Level 4 Human in a Ruined World - Chapter 55

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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 55 15. Freak (2)

Swish.

When Young-woo picked up the equipment in question, Jong-su tilted his head.

“Hyung-nim, what is that?”

“It’s a compass.”

“…That’s a compass?”

It was an extremely normal reaction.

Even to Young-woo, it looked like an item that was far from resembling a compass externally.

「Scared Cat」 – Epic Compass

【Points to threatening targets.】

【–Empty Slot–】

This equipment that came from Shin Young-ju’s left pocket was a tricolor cat figurine smaller than a palm.

True to its name “Scared Cat,” it was crouched with its body hunched up, and currently the cat’s eyes were closed as if in an inactive state.

‘Does this mean there are no threatening targets nearby right now?’

Young-woo immediately understood how the ‘Scared Cat’ worked.

It was because he already had similar equipment.

「Snake of Greed」 – Epic Compass

【Always gazes at precious things.】

In the reset world, Young-woo was one of the people who encountered new things relatively quickly.

‘So Shin Young-ju found me right away thanks to the compass.’

Of course, he couldn’t know why the Scared Cat had recognized him as a threatening target at that time.

‘I never intended to fight the First Sword in the first place… There could have been conflict over the Merchant issue, but I still planned to resolve it through dialogue.’

However, this was only Young-woo’s one-sided thinking.

Anyway, since Shin Young-ju died as a result, wasn’t it true that Young-woo had been a threatening figure?

“…”

Young-woo put the Scared Cat in his pocket with an uncomfortable feeling.

Then the Snake of Greed wrapped around his left wrist flicked its tongue and turned its head.

Swish.

What it was looking at was none other than the long sword that Shin Young-ju had been holding all along.

It wasn’t the standard issue sword that had been stuck in Sword Mountain, and it certainly wasn’t Early Bird either, so he had been inwardly curious.

‘Is it mutant equipment?’

The probability was high.

A First Sword at this point would have at least two pieces of mutant equipment.

One obtained from a mutant they personally killed, and one that the previous First Sword had possessed.

Thud.

Finally, when Young-woo pulled the long sword from Shin Young-ju, a tooltip appeared in his vision.

Pop!

「Underdog」 – Mutant One-handed Sword

【25% increased power against targets larger than the user.】

‘Oh.’

The special ability was excellent compared to its relatively plain appearance.

‘This would be constantly active against mutants.’

If the ‘build’ mentioned in the tooltip simply referred to height, it would activate against most adult men too.

Conversely, it would have no effect against men shorter than him and most women.

Click.

Young-woo drew Early Bird from his belt, then inserted Underdog in its place.

Seeing this, Jong-su let out a thick laugh.

“Even First Swords rummage through corpses after fights. How did the world come to this.”

“…Can’t help it. Gangnam First Sword probably does the same thing.”

Gangnam First Sword.

Young-woo didn’t have any connection to that area, but since Gangnam was perceived as a wealthy neighborhood, it was half a joke.

But unexpectedly, Jong-su took this comment seriously.

“Come to think of it, there must be a First Sword in Gangnam too. Or maybe there’s just one Seoul First Sword covering everything…?”

“Who knows.”

Now that he heard it, that was true.

Chungju and Seoul were both ‘cities,’ but their populations differed by dozens of times.

Actually, Chungju City’s population was about 200,000, while Seoul City’s population was 9.4 million. A whopping 47-fold difference.

So logically thinking, the number of First Swords should be higher too.

For instance, each district having its own First Sword.

Even then, Seoul would inevitably have fewer First Swords relative to its population.

Seoul consists of 25 districts.

“There really might be a Gangnam First Sword.”

When Young-woo said this, Jong-su spoke in an excited voice.

“Right? Aren’t you curious, hyung-nim? What kind of person would hold a position like Gangnam First Sword.”

“…”

Unlike Jong-su who seemed excited, Young-woo found it difficult to understand his emotions.

Was it because all of this still felt like a game or a dream?

From suddenly abandoning his comrades to join this side, to giving up the chance to become First Sword… Young-woo thought Jong-su didn’t seem to take life after the reset seriously.

“What are you planning to do with your life from now on, Jong-su?”

“From now on?”

Jong-su, receiving Young-woo’s question, made an expression as if he had never thought that far ahead.

Then he let out his characteristic playful laugh again.

“Moderately… I’d like to see the world without suffering too much.”

“See the world?”

“Yes. Isn’t it amazing how the world has become like this? I don’t think you expected to get stabbed by a judge just a few days ago.”

“Well, that’s true, but…”

This made it certain.

Jong-su was definitely treating life after the reset like some kind of bonus.

Otherwise…

“Hyung-nim, you’re thinking I’m strange right now, aren’t you? Like I’m a screw loose.”

Sure enough, Jong-su said something as if he had peered into Young-woo’s mind.

So Young-woo didn’t try to beat around the bush anymore.

“Yes. Normally people are busy struggling to survive somehow or being paralyzed with fear. This is the first time I’ve seen someone who wants to sightsee in the middle of all this. I don’t think there will be another.”

“Haha, that’s right. For most people, survival is the top priority.”

Jong-su’s laugh sounded somehow forced.

Young-woo had no choice but to ask back.

“Isn’t survival your top priority, Jong-su?”

Then surprisingly, Jong-su closed his mouth.

His face, with even the laughter gone, was quite intimidating just like the impression from their first meeting, completely mismatched with the words that flowed out next.

“Far from wanting to live, I wanted to die. Originally, I should have committed suicide today.”

“…?”

When Young-woo tilted his head wondering if he had heard wrong, Jong-su wrinkled his nose and delivered the confirmation.

“When I checked the Fate Record, today was the day I was supposed to die. If there hadn’t been a Reset, I would have really committed suicide according to my original plan.”

And what this meant was.

“Are you saying you were thinking of suicide even before the Reset?”

“Yes.”

“But why?”

Young-woo reflexively asked back.

He couldn’t understand it at all.

Wasn’t this a man with such outstanding physical abilities that he’d be considered a dangerous person in this world?

Of course, external appearance and inner circumstances were separate matters, but since he seemed so strong, it was hard for Young-woo to believe easily.

“The reason… I’ll tell you slowly later. It’s not exactly something to brag about.”

Seeing the shadow that fell across Jong-su’s face, who always smiled cheerfully, it seemed true that he had wished for suicide.

After all, he said it was written in the Fate Record, so if there hadn’t been a Reset, he really would have died.

“So now you’re living since you didn’t die, is that it?”

“Well, something like that… but I’m quite curious. They say the chaebols will return transformed into dragons – how could I leave without seeing that?”

Jong-su, who had regained his spirit, laughed heartily.

Young-woo also couldn’t help but laugh at the absurdity.

* * *

The strange conversation with the former suicide candidate and the hollow laughter lasted only briefly.

Young-woo soon had to continue searching through Shin Young-ju’s corpse.

For some reason, a second piece of Mutant Equipment hadn’t come from her body.

‘Don’t tell me it wasn’t the First Sword who killed the Day 1 Mutant?’

Though it was unlikely, given the circumstances, that was the only way he could think of it.

Even the Snake of Greed was no longer looking at the corpse.

‘Really nothing there. Strange.’

As Young-woo searched through Shin Young-ju’s pockets again with a serious expression, Jong-su asked.

“What’s wrong? What’s missing?”

“Equipment. There should be equipment that drops when you kill a Mutant, but one piece is missing. One of the previous First Swords should have had it…”

“Really? Then maybe the predecessor didn’t have it in the first place?”

“Yes. That seems to be the case from the circumstances.”

Young-woo decided to stop looking for equipment at this point and stood up.

Perhaps the missing Mutant Equipment had been consumables like potions.

“…”

Though it felt suspicious for some reason, there wasn’t much time to spare.

“Trading is still possible, right?”

When Young-woo asked Kubu, who was watching them from mid-air, the creature blinked its eyes.

―Yes. It’s possible. The commission fee remains unchanged, but since there’s already a trading history, you cannot change the trading partner.

As expected.

The option to choose a trading partner that Kubu provided was only available when Young-woo was the first customer.

“Can’t be helped. Please proceed.”

When Young-woo nodded, Kubu blinked once more and recited the formal lines.

―The brokerage fee for this transaction is 10% and is included in the product price. The trading partner is a weapons Merchant from Cheok.

‘A weapons Merchant from Cheok…’

Learning the other party’s origin, Young-woo unconsciously looked at the giant wheel trapped in the light pillar.

Whether Cheok was a planet or another dimension, he didn’t know, but anyway, didn’t that mean such wheels were crawling around in that place?

―The product list has been completed.

Soon Kubu rolled its eyeball to announce the products were ready, and then blue blotches appeared before Young-woo’s eyes and began taking the form of human letters.

Swish.

1 ― 「Executor」 – Ancient Two-handed Axe

【Destroys ordinary weapons.】

【Power greatly reduced when used with one hand.】

◇ 70,000 Karma

2 ― 「Miol’s Crystal」 – Hero Shield

【–Empty Slot–】

【Doubles the effect of equipped gems.】

◇ 116,000 Karma

3 ― 「Vanguard」 – Artifact Helmet

【This helmet cannot be damaged.】

◇ 310,000 Karma

4 ― 「Mirage」 – Unique Shoes

【30% chance of Detection Evasion.】

◇ 630,000 Karma

As expected, slot 5 was empty.

Shin Young-ju, who had visited here earlier, had given a Legendary Achievement and bought the compass.

However, since that item had ultimately come to him, Young-woo had essentially saved one Legendary Achievement.

‘The rest are incredible too. Shin Young-ju wasn’t deliberately leaving products behind – she just didn’t have the cash to buy them.’

In comparison, Young-woo currently possessed 871,000 Karma in cash.

‘The axe is meaningless now… and the shield is ambiguous. It’s not that I can’t use it, but right now it would be better to use another sword instead.’

Therefore, what immediately caught his interest were only the artifact helmet ‘Vanguard’ and the unique shoes ‘Mirage’.

Especially in Mirage’s case, the tooltip was as extraordinary as its high grade.

‘30% chance of Detection Evasion… what exactly does that effect do?’

Insight.

The dictionary meaning was to perceive the other party’s true intentions.

‘Could it be.’

Young-woo blinked widely and drew in a breath.

Among what he’d experienced in the Post-Reset World, the only thing close to insight was the Hologram Guide provided by ‘Swordsmanship’.

‘If it’s 30% chance of Detection Evasion… does that mean 30% of my movements won’t be caught by the hologram?’

If that was really the case, it would be an essential item for Young-woo, who had to fight while at a disadvantage in ability stats.

‘Mirage costs 630,000. I can definitely afford it, but I’d have to give up the helmet instead.’

After buying Mirage, the remaining money would be 241,000.

To buy Vanguard, which cost 310,000 Karma, he was short by 69,000 Karma.

It wasn’t exactly a small amount, but it wasn’t very large either.

‘It’s money I could gather by killing just a few monsters, but not having it at this moment…’

Swish.

Looking around to see if there might be any remaining Monster Marks out of regret, Young-woo suddenly realized something.

“Ah.”

Then he turned his head toward his lifesaver who was watching this transaction from a distance.

“Jong-su.”

“Yes.”

“How much money do you have?”

“…?”

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 the 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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