Level 4 Human in a Ruined World - Chapter 89
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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 89 24. Ripple (3)
「Wanted Flyer」 – Epic Item
【Finds what you desire.】
|Father
A magical fountain pen that helps you find what you want.
Young-woo briefly looked at the word ‘Father’ currently set as the search target, then soon re-entered a new target.
‘Will it search properly even with two conditions attached?’
Kim Tae-jun’s, family.
He had no idea how an item from space would interpret the comprehensive concept of ‘family’ in the first place.
In the human world, the category of family includes not just blood relatives but also relationships like spouses and adopted children.
‘Whatever the case, it would be fortunate if I could find even one family member.’
Young-woo re-entered the search target on the wanted flyer with a slightly anxious heart.
Then the fountain pen-shaped wanted flyer vibrated momentarily and displayed a system message.
「A new search target has been entered. Would you like to update the results?」
Asking whether to update the results meant asking if it was okay to erase the arrow pointing to ‘Father’ currently displayed before his eyes.
‘A… Approve.’
When Young-woo approved the update, the wanted flyer glowed brightly.
Flash!
Then the search arrow that had been pointing north began to tilt eastward.
Swoosh.
“Oh…”
“Hyung-nim, what’s wrong?”
The arrow was now pointing northeast.
From here, Gwanak District, if it’s northeast.
‘Seocho, Gangnam, Gwangjin area. After that would be Guri City, wouldn’t it?’
On the other hand, VC Soft’s headquarters was in Bundang.
So Young-woo had expected the arrow to tilt south.
Swish.
Young-woo then pointed in the direction of the arrow with his hand.
“Is there anything related to VC Soft or CEO Kim Tae-jun in that direction? It seems like it would cover areas like Seocho, Gangnam, and Gwangjin District.”
Then Jong-su looked at Young-woo as if surprised.
“Hyung-nim, VC’s first office was in Nonhyeon-dong. That’s why Kim Tae-jun built something like a memorial hall there.”
“Ah, if it’s Nonhyeon-dong.”
“It’s Gangnam District.”
Gangnam District.
The stronghold of Jung Hyun-sik, whose eyes had turned after losing his son.
Sure enough, Jong-su pointed out this fact as well.
“It was right under the Gangnam First Sword’s nose. But the area under the lamp is always dark. There shouldn’t be any problem just quickly finding the family members and bringing them back.”
Of course, Young-woo agreed with that assertion.
At least during this afternoon, the Gangnam First Sword’s feet would be tied up in Yongsan.
“Would you be okay with this too, Officer?”
“I don’t have investigation experience, but… this is more like civil service work. It brings back memories of my younger days, which is nice.”
Tae-young said this while unconsciously feeling for the pistol at his waist.
It was a relic of Kim Byeong-cheol, the Icheon Police Station chief, with one live round loaded.
“Gangnam is probably a region with some degree of order established like this place. But just in case, it would be better to move together with Jong-su.”
“Yes, hyung-nim. I should earn my keep this time.”
“Understood.”
Since both men nodded without hesitation, Young-woo tried to give them expense money.
However, Jong-su immediately declined and showed golden coins from his pocket.
“You’ve already given us plenty of expense money. And the money you gave us last time is still intact.”
Jong-su’s current wealth was a whopping 147,000 karma.
In fact, he was quite wealthy among ordinary people.
“For now, ability stats would be more useful than cash. Leave just the minimum and raise your stats.”
When Young-woo made this request, dotted lines were drawn along Jong-su’s body outline.
He had started stat investment immediately upon hearing Young-woo’s words.
On the other hand, Tae-young still seemed a bit worried and spoke with a tense expression.
“When we find Tae-jun’s family members, where should we go next?”
This was quite a difficult problem.
If Young-woo were killed by Jung Hyun-sik, Tae-jun’s family reunion would become distant.
‘Even Young-tae had my name written together on his name tag. So if the owner changes, there’s a high possibility the friends will disappear too.’
Perhaps they might be released from the whistle and become mutants again.
And second, if Young-woo killed Jung Hyun-sik.
‘Then I would become the Gangnam First Sword. It’s hard to imagine, but… it would be very good for the CEO and his family.’
In this case, it would actually be better for Kim Tae-jun’s family to stay in Nonhyeon-dong.
And finally third, if for some reason both Young-woo and Jung Hyun-sik ended their meeting alive.
Then Young-woo wouldn’t be able to go to Gangnam and summon his ‘friends,’ so they absolutely had to extract Kim Tae-jun’s family.
Therefore, the conclusion was.
“It would be good to bring them to Seoul National University.”
It was decided to entrust them to Seoul National University, which was relatively neutral territory.
* * *
1:52 PM.
Having dispatched two people to Gangnam, Young-woo now set out for his final schedule in Gwanak – meeting with a merchant.
-Screech.
With the iron horse Negwig and even the Golden Goblin.
He looked unmistakably like a mutant to anyone who saw him, but fortunately the path to meet the merchant was relatively quiet.
It seemed merchant markers didn’t appear in the same locations as monster or mutant markers.
“Wh, what is that…?”
“Aaaah!”
That didn’t mean there were no people at all, so he occasionally saw Gwanak District residents who were startled by the iron horse and ran away.
“…Huh? What.”
And very occasionally, instead of fleeing, he met people who stared intently at Young-woo’s face.
They had noticed that the face carved on the commemorative coin they had just received resembled that strange figure.
“…”
When Young-woo awkwardly bowed in response, the other person would also nod and go their way – such strange incidents happened a couple more times before.
Whoooosh…!
He finally arrived at the park where a black pillar of light was positioned.
‘Merchants generally appear in quiet places.’
Young-woo looked around the surroundings where not even an ant could be seen and felt relieved.
Monsters and mutants don’t really care whether their appearance site is on the street or on top of buildings.
After all, isn’t it a world they’re going to destroy anyway?
In contrast, merchants seemed to choose locations that would cause less trouble to the world they were visiting.
Was it because they were in a position of coming to trade?
Clank, clank.
As he slowly drove the Negwig into the park, he could see a black light pillar descending in the center of the spacious sports field.
‘As expected, I’m the first customer.’
Young-woo confirmed once more that no one else was around, then jumped down from the Negwig.
Thud!
Then the silhouette inside the light pillar flinched and turned toward Young-woo.
The merchant who had arrived first also noticed that a trading partner had arrived.
‘This one’s not that big in size.’
Of course, he’d have to wait and see a bit more to know whether he’d actually trade with them.
Soon, as the distance between Young-woo and the merchant closed to within 10 meters, the space in front of the light pillar split open and Mediator Kubu appeared.
Swoosh.
―It is an honor to meet again with Jung Young-woo07, the human of Earth and strongest of Gyeongbuk!
―I am Kubu, master of the Tenta Tribe and guardian of Daro, who will mediate this transaction.
The greeting phrase was so consistent he could almost memorize it by now.
However, the sight of Kubu using the void as eyelids was still not easy to get used to.
―The mediation fee for this transaction is 10% and is included in the product price. A total of 3 trading groups have bid on this transaction.
―Would you like to see the list of bidding groups and their proposal details?
The chief mediator privileges remained the same as well.
“Yes. Please show me.”
When Young-woo nodded, Kubu’s eyes blinked widely.
Then.
Whirr!
The space between Young-woo and Kubu seemed to distort, and soon three fist-sized objects appeared there.
‘That’s the trading group list…?’
As Young-woo approached the unidentifiable objects, they began changing into different shapes, though just moments before their forms had been completely unrecognizable.
Shrill.
They were none other than.
‘…Ah.’
Earth objects.
Each trading group had crafted objects that earthlings could recognize in their own way.
‘Amazing.’
Young-woo felt like he had become a judge as he examined the objects the aliens had imitated one by one.
The first one was.
‘A statue?’
It was the figure of a person sitting on a heavy-looking chair, but looking closer.
‘…A king. It’s a king.’
They had crafted the figure of a king sitting on a throne. They even wore fairly well-researched royal attire.
He didn’t know what material they had used, but it was a strange substance that was neither clay nor stone.
Anyway, what they seemed to be appealing was their high understanding of their trading partner Young-woo—that is, humans.
Considering that Young-woo was Korean, they had crafted and sent a ‘king’ that only existed in the past but was still used conceptually today.
Therefore, the goods they provided would also be closely related to human characteristics.
‘They must be very meticulous folks.’
However, Young-woo’s thoughts changed as soon as he saw the second object.
Shrill.
The second was made of countless sand grains, and it was moving on its own as if it were truly alive.
Swoosh!
What the second trading group had created and sent was a bird in flight.
A bird that almost perfectly reproduced everything from the detailed movements of its feathers to the subtle trembling of its beak.
‘Incredible technology.’
However, Young-woo couldn’t figure out exactly what they were trying to appeal by crafting a bird. Perhaps they simply liked the existence of birds among Earth’s various contents.
‘Then next is.’
As soon as he turned his eyes to the last third object, Young-woo felt his spine tingle.
‘Wh-what is this.’
The third wasn’t an object but rather a kind of scenery.
A midnight sea that seemed ready to thunder at any moment with a rumbling sound.
In the middle of it, a scene of a massive whirlpool swirling was depicted.
“…”
Though it was clearly a partial image of Earth, Young-woo’s home base, he felt some kind of fear.
And at the same time, he also felt a desire to see what goods these people would offer.
“These people… no, I’ll trade with this trading group.”
When Young-woo pointed to the problematic sea scenery, Kubu blinked.
―Are you certain?
“Yes.”
When Young-woo nodded again, Kubu’s eyes turned to the void for just a brief moment.
Then.
―According to Jung Young-woo07’s request, we will return the Shamil Trading Group and summon the prisoners of Roam.
As soon as Kubu finished speaking, the black light pillar flickered and the silhouette visible inside was pulled up into the sky.
Then almost immediately.
Whoooosh…!
Something like pitch-black oil poured down, filling the inside of the light pillar.
‘That’s the merchant?’
Young-woo stared blankly at the ‘prisoners of Roam’ that filled the light pillar from the very bottom to the distant top with nothing but blackness.
Then Kubu rolled his eyeball and said.
―The product list has been completed.
The merchants, prisoners of Roam.
There was no way to know whether they were really prisoners from somewhere, or if ‘prisoners’ was just the name of their trading group.
However, judging by the goods they were selling.
‘They’re definitely very extreme folks.’
1 ― 「Broken Scale」 – Unique Ring
【Strength decreased by 30%.】
【Stamina and Sense increased by 40%.】
◇ 680,000 Karma
2 ― 「Masochism」 – Epic Gem
【Slot: Strength increased by 25% when bleeding.】
◇ 1,700,000 Karma
3 ― 「Roam’s Bottom」 – Legendary Sword Technique
【Fight like a prisoner.】
◇ Local Martial Arts
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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