Level 4 Human in a Ruined World - Chapter 73

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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 73 21. Karma (2)

 

As all his ability stats nearly doubled, the first thing that changed was the overall feeling throughout his body.

 

Should he say his confidence in his own body had increased?

 

Though it was a temporary phenomenon, he felt as if he had become invincible.

 

In reality, not only his strength but also his body’s durability had become stronger, so it was only natural.

 

‘My goodness.’

 

Young-woo repeatedly clenched and opened his fist while letting out an exclamation.

 

He could somewhat understand why the Gyeongbuk First Sword (True) he had just defeated had been so confident.

 

That guy’s ability stats when alive were nearly double what his own were now.

 

So how amazed must he have been by his own abilities?

 

Just two days ago, he too had been nothing more than an ordinary person, hadn’t he?

 

He must have felt the illusion of becoming like a god.

 

‘Wow… I feel like I could destroy buildings with my bare hands.’

 

Strength 1,200, Durability 1,050.

 

Since his initial ability stats had been Strength 19 and Durability 13, he might really be able to destroy buildings with his hands now.

 

And perhaps.

 

‘If my ability stats get even higher, couldn’t I even block bullets?’

 

Young-woo’s gaze naturally fell upon Officer Kwon Tae-young, who was sitting slumped over there.

 

Because although he had clearly heard the sound of a gun firing this morning, he hadn’t seen any traces of bullet wounds on the dead man.

 

* * *

 

“…Are you alright?”

 

As a thick voice accompanied a long shadow falling over him, Tae-young raised his head toward where the sound came from.

 

“Ah, Jong…”

 

Tae-young was so flustered that he couldn’t immediately recall the other person’s name.

 

So the other person crouched down, lowering his body as he stated his name.

 

“It’s Kim Jong-su. Actually, I’m not really that important a person anyway.”

 

“I’m, I’m sorry.”

 

“…Ah. I didn’t mean I was offended or anything.”

 

In fact, Jong-su was equally flustered, so he couldn’t find anything more to say and closed his mouth.

 

Jong-su had only lived for 29 years.

 

He was still too young to skillfully comfort someone’s grief.

 

The days he had lived in the previous world hadn’t been abundant either, so rather than understanding others’ emotions, he had been too busy looking after his own safety first.

 

“Hmm.”

 

As Jong-su made a troubled expression while scratching the back of his head, Tae-young spoke while keeping his gaze fixed on Byeong-cheol’s corpse.

 

“Actually, I… couldn’t shoot my gun right away. No, I should say I didn’t shoot.”

 

“…?”

 

Wondering what he meant, Jong-su tilted his head, and Tae-young fidgeted with the pistol in his hand.

 

“That bastard said he wouldn’t touch me if I didn’t shoot my gun.”

 

“…Ah.”

 

Jong-su, finally understanding Tae-young’s words, nodded his head.

 

“But you shot in the end, didn’t you? Officer, you’re not bad or weak. The situation itself was just absurd.”

 

To this, Tae-young muttered in a dejected voice.

 

“Yes. Maybe that could be the case, but…”

 

What followed was shockingly unbelievable.

 

“Even the shot I fired like that didn’t work.”

 

“What do you mean…?”

 

As Jong-su asked back with a complicated expression, another shadow fell over the two of them.

 

“Are you saying the opponent was hit by the bullet, but it didn’t penetrate his body?”

 

It was none other than Young-woo.

 

He had finished greeting the Women’s Alliance and had come to find Tae-young last.

 

“Yes. Probably… I think so.”

 

Tae-young looked up at Young-woo with a slightly frightened face.

 

In his eyes now, both that crazy bastard who had remained fine even after being shot and Young-woo looked like similar monsters.

 

Both were First Swords… no, strictly speaking, wasn’t Young-woo an even higher level monster?

 

“I guess when durability reaches around 2,000, you can block bullets too. Though it would be a different story with a larger caliber gun.”

 

Young-woo spoke of unrealistic things in a very casual tone.

 

But at least for him, it was a reality that had approached right before his eyes.

 

Right now, he himself was a superhuman with considerable ability stats, and those he would face in the future would truly be monsters that bullets couldn’t penetrate.

 

“Bullets not working… no matter what, does that even make sense?”

 

Jong-su still had an expression of disbelief.

 

Meanwhile, Young-woo looked at the Negwig waiting in an oval form near the motel entrance.

 

“At this point, there’s nothing that wouldn’t make sense, no matter what happens. Who knows, people might suddenly start flying from next week.”

 

He had been feeling some kind of vibration coming from the direction where the Negwig was.

 

So with a hopeful heart, he gestured toward it.

 

Swoosh!

 

The Negwig, which had been in ‘parking mode,’ quickly unfolded its body and took the form of an Iron Horse.

 

-Kwiiiiii!

 

Thanks to this, the people cleaning up near the motel were startled and stepped back, and the Negwig came running along the path that opened up this way.

 

“…”

 

Still the First Sword of causing trouble.

 

But it couldn’t be helped. In this kind of world, utilizing new technology ahead of others wasn’t a sin, was it?

 

-Kwik.

 

Eventually, the Negwig reached Young-woo’s vicinity and stopped walking.

 

Current time: 10:42 AM.

 

It was time to start heading back to Seoul.

 

‘Above this is Seongnam. And next is finally Seoul.’

 

Probably today, and even before the Mutants fell, he would be able to enter Seoul.

 

“Officer, are you still planning to go to Seoul?”

 

As Young-woo grabbed the Negwig’s reins and asked this, Tae-young pondered for a moment, then seemed to make up his mind and nodded.

 

“Yes. I have to go.”

 

Then.

 

Swish.

 

He pulled out the pistol that had been stuck in Byeong-cheol’s waist and the thin bracelet wrapped around his left wrist.

 

The deceased had one more relic besides the gun.

 

‘Ah, come to think of it.’

 

Young-woo belatedly realized as he looked at the bracelet Tae-young had taken from Byeong-cheol.

 

Byeong-cheol had also been a First Sword who had killed Mutants.

 

And when Mutants die, they leave behind one piece of Mutant Grade equipment.

 

There had been no exceptions so far, so it must be a basic rule.

 

“This… if it’s alright with you, may I take this?”

 

Tae-young didn’t dare put on the bracelet right away and asked Young-woo.

 

To this, Young-woo briefly examined the bracelet’s tooltip before answering.

 

「Cross Knot」 – Mutant Bracelet

 

【Ability Resistance 20%】

 

【–Empty Slot–】

 

Ability Resistance.

 

It was a concept he had first encountered in Kekidite, a gem for slots.

 

‘What exactly is ability resistance?’

 

Though he didn’t know for sure, it was probably something not included in basic resistances like fire, cold, or lightning.

 

That’s why Young-woo was even more interested in it.

 

There must be a reason why equipment with ability resistance appeared quite frequently.

 

For instance, perhaps someday he would have to fight against something far more alien than monsters.

 

“….”

 

What Young-woo naturally thought of were the Dogo Shareholders of the weapon brand.

 

Even those beings were not sufficient to simply describe as ‘monsters.’

 

But it wasn’t time yet.

 

Ability resistance wasn’t urgent enough to be greedy while abandoning human decency.

 

“…Yes. Of course you can take it. It’s a memento of your colleague.”

 

Young-woo gestured as if to say go ahead and turned his gaze away from the bracelet.

 

Then Tae-young bowed his head and put the bracelet on his wrist.

 

“Uh… then how will you travel, Officer? Is there a car left…?”

 

When Jong-su looked toward the motel parking lot and spoke, Tae-young took out car keys from his pocket and showed them.

 

“Yes. When I checked this morning, the car was still there.”

 

This meant that abnormal weather didn’t damage vehicles and other things that had already been paid for.

 

“That’s good information.”

 

Young-woo learned another thing about this world and climbed onto Negwig’s back.

 

* * *

 

From Yongin to Seongnam.

 

In just one day, the group had shrunk from four to three.

 

So this time Jong-su decided to ride in the patrol car with Tae-young.

 

The position on Negwig leading the way was dangerous in many ways, and from Jong-su’s perspective, riding an alien horse was also an uncomfortable matter.

 

“Ah, I prefer things made by humans after all. It’s familiar.”

 

When Jong-su patted the passenger seat window frame with his palm, Tae-young smiled faintly while gripping the steering wheel.

 

He could feel that the other person was trying to brighten the mood even a little.

 

“Jong-su, you’re really a good person.”

 

“Hey, that’s the basics of human life. Especially important in a world like this.”

 

Jong-su shrugs his nose.

 

Really, after the reset, people and humanity itself had become incredibly precious.

 

Before, even when conflicts arose between people, at most it was fistfights, and even then, public authority mediated before the worst situations came.

 

But now there are no police to respond even when crimes occur. No, it’s worse than that.

 

Reset day 3. Already, strong individuals who couldn’t even be stopped by bullets had begun to appear.

 

“I followed along to Seoul without much thought since there was nowhere to run anyway, but honestly, I’m afraid.”

 

Tae-young spoke quietly while keeping his gaze on Young-woo on Negwig beyond the steering wheel.

 

Jong-su felt like he knew what the other person was talking about, but deliberately asked back.

 

“Huh? What are you afraid of?”

 

“All of this. The fact that strong people like Young-woo are starting to appear, and that anyone can become strong if they have Karma.”

 

“Well, that’s probably the same for Young-woo hyung. Same for me too.”

 

Of course, the magnitude of that fear would be much greater for Tae-young, who was a police officer in the previous world and still wanted to live as a police officer now.

 

“If all those numerous First Swords are really that strong, there might be no rule of law in the future of not just this country, but humanity. At least the justice we knew can no longer exist.”

 

“….”

 

Jong-su had no way to respond to those words from Tae-young.

 

Because that was actually already happening.

 

However, not all First Swords were evil, were they?

 

There were cases like Young-woo who used their power with restraint despite having sufficient strength, and there were unrealistically righteous First Swords like Byeong-cheol.

 

In other words, while ‘law’ had practically disappeared, some of what it pursued remained.

 

“I’m not optimistic about the situation either… but shouldn’t we wait and see a bit more? I don’t think all people suddenly become evil just because they have power.”

 

“That’s right. But it seems they can become evil more easily.”

 

“…It’s hard to argue against that.”

 

While the two were exchanging conversation, the patrol car they were in finally left Yongin’s jurisdiction.

 

And that meant.

 

“Oh.”

 

“Ah, so this is Seongnam now.”

 

As soon as Jong-su finished speaking, the regional status was updated.

 

Beep!

 

But surprisingly, this region had a First Sword, and their profile was quite unusual.

 

|The region you are currently staying in is ‘Seongnam’.

 

|The First Sword of this region is ‘Lee Nam-hee101’. 31st generation, 1 defense.

 

“What.”

 

“31st generation?”

 

31st generation First Sword.

 

This meant that Seongnam had changed First Swords thirty times over the past two days.

 

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 │ Seoul Guro-gu Digital-ro 288, Room 204 (Guro-dong, Daeryung Post Tower 1)

 

Email │ [email protected]

 

Homepage │ 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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