Level 4 Human in a Ruined World - Chapter 51

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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 51 14. The Judge Holding a Longsword (4)

‘What the…’

Young-woo stared blankly at Chungju First Sword approaching at high speed, hair streaming in the air.

Despite the terrifying momentum, the actual appearance of First Sword was incredibly frail.

Her arms were so thin that one wondered if she could properly swing a sword, and her thin lips and gaunt-looking cheeks gave her an almost sickly impression.

Of course, in this world where ability stat points existed, judging combat power by appearance was foolish.

However, aside from that, surely on the first day of reset, she must have broken through the chaos of the Exchange Office with that frail body.

While Young-woo was trying to imagine Chungju First Sword’s first day of reset, which was hard to picture, movement came from the other side first.

Whoosh!

The opponent swung her arm while looking at the SUV Young-woo’s group was riding in and threw her sword.

“Eek!”

“Huk!”

Myeong-ho and Myeong-ae, who recalled their first encounter with Young-woo, cowered and screamed, and even Jong-su, who had been showing a carefree attitude until now, looked back at Young-woo with a panicked expression for once.

On the other hand, Young-woo.

“…”

He silently watched as the sword the opponent threw flew like an arrow and stuck into the road on the left side of the vehicle.

Clang!

It was because he had noticed that it wasn’t a sword thrown to target people in the first place.

‘What? Is she trying to see how we’ll react?’

What the opponent had thrown was even an Early Bird.

Unless she had something like Nol’s belt that allowed remote retrieval, it was an extremely expensive provocation.

“Since First Sword has come personally, there’s no need for you to trouble yourself with guiding us.”

When Young-woo spoke in a calm voice after taking his gaze off the Early Bird stuck in the ground, the Police Officer who had been frozen stiff in his seat finally came to his senses.

“…Huh.”

Then he opened the back seat door as if fleeing and rushed outside.

Tap tap!

The direction the Police Officer fled was none other than behind Chungju First Sword, and only after seeing this did Young-woo slowly get out of the car.

Step.

Young-woo’s white bare feet touching the black asphalt.

Then the eyebrows of Chungju First Sword, who had been carefully observing the car from about 30 meters away, twitched slightly.

It was because there was nothing floating above Young-woo’s head, despite his appearance clearly being that of a First Sword.

On the other hand, Chungju First Sword Shin Young-ju22, like any other First Sword, had a brilliant title above her head, and this point caught Young-woo’s attention.

‘If she’s taking on the role of the city’s security force, she might have taken the Golden Rain route… but she wasn’t that reckless a character?’

The artifact tattoo ‘Stealth Mark’ that allowed hiding titles was given as a reward when Young-woo first opened the Achievement system through Golden Rain.

At the time, he thought it was a reward anyone would receive just by opening the Achievement system, but seeing that all the First Swords he had met so far didn’t know how to hide their titles, it was likely a Golden Rain exclusive benefit.

In other words, there was a high probability that Chungju First Sword before his eyes was also someone who chose to monopolize 3 million Karma.

‘Well, if she had taken the Golden Rain route, she should be wearing golden equipment somewhere, but I don’t particularly see any of that either.’

Young-woo stared at Chungju First Sword, who was dressed in an unbelievably ‘clerical’ outfit.

She wore black slacks and a navy blue shirt, with a watch with petrification released on her left arm.

Of course, she was also barefoot and holding a long sword in her right hand, so it was certainly an incongruous sight.

“I heard you were looking for me.”

Chungju First Sword was the first to speak.

Her tone was gentle, contrary to suddenly throwing a sword.

Young-woo bowed his head slightly and offered a greeting.

“Yes. I’m Jung Young-woo, who came up from Gumi. As I told that person earlier, I didn’t come to fight…”

As Young-woo glanced at the Police Officer hiding behind First Sword and tried to continue, Chungju First Sword Shin Young-ju22 slightly raised her left hand and interrupted.

“Sorry to interrupt, but what about your number?”

“…Pardon?”

“The number after your name.”

Number.

She was asking about the identification number assigned in order of contact with the Exchange Office among people with the same name.

For example, since Chungju First Sword’s name was Shin Young-ju22, it meant she was the 22nd among all Shin Young-jus nationwide to contact the Exchange Office.

In other words, the smaller the number in this identification number, the more bold one’s actions on the first day of reset could be considered.

‘She’s trying to see if I’m a dangerous person.’

Young-woo felt that the opponent was a very wary person.

“…It’s 7. Jung Young-woo07.”

“Jung Young-woo is a common name, but you must have worked very hard. 7…”

Upon hearing Young-woo’s number, Chungju First Sword mulled over the number 7 and smiled an unreadable smile.

Then she moved her position a few steps to the side and looked inside the SUV.

“Are those your companions over there?”

“Yes. They’re not people I knew from before, I borrowed their car on the way here.”

“Ah, I see.”

At Young-woo’s words about borrowing the car, Chungju First Sword glanced at his bare feet.

Then she bowed deeply toward Young-woo and introduced herself.

“I’m Chungju District Judge Shin Young-ju22.”

Her long hair stretched down toward the ground, creating a momentarily eerie atmosphere, but Young-woo could only feel honored.

To bow so readily to an opponent who might be an enemy and was much younger…

“As you know, I’m also Chungju First Sword. I’m doing my best to maintain order here. I apologize for throwing the sword earlier. From my position, I needed to see how you would react.”

“Ah…! It’s, it’s fine.”

Young-woo couldn’t help but be greatly surprised by Shin Young-ju’s background.

It was amazing enough that she broke through the Exchange Office section with that small frame, but she was even a judge.

‘So that’s why she has the citizens’ support? She wasn’t just sustaining the city with strength alone. Her character seems extraordinary too…’

Although many things had happened, it was still only the second day since the great upheaval called reset occurred.

So while everyone had come to live holding swords, they still maintained trust in the values and systems of the previous world.

“What about you? I think I only heard part of your introduction earlier because I interrupted.”

“Ah, that’s right.”

Chungju First Sword, a former judge, guardian of Chungju City’s order.

Knowing Shin Young-ju’s brilliant background, Young-woo found it difficult to speak readily.

If he followed the opponent’s introduction format, he didn’t have anything particularly noteworthy to present.

Jung Young-woo, who worked at a factory in Gumi. Somehow became Gyeongbuk First Sword, and was heading to Seoul while hunting mutants to achieve Achievements…

He had neither a remarkable profession nor a noble sense of purpose.

“I am…”

When Young-woo started but couldn’t easily continue, Shin Young-ju smiled gently and said.

“Are you a bit burdened because I’m a judge? I guess I said something unnecessary. Don’t mind it.”

Then she glanced over Young-woo’s strange attire and asked.

“How old are you? May I ask what work you did in Gumi?”

“Yes, I’m thirty-four. I worked at a display factory in Gumi.”

“That makes sense. There are quite a few factories in Gumi too. But Gumi is quite far from here, you must have had a hard time.”

Shin Young-ju finished with this remark, smiled warmly, then just quietly looked at Young-woo. It was time to get to the main point.

Young-woo slowly opened his mouth.

“You must be curious about why I came all the way here.”

“That’s right.”

Shin Young-ju nodded and narrowed her eyes further.

Young-woo looked at her and pointed to the SUV behind him.

“Well… those people said their family is here. Since I owe them a debt, I wanted to help them while I was at it.”

“Family?”

To Shin Young-ju, who looked surprised, Young-woo briefly explained how he came to Chungju.

He told her about leaving Gumi and heading to Seoul while hunting mutants, and how he encountered the Jung Family on the highway.

Then Shin Young-ju looked at the SUV and spoke as if relieved.

“We happen to do a headcount in front of City Hall every day at 7 PM. Not everyone attends, but… anyway, you can look for your husband there.”

“7 PM would be 2 hours before the real battle starts.”

“That’s right. When we gather then, we inevitably have to rent houses near City Hall. It’s a way to create population density. Since I always sleep near City Hall too, it helps maintain public order.”

“Ah…”

Young-woo was amazed by Chungju City’s management system, which was on a different dimension from other cities.

Of course, the city outskirts would become blind spots for public safety, but wouldn’t that be much better than the entire city becoming lawless?

Chungju City had found the best method within realistic limits.

“Now, shall we hear why Young-woo came to see me? There aren’t even any mutants here right now, so what business do you have with me?”

When Shin Young-ju asked while subtly tensing her body, Young-woo also looked at the long sword gripped in her hand.

“You might think this is absurd, but I wanted to meet you because I was curious why you willingly take on this kind of thing.”

“This kind of… thing?”

Shin Young-ju looked puzzled, as if she couldn’t readily understand Young-woo’s question.

Young-woo slightly spread his arms and gestured around.

“Chungju City. You’re essentially serving people who are complete strangers to you. You’re certainly doing good work, but this was the first time I’ve seen this type of First Sword, so I was curious.”

“You must have met many First Swords before.”

A meaningful counter-question.

Young-woo feeling killing intent from her for a moment was certainly not his imagination.

However, the Golden Flash Sense Steal alarm wasn’t ringing yet.

It meant she was still maintaining her composure.

“That the citizens are complete strangers to me? That’s true. What you said about me doing service work could also be correct depending on perspective. But.”

Shin Young-ju paused for a moment and looked up at the sky.

“I had to do it.”

“Excuse me…?”

“The first First Sword was just a criminal, and the second had too narrow a vision. If I had left things as they were, the First Sword himself might have survived somehow, but the city would have collapsed.”

“You consider maintaining the city very important.”

When Young-woo responded like this, Shin Young-ju’s expression instantly turned very cold.

“Of course. Monsters are pouring down every day, and if there isn’t even order in the city, what do you think would happen?”

“Well…”

Young-woo knew the result well since he had seen it firsthand.

If a strong person appeared, dictatorship would begin like in Sangju City, and if even that didn’t happen, a situation like Gimcheon would occur where the city was annihilated by a single mutant.

“Of course, since this all started with witch hunts, I don’t expect wisdom from people. In a way, they ended up living in a world that matches their level.”

Then Shin Young-ju added bitterly.

“But not me. I wasn’t despicable enough to vote for witch hunts, and I lived sufficiently diligently. There’s no reason I should receive the same punishment.”

“…”

Young-woo had nothing to say to her.

Because he understood Shin Young-ju’s position too.

She felt wronged because she was confident that she hadn’t lived badly enough to deserve this kind of ‘punishment.’

If it hadn’t been for the Reset, or even if the Reset had occurred, if there hadn’t been indiscriminate witch hunts, this world might have been somewhat more normal.

However, the situation had taken a turn for the worst, so ultimately Shin Young-ju had.

‘Rather than entrust her fate to others’ hands, she decided to seize real power herself.’

The third Chungju First Sword.

If what she said about not voting for witch hunts was true, her growth assets would have been the massive amount of Karma obtained through exchange.

‘How she escaped the Exchange Office with that money is still a mystery though…’

Anyway, there was no doubt that Shin Young-ju was an remarkable person.

She couldn’t be unaware that many of Chungju’s citizens had willingly participated in witch hunts.

Even so, just the fact that she was faithfully fulfilling her role as Chungju City’s protector made Young-woo feel respect for her.

“You’re truly amazing. Compared to you, Judge, I…”

Just as Young-woo was about to bow his head as if ashamed, a golden figure popped out from the Jeong family’s SUV with a thud.

-Keet.

It was none other than the artifact-grade slave Golden Goblin.

When its master Young-woo hadn’t been in sight for quite a while, it had jumped out of the car to stick close to him.

And the moment the creature clung tightly near Young-woo’s legs.

“Huh?”

Life returned to Shin Young-ju’s previously cold eyes.

“What is that? Don’t tell me it belongs to Young-woo?”

“Ah, yes. It’s like a pet.”

“A pet…?”

Though Young-woo only introduced it as a pet, Shin Young-ju found it hard to believe those words at face value.

She too had experience encountering alien merchants.

“So merchants sell creatures too. This is the first time I’ve seen something like this.”

Shin Young-ju, who had been staring at the goblin curiously, soon shifted her gaze and looked Young-woo up and down.

She was finally beginning to see again. The things this outsider possessed.

The snake wrapped around his forearm and the golden bracelet, the black cloak draped over his shoulders, the steel belt that definitely looked different from the standard issue.

And on that belt, along with Early Bird, there was even another black sword inserted.

At this point, the whistle hanging around his neck and the ring on his finger should probably be considered ‘items’ as well.

“…”

The moment Shin Young-ju unconsciously opened her mouth while counting what appeared to be items one by one, Young-woo clenched his teeth after seeing her expression.

It was because he had glimpsed something familiar in her eyes, albeit briefly.

It was none other than that look in her eyes.

The look in the robbers’ eyes that he had seen during the Exchange Office’s fierce struggle two days ago.

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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