Level 4 Human in a Ruined World - Chapter 60

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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 60 17. Troublemaker First Sword (1)

Advertiser.

A mysterious being that Young-woo had summoned with a certificate purchased from an alien merchant.

Of course, Young-woo hadn’t called the Advertiser of his own volition.

While he had purchased the certificate as the Snake of Greed advised, the fact that this would summon something from another world wasn’t mentioned anywhere.

「Morning Star」 – Ancient Certificate

【Activates during Gate Opening state.】

This certificate had even activated automatically regardless of Young-woo’s will, and all Young-woo could learn from this was that this world was currently in a ‘Gate Opening’ state.

So naturally.

‘What? They’re the ones coming uninvited, but they want me to prepare a return gift?’

Young-woo couldn’t help but feel wronged.

He was also a little scared.

「The Advertiser will visit in 1 hour.」

「Please prepare a return gift for the distinguished guest.」

Judging by how the system was telling him to prepare a return gift, this Advertiser was clearly something with a different status from the alien trading companies he could meet through ‘Basic Welfare’.

And most importantly.

‘This isn’t part of the regular reset procedure. I don’t know if it’s bad luck or good luck, but either way, this is close to an accident.’

This event of the Advertiser’s visit wouldn’t have happened if Young-woo hadn’t purchased the ancient certificate.

Therefore, unlike when he was meeting with alien merchants, the system might not provide protection and mediation for this encounter.

‘Damn it.’

Given the situation, the message to prepare a return gift felt more like a warning than guidance.

“…Jong-su.”

When Young-woo called his partner in a somewhat subdued voice, Jong-su glanced back while gripping the steering wheel.

“Yes, hyung-nim.”

“Someone’s going to visit in about an hour, and there’s a bit of a problem.”

“…What?”

Jong-su suddenly pressed the accelerator hard, making the car jolt.

“All of a sudden?”

“Actually, it’s not really sudden…”

Young-woo scratched his chin apologetically for only revealing this now and began explaining about the Advertiser.

From how the stone tablet that had crumbled in Young-woo’s hands when Jong-su first joined was actually the certificate that summoned the Advertiser, to the fact that this being was crossing the vast universe to come here.

“Hyung-nim! Why are you only telling me this now!”

As expected, Jong-su furrowed his brow and raised his voice.

But what he said next was completely different from Young-woo’s expectations.

“So you’re saying an alien is coming to make an advertising contract with you right now? This is getting more and more interesting.”

Jong-su’s eyes sparkled.

He was excited.

Probably in a good way.

After all, while there was no telling when the dragon he so desperately wanted to see would come, the alien Advertiser was arriving within the hour.

‘Has he really lost it?’

Young-woo stared at Jong-su’s shoulders bouncing with excitement before continuing.

“But I need to prepare a return gift.”

“A return gift…? Like ‘Welcome to Earth,’ that kind of thing?”

“Something like that, probably. Anyway, if they really are an advertiser, we’ll be in the position of having to make a sales pitch.”

Even as Young-woo said this, he couldn’t grasp the reality of what he was talking about.

Meeting an alien to make an advertising contract in the middle of this chaotic world…?

‘I just can’t adapt to this world.’

However, if it was an advertising contract, there would surely be compensation for it.

After all, this whole thing started because of the Snake of Greed that ‘desires precious things,’ so whatever it was, precious compensation would be given.

“A return gift… What would an alien coming to offer advertising want to receive?”

Jong-su seriously voiced this insane question.

“Something like a souvenir, a local specialty that only comes from Earth, shouldn’t we give something like that?”

“A local specialty?”

“Yes. Whatever it is, something that can’t be obtained where the Advertiser comes from. We also buy souvenirs when we travel abroad.”

“That’s true.”

Young-woo nodded and agreed with Jong-su’s opinion. He thought it made quite a bit of sense.

From their perspective, they might be coming on a business trip abroad.

‘A souvenir that can only be obtained on Earth…’

When Young-woo looked outside the window, the interior of the car was reflected over the dark scenery outside.

This was because the inside of the car was brighter than the darkened exterior where the sun had disappeared.

And it was only now that Young-woo realized the vehicle he was riding in was quite expensive.

Swish.

When he turned his head to look at the driver’s seat where Jong-su sat, the Audi logo embedded in the center of the steering wheel gleamed, showing off its presence.

“…”

Young-woo spoke as if possessed.

“How about the Audi?”

“Huh?”

“As a souvenir. How about giving this Audi?”

“Ah.”

After hearing Young-woo’s words, Jong-su looked bewildered for a moment, then nodded.

“That’s surprisingly not bad? It would probably look like an interesting object to an alien. This is also a kind of craft, isn’t it?”

“Right? And we’ve been riding it ourselves. From one perspective, it might be a used item, but…”

From another perspective, couldn’t it be a Gyeongbuk First Sword edition?

Young-woo’s thinking this way was largely influenced by his meeting with Mediator Kubu.

―It is an honor to meet Jung Young-woo07, the human of Earth and strongest of Gyeongbuk.

That being had defined him as ‘the strongest of Gyeongbuk’ before Young-woo even introduced himself.

In other words, it already knew what position Young-woo held in this world.

Which meant.

‘The Advertiser probably knows full well who they’re making a contract with.’

So if the other party valued the position of Gyeongbuk First Sword highly, there was a good chance they would also value highly an item that the First Sword had personally used.

“But if we give this away as a gift, we’ll need to get a new car.”

Jong-su stroked the Audi logo with a regretful expression.

However, Young-woo had no particular interest in foreign cars.

“Yes. Next time let’s get a car with better fuel efficiency.”

* * *

That the problematic Advertiser was by no means an easy opponent became clear as they entered the vicinity of Icheon.

Grooooo…!

Suddenly, something like a roaring sound was heard, and the entire sky over Icheon City began to undulate.

Because it was dark, it almost looked like an ocean was covering overhead.

“Wh-what is this?”

Finally feeling afraid, Jong-su looked up at the sky with anxious eyes.

However, he had to look away before long.

It was because he felt an unbearable eeriness.

It was like swimming in the ocean and seeing a massive silhouette pass beneath his feet.

Graaaah…!

This time, a slightly different sound from before scraped across the inside of the sky.

It probably meant the Advertiser was getting closer and closer.

And around this time, the regional status window changed.

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

|This region’s First Sword is ‘Kim Byeong-cheol139’. 2nd generation, 6 defenses.

Kim Byeong-cheol139.

There was a First Sword in Icheon.

“…!”

As soon as the status window changed, both Young-woo and Jong-su’s eyes widened.

“Oh, hyung-nim.”

“Yes. I saw it.”

Young-woo made eye contact with Jong-su through the rearview mirror, then shifted his gaze outside the window.

Although the region had changed to Icheon, the scenery still continued with low hills and rice fields.

“If we pass through Icheon this time, where’s next?”

At Young-woo’s question, Jong-su fixed his gaze in the air and answered.

“Uh… Yongin. And after that is Seongnam.”

Since Seongnam was right below Gangnam, it could practically be said they had Seoul right in front of them.

However, since entering Gyeonggi-do, the number of abandoned vehicles on the road had greatly increased, and because of this acrobatic driving, the actual driving distance had extended much longer than the real distance.

Screech!

Even now, Jong-su was breaking out in a cold sweat trying to avoid the cars placed in zigzag patterns.

“Can we reach Yongin by 8 o’clock?”

At Young-woo’s worried question, Jong-su tilted his head.

“Well. If the road continues like this, it seems like we might be late…”

Current time: 7:26 PM.

In about 30 minutes, the Advertiser would arrive.

And one more hour after the Advertiser’s arrival, the Great Loss would begin.

‘This makes things ambiguous. Even if we don’t go inside the city, we need to position ourselves in the outskirts to find a room in time.’

It was time to choose.

Should they continue to Yongin like this, or meet with the Advertiser near Icheon and handle the Great Loss issue safely?

‘Still, it would be better to meet the Advertiser in a place with few people, so going as close to Yongin as possible would be…’

Just as Young-woo’s mind was leaning toward going to Yongin.

Kwagwang!

An ear-splitting roar echoed from the sky, and a dark red light pillar shot down.

Shaaaak!

Right into the center of Icheon City, no less.

“Gasp!”

Startled, Jong-su slammed on the emergency brake and stopped the car, and Young-woo also looked at the menacingly powerful light pillar with a troubled expression.

Gooooo…

Anyone could see that was the Advertiser’s scheduled arrival point.

“That’s the Advertiser guy, right? It seems like he decided the location himself.”

“He’ll arrive soon now.”

Young-woo took a deep breath and immediately made his decision.

“There’s no choice. Let’s enter Icheon.”

“…Understood.”

Although there was the problem of how to deal with the Icheon First Sword, Jong-su didn’t bother to object.

* * *

Not long after entering Icheon along Jungbu Highway, Young-woo and Jong-su saw cars rushing out while honking their horns frantically.

Beep, beeeep…!

These were all cars coming out of Icheon, in other words, evacuation vehicles.

They were leaving the city, startled by the unexpected light pillar.

“We’re unintentionally causing tremendous trouble.”

As Jong-su said, the fact that Young-woo happened to pass near Icheon at this time was itself a great disaster for the citizens.

Moreover, wouldn’t the Great Loss begin soon?

Leaving the city when they needed to find rooms was tantamount to risking their lives.

Beeeep!

Another vehicle rushed from the opposite direction, honking its horn.

And at that moment, Young-woo saw that the opposing driver’s face was rigidly hardened.

But it probably wasn’t just because he had family in the back seat.

The sky rippling like a night sea alone was enough to make one feel afraid.

Rumble!

Thunder roared loudly from somewhere above the light pillar.

Then this time, people on bicycles appeared in a line.

They were leaving the city in order of wealth.

‘Bicycles are the last line. Running on foot wouldn’t get them to the next city in time.’

Young-woo looked back at the bicycle procession that had already gone far away.

Only about three groups had left by car. Those on bicycles numbered less than twenty.

It meant that many were struggling with the hardships of life.

“Hyung-nim, we’re almost at Icheon City Center now.”

As Jong-su said this, a clockwork sound came from inside Young-woo’s pocket.

Tick-tick.

It was the sound made by the Epic compass ‘Scared Cat’.

‘No way.’

When Young-woo took the compass out of his pocket, he could see the crouched calico cat had opened its eyes.

It meant there was a threatening target somewhere nearby.

And that direction was, as expected.

Kwaaaah…!

The dark red light pillar pouring down on Icheon City Central District.

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 City, 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. according to a contract with the copyright holder, and the content cannot be used in any form or 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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