Level 4 Human in a Ruined World - Chapter 34

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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 34 11. Alien (2)

‘Merchant appearance? Where is some merchant supposed to appear?’

Young-woo suddenly felt an ominous premonition, but his attention was immediately drawn to what happened next.

Kwaaaaang!

With a thunderous roar that seemed to tear through the sky, a pitch-black light pillar shot down from between the clouds.

“…!”

Its majesty was completely different from the markers that indicated the locations of monsters or mutants, sending chills throughout his body.

‘Is that where the merchant appears?’

The black light pillar had descended several kilometers northwest of his current position.

As Young-woo turned his body in that direction, follow-up text related to dealing with the Sangju Mayor filled his vision.

「You have defeated a mutant.」

「Please select a reward to complete the procedure.」

≪Confirmed Reward≫

「Dullahan’s Sword」 – Mutant One-handed Sword

【Blade length proportional to user’s height.】

≪Selection Reward≫

[3 million Karma]

or

[30,000 Karma distributed to all residents in the region]

‘Now weapon rewards are appearing too.’

This was the first time a weapon had appeared as a reward for defeating a mutant.

Moreover, since it was Mutant Grade equipment, it was a higher-tier weapon than the Hero Grade Early Bird.

‘I should be able to extend the blade like Kim Hyun-ho did.’

This was also the first time he felt eager to receive a reward.

Young-woo hurriedly selected the latter from the selection rewards to complete the procedure.

Paat!

[30,000 Karma distributed to all residents in the region]

Then, as usual, a golden orb spun rapidly before shooting up into the sky, soon exploding brilliantly and pouring down Golden Rain.

Suaaaaa…!

《Gyeongbuk’s First Sword ‘Jung Young-woo07’ has given up the exclusive 3 million Karma and gifted 30,000 Karma to all Sangju residents.》

《30,000 Karma will soon be distributed in the form of Commemorative Coins. Please prepare.》

Finally, the third Golden Rain.

Young-woo caught three Commemorative Coins amidst the falling golden light, then opened his Achievement window.

Pat.

[Golden Flood]

|Call down Golden Rain in 5 or more regions. (3/5)

‘If I visit two more places, I should be able to complete at least one Achievement.’

Besides this, three more Achievements remained.

[Nocturnal]

|Spend one night outside the Residential Buildings.

[Jeweler’s Touch]

|Wear two Hero Grade or higher rings each on your index and ring fingers. (2/4)

[Complete Orphan]

|Find and eliminate your parents. (1/2)

But all three were in a deadlock with no clear strategy visible.

Also, to refresh the Achievement list, he needed to complete existing Achievements to free up slots, so for now, continuing to move to the next city was the best option.

‘Of course, I should meet that merchant or whatever it is before leaving.’

The moment Young-woo thought this far, a pitch-black sword descended from the void with a sharp cutting sound and stuck into the ground.

Swaeeeeek, piing!

A scene reminiscent of when he first received Early Bird.

It was the ‘Dullahan’s Sword,’ a Mutant Grade one-handed sword.

‘….’

Young-woo pulled out the problematic black sword with a strange sense of déjà vu.

Pit.

Then he could see a blade roughly 1 meter long attached below the heavy handle.

‘It’s definitely longer than Early Bird… but how do I make it even longer?’

He tried swinging the sword through the air like the Sangju Mayor had done, but nothing particular happened.

So.

‘Get… get longer?’

When he mentally commanded the sword to grow longer.

Shriririt!

“Huh?”

The blade really did pierce through the air and rapidly extend.

‘How long did it get? About 5 meters?’

Based on Young-woo’s visual estimate, the maximum blade length of this black sword was approximately 5 meters.

「Dullahan’s Sword」 – Mutant One-handed Sword

【Blade length proportional to user’s height.】

‘Since it says the blade length is proportional to my height….’

Young-woo’s height was in the mid-170s.

In other words, Dullahan’s Sword was a weapon that could extend up to roughly three times the user’s height.

‘Then if my height increases, this sword will get longer too.’

And that height was probably.

“….”

Young-woo silently brought one Commemorative Coin to his lips.

Then translucent dotted lines were drawn along his body’s outline, and setting options appeared in his vision.

「Character Setting Modification」

|Appearance

|Stats

‘I should be able to change my height in the appearance settings.’

It was an item he hadn’t thought to open because he’d been too busy figuring out how to survive every moment until now.

Flash!

When Young-woo selected ‘Appearance,’ his vision flashed for a moment and much more information than expected poured out.

‘What… what is all this?’

It was such a volume that even if he had opened it beforehand, it wouldn’t have meant much.

The range of appearance that could be changed using Karma included not only simple physique but also facial features, body hair distribution, and even color.

* * *

Young-woo continued examining the appearance interface while moving toward the black light pillar.

‘Crazy… I can even change the basic position of the pupils.’

Even skin color and texture could be modified, and if he wanted, he could elongate his nose like Pinocchio or make specific parts of his forehead protrude to create horns.

Of course, that didn’t mean there were no restrictions at all.

According to the guide at the top of the interface, penalties were imposed for appearance changes that exceeded human categories.

-The standard range for each appearance item is ‘human.’

-If a specific item exceeds the standard range, the Karma requirement for that item increases significantly.

‘But if you have an absurd amount of Karma, it would be possible to exceed human categories.’

Young-woo imagined a giant that was 4 meters tall with horns on its forehead and bright red skin.

Theoretically, an era had opened where it was possible to transform into such a monster.

‘Well… it doesn’t seem like it was made for people to do that right away though.’

Young-woo looked at the ‘Presets’ that appeared below the guide text.

「For user convenience, we provide three types of preset collections.」

|Combat

|Charm

|Special

‘What’s this now.’

When Young-woo selected ‘Combat’ from the three presets, a translucent square window opened on the left side of his vision and dozens of body samples appeared inside.

‘Huh?’

These samples, all in nude state, were human-category body types that the appearance system judged to be advantageous for combat.

Height reaching 2 meters, near-perfect upper and lower body balance.

‘Am I supposed to pick one of these and copy it exactly?’

After all, how could an ordinary person find the optimal model by individually modifying dozens of appearance items?

These presets were essentially providing textbook guidance so that Karma wouldn’t be wasted carelessly.

Each time he focused on a body sample, detailed statistics for that sample’s appearance items appeared, even comparing them with Young-woo’s current detailed statistics.

‘…My legs are definitely short. My upper body frame isn’t great either.’

It was a bitter realization, but there were also encouraging aspects.

After all, if his arms got longer, his reach would increase, and if his legs got longer, his stride… in other words, his mobility would also improve, wouldn’t it?

“….”

When Young-woo selected the one sample he liked most, the total amount of Karma needed to make his current body identical to the preset was automatically calculated.

[2,116,000]

2,116,000 Karma.

The cost for Young-woo, a natural Grade 4 human, to obtain the best physical conditions.

For Young-woo, who was currently the First Sword of Gyeongbuk, it felt like a not-too-distant amount, but it wouldn’t be the same for the vast majority.

‘The more money you spend here, the slower your ability growth becomes… most people wouldn’t dare attempt it.’

Young-woo also wasn’t without concerns.

The number of ability points that could be raised with 2.11 million Karma was a whopping 2,110.

Right now, when his highest ability, Strength, was only 600, would it really be wise to give up over 2,000 ability points?

‘This is difficult.’

Young-woo’s gaze turned to the next preset, ‘Charm.’

Then, like before, a translucent square window opened and an enormous number of face samples appeared.

The ‘Combat’ samples were dozens, but this time there were easily hundreds, no, over a thousand.

‘…A collection of different types of handsomeness?’

If you had enough Karma, it was also possible to become handsome or beautiful.

Since the Merchant’s location was already getting close, he didn’t have the leisure to examine all these many ‘faces.’

Young-woo closed the ‘Charm’ window and selected the last item, ‘Special.’

Flash!

“…!”

This time too, various samples appeared along with a square window, but it was completely different from the previous two cases.

‘Th-this is…’

What Young-woo saw were samples that had been modified so grotesquely that it wouldn’t be strange to call them completely reconstructed.

Arms much longer than height, or pupils the same color as the whites of the eyes so you couldn’t feel their gaze, etc.

At the bottom of each sample were written things like the body’s burden according to such special forms, which were clearly warnings.

A warning that almost anything imaginable was possible, but the cost-effectiveness would never be good.

‘Just looking at this is horrifying.’

When Young-woo closed the special window, text requiring caution before appearance changes appeared.

「All appearance changes are permanent, and some elements may be inherited if the next generation is created.」

‘What? It gets inherited…?’

Young-woo doubted his eyes when he reached this part.

Although the world had been reset, the system where parents’ grades and settings affected their children was still in place.

This meant.

‘Natural grades haven’t disappeared. They were literally just reset. The people currently surviving have just become the 1st generation.’

And the many elements these people achieved during their lifecycles would determine their respective children’s grades.

“….”

Young-woo felt nauseous, just like when he first checked the Fate Record.

But this strange world didn’t give Young-woo any leisure to calm his stomach.

Whoosh!

Some kind of launching sound came from the sky, and he could see something falling along the black light pillar in the distance.

‘Is that the Merchant?’

The ‘Merchant’ shot down from somewhere outside the sky.

If it were before, just such circumstances would have scared him and he would never have approached, but the current Young-woo was a completely different being from him before the reset.

‘Obviously it wouldn’t be human, this thing called the Merchant.’

Young-woo stared at the black light pillar that had approached very close while gradually narrowing the distance.

「Since Sangju’s second Mutant has been eliminated, basic welfare will be applied to this region.」

According to the system message he saw earlier, that Merchant was also one of the basic welfare rewards for eliminating Mutants.

Young-woo was focusing on what exactly it sold rather than the Merchant’s identity based on this.

Wherever it came from, wouldn’t it provide something helpful to the survivors?

However.

Flash!

Finally, Young-woo, who got the problematic ‘Merchant’ in his field of vision.

‘…!’

He had no choice but to admit that he had been arrogant.

His first encounter with an ‘Alien.’

Young-woo unconsciously drew his sword.

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, Room 204 (Guro-dong, Daeryung Post Tower 1)

Email │ [email protected]

Homepage │ 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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