Level 4 Human in a Ruined World - Chapter 59
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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 59 16. Land of Chaos, Gyeonggi-do (2)
“Should we help those people?”
Jong-su asked while watching the cow running straight toward them.
His right hand was already reaching for the Early Bird at his waist.
If Young-woo gave permission, he would get out of the car and strike the cow’s head.
That one beast alone could fill the stomachs of all those people running in a group over there.
“…”
Young-woo looked at the cow with pitiful eyes, hesitated for a moment, then nodded.
“Let’s do that. We can also ask about the situation around here.”
“Yes.”
As soon as Young-woo gave permission, Jong-su opened the driver’s door and got out.
Click.
Then the people chasing the cow hesitated and slowed down.
A ‘moving car’ was already rare to see, but now a giant had emerged from it carrying an Early Bird, which frightened them.
-Moo…!
The fleeing cow also seemed to sense something ominous from Jong-su and turned its head toward the edge of the road.
Snort!
Rough movements showing its will to ram with its forehead if further obstructed.
However, Jong-su was no ordinary person and didn’t back down.
No, rather.
“Wait for it!”
He ran diagonally toward the cow, gripped the Early Bird with both hands, and struck down powerfully.
Swoosh!
As soon as the eerie sound rang out, the cow that had been charging like a tank crashed to the ground.
Thud!
It was then that the beast’s large head bounced up into the air.
That single strike had severed its head.
“…!”
From this scene, the people who had been chasing the cow realized that Jong-su was no ordinary skilled person.
To perform Single Strike Severance on a cow in Full Speed Sprint would require tremendous strength and endurance.
Of course, Young-woo knew this fact well, and so he was actually worried about Jong-su.
‘An attack of that level can’t be handled with ordinary stats. Wasn’t that too much of a strain?’
This was a thought Young-woo could have because he had grown by steadily building up his ability stats.
“Ugh.”
Sure enough, Jong-su’s face contorted as if there was considerable strain on his arm. But it didn’t seem like his elbow was broken or anything.
“Are you okay, Jong-su?”
When Young-woo stuck his head out the car window and asked, Jong-su repeatedly clenched and unclenched his hand while smiling.
“Yes. That guy was stronger than I thought.”
Jong-su looked down at the cow lying in a miserable state on the ground.
Then he waved his hand toward the people standing far away, unable to come or go.
“What are you doing over there? Come here.”
The people looked at each other, then began approaching Jong-su and the cow one by one.
Eleven people total.
Not only were there many of them, but each was carrying weapons like swords and axes, yet they didn’t feel threatening at all.
This was because their eyes didn’t emanate the unique aura of the strong.
The aura emitted by those who had experienced ‘success’ in this world.
The momentum born from expectation and hope that they could accomplish something again if given the opportunity.
Simply put, it could be called confidence.
However, the eleven who had chased the cow were nothing like that.
Their faces were now filled only with defeat and worry.
And rightfully so, since they had lost their desperately pursued prey to a predator that appeared out of nowhere.
As always, they had failed again this time.
“Wh… what’s going on?”
Eventually, one of the eleven mustered courage and spoke up.
These words came out because they couldn’t even imagine that the other party had killed the cow for their sake.
From experience, those with Early Birds didn’t treat fellow humans as equals unless they were on the same level.
“…”
Jong-su frowned at the blood splattered on his clothes, then pointed with his blade tip at the cow’s head that had rolled far away.
Swish.
“You were trying to eat it, weren’t you? That Korean beef. That’s why I helped.”
“Ah.”
At Jong-su’s words, all eleven people opened their mouths wide almost simultaneously.
And around this time, Young-woo, who had been sitting in the car, opened the back seat door and stepped onto the road.
Click.
The unique-grade shoes Mirage made a very distinctive sound as they touched the asphalt.
Thanks to this, the eleven people’s gazes, which had been focused on Jong-su, all shifted to Young-woo at once.
And.
“Oh?”
“Huh.”
As if they had made a promise, all eleven people dropped the weapons they were holding and prostrated themselves flat on the ground.
“What’s this all of a sudden?”
Jong-su made a bewildered face as he sheathed the Early Bird, and Young-woo also questioned this unexpected ‘welcome.’
“What are you doing right now?”
When Young-woo asked this, the person prostrated at the very front among the eleven slightly raised his head.
“Aren’t you people from Seoul…? We were told to do this if we ever met them.”
“By whom?”
At Young-woo’s counter-question, the other person raised his head a bit more and recited a very strange line.
“By people who… have met Seoul People.”
“…?”
People who have met Seoul People.
As Young-woo was mulling over this bizarre sentence, Jong-su asked a question instead.
“What exactly are Seoul People?”
“Well, that’s…”
Finally, the eleven raised not just their heads but their upper bodies diagonally.
They had belatedly realized that the two men before them were not ‘Seoul People.’
Come to think of it, the direction these people had come from by car wasn’t Seoul but the Gyeonggi Outskirts.
“Ah, you’re not from Seoul…?”
“…”
At the eleven people’s dumbfounded response, Young-woo and Jong-su could only make blank expressions.
What kind of people had come and gone from Seoul that even those who had never met them directly were trembling in fear?
“We are heading that way though.”
Young-woo said this while taking out the ‘Scared Cat.’
According to this compass, there were still no threatening presences nearby.
“But why Seoul? Do people from there come down and go around slashing with swords?”
When Young-woo asked while putting the compass back in his pocket, the eleven just stared at Young-woo without saying anything.
As if the ‘Seoul People’ really did come down and slash with swords.
“…Really? It’s not even First Swords fighting each other, but killing just anyone they see on the road?”
When Young-woo showed disbelief, the person who seemed to represent the eleven very carefully opened his mouth.
“There’s nothing good about being an eyesore. I know that everyone who interfered with monster hunting has been killed.”
“Ah.”
Upon hearing the words ‘monster hunting,’ Young-woo immediately understood this strange situation.
“So Seoul is even targeting monsters in Gyeonggi Province. That’s why they kill anyone who might pose a threat.”
Perhaps the reason there was no First Sword in Yeoju was along the same lines.
|You are currently staying in ‘Yeoju’.
|There is no First Sword in this area.
‘It’s a territorial dispute. The world has already become like this…’
Well, it made sense since it was directly connected to everyone’s survival.
Becoming stronger also meant increasing the probability of surviving whatever they might encounter in the future.
‘How exactly is Seoul operating?’
Young-woo glanced northwest, toward where Seoul was located, then gestured for the 11 Gyeonggi Province residents to stand up.
“Anyway, we’re not Seoul people, so you don’t need to do that. We were just curious about what this whole situation was about.”
Young-woo’s “what this whole” included the mammalian bovine beast sprawled on the ground, bleeding.
“Please… enjoy your meal.”
For some reason feeling uncomfortable in his stomach and heart, Young-woo backed into the Audi.
Soon after, Jong-su got into the driver’s seat and checked his complexion through the rearview mirror.
“Hyung-nim, shall we depart like this? You don’t have anything more to ask them?”
Young-woo looked bitterly at the people who were hesitantly watching them while subtly gathering near the ‘Korean beef.’
Were they really going to cut and eat raw meat like that?
“They’ve never even seen Seoul people directly. Even if we asked more questions, we wouldn’t get proper answers.”
“Yes. That’s true.”
“We’d better go up quickly ourselves. Then we’ll be able to meet something. Whether it’s Seoul people or whatever.”
Current time: 6:54 PM.
Outside the car window, it was already getting dark.
Therefore, those people who were lucky enough to secure a meal today would also need to hurry.
They’d need to find shelter before the sun completely set and the abnormal weather arrived.
Of course, the same applied to Young-woo and Jong-su.
* * *
Vrooom…!
The two continued driving northwest.
And they saw people chasing cattle like before three more times.
It seemed cattle had been released from some ranch nearby.
Anyway, the sight of people wielding swords and chasing beasts was bizarre no matter how many times they saw it.
“That kind of thing will only last briefly, right? People who can’t pay taxes today will all die anyway.”
Jong-su hadn’t suggested helping the cattle-chasing people for a while now.
It was because he realized that people doing such things at this point would all die within days anyway.
10 PM, tax collection.
11 PM, abnormal weather occurrence.
Even if they were lucky enough to survive without being noticed by monsters and mutants, they still had to overcome at least two more survival hurdles.
Every day, at that.
But could those who lacked both the money to secure food immediately and the ability to run faster than cattle accomplish that?
Moreover, Seoul now prevented Gyeonggi Province people from even touching monsters in their own region, making even life-threatening bets impossible.
‘It’s become a world where people who fall once can hardly get back up again.’
Young-woo looked at the sky that had grown even darker in the meantime.
If this wasn’t hell, what would be?
At this rate, only superhumans would remain on Earth, along with the mutants that fell daily…
‘Wait.’
Young-woo, who had been lost in various thoughts while looking outside the window, blinked as something suddenly occurred to him.
‘Come to think of it, what about other countries?’
Reset.
According to the announcement he saw on the first day, the ‘reset’ was a special measure applied to all humanity.
「This means that more than half of humanity harbors hostility toward the world, and accordingly, the reset function has been forcibly activated.」
In other words, this meant not only Korea but also Japan, China… places like America and Africa would be experiencing this situation too, right?
‘My God.’
Just as he was about to furrow his brow at the horrific scenes that came to mind, black text wrapped in fog appeared in his vision.
「An advertiser will visit in 1 hour.」
「Prepare a return gift for the distinguished guest.」
4th-Class 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 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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