Level 4 Human in a Ruined World - Chapter 82

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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 82 23. Thug (1)

 

“Are you seriously telling me you don’t have the ability to fight a mutant alone? At this point?”

 

Jo Sang-ik’s enraged face turns bright red.

 

“Then what about your title…? How did you become the Gyeongbuk First Sword?”

 

His voice clearly reveals his confusion.

 

Even so, he was already taking a combat stance.

 

For him right now, killing the mutant within this intersection was more important than brawling with that crazy First Sword.

 

Just a little beyond this place, there were Gwanak District residents performing ‘Seoul Rotation’.

 

Although police officers who also serve as monster hunters were leading the citizens, both police and citizens would be equally helpless before a mutant.

 

Therefore, the current top priority had to be instantly killing the mutant.

 

‘First kill the mutant, then think about that bastard afterward.’

 

Jo Sang-ik repeated this to himself as he gripped his sword.

 

Meanwhile, the 3rd day mutant that had been tearing through the sky landed in the center of the intersection.

 

Kuuuung!

 

“Ugh.”

 

As soon as the mutant landed, a black dust storm swept through the area, and both First Swords had to cover their faces with their hands and step back.

 

Asphalt fragments flew in all directions as if a grenade had exploded.

 

Titing, ting, piing!

 

Strange sounds continuously came from the metal equipment Young-woo was wearing.

 

Finely shattered asphalt was pounding against the equipment’s surface.

 

Of course, body parts not covered by equipment had to endure with pure flesh.

 

Puhpuk, puk!

 

Even Young-woo, who had raised his durability to the thousands, felt a stinging sensation, so if an ordinary person had stood here, their body would have been torn to shreds.

 

“Let’s resolve the mutant problem first and talk again. We absolutely cannot let that thing escape from here.”

 

Jo Sang-ik’s voice could be heard from within the dust.

 

It meant he would cooperate reluctantly, but would not tolerate civilian casualties.

 

Young-woo also nodded as he drew his sword.

 

“Good. I also don’t want innocent people getting hurt.”

 

Of course, no agreement had been reached regarding the binary choice that would be given after defeating the mutant.

 

Therefore, there was also the possibility that Jo Sang-ik might launch a surprise attack after the mutant was dealt with.

 

‘But by then my ability stats won’t be lacking either. I should be able to complete First Appearance in Martial World with this battle.’

 

The karma reward obtainable from the First Appearance in Martial World Quest was a whopping 5 million.

 

Once he got this, even if he had a one-on-one duel with Jo Sang-ik, he wouldn’t be greatly outmatched.

 

‘Though that’s only if I survive the mutant.’

 

Young-woo watched the massive presence stirring inside the dust ahead and placed his hand on another sword he hadn’t yet drawn.

 

Thump.

 

「Underdog」 – Mutant One-handed Sword

 

【25% increased power against targets larger than the user.】

 

Underdog.

 

A weapon taken from the now-deceased Chungju First Sword.

 

The reason Young-woo touched this sword was because this mutant’s build was obviously larger than his own.

 

Ppuddeuk.

 

With an ominous friction sound, something with a large shadow began walking out of the dust cloud.

 

Kung!

 

Heavy footsteps that conveyed the opponent’s massive weight.

 

Kuung!

 

From the second step onward, both First Swords could see the opponent’s name tag.

 

[Businessman-Kim Tae-jun]

 

‘Kim Tae-jun? Could it be that Kim Tae-jun…?’

 

Young-woo’s pupils dilate.

 

It was because among the celebrities he knew, there was someone with exactly the name Kim Tae-jun.

 

Kim Tae-jun, the founder and CEO of major game development company VC Soft.

 

Also known as TJ.

 

He was famous enough that even people who didn’t know much about games had heard his name.

 

Not only had VC Soft’s games been consecutive hits, but he also had a bad reputation due to the vicious monetization schemes in those games.

 

‘Even so… was he bad enough to be on the elimination candidate list?’

 

Well, since it was a system where you just needed to receive relatively many votes to make the list, it wasn’t impossible.

 

‘I never thought I’d meet Kim Tae-jun like this.’

 

Since Young-woo had been doing game broadcasts in Seoul until he went down to Gumi, the feeling was extraordinary.

 

And it seemed Kim Tae-jun himself, the person in question, also felt the same way about this encounter.

 

「Ah… this feels strange.」

 

Kuung!

 

After his third step, Kim Tae-jun completely emerged from the dust cloud, revealing his magnificent body reaching 3 meters in height.

 

Skin made of grayish-white granite.

 

Shoulders spread excessively wide, and arms sculpted in an even more exaggerated form.

 

His lower body also looked solid, but it couldn’t compare to his upper body that felt like an entire mountain had been placed on top.

 

“Go… is it a golem?”

 

When Young-woo unconsciously muttered this, Kim Tae-jun, who somehow heard it, looked at him.

 

Then he raised his stone-made hand to examine it and opened his eyes wide.

 

「My goodness. I really am a golem.」

 

“…!”

 

From this line, Young-woo was certain that the mutant he was facing was really that ‘Kim Tae-jun’.

 

What other mutant in this world would be impressed by the fact that they had transformed into a golem?

 

This was only possible because Kim Tae-jun had personally participated in game development in his younger days.

 

Ddeudeuk.

 

Next, Kim Tae-jun turned his head to look around the completely empty intersection area.

 

Then.

 

「This is a place to raid me.」

 

He compressed the current situation into a very simple sentence.

 

「More importantly, where are the other people? How much time has passed since the reset?」

 

The flow of time that every mutant without exception was curious about.

 

But Kim Tae-jun was the first to also ask about other people’s locations.

 

From the nuance, it didn’t seem like he was looking for people to massacre.

 

“It’s now the 3rd day since reset. And the other people are safe and well. Only we came out to meet you, Tae-jun.”

 

When Young-woo explained this, Kim Tae-jun’s expression brightened.

 

“Three days…? Really? Where are the people?”

 

Then Jo Sang-ik immediately let out a stiff voice.

 

“Why are you looking for people? You won’t be able to escape here anyway. Why do you think we came out here?”

 

To Gwanak First Sword Jo Sang-ik, Kim Tae-jun was both a resource that would provide a massive amount of Karma and a disaster that threatened civilians just by existing.

 

In other words, he was a target that absolutely had to be killed here and now.

 

On the other hand, Kim Tae-jun’s position was different.

 

“If it’s only been three days, my family must be alive somewhere. I have no intention of harming anyone, so please just let me find my family.”

 

“…Ah.”

 

As soon as Young-woo heard Kim Tae-jun’s words, he understood the situation.

 

Hadn’t he experienced a similar case in Mungyeong?

 

It was Jang Dae-myeong, who had returned as a mutant purely to meet his father again.

 

‘That’s right. From a mutant’s perspective, they would have been separated from their family in an instant. The desire to confirm their family’s safety might be stronger than any desire for revenge.’

 

Even Young-woo, who was an orphan, had moved on his own feet to find his father once he learned of his existence.

 

So what about someone who had originally been within the embrace of family?

 

Young-woo felt sympathetic.

 

However, he couldn’t say that Jo Sang-ik’s following response was wrong either.

 

“Yes. I understand what you mean, but it’s realistically impossible. Even if I were to let you go, would the other First Swords just stand by? To begin with, searching for family you don’t even know the location of in that body doesn’t make sense.”

 

Then Kim Tae-jun, who had been quietly listening to the conversation, suddenly flared up and contorted his expression.

 

“My wife and children know I’ll return as a monster. So if they just know that I’ve appeared, they’ll somehow come to find me.”

 

“…!”

 

These were words that couldn’t be said without tremendous faith.

 

Young-woo was moved alone in this absurd conversation.

 

At the same time, seeing Kim Tae-jun’s body gradually bending from rising rage, he sensed that the end of this conversation was approaching.

 

“Tae-jun.”

 

When Young-woo interjected into the conversation between the two with a calm tone, Kim Tae-jun responded with a much rougher manner of speech than before.

 

“What?”

 

“As he said, it’s nearly impossible for you to find your family in your current state. There are dozens more First Swords in Seoul besides us.”

 

Of course, Kim Tae-jun would say that if that was the case, he would kill all those First Swords to find his family.

 

So Young-woo quickly added his next words.

 

“But there’s one more method. Though it probably won’t be very appealing to you.”

 

“What kind of nonsense is that?”

 

Jo Sang-ik immediately hardened his expression and asked back, while conversely, Kim Tae-jun showed interest.

 

“What is it?”

 

At this, Young-woo extended his right hand.

 

“A handshake.”

 

“…A handshake?”

 

Jo Sang-ik reacted as if hearing this for the first time, while Kim Tae-jun’s face brightened slightly.

 

“A handshake… I heard to use it if I regretted returning as a mutant. But how does this become a solution?”

 

Kim Tae-jun made his right hand glow blue and displayed a door-shaped icon above his palm.

 

“What the…”

 

As expected, Jo Sang-ik’s eyes widened at this phenomenon he was seeing for the first time, and Young-woo, who glimpsed a ray of hope, held out the amber whistle toward Kim Tae-jun.

 

“If you shake hands with me… uh, so you can become like a fairy of this whistle. Like a genie.”

 

This was the best explanation Young-woo could give.

 

“It’s not for a very long time, but I can summon you twice a day. Usually I call for help during combat, but… I could also call you when I find your family.”

 

By Young-woo’s standards, Kim Tae-jun was not a criminal.

 

He hadn’t returned as a mutant and committed murder, nor had he committed any great sins when he was human.

 

That’s why he didn’t lie to lure him in either.

 

Just as he had said earlier, it was a method that Kim Tae-jun wouldn’t find very appealing.

 

“Simply put… you’re telling me to trust a complete stranger to find my family and obediently be trapped inside that thing.”

 

“That’s about right. But there’s no better option than this. Even if you kill us and escape from here, you’ll have to fight other First Swords again. The whole world will attack you.”

 

“I already know that well from experience. Don’t you have anything else to say?”

 

Kim Tae-jun announced the end.

 

As expected, the negotiation had broken down.

 

At this, Young-woo nodded as if he understood and spoke seriously to the air.

 

“…It can’t be helped. This battle is conducted with support from the pan-universal weapons brand Dogo.”

 

“…Hm?”

 

“…?”

 

“I am a human of Earth, the strongest of Gyeongbuk, Jung Young-woo07.”

 

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. according to a contract with the copyright holder, and the content cannot be used in any form or by any means without permission from the head office 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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