Chapter 141
Chapter 141
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 141
Chapter Title: 34. Tectonic Shift (4)
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“Mm.”
Youngwoo looked around with a tense heart for some reason.
No North Korean residents had appeared nearby yet, but this act was still a full-fledged invasion all the same.
And it was only now occurring to him.
‘My name and face are engraved on these commemorative coins, and they’re money to boot... Isn’t this basically anti-North leaflets? It’s outright provocation.’
Golden coins from the South raining down across all of Geumcheon County.
How would North Korea’s First Swords—and its residents—take that?
‘Well, the line’s been crossed ages ago anyway.’
Youngwoo decided not to overthink it anymore.
Thud.
When he took the golden orb from the goblin, he could feel the strange object trembling faintly.
Ting...!
So Youngwoo simply set the orb down on the ground.
The golden orb then floated up into the air on its own and began to spin.
It was already activated.
Shoooo!
“......”
As Youngwoo watched the orb for a moment, a either/or quest appeared just like back in his own territory.
Flash!
≪Guaranteed Reward≫
「Ghost Armor」 - Mutated Breastplate
【15% reduction to projectile damage.】
【--Empty Slot--】
≪Choice Reward≫
[3 million karma]
or
[Distribute 30,000 karma to all residents in the region]
‘It’s not any different just because it’s foreign soil, huh.’
It was a bit deflating, but it wasn’t like some massive change was supposed to happen anyway.
This side could already claim a major achievement just by making it rain gold here.
‘Distribute 30,000 karma.’
[Distribute 30,000 karma to all residents in the region]
Once Youngwoo chose to distribute karma to the region’s residents, the golden orb spun even faster, just like always.
Kwaaaa!
It then shot up into the skies over Geumcheon County.
‘Never gets old no matter how many times I see it.’
Youngwoo’s gaze followed the golden orb as it climbed toward the distant heavens.
The orb drew a long golden trail in the sky before erupting in a brilliant explosion that dyed the upper atmosphere gold.
And then.
Shwaaaaa...!
It scattered golden light across all of Geumcheon County like rain.
“......”
Youngwoo briefly lost himself in the sight of the golden rain brushing harmlessly over the back of his hand.
It was an unimaginable luxury to come all the way to North Korea and enjoy this kind of romance.
But that lasted only a moment.
Soon, the karma distribution notice grabbed his attention fiercely.
《The Joseon First Sword ‘Jeong Youngwoo07’ from the Republic of Korea has given up 3 million karma monopoly and gifted 30,000 karma to all Geumcheon residents.》
“Huh...?”
He double-checked, wondering if he’d misread, but the notice remained unchanged.
It clearly said ‘from the Republic of Korea.’
‘It’s deliberately outing me as an outsider.’
Then the system announced the commemorative coin generation.
《30,000 karma will soon be distributed in commemorative coin form. Prepare yourselves.》
Soon, every resident of Geumcheon County would know the face of the Joseon First Sword who’d come from the South.
Clink.
The familiar sound of coin generation rang out.
Next came a faint rustle, and three golden coins engraved with Youngwoo’s name and face appeared in midair.
‘My god.’
Snap, snap!
Youngwoo hurriedly snatched the coins and glanced around frantically.
Of course no one would complain about free money, but it still made him nervous.
‘Anyway... let’s move.’
To evade any potential pursuing North Korean First Swords, Youngwoo climbed back onto Negig.
Thud!
He then checked his achievements, and as expected, the Golden Journey progress had updated.
[Golden Journey]
|Summon golden rain in the next region.
|Domestic (3/3) |Foreign (1/2)
One more golden rain in North Korea, and the ‘Golden Journey’ would be complete.
‘But that’ll use up my spare golden orb, so no guaranteed Night Dungeon anymore.’
The best scenario was finding an unclaimed mutant around here.
That way he could get one more golden orb.
‘Though that’d raise the odds of running into another furious North Korean First Sword.’
This area wasn’t far from Pyongyang either.
A Day 4 First Sword could cover this distance in tens of minutes.
‘Let’s head east a bit, drop the final golden rain, and book it back.’
The moment Youngwoo turned his head east while mapping out his plan in his mind.
Thud!
His eyes met those of a man who was racing toward him from the east.
“Huh?”
“Huh?”
The man on the other side was even more startled than Youngwoo.
This barefoot guy charging along with a long tachi at his waist had hovering above his head.
『Tosan First Sword』
Unlike Youngwoo, who tilted his head at the unfamiliar name,
the Tosan First Sword—who’d run into an outsider—couldn’t close his gaping mouth.
『Joseon First Sword』
The Joseon First Sword, whom he’d only seen in warning notices, was staring at him while mounted on some iron steed.
“Jo... Jo...!”
The Tosan First Sword was too shocked to pronounce more than a syllable.
Meanwhile, Youngwoo unconsciously raised a finger to his lips in a hush gesture because the man’s voice was so booming.
“Shh, shh! Quiet...! I’m not here to fight!”
“Jo, Jo... courage!”
The Tosan First Sword appeared to be a man in his early thirties, like Youngwoo.
But as he’d seen in the Paiju North-South showdown, this guy wasn’t tall either.
Maybe 160 cm at best.
Youngwoo, by contrast, was around two meters tall.
And with him mounted on the likewise two-meter-tall Negig to boot, his silhouette right now didn’t even look human.
That was why the Tosan First Sword—who was top-tier by North Korean standards—was panicking so hard.
He’d never dreamed the official Joseon First Sword in North Korea at present was some freak casting such a massive shadow.
“Better now? Like I said earlier, I’m not here to fight.”
Now...
At the subtle nuance in Youngwoo’s words, the Tosan First Sword—who’d seemed to calm down for a second—started breathing hard again.
“P-Please spare me. I have a wife and kids.”
“No... that’s not it.”
Youngwoo pinched his forehead, then realized he’d already wasted too much time here and asked the man,
“Where’s Tosan? You’re from around here, right?”
The guy had probably come rushing after seeing the sudden golden rain over Geumcheon County.
Even knowing the South’s stamped troublemaker First Sword was here.
That was how intensely golden rain piqued human curiosity.
“Tosan... it’s right over there.”
Swoosh.
At Youngwoo’s question, the Tosan First Sword pointed east with a finger.
Tosan County, North Hwanghae Province.
It bordered Geumcheon County, and as Youngwoo had guessed, the man had come running like he was mesmerized by the golden light falling from the sky.
“Ah, then let’s head to Tosan quick. There are residents there too, right?”
“......?”
The Tosan First Sword looked terrified at the suggestion to head straight to his turf.
Well, this was the guy who’d slain North Side First Swords one after another just an hour ago.
「Domestic title, Hwanghae First Sword, has been stolen!」
「Domestic title, Goksan First Sword, has been stolen!」
「Domestic title, Sinuiju First Sword, has been stolen!」
Everyone still alive among North Korea’s First Swords—including this Tosan First Sword—had seen those horrific theft notices.
And now the perpetrator of that brutal atrocity shows up out of nowhere saying, ‘Then let’s head to Tosan quick.’
“D-Do you really need to harm innocent people too?”
In the end, the Tosan First Sword mustered his courage to resist, so Youngwoo reluctantly pulled a commemorative coin from his pocket and showed it.
“This is the third time I’m saying it, but I’m not here to fight. I’m gonna distribute 30,000 karma per resident in Tosan, so guide me already. If I have to say it a fourth time, I might actually harm you.”
“......!”
* * *
Tosan First Sword, Hwang Pyeongsu03.
Youngwoo learned the man’s name thanks to the region status.
Clank, clank.
After heading straight east for a while, the region status—previously set to Geumcheon County—finally switched to Tosan.
|You are currently in ‘Tosan.’
|This region’s First Sword is ‘Hwang Pyeongsu03.’ 1st place, defended 62 times.
“Pyeongsu, huh.”
When Youngwoo recited the name from the status, Hwang Pyeongsu gave an awkward smile and bobbed his head low.
“Y-Yes... I’m Hwang Pyeongsu. W-Welcome to Tosan.”
Hwang Pyeongsu’s defense count was 62.
That was remarkably low for North Korea, which had turned into a brutal lawless zone right after reset.
Sure, Tosan County didn’t have a huge population, but more than that, Hwang Pyeongsu’s nature wasn’t ferocious.
While First Swords from other regions massacred to show off their power, Hwang Pyeongsu only drew his blade in legitimate self-defense.
“Um... we’ll run into residents if we go any farther.”
Tosan’s Hwang Pyeongsu gazed up at Youngwoo with an expression pitiful for a First Sword.
Youngwoo glanced around in case of pursuers, then checked his narrative compass ‘Frightened Cat’ once over.
Then.
“Yeah, good. Let’s do it here.”
With that, Youngwoo held out his hand to the golden goblin, and it opened its subspace pouch.
Rustle.
-Kee!
Hwang Pyeongsu’s eyes went wide as he stared blankly.
He’d just glimpsed an infinite space inside the sack that little monster was carrying.
“W-What was that just now...?”
But before he could finish, the goblin pulled out the golden orb.
“Gasp.”
Just like Youngwoo once had, Hwang Pyeongsu recoiled in shock at the fact that the orb could be handled like an object.
Tsss.
“Kinda weird, right? I still haven’t gotten used to it myself.”
Youngwoo said this as he took the golden orb from the goblin and set it on the ground.
Thud.
“W-What are you trying to do?”
The orb was already spinning rapidly, so Hwang Pyeongsu alternated terrified glances between Youngwoo and the orb.
“I’m gonna make it rain gold here in Tosan too, like what you saw on the way here.”
“So what exactly is this golden rain...?”
While Hwang Pyeongsu pressed, the wildly churning golden orb shot up into the sky.
Kwaaaa!
“Wha?!”
Seizing the moment when the Tosan First Sword’s pupils were dyed gold, Youngwoo checked his mutated gear reward.
≪Guaranteed Reward≫
「Retaliator」 - Mutated Shield
【After defending, the next attack’s power increases by 15%.】
‘Perfect. Sticking that in the codex should make it work even without a shield for defense.’
But for now, it was just pie in the sky.
He had too much gear to equip bows, spears, swords, and shields all at once.
-Kik!
While Youngwoo handed the ‘Retaliator’ shield to the goblin for now, the commemorative coins generated in midair right on cue.
Clink!
Youngwoo snatched them up quick like before, then hurriedly mounted Negig.
Pursuers from Pyongyang or wherever could be on him any second.
“You mentioned family earlier—that wasn’t a lie, right? They should’ve gotten coins too. Share them well.”
As Youngwoo finished and prepared to leave, Hwang Pyeongsu—who’d been spacing out—unconsciously grabbed the Joseon monster’s knee.
Grab!
“W-Wait!”
“......?”
“I don’t know why you’re doing this, but... thank you anyway.”
“...Ah.”
Youngwoo wasn’t used to receiving thanks from anyone.
He stared blankly at the North Korean First Sword his own age, then smiled faintly.
“If we meet again, let’s not fight then either.”
With that, he turned south and shifted his gaze to the flashing notice in front of him.
「You have unclaimed achievement rewards.」
「Recommended achievement list has been updated.」