seconds.

…1 second.

…Filtering deadline.

Beep!

A sharp signal sound rang out from somewhere beyond the ceiling, announcing that the filtering work was complete.

And then.

“…”

Nothing happened.

Young-woo stood blankly in the middle of the room, looking up at the ceiling.

Since the results of the first stage filtering that had proceeded earlier hadn’t been announced yet, the ‘Reset’ itself wasn’t completely over.

‘Are they giving us a brief break until the vote counting is finished?’

Young-woo thought for a moment, then carefully opened the door.

Creak.

As he poked his head into the dormitory corridor, he could see other people sensing his presence and opening their doors one by one.

“Is, is everyone okay?”

“What the hell is all this…?”

Young-woo felt like he could tell how each person had faced the Reset just by looking at the eyes of those who poked their heads out.

First, those whose eyes were filled with murderous intent were probably cases where they had been hit by Death Strike.

This group, far from asking about others’ well-being, either slammed their doors shut again or came out into the corridor entirely and headed outside the building.

On the other hand, there were also people who looked like they found this situation interesting, and Young-woo judged these to be the snipers from the first stage filtering.

Because Bong-hee had worn exactly the same expression as them when he was alive.

And the few who still looked dazed were probably…

‘People who weren’t hit by Death Strike and didn’t see others getting hit either.’

In other words, cases where they were still confused about whether this situation was a dream or reality, Young-woo thought.

‘Then what am I?’

Young-woo looked at his palm again.

Even though the second stage filtering had ended, the number 3 was still written on his palm.

‘Could it be that Karma Points are used in the next stage too?’

It was unknowable.

And when Young-woo had thought this far, the problematic text appeared again.

「Vote counting has been completed.」

「The resulting disappearance work will proceed publicly, and disappearance targets will be given the right to choose one of: disappearance, mutation, or dissolution.」

‘There it is again. Disappearance, mutation, dissolution… what the hell do those mean?’

Young-woo’s question didn’t last long.

―[Chaebol Chairman-Kang Hong-tae] stands before the choices.

―Feels intense anger.

―【Mutation】 selected.

―Reflecting possessed Karma Points.

―A new monster type, 『Dragon』, has been added to this world.

―[Chaebol Chairman-Kang Hong-tae] now becomes a Fire Dragon and threatens you all.

“What…?”

Even Young-woo, who had accepted that Reset was real, couldn’t help but be shocked by the text he just saw.

“A dragon? What the hell are you talking about?”

Meanwhile, Kang Hong-tae’s turn seemed to have passed and the next person appeared to stand before the choices.

And this person’s choice was somewhat different from Kang Hong-tae’s.

―[President-Park Do-hwan] stands before the choices.

―Feels bewilderment.

―【Dissolution】 selected.

―Reflecting possessed Karma Points.

―A new structural element, 『Quest』, has been added to this world.

Unlike Kang Hong-tae’s case where he became a Fire Dragon, this time there was no particular follow-up text.

‘Since it definitely said dissolution… did he disappear in exchange for adding Quests?’

Young-woo tried his best to understand what was happening now.

Because that was a story about the world he would soon have to live in.

A world with dragons and Quests.

Though it was something commonly seen in games or novels, he had never thought about what would happen when that became reality.

However, the real problem was just beginning.

‘Wait, only two people have chosen so far? The first stage filtering must have purged at least thousands of people…’

His head felt dizzy.

And right on cue, the next person received their choices.

―[Actor-Park So-young] has stood before a choice.

―Feels great sorrow.

―【Extinction】 selected.

―[Actor-Park So-young] has disappeared without affecting the world in any way.

‘Huh…?’

Young-woo’s pupils dilated greatly.

He couldn’t know whether Park So-young had received sufficient explanation before choosing extinction.

However, one thing was certain.

‘If you choose extinction, you leave this world without causing it harm.’

More precisely, it meant choosing to die while leaving the public that targeted you completely untouched.

In any case, through the choices of the previous three figures, everyone had learned.

What each choice specifically meant.

If you wanted revenge on this world even by becoming a monster, choose 【Mutation】; if you wanted to change the very format of the world, choose 【Dismantlement】; if you no longer wanted to be involved with this world, choose 【Extinction】.

‘But who would willingly want to die? Especially people who had been led to death through unjust means.’

Young-woo thought that the majority of figures would only deliberate between mutation and dismantlement.

Even if they didn’t necessarily want revenge, disappearing without a trace from this world would feel empty and unfair.

And indeed, from the fourth person onward, no one chose 【Extinction】.

―A new monster type, 『Ogre』, has been added to this world.

―A new monster type, 『Goblin』, has been added to this world.

―A new component, 『Weapons』, has been added to this world.

―A new monster type, 『Owlbear』, has been added to this world.

―A new component, 『Currency』, has been added to this world.

Either monsters or new elements to replace the existing world appeared without pause.

“….”

At this, Young-woo hurriedly began sweeping his belongings into his backpack.

He felt like he wouldn’t be staying here much longer.

Then.

―A new component, 『Food』, has been added to this world.

When 『Food』 was added by someone, Young-woo startled and dropped his backpack from his hands.

Hiss….

Because smoke was rising from the chocolate bar he had just put into his backpack.

‘What was that?’

When he carefully looked inside his backpack, he saw that the chocolate bar had turned to stone while still wrapped in its packaging.

‘My goodness….’

Young-woo picked up the chocolate bar with an incredulous expression.

The weight was the same as before it became stone, but it was no longer food.

This meant.

‘Not just food, but anything from the existing world could turn to stone.’

For instance, since 『Currency』 had been added a while ago, the paper money, coins, and even cards they had been using would have all turned to stone.

But the real problem wasn’t that those things had turned to stone.

‘Then what is the new currency, and where and how do we get it? If we can’t eat the existing food, what will we eat from now on?’

Then, as if answering Young-woo’s questions, new text appeared at the top of his vision.

「Quest system has been activated.」

Next, yellow text appeared on the left side of his vision.

It was none other than a ‘Main Quest’.

[Main] “New Life”

【Mission】 Follow the arrow to find the nearest exchange office.

【Reward】 Basic living funds

【Special】 First-come-first-served additional reward

“…!”

All the content was strange, but among them, the word ‘exchange’ particularly caught Young-woo’s eye.

He thought it might be related to the number ‘3’ still carved on his palm.

With the existing world gradually being erased, it seemed like Karma Points were the only thing that could be exchanged for new currency.

Whoosh.

Young-woo quickly picked up the backpack from the floor, immediately opened his door and crossed the dormitory corridor.

The other people who had been blankly staring at the text in front of them also began running after Young-woo one by one.

Because they too could see the large arrow that had suddenly appeared at their feet and the Main Quest.

“Huh?”

“H-hey! Let’s go together!”

Even during this, the selection results of the purge targets continued to be output in the corner of his vision without rest.

―A new monster type, 『Golem』, has been added to this world.

―A new monster type, 『Man-eater』, has been added to this world.

―A new component, 『World Map』, has been added to this world.

At this time, Young-woo had exited the dormitory and was running near the parking lot, when as soon as 『World Map』 was added, he saw all the vehicles in the area turn to stone.

Shiaaaat…!

For some reason, the use of vehicles had been restricted.

But Young-woo was no longer surprised.

‘World Map? Is it an element that also affects transportation methods? Who was dismantled for this to be added?’

If he wanted, he could scroll up the results list to check, but he had more urgent matters.

Tap tap!

Even though he had been the first to rush out of the dormitory, he was being caught up by the followers.

Even considering that he was thirty-four years old, Young-woo was definitely not fast on his feet.

His body, which he hadn’t trained regularly, moved really sluggishly.

‘Damn it…!’

Two, three… five… within seconds, about seven people passed him.

Then finally.

Swoosh.

The arrow that had been pointing northeast all along began to tilt.

It meant the target location was getting closer.

Then suddenly, an enormous sonic boom echoed from the sky above.

Screeeeech!

A sound reminiscent of jet engine maneuvers resonated and echoed throughout the entire sky, and Young-woo, who looked up, gaped open-mouthed.

Screeeeech!

Screeeeech!

Because hundreds of black pillar-like objects were shooting down.

“…?”

Black rectangular objects roughly ten meters tall.

At first, he thought they were just falling randomly, but in reality, each seemed to have a predetermined landing point.

Hissssss!

Crash crash crash bang!

Eight Rectangular Objects fell within Young-woo’s line of sight alone, and upon closer inspection, they maintained regular intervals from each other.

And among them, only the one that fell closest vibrated lowly and emitted a faint light.

…Woom.

…Woom.

‘Ah.’

Seeing this, Young-woo finally realized.

That was the Exchange Office.

More precisely, the one currently vibrating and calling to him was the Exchange Office assigned to him.

Class 4 Human of the Ruined World (Serial)

Author │ Oetu

Publisher │ Kim Ju-hyeong

Published by │ J Plus Media Co., Ltd.

Marketing │ Han Jae-hyeok

Address │ 288 Digital-ro, Guro-gu, Seoul, #204 (Guro-dong, Daeryung Post Tower 1)

Email │ [email protected]

Website │ www.jayplemedia.com

ⓒOetu2023

※This work is published by J Plus Media Co., Ltd. under contract with the copyright holder, and no part of the content may be used in any form or by any means without permission from the company and author.

Violation of this may result in criminal and civil legal liability.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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