Level 4 Human in a Ruined World - Chapter 84
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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 84 23. Thug (3)
This time, it was purely thanks to the Gyeongbuk Sword Technique.
Young-woo had learned that he could apply Pain Infliction even with his own blood.
「Golden Punishment」 – Legendary Bracelet
【Inflicts pain on enemies.】
This special function of Golden Punishment only activated when Young-woo’s weapons or body directly touched the opponent.
Or at least, that’s what he had believed until now.
‘Well, blood is also part of my body, after all.’
During the second attack on Kim Tae-jun, the Gyeongbuk Sword Technique didn’t provide the next guide because it itself was the solution.
To apply Pain Infliction to Kim Tae-jun, who was protected by granite skin, the only way was to let Young-woo’s blood flow into the cracks in his outer shell.
Therefore, it was normally a suicidal tactic… but it was a clever strategy that only Young-woo had a chance of surviving.
「Slime Core」 – Mutant Bracelet
【Dramatically increases regeneration.】
He was the owner of a bracelet that could even reattach a severed body.
Of course, if Kim Tae-jun had crushed Young-woo’s head first, the result would have been very different.
‘But I succeeded. I survived again.’
The characteristic of major regional sword techniques like Gyeongbuk was that they formulated tactics considering even the properties of other equipment the title holder possessed.
And this characteristic matched well with Young-woo, who had low ability stats but possessed multiple pieces of equipment.
Even Jo Sang-ik, whose ability stats reached thousands, couldn’t deal any significant damage to Kim Tae-jun.
“….”
As the sky opened at the whistle’s call and the surrounding colors faded, Young-woo turned his head to observe Jo Sang-ik’s movements.
Then he saw him running from far away.
‘Oh, no way.’
Young-woo widened his eyes, thinking that the worst-case scenario he had imagined – ‘Jo Sang-ik’s betrayal’ – was finally becoming reality.
This was also why he had called Young-tae.
But in reality.
“H-hey! Are you alright?”
Jo Sang-ik’s business was purely to check on Young-woo’s safety.
More precisely, he wanted advice on how to handle Kim Tae-jun, who had suddenly started writhing in pain.
“…Yes. I’m fine. I’ll be able to move if I rest a little.”
Though Young-woo answered this way, Jo Sang-ik looked completely unconvinced.
“Rest… a little?”
That was understandable, since even from the outside, Young-woo’s ribs were clearly shattered and his internal condition didn’t look good either.
“Yes. I just need to rest a little. And my friend will buy me that time.”
Young-woo lifted his chin to point at the sky.
Right on cue, a thunderous roar echoed from the edge of the sky.
「Iyaaaaaaah!」
Former mutant Hong Young-tae had returned to this world.
Screeeeeech, crash!
With a tremendous landing sound, another asphalt storm swept through the area, and Young-woo felt unexpected emotion seeing Jo Sang-ik shield him from the debris with his own body.
“D-Deputy Minister.”
“…It’s just basic courtesy.”
As the black storm passed, another name tag began glowing in the dust cloud.
Swoosh!
[Jung Young-woo07’s Friend – Hong Young-tae]
“Is that the friend you just mentioned?”
“Yes.”
As soon as Young-woo finished speaking, the name tag stirred and Young-tae emerged, pushing through the dust cloud with his hands.
Thud, thoom!
His footsteps carried a weight comparable to Kim Tae-jun’s.
And the physique that soon appeared was almost at the same level as Kim Tae-jun’s.
Hong Young-tae. Three meters tall, a giant beastman with a hyena’s head.
「Haah…!」
As soon as Young-tae set foot on the ground, he took a deep breath.
Having spent eons in the Returner’s Room, this moment of summoning felt truly like a dream to him.
Then.
「Huh…? Kim Tae-jun?」
He showed surprised eyes upon discovering a creature at the same eye level as himself.
Because the opponent was a giant made of granite?
No.
Young-tae also knew VC Soft’s Kim Tae-jun well.
Young-tae’s other name was BJ Ppagle.
Having once been a notorious internet broadcaster, he knew well who Kim Tae-jun was, practically a household name in the gaming world.
「Why is Kim Tae-jun here?」
Young-tae, who had been asking this, belatedly noticed Young-woo on the ground.
「Why are you always in a weird state?」
Young-tae’s words made Jo Sang-ik imagine many things.
Young-woo barely managed to raise his upper body and ordered his friend.
“Don’t worry about me, just stop that guy.”
The ‘guy’ Young-woo pointed to was Kim Tae-jun, who was gritting his teeth and throwing punches in their direction.
Though he was still affected by Pain Infliction, it wasn’t enough to completely prevent him from resuming combat.
Whoooosh!
As a grayish-white trajectory appeared with a heavy whooshing sound, Young-tae frantically grabbed Kim Tae-jun’s torso.
Crash!
「What the hell? Sir, why are you doing this!」
While doing so, he turned his long snout to look at Young-woo.
He wanted confirmation whether he should simply stop this mutant or fight with the intent to kill.
“Can you win? But don’t kill him if possible. I’d like to recruit him if I can.”
When Young-woo gave this order, Young-tae showed his characteristic wicked smile.
“Ah, a new friend candidate.”
Of course, that was merely the hope of the two men.
Before Young-tae’s smile could even fade, Kim Tae-jun drove his fist into his mouth.
Thwack!
“Urgh!”
And then again.
Crack!
This time an uppercut landed on Young-tae’s jaw.
“You fucking…!”
Enraged Young-tae growled and took a fighting stance with both arms, but the result that followed was.
Thwaaack!
Kim Tae-jun’s straight punch landed perfectly.
As the target of attack changed from Young-woo to Young-tae, Kim Tae-jun’s sensory stats had normalized.
“What the hell, how is some gamer kid so good at fighting?”
Thwack!
Unlike Young-tae who flailed his arms relying only on strength, Kim Tae-jun delivered precise strikes every time despite suffering tremendous pain.
Thud!
“At this rate, your friend will collapse first.”
Unable to watch any longer, Jo Sang-ik was about to join the fight with his curved sword.
Clack!
Young-woo, who had barely been sitting upright until now, reached out and retrieved Underdog.
“Please help me when Kim Tae-jun starts looking at me.”
He was telling him to intervene after Sense Steal activated, but Jo Sang-ik was too busy examining Young-woo’s completely recovered body.
“How is this possible? You, no matter how I look at it, you’re not human…”
Before he could finish saying “it seems,” Young-woo’s figure shot forward.
Whoosh!
“…Ugh!”
His body wasn’t completely recovered, so there was a twisting pain throughout his entire body, but Young-woo had no choice but to endure it.
Right now, Kim Tae-jun who was pummeling Young-tae over there must be enduring even greater pain.
He didn’t want to lose to his opponent, at least mentally.
“Kim Tae-jun!”
When Young-woo called out his opponent’s name, Kim Tae-jun, who had been smashing Young-tae’s mouth, turned his head with a surprised expression.
However, he wasn’t surprised by Young-woo’s rapid recovery or the golden light flowing along his temples.
He was surprised by Jung Young-woo’s absurd consistency in still adding “sir” to his opponent’s name even in this situation.
Whether it was a stubborn concept or a habit.
“What a truly persistent bastard.”
As Kim Tae-jun took his hands off Young-tae as if to settle things with his opponent, a Golden Flash warning appeared in Young-woo’s vision.
“Sensory stats have temporarily increased from the existing 600 to 2,144.”
Kim Tae-jun had begun directing killing intent toward Young-woo again.
And this meant.
“Young-tae! Now’s the only chance!”
It meant Kim Tae-jun’s senses had been cut in half.
Whoooosh!
Soon a granite fist flew toward Young-woo and the Gyeongbuk Sword Technique hologram appeared.
This guide was also a side dodge followed by counterattack, not a suicide strategy.
It judged that unlike initially, Kim Tae-jun’s combat power had dropped significantly, giving room for a counterattack.
And indeed.
Swish!
As Young-woo dodged the fist and twisted his body to the side, Young-tae’s claws pierced into Kim Tae-jun’s waist.
Crack!
“…Ugh.”
Kim Tae-jun groaned after taking Young-tae’s first effective hit.
Not from pain, but because he realized this hyena’s attack could damage his granite exterior.
“What’s this? It actually penetrates?”
Perhaps because they were both mutants.
The granite exterior that couldn’t be scratched by ordinary weapons was pierced like cardboard by Young-tae’s claws.
And then came Young-woo’s counterattack.
Slash!
When he slashed Kim Tae-jun’s thick forearm with Underdog, a wound deep enough to send fragments flying appeared, though not very deep.
“…!”
Therefore, if they continued for a few more exchanges like this, they might be able to see inside Kim Tae-jun’s hard exterior.
“Im-impossible. Why…?”
Kim Tae-jun’s conclusion wasn’t much different, as fear cast over his face.
At this rate, not only would he be unable to confirm his family’s life or death, but he would be annihilated after only taking one-sided attacks since the reset began.
“You shit…! What the hell did I even do?”
As his confidence in having the advantage of strength disappeared, anger filled that huge void.
He had finally become a mutant in the true sense of the word.
Nevertheless, Gyeongbuk Sword Technique recognized the opponent as human and scattered hologram guides.
Whoooosh!
Granite claws fiercely tearing through the air.
As Young-woo followed the hologram and pulled his body backward, Young-tae rushed in like lightning and bit into Kim Tae-jun’s forearm.
Crunch!
Like his claws, the teeth that dug deep into Kim Tae-jun’s body pulled out a whole chunk of granite.
Then, for the first time, something other than grayish-white stones was revealed from Kim Tae-jun’s body.
It was.
Hissssss…!
Pure white vapor. No, something that looked like vapor.
“Huh?”
“Huh!”
As white steam began to surge from the forearm Young-tae had torn off, Kim Tae-jun’s energy, which had been rampaging as if to destroy the world, rapidly weakened.
Thud!
So much so that he unknowingly fell on his backside.
So this was probably.
‘Blood? Something like a power source?’
To think that the inside of such a hard exterior was made up of just this kind of gas…
Whatever its identity was, it seemed certain that Kim Tae-jun would also disappear if all of this leaked out.
「Uh, why is this happening?」
Young-tae belatedly blocked Kim Tae-jun’s forearm with his own hand, but he couldn’t completely stop the steam from leaking out.
“Mr. Tae-jun!”
As Young-woo dropped his sword to the floor and approached Kim Tae-jun, he contorted his facial muscles covered in granite.
「Stop calling me Mr. Tae-jun. We weren’t even acquainted.」
Even so, he didn’t attack Young-woo with his other undamaged arm.
It was because he knew the match was decided, just as Young-woo had said at first.
「Was I really just a raid monster…? Why is the world like this? Shouldn’t you people be the ones receiving punishment?」
Kim Tae-jun muttered to himself.
In response, Young-woo looked at his opponent’s half-destroyed right arm and said.
“I don’t know if it’s sufficient punishment, but everyone is living in a terrible world. Mr. Tae-jun’s… no, the CEO’s family too.”
「This bastard.」
Just as Kim Tae-jun was about to rage again at the mention of his family, Young-woo pulled out the Epic-grade fountain pen ‘Wanted Poster’ from his pocket.
“With this, I can find anyone I want. But only if they’re alive.”
This meant he had the ability to find the family members Kim Tae-jun so desperately wanted to locate.
Along with determining whether they were alive or dead.
Then Kim Tae-jun’s boiling voice calmed down somewhat.
「So, in exchange for that, you want me to go into that whistle? Like that guy?」
As Kim Tae-jun said this while looking at Young-tae, the creature opened its elongated snout and smiled.
“Yes. That’s also the only choice left for you, CEO.”
As Young-woo said, Kim Tae-jun didn’t have many options left now.
Either disappear like this or become Young-woo’s ‘friend’ and at least maintain his existence.
「….」
Hissss!
Even during this, Kim Tae-jun’s life was rapidly fading away, and eventually his granite palm began to emit a blue light.
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 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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