Level 4 Human in a Ruined World - Chapter 25

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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 25 9. Barefoot Superman (3)

「What the hell is this….」

The moment Golden Flash cast Sense Steal, Hong Young-tae’s expression twisted.

He felt it too—that something strange was happening to his body.

「You… what are you?」

Just as Hong Young-tae asked this with a suspicious tone.

Whack!

A gray trajectory struck his face, making the sound of something breaking.

Crack!

「Ugh, shit!」

Young-woo had slammed his shield right into the bastard’s molars.

“What are you doing? Not putting your guard up.”

When Young-woo withdrew his shield from the bastard’s mouth, six or seven pieces of shattered molars fell to the floor.

Clatter.

「You… you crazy bastard!」

Hong Young-tae made an expression of disbelief and covered his collapsed gums with his right hand.

An unbelievable situation.

Since he had only met opponents who couldn’t even properly exchange a single bout with him, let alone be worthy adversaries, this situation itself was incomprehensible.

「You, what the hell are you to be this strong…? Aren’t you guys supposed to be punished? Isn’t this cheating?」

“What?”

When Young-woo furrowed his brows and took another striking stance, Hong Young-tae instinctively stepped back.

“Who said we’re being punished? Did you hear something somewhere?”

「Well, he didn’t exactly say it was punishment, but….」

He mumbled the rest of his words while whimpering, then sneakily stepped forward when Young-woo didn’t follow up with another attack.

「So what I heard was….」

What he did next was all too predictable.

He swiftly swung his right arm that had been covering his mouth, attempting a surprise attack.

「That we should have enough power to carry out judgment…?」

Swoosh!

It was such a fierce attack that the sound of cutting through air alone was enough to send chills down one’s spine.

If Young-woo hadn’t had the advantage in senses, his chest might have been torn open long ago.

Hong Young-tae was at least two levels above in both strength and reach due to arm length.

“…!”

Even though Young-woo had anticipated the surprise attack, he barely managed to dodge it.

Whoosh!

Instead, the reduced distance between him and his opponent gave him many more opportunities to counterattack.

―Break

―Break

―Break

‘You’re dead.’

When Young-woo confirmed the marks and his eyes flashed sharply, Hong Young-tae, who caught sight of this momentarily, showed a fearful expression.

And indeed.

Thwack thwack thwack!

A tremendous retaliatory beating found its way to the bastard.

「Gack!」

After being hit in the right elbow and left side, then finished with a Liver Strike, Hong Young-tae couldn’t hide his bewilderment and stepped back again.

Before being a mutant, he was still human.

Since this level of violence was a first in his life, his earlier momentum about judgment vanished like a ghost, leaving only instinctive fear.

「Wait, wait…! I really can’t breathe! Time out!」

The sight of a 3-meter-tall beastman clutching his side and staggering backward irregularly was truly a rare spectacle.

It was enough to make even the Gimcheon City Heroes, who had been fleeing with all their might, stop in place to watch.

Meanwhile, Young-woo felt the bastard’s fighting spirit break and sheathed Early Bird at his waist.

Slide.

It was to beat him until not even a trace of pride remained.

“Come here. I have something to ask you.”

When Young-woo approached with big strides holding only one shield, Hong Young-tae made an even more terrified voice than before.

「Why… why are you doing this? Just ask from there!」

Step, step.

「I’ll answer anything you ask, okay?」

Even though Hong Young-tae raised both hands to show surrender, Young-woo didn’t stop walking.

Step, step.

He continued walking until he was close enough for the bastard’s rough breathing to touch his hair.

Whoosh.

Then he leaped about 4 meters into the air and struck down on Hong Young-tae’s yellow crown.

Thwack!

「Urgh!」

With the head lowered, it became much easier for Young-woo to beat him up.

From this point on, so many vital points were exposed that he didn’t even need to rely on the Gumi Sword Technique.

Thud, clang!

His right fist and shield alternately pounded Hong Young-tae’s body, and each time this happened, the Gimcheon City Heroes who had been watching the battle from afar began approaching one or two steps at a time.

“This isn’t… this isn’t a dream, right?”

“What the hell is this….”

Everyone expressed bewilderment rather than admiration.

It was too surreal a sight for them to comprehend.

A barefoot superhuman had burst in from somewhere and was beating up a mutant without warning.

“Could that person also be a mutant? Does that even make sense?”

“It does say Gumi First Sword though. At least he’s human… right?”

Should they continue fleeing, or should they watch until the end this spectacle of the century where a mutant was being defeated in single combat by a human?

The Gimcheon City heroes conflicted, lifting their toes and putting them back down.

And meanwhile, Hong Young-tae’s face was becoming completely like a dishrag.

Thwack, thud!

Afraid he might kill him if he hit more with the shield, Young-woo had been using only his fists and feet for some time now.

Thanks to this, both his feet were soaked in Hong Young-tae’s blood and stained red, and his fists weren’t much different.

“Huff, huff. Really tough, aren’t you.”

Young-woo only stopped the beating when he started to get out of breath.

At this, Hong Young-tae fell backward as if fleeing from Young-woo, then barely managed to prop himself up on the floor and coughed up blood.

Puhwaat!

「S-stop it now. You’ve… you’ve done enough.」

Unlike before, it was a voice close to resignation, without anger or fear.

‘Is that enough now?’

Only after hearing this did Young-woo think it was finally time to have a conversation.

“That judgment you mentioned earlier. Who told you about it? Where were you before coming here?”

At this, Hong Young-tae instinctively looked up at the sky.

「I-I don’t know, really. I was just waiting in a really dark place.」

“Waiting?”

「Yeah… the voice said so. That when the time came, we’d return in order.」

He must be talking about returning to the world as mutants along with the red light pillars.

“Then whose voice is it? Does it manage you guys?”

「…I don’t know that either. It’s just a voice. I only hear the sound.」

Hong Young-tae said this while looking at Young-woo with fearful eyes.

He seemed to think Young-woo would beat him again if his answer wasn’t satisfactory.

‘Doesn’t seem like he’s lying. It’s quite similar to what Jang Seon-bok said too.’

Jang Seon-bok from Gumi had said similar things before dying.

―What year is it now? I don’t know how long I was held captive.

―The first day? Then I’m the first to come? Ah, I see.

In other words, mutants were beings who were isolated somewhere other than this world and returned according to some kind of order.

“Anything else? Like a return function.”

「Return…?」

Hong Young-tae made an expression as if asking what he was talking about, then his half-collapsed snout trembled.

「…Ah!」

Then he suddenly made his right hand glow blue.

“You son of a…!”

Young-woo thought he was making some kind of suicide attack and hastily drew his sword.

Shing!

At this, Hong Young-tae was even more startled and shook his head.

「N-no! It’s something strange! I mean, this is…!」

Whoosh!

Soon the blue light in Hong Young-tae’s right hand took on a certain form.

It was.

“…!”

A door.

An opening and closing door.

A door-shaped icon with an arched top was glowing blue.

「You might not believe it, but someone else has to grab this. Without weapons, with their right hand.」

“Then you’ll return just like that?”

「I… actually don’t know that much. I was only told to use this method when there’s nothing more to do here or if I regret choosing to be a mutant.」

“….”

From the circumstances, that seemed to be the return button.

But that was only.

‘Under the premise that this crazy bastard isn’t lying.’

Since it was a door-shaped icon, it could be something that warps the other person rather than a return button.

Which one could it be?

‘Fuck… would a guy who was a scumbag in life tell the truth now?’

Young-woo found himself harboring distrust first.

However, thinking about it more, he thought that might actually be why it could be the real return method.

Returning was a kind of betrayal, abandoning the mutant’s duty and quietly going back.

‘So they might have made it so that even if you want to betray, it’s not easy to do.’

For instance, a method that can’t be executed unless the opponent you were crossing swords and claws with just moments ago helps you.

Moreover.

[Premium Social Worker]

|Send a mutant back alive.

Asking a mutant about return methods in the first place isn’t something just anyone can do.

It would only be conceivable for someone who has ‘Premium Social Worker’ in their recommended Achievement list.

‘Another binary choice.’

This time it’s not even codified as a Quest.

As Young-woo seemed to fall into contemplation, Hong Young-tae slowly curled his previously spread right hand and said.

「Wh… what’s it going to be? Anyway, I didn’t lie. I can’t help it if you don’t trust me, but if you’re not going to send me back, don’t beat me anymore either.」

The guy hadn’t completely folded his hand, so the ‘Blue Door’ still existed.

‘Really doing all sorts of things.’

Young-woo was about to think a bit more but stopped and once again entrusted his fate to intuition.

“Fucking hell.”

When Young-woo put Early Bird back in its scabbard and extended his right hand, Hong Young-tae flinched for a moment.

But he didn’t step back or prepare another move.

The guy also knew well that if this wasn’t it, his future wouldn’t be optimistic.

「It’s… it’s not a function that does anything to you. Trust me.」

“I’m not trusting you. I’m trusting this situation itself.”

Young-woo finished saying this and boldly extended his hand all the way.

Thud!

Finally, the right hands of human and troll overlapped, enveloping the ‘Blue Door’.

And Young-woo realized.

That this act was exactly like a handshake.

「…Huh?」

Hong Young-tae, who had clasped Young-woo’s hand, looked into the air and opened his eyes wide.

“What’s wrong? What is it?”

Young-woo asked this, but no answer came from the other party.

Shiiiiit.

Because he was already becoming faint.

The body of the 3-meter-tall troll, Hong Young-tae.

“Huh.”

Hong Young-tae’s long snout, which had been wearing a somehow hollow expression, was about to disappear from view, and soon the fluffy sensation Young-woo had felt in his hand also vanished.

“Hong Young-tae? Are you really gone?”

When Young-woo asked this to the empty air, a golden orb appeared where the guy had been.

“Ha.”

It was exactly the same orb he had seen when he killed Jang Seon-bok.

「You have eliminated a Mutant.」

「Please select a reward to complete the procedure.」

The guidance text that appeared next.

If he chose to distribute Karma to everyone this time too, he would be able to clear the ‘Golden Platform’ Achievement.

Ping!

Then evidence was transmitted that Young-woo had indeed spared Hong Young-tae’s life.

[Achievement Unlocked: Premium Social Worker]

|Achievement Grade: Legendary

|Achievement Rank: First

‘I was right after all.’

Young-woo clenched his right hand, which had broken out in cold sweat, and sensed that his Achievement tendency had become an even more solid ‘troublemaker’.

「The recommended Achievement list has been updated.」

‘So when one Achievement is removed, a new one comes in.’

Young-woo was rapidly learning about this world.

But even he couldn’t have predicted one thing.

Flash!

Another message appeared with bright light.

[You can acquire a new title.]

“Huh?”

Young-woo made a surprised sound out loud and read the text that continued below.

-Overwhelming! Numerous First Sword Candidates have witnessed your Martial Prowess. No one will be able to dispute the fact that you are the ‘Gimcheon First Sword’.

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 │ Seoul Guro-gu Digital-ro 288, 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 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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