Chapter 11
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 11
Chapter Title: The Newbie Leaves the Courtyard
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The Newbie Who Emerged from the Courtyard
It was about time.
Time to head outside in search of food.
"I was originally supposed to go out yesterday."
The rations I'd been nursing were finally gone, leaving nothing but death to await me. I'd steeled myself yesterday to go out in a blaze of glory if it was the end.
Something insane had happened overnight—far more than any single day should hold—so that resolution had flown by in a flash. But to eat and survive, I really had to go out now.
'Even mastering martial arts can't do a damn thing about hunger.'
Grrrooowl—
My stomach twisted in protest, demanding I shove something inside.
To oblige, I stepped out of the cave, and the entire world greeted me as a pristine white winter kingdom.
Staring at the familiar sight, I composed a post.
Title: [Live] Doomed World's Newbie #0 [Newbie Leaves the Courtyard]
(Image of the world blanketed in snow)
LOL fuck.
This shitty world never gets any less shitty~
A barren landscape devoid of any trace of life.
The post-apocalyptic vista piled up like the world itself was begging to just end it all~ had the gallery users clicking their tongues in sympathy.
At a glance, it looks similar to my world, but it's definitely got a different vibe. The whole place feels dyed gray.
Uuu...?
Hang in there.
Newbie, fighting!
Yeah, let's do this.
Crunch crunch.
I stepped forward in my military boots fitted with crampons.
A thick fur hat and goggles covered my head.
I'd thought goggles were some chosen-one exclusive gear, but in this world, they were essential.
Whooooosh—
A few steps in, and the blizzard hit hard.
"You'd think this was Silver Mountain or something..."
The blizzard ramped up the bone-chilling cold, made every step a slog, and tanked visibility.
Side gusts were bad enough, but head-on? Couldn't even open my eyes.
Getting ambushed like this was a death sentence, so you always had to pack the right gear.
But,
"...It's honestly more manageable than I expected?"
I'd layered up even more expecting the cold now that I was stronger, but it felt downright tolerable.
Wondering what was up, it hit me—
'Oh, right. The Yin-Yang Five Elements Scripture.'
I hadn't mastered the full circulation of the five elements yet, but my dantian was stocked with yin-yang qi.
According to the Color Sovereign, just entering the introductory stage of the Yin-Yang Five Elements Scripture lets the yin-yang qi course through your body, freeing you from cold and heat.
That was why the gallery users had pushed me to learn it first—
'No way it's this good?'
Not just boosted physical stats, but a passive cold resistance in this godforsaken winter kingdom?
'Damn it!! Color Sovereign!!!'
I offered a sudden burst of fanboy worship and picked up the pace.
Crunch crunch crunch.
After about three hours of trudging through the snow, I finally reached the outskirts of the nearest city.
Overlooking the city from the mountainside, I added a reply to the original post.
(Image overlooking the city) Made it to the closest city for now.
I uploaded a shot of the snow-blanketed city, and the gallery jumped in with replies.
Huh? Closer than I expected?
Acting like you're about to drop dead any second.
Doubts about it being too close, even if my enhanced physical abilities had cut travel time by more than half.
Fair points.
So, I fired up the gallery's zoom feature and uploaded some close-ups.
(Zoomed-in city image).
(Even more zoomed-in city image).
(Image of bizarre slime clinging grotesquely to the snowy building exterior)
Fuck?
LOL...
The reason I never came to this city.
Up close, the entire surface of the buildings was coated in some freaky slime.
If you're asking what the hell that is when this isn't even a Biohazard world—
"Grrruuk."
'Perfect timing.'
Sure enough, a weird cry echoed from nearby.
I dropped low, concealed my presence, and crept toward the source.
What was there—
'Here it comes. Type 1 Mutant.'
I snapped a pic and uploaded it right away.
(Type 1 Mutant image).
The most basic of mutants: Type 1 Mutant, the Twisted One. Ran into it on the city outskirts.
Its skin had melted away completely.
Rotten veins bulged over it, hairless as expected, with every joint twisted grotesquely true to its name.
But you couldn't let your guard down because—
Did someone run human experiments or what? Those muscles look insanely hypertrophied...
Those joints were twisted not by chance, but by muscles swollen to a grotesque degree.
Muscles too pumped for the joints to handle exuded raw intimidation on their own.
Shit, every single one of those bastards is a monster.
I vaguely remembered hearing that all creatures have some self-defense mechanism.
The body limits its own output to avoid self-destruction from overexertion.
Mutants? No such thing.
Remodeled to squeeze out max power regardless of the damage to their bodies, each one packing insane strength despite looking like that.
The city's crawling with those things.
No humans, just mutants filling the place—you couldn't waltz in there.
So many that even this unlucky outskirts run-in happened.
That was why I'd steered clear of even the city fringes up till now, but—
What do you guys think? Now that I'm powered up, can I take a 1v1 with the Yaksha Fist?
Things were different now.
Who was I?
Direct disciple of the Yin-Yang Martial God, Eirene Noctua.
Newbieee!
Yes, Master.
Go smash it to bits!
With Master's go-ahead, no reason to hold back.
'Alright then, here I go.'
Thud!!
I kicked off the ground and charged.
Snowy mountain or not, wrapping myself in yin-yang qi let me explode forward.
One surprising thing: the dumbass mutant who'd been standing around actually reacted to the ambush.
"Graa?"
Dull as a post from afar, but up close, it boasted monster reflexes as it swung its twisted arm.
'Whoa!'
I rolled aside, dodging the attack path.
BOOM!!
The innocent tree took the heavy punch instead and exploded into splinters.
Thick as an adult's torso, yet one punch snapped it clean in half.
'Fuck, for real!'
How the hell had I survived five years in a world crawling with these things?
My thoughts didn't stop even as vertigo hit harder up close.
'Hundreds of those in the city, huh.'
I'd thought martial arts might make it doable at first, but witnessing that insane strength humbled me quick.
Even if I could sergeant-jump three meters now, it was laughable next to a dump-truck punch that one-shot a massive tree.
'Thinking about it, a three-meter jump is barely roe deer tier.'
A roe deer's puny kick might dent a charging dump truck's bumper at best.
Tap tap—
That was why I never stopped moving.
To maximize my advantages: crampons minimizing slips and yin-yang qi boosting my agility to superhuman levels.
I kept baiting and feinting to mess with its movements.
"GRRAAAAA!!"
Whoosh—
It reacted like a lion swatting a fly.
No denying it: close-range reflexes were nothing to scoff at.
But its fatal flaw was the massive recovery time.
'Every hit's a full swing—gotta have big windups.'
I exploited the opening, slipped to its flank, and smashed down hard with my metal club.
I wasn't asking for much.
If the first strike could just pulverize one arm, the rest of the fight would be a cakewalk—
SPLAT!!
"KYYAAAAA?!"
Its arm exploded.
Cleaner and more spectacular than the tree it'd just demolished.
Pop pop pop—
Blood and chunks sprayed like fireworks.
Crunch—the warm splatter hit my face.
That's when both it and I realized something was off.
"Huh?"
"Kwee...?!"
The one-armed monster screaming in agony and the human drenched in monster blood, standing there stunned.
The first to snap out of it was,
"You fucker!! Die!!"
SPLAT!!
Of course, the human—me.
The club swung, and its head burst like a watermelon.
Instant death, no question.
The headless body crumpling after was just the natural follow-up.