Level 4 Human in a Ruined World - Chapter 78
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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 78 22. Let Them See Gwanak (2)
“Huh?”
“Gasp….”
As both Tae-young and Jong-su flinched at the fact that they had begun stepping on Seoul soil, Young-woo in front also slowed down Negwig’s speed and cast his gaze into the air.
For Young-woo too, the presence of Seoul’s First Sword was tremendous.
‘…Choi Nam-hee.’
Seocho First Sword, Choi Nam-hee11.
As expected, this First Sword also had an early identification number.
She was the 11th person among all the Choi Nam-hees nationwide to make contact with the Exchange Center.
|The First Sword of this area is ‘Choi Nam-hee11’. 4th generation, 3 defenses.
‘Was there some competition for positions on the first day? She’s already 4th generation.’
Even after ascending to the 4th generation First Sword, she had fought 3 defense battles.
That would mean there were many competitors.
‘Well, Seoul has the largest population after all.’
Then what kind of person would rise to become First Sword in such a place?
Since entering Seoul meant he would eventually face this opponent, Young-woo looked at the name Choi Nam-hee with eyes mixed half with anticipation and half with concern.
Of course, the problem given to Young-woo wasn’t just Seoul’s First Sword alone.
Swoosh.
As he entered Seoul, the color of the arrow floating in his vision became much deeper.
‘….’
This was the mark of the epic-grade fountain pen ‘Wanted Flyer’ he had obtained after defeating the nameless Gyeongbuk First Sword (True).
A mark that points toward what the owner desires to find.
And the target Young-woo was currently searching for through the Wanted Flyer was… his father.
Though it was a target set by the previous owner, thanks to this, Young-woo also learned that his father was still alive.
In fact, until now he had no awareness of the existence of parents, so if he hadn’t obtained the Wanted Flyer, he wouldn’t have even attempted to search for his parents.
But now he knew.
That his father had been existing all along.
Father, Grade 6 Extra.
The person who had relations with Mother, a Grade 1 Supporting Character, and created me….
Then why did he abandon me?
Young-woo recalled the question he used to ask himself as a child.
Because life was too impoverished?
Or… did he not want me from the beginning?
‘….’
Of course, he still couldn’t provide an answer.
Instead, now he could directly seek out the person who had that answer.
‘The arrow becoming deeper means the distance has gotten closer too.’
The Wanted Flyer was still pointing north.
Perhaps it meant that person called father was living somewhere in Seocho, or somewhere in Gangbuk.
‘I hope he’s not living nearby. Since I can’t go looking for him right now.’
In this situation where Gangnam First Sword would definitely be searching for him with fire in his eyes, rummaging through Seocho, the neighboring area, would be too dangerous.
‘Still, he’s managed to survive until now. Many must have died from the reset.’
Young-woo vaguely imagined his father’s appearance, who still only felt like ‘some man’ to him, then gripped Negwig’s reins.
The previously empty roadside was gradually being filled with buildings.
Soon, road signs appeared indicating that the front led toward Gwacheon and Yangjae.
Now it was truly Seoul.
Was it his imagination that the air seemed different somehow?
“Whew.”
Young-woo took a deep breath.
And even while doing so, the iron horse Negwig continued to push the ground backward.
Clank, clank clank!
Negwig’s steel hooves continuously made loud noises, but the surroundings remained silent.
‘With Seoul’s population being what it is… how can there be so few people? Even if it’s right before monster appearances….’
It was definitely different from other regions where bandits or merchants roamed around the city outskirts.
Young-woo tilted his head in puzzlement but let Negwig continue galloping northward for now.
Clank clank!
Had they run for about ten more minutes like that?
Finally, landmarks began to appear.
They were the Seocho Sports Complex and the rest stop ‘Seoul Meeting Plaza’ attached to the edge of Yangjae.
‘Not even an ant here either.’
Though some vehicles with smashed bumpers turned to stone were visible in the parking lot, judging by how clean the rest stop building was, they seemed to be traces of the commotion from the first day of reset.
It meant monsters hadn’t come this far to cause trouble.
In other words, at least all the monsters in southern Seoul had died in the downtown area.
‘Was Seoul’s response unusually fast?’
It was difficult for Young-woo to gauge what might have happened in Seoul.
Seoul wasn’t easy to compare with other cities, since this place was the capital of the Republic of Korea.
It was the city where this country’s major administrative departments and the Blue House were located.
Though the President’s head had flown off on the first day of reset… the government wouldn’t have collapsed from that one incident.
Wouldn’t the remaining officials have somehow tried to manage the situation?
‘Of course, it wasn’t an incident that could be managed just by trying.’
While Young-woo was lost in thought, his surroundings had become empty again.
He had already passed the rest stop and entered Yangjae Interchange.
Since Young-woo also needed to change roads here to enter Sadang, he cast his gaze forward looking for the highway exit that would soon appear.
Then.
Beep, beeeep…!
The moment Young-woo shifted his gaze, a horn sounded from ahead.
“…?”
What came into view was a patrol car parked conspicuously in the middle of the road.
Judging by how the petrification was released, that car had definitely sounded the horn just now.
“Oh.”
Young-woo glanced at Tae-young’s patrol car that had been following behind him, then turned his eyes back to the different patrol car ahead.
Now that he looked, there were not only the problematic patrol car but also several people behind it.
They were blocking the highway exit leading toward Gwacheon and Sadang.
‘What’s this. Is this some kind of toll gate too?’
He had seen similar scenes in Chungju, which had its own established system.
The difference was that this was Seoul, where 25 districts were packed closely together.
Swish.
Young-woo first signaled to those behind to slow down, while also slowly pulling on Negwig’s reins.
-Squeeeak!
As Negwig began to decelerate with a strange sound, the people on the Yangjae side seemed to sense something odd too.
Beep, beeeep….
The horn sound that had been blaring again suddenly became weaker.
They seemed to have noticed that the outsider approaching the interchange, namely Young-woo, looked unusual.
Click.
Eventually, the doors of the patrol car blocking the road opened one by one on both sides.
Then uniformed police officers stepped onto the ground from inside with very cautious movements.
Young-woo tensed, worried that the opponents might have guns in their hands.
Click.
But when the police finally revealed themselves, they had no guns, let alone many Early Bird swords.
“J-just wait a moment, please stop.”
One of the police officers extended both hands without even drawing his sword.
Young-woo also raised both hands slightly to show he had no intention of fighting.
“Yes. What’s the matter?”
Young-woo took the most friendly attitude possible.
For him, there was no reason not to respect these people who had even put on uniforms and were on police duty.
But what the police said next was quite strange.
“You’re coming from another region, aren’t you?”
“Yes. That’s right.”
“Then by any chance… are you a First Sword or do you plan to challenge a First Sword?”
“…?”
No matter how strangely the world had changed, to receive a question about challenging a First Sword from police officers who were actually on duty.
Young-woo stared at his opponent with a blank expression for a moment.
The opponent, as well as the plainclothes people blocking the highway exit in the distance, still hadn’t drawn their swords.
No, rather, most of them looked frightened.
‘They have no intention of subduing me by force. No, rather…’
Rather, they seemed to want Young-woo to pass through here quickly.
Even now, the police officer facing Young-woo was wiggling his fingers, showing his nervousness.
“Does something change depending on my answer? Actually, I don’t really understand why you’re blocking traffic either.”
When Young-woo looked back and forth between the police officer in front of him and the road exit beyond, the tense officer waved his hands dismissively.
“Ah…! No! We’re not restricting traffic, we’re here to provide guidance to those visiting Seoul.”
“Guidance…?”
While Young-woo tilted his head, Tae-young’s patrol car arrived behind him.
The officer who had been waving his hands showed a slightly surprised expression but soon continued his explanation.
“Currently, Seoul has made a public-private agreement to minimize casualties.”
“Public-private… are you saying there’s something like a government here now?”
Public-private.
A term encompassing both private and public sectors.
In other words, the meaning of a public-private agreement was…
“Yes. That’s right. The Republic of Korea government is still intact.”
* * *
The Republic of Korea government is still intact.
The officer spoke quite confidently, but Young-woo found it hard to accept easily.
Wasn’t it just a few hours ago that he encountered some thugs who came down from Seoul?
If the government was really intact and public authority had been functioning, there would have been no reason for Gyeonggi Province residents to tremble at ‘Seoul People.’
Moreover.
‘How can the government still be intact? Power no longer lies with the nation.’
This wasn’t simply about judicial authority.
The reason citizens followed the ‘rules’ set by the state was essentially for survival.
To maintain their workplace and current life.
But hadn’t the reset completely changed the way of survival?
Survive against monsters and mutants.
And secure thousands of karma daily to solve tax and residential building problems.
So could the government help with these problems?
Obviously not.
In this world where even bullets had turned to stone, with what power could the government control monsters, mutants, and citizens running wild with swords?
“What exactly do you mean by public-private agreement? There can’t be anything like an army now. Just looking at all of you…”
There was no need to add the rest – that they had no deterrent power.
Before Young-woo could finish speaking, his opponent smiled bitterly and nodded.
“Yes. I understand what you mean. It’s also true.”
But the real story came next.
“However… the actual subject of the public-private consultation I mentioned earlier is not the ‘public’ but the ‘private.’ The strongest citizens in this country, the First Swords, are lending their power to the government.”
“Wh-what did you say?”
When Young-woo’s eyes widened at this unbelievable story, the officer glanced at his wristwatch and got to the point.
“We’ll be withdrawing soon too. Before that, there’s something we must tell you.”
Then the officer’s gaze swept over the area above Young-woo’s head.
“If you are a current First Sword or have martial prowess equivalent to one, we recommend you attend the First Sword assembly.”
Class 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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