Level 4 Human in a Ruined World - Chapter 4

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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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Episode 4 1. The Chaebol Transform into Dragons (4)

Sword.

It was much lighter than it looked.

It felt like it weighed only a few hundred grams at most.

And judging by the tooltip that appeared as soon as he gripped the sword’s handle, it seemed to actually be a weapon designed to be lightweight.

「Early Bird」 – Hero One-Handed Sword

【Very lightweight.】

However, there was no other information besides this.

Not even the attack power that would normally be displayed in a weapon item’s tooltip.

All Young-woo could know was just the single fact that it was light.

But for now, that alone was enough.

“Get back! From now on, anyone who lays a hand on me dies!”

When Young-woo gripped the sword with both hands and shouted in desperation, the people surrounding him flinched.

But that didn’t make them immediately run away.

It was because they had seen Young-woo’s sword tip trembling violently.

“….”

A strange silence flowed.

His small build, bloodied face, and precarious stance that looked like he could barely stand.

Did this guy really have the ability to kill someone?

Moreover, a sword would be worth much more than coins. If he had a sword, he could steal as many coins as he wanted from others.

The fact that it was a rare item with few around was just a bonus.

‘…They think I’m a complete pushover.’

Young-woo saw some kind of intent beginning to swirl in people’s eyes and tensed his hands and forearms.

Whoosh!

Sure enough, a large presence stirred behind him. Someone had rushed forward to grab his arms.

“…!”

Young-woo quickly twisted his body and swung the sword backward.

Swish!

As soon as the sword’s trajectory flashed, a squelching sound rang out.

Thunk!

The blade had lodged into the trapezius muscle of the man trying to approach Young-woo.

“Uh…!”

The blade didn’t slice through the opponent’s body like in movies or comics.

What actually happened was just the opponent’s trapezius muscle reflexively contracting and clamping down on the blade.

…Drip.

The minute trembling of the contracted muscle was transmitted through the sword’s handle.

This was probably what human flesh felt like.

‘….’

What kind of life had begun? It was a moment when his life until yesterday, going only between the factory and dormitory, felt like a dream.

Crack!

When he pulled the sword from the opponent’s body, a small amount of blood splattered, and finally the sounds of the scene he had momentarily forgotten pierced his ears.

“Get him!”

“Aaaaah!”

People who judged Young-woo’s first slash as a failure rushed forward all at once.

However, strictly speaking, Young-woo’s slash wasn’t a failure.

Though unintentional, that slash was a kind of ‘Zero Shot.’

Through the first slash, he had somewhat learned the sword’s striking point, and he also realized that having the blade stuck in the opponent’s body like before was itself a ‘damage loss.’

And most importantly.

‘K… killing someone isn’t an easy thing.’

This realization was very important.

Because from this point on, he adopted thrusting.

Swish.

Of course, it wasn’t an attack with proper form.

He simply laid the blade horizontally perpendicular to his body and thrust at the approaching opponent’s throat.

But the effect and impact were tremendous.

Stab!

The blade immediately pierced through the throat.

“Gack…!”

When the struck man’s eyelids fluttered, those following behind him all stopped in their tracks.

It was because they saw the blade that had penetrated his throat tear through and emerge from the back of his neck.

“Cr, crazy bastard.”

“…Wait a minute.”

The situation was reversed in an instant.

“I clearly warned you! I said I’d really kill you if you touched me again!”

When the enraged Young-woo gripped his sword for a second thrust, only then did the thugs begin to flee.

Tap tap!

But the distance between both sides was still close enough.

Swish!

The second thrust also mercilessly slammed into the back of some fleeing person’s neck.

Pierce!

“…!”

This was a different texture of flesh from before.

He could even feel the sword tip touching the opponent’s cervical vertebrae with a thud.

“Ah, ahhh…!”

The opponent let out a strange scream and writhed, but Young-woo was busy tracking the remaining escapees with his eyes.

‘…Two people.’

That was the number of thugs who had safely escaped the sword.

‘Damn, I should have killed them all.’

It was stubbornness, vengeance, and some kind of obsession.

He thought it wasn’t fair that some died while others didn’t, even though they had all attacked him equally.

But the distance had grown too far to chase after them now.

Therefore, the only option he could choose for now was to wait for another day.

‘Damn it.’

When he frowned slightly, the facial outlines of the two escapees were vaguely drawn in his mind.

Still, this much should be enough to recognize them if he encountered them on the street. If possible, he should kill them immediately when the opportunity came.

Perhaps this too was a kind of karma.

“Ugh… uh….”

Since the second victim of his thrusting was still suffering in pain, Young-woo belatedly put him out of his misery.

Stab.

Then, as if it had been waiting for this, system text appeared before his eyes again.

|Basic living funds will be provided.

|Please prepare.

“Ah.”

Come to think of it, he had only received the first-come-first-served reward ‘Early Bird,’ but hadn’t received the main Quest’s basic reward yet.

Clink.

Soon a familiar sound rang out, and three red coins appeared in the empty air Young-woo was staring at.

Flash!

“Oh.”

Young-woo made a surprised sound while quickly catching the coins.

‘One red coin is worth 1,000 karma… so they’re giving 3,000 karma each under the name of basic living funds.’

Did this money mean he could solve his food, clothing, and shelter for a while?

If that was the case, then what about the 30,000 karma he got from exchanging Karma Points…

“…”

Suddenly he recalled the police who had been at the same Exchange Office and the countless coins scattered there, but he immediately erased it from his mind.

‘By now they’re probably dead or in an even worse state. There were too many people near the Exchange Office.’

The coins would have also scattered to different owners.

Therefore, the current top priority was only to escape this living hell.

‘So where to now.’

As Young-woo gripped his sword and turned his head to find an escape route, a new Quest was assigned at just the right time.

[Main] “Rookie”

【Mission】 Follow the arrow to move to Sword Mountain, then replace your fate.

【Reward】 Survival Equipment

‘Sword Mountain…?’

Young-woo’s gaze unconsciously turned toward the Early Bird.

It was because he had intuited what the next Quest meant.

‘It’s a weapon supply section. I don’t know what “replace your fate” means yet though.’

This time there was no first-come-first-served condition, so anyone who arrived alive at Sword Mountain would get a weapon.

What on earth was going to happen that they were handing out weapons?

“…”

Thinking about it more would be useless anyway.

Young-woo stopped thinking and examined the arrow at his feet.

‘West… toward Gwangpyeong-dong.’

Gwangpyeong-dong. A residential complex adjacent to Gongdan-dong where he was currently staying.

It was also a familiar area since deliveries usually came from Gwangpyeong-dong when ordering food from the Factory Dormitory.

The problem was that Sword Mountain was located there.

He had a premonition that another hellish scene would unfold, but there was no other choice.

Young-woo immediately stepped forward following the arrow.

* * *

―A new monster type, 『Troll』, has been added to this world.

―A new component, 『Abnormal Weather』, has been added to this world.

Even while Young-woo ran following the arrow, the world continued to transform.

Of course, since he was still crossing the outskirts of Gongdan-dong, he couldn’t feel it at all.

All he could see right now were murky-colored factory buildings and Exchange Offices stuck here and there.

However, there was one big difference from before.

‘Why?’

That was the fact that no one had been blocking his path for some time now.

No, not only were they not blocking his path, but there were countless cases of them hurriedly clearing the way.

Why?

Just because he had gained killing experience didn’t mean he would suddenly emit tremendous intimidation.

‘No way.’

Young-woo could only come to one conclusion.

‘They’re not afraid of me. They’re afraid of the Early Bird.’

It had already been dozens of minutes since the Exchange Office landed and the first-come-first-served winner was decided.

Since the situation was similar at every Exchange Office, the initial recipients of Early Birds had to get caught up in fierce struggles with dozens of people, and so…

‘Just becoming the final owner of an Early Bird proved that you were strong.’

In other words, an Early Bird was now a token signifying that you were strong and vicious.

“Whoa.”

“Be, be careful behind you!”

Young-woo felt a dark pleasure surge through him as he watched even those with much larger builds than him hurriedly back away.

It was the first time he had become an object of fear to others.

But Young-woo soon reminded himself of his place.

It was because he soon encountered the ‘true owner’ of an Early Bird.

Thud thud!

The opponent appeared like lightning from 10 meters diagonally to Young-woo’s right.

A tall man with bronze-colored skin.

He was so tall that the Early Bird, which was 80 centimeters long, looked short, and both elasticity and muscle strength emanated from his darkly tanned skin.

‘My goodness.’

He had such outstanding physique that anyone would get the impression he was a powerful being.

“…”

The man who briefly made eye contact with Young-woo glanced at the Early Bird in Young-woo’s hand, then shot straight ahead.

Whoosh…!

The distance between the two Early Birds quickly widened.

Young-woo slightly changed direction and followed the exact path that man had just taken.

Thanks to the opponent’s overwhelming presence, the path was wide open.

‘What will happen when I arrive at Sword Mountain? Don’t tell me I’ll have to fight guys like that.’

Young-woo swallowed dry saliva while looking at the ‘powerful being’ who had already become a small dot.

And around this time, a noisy commotion began coming from his left.

“…?”

Wondering what it was, he turned his head and saw more than ten people all dressed in white shirts and reddish-brown ties.

Had office workers come out in a group?

‘No, where around here would there be an office that big…’

Young-woo, who had been tilting his head, belatedly remembered one fact.

‘Ah.’

There was one place where that many people might be wearing shirts.

That place was located in Gwangpyeong-dong, Gumi City…

‘Geumo High School.’

The students at school weren’t exempt from the reset either.

Since they were already heading toward Sword Mountain, they must have gone through all that chaos at the Exchange Office.

The student in the lead was even holding an Early Bird.

‘Did they form an alliance centered around that kid?’

A group of high school students who had secured an Early Bird.

Young-woo had no choice but to be wary based on prejudice.

Swoosh.

The arrow at his feet began to gradually tilt.

‘Almost there?’

Young-woo watched the students running diagonally toward his direction while turning his eyes to find the place presumed to be ‘Sword Mountain.’

And at this moment.

With a crack, something shattered loudly and changes occurred in the sky ahead.

‘Good heavens.’

In that instant, Young-woo’s pupils dilated to their maximum.

What he saw were tens of thousands of weapons pouring down from the sky.

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 │ 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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