Chapter 120
Chapter 120
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 120
Chapter Title: 31. Turning Point (3)
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'Claim reward.'
As soon as Young-woo decided to claim the reward for the achievement "Night Planet," a bright light began to emanate from his neck area.
Shwaa!
"Huh."
And then, a necklace made of metal chain with a round gem at the end draped itself around his neck.
「Eye of the Storm」 - Narrative Necklace
【Ignores wind-type abnormal weather.】
*'Night Planet' perk.
'Ah, as expected.'
Young-woo's expression brightened as he saw the tooltip for the necklace.
Though conditional, he had acquired yet another piece of equipment granting immunity to abnormal weather.
And above all.
'If it's wind-type... it hasn't appeared even once yet.'
Day 2 had red mist, and Day 3 brought obsidian rain.
So, given the pattern, there was a high chance that Day 4—today—would feature a different type of abnormal weather.
'I hope it's wind-type. It doesn't seem like the same type repeats twice in a row.'
Of course, with so little data accumulated so far, it was just a guess.
'Anyway, good stuff.'
The types of abnormal weather uncovered so far were mist and rain.
Now, thanks to this necklace, he knew wind-type existed as well.
Swoosh.
Young-woo lifted the gem part of the necklace right up to his eyes to store it in his codex, and inside the tiny gem, he could see a miniature typhoon swirling adorably.
"What a wondrous world."
At Young-woo's mutter, the Hoa Gold Goblin pointed north and let out a shriek.
-Kikiki...!
It seemed to be saying they should hurry to the new area.
"You've gotten comfortable with me quick. Even expressing yourself now."
It was nothing new, but the gold goblin must have been a resident of some world too. He wondered how it had ended up here in this distant place, scavenging corpses.
He couldn't hear the full story since proper conversation was impossible, though.
'Alright, time to move.'
At 1 p.m. today, Day 4 mutants would descend across Seoul, so he needed to return by noon at the latest.
There were the mutants appearing in Gangnam to worry about, but he also had to meet Kim Tae-jun's family that Jong-soo and Tae-young had located.
And one more thing.
'If possible, track down this father guy too.'
Young-woo's vision still held the tracking marker from the "Wanted Poster."
The holographic arrow pointing to his biological father's location.
'Somehow, I'm finding someone else's family first.'
So now it was time to look for his own blood kin. While there was still a chance.
"Let's go. North."
As Young-woo stroked Neugig's mane and said this, the otherworldly iron horse began striding forward without hesitation.
Boom!
And so, Young-woo crossed the military demarcation line on the Korean Peninsula after the reset.
It was none other than the record of the Kaesong First Sword.
Flash!
|You are currently in 'Kaesong.'
|This region's First Sword is 'Kim Seon-gu02'. 1st place, defended 311 times.
'Ah, North Korea uses the First Sword title too. But 311 defenses...?'
An unprecedented number.
He'd never seen anything like it in South Korea.
This perfectly illustrated the atmosphere in North Korea since the reset.
'Definitely a very different unfolding from our side. Down south, the highest defense counts are only in the dozens.'
One of two things.
Either challengers were overwhelmingly numerous, or the Kaesong First Sword was a psychopathic murderer.
Either way, North Korea was surely a far harsher environment than South Korea.
"Hmm."
Atop Neugig, which was gradually picking up speed, Young-woo scanned the desolate outskirts of Kaesong with his eyes.
The surroundings were nothing but rice paddies and wild hills, with what looked like downtown Kaesong visible far to the southwest.
'At least that way, I might find some people.'
There were no mutant or monster markers, and the buildings appeared largely intact.
This meant that if mutants or monsters fell in Kaesong, someone was cleaning them up.
'Since I can't wait around to see mutants drop here... maybe just check the vibe.'
Young-woo's purpose in visiting North Korea was twofold.
First, to see if he could progress the achievement "Golden Journey."
[Golden Journey]
|Summon golden rain in the following regions.
|Domestic (2/3) |Foreign (0/2)
But since even the closest North Korean city, Kaesong, was effectively blocking mutants, the first goal was hard to achieve right now.
Second, to gauge the current atmosphere in North Korea.
According to pre-reset enemy classifications, North Korea was South Korea's primary foe, and that likely hadn't changed much post-reset.
If anything, the risk of war was far higher now than before.
Just one.
A single First Sword with hostility toward the South crossing the border could spark full-scale war.
'In that light, what I'm doing now might look like provocation to them.'
The moment this thought crossed his mind, Young-woo tapped his left chest to hide his title and draped his cloak to cover his golden gear as much as possible.
Riding an iron horse made it nearly impossible not to attract attention, but he needed to at least conceal his origins.
'It's risky, but I have to scout North Korea while I have the chance. Seoul's already organizing itself—North Korea can't be much different.'
Especially since North Korea had maintained a dictatorship under Kim Jong-un.
The societal collapse from the reset likely took a very different form there.
'Of course, Kim Jong-un probably got the deletion vote with high odds, or at least died riddled with millions of bullets.'
If he was still alive, that would be the worst-case scenario.
'And even if Kim Jong-un died, the high-ranking military could have easily staged a coup... who knows what those guys did.'
If alive, he'd be at least the Pyongyang First Sword by now. If dead, he'd almost certainly return as a monstrous mutant, biding his time.
"......"
Mutant, Kim Jong-un.
Pyongyang First Sword, Kim Jong-un.
Which was the greater disaster?
Absurd imagination, yet shockingly real.
And for South Korea, sharing the landmass.
'...A time bomb.'
As Young-woo entertained these grim thoughts, the terrain gradually shifted to fields, and buildings began appearing one by one.
Mostly outdated structures from 1 to 3 stories, but as he advanced, they grew sleeker and taller.
There were even large apartment complexes deep in the city ahead.
Then Young-woo belatedly remembered.
Kaesong was the city that had benefited from the inter-Korean joint economic project, the so-called "Kaesong Industrial Complex."
'Thanks to that, it was once one of North Korea's wealthiest cities.'
But ongoing discord with North Korea, and crucially, revelations that they diverted funds from the complex to nuclear development, led to its shutdown after 2016.
So it was natural for Kaesong, once called a "rich village," to decline rapidly.
The last news Young-woo heard about Kaesong was a 2023 article about mass starvation deaths there.
'The public sentiment got so ugly they unusually distributed free food rations. Just that shows Kim Jong-un probably didn't survive the deletion vote...'
Boom, boom!
Soon, Neugig carried Young-woo deep into Kaesong.
Yet the city, landscaped so well it rivaled anywhere in the South, was eerily devoid of human presence.
A ghost town.
'No matter that abnormal weather just cleared, how could it be like this?'
If no people, there should at least be mutants or monsters.
"......"
But the sky over Kaesong remained clear, without a single pillar of light.
'What the hell.'
Young-woo blinked, wondering if he was dreaming, when a faint sound reached his ears for an instant.
"Wait...!"
Yanking the reins to halt Neugig, Young-woo's suspicion turned to certainty.
Tap-tap!
Very faint, but a distinct living presence came from between the buildings to his right.
Something was fleeing from him.
"Wait!"
As Young-woo turned toward the sound and shouted, Neugig began pursuit on its own.
-Kweeeee!
Letting out a long cry.
"Q-quiet...!"
Young-woo panicked.
If it was a person, hearing this iron horse's wail would make them flee even more desperately.
And in that time, the figure fleeing for dear life entered Young-woo's sight.
Tap-tap!
With no more buildings to hide in, the one who emerged onto the main road was.
"Eek...!"
A barefoot boy in rags.
"P-please, spare me!"
Maybe middle-school age at most.
Then the boy who had lured Young-woo here widened his eyes and asked in an almost innocent tone.
"What's that?"
At this, Young-woo frowned, seeing the cat with closed eyes.
"The cat that shows you punks are monster bait."
"......"
Perhaps no one had given feedback like this before; the delinquent youths in the area exchanged glances, at a loss for words.
So the much older Young-woo had no choice but to lead the conversation.
"Where are your parents?"
"Dead."
"When?"
"Eight days ago."
Meaning before the reset.
The parents of the boy who lured him were already among the dead.
Then the others chimed in one by one.
"Last year."
"Yesterday."
"143 days ago."
"The day before yesterday."
They spat it out like it was a contest of misfortune.
A deep cynicism permeated the air.
But that didn't explain why only orphans remained in Kaesong.
There must have been adults before.
"Then where'd all the other adults go?"
Young-woo asked, hoping they wouldn't say they killed them all.
The barefoot boy pointed north.
"All gone. To Pyongyang."
"To Pyongyang? Why?"
"The Dear Leader's gone, so now they're gonna be outstanding generals."
"What does that..."
Young-woo trailed off mid-question.
Understanding hit a beat late.
'That bastard Kim Jong-un dodged deletion after all. So with no one in charge in Pyongyang, they're all heading up. No food or livelihood here anyway.'
And only brainwashed kids still calling him "Dear Leader" remained, holding the fort.
'With the guild hall providing drinks at least, they could last a few days.'
But that didn't solve mutants or monsters.
No way these kids could handle mutants.
"One more question—no, two."
"What? Ask away."
As Young-woo kept questioning, the North Korean delinquents started giggling.
"Where's the Kaesong First Sword now?"
The room fell silent for a moment, then the barefoot boy spoke for the group.
"Probably just waking up around now."
"I see."
Within expected range.
Likely, the Kaesong First Sword was their top dog.
That's why they set the trap here, near his quarters.
"One last question."
"You got so many curiosities? And mister, you're from South Joseon. You ain't leaving alive anyway."
Swoosh.
The barefoot one drew a dagger from his waist.
Seemed their hunt was over.
On cue, the others encircling them raised their weapons threateningly.
But before slaughtering everyone here, Young-woo wanted to hear one thing.
"Kim Jong-un."
"...?"
"Has Kim Jong-un become a mutant? If so, what kind? First one to tell gets a full belly before they go."
With that, Young-woo pulled chocolate from the goblin's sub-space pouch, and the delinquents' eyes widened like never before.