Level 4 Human in a Ruined World - Chapter 47

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

Chapter 47 13. Gate Opening (4)

Gate Opening.

This term has two dictionary definitions.

First, opening one’s domestic market to allow other countries to freely engage in trade or economic activities.

Second, keeping doors open without restrictions so anyone can enter and exit freely.

And judging by the current situation, the meaning of Gate Opening applied to this world encompassed both definitions.

Even now, strange monsters were invading as they pleased claiming to be pioneers, and beings called alien trading companies had suddenly appeared to conduct business.

Moreover, none of this had been permitted by humanity.

The only thing the majority of humanity had inadvertently agreed to was that the world had gone wrong and some kind of action needed to be taken.

‘But how did it end up like this?’

Young-woo stared blankly at the stone box that was noisily scraping across the ground as it approached him.

Screech, screech.

The box that eventually reached Young-woo’s feet showed no movement for a while, then.

Bang!

Suddenly burst open with a loud noise, its lid flying wide.

Gasp!

Startled by this, Young-woo drew his black sword like lightning, and the trio watching from afar also flinched and each took combat stances.

However, what actually emerged from inside the box was.

-Gruk.

A small goblin carrying a bag as large as its own body. Moreover, its skin was golden in color.

“Huh, this is…”

As Young-woo unconsciously pointed at the goblin with his finger, the creature also raised its head to look at him.

-Keruk?

Then an item tooltip appeared in Young-woo’s vision.

Flash!

「Golden Goblin」 – Relic Slave

【Stores items in subspace.】

【Picks up valuable things.】

With just that eye contact, the Golden Goblin had become Young-woo’s possession.

A relic-grade slave.

‘Is this really an item? No matter how I look at it, it’s just a living creature…?’

Meanwhile, the Golden Goblin was running its tiny hands over the bottom of the shattered stone box.

Then.

Swish.

It soon discovered something and held it up.

It was none other than.

「Kekidite」 – Hero Gem

【Slot: Ability Resistance 10%】

It was the slot-specific gem that Young-woo had purchased along with the goblin.

A small black gem about the size of a human thumbnail.

-Kit!

After confirming that the Kekidite had transferred to Young-woo’s ownership, the Golden Goblin opened the mouth of the bag it was carrying on its shoulder.

Then it brought the Kekidite near the bag’s opening and looked at Young-woo again.

-Kit?

It seemed to be a gesture asking if it was okay to store this item in the bag.

‘Ah, so it checks with its master before putting things in. Then is that like a subspace pouch?’

Young-woo nodded toward the goblin, curious to see how the subspace worked.

Then the creature threw the Kekidite into the bag, and at that moment.

Whoosh!

The bag’s interior, briefly visible through the opening, transformed to look like outer space.

“…!”

Young-woo, who had been peering at this, felt such a disorienting sense of space that he staggered backward.

‘What was that just now?’

Young-woo blinked and looked at the bag again, but the goblin had already tightly closed the bag’s opening.

-Kakak!

The goblin that had sealed the bag looked up at Young-woo and made some kind of sharp sound.

“…”

Though no one translated for him, Young-woo instinctively realized that this was a kind of warning.

A warning not to carelessly look inside when the subspace was open.

-Kit!

Next, the goblin found and picked up Young-woo’s last item, the Ancient Certificate.

This item was so large that the creature had to put down its bag and pick it up with both hands, and despite being called a ‘certificate,’ it was actually a gray stone tablet rather than paper.

「Morning Star」 – Ancient Certificate

【Activates during Gate Opening state.】

Since it was about the size of a large encyclopedia when opened, Young-woo also had to receive it with both hands.

Thud.

“What is this…?”

Hieroglyphic-like characters were deeply carved into the stone tablet, but naturally he couldn’t read them.

Nor did any special guidance text appear just because it had come into the hands of its owner, Young-woo.

On the surface, it was just a uselessly large stone.

However, the price set by the Voltak merchants had been a whopping 80,000 Karma, and the Snake of Greed, an epic compass, had also indicated it was a precious item.

With only the tooltip saying it activated during Gate Opening state, Young-woo couldn’t understand not only how to use ‘Morning Star’ but even what kind of item it was.

Crunch.

Just in case, he secretly tried biting the corner of the stone tablet, but got no response.

‘Or does it activate automatically in specific situations?’

In the end, Young-woo couldn’t find a method even by the time the Jung Family’s SUV appeared on the road in the distance.

Vroooom…!

The SUV initially approached with quite a loud engine noise, but the sound quickly became much quieter.

This was because they belatedly discovered that there was something inside the black light pillar.

“Y-Young-woo sir?”

As always, Myeong-ho parked the car at a distance and only stuck his head out to call Young-woo.

“Is it safe?”

This was also a question about whether it would be safe for him and his mother.

In response, Young-woo glanced at the trio who were still frozen in place, then walked toward the Jung Family.

Then.

-Kikit!

The Golden Goblin that had been stepping on the box debris quickly shouldered its bag and ran after Young-woo.

And all of this.

“…”

Looked like a revelation to the trio.

“P-Please, Jung Young-woo sir!”

Enough to make them run toward him while holding up commemorative coins bearing Young-woo’s face and name.

“…?”

Young-woo turned around at the sound of someone calling him, only to see the very people who had been hostile toward him just ten minutes ago now lined up in respectful postures.

“What are you doing?”

When Young-woo asked with a tilted head, the tall man who seemed to be the leader of the trio bowed deeply at the waist.

“Please take us in!”

“…What?”

He had often received requests for help or to let someone stay with him temporarily, but this was the first time someone had asked to be ‘taken in.’

“I don’t take companions or subordinates.”

As Young-woo answered this way, his parting with Ye-chan, which already felt like ancient history, flashed through his mind.

Just as Ye-chan had judged at the time, party play was difficult to establish for Young-woo.

While ordinary people would find it nearly impossible to even fight monsters without increasing their numbers, Young-woo’s situation was different since he had become First Sword early on.

His main opponents were mutants far stronger than monsters, and First Swords from other regions.

Therefore, unless someone was strong enough to help in battles against them, party members would rather become baggage… no, a weakness.

“Don’t say pointless things and figure out how to survive on your own. That’ll give you a higher chance of living than traveling with me.”

Young-woo spoke decisively, but the tall man didn’t seem convinced.

“No! We’re stronger than we look! Of course we can’t compare to you, Young-woo sir, but we’re good enough to follow behind and learn…!”

“There’s nothing to learn when you’ll die within a day or two anyway.”

In game terms, it was like a user who had just finished the tutorial wanting to follow into a high-level hunting ground.

Swish.

As Young-woo finished speaking and tried to take another step toward the Jung Family, the man who had been bowing behind him suddenly raised his head and pointed at the SUV.

“Then what about those people? Are you saying those people will all die within a day because of you too, Young-woo sir?”

“….”

It was a point he couldn’t ignore.

Young-woo slowly turned around.

Then he spoke in a low voice.

“Yes. One person is already dead. So I’m planning to part ways soon.”

“…!”

Sure enough, the three people’s eyes widened greatly.

But the tall man was unusually persistent.

“Then please let us travel together until you part with those people.”

Then, for the first time, dissent arose within the trio.

“Why go that far?”

“Just traveling together is dangerous. Let’s stop here.”

The other two were not only frightened by Young-woo’s words, but didn’t want to follow someone around while begging pathetically.

And for good reason—hadn’t the three of them been doing quite well on their own until now?

They weren’t strong enough to target mutants, but they were at least capable of hunting monsters, so if they continued this way, there shouldn’t be any major problems with survival for the time being.

Young-woo had refused the three people’s joining for the same reason.

However, the tall man was looking much further ahead.

“Do you think we’ll have another chance to see where and how someone like that operates? We need to know how the world works to properly find our own way to survive.”

The man pointed to the Jung Family’s SUV again.

“It’s not like we gain nothing at all. If we join with that vehicle, we get mobility. It’s definitely not a losing choice.”

“Do those people want to be with us? That’s also uncertain.”

Another member immediately objected, but the man gestured that it wouldn’t be a problem.

“Are there people who don’t want to live…? One person is already dead and Young-woo sir won’t be there much longer, so they won’t want to refuse.”

The constant use of ‘sir’ was burdensome, but Young-woo’s ears perked up at the man’s final opinion.

If they were to go their separate ways in Chungju as previously promised, the Jung Family without a combatant would essentially be as good as dead.

Though it was quite selfish, this was an opportunity to lighten the burden on his conscience.

“Fine. If it’s on the condition that you join with those people when you part with me, I’ll allow you to accompany us for a while.”

When Young-woo, who had been adamant until now, suddenly changed his position, the tall man’s expression brightened.

On the other hand, the other two in the trio actually showed displeasure with serious expressions.

“…I don’t like it. We’d basically be cleaning up after that person.”

“I understand he’s an impressive person, but if he can’t take responsibility for our lives too, there’s no reason to follow him around.”

Tsk.

Not only the atmosphere but the very structure had changed.

With the two people stepping far back, it no longer looked like a trio.

Even so, the tall man was strangely obsessed with Young-woo.

“I want to know how that person fights and what he’s thinking as he moves around. If you’re staying here, I’ll go alone.”

“What?”

“Then we’ll be down to two.”

Seeing him declare his departure so simply, they didn’t seem to be family.

At this point, Young-woo became interested in the man too, but he couldn’t drag things out, so he interjected into the trio’s conversation.

“I’m leaving now. If you really intend to follow, decide right now.”

As Young-woo moved toward the vehicle, the tall man also adjusted the backpack on his back and followed.

And the other two, who had once been the man’s companions.

“Crazy bastard.”

“Don’t regret it when you’re about to die.”

They saw the man off with harsh words.

Meanwhile, Young-woo, who had reached the SUV, looked at the surprised Myeong-ho and opened the back seat door.

Click.

“We can take one more person, right? Get in the passenger seat.”

“Ah, yes… of course….”

However, Myeong-ho’s gaze wasn’t on the new member, the tall man, but on the Golden Goblin that had hopped onto the back seat following Young-woo.

“Young-woo sir, excuse me, but what is that?”

Myeong-ho asked carefully while looking at the back seat through the rearview mirror.

And at the same time, Myeong-ae was startled and pressed herself against the opposite car window.

“Wh-what kind of monster is that?”

Young-woo held the certificate ‘Morning Star’ he had been carrying and handed it to the goblin as he spoke.

“It’s my slave. Now we can have this guy store our luggage.”

But.

-Keekit!

For some reason, the goblin didn’t take the certificate Young-woo handed over.

“…What’s wrong?”

Young-woo offered the item again, but the goblin didn’t react just like before, and the reason became clear around the time the tall man got into the passenger seat.

Hissssss…!

The certificate—that is, the gray stone tablet—suddenly began emitting white smoke and started cracking.

Crack!

‘Could it be.’

Realizing something, Young-woo got out of the vehicle while holding the tablet that was disintegrating to powder level in his hand.

Then the tablet, which had maintained its outline until now, scattered into fine pieces and flew up into the air.

“Huh?”

Myeong-ho stuck only his head out through the driver’s side window to watch this strange phenomenon, the tall man in the passenger seat strained to see Young-woo, and Myeong-ae found all of this still terrifying.

Young-woo, receiving all their gazes, saw new text appear in his vision.

[Achievement Achieved: Advertisement Model]

|Achievement Grade: Artifact

|Achievement Rank: First

‘Advertisement Model…?’

Young-woo looked at the tablet powder that had already flown up to the distant sky.

‘What did I advertise?’

As soon as Young-woo had this doubt, a pitch-black timer appeared prominently at the top of his vision.

|Time until Advertiser arrival: 04:30:00

And then immediately.

Swoosh.

|Time until Advertiser arrival: 04:29:59

The timer began counting down.

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————