Level 4 Human in a Ruined World - Chapter 49

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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 49 14. The Judge Who Wields a Longsword (2)

‘3 generations, 2 defenses…’

Young-woo carefully examined the record of Chungju First Sword inscribed in the regional status section.

‘It means he’s killed twice since becoming First Sword. Seeing that the number isn’t high, maybe he’s not someone who goes overboard.’

Since a First Sword’s defense count was also their kill count, the more vicious they were, the higher their defense count was likely to be.

Conversely, if someone refrained from unnecessary killing, naturally their defense count would be low as well.

‘This time the mutant is also dead… hopefully there won’t be any reason to fight.’

Of course, there weren’t zero variables.

Young-woo needed to meet the merchant who had come to Chungju as well.

But what if Chungju First Sword didn’t welcome contact between the merchant and outsiders?

“…”

Young-woo shifted his gaze to the notification text that had been glinting in the corner of his vision.

「You have 1 unclaimed Achievement reward.」

「Would you like to claim the reward?」

It must be referring to the Achievement reward he earned from using the Ancient Certificate.

‘Was it a Relic-grade Achievement? Anyway, I can’t use it when trading with the merchant.’

Young-woo clicked his tongue regretfully and approved claiming the reward.

Then he immediately realized he had misjudged.

Clink.

Suddenly, a familiar sound came from the empty air inside the vehicle.

‘Huh, no way.’

Pop, pop!

Because 10 blue coins appeared in a line before Young-woo’s eyes.

10 blue coins meant a whopping 500,000 Karma. Young-woo’s eyes widened at the unexpected income, but one more surprising thing happened.

-Keet!

The Golden Goblin that had been crouched quietly between Young-woo’s legs shot up like a bullet.

“…!”

Before Young-woo’s eyes, it swept up all 10 coins generated in the air in an instant, then landed gracefully back in place.

“Huh.”

Even Myeong-ae, who had been wearing a gloomy expression, looked surprised at this moment, and Jong-su, who had somehow sensed the movement, looked back and forth between Young-woo and the goblin with a dumbfounded face.

“What… what was that just now? I couldn’t even see it properly.”

Of course, even if he had turned around in time, he wouldn’t have been able to fully see the goblin’s movement.

Even Young-woo, who was Gyeongbuk First Sword, couldn’t properly follow the goblin’s movement just now.

‘It even picks up money for me. Well, I guess that’s natural.’

「Golden Goblin」 – Relic Slave

【Stores items in subspace.】

【Picks up things that are worth money.】

In game terms, it would be like a pet with an auto collection function.

Young-woo quietly observed the goblin that had become docile again, then brought the luggage he had placed here and there in the back seat near the creature.

Then the goblin glanced at Young-woo and without a word opened its subspace bag and swept up his luggage.

‘It doesn’t pick up everything it sees. It prioritizes things that are clearly my possessions… and other than that, it seems to only collect what I instruct.’

Then would it also bring things that clearly belonged to others if instructed?

When his thoughts reached this point, Young-woo immediately asked Jong-su.

“Jong-su.”

“Yes.”

“Do you happen to have any coins? Any kind.”

“Ah, of course. I always carry cash…”

The moment Jong-su shrugged and pulled out a crimson coin from his pocket, Young-woo gave a command to the Golden Goblin.

“Bring that here.”

Then the goblin shot up at tremendous speed like before.

-Keet!

It shot out like lightning, snatched the coin that was between Jong-su’s fingers, and returned to Young-woo’s side before he could even notice.

“Huh?”

Jong-su reacted half a beat late.

Young-woo took the coin from the goblin and tossed it back to Jong-su.

“Sorry, I was just experimenting a bit.”

“It’s, it’s fine. I was just a little surprised…”

Jong-su’s face was quite red. He had been greatly flustered, even if momentarily.

Well, how could he not be surprised when an otherworldly creature suddenly rushed at him and snatched his money?

“The world… is becoming incredibly strange.”

Myeong-ho, who had been observing the back seat through the rearview mirror, interjected between the two with a low voice.

Then he jerked his chin to point somewhere ahead.

“It seems Chungju has become just as strange.”

“Huh…?”

Jong-su, who heard Myeong-ho’s words, turned his head toward the car window, and Young-woo also looked at the situation through the gap between the two front seats.

Then he immediately widened his eyes.

‘People…?’

Because people were visible from the city entrance.

Of course, he had encountered the elderly bandit group from the entrance in Sangju as well, but Chungju was exceptional.

“Wow, what’s that.”

There were so many people that Jong-su gaped in amazement.

Just what was visible seemed to be easily a hundred people. They didn’t look like a bandit gang though, they were just scattered here and there.

“Young-woo… have you ever seen something like that before?”

Myeong-ho in the driver’s seat referred to the scene of multiple living people as ‘something like that.’

That meant it wasn’t a common sight in the Post-Reset World.

Young-woo shook his head and said.

“Well. I’ve been to several cities, but I would have only seen parts of those regions. Anyway, it is an unusual sight. So many people gathered like that.”

It was probably related to there being no mutants or monsters in this region.

Then would there be that many people inside the city as well?

“Slow down a bit. Let’s try talking to someone by the roadside.”

At Young-woo’s request, Myeong-ho gradually pressed the brake and decelerated.

Then the people scattered in the fields and farms near the city entrance began turning their heads one by one.

And it was only then that Young-woo could realize.

The fact that these people weren’t out here to greet outsiders.

While they all looked at the SUV they were riding with curiosity, they kept looking up at the sky, so.

‘They’re waiting for monsters. They’re all people who came out to make money.’

Now goosebumps were rising on his arms.

Because in that ‘queue’ before his eyes, there were several boys who looked to be at most middle school age.

“Uh… how should I put it. It’s incredibly bizarre.”

Myeong-ho also seemed to feel something off about the scene of people standing around in the fields holding weapons, brushing himself off unnecessarily.

On the other hand, Jong-su.

“It looks like they’re doing that to catch monsters as soon as they appear?”

He made the same diagnosis as Young-woo.

Well, Jong-su was also an Early Bird holder, wasn’t he? As someone who had been aggressive since the early days of the Reset, he had simply given a natural answer.

“All those people came out to hunt monsters?”

Myeong-ho tilted his head in disbelief even after hearing Jong-su’s words.

Jong-su elaborated in a nonchalant tone.

“Hyung-nim… we can only look at this from a results perspective. They survived because they fought so actively, didn’t they?”

Jong-su’s right hand was already near the Early Bird at his waist as he spoke.

With so many people around, he was preparing for any potential surprise attacks.

Indeed, several people were approaching the vehicle, making the situation potentially dangerous.

“Myeong-ho, please stop slowly up ahead.”

At Young-woo’s request, Myeong-ho brought the car to a stop.

Then the people who had been watching from afar all rushed to the roadside, causing Myeong-ae to gasp and pull away from the car window.

“Is this… is this okay?”

Myeong-ae’s eyes began trembling just like when she had seen the orcs.

“…”

What should he say to reassure her at times like this?

Young-woo thought for a moment, then pointed to the car window on Myeong-ae’s side.

“Please look to see if your husband might be there. Chungju seems to have weathered this crisis well.”

While Myeong-ae unconsciously looked back toward the car window, Young-woo opened the opposite door and stepped outside.

Tap.

The Chungju City entrance road was made of black asphalt, so when Young-woo stepped on it barefoot, the color of his skin stood out remarkably.

Perhaps because of this.

“Oh.”

“Huh?”

Some of the Chungju citizens surrounding the vehicle immediately noticed Young-woo’s feet and showed surprised reactions.

“This person is barefoot.”

“He really is barefoot.”

Some among them asked why he was barefoot, but most seemed to know.

They knew that when the body’s output exceeds a certain level, it becomes difficult to wear shoes.

And this meant.

‘So the Chungju First Sword also goes around barefoot.’

Conversely, this meant that many people had survived even after seeing a barefoot First Sword.

Young-woo basically kept his title hidden, so even now his head was completely clear, but the Chungju citizens seemed to already view him as First Sword level.

“Wel… Welcome!”

Someone in the crowd suddenly threw out a welcoming comment.

Then others followed suit, each uttering awkward lines.

“Please come in…!”

“Welcome to Chungju!”

“Nice to meet you!”

Then a Brave One who was closest to Young-woo finally brought up the main point.

“But… may I ask what business brings you to Chungju?”

As soon as these words were fired out, the venue that had been bustling with random welcoming comments instantly fell quiet.

In truth, everyone had wanted to ask that.

“…”

Young-woo glanced around, then instead of answering immediately, he floated a preliminary comment.

“Most of the cities I’ve passed through became ruins in just one day, but this place is different.”

Depending on how you heard it, it was quite a terrifying statement.

How could they know whether this barefoot outsider had personally turned those cities into ruins or not?

Perhaps because of this, the faces of the Chungju citizens who had been smiling brightly on the surface hardened stiffly.

“Well… everyone is doing their best.”

This answer was also given by the ‘Brave One.’

“We believe this situation will end someday. So we’re contributing to the normalization of the city.”

City normalization… it was the first future-oriented expression he’d heard since the Reset.

Though he couldn’t know what the secret was, Chungju had quickly established and begun implementing Reset countermeasures compared to other cities.

‘Really unusual. Are all big cities like this?’

Young-woo glanced at the black light pillar still shining in the distance.

He had planned to just meet the merchant and leave Chungju, but he thought it would be good to meet the First Sword too if possible.

|You are currently staying in the region ‘Chungju.’

|This region’s First Sword is ‘Shin Young-ju22.’ 3rd generation, 2 defenses.

Shin Young-ju22. A rising powerhouse who had killed the previous First Sword and inherited the title, probably a central figure in Chungju City’s future plans.

He would likely be the most solid character among all the First Swords he’d seen so far.

So he wanted to ask at least once.

How would they live going forward?

Even he himself was the Gyeongbuk First Sword, but had no sense of purpose other than just surviving.

But wouldn’t Shin Young-ju22, who seemed to be responsible for this big city, be somewhat different?

“Well, I should now…”

The ‘Brave One,’ noticing that Young-woo’s gaze was on the black light pillar, began speaking with an anxious face.

He was asking him to finally reveal why he had come here.

Young-woo looked toward the Chungju City landscape at the end of the road the vehicle had been heading toward and opened his mouth.

“I came to meet the Chungju First Sword…”

“Ahhh…!”

“Emergency!”

Before Young-woo’s sentence could even finish, everyone in the assembly including the ‘Brave One’ was startled and all sprinted at full speed toward Chungju City.

They thought the outsider had come to inherit the Chungju First Sword title, just as they had feared.

And the only way to inherit the First Sword title was through killing.

Tap tap tap!

The sight of a hundred or so Chungju citizens running across the field looked like a herd of gazelles fleeing from a lion.

“What, what is this?”

Myeong-ho got out of the car with a dazed expression at the unexpected situation.

Clunk.

Jong-su from the passenger seat also got out of the car, but unlike Myeong-ho, he had a very amused expression.

“Wow… this place is already completely fortified. It really would have been like this in the old days too.”

“The old days…?”

Myeong-ho tilted his head, unable to grasp the context, but Young-woo seemed to understand what Jong-su was talking about and remained silent.

With almost everything turned to stone now, there was no way internet or even phones would work.

So how would they communicate during emergency situations?

Mounted messengers.

People had no choice but to run and deliver messages personally.

Of course, that would only function properly if the messengers arrived alive at their destination… but since Young-woo hadn’t come to fight, he didn’t want to harm people unnecessarily.

“…Anyway, the Chungju First Sword will be coming this way soon. Let’s go meet them.”

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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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