Chapter 146
Chapter 146
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 146
Chapter Title: 35. Innate (3)
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Orphan.
A term for a child who has lost their parents or been abandoned by them, left with nowhere to turn.
Thus, Youngwoo was undoubtedly an orphan.
He had definitely been abandoned by his parents.
However, to gain full recognition as a complete orphan from even the Achievement System, he had to perfectly fulfill the dictionary definition.
[Complete Orphan]
|Find and eliminate your parents. (1/2)
The system only viewed children whose parents no longer existed in this world as complete orphans.
‘So right now, I’m an incomplete orphan?’
In any case, introducing himself as an orphan to the world wouldn’t be wrong.
“…….”
With Youngwoo tossing all his weapons aside and spreading his arms wide, Yangju First Sword Choi Jong-seon swallowed hard.
Gulp.
“Ah… An orphan? Oh dear… That’s so regrettable.”
She was taken aback by his sudden personal revelation, but she upheld her duty regardless.
Because Choi Jong-seon was a mother to one child before she was the First Sword.
As a mother who wielded a sword to protect her child, how could she ignore someone who had openly declared himself an orphan?
There was just one not-insignificant issue.
-Whirrr……
Behind the opponent, who had discarded his weapons as if he had no intention of fighting, a massive golden greatsword still floated.
Casting a huge shadow blatantly across the ground.
“Ah.”
Noticing Choi Jong-seon’s peculiar gaze, Youngwoo belatedly realized the situation and hurriedly grabbed the greatsword’s hilt, slamming it into the ground.
Thud!
“S-Sorry. It’s a sword I got recently, so I’m not great at controlling it yet.”
At that, Choi Jong-seon, who had been tense-faced until now, let out a hollow chuckle and relaxed her expression for a moment.
A hollow laugh was still a laugh, and it unwittingly chipped away at some of her wariness.
Then, soon enough.
“Um… Is your father really in Uijeongbu……?”
She put on a solemn face again and asked cautiously.
She had inexplicably felt trust from his flustered demeanor just now.
So, his earlier self-introduction as an orphan surely wasn’t a lie.
“Yes. As far as I know.”
As Youngwoo answered, he glanced at the tracking marker in his vision.
The arrow still pointed steadfastly south.
“Ah… I see.”
Choi Jong-seon looked at Youngwoo with eyes even more pitying than before.
If this man’s father had been a resident of Uijeongbu, the odds were high that he was either a corpse by now or had fled to an entirely different region.
She had no way of knowing that this orphan possessed an achievement allowing him to check his parents’ status—and that the achievement was called ‘Complete Orphan.’
And so, in the end.
“It’s unusual, but… given your circumstances, I have no choice. This is my wish that you reunite safely with your father.”
Swipe.
She extended a favor, opening the path to the merchant for an outsider.
“Ahh… Thank you.”
Youngwoo bowed deeply to her in response.
It was both an expression of gratitude and respect.
Yangju First Sword Choi Jong-seon was a bold figure who hadn’t shied away from combat even after seeing the ‘Golden Trajectory,’ and at the same time, a mother to one child.
Youngwoo had no desire to fight such a woman.
That was why he had preemptively revealed himself as an orphan.
No matter how disillusioned someone might be with this world, if they were protecting a child, they couldn’t help but react to the keyword ‘orphan.’ That’s what he’d thought.
And fortunately.
Clank, clank.
Youngwoo passed without swinging his sword once.
‘Being an orphan can be helpful sometimes.’
As Youngwoo advanced toward the merchant, the metallic clank of his mirage-shrouded feet echoing, Choi Jong-seon picked up the child from the ground and stepped aside.
-Grrrrowl……
Day 4’s merchant in Yangju City was a hulking toad adorned with flashy patterns.
The difference from Earth’s variety? It had an extra pair of legs… no, arms.
-Gruk.
Propping its massive body on its thick hind legs, it groped the black pillar’s surface with its four arms.
As if pondering whether it could escape this barrier.
‘This guy’s a merchant too…? Pretty enterprising.’
As Youngwoo watched the tirelessly prowling alien merchant’s eyeball, the space before the light pillar soon split open, and mediator Kubu appeared.
Ssslllit.
The cosmic middleman who used vast swathes of empty air as eyelids.
The moment Kubu appeared on Earth, it blinked its large eye once before letting out a startled sound.
―Oh.
Then it recited a line distinctly different from before.
―It’s an honor to meet again Earth’s human, Jeong Youngwoo07, the strongest in Gyeongbuk, Gangnam, and north of the Korean Peninsula!
In the time apart, Youngwoo’s record had become far more illustrious.
―I am Kubu, master of the Tenta Clan and guardian of Daro, here to mediate this transaction.
Finally, Kubu delivered its greeting after a long while.
At that, Yangju First Sword’s eyes widened.
“……!”
She had traded with merchants before, so the mediator’s presence wasn’t surprising, but the descriptors for that orphan just now were entirely unexpected.
‘The strongest in Gyeongbuk, Gangnam, and north of the Korean Peninsula……?’
As Choi Jong-seon pondered the meaning of ‘north of the Korean Peninsula,’ Kubu continued.
―The mediation fee for this transaction is 10%, included in the item price. However, since the deal is already in progress, caravan changes are not permitted.
“Got it. Long time no see. Proceed with the trade.”
Youngwoo gave a casual greeting and approved the transaction, prompting Kubu to blink its massive eye.
―This transaction’s seller is the tattooist of Pegua. Displaying the item list.
As Kubu rolled its eyeball, a blue blotch formed before Youngwoo’s eyes, gradually morphing into human letters.
Ssslllit.
2 ― 「Stamp of Endurance」 - Relic Tattoo
【All resistances maximum +1%.】
◇ 330,000 karma
3 ― 「Shelter of the Night」 - Unique Tattoo
【Gain 15% damage reduction at night.】
◇ 750,000 karma
5 ― 「Blank Space」 - Narrative Tattoo
【Allocate ad space on body.】
◇ 3,400,000 karma
This merchant sold tattoos.
But.
“Huh?”
As Youngwoo carefully scanned the list and widened his eyes, the watching Yangju First Sword flinched in surprise and gripped her sword without thinking.
“Wh-What’s wrong?”
She had opened the path out of goodwill, but she couldn’t ignore the fear instilled by the title ‘strongest north of the Korean Peninsula.’
In this reset world, what proved someone the strongest?
It could only mean they had slain countless powerhouses north of the Korean Peninsula.
And this came straight from an otherworldly mediator, so it had to be fact.
‘My god.’
Meanwhile, Youngwoo was stunned by item 5, ‘Blank Space,’ which Yangju First Sword had left unpurchased.
It was an item—a tattoo—whose true value only someone who had worked as an otherworldly ad model could appreciate.
‘You mean I have to get alien text tattooed on my body?’
Regardless, few on Earth would invest 3.4 million karma in such a bizarre tooltip.
And by coincidence.
‘…I have to buy this.’
Jeong Youngwoo07 was one of those few.
* Available karma: 8,694,000
Youngwoo’s total karma was about 8.69 million.
Buying everything from this Pegua tattooist would cost 4.48 million karma.
‘This might even exceed my budget? I still need to visit the merchants in Paju, Gangnam, and Gwangjin District.’
That said, passing on the other two tattoos felt wrong.
The Stamp of Endurance boosted the absolute maximum of every resistance, after all.
Failing to grab such an effect early could lead to major regrets later.
And Shelter of the Night?
「Shelter of the Night」 - Unique Tattoo
【Gain 15% damage reduction at night.】
‘This is for sniping night dungeons.’
Tattoos, unlike gear, could be layered on any available body space.
‘There’s probably a tattoo codex too. No downside here.’
Youngwoo decided to buy out the merchant’s stock.
‘I’ll take all three remaining tattoos.’
As Youngwoo gave final approval, Kubu rolled its eye once more, and the Pegua tattooist reacted with excitement.
-Grak!
Uttering a sound utterly different in tone, it pounded the light pillar furiously with its two pairs of arms.
―Transaction complete. Thank you as always.
With Kubu announcing the deal’s success, Youngwoo’s karma balance plummeted.
Flash!
* Available karma: 4,214,000
Balance: 4.21 million karma.
He’d spent half his money, yet plenty remained.
―Well then, I’ll be off. Survive until next time.
As Kubu bid farewell, Youngwoo hurriedly waved to stop it.
“W-Wait! Hold on!”
Kubu, about to roll its eye, and the tattooist, lifting its head skyward, froze.
―……?
Being detained after the job was done was a first for the mediator, so Kubu just blinked at the trader.
“I have one question. Only you could answer this, Kubu.”
At Youngwoo’s words, Kubu glanced skyward briefly.
Then it closed its large eye once before opening it again.
―Ask away.
“Oh!”
With Kubu’s permission, Youngwoo fired off his question without hesitation.
“Grade 2! What level is a grade 2 or higher otherworlder? Have I encountered any grade 2+ caravans so far? Or is that your grade, Kubu……?”
This was to properly grasp one of the conditions for his new golden achievement, ‘Golden Tempest.’
-When a grade 2+ otherworlder visits.
Youngwoo had no clue what a grade 2+ otherworlder entailed exactly.
But the response was unexpected.
Kubu’s eyelid began trembling violently upon hearing the question.
It was clearly flustered.
―I dare not… describe the dignity of those beings.
And astonishingly.
-Gruk……
The Pegua tattooist, unlike before, had drooped all four arms, adopting an utterly humble posture.
In the otherworld, a grade 2’s status was such that even mentioning them was taboo.
“Then what grades are you and the tattooist? You can tell me that, right?”
Realizing his breach of etiquette, Youngwoo offered a workaround, and Kubu blinked.
―Kubu, master of the Tenta Clan and guardian of Daro, is a lowly grade 9 being under cosmic law. And.
-Ggruk, gruk……
―The nameless wretch born lowly, tattooist of Pegua, is a grade 11 being under cosmic law.
“Ah…….”
Their self-introductions dripped with such low self-esteem that even Choi Jong-seon, listening alongside Youngwoo, wore a sad expression.
On the other hand, Youngwoo’s lips twitched with a new curiosity after hearing their grades.
Should he ask this…?
“Then what grade am I under cosmic law?”