Level 4 Human in a Ruined World - Chapter 23

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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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Chapter 23 9. The Barefoot Superhuman (1)

Ring… Ring!

.

.

.

Ring ring!

.

.

.

‘What is it this time.’

Young-woo, who heard the bell sound in his sleep, slowly opened his eyes.

Then he saw sunlight pouring in through the window he had left open yesterday.

And next.

Ring ring ring!

He turned his head to look left.

The motel phone placed by his bedside was ringing noisily.

“Crazy.”

Young-woo checked his wristwatch as he picked up the receiver.

Current time: 8:02 AM.

Click.

“…Hello.”

The habitual phrase shot out without him realizing it.

Meanwhile, the presence on the other end of the receiver remained silent for a while.

Then.

《1 hour and 48 minutes remaining until checkout.》

The announcement was delivered in a voice that seemed to mix male and female voices together.

“What the fuck is this.”

Goosebumps spread all over his body as he woke up completely.

Young-woo carefully picked up the receiver that had somehow been thrown far away.

However, the caller who had finished their business had already hung up.

‘This bastard…’

In any case, the wake-up call was quite effective.

Not only did it wake him up, but it also brought back his sense of reality in an instant.

“What, what was that?”

Ye-chan had also jumped up at the sound of the phone, and was now gripping the window with surprised eyes.

Young-woo looked at the woman’s corpse still lying face down near the entrance, then moved to the window to confirm that all the red fog had cleared.

“It was a checkout reminder. We should get going soon.”

Although there was still quite a bit of rental time left, there was no reason to waste time meaninglessly here now that his sleep had completely fled.

Young-woo opened the refrigerator and poured canned coffee and tea into his mouth.

Then he pulled out the dagger from the woman’s right arm lying on the floor.

He thought he might use it to stab opponents in their weak spots, just like this deceased person had tried to do.

‘So now what’s left is.’

Young-woo’s gaze fell on the backpack the woman had been carrying.

He wasn’t very interested in spare weapons and miscellaneous junk, he was just looking for…

‘Oh.’

A familiar texture was felt in Young-woo’s hand as he rummaged through the backpack.

Clink.

As expected, there was a pile of coins at the bottom of the backpack.

When he turned the backpack upside down and shook it, not only crimson coins but also brilliantly shining commemorative coins poured out endlessly.

Clatter!

‘Just how many did she kill.’

Young-woo treated as fact his speculation that the woman had systematically robbed other rooms before coming to this one.

When he totaled up all the coin amounts on the floor, it came to a whopping 364,000 Karma.

32 commemorative coins, 44 crimson coins.

‘Should I be grateful that I met her before she could convert this into ability points.’

Now Young-woo’s cash assets totaled 810,000 Karma. Converted to ability points, that was 810.

Young-woo immediately began distributing ability points to avoid making the same mistake as the woman.

‘As long as I don’t lose Golden Flash, Sense isn’t urgently needed right now.’

That left Strength, Stamina, and Durability.

His Strength had already increased by another 100 due to the ‘Enraged Goblin’ effect, bringing it to 400, while Stamina and Durability were each still lacking at only 150.

‘Shouldn’t Durability be the priority right now? My body still can’t withstand my maximum output.’

After brief consideration, Young-woo left only 10,000 Karma as ‘change’ and poured 800,000 into ability points.

『Character: Jung Young-woo07』

[Strength] 600 (19+581)

[Stamina] 350 (21+329)

[Durability] 550 (13+537)

[Sense] 100 (24+76)

These ability points were configured under the premise that Golden Flash’s Sense Steal would also apply to monsters and mutants.

And the basis for that premise was.

「Murderer’s Finger」 – Artifact Ring

【10% ability increase in combat against humans】

【–Empty Slot–】

The notation ‘combat against humans’ on the newly obtained ring.

‘If Golden Flash only worked against humans, it would have used the term combat against humans too.’

But Golden Flash’s tooltip was.

【Steal 50% of enemy’s Sense during combat.】

Steal the ‘enemy’s’ Sense during combat.

This was even legendary-grade equipment, wasn’t it.

So Young-woo was confident it would be effective against mutants too.

Whoosh.

As he finished investing the ability points, a characteristic vitality permeated his entire body.

Young-woo only took some rope from the woman’s backpack, then took off his bathrobe and put his clothes back on.

Seeing what he was doing, Ye-chan also belatedly started gathering his clothes.

* * *

Riverside Motel 2nd Floor.

As soon as the two closed the room door and came out into the corridor, a loud noise pierced their ears.

Ring ring ring!

Ring ring ring!

It was the sound of telephone bells ringing out from the other rooms on the 2nd floor.

“…?”

Since all the doors were wide open, Young-woo could peer into each room’s interior as he crossed the motel corridor.

“Good lord.”

Just seeing the corpses scattered throughout the cramped motel rooms gave him some idea of what had happened yesterday.

Most of the victims were men, and quite a few of them were either in bathrobes or completely naked.

Some cases showed people who had only half-dressed in the clothes they’d worn outside.

There were also rooms with various mixtures of men and women, where that problematic woman seemed to have had a harder time conquering.

Those rooms had much more and rougher battle traces left behind compared to the others.

‘Impressive nonetheless.’

Young-woo was genuinely amazed.

Not just her combat ability, but how did she even manage it? Getting into the rooms, that is.

Each room would have had completely different gender ratios and member dispositions, so how did she succeed in gaining entry every time?

‘Well, I ended up opening the door for her too.’

Young-woo continued forward and stopped when he reached the last room at the end of the corridor.

“….”

There lay what appeared to be a mother and daughter, two women who had fallen without even holding weapons.

As Young-woo approached the doorway, a blue barrier appeared conspicuously.

It meant that since the rental time was still valid, outsiders couldn’t enter.

But ironically, the room’s owner who could deactivate the barrier no longer existed.

The world had gone mad.

Glancing back, he saw Ye-chan standing there with a gloomy expression.

Morally, he should have asked if he was okay, but Young-woo didn’t.

“Let’s go now. We have to.”

“…We should.”

The two pulled their bicycles and went down to the lobby, then passed the Grade 1 Extra’s corpse with its head and torso still separated and exited the motel.

Since the rental time hadn’t expired yet, there were few people around even though it was fully bright outside.

Click.

Young-woo put one foot on the pedal and thought for a moment.

‘Where should we go now?’

It was a crossroads.

South or north.

Going south would let them quickly enter Daegu Metropolitan City, a major city, while going north would let them visit the relatively smaller cities of Sangju and Mungyeong in order.

Before heading north, they could also visit Gimcheon by going slightly west.

‘Wouldn’t the Gimcheon or Mungyeong First Sword be weaker than the Daegu First Sword?’

He decided to quickly sweep through small cities to monopolize the mutants first.

Creak.

Soon Young-woo’s bicycle front wheel turned toward the west.

Ye-chan silently followed, turning his bicycle in the same direction.

* * *

Whoooosh!

The bicycle carrying Young-woo reached the maximum physically possible speed.

Toward the southwest where the Gyeongbu Expressway was located.

Because of this, looking at the route, they were actually retracing their path.

However, the scenery was completely different.

Corpses were scattered carelessly along the roadside as if a plague had swept through.

‘The red fog must have killed them.’

Actually, it wouldn’t be too wrong to say that acquired poverty had killed them.

Since warnings had been broadcast 2 hours before the fog appeared, finding residential buildings wasn’t difficult if you had money.

In other words, unless they died inside residential buildings, people who died on the streets were most likely poor.

As a result.

“Ugh.”

“Another beggar.”

People who had come out early to search the corpses mostly came up empty-handed.

And Young-woo and Ye-chan were riding their bicycles between these corpses and living people.

Whoooosh.

Whether it was because their speed was so fast, or because they spotted the Early Bird at their waists, no one dared to stop or attack the two.

‘Do mutants also appear at set times every day? If so, I could plan routes accordingly.’

The major schedule of this world that Young-woo had figured out so far was as follows:

9 PM, rental service begins.

10 PM daily, tax collection.

11 PM, abnormal weather occurs.

10 AM, rental time expires.

And at some point before sunset, monsters and mutants appear.

But the patterns of the other ‘events’ except tax collection hadn’t been figured out yet.

Things like whether they repeated at the same time every day.

‘I’ll have to wait until tomorrow to find out.’

They instantly crossed Sinpyeong-dong and reached Gumi Jungang-ro.

Whoosh!

‘Is that it?’

The elevated road visible in the distance beyond Jungang-ro was the Gyeongbu Expressway.

‘Let’s jump over that. I think it’s possible now.’

He could probably even get onto the elevated road while carrying Ye-chan.

Young-woo pedaled vigorously, excited to test his near-miraculous physical abilities.

Then.

Suddenly, with a crack, his center of gravity dropped downward.

“Ugh?”

He quickly steadied himself by planting one foot on the ground, but couldn’t stop the bicycle supporting his body from crashing down.

“Ah….”

The bicycle frame couldn’t withstand Young-woo’s output and finally broke apart.

It was probably because he had gotten momentarily excited after spotting the expressway.

“….”

As Young-woo stared at the bicycle shattered into pieces, Ye-chan, who had overtaken him, quickly stopped his bicycle.

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah, only the bicycle broke.”

Young-woo looked troubled but also thought it wasn’t really a big problem.

‘I can just run on foot.’

With 600 Strength, 350 Endurance, and even 550 Durability.

It might look a bit ridiculous, but if he seriously ran, he might be able to move faster than a car driving through the city.

Young-woo wrapped the bag tied to his bicycle and the backpack on his back tightly with rope and secured them firmly to his body.

Then.

Thud.

With his soles pressed against the ground, he shot forward toward Ye-chan ahead.

Whoosh!

Then this time, he couldn’t even run two steps before a strange sound came from his feet.

Pop!

“…?”

His shoes had burst, unable to withstand the pressure of high-speed running.

But since his soles didn’t particularly hurt even without shoes, Young-woo passed by Ye-chan’s surprised face as he was.

Whoooosh!

Even though he was just running on two feet, wind rushed at him as if he had opened a window on a train.

‘Is… is this right?’

Young-woo was shocked at his ridiculous athletic ability as he looked at the Gyeongbu Expressway that had already approached within reach.

It was so high that he had to crane his neck to barely see the top of the road, but somehow he felt like he could get up there in one go.

‘I think I can do it.’

His two legs, which had been preparing for maximum output early on, were already tense.

And soon.

Crack!

Young-woo’s right foot kicked off the ground and sent his body upward.

Whoosh!

Young-woo’s body shot up fiercely, defying gravity.

‘My goodness.’

Young-woo, who had leaped to the height of the elevated road all too easily, entered the Gyeongbu Expressway very smoothly.

Crunch!

The rough asphalt ground received Young-woo’s heels and crumbled.

Young-woo checked the condition of his soles, then shouted toward Ye-chan who was still below the elevated road.

“Can you come up?”

Then Ye-chan slowly rode his bicycle toward the road.

“No. It’s difficult like you, mister.”

For some reason, Ye-chan’s tone had sunk heavily.

“…?”

Young-woo, sensing something strange, tilted his head and asked to confirm.

“Are you okay? Nothing’s wrong, is there? I’ll help you get up here. I can go back down and carry you up with a jump.”

Then Ye-chan, who had arrived under the elevated road, quietly raised his chin to look at Young-woo.

“…Would it be meaningful to go that far?”

“Huh?”

Young-woo had an expression that said ‘what are you talking about.’

Meanwhile, Ye-chan looked around and then put his foot on one of the bicycle pedals.

“Even if I go up there, I won’t be able to run at the same speed as you, mister. I guess being indebted to you ends here.”

“What do you mean indebted….”

While Young-woo closed his mouth to find something to say, Ye-chan recited his next line.

“Go ahead. I have a weapon now and some money too, so I’ll manage somehow.”

“…Really? You’re suddenly going to be independent like this?”

“We weren’t family to begin with anyway. So rather than independence, it’s just parting ways when the time comes.”

Ye-chan smiled bitterly with a wry expression.

Only after seeing that did Young-woo realize the other person was serious.

But would it really be possible? Such a soft kid in this crazy world….

‘No, it’s unnecessary meddling. It’s true that we weren’t family to begin with.’

Young-woo tried to convince himself.

Practically speaking, Ye-chan would become an increasingly bigger burden, and from the kid’s perspective, it was wise to become independent for proper growth.

However, how could human relationships be connected by practicality alone? Young-woo, who had grown somewhat fond of Ye-chan, couldn’t hide his regretful feelings.

“I’m ultimately going to Seoul. So if you survive well, let’s meet in Seoul someday.”

At this, Ye-chan had a blank expression for a moment, then let out a hollow laugh.

“Seoul? Yes, that sounds good. By the time we meet there, I won’t be ordinary either.”

Of course, both of them knew well that the probability of Ye-chan arriving in Seoul alive wasn’t high.

“…Right. Take care of yourself.”

“You too, mister. Thank you for everything.”

Ye-chan bowed his head in greeting.

Then he rode his bicycle under the elevated road without hesitation.

Whoosh!

The sound of Ye-chan’s bicycle quickly moving away.

When Young-woo turned around, he could see Ye-chan’s back as he was already riding across the elevated road to the other side.

Then before long, he became a small dot, and eventually disappeared into the urban area visible in the distance.

* * *

“….”

He had seen off his first companion, but he didn’t have the luxury to just stand there in a daze.

Young-woo immediately turned his head to read the small road sign.

‘Gimcheon, 27km… I should be able to run there, right?’

It would have been unimaginable before, but now it was different. It really seemed possible.

There wasn’t a single person on the highway, only vehicles turned to stone scattered here and there.

Young-woo took a deep breath and then bounced forward, running ahead.

Whoosh!

Then, like before, the surrounding scenery began to pass by quickly.

‘Just running doesn’t feel that tiring either. I’ve really become like a monster.’

It was only the second day, even.

‘Then how much are the other First Swords….’

When Young-woo’s thoughts reached this point, a change occurred in his forward vision, which had no special features.

“Oh.”

He wasn’t certain, but he seemed to see something like a reddish beam of light in the distance.

And in less than a minute, this uncertainty became certainty.

‘…!’

Though still faint, a red pillar of light was definitely shooting down from high in the sky in the distance.

‘That’s a mutant marker.’

Young-woo’s expression hardened as he sensed many things.

That meant they had failed to eliminate the mutant in Gimcheon yesterday.

Grade 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, Room 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 our company and the 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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