Level 4 Human in a Ruined World - Chapter 72

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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 72 21. Karma (1)

 

“….”

 

As Young-woo picked up the fountain pen and stared at it intently, Jong-su and dozens of Women’s Alliance members gathered around him.

 

The world had changed a lot in just a few days.

 

Now it was nothing unusual for strangely shaped spears to appear as war spoils, but discovering writing instruments was something worth being surprised about.

 

“Hyung-nim, is that also equipment…?”

 

When Jong-su asked this, Young-woo’s head slowly moved up and down.

 

“Yes. It seems so.”

 

Right now, Young-woo’s vision showed a tooltip in the same format as any other equipment.

 

However, if there was something unusual, it was that this fountain pen wasn’t a weapon.

 

「Wanted Poster」 – Epic Item

 

【Finds what you desire.】

 

|Father

 

‘Finds what you desire? Is it a similar effect to my compass?’

 

Young-woo was about to look at the blue-green snake wrapped around his wrist, then shifted his gaze forward again.

 

‘Wait, what’s this? Father…?’

 

|Father

 

To Young-woo, it was an abstract word.

 

But that word was attached to the tooltip of the fountain pen that finds what you desire.

 

“….”

 

Young-woo, who had been lost in thought for a moment, soon felt a tingling sensation in his ears.

 

Based on the circumstances, this was a trace left by Gyeongbuk First Sword (True), the fountain pen’s previous owner.

 

That bastard had been traveling north from somewhere in Gyeongbuk, searching for his father.

 

While harming countless people with thorns.

 

‘Insane.’

 

Of course, in this world, killing was often unavoidable for survival.

 

But the owner of the fountain pen that Young-woo had directly faced was someone who possessed malice beyond mere survival instinct.

 

So he didn’t feel sorry for that bastard. Rather, he only pitied the dead man’s parents.

 

‘Anyway, seeing that father is registered in this equipment, at least one of his parents must have been alive somewhere.’

 

Young-woo picked up the fountain pen with the dry sentiment typical of an orphan.

 

Click.

 

Then suddenly, an arrow pointing northwest appeared in his vision.

 

“Huh…?”

 

This was probably the direction where the target registered in this equipment—that is, the father of the dead Gyeongbuk First Sword (True)—was located.

 

Then.

 

Bzzt.

 

Suddenly the arrow distorted and a system message appeared.

 

「Data change detected. Would you like to update the results?」

 

“…!”

 

Thump.

 

Feeling an ache inside his chest, Young-woo barely managed to exhale.

 

The meaning of this message that had just appeared was essentially asking if he wanted to search for his father this time.

 

‘What happens if my… father doesn’t exist? Will the results not be updated and just be erased?’

 

For Young-woo, who had no positive experiences regarding parents, there was no way to stop negative thoughts from coming first.

 

But even so, it wasn’t like he would lose anything, was it?

 

‘At worst, I’d just lose the arrow I’m seeing now.’

 

Since he had no intention of wandering around looking for someone else’s father, there was only one conclusion.

 

‘A-alright. Update results.’

 

When Young-woo allowed the update, the fountain pen in his hand, the ‘Wanted Poster’, glowed brightly.

 

Flaaash!

 

Then the distorted arrow in Young-woo’s vision regained its original form.

 

Swoosh.

 

This time pointing due north.

 

“Huh?”

 

When Young-woo exclaimed in surprise at the unexpected result, everyone in the assembly who had been watching him without understanding stepped back in unison.

 

“What’s wrong, hyung-nim?”

 

In this situation, the only one who stepped forward was Jong-su.

 

Young-woo looked at him and said quietly.

 

“He seems to be alive somewhere, my father.”

 

Then he added.

 

“Mother is dead.”

 

* * *

 

Mother was dead.

 

The basis for Young-woo reaching this conclusion was an Achievement.

 

Among the Achievements he possessed, there was one related to his parents’ life and death.

 

[Complete Orphan]

 

|Find and eliminate your parents. (1/2)

 

An insane Achievement telling him to find and eliminate his remaining parent.

 

When he first saw this, what Young-woo could understand was that only one of his parents was still alive.

 

And now, several days later, he had confirmed that the surviving ‘one’ was his father.

 

‘Father.’

 

Young-woo silently recited the three-syllable word.

 

An existence he had only known as a concept.

 

But when he thought that his father really existed and that he might actually meet him, indescribable emotions surged through him.

 

Expectation? Fear? Regret…? It might be all three.

 

‘Then mother… when did she die? Was she already not of this world even before the reset?’

 

Young-woo recalled his original Fate Record that he had seen on the first day of the reset.

 

[Father] : Grade 6 Extra

 

[Mother] : Grade 1 Supporting Role

 

According to the Fate Record, his father’s setting grade was 6, while his mother was a whopping Grade 1.

 

But contrary to their grades, the one who was actually alive was his father.

 

What on earth had happened?

 

And why.

 

‘Why did they abandon me.’

 

When Young-woo raised his head with an empty expression, he saw Jong-su looking worried.

 

“Are you… alright now?”

 

“Ah.”

 

Coming to his senses at Jong-su’s words and looking around, Young-woo could feel that the situation was being sorted out.

 

The Women’s Alliance members who had been surrounding them just moments ago had already returned to the motel across the way to collect the corpses.

 

Of course, Gyeongbuk First Sword (True), the culprit behind all this, was left abandoned with his head severed.

 

“They’re impressive, those people.”

 

As Young-woo gazed at the people moving busily, Jong-su shrugged his shoulders.

 

“People dying isn’t anything special in today’s world. And more than anything.”

 

Jong-su paused briefly before continuing.

 

“They don’t have the power to make other choices. So focusing on damage recovery is the best option, isn’t it.”

 

“…?”

 

Young-woo tilted his head in confusion before understanding.

 

What Jong-su meant was the power to actively step forward to settle disputes.

 

Strictly speaking, the casualties on the Women’s Alliance side were practically caused by Young-woo.

 

If he hadn’t stayed at this motel, wouldn’t Gyeongbuk First Sword (True) have had no reason to come here?

 

However, as seen in this fight, the First Sword’s martial prowess transcends imagination.

 

So the Women’s Alliance couldn’t even demand an apology despite losing countless comrades because of Young-woo.

 

If they soured relations with a First Sword, especially one as powerful as Gyeongbuk First Sword, they might lose even the surviving comrades.

 

“…Ha.”

 

Having organized his thoughts to this point, Young-woo smiled bitterly.

 

Having never been an object of fear to anyone in his life, he didn’t know how to behave in such situations.

 

Then Jong-su, who had been among the strong in the previous world, offered his own alternative.

 

“What’s done is done. How about taking care of the remaining officer and leaving this place?”

 

Swish.

 

At the place he pointed to with these words, police officer Kwon Tae-young was indeed sitting slumped.

 

The dark silhouette visible in front of him was probably the corpse of Icheon First Sword Kim Byeong-cheol.

 

At this, Young-woo got up from his spot and walked toward the motel.

 

Then the Women’s Alliance members who were collecting corpses began looking at Young-woo one by one.

 

“….”

 

The first emotion conveyed was fear. And barely perceptible anger followed behind it.

 

“Are you leaving now?”

 

Eventually, Seong Ye-rin, who spotted him, came out to meet him while blocking her comrades’ gazes with her body.

 

But this would also be a send-off.

 

“Living as a First Sword doesn’t seem easy either. Where are you planning to go?”

 

From how she started the conversation, it seemed she wanted him to leave quickly.

 

“I’m going to Seoul.”

 

“Seoul? You’re going to an even more dangerous place. You know I can’t even cheer you on, right?”

 

Seong Ye-rin spoke her true feelings disguised as a joke.

 

Young-woo also knew well that behind her was a motel turned into a sea of blood, so he bowed deeply.

 

“It might be meaningless at this point, but… I sincerely apologize.”

 

At this, Seong Ye-rin slightly raised her eyes and stepped back.

 

“Forget it. It’s not like the dead will come back because of that.”

 

This was something Young-woo agreed with too.

 

So he was thinking of one more thing.

 

That was.

 

Click.

 

The weapon most stained with the blood of Cheoin-gu Women’s Alliance members, ‘Ashen Thorn’.

 

「Ashen Thorn」 – Mutant Spear

 

【Thrusting power increases greatly.】

 

“This isn’t an apology. As you saw, I wouldn’t have won if I had fought alone. So this is your share.”

 

“Ah, this is….”

 

This time Seong Ye-rin’s reaction was somewhat different.

 

Unlike volatile verbal apologies, this was substantial compensation that would help with future survival.

 

Snatch.

 

Seong Ye-rin grabbed the thorn Young-woo offered with what seemed like urgency.

 

“I’m really grateful for this. Actually, from your position, you didn’t need to do this much.”

 

Meaning that with his martial prowess, he could have killed everyone here and more, yet he acted beyond necessity.

 

Of course, Young-woo hadn’t just accepted losses blindly either.

 

As mentioned earlier, it was true that the tide turned with the Women’s Alliance’s participation, and he had sufficient weapons.

 

He already had two mutant weapons, leaving no more room on his belt.

 

“I don’t particularly like being in debt. But this time I really am in debt.”

 

Young-woo bowed once more to Seong Ye-rin and her comrades.

 

Swish.

 

Then something unexpected happened.

 

Flash!

 

An Achievement was suddenly completed.

 

[Achievement Completed: Idealist]

 

|Achievement Grade: Epic

 

|Completion Rank: First

 

「Give equipment of Relic grade or higher to others for free within one week of reset.」

 

‘What….’

 

An Epic grade Achievement no less.

 

The Achievement was completed just as he handed the thorn to Seong Ye-rin.

 

‘So you have to do things you’d never do in this kind of world to unlock Achievements.’

 

This was quite a harvest since it wasn’t in the recommended Achievement list.

 

「You have 1 unclaimed Achievement reward.」

 

「Would you like to claim the reward?」

 

As the notification arrived, Young-woo immediately claimed the reward.

 

‘Claim.’

 

Flash!

 

As soon as Young-woo approved the claim, all the text in front of him disappeared and a clear sound came from the air.

 

Ting!

 

Then a ring was created and fell.

 

“Oh.”

 

Seeing this, Seong Ye-rin opened her mouth in surprise, and in that moment Young-woo quickly caught the ring.

 

Thud.

 

「Idealist」 – Epic Ring

 

【All ability stats increase by 100 per Achievement owned】

 

‘Ah…!’

 

Seeing the ring’s tooltip, Young-woo almost shouted involuntarily but barely managed to cover his mouth.

 

This was equipment perfectly optimized for him, who was at a disadvantage in ability stats.

 

Moreover, befitting his system-certified ‘troublemaker’ status, the Achievements Young-woo possessed were a whopping.

 

〔Your Achievement tendency is “Thug”.〕

 

||Completed Achievements: 5

 

‘Five… I earned 2,000 ability stats with just one ring.’

 

It’s unbelievable.

 

And indeed, an absurd series of ability stat increase notifications appeared in succession.

 

「Strength stats have increased from the previous 700 to 1,200.」

 

「Stamina stats have increased from the previous 350 to 850.」

 

「Durability stats have increased from the previous 550 to 1,050.」

 

「Sensory stats have increased from the previous 100 to 600.」

 

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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