Level 4 Human in a Ruined World - Chapter 9

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

Episode 9 3. What Used to be a Grade 4 Extra (2)

“Uh…”

It was beyond his control.

Young-woo couldn’t take his eyes off Ye-chan’s Fate Record.

Birth… Year 06, conception through forced intercourse.

Death… Year 39, suicide after killing a customer while working at a tavern.

To summarize, Ye-chan was the result of rape, and perhaps because of this, he was abandoned to the world as an orphan and was destined to kill a customer at a bar in his mid-thirties before committing suicide.

Of course, Young-woo’s fate of being killed by a drunk in three years was shocking too, but it couldn’t compare to Ye-chan’s.

Moreover.

‘…He really didn’t know.’

Young-woo swallowed dryly as he saw Ye-chan’s gaze fixed on the words “forced intercourse.”

What must he be thinking right now?

“This… crazy.”

“I was supposed to die next month?”

“W-who decided this? Does it make sense that the future was predetermined?”

The area that had been filled with silence began to grow noisy again.

Everyone was greatly shocked to learn that their birth and ending had all been predetermined.

But where was this place?

The Post-Reset World.

A world where dragons and Quests exist, where swords rain down from the sky.

Here, anything could happen.

And one of those things had already occurred. No, been confirmed.

My fate and class that had been decided long ago.

“…”

It didn’t take long for the venue filled with shouting to become quiet again.

Then Park Do-hwan, who had been silently watching the people, opened his mouth.

—I express my condolences to everyone. Those who glimpsed a grim fate must be greatly disappointed.

—Conversely, those who had a prosperous life planned have lost it due to the Reset.

This meant that existing fates were no longer valid in the reset world.

Several people immediately reacted to this.

“Then what happens now? Are we just supposed to live however we want since there’s no more fate?”

“No way. Even if fate disappeared, people remain the same. Those born as Grade 1 would still have Grade 1 stats.”

“Right. The grades weren’t reset. Then what’s the point of all this?”

This argument made considerable sense.

Even Young-woo was at a disadvantage in running and physical fights because his existing physical conditions carried over.

The real problem was something else entirely.

“Fate aside, what are we supposed to do to survive from now on? Money, food, everything turned to stone.”

“Right. Where do we earn money now?”

The sight of people holding weapons seriously worrying about making a living was bizarre to the point of being ridiculous.

Park Do-hwan clapped lightly as if he had been waiting for this.

Clap!

Then the contents of the Fate Records given to people all disappeared and different series of numbers appeared.

Numbers ranging from as little as 0 to as much as the tens of thousands.

In Young-woo’s case, it was 153,000.

「153,000」

And seeing this, Young-woo immediately understood what this number meant.

‘…Karma I possess.’

It wasn’t just a simple amount either.

This was a figure that even considered the contract with Ye-chan.

The deal between the two that had been merely a verbal agreement was automatically reflected in the Fate Record.

—What is now inscribed in the Fate Records is the amount of Karma you have secured at this point.

—From now on, you can use this Karma to change your appearance, improve your physical abilities, and even restore objects from the previous world that turned to stone back to their original state.

‘Change appearance and improve physical abilities?’

While Young-woo made an expression of disbelief, people rushed to ask questions.

“What about people who don’t have any Karma right now?”

“Where can we get more Karma?”

The holographic president clapped lightly.

Clap!

[00:25:19]

A massive timer appeared in the air along with the clapping sound.

As everyone’s gaze moved there, Park Do-hwan elaborated.

—The only way to acquire Karma is by eliminating the mutants and monsters that will appear in about 25 minutes.

“…Mutants?”

“What the hell is this about now?”

Everyone tilted their heads while showing ominous expressions.

They had unconsciously grasped the meaning of those words.

And Young-woo was the same.

‘…They’re coming back, the people who chose mutation.’

Extinction, mutation, dissolution.

People who were forcibly dragged down by the masses and had to stand before three choices.

Among them, those who chose ‘mutation,’ the option to become monsters, were extremely angry about their situation.

So what would such people do when they returned to this world?

‘…Revenge.’

Young-woo looked around.

He finally seemed to understand why weapons were supplied through Sword Mountain.

—Most mutants appear together with groups of monsters of the same type, and these monsters also leave Karma when they are eliminated.

“W-what are you talking about… fight monsters to earn money?”

“What about people who don’t want to fight? No, there will be people who don’t have the ability to fight too.”

Natural reactions followed.

No one wanted to earn money by fighting monsters instead of going to work at their job.

However, the disaster that befell everyone wasn’t over yet.

Clap!

Park Do-hwan clapped once more.

Then a series of numbers appeared below the timer in the air.

「1,000」

―Starting tomorrow, taxes will be automatically collected every night at 10 PM.

―The basic tax amount is 1,000 Karma, and tax delinquents will be immediately eliminated at the time of collection, so you must secure Karma.

“…!”

It was like a bolt from the blue.

Only 3,000 Karma had been provided as basic living funds, and even this hadn’t been fully secured by many due to the chaos at the Exchange Office.

In other words, if you didn’t fight monsters, you would die from tax delinquency within a few days.

―There are now 22 minutes left until the mutants return. We wish you good luck.

With these words, Park Do-hwan’s form became blurred and the ‘Rookie’ Quest was completed.

Ping!

【Quest Complete – “Rookie”】

【Reward Granted】

|Survival Equipment

Swoosh.

Along with the change in the Quest text, belts were fitted around everyone in the venue.

It was a kind of makeshift scabbard with one iron ring attached so weapons could be inserted.

“Huh.”

“What, what’s this.”

“This is survival equipment?”

Just as everyone was expressing dissatisfaction with the below-expectation Quest reward.

Rumble!

Immediately, a tremendous roar echoed from the sky.

It was also at this time that dozens of giant light pillars began crashing down throughout Gumi City.

What could it be this time.

People didn’t think long about it.

Anyone could see those were monster spawn locations.

One of the light pillars was even illuminating a spot less than 10 meters away from here.

“Kyaaah!”

“R-run!”

The absolute majority chose to flee following their instincts.

However, Young-woo was an exception.

‘…Run away? Fighting monsters is the only way to earn money. We have to pay taxes every day starting tomorrow, so what’s the point of running?’

In fact, this was a thought only Young-woo could have.

He was someone who had steadily built up ‘success experiences’ in this reset world.

Obtaining Early Bird at the Exchange Office, securing a shield at Sword Mountain, and eventually achieving 1-vs-3 combat to become Gumi’s Greatest Sword…

Because of this, it was natural for him to view the threats of this world not as something simply fearful to avoid, but as targets to overcome.

However, his instincts based on Grade 4 settings didn’t seem to want to go further.

“….”

Even now, the hand gripping Early Bird was trembling.

‘The monsters’ combat power can’t be ridiculously high. At least if it’s average human combat power, wouldn’t it be worth fighting? They said monster hunting was the only source of Karma income.’

Young-woo looked around the surroundings filled with light pillars while recalling what Park Do-hwan had told them.

Then he belatedly noticed that Ye-chan was standing blankly beside him.

The guy was staring intently at where the Fate Record had been, like someone who had lost his soul.

Was he still in shock from the ‘secret of his birth’?

“…Are you okay?”

When Young-woo carefully touched Ye-chan’s shoulder and asked, only then did some life return to the guy’s dead-looking eyes.

“Ah… yes.”

Then Ye-chan asked back.

“Are you okay, sir?”

“Huh? Me, well…”

A Grade 1 supporting character mother and a Grade 6 extra father. Young-woo had also become curious about his own background, but for now it was a secondary issue.

[00:19:26]

Because mutants and monster hordes were scheduled to appear in 19 minutes.

“First, let me settle accounts as promised. You worked hard all this time. I’m grateful too.”

When Young-woo opened his backpack and held out coins corresponding to the client’s share, Ye-chan showed a flustered expression.

“…Didn’t you say we’d settle accounts in a safe place?”

“Is there anywhere safer than here right now?”

“No…”

Ye-chan, who had been looking around to refute Young-woo’s words, soon had no choice but to close his mouth.

Because the people who had filled the area black just moments ago had all fled and were gone now.

“First, quickly take this. Both my hands are tied up.”

“What?”

Wondering what he meant, he turned his head to see Young-woo gripping coins with both hands.

It meant not to leave himself in an unarmed state.

“Ah…!”

When Ye-chan hurriedly received the coins, Young-woo, whose hands were finally free, drew Early Bird from its scabbard.

“I’m going to rest here a bit and then try fighting the monsters. You can take care of yourself now, so go wherever you want. The escort contract ends here.”

Young-woo sat down on the spot with these words.

Of course, he was facing Ye-chan directly in case of a surprise attack. Early Bird was firmly gripped in his right hand and a shield in his left.

At this, Ye-chan wore a blank expression for a moment, then sat down on the ground following Young-woo.

“Even for you, sir, wouldn’t it be dangerous to stay here alone? Rather, going to a place with many people would be somewhat…”

He meant that if there were many people around, at least the monsters’ attention would be dispersed.

But Young-woo thought differently.

“If there are many people, the probability of being ambushed from behind would also increase. The number of monsters to deal with might increase too.”

So rather, he would wait here and try dealing with just the amount of monsters from one light pillar.

‘Even so…’

Ye-chan thought Young-woo was being too reckless, then immediately changed his mind.

Come to think of it, wasn’t this person Gumi’s Greatest Sword? The owner of a title that could only be inherited through killing.

Therefore, if he fought monsters while showing his back to people, he would obviously get backstabbed.

“…Then.”

When Ye-chan carefully began to speak, Young-woo gave him a look as if to continue.

“What about someone fighting beside you, not behind you?”

“Beside? You’re saying you’ll stay here and try fighting?”

Young-woo scratched his chin while staring intently at Ye-chan.

Then he opened his mouth again.

“One person should be fine. But if I’ve made the wrong judgment, you might die a dog’s death here. Think carefully.”

Then Ye-chan smiled bitterly and answered as if muttering.

“I would have died anyway even without you, sir.”

“….”

Was he talking about what was written in the Fate Record, or did he mean what happened at Sword Mountain?

When Young-woo’s expression strangely hardened, Ye-chan noticed this and forced his voice up.

“Oh, I’m just joking. But anyway, from what I heard in the explanation earlier, you can apparently improve your physical abilities with Karma too. Do you think that’s really true?”

It was an awkward change of topic.

But since Young-woo had been curious about it himself, he took out a coin from his backpack and examined it.

“He probably wasn’t lying… but he left without telling us how to do it.”

A crimson coin the size of a 500 won coin.

The back was blank, and only a single horizontal line was engraved in the center of the front.

‘Is that marking for 1,000 Karma?’

He pressed the coin firmly with his finger, but nothing particular happened.

Ye-chan, sitting across from him, also tried various things like pressing the coin against his arm and throwing it on the ground, but he didn’t discover anything either.

Well, if Karma’s special functions could be activated just through physical contact, they would have known the moment they picked up the coins.

‘How exactly are we supposed to use this? At this rate, we’ll just accumulate more baggage as days go by. People without bags must be in real trouble. It’s not like we can eat these to get rid of them…’

Young-woo unconsciously flinched at this thought.

Could it be possible to eat this?

Since it was supposedly used to change appearance and improve physical abilities, it wasn’t entirely unreasonable.

‘…’

And in the first place, did it matter what made sense or not in this kind of world?

Young-woo didn’t hesitate and put the coin in his mouth.

Then.

Ping!

Something happened before he could even chew the coin.

Grade 4 Human in a 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.

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————