Chapter 110
Chapter 110
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 110
Chapter Title: 29. In the Pitch-Black Night (4)
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“What... what the hell is this?”
Due to the achievement trait ‘Blockhead’, Youngwoo had only ever received extraordinary achievements, whether good or bad.
From “Perfect Orphan”—kill both parents—to “Special-Class Social Worker”—send a mutant back alive.
And finally.
[Ending Maker]
|Discover the protagonist after the reset.
He had finally received an achievement named ‘Ending Maker’ of all things.
And contextually speaking, this ‘ending’ was exactly the kind Youngwoo was thinking of.
The conclusion. The end of this world, which had faced the unprecedented catastrophe known as the reset.
‘Discover the protagonist...? You mean the main character?’
The conclusion to every story was made or faced by the lead—the protagonist—wasn’t it?
In other words, this achievement was implying that he needed to find the protagonist moving toward this world’s conclusion.
The only slightly tricky part was.
‘The protagonist after the reset....’
It didn’t say to find a Rank-2 protagonist or Rank-1 protagonist—it just said the protagonist after the reset.
‘What the hell does that mean?’
It might contain more meaning than meets the eye.
Take the previous achievement, Special-Class Social Worker. It only said to send a mutant back alive, but in reality, it required reaching an agreement with the opponent to activate the ‘return’ function.
‘Either way, it means there’s someone out there somewhere living the protagonist role.’
Rank-4 extra Jeong Youngwoo wrinkled his nose.
Of course, there was no guarantee that the one playing the protagonist was in Korea.
The reset had happened worldwide, after all.
If anything, it made more sense for each country to have its own protagonist.
‘If the protagonist’s a foreigner... probably high chance they’re in China, India, or the US. Population’s overwhelmingly larger there, after all.’
Come to think of it, he had no idea how the reset had played out in other countries.
And at this point, almost no one would have even thought to consider other countries’ situations.
Youngwoo wouldn’t have either, if not for ‘Golden Journey’.
[Golden Journey]
|Summon golden rain in the next region.
|Domestic (2/3) |Foreign (0/2)
Tomorrow, he’d complete the domestic goal for Golden Journey.
‘Next up is foreign, then.’
Not just visiting a foreign country, but summoning golden rain there...? Hard to even imagine.
‘Headache.’
Youngwoo pressed his throbbing temples and sank back into the sofa.
Poof.
For the first time in a while, the comfort enveloped not just his body, but his mind as well.
‘...Ah.’
Comfortable.
Soon, his eyelids grew heavy naturally, and his vision began to blacken.
In the midst of it, the thought that he should check the time flashed through his mind, but before he could act on it, his consciousness switched off.
Thud.
...
...
Then.
Thump.
...
Thump, thump!
...
As always, the sound waking him from his short nap roused his consciousness again.
‘Someone’s already here?’
It was around 9 p.m., when the day-use staff from Taewon Group would arrive.
“Ugh.”
Youngwoo forced his eyes open with effort, and for a split second, a red eye-shaped icon lingered in his vision before vanishing.
「One-Eyed Sentry」 - Mutant Cornea
【Stands guard while you sleep.】
Proof that the mutant cornea ‘One-Eyed Sentry’ had been on alert duty while he slept.
Swish.
As Youngwoo sat up, the view outside the window had turned pitch black, unlike before.
‘What time is it now?’
As he shifted his gaze to the floor to find his watch, the system notifications he’d missed while asleep unfolded in his vision.
Flash!
「Night has arrived.」
「To guarantee your right to sleep, day-use services will begin in 1 hour.」
This was the pre-notification at 8 p.m., one hour before day-use services started.
But the current time Youngwoo confirmed on his watch was.
‘9:03 p.m.’
In other words, this mutant cornea that stood sentry while the wearer slept had remembered the system announcements in his stead.
‘Way more useful than I thought...?’
At least he wouldn’t miss important announcements while sleeping or knocked out.
And then.
「Day-use services have begun.」
「From now on, all buildings classified as ‘residences’ will enter an inviolable state under the day-use system.」
At 9 p.m., the series of guides that had appeared just before Youngwoo woke unfolded one by one.
Explanations on occupying residences and lodging fees... and then, finally, the truly important part.
「For your information, tonight’s weather is obsidian rain.」
「Beware of bodily harm.」
“What...!”
Youngwoo shouted without realizing it and bolted fully upright.
He then grabbed a black cape from the scattered gear on the floor.
Flash!
「Black Raincoat」 - Hero Cape
【Nullifies obsidian rain.】
The cape’s tooltip appeared, widening Youngwoo’s pupils.
The day had come when this cape, bought on a whim thinking it might come in handy someday, would finally pay off.
Tonight’s anomalous weather: obsidian rain.
And a cape that nullified obsidian rain.
He’d even taken a short, involuntary nap.
[Nocturnal]
|Spend a night outside your residence.
‘Today’s the day I clear Nocturnal.’
With his heart pounding, Youngwoo quickly equipped his gear.
Clack.
Just touching each piece and approving the equip made them wrap around him automatically, so donning dozens of items took less than a minute.
「[Anomalous Weather] Obsidian rain will generate in 1 hour and 54 minutes.」
The weather alert message appeared at last.
A timer then embedded itself at the top of his vision.
「01:54:32」
Obsidian rain would start around 11 p.m., roughly two hours from now.
‘Once day-use is set, I’ll shower first... rest a bit, and the rain should start.’
Click.
Finally, Youngwoo gripped the glowing red Dragon’s Legacy and approached the room door.
He could sense the staff outside, knocking occasionally.
—Sh-should we knock one more time?
—...Yeah.
Thump!
They’d probably been warned by Im Seon-ah, who’d seen something bizarre last time they entered without permission, not to go in without the First Sword’s approval.
Clunk.
As Youngwoo opened the door, the Taewon staff about to knock froze mid-motion.
Then.
“Uh......”
“Gasp?”
They reflexively looked up at the new First Sword towering over them.
A 2-meter-tall giant of a man.
The ‘Gyeongbuk First Sword’ title writhing above his head radiated intimidation as well.
“You’re here for day-use, right?”
When the speechless staff didn’t respond, Youngwoo spoke first, and Im Seon-ah finally stepped forward from the back.
“Hello, Mr. Jeong Youngwoo! Did you rest well?”
“Yes, thanks to you.”
“That’s a relief. As I mentioned earlier, we’re here to process this room for day-use. And...”
Im Seon-ah bowed her head slightly here, signaling her apologies.
“There’s one thing we proceeded with without your approval. I’m truly sorry it’s an after-the-fact report.”
“...What is it?”
“There were refugee processing issues for Gwangjin, Gangdong, Jongno, and Jung districts. It’s to relocate residents from areas without a First Sword to neighboring districts...”
This was a sort of public service handled at the First Sword assembly level, and Taewon’s rep Baek Do-hwan had given proxy approval, per Seon-ah’s explanation.
“We judged it unavoidable due to the urgency.”
“Yeah, that’s fine... I’m grateful you handled it instead. So, Gwangjin residents are coming to Gangnam?”
“Yes. Gangdong’s being taken by Songpa.”
Population shifts between districts must be in full swing by now.
“Then at least four districts’ mutants will be left unchecked for a while starting tomorrow.”
“Pretty much. The alliance hopes adjacent districts’ First Swords will handle them as much as possible.”
“......”
It wasn’t much different from saying there was no real way to deal with it.
‘Worst case.’
Youngwoo thought so, but he also accepted there were no other options.
This was unavoidable, wasn’t it?
Regardless of the number of surviving First Swords, mutants dropped into 25 districts every day.
‘Best case... catch Gangnam’s mutant tomorrow as fast as possible, then head to Gwangjin myself.’
The First Swords in districts adjacent to those four problem areas were probably thinking the same.
In simple terms, it was a time attack from here on.
The longer each First Sword fought their assigned mutant, the exponentially higher the chance and number of district residents massacred by ‘unchecked mutants’.
“...Not everyone knows yet, right?”
When Youngwoo asked, Seon-ah glanced at the staff processing day-use before replying.
“Rumors spread fast... it’s only a matter of time. And even without that, seeing refugees come in, everyone’s sensing something’s up.”
As their conversation reached this point, the staff operating the day-use interface reported to Youngwoo.
“First Sword, sir, day-use setup is complete. Set the headcount to ‘1’ and enter, and you can use the room right away.”
Youngwoo turned to look, and there by the glowing blue door of Room 3233 stood a shelf brimming with crimson coins.
Taewon Group had brought an absurd amount of crimson coins since they didn’t have higher currency from achievements.
But even that vanished in an instant.
-Keeit!
The golden goblin, which had been hiding its presence at Youngwoo’s feet until now, greedily swept them into the subspace pouch.
Clatter, clatter!
-Keeek!
As it made noise, the staff finally snapped to attention and began backing away one by one.
“It’s safe, right? Youngwoo.”
Even Im Seon-ah was frightened by the golden monster.
“Yes. It doesn’t attack people, so don’t worry. I should get out of your way quick.”
Youngwoo stood before the door with an awkward expression.
Swipe.
The familiar interface he saw every night appeared, now with slightly unusual details.
Ping!
「Would you like to use day-use services?」
[Parnas Hotel Room 3233]
|Space: Very Spacious
|Facilities: Bathroom, Television
|Day-Use Fee: 62,000 Karma
|Duration: Until 10 a.m. next day
‘Television...?」
Youngwoo, who thought little could surprise him anymore, unwittingly gaped again.
Items listed under ‘facilities’ generally ignored the old world’s laws and worked.
For example, no reason the plumbing should function, yet day-use residences had unlimited tap water.
‘Come to think of it, the electricity worked fine for the lights.’
So how would the day-use system’s television work?
What the hell could you even watch on TV in a reset world?
「How many will be staying? Please enter the headcount.」
Next came the prompt to enter the number of guests, so Youngwoo hurriedly manipulated the hologram keypad.
「1」