Level 4 Human in a Ruined World - Chapter 87
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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 87 24. Ripple (1)
What exactly is a mutant?
Superficially, they would naturally be monsters.
Since they possess the strength to crush an ordinary human with just one finger.
Moreover, they generally harbor hostility toward the world.
Why?
Because the masses that make up this world killed them.
An anonymous, one-sided attack carried out under the pretext of elimination voting.
So Hyun-sik didn’t think of the mutants’ return as an attack on this world.
If he had to define it somehow.
‘…It’s closer to a counterattack.’
Those killed by the masses return to kill the masses.
It was truly a terrible world, but Hyun-sik could accept it readily enough.
‘It’s the karma we brought upon ourselves. Did we think we’d be safe after killing people like that?’
And above all else.
Kuuung!
Hyun-sik was strong.
Strong enough that nothing in this world felt like a threat.
In fact, this was precisely the decisive reason that made Hyun-sik accept the ‘reset’.
At least he was still the protagonist of this world.
Just as he had been before the reset occurred.
“Tsk.”
Hyun-sik clicked his tongue as he looked down at the massive creature collapsed at his feet.
About 3.5 meters tall.
Thick limbs reminiscent of tree trunks, and sharp scales covering them.
What Hyun-sik was looking down at now was Pastor Kim Won-gil, who had manifested as a lizardman in Gangnam District.
“Pastor, since we’re here, let me ask you something. Does God really exist?”
When Hyun-sik stepped on Won-gil’s nape, Won-gil’s long snout that had been extending far into the distance opened weakly.
「…Now I see this place was hell all along. Just end it already.」
Kim Won-gil spoke with what seemed like detachment, but Hyun-sik paid no heed and stepped on his opponent’s eye socket.
Squish.
「Ugh, aaaagh!」
“I asked you, do you think God really exists? Do you still believe that?”
Hyun-sik bared his teeth and growled.
Jung Hyun-sik, 52 years old. Current Gangnam First Sword.
At the same time, he was also a former chaebol heir.
Because he was the youngest son of the founder of Taewon Group, the nation’s third-largest corporation.
Nevertheless, the reason Hyun-sik wasn’t nominated for the reset’s elimination voting was purely due to his lack of public exposure.
Unlike his older brother and sister who had secured positions as group chairman and president of a major subsidiary respectively, Hyun-sik was merely an executive director of Taewon’s smallest subsidiary.
Thanks to this, he could avoid disaster just by blocking a dozen or so Death Strikes during ‘Individual Filtering’.
“My brother and sister who were merchants became dragons. But what are you, huh? You’re just a lizard. How did that happen?”
Thwack!
Hyun-sik kicked Won-gil’s waist hard, but this time there was no reaction.
“Ah, did he die already?”
It was natural since he had continued beating him for quite a while after completely subduing his opponent.
Shiiaat!
Eventually Kim Won-gil’s corpse disappeared completely, officially confirming his death.
Pastor Kim Won-gil of Gangnam’s large ‘Pureum’ Church was dead.
“…”
Of course, it wasn’t as if Hyun-sik had any particular feelings toward Kim Won-gil.
No, it was rather the opposite.
Whenever Pureum Church conducted large projects, Taewon Group had been spending large amounts on advertising fees under the guise of donations and contributions.
In other words, the two ‘businesses’ had a commercial relationship.
But still, since the other party was essentially a religious person, he thought there would be at least some minimum something…
“It’s all an illusion.”
Hyun-sik recalled how Pastor Kim Won-gil had been looking for people to tear apart and kill as soon as he arrived on this earth, and spat on the spot where he had been.
Ptui!
Then a golden orb suddenly appeared there.
「You have defeated a mutant.」
「Please select a reward to complete the process.」
“Hmm.”
Without any need to think, it was the 3 million exclusive.
When Hyun-sik selected the large sum, the golden orb melted away into thin air.
And around this time.
Vroooom…!
The sound of some vehicle’s engine could be heard from far away.
“What’s that.”
Current time: 1:14 PM.
Since the mutant marker had been illuminating this place until just moments ago, no sane Gangnam resident could be coming here right now.
If they were ordinary people, they’d be afraid of the mutant, and if they were swordsmen, they’d be scared of the First Sword.
Which meant.
‘An outsider?’
Occasionally there were provincial swordsmen who entered through strange routes without going through checkpoints.
Vroooom…
Eventually the problematic vehicle that entered Hyun-sik’s field of vision began to slow down.
They had also spotted the Gangnam First Sword.
A gray Avante.
It was too modest a car model to be what a skilled fighter from other regions would drive, so Hyun-sik tilted his head.
Click.
Eventually the driver’s door of the Avante, which had completely slowed down, opened.
And what came out of it was.
‘Huh? I’ve seen that face somewhere.’
It was a face Hyun-sik knew.
Of course, by Hyun-sik’s standards, he was someone who didn’t even qualify as a supporting character, so he didn’t know his name or status.
“Um… Executive Director.”
Eventually the man who got out of the car walked very carefully across about 10 meters of distance.
“…”
A man who appeared to be in his mid-thirties.
Seeing his hands trembling faintly, Hyun-sik was suddenly seized by an ominous premonition.
The fact that he was calling him Executive Director rather than First Sword meant he was either an employee of Taewon Group or one of the people who had bid for Gangnam District’s monster business rights.
But if he was someone who had won Gangnam District’s monster business rights, his face should have been more familiar than this.
‘If he’s neither someone who hunts monsters in Gangnam nor our employee.’
Then the only remaining possibility is sword guards who belong to Gangnam District but haven’t secured monster business rights.
In other words, they’re presumed to be swordsmen who go down to the Gyeonggi region outside Seoul to make money.
And that included his only son Jung Gyu-sang, who had declared self-reliance and gone independent.
“…How did you come here?”
When Hyun-sik stepped forward to greet him, the other party startled and waved his hands frantically.
“Ah, no! That… um, I mean…”
The man stopped about 5 meters away from Hyun-sik.
Then.
Thud!
He suddenly prostrated himself flat on the floor and pressed his forehead to the ground.
‘Ah, surely not.’
Seeing the man’s appearance, Hyun-sik unconsciously clenched his teeth tight.
Because he somehow anticipated what the other party would say next.
Could it be that his son made the foolish move of challenging a mutant?
If not that, it might have been a day when monsters were particularly strong.
He might have gotten into a fight with outsiders due to his terrible personality – who knows who he takes after.
Of course, all of this might just be unfounded worry.
But if it wasn’t that matter, then why would an unknown extra who had never even exchanged names suddenly appear and bang his head on the ground?
“I asked how you came here.”
This time Hyun-sik’s voice trembled slightly.
At this, the man still pressing his forehead to the floor, Lee Jang-ho73, reported to Gangnam First Sword.
“Your son has passed away. And I am… the only witness.”
Fearing the wrath of Executive Director Jung, no, Gangnam First Sword, Jang Ho spoke as clearly as possible that he was the ‘only’ witness.
Because he thought an enraged First Sword could kill someone with just his breath.
“…”
However, contrary to Jang Ho’s expectations, First Sword didn’t go berserk.
Instead, he asked about his son’s whereabouts through gritted teeth.
“Where is my son now?”
* * *
1:31 PM, Gwanak District.
Young-woo was looking at the empty air beyond the intersection.
Because a black pillar of light indicating the merchant’s location had finally shot down there.
Since the substitute service and abnormal weather announcements would only appear at 8 PM after sunset, the main tasks of the day were essentially finished.
“Will you meet the merchant now?”
Jo Sang-ik followed Young-woo’s gaze toward the merchant’s marker and asked.
At this, Young-woo instead shifted his gaze to Jo Sang-ik.
“Since you’re the First Sword of this region… the merchant priority belongs to you, Deputy Minister. Of course, if you permit it, I’d like to meet them.”
Actually, this was also said because new equipment wasn’t urgent.
Having obtained armor that cuts down the opponent’s attack ability, pure ability stats would be much more efficient for a while.
“Well, I don’t have much cash on hand right now, so I wonder if meeting the merchant would be meaningful.”
Jo Sang-ik spoke half-jokingly, half-seriously.
He was reminding Young-woo that his 3 million had evaporated because Young-woo had scattered Golden Rain in this region.
“If I go back to school and explain the situation, they’ll pool karma together for me. After all, for our Gwanak District to have a voice in the meeting and continue facing mutants, we need a strong First Sword.”
Then Jo Sang-ik’s eyes fell on the brilliant armor Young-woo was wearing.
“By the way, what are you planning to do from now on, Young-woo? Will you travel around Seoul scattering Golden Rain?”
Jung Young-woo was a very conspicuous figure.
And there would definitely be a request for clarification about ‘Golden Rain sightings’ at the meeting to be held at 3 PM today.
So Jo Sang-ik wanted to bring Young-woo to the meeting if possible.
That way he wouldn’t get caught up in any potential future disputes.
“…”
On the other hand, Young-woo couldn’t easily open his mouth.
He knew Jo Sang-ik wasn’t a bad person, but he didn’t think he was someone to trust completely and openly.
And most importantly.
[Golden Journey]
|Call Golden Rain in the following regions.
|Domestic (0/3) |Foreign (0/2)
His mind was complicated due to the fourth Golden Rain Achievement.
‘Foreign regions… does this mean places like China or Japan? If North Korea counts as foreign, I could try it once.’
Regardless of how foreign regions were determined, what mattered was the fact that the Achievement system was considering mutant elimination in foreign countries.
The existence of such an Achievement was proof that situations where a nation’s First Sword would fight overseas could occur.
What could this possibly mean?
“…”
Young-woo blinked, then decided to stop meaningless thoughts.
After all, it wasn’t like he had nothing left to do in Seoul.
“First, if you permit it, I should meet the merchant here. And as promised, I need to search for Representative Kim Tae-jun’s family members.”
And though he didn’t say it out loud, Young-woo also had to find his own father.
“Ah, right. That’s a good idea.”
Jo Sang-ik showed a relieved expression at Young-woo’s words.
“To find Representative Kim Tae-jun’s family, it would be best to get the government’s help.”
This was telling him to attend the meeting while he was at it.
“That’s…”
Just as Young-woo was about to carefully bring up the problem with Gangnam First Sword.
“…Hm?”
Jo Sang-ik, who had been smiling comfortably, looked at the air for a moment and then hardened his expression.
Then he looked at Young-woo with surprised eyes and spoke in a trembling voice.
“Su-surely it wasn’t you?”
“What do you mean…”
Young-woo asked back like this, but somehow he seemed to know.
He didn’t know exactly what form it took, but it was certain that Jo Sang-ik had received some kind of message.
For instance.
“They say Gangnam First Sword’s son was found beheaded. On a highway near Bundang.”
“I see.”
When Young-woo showed no sign of surprise at the beheading news, Jo Sang-ik covered his mouth.
“That… no…”
“As you mentioned, some thugs near Bundang picked a fight with me, so I killed them.”
“All 14 of them?”
“That’s about right.”
“Then the, the bodies? They must have been lying there with their heads cut off, surely you didn’t just leave them there?”
“Do you hold funerals for monsters after killing them, Deputy Minister?”
This meant that Young-woo had left the bodies of the Seoul Sword Guard 14, including Gangnam First Sword’s beheaded son, right there on the roadside.
“Cra… crazy.”
Unable to pronounce the following word “bastard,” Jo Sang-ik paused for a moment.
Because now he had to say something truly important.
“We’re fucked. Gangnam First Sword is going berserk right now. Since he saw his son’s corpse directly… he won’t see anything else right now.”
“But why ‘we’? That’s purely my business.”
When Young-woo asked back like this, Jo Sang-ik almost got angry for a moment but barely managed to control his breathing.
“Because you just scattered Golden Rain in Gwanak District a moment ago. Fuck, everyone must have seen that.”
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 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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