Level 4 Human in a Ruined World - Chapter 38

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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 38 12. Strange World (2)

It was worse than a nightmare.

Being chased by a man running as fast as a car.

And this wasn’t even a dream.

So Myeong-ho kept alternating his gaze between the front windshield and the rearview mirror.

‘Th-this is impossible. A person faster than a car?’

Current speed: 83 kilometers per hour.

For Myeong-ho, this was already exceeding his lifetime maximum speed.

It was his first time gripping the steering wheel since completing his road driving test six years ago.

“…Hyung!”

In the passenger seat, his younger brother Yoon-ho shouted with his eyes half-rolled back.

He meant couldn’t they go any faster.

Kwakwakwakwak!

Meanwhile, the unidentified monster visible in the rearview mirror had gotten even closer.

“Damn it.”

Finally, Myeong-ho crossed his psychological limit.

He put full force into his foot that had been unconsciously controlling the pace on the accelerator.

Buaaang!

The unleashed engine made an agitated sound as it powerfully carried the vehicle forward.

The needle on the driver’s seat speedometer jumped several marks at once, and soon the vehicle’s speed reached 100 kilometers per hour.

“M-Myeong-ho!”

A piercing sound came from the back seat.

It was Myeong-ae, the mother of Myeong-ho and Yoon-ho.

And right on cue, something pitch-black flew threateningly from behind the vehicle.

Swaaaack!

At the ominous sound of cutting through air, Myeong-ho turned his eyes to the driver’s side window and saw a huge black blade smashing through the side mirror as it passed by.

“This crazy…!”

As soon as Myeong-ho recognized that the problematic blade was several meters long and had just embedded itself in the road surface ahead, he slammed on the brake with all his might.

Screeeeech!

With a friction sound painful to the ears, the vehicle slid for a long distance before stopping just before touching the blade embedded in the ground.

“Huff, hah.”

Myeong-ho gripped the steering wheel tightly while staring at the black sword rising to an unbelievable size.

Soon after, a strangely dressed man appeared and pulled out that sword.

“Wh-what is that…? Is that thing a mutant?”

Yoon-ho in the passenger seat instinctively drew the axe from his waist while muttering.

That was understandable since no one present, including Yoon-ho, had ever seen a human with such an appearance.

Unidentifiable sacks tied and secured to his upper body with rope, and a black cloak covering them.

Golden gloves and bracelet that reflected sunlight and shone particularly bright, a blue-green snake coiled around his left arm, and bare feet that somehow felt frightening…

Due to his strange and chaotic appearance, the three people in the SUV never noticed that there was a whistle hanging around the opponent’s neck.

Meanwhile, Young-woo, who was clearly a ‘monster’ to anyone’s eyes.

‘What’s this. They’re much more docile than I expected.’

Young-woo felt puzzled that the SUV side was just sitting quietly in their respective seats, only looking this way.

As far as Young-woo knew, there were only two types of people who could drive cars in these times.

Great influential figures enjoying luxury, or someone under the protection of such influential figures.

Therefore, it was nonsensical to him that the other side wasn’t attacking first even though he had stopped their car.

Shriiit.

Young-woo reduced the black sword to its original length, then carefully approached the driver’s side.

Then.

Click.

The driver’s door opened and Myeong-ho walked out with both hands raised.

“W-wait a moment! I surrender, surrender!”

Though Myeong-ho was actually unarmed, Young-woo couldn’t feel at ease. There were still two more human silhouettes remaining inside the car.

“…Those over there.”

When Young-woo pointed inside the vehicle, Myeong-ho flinched and spoke in an extremely polite tone.

“Ah… that’s my mother and my younger brother. I’ll tell them to come out slowly.”

When Myeong-ho gestured inside through the wide-open driver’s door, the passenger and back seat doors opened in sequence, revealing two more people.

And seeing this, Young-woo had to acknowledge that these were really family.

“…”

The three people’s faces bore a subtle resemblance. The two tense-looking men were around Young-woo’s age, and the woman who came out of the back seat appeared to be in her fifties or sixties.

A woman with a warm and kind impression, of motherly age.

“Wh-what’s the matter?”

When the woman finally asked this, Young-woo realized for the first time that he had no particular business with them.

He had simply assumed that whoever was in the car would attack first.

But the opponents he actually faced were…

“…”

Young-woo looked back and forth between the middle-aged woman and her two sons, then recited lines he never imagined would come from his mouth.

“I’m sorry if I startled you. I was just…”

He tried to continue with something, but it wasn’t easy.

There had been no special reason for threatening them and stopping their car in the first place.

Adding to this, the fact that the opponents seemed good-natured made it even more difficult.

“…”

As Young-woo couldn’t easily continue his words, the woman who had been observing him carefully asked.

“Are your legs alright?”

“…Pardon?”

Only after receiving the opponent’s question did Young-woo realize that his legs were trembling faintly.

The strength in his lower body had been completely drained from chasing the vehicle for quite some time.

It was also proof that his stats weren’t yet sufficient to overtake a high-speed vehicle.

‘I wasted energy on something useless. There’s still a long way to go to the next city.’

Young-woo made a troubled expression and glanced back at the road stretching north.

Then that woman spoke up again.

“There must have been some misunderstanding, right? My boys wouldn’t have been going around doing bad things anywhere.”

With these words, the woman’s eyes shone quite sharply. As if hoping that you too wouldn’t do anything bad to us.

“…Ah. Yes, I suppose I must have been mistaken.”

Click.

When Young-woo sheathed the black sword with a reluctant expression, the woman finally let out a long, trembling breath.

In truth, she had also been in an extremely tense state.

After all, given the current times and the fact that the opponent was clearly skilled enough to easily slaughter her two sons.

“Ahh… that’s a relief. It was a… misunderstanding.”

Soon, the eldest son Myeong-ho very carefully placed his hand on the driver’s door.

This was an act of requesting silent approval from the monster before his eyes.

Asking if it would be alright to leave this place now.

“Ah.”

At this, Young-woo realized he was still standing in the middle of the road and shuffled aside.

Then Yoon-ho, who had seemed ready to draw his sword at any moment, hurriedly opened the back seat door.

“Mom, get in quickly. We have a long way to go.”

Meaning they should escape quickly before that crazy bastard changed his mind.

However, the middle-aged woman didn’t readily get into the car and just stared intently at Young-woo.

Then, after a moment, she made a statement that would leave everyone present speechless.

“Um… if we’re going in the same direction, would you like a ride?”

“Mom…!”

Immediately, Yoon-ho’s eyes flashed with sparks as he expressed his disapproval, and Myeong-ho also shook his head slightly to dissuade his mother.

Young-woo likewise couldn’t understand the other party’s proposal.

No matter how inconvenient his leg looked, as they had just seen, he was a dangerous person and a complete stranger from outside.

‘If it were me, I would have driven away as fast as possible.’

While Young-woo made an expression of incomprehension, the woman continued speaking to her two sons.

“What’s wrong with helping others? He just said what happened was a misunderstanding. And we don’t know what else we might encounter next…”

She wanted to say that having this strange person join them would at least be a great help in terms of firepower.

Then Yoon-ho got heated and tried to say something but soon closed his mouth.

He was about to say that his brother and himself were sufficient, but thinking again, hadn’t it been proven that they were ‘not sufficient’ because of this strange person?

Even he, who was usually called a fighting cock, knew how to distinguish opponents he shouldn’t dare challenge.

And the strange person right before his eyes was exactly that kind of opponent.

Eventually, when Yoon-ho, having understood much, made a dejected face, the woman turned to Young-woo again.

“It’s okay to travel together, right? We’re going to Chungju. If you want, we can drop you off along the way.”

“…”

It was excessive kindness, but anyway, it was also a proposal that had no downside for Young-woo.

‘It wouldn’t be bad to travel comfortably for about a day.’

Following this road straight up would lead to Mungyeong, and going straight through the city would reach Chungju.

Since Young-woo was also planning to visit Mungyeong and Chungju in order, there was no problem with the route.

So he ended up nodding his head.

“Good. I also have business in Mungyeong and Chungju… Let’s go together for now.”

The two brothers flinched at the mention of having ‘business in Chungju’ but didn’t object further.

Since the other party had also expressed willingness to share the ride, they knew there was nothing they could do even if they opposed it.

‘He said he has business in Mungyeong too… I should look for an opportunity to ditch him there or something.’

Myeong-ho opened the driver’s door while thinking of a backup plan.

Yoon-ho glared at the unwelcome guest with a still displeased face.

And Myeong-ae smiled brightly while offering Young-woo the back seat.

Thus began the uncomfortable ride-sharing.

* * *

Vroooom…!

As the SUV began running on the road again with its engine roaring, Myeong-ae initiated introductions.

“I’m Choi Myeong-ae. Those are my kids. Jung Myeong-ho, Jung Yoon-ho.”

Thinking her sons wouldn’t be friendly, Myeong-ae made the introductions herself.

Then, as if it was now his turn, she looked intently at Young-woo.

“Ah… yes. I’m Jung Young-woo.”

Jung Young-woo.

As soon as she heard his name, Myeong-ae’s eyes widened exaggeratedly.

“Oh my, the same Jung surname! I guess fate is fate.”

Yoon-ho in the passenger seat frowned at his mother’s fuss, but Young-woo couldn’t see this. Because Myeong-ae immediately threw out a question.

“Can you tell me which Jung clan you’re from? You never know. Maybe even our ancestral origins are the same.”

As if trying to find any connection to be friendly.

But her plan didn’t go as expected.

“Well. It’s a name given by the orphanage, so I’m probably not really a Jung.”

“Ah…”

Even Myeong-ae, who had been speaking smoothly, couldn’t add anything more at this moment.

So this time Young-woo brought up a new topic.

“But what business do you have in Chungju?”

“Oh, that’s…”

For some reason, Myeong-ae hesitated with her words.

Myeong-ho and Yoon-ho in the front seats also coughed awkwardly, showing uncomfortable expressions.

“The kids’ father is there.”

“Your husband? He must be away for work.”

“Something like that. His company is probably there too.”

From Myeong-ae’s last line, Young-woo realized that Myeong-ae’s husband wasn’t simply away for work.

‘Are they separated? Or already divorced.’

If that was the case, it would explain why they suddenly started being careful with their words. Separation and divorce have quite close connections with orphans, after all.

“By the way.”

Eventually, Myeong-ae made an effort to clear the strange atmosphere.

“Young-woo, you said you have business in Mungyeong and Chungju too, right? Do you have acquaintances there or something?”

“Um, that’s…”

Just as Young-woo was racking his brain to give a vague answer, new text appeared in everyone’s view.

Flash!

|The area you are currently staying in is ‘Mungyeong’.

|This area’s First Sword is ‘Jang Chun-yong16’. 1st generation, 96 defenses.

“Oh, we’re already in Mungyeong.”

Myeong-ho muttered while gripping the steering wheel and looking through the window.

And Young-woo memorized the name Jang Chun-yong in his head while saying to Myeong-ae.

“Yes. I have someone to meet here.”

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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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