Level 4 Human in a Ruined World - Chapter 86

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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 86 23. Thug (5)

 

As Young-woo approved receiving the reward, his upper body immediately began to shine brightly.

 

Paaaah!

 

“Huh?”

 

It was such a strong light that even Jo Sang-ik, who was watching, was surprised, and soon something could be seen being equipped on Young-woo’s upper body.

 

Clank!

 

It was none other than golden-colored armor.

 

The third reward item from the Golden Rain route was a breastplate.

 

「Golden Oath」 – Legendary Breastplate

 

【Reduces enemy attack ability by 50%.】

 

【Accumulated Golden Rain: 5】

 

*’Golden Flood’ special benefit.

 

‘Attack ability…? Not power or strength, but what is attack ability?’

 

Item tooltips in this world are never written carelessly.

 

For example, Underdog’s tooltip reads ‘Power increased by 25% against targets larger than the user.’

 

Therefore, if Golden Oath simply reduced the destructive power of attacks dealt by opponents, it would have used the term ‘power.’

 

‘Then does attack ability have a more complex meaning?’

 

Of course, even if it was purely power reduction, it was definitely equipment with an absurd option.

 

‘It’s completely defensive equipment. It’s practically useless when I’m the one attacking first.’

 

Perhaps it was the perfect effect for someone walking the Golden Rain route.

 

In these times when all the strong choose the 3 million monopoly, going around alone distributing karma would be the perfect behavior to earn hatred.

 

“Deputy Minister, is there some kind of hierarchy among the First Swords who attend the assembly?”

 

“Pardon?”

 

Jo Sang-ik makes a puzzled expression at the sudden question.

 

Still, he gave an answer.

 

“It would be a lie to say there’s no hierarchy at all… However, since we’ve never directly tested our strength against each other, I can only say there’s an implicit hierarchy.”

 

“Then what’s your ranking within that? I know it’s rude to ask, but I need to know.”

 

“…”

 

Jo Sang-ik hesitated for a moment at Young-woo’s words.

 

Then he glanced north, probably in the direction of Yongsan Park.

 

“Well. I’d say around the middle?”

 

It was a very defensive answer.

 

‘Still, that means he’s not in the lower ranks.’

 

Young-woo thought.

 

Since Jo Sang-ik said he had never seen Golden Rain before, he must have chosen only the 3 million karma monopoly for the past two days.

 

Therefore, the total amount of karma he possessed was at least 6 million. Converted to ability stats, that’s 6,000 points.

 

‘Judging by the fact that he has no particularly notable equipment other than his curved blade, it seems he invested most of his karma in ability stats…’

 

By simple calculation, Jo Sang-ik’s estimated average ability stat was roughly 1,500.

 

That was a whopping 300 points higher than strength, which had the highest value among Young-woo’s four ability stats.

 

『Character: Jung Young-woo07』

 

[Strength] 1,200 (19+1,181)

 

[Endurance] 850 (21+829)

 

[Durability] 1,050 (13+1,037)

 

[Sense] 600 (24+576)

 

In other words, the gap would be much wider when comparing other ability stats.

 

Having thought this far, Young-woo nodded and stood to face Jo Sang-ik directly.

 

“Then would you try attacking me once?”

 

“…What do you mean?”

 

“Exactly what I said. Please attack me with the intent to kill. Just once.”

 

“Is it because of that armor’s ability?”

 

Jo Sang-ik was sharp as expected.

 

Young-woo nodded again at this.

 

“That’s right. Still, I won’t die from one hit.”

 

At worst, it would probably be at the level of his body being split.

 

Of course, it would be incredibly painful, but that much would heal back together with time.

 

‘I need to properly understand exactly what ability this equipment I obtained has.’

 

Eventually, when Young-woo finished his mental preparation and gave a signal with his eyes, Jo Sang-ik lifted his curved blade with a reluctant expression.

 

“Are you really sure this is okay…? I couldn’t help much in the mutant battle, but person-to-person combat can be different. Don’t forget who I am.”

 

He meant not to overlook the fact that the person who would be thrusting a sword at him was a First Sword.

 

“Yes. I’ve considered it sufficiently. Let’s begin.”

 

At Young-woo’s repeated approval, Jo Sang-ik also nodded.

 

Then.

 

Whaaaash!

 

He really swung his curved blade.

 

Whaaash!

 

「Sensory stats have temporarily increased from the existing 600 to 1,360.」

 

“…!”

 

Jo Sang-ik’s sensory stats that Young-woo confirmed through Sense Steal were about 1,400.

 

He was indeed worthy of being Seoul’s First Sword.

 

However.

 

‘What is this…?’

 

The attack he actually saw with his eyes was extremely slow.

 

It was slow enough that he felt he could block it even without the help of Gyeongbuk Sword Technique.

 

Could it really be this slow even after being hit by Sense Steal?

 

And wasn’t attack speed originally the domain of strength anyway?

 

However, this wasn’t the speed that should come from strength that should be at least 1,500 or higher.

 

Thud.

 

Eventually, when Young-woo avoided the attack with just a simple movement, the tip of Jo Sang-ik’s long curved blade cut through empty air.

 

Whash!

 

“…Huh?”

 

Jo Sang-ik felt something strange, just like Young-woo.

 

Young-woo requested again.

 

“One more time. This time, please do it with the real intent to kill.”

 

“Yes.”

 

Sharp killing intent rose in Jo Sang-ik’s eyes, his pride somewhat hurt, and this time his blade cut through the air without warning.

 

Shiiiiik!

 

This time it was a diagonal slash, more difficult to avoid than a straight slash.

 

He was really serious this time.

 

However.

 

‘Still slow.’

 

This time too, Jo Sang-ik’s attack only felt incredibly slow.

 

‘It wasn’t just reducing power, this attack ability reduction.’

 

Having reasoned this far, Young-woo immediately swung his black sword to strike away Jo Sang-ik’s blade.

 

Clang!

 

Then something happened that even Young-woo hadn’t expected.

 

“Ugh…!”

 

Jo Sang-ik’s expression, who was holding the curved blade, contorted in pain.

 

“Are, are you alright?”

 

As the startled Young-woo approached, Jo Sang-ik rubbed his wrist and said.

 

“Ah, it’s nothing serious. I didn’t know you’d be this strong, so I guess I let my guard down a bit. My wrist is tingling.”

 

“You say I’m strong?”

 

Young-woo asked back like this, then immediately closed his mouth.

 

Though he hadn’t revealed it to Jo Sang-ik, his own strength stats should be significantly lower.

 

And even if he really had let his guard down, he might have dropped his weapon, but there was no way his wrist would be strained.

 

Therefore, what this result meant was.

 

‘My strength didn’t increase. The Deputy Minister’s strength and durability momentarily decreased.’

 

【Enemy’s attack ability reduced by 50%.】

 

Young-woo finally seemed to understand what this tooltip meant.

 

‘All abilities used for attacking.’

 

The strength to swing weapons, the durability to support this force with the body, and even the stamina used in small amounts and the senses for accuracy.

 

It was an effect that cut down all abilities that constitute an attack.

 

‘This is really an absurd item. With this, at least in terms of defense…’

 

He would be comparable to not only Jo Sang-ik but any other First Sword in Seoul.

 

‘Some of them must have already defeated mutants, so they’d be much stronger than the Deputy Minister, but now I have 5 million too. I can match them to a similar level anytime.’

 

Just as Young-woo was about to touch the card containing the large sum in his pocket, all of Young-woo’s ability stats began increasing by 100.

 

「Strength stat has increased from existing 1,200 to 1,300.」

 

「Stamina stat has increased from existing 850 to 950.」

 

「Durability stat has increased from existing 1,050 to 1,150.」

 

「Sensory stat has increased from existing 600 to 700.」

 

As the Golden Flood Achievement that Young-woo had completed synchronized with the Achievement window, the epic ring ‘Idealist’ increased all ability stats by 100.

 

‘My goodness, I wasn’t even thinking about it.’

 

When Young-woo belatedly opened the Achievement window, he could see that the number of completed Achievements had increased from 5 to 6.

 

〔Your Achievement tendency is “Thug”.〕

 

||Completed Achievements: 6

 

‘Still a thug.’

 

Young-woo chuckled while looking at his Achievement tendency.

 

He remembered the first Golden Rain incident that made the system define his tendency as ‘Thug’.

 

‘I wonder how Ye-chan is doing.’

 

Thinking of the first Golden Rain naturally brought to mind Ye-chan, who had been sitting next to him at the time.

 

So he thought about checking that guy’s location with the fountain pen, but soon decided against it.

 

There was a much more important matter at hand.

 

‘Since I completed Golden Flood, a new Achievement must have come in.’

 

The recommended Achievement list has a maximum of 4, and you need to complete one of them to check new Achievements.

 

Therefore, now that Golden Flood was completed, there should be one new recommended Achievement.

 

‘It’s likely to be from the Golden Rain route series… surely the next one isn’t raining on 10 regions?’

 

Since he had already started walking the Golden Rain route, it would be troublesome if a completely different type of Achievement appeared.

 

‘Well, let me take a look.’

 

The final task of this mutant battle.

 

Young-woo opened the recommended Achievements with half expectation and half worry.

 

Flash!

 

[Nocturnal]

 

|Spend a night outside the Residential Buildings.

 

[Jeweler’s Touch]

 

|Wear two Hero grade or higher rings each on your index and ring fingers. (3/4)

 

[Complete Orphan]

 

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

 

[Golden Journey]

 

|Call Golden Rain in the following regions.

 

|Domestic (0/3) |Foreign (0/2)

 

* * *

 

Thud.

 

…

 

…

 

Thud!

 

…

 

Thump, thud!

 

‘Who the hell is that, making so much noise.’

 

Tae-jun frowned in his sleep, then opened his eyes wide in shock.

 

“Huh!”

 

Then a chillingly white ceiling came into view.

 

“Wh, what?”

 

He reflexively sat up and put his hand on the floor, only to realize that the floor’s texture was strange.

 

“…Eek!”

 

Sure enough, the floor was also made of some white material of unknown composition, just like the ceiling.

 

Not only that. The walls surrounding all sides and even the door handle attached neatly to one of those walls…

 

‘Th, there’s a door!’

 

As soon as Tae-jun recognized that there was a door handle in this bizarre space, he instinctively ran toward it.

 

Tap tap!

 

Since it was a room of about 3 pyeong, it took less than a few steps to grab the door handle.

 

Grab!

 

Finally getting the door handle in his grasp.

 

Tae-jun immediately pulled the door handle to open the door that was embedded in the white wall.

 

Creak!

 

Then he couldn’t even step outside the room and fell backward on his bottom.

 

“Whaaat…?”

 

Because outside the door was also an entirely white space.

 

Unlike this room which had walls and a ceiling, the outside seemed like an infinite space with no walls or ceiling.

 

Just a white background stretching endlessly.

 

Because of this, there was no reference point to gauge elevation differences, so he couldn’t even properly tell whether what he was looking at was the floor or empty air.

 

“Wh, what the hell is this…? Where is this place?”

 

It was after this that Tae-jun discovered another man crouched outside his room.

 

“Ah!”

 

When Tae-jun saw the man and screamed once more, the man in question showed an expression of extreme delight.

 

“Hyung-nim! I’ve been waiting for so long, really!”

 

“…What?”

 

“It’s me, me! Don’t you recognize me?”

 

A man with a playful expression who looked to be in his early twenties at most.

 

He was wearing what looked like white pajamas, making him appear quite bizarre.

 

“…”

 

At this, Tae-jun blinked for a moment before unconsciously covering his mouth.

 

“No way.”

 

“I think you got it right.”

 

“You, are you that beast from back then?”

 

Due to his confusion, Tae-jun called him a beast instead of using the term ‘mutant,’ but the other party showed no sign of caring.

 

“Yes, that’s right! I’m Hong Young-tae!”

 

Hong Young-tae.

 

A friend of Gyeongbuk First Sword Jung Young-woo07… no, a prisoner.

 

Then this place is.

 

“Damn it.”

 

Tae-jun mutters.

 

He had thought it was just a long dream.

 

“So this is that prison.”

 

When Tae-jun said this, Young-tae wiped his nose and forced a smile.

 

“It’s not so bad now that hyung-nim is here. Before this, there wasn’t even this kind of thing.”

 

Young-tae pronounced ‘this kind of thing’ while gesturing toward the infinite space outside the room.

 

“That… wasn’t there before?”

 

“Yes. Until hyung-nim came, the only thing that existed here was my room alone.”

 

“…”

 

His room? Then does that mean there’s another room like this?

 

Tae-jun felt like he was going to get dizzy.

 

“Come out quickly, hyung-nim! There’s nothing in there anyway.”

 

Then Young-tae waved his hands and cheerfully called to Tae-jun.

 

At this, Tae-jun hesitated for a long time before stepping outside the room.

 

Step.

 

Then, he could see another square white building far away to the left.

 

And Young-tae, delighted about something, was already running over there, even jumping with joy.

 

“Wh-what’s in that room…?”

 

When Tae-jun asked while looking around the vast white space that still seemed endless, Young-tae answered in a voice much more distant than before.

 

“There’s an hourglass too!”

 

“An hourglass…?”

 

“There’s a menu too!”

 

“…?”

 

“Next time I’m going to save up money to buy a TV!”

 

Young-tae’s voice became even more distant.

 

However, the word ‘TV’ was heard clearly.

 

“TV? There’s a television here?”

 

While Tae-jun was asking this, Young-tae was already running into his room.

 

“…”

 

So in the end, Tae-jun too.

 

Dash!

 

Started running after Young-tae.

 

4th Grade 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 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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