Level 4 Human in a Ruined World - Chapter 35

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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 35 11. Alien (3)

Alien .

An intelligent life form thought to exist on celestial bodies other than Earth.

Therefore, the being visible ahead right now would indeed be an alien.

He had clearly seen it descending from somewhere in the sky along with a black light pillar.

And that ‘somewhere’ would most likely be some part of the pitch-black universe.

So Young-woo couldn’t help but doubt his eyes.

‘Something like that was living in space…?’

What kind of place was the universe, really?

Young-woo felt as if his concept of the universe had been shattered in an instant.

Because the actual appearance of the alien was too different from what he had always imagined.

If the being that appeared claiming to be a merchant had been something armed with advanced equipment, or had taken the form of a mass of light, he might have somehow accepted it.

But the alien that actually appeared was.

-Kwaaaaaaah…!

Massive rocks emitting spine-chilling cries.

They occupied the downtown intersection while continuously screaming without rest.

Whether it was from hearing such bizarre sounds, or because the air in the area was violently vibrating.

Young-woo saw his sword tip trembling.

“…”

These rocks, reaching 4 meters in height, had spiral patterns chaotically carved like seashells, and stood in a row with gaps of about an arm’s length between each other.

-Kwaaaaaaah…!

The bizarre crying continued.

Young-woo, whose sword tip was trembling with the ‘rocks’ about twenty meters ahead, realized at some point.

The fact that these rocks looked slightly different from each other, and even possessed their own unique tones.

This meant, in other words.

‘It’s not just a merchant that’s come here now… but a trading company.’

Each of those large rocks was an individual alien merchant.

In other words, Young-woo was facing an alien trading company.

‘One, two… four, five.’p>

The total number of rocks that had visited Earth as merchants was five.

‘Anyway, didn’t they also come here to trade? What should I do?’

Amidst the continuously echoing cries, Young-woo felt his sword tip gradually calming down.

In the meantime, he had adapted to this mysterious scene.

But the method of trading with rocks from outer space remained unclear.

Unlike the Exchange Office he had seen on the first day of reset, these beings didn’t put rules into his head, nor did they seem to use human language.

They only made eerie sounds that seemed to squeeze his heart.

“…”

So Young-woo had no choice but to step toward the rocks.

‘If I attempt contact, they’ll show some reaction. Even if they look like rocks on the outside, they’re actually intelligent beings.’

It was purely reasoning from a human perspective, but surprisingly, it was valid thinking.

-Gooooooh…!

Because as the distance between Young-woo and the rocks decreased, the sounds they made began to change as well.

Then, when the distance between both sides reached 5 meters.

-Suooooot…!

The cries that had filled the area stopped as if by magic.

And then.

Srrrrk.

The space between Young-woo and the rocks tore open vertically.

Riiip!

“…?”

By the time Young-woo realized that this ‘torn space’ resembled an eye socket, white pupils were already rising from inside the pitch-black eye socket.

So this was… really an eye after all. Just an eye of something that could never be human, using the void as its eyelid.

‘What… what are you trying to do?’

Young-woo stood upright in place, suppressing his instinct to step back.

Then the white pupil that had been staring straight ahead for a while moved slightly to the side and looked at Young-woo.

‘…Ugh.’

It was also at this moment that system text appeared in Young-woo’s vision as he gritted his teeth.

「The mediator requests data access permission for Jung Young-woo07. Do you approve?」

[Requested Data]

|Unique Code

|Language Used

‘Unique code and language used…? Does this mean it’s necessary to mediate trade with those rocks?’

Young-woo could vaguely realize through this ‘request’.

That the alien beings that began appearing after the reset also had their own hierarchy or work system.

For instance, wasn’t that ‘eye’ introduced as a mediator obviously a more powerful being than humans?

Yet it was specifically asking. Whether it would be okay to look at some of his data.

‘It didn’t even ask me directly. The system just informed me that they wanted access.’

In other words, Young-woo was unknowingly under the system’s protection.

Of course, he didn’t know specifically what was providing the protection. It could be the beings called The Board who first announced the reset, or perhaps Earth itself had some kind of security program built in.

Anyway, what was important was.

‘At least these things won’t be able to harm me.’

When his thoughts reached this point, he felt somewhat more at ease.

The ominous feeling that had been creeping up his neck also gradually subsided.

‘But if I want to trade.’

He would have to grant access to the two types of data the mediator requested.

Young-woo stared intently at the mediator’s eerily white pupil, then approved the request.

‘Data access approved.’

Then the mediator’s white pupil flickered and instantly changed to blue.

Swaaah.

What happened next was an unexpected ‘introduction’.

―It is an honor to meet Jung Young-woo07, the human of Earth and strongest of Gyeongbuk.

‘Huh…?’

Unlike the bizarre voice, the content was very polite.

But did it understand the meaning of what it was saying?

When Young-woo tilted his head at the introduction the alien had given on his behalf, the other party continued speaking.

―I am Kubu, master of the Tenta Tribe and guardian of Daro, who will be mediating this transaction.

‘Ah, is praising each other some kind of universal etiquette?’

Young-woo silently nodded after hearing the mediator ‘Kubu’s’ self-introduction.

―The mediation fee for this transaction is 20% and is included in the product price. The trading partner is the Chargo Representative Merchant Group.

―Will you agree to the transaction?

Since Young-woo couldn’t properly understand anything except that the mediation fee was 20%, he nodded once again.

‘Chargo? Is that the name of the planet where those rocks live?’

While Young-woo was thinking this, mediator Kubu blinked his eyes rapidly three times, and in response, the rocks that had been silent until now began to make sounds.

But unlike before, they had a much lower and calmer feeling.

-Eooo….

-Uuuuum….

-Gaaaaa…!

Another characteristic was that the tone of each of the five rocks was more clearly distinguishable.

“….”

As Young-woo quietly listened to the rocks’ chorus, Kubu soon spoke.

―The product list has been completed.

Flash!

As soon as Kubu finished speaking, countless blue blotches appeared before Young-woo’s eyes and rapidly began changing shape.

Into the form of human characters.

Swish, swish.

‘Ah, this is.’

It didn’t take Young-woo long to understand the meaning of the blue characters.

It was quite an intuitive price list.

1 ― 「Extractor」 – Ancient One-Handed Hammer

【Converts equipment into slot gems.】

◇ 40,000 Karma

2 ― 「Black Raincoat」 – Hero Cloak

【Nullifies obsidian rain.】

◇ 100,000 Karma

3 ― 「Void」 – Relic One-Handed Sword

【–Empty Slot–】

【–Empty Slot–】

◇ 300,000 Karma

4 ― 「Blank Check」 – Unique Currency

【Once only, transforms into any currency it touches.】

◇ 1,100,000 Karma

5 ― 「Snake of Greed」 – Epic Compass

【Always points toward precious things.】

◇ 1 Legendary Achievement

‘My goodness.’

Not a single item among them was ordinary.

Even the prices started from 40,000 Karma.

‘They called it basic welfare… but trading with merchants wasn’t meant for ordinary people from the start.’

Currently, the absolute majority of people struggle just to earn the 1,000 Karma they need to pay as tax every night.

In other words, trading with alien merchants was practically exclusive to the influential people in this area who had succeeded in Monster Hunting.

Of course, even Young-woo, the First Sword of Gyeongbuk, couldn’t afford to buy all the presented items.

‘My total assets right now are….’

104,000.

Should he call it a blessing in disguise? If he had invested in stats every time he earned money, he wouldn’t have been able to save even this much.

‘I can only buy either the Extractor or the Black Raincoat. I’ll need to pay attention to cash reserves to properly utilize merchants.’

But that didn’t mean there was no gain.

He had indirectly learned how to fill the ‘Empty Slots’ attached to the equipment he currently owned.

‘I guess it’s a system where you extract equipment effects with the Extractor and transfer them to Empty Slots.’

It was easy to understand since it was a method commonly seen in games, but for now, there was a more important item than the Extractor.

That was.

2 ― 「Black Raincoat」 – Hero Cloak

【Nullifies obsidian rain.】

◇ 100,000 Karma

‘Obsidian rain. Obviously it’s the abnormal weather that appears at night.’

And Young-woo had one Achievement that could only be completed by avoiding abnormal weather.

[Nocturnal]

|Spend one night outside the Residential Buildings.

‘If I have the raincoat, I can clear the Achievement on nights when obsidian rain falls. I absolutely must buy that now.’

This was even more true since there was no guarantee that the next merchant he met would sell the same items.

‘Number 3 is useless to me without an Extractor and I don’t have enough money anyway. Same for number 4….’

Young-woo was licking his lips as he scanned down the list when his gaze stopped abruptly at the last item.

5 ― 「Snake of Greed」 – Epic Compass

【Always points toward precious things.】

◇ 1 Legendary Achievement

It was the highest-grade equipment, but coincidentally, Young-woo was the one person who could purchase it immediately.

‘Pay with a Legendary Achievement? What exactly does that mean?’

When Young-woo asked this internally, mediator Kubu understood and provided an explanation.

―One completed Legendary-grade Achievement will be completely deleted from your data. This may make it impossible to progress related follow-up Achievements, and your completed Achievement count will also be reduced.

‘Ah… then what happens to the rewards I received for completing Achievements?’

―Already distributed Achievement rewards are not recovered.

This meant he could obtain high-grade equipment immediately in exchange for one ‘completed Achievement count’ that might hold some meaning in the future and follow-up Achievements.

‘It’s like putting the future up as collateral. If I can bring equipment right away and gain greater benefits, then making the deal is right, but if not, it might actually be a loss….’

Flash!

When Young-woo opened the Achievement window, an Achievement profile unfolded at the top of his vision.

〔Your Achievement tendency is “Thug”.〕

||Completed Achievements: 4

|One Who Calls Golden Rain [Legendary]-First

|Forgive Your Enemies [Heroic]-#46

|Premium Social Worker [Legendary]-First

|Golden Platform [Legendary]-First

Out of the 4 completed Achievements, there were a total of 3 ‘Legendary’ Achievements.

But strictly speaking, the only one he could sell was ‘Premium Social Worker’.

One Who Calls Golden Rain and Golden Platform were linked Achievements related to the Golden Flood Achievement.

[Golden Flood]

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

‘If I mess with the Golden Rain series Achievements, I might lose Golden Flood too.’

On the other hand, ‘Premium Social Worker’, which was an Achievement for letting mutants live, showed no follow-up Achievements even after completion.

Perhaps it was a standalone Achievement?

‘If that’s really the case, it’s better to sell it while I can. Achievement completion count and all that means nothing if I die tomorrow anyway.’

Young-woo had lower stats compared to other First Swords due to constantly spreading Golden Rain around.

So it was natural that Snake of Greed, which seemed helpful for equipment farming, caught his eye.

‘Thinking about it more would just waste time. I’ll buy the Black Raincoat and Snake of Greed.’

When Young-woo made up his mind, Kubu blinked and came to reconfirm his purchase intention.

Young-woo approved the purchase without hesitation, and soon two of the five rocks cried out in high tones in response.

-Quiiiii…!

-Paaaaa!

‘It seems the deal has been completed.’

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. according to a contract with the copyright holder, and the content cannot be used in any form or 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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