Level 4 Human in a Ruined World - Chapter 28

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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 28 10. Battle of Villains (2)

6,000.

The Karma that Young-woo had taken from the Elderly Bandit Group in Sangju City was only 6,000.

There were six elderly people, so each had been carrying one Crimson Coin.

‘Just enough money to survive tonight.’

No, to be precise, it was just enough money to pay the taxes that would be collected tonight.

When night came, abnormal weather would arrive, and to avoid it, one had to use room rental services.

Unless some philanthropist opened their room for free, just having money for taxes wasn’t enough to guarantee survival in reality.

‘So those elderly people earlier were committing robbery to earn room rental fees.’

He felt a little sorry.

But what could he do? This was humanity’s daily life now.

Unless someone scattered Commemorative Coins every day, it was a structure where money would inevitably run short.

And when money ran short, there was a high probability of dying that day.

‘A miraculous event where all First Swords across the nation scatter Golden Rain won’t happen… So anyway, people dying every day would be unavoidable.’

Young-woo had already seen corpses appearing on the roadside again.

However, unlike in Gimcheon City, they didn’t seem to have been killed by monsters.

‘There are no traces of being eaten. These were killed by other people.’

Judging by the messy cuts and multiple stab wounds, it wasn’t the work of a skilled person either.

Probably people of similar levels had fought a bloody battle, or bandit groups like the elderly he’d seen earlier had swept through here.

‘Are all cities across the nation generally like this? Either completely devastated or turned into lawless zones?’

While Young-woo had stopped moving and was examining the corpses, something stirred in the corner of his vision.

“…?”

Young-woo, who couldn’t miss this, immediately turned his head in that direction, and the subject in question startled and ran in the opposite direction from Young-woo.

The other party was a man who appeared to be in his 40s.

A man carrying an excessive number of bags. There seemed to be at least ten of them.

“What’s that about.”

The bags held in both hands created such a unique silhouette that Young-woo couldn’t help but chase after him.

They were going in the same direction anyway.

“Hey there!”

Young-woo called out in as gentle a voice as possible while chasing after the other person.

Naturally, the distance between them rapidly closed in just a few seconds, and the man turned around in terror.

“Wh-what do you want!”

The man was in an extremely frightened state.

The tip of the blade he thrust forward in an awkward stance was trembling, which was proof of this.

“What do you mean what? You suddenly ran away first, so I followed you.”

Young-woo slightly raised both arms to show he had no intention of attacking first.

Although a shield was fitted on his left arm, Early Bird and his dagger were properly sheathed.

“…”

However, the man’s fear didn’t seem to diminish at all. He couldn’t take his eyes off the Early Bird hanging from Young-woo’s waist.

‘What on earth have the Early Bird owners in this neighborhood been doing to cause this reaction?’

When Young-woo glanced at his own Early Bird following the man’s gaze, the other person finally opened his mouth.

“D-do you need bags? I’ll give them to you if you need them, just don’t hurt me.”

“Excuse me?”

The man thought Young-woo was a robber.

“I don’t intend to hurt you, but why are you carrying so many bags?”

When Young-woo pointed at the bags with the edge of his shield, the man flinched and stepped back.

“For… for sale.”

“For sale? But earlier you said you’d just give them to me if I needed them.”

“…Well, it’s better than dying.”

The man glanced at Young-woo again.

“So you’re saying you’re currently doing bag business?”

“Y-yes… I suppose you could say that.”

However, customers were limited to those with weaker or similar combat abilities to himself.

If he encountered a strong person who seemed unlikely to make a fair trade, he would either run away or obediently throw the bags and save his life at least…

‘That’s a very unstable business.’

Now that government and law had disappeared, safe transactions couldn’t be guaranteed, so it was natural.

‘Rather, this kind of person should be considered unusual. He decided to earn money through business instead of robbery.’

Of course, it was unclear whether he had no intention of robbing or lacked the ability.

Anyway, this person had decided to earn money through honest means, and he had chosen his trade well.

‘Since bags didn’t turn to stone, he could obtain goods without capital.’

He probably acquired items by searching empty houses or roadside corpses.

“So, is everyone in Sangju City living like this? Either committing robbery or doing business like you?”

“No. Actually, most people who did business like me are dead…”

The man’s following statement far exceeded Young-woo’s expectations.

“Most people s… sell their bodies.”

“What did you say?”

When Young-woo frowned, the man made a terrified expression and shut his mouth tight.

“No, finish what you were saying. What do you mean by that?”

“It’s exactly as I said. Since they have nothing to sell but their bodies, they sell that. It’s a kind of slavery.”

A quiet addition followed: “They sell their bodies in that way too.”

“That’s ridiculous.”

This time Young-woo showed an expression close to horror.

“It’s only the second day after the reset. But you’re saying people are buying and selling humans for Karma?”

“Rather than for Karma as payment, it’s more accurate to say it’s payment for keeping them alive. Because people really die if they don’t have money.”

The man made a gloomy expression and continued.

“Not everyone is like that, but anyway, that’s how it is in the urban area. Since that place has the most supplies, all the people with money are gathered there. People who want to live even if it means becoming slaves are also gathered there.”

“…”

Young-woo couldn’t help but be shocked.

This was a phenomenon of a different nature from fighting entangled with 2-meter-tall goblins.

Of course, similar things had happened in Gumi where Golden Rain had fallen.

Hadn’t those who became poor again after being robbed of their Commemorative Coins set up shop at marts and convenience stores?

‘Even then, there were people selling their labor. Saying they would at least carry luggage.’

But what would happen if one couldn’t earn money just by offering to be a porter?

If you had to get money by 10 PM tonight or die, but money was so valuable that you couldn’t earn it through ordinary means.

Would people really resort to becoming slaves?

‘Damn, they want to live that badly? In that case, I’d rather…’

Young-woo, whose thoughts had reached this point, recalled the elderly people he’d seen on the outskirts of Sangju City.

‘If you’re not going to commit suicide, you have no choice but to harm others.’

They couldn’t even harm those who bought slaves. The very fact that they could spend money on others would be proof of their ‘strength.’

“The people who buy slaves are mostly those who succeeded in Monster Hunting, right?”

“That’s right. Probably so.”

“Then there must have been people who didn’t agree to this kind of thing, right? Human trafficking and such.”

“There were, but they all died.”

“…?”

“Because it was the Sangju First Sword who started buying people with Karma.”

“…Ah.”

Young-woo unconsciously shifted his gaze to the regional status.

|The region you are currently staying in is ‘Sangju’.

|The First Sword of this region is ‘Dokgo Se-hwan01’. 2nd generation, 147 defenses.

I expected he wasn’t an ordinary lunatic from the first time I saw him, but to think he’d be a bastard leading human trafficking.

“From what I’ve heard, he also controls monster hunting. Probably to prevent money from circulating in Sangju City.”

“Then it would be the same for mutants too.”

“Mutants? Whether he controls them or not, you’d need to be at least First Sword level to catch one, wouldn’t you?”

The man looked at Young-woo and laughed as if he was talking nonsense.

Young-woo looked toward the road leading north and asked.

“By the way, you know the situation in this region very well.”

“Yes, I’ve lived here my whole life… and I’ve heard a lot from customers.”

Most of them had lived inside the city and fled for their own reasons, the man added.

“Then let me ask one last thing.”

“Yes, go ahead.”

“Those… people involved in human trafficking, where should I go to meet them?”

“Do you mean the buyers, or…”

“The buyers.”

“You can think of the entire area around City Hall as the trading district.”

Trading district. Hearing it put that way, it’s a strangely unsettling term.

The old men I killed earlier also said to go to City Hall to meet the First Sword, so I guess that’s cross-verified.

“Thank you for taking the time. Then I should head to City Hall.”

“Why bother… wouldn’t it be better to go to another city instead?”

“What about you?”

“Pardon?”

“Shouldn’t you have moved to another city? You never know when you might die staying here.”

At Young-woo’s words, the man looked dazed for a moment before asking back.

“Would other cities be any different? At least here I know the geography well…”

“Anywhere would be better than here.”

After saying this, Young-woo was about to step onto the road leading to City Hall when he turned back to the man.

“You know that someone who kills a mutant can distribute money to everyone, right?”

“What…?”

The man looked confused at the sudden statement, then nodded.

“Ah, yes. I do know that.”

This also meant that a notification message would appear even if the mutant killer chose to keep all 3 million.

“Today, I’m going to kill the mutant. If I succeed, I’ll distribute karma to everyone.”

“…Excuse me, but mutants are…”

The man was about to repeat what he said earlier. That you’d need to be at least First Sword level to challenge a mutant.

So Young-woo.

Flash!

Revealed his title before the man could finish speaking.

『First Sword of Gumi』

“Gu…mi… First Sword?”

The man who was squinting as he read Young-woo’s title trembled at the end.

“You’re the First Sword of Gumi?”

Finally, the man’s eyes fell on Young-woo’s strange appearance.

Golden gloves and bracelet, a whistle of unknown purpose, and bare feet.

At first, seeing only the Early Bird, he thought he might be a skilled person from another region, but now he could see there were many more hints.

“What brings you here?”

The man unconsciously lowered his body.

As if he might bow at any moment.

Considering what kind of existence this city’s First Sword was, it wasn’t a strange reaction.

“I came thinking I’d kill the mutant and clear an Achievement… but it seems I can’t just do that here.”

Young-woo said this while looking at the regional status once more.

The man also followed Young-woo’s gaze to the corner of his vision.

First Sword of Sangju, 147 defenses.

“He won’t let you catch the mutant easily. You’ll have to fight that person.”

“That works out well anyway. I needed to collect First Sword titles, and if my opponent happens to be evil, I’m grateful for it.”

Young-woo finished speaking and stepped onto the road.

“If I win, golden rain will fall. Then commemorative coins will drop soon, so take those and leave this place.”

“Wh-what if it doesn’t rain?”

“Then I’ll be dead. Go somewhere else. Personally, I recommend Gumi.”

4th-Class Human in 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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