Chapter 140
Chapter 140
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 140
Chapter Title: 34. Tectonic Shift (3)
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A flea market for First Swords suddenly sprang up in the heart of Paju.
These were men who were treated like big shots in their own districts, but today they’d lost all composure, frantically groping along the ground.
That was because the first-pick gear didn’t require any accessories to carry off—and above all, it went to whoever grabbed it first.
“Move aside a bit.”
“Come on, if you’re not taking it, step to the side.”
Songpa, Seocho, Seongbuk, Dongdaemun, Goyang.
Everyone except the lone Goyang First Sword—who shrank back, not being from the Seoul Federation—fought fiercely, shoving and reaching for the spoils.
Youngwoo, watching it all unfold.
*Desirable.*
He wore a satisfied expression as he pulled up the accessory codex status.
Flash!
〔17〕
Seventeen accessories registered in the codex so far.
Just three more, and the tier-two collection effect would unlock.
*If a bunch of accessory trade requests come in, tier three won’t be far off either.*
[Collection Effect: 10]
|All accessories gain +1 use
[Collection Effect: 20]
|???
For now, he could only see up to tier two, but achieving that would surely reveal the next one.
*The collection thresholds seem to rise in tens... So the blessing kicks in around a hundred? Or maybe fifty?*
「Each codex has its own unique collection effects. Exceed a certain completion threshold, and you’ll acquire a blessing or skill with astonishing performance.」
If the system called it “astonishing,” it wouldn’t unlock easily.
“Um, excuse me... I’ve made my picks.”
While Youngwoo examined the accessory codex, the first buyer stepped up.
It was none other than the Goyang First Sword.
He’d somehow snagged gear amid the cutthroat Seoul First Swords.
Goyang First Sword Park Jung-jin’s haul: one sword, one pair of boots, one pair of pants. Three items total.
“Oh...?”
Youngwoo’s eyes widened at the armful of gear.
“You have... a lot of accessories? At this rate, you’d need to give me two.”
Just to confirm, Youngwoo asked. Park Jung-jin glanced nervously at the other First Swords before nodding cautiously.
“Yes, here...”
Rustle.
He slipped off a ring from his finger and rummaged a bracelet from his wrist, handing them to Youngwoo.
「Dragon Slayer」 - Mutated Ring
【Power +10% against Dragonkin.】
「Insulation」 - Mutated Bracelet
【Lightning Resistance 15%】
*Heavens.*
Youngwoo’s eyes went wide at the far stronger-than-expected effects.
Resistance gear was always welcome, and a dragonkin power boost was a first.
“This okay? This ring...”
Youngwoo asked, pinching the “Dragon Slayer” between his fingers. Park Jung-jin gave a wry smile.
“Yeah. You’re way more likely to fight dragons than I am.”
The chaebol heirs who might return as dragons.
They wouldn’t be ordinary mutants, so the strongest First Sword—Jeong Youngwoo—had the highest odds of clashing with them.
“Ah... Thanks.”
Youngwoo accepted the two accessories. Park Jung-jin bowed once more and stepped aside.
Right behind him, Oh Yeon-hee appeared, holding two pieces of gear.
One pair of boots, one suit of armor.
“I’ve got more accessories, but... these are ones I can’t part with personally.”
“Sure, no problem.”
Youngwoo accepted Oh Yeon-hee’s trade without hesitation.
As long as they were accessories, even lackluster effects were fine.
Even junk-tier ones would fill the codex.
*This unlocks tier two, at least.*
Youngwoo politely took the small earring she offered.
「Bear’s Heart」 - Mutated Earring
【You become intrepid.】
*...Definitely tossing the scraps.*
Oh Yeon-hee was soft-hearted, no doubt.
But Youngwoo saw it as a big mistake on her part.
Because.
*“Intrepid” means an ability you can’t buy with karma, right? Less fear.*
Especially after facing off against otherworldly beings on a whole different level—like Doggo’s shareholders—Youngwoo knew courage’s value well.
“Thanks.”
As Youngwoo gave his usual thanks, Oh Yeon-hee paused on her way out and asked a question.
“By the way, Youngwoo.”
“Yeah.”
“Why collect accessories? Got gear specialized for it?”
She knew he wasn’t the type to take losses.
Youngwoo registered the earring in his codex and grinned.
“Got my reasons. Military secret.”
* * *
A thoroughly gentlemanly, above-board accessory acquisition process.
Thanks to it, Youngwoo netted eight new accessories from the deal.
Five from direct trades, three already in the spoils.
Updating his collection status.
〔25〕
*Twenty-five... Five more for tier three.*
And with that, the tier-two effect for twenty accessories revealed itself.
Flash!
[Collection Effect: 20]
|All base resistances +15%
*What?*
All base resistances up 15%.
Considering single resistances from mutated or relic gear usually ranged 10-15%, this was insane.
*What exactly are “base resistances”?*
Youngwoo opened his status window at once.
Flash!
At the bottom, the resistances now displayed more complexly than before.
|Fire Resistance: 25%
|Cold Resistance: 15%
|Lightning Resistance: 30%
|Poison Resistance: 15%
|Supernatural Resistance: 10%
Not only had his existing fire resistance jumped another 15%, cold and poison resistances appeared without related gear equipped.
Lightning was the bracelet “Insulation”’s 15% plus the collection’s 15%.
*So fire, cold, lightning, and poison count as base resistances.*
As expected, supernatural resistance wasn’t base.
That one needed targeted farming.
*I remember the inspector had some ridiculous supernatural resistance item.*
Youngwoo’s memory was spot-on.
「Knotted Cross」 - Mutated Bracelet
【Supernatural Resistance 20%】
【--Empty Slot--】
Icheon First Sword Kim Byung-chul’s relic, now with Inspector Kwon Tae-young.
Single-target, special-category supernatural resistance at 20% with an empty slot... Mutated grade, but unique-tier performance at least.
*Harsh as it is... gotta get it back.*
It was given to honor the dead, so he couldn’t just demand it.
*...Trade for it. Humanely.*
Perfect timing—top-shelf gear piling up at his feet.
Swords or armor would suit Tae-young better than a bracelet anyway.
Clunk.
Youngwoo picked one weapon for Kwon Tae-young, handed it to the golden goblin, and stowed the rest.
*Too much. Hope it’s okay to take this much after divvying up.*
Even after distributing to the First Swords, gear towered like a mountain. Youngwoo blinked.
Including the mutated gear from the golden orb in Gangnam, fourteen pieces unexamined.
*Only accessories are immediately useful... To use the rest, need more codices ASAP.*
Weapons and armor piling up meant any new codex would yield massive stats and buffs.
*Almost looking forward to nightfall.*
Youngwoo glanced at the gathered First Swords, thinking of tonight’s dungeon.
“You’ve all worked hard today. You’re dismissed.”
As he mounted the Negugr, Seongbuk First Sword Lee Yu-bin asked.
“You... heading south too, Youngwoo...?”
Youngwoo shook his head.
“Nope.”
“Huh? Then where to?”
The other First Swords shot alarmed looks at Joseon’s First Sword amid the exchange.
“What’re you talking about, Youngwoo?”
“Not south from here—where else?”
“You’re not going north again, are you?”
Barely minutes since the north-south clash—now what mess was this?
As the southern First Swords panicked, Youngwoo calmly gazed north.
“Ah... Sorry, truly. Just one more trip today.”
* * *
Kwaang, kwaang!
Youngwoo set off north alone once more.
He wasn’t truly “advancing north,” though.
*No more war today.*
The sole reason he crossed the military demarcation line into North Korea again.
[Golden Journey]
|Summon golden rain in the next region.
|Domestic (3/3) |Foreign (0/2)
To progress another golden rain route today.
North Korea counted as foreign, confirmed—and he had two golden orbs left.
No need to delay the achievement till tomorrow.
*Risky, sure. All their First Swords are tracking me live right now.*
They might think the South Korean thief who crushed their main force was invading for revenge.
Kwaang, kwaang!
Still, just crossing Paju’s northern edge for now—plenty of leeway.
Youngwoo used the time to check the five overlooked accessories.
「Scorching Stone」 - Heroic Necklace
【Ignores extreme cold.】
“Oh?”
Starts with abnormal weather immunity.
*Extreme cold... Yesterday’s heatwave, but cold version?*
Four abnormal weather types confirmed so far.
Fog, temperature, rain, and wind—via the “Eye of the Storm” necklace.
「Eye of the Storm」 - Epic Necklace
【Ignores wind-type abnormal weather.】
Of the four, only wind unexperienced—so today’s day-four weather had high odds of wind.
*And now... temperature-type extreme cold’s covered too.*
Next.
「Steel Mark」 - Mutated Charm
【Durability +500.】
*Solid.*
Durability 500... Great now, but game-changing if gotten at reset’s start—near invincible.
Likely its original owner had been just that.
*Next.*
Shifting to the next tooltip, Youngwoo’s eyes suddenly bulged.
「Osmosis」 - Epic Ring
【Lowest base resistance matches the highest resistance value.】
“Epic?”
He yelped involuntarily.
And the effect? Insane.
*What’s that mean? Pulls the lowest resistance up to match the highest?*
One condition, though.
Only base resistances—fire, cold, lightning, poison.
But the highest could be any resistance.
Max supernatural, pull up a base one. Possible.
*Utterly broken gear. My benefactor was in the North.*
Youngwoo sent late thanks to the nameless fallen soul.
*Two left.*
The epic ring skewed things; the last two were comparatively mundane.
One was even detrimental to Youngwoo.
「Rotten Stench」 - Unique Bracelet
【Bleed Immunity】
「Centurion」 - Relic Ring
【10% less damage from blocks】
*No, bleed immunity? Amazing, but not for me—I need bleeds.*
Slot gems’ masochism effect boosted strength 25% on bleed.
Too much gear meant conflicts like this.
The system anticipated it—codex had a disable-effect option.
*Lucky. Nearly ruined myself grabbing the wrong bracelet.*
While Youngwoo reviewed, the Negugr carrying him passed Kaesong’s northeast.
Kwaang, kwaak!
He didn’t stop it because.
*Kaesong’s empty. Better find somewhere with people...*
He wanted to drop this precious golden rain where residents lived.
Hostile to North Korea? Sure, but not its entire populace.
Kwaang!
Pressing north, a new region status appeared.
Flash!
|You are now in ‘Geumcheon.’
|No First Sword in this region.
“Ah.”
North Hwanghae Province, Geumcheon County.
First visit for Youngwoo, but the name rang recent bells.
One Paju foe had borne “Geumcheon First Sword.”
Meaning—he was in the region whose title he’d stolen.
“...Here.”
Youngwoo tugged the Negugr’s reins, slowing it as if drawn.
The golden goblin, sensing his intent, handed over a golden orb.
-Keek.
As the goblin said—time for the first foreign golden rain.