Chapter 152
Chapter 152
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 152
Chapter Title: 37. Biological Father (1)
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Uijeongbu.
A city in northern Gyeonggi Province with a pre-Reset population of 460,000.
It borders Yangju City to the north and connects directly to Seoul's Dobong and Nowon Districts to the south.
In other words, Uijeongbu serves as a bridge linking northern Gyeonggi and Seoul.
‘But the Seoul Federation had no idea about the Uijeongbu situation...?’
Of course, it wasn't entirely implausible.
Dobong and Nowon, which border Uijeongbu, had never participated in First Sword gatherings.
‘Yeah, they must have known exactly what was going on in Uijeongbu. But they just didn't bother telling the gathering.’
After the Reset, most districts had become fully autonomous zones.
Meaning participation in gatherings or sharing information was entirely optional.
‘Come to think of it, there were still a lot of unknown areas in Gangseo too.’
As Young-woo scanned the unidentified zones one by one, Jong-seon raised her hand and pointed ahead.
Shk.
“Uijeongbu starts over there.”
Joseon First Sword, Jeong Young-woo.
Yangju First Sword, Choi Jong-seon.
Right now, the two were riding together on Negig, heading to Uijeongbu in search of Young-woo's biological father.
However, Jong-seon was holding a baby, needing a bit more space, so in the end.
-Kiggit!
The golden goblin that had been riding in the back seat had no choice but to trot along on its two feet.
“…Is he going to be okay? Running like that the whole time.”
Perhaps bothered by the goblin's footsteps, Jong-seon kept glancing back.
Young-woo turned to look as well and said.
“He'll be f… fine. He's pretty fast by nature anyway.”
“Ahh…”
But even after hearing Young-woo, Jong-seon couldn't fully relax.
-Kiggit! Git!
Even that squat little goblin must have parents or children somewhere.
It was only now starting to dawn on her where they might be left, and why it had ended up here.
“How did you end up meeting him?”
“Bought him with money.”
“...?”
“From a merchant.”
“Ah.”
Relic-grade slave, golden goblin.
「Golden Goblin」 - Relic Slave
【Stores items in subspace.】
【Picks up valuable things.】
When they met the wandering merchant Boltak in Mungyeong, the first thing the 'Serpent of Greed' had pointed out after vanishing was the golden goblin.
And the 'Morning Star' that summoned advertisers had been bought at the same time, so in a way, the Serpent of Greed had dramatically changed Young-woo's life.
“Does he bother you that much? If having him trail behind is uncomfortable, you can hold him.”
“Ahh, it's not that extreme, but… still, he must have family somewhere. I wonder how he ended up here.”
As expected of a mother, full of compassion.
Young-woo had thought the same about the goblin before, so it felt oddly familiar.
“Are all mothers like that? So much empathy.”
“Well, with a child around, those thoughts come naturally. Others might not know, but a mom always cherishes her kid.”
In that context, they were making someone's precious child run endlessly on the roadside.
“Mm.”
Soon, Jong-seon made a resolute sound and asked Young-woo.
“He doesn't bite people or anything, right?”
“Yeah. Probably.”
“…Then I'll hold him.”
“With the baby too?”
“Yes.”
And around then, the regional status in the corner of his vision changed.
Pah!
|You are currently in ‘Uijeongbu’.
|This region's First Sword is ‘Kwak Seongwon04’. 2nd generation, defended 93 times.
“Ah.”
Now they were entering Uijeongbu. The place where his biological father might be staying.
‘No way the First Sword here is my dad.’
Young-woo looked around with a strange feeling.
Anyone he encountered here had a slight chance of being his father.
From now on, he'd have to check the tracking mark at least once before swinging his sword.
“Let's go.”
As Young-woo ordered Negig to move again, Jong-seon, now cradling the golden goblin, threw out a question.
“By the way, do you know your father's name?”
“Nope.”
“Then his face…?”
“No idea there either.”
“Uh…? Then how are you going to find him? Are you sure he's living here?”
Jong-seon's face darkened again.
She wondered if this orphan was about to pull off another absurd stunt.
In response, Young-woo pulled out the fountain pen 'Wanted Poster'.
“This tells me the target's location. If it's not glitching, my father's in Uijeongbu.”
He also had the 'Complete Orphan' achievement, but Young-woo didn't mention that part.
“If the item says so… then your father must definitely be here.”
Jong-seon's tone grew somber.
Jeong Young-woo's father still remaining in Uijeongbu this long meant he was very likely a villain.
Starting from the Uijeongbu Prison incident on Reset Day 1, most civilians were thought to have either died in the city or barely escaped.
‘Well, judging by this guy's state, his father probably isn't ordinary either.’
By now, Jong-seon's eyes had naturally drifted to the name of Uijeongbu's First Sword.
If he was the father of the Joseon First Sword, it wouldn't be strange if that guy held the Uijeongbu First Sword title too.
Kwa-kwang, kwa-kwang!
As they passed through the somewhat empty outskirts of Uijeongbu, tall apartments began appearing on the right side of the road.
“The buildings look really clean.”
“Why's that?”
“It means monsters or mutants get dealt with the moment they show up.”
“Ah.”
Jong-seon, who had only seen Yangju post-Reset, finally nodded at Young-woo's words.
“But like you said last time, if real power in Uijeongbu fell to criminals, then this quick monster cleanup must be their doing.”
In other words, all survivors in this region were on par with monster contractors from other areas.
No, their actual combat prowess might even be much higher.
Prisoners weren't people living normal lives shattered by the Reset; they gained a form of freedom through it.
So their attitude toward this world was probably far more proactive than ordinary folks?
“Yeah. So everyone we run into here is basically an enemy…”
Jong-seon trailed off, staring ahead.
Young-woo had already spotted the group of people waiting over there.
About ten of them, maybe.
Sticking out above the group were spears, and the blades glinting in the sunlight were mostly earlybirds.
‘…That many earlybirds means.’
They were combatants or raiders.
Unless the owners had deliberately gathered, swords handed out as first-come-first-served exchange rewards wouldn't cluster like that.
‘Tough neighborhood.’
Of course, Young-woo was a problematic figure that even universal weapon brands lusted after, and the mom in the back was the Yangju First Sword with 233 wins in 233 battles.
So Young-woo didn't even ask Jong-seon's opinion and just had Negig walk forward.
Clank, clank.
The faces of Uijeongbu locals who had come out to the roadside, wondering who these outsiders were, gradually hardened.
“Huh…?”
“W-What?”
“Fuck, what the hell is that.”
A black iron steed hard to even classify as a living thing, a 2-meter golden greatsword flying in the sky, two First Swords, and a baby.
And finally.
“Isn't that… a goblin?”
“…….”
On top of that, the First Sword in front bore the title 'Joseon First Sword'.
Fake titles didn't exist in this world, so the guy they were seeing was definitely the Joseon First Sword.
“Joseon First Sword… what?”
“What does Joseon even refer to?”
While they kept muttering 'what', the iron steed carrying the two First Swords came right up close.
The Uijeongbu people gripped their weapons tightly, backing away bit by bit to clear a path for the outsiders.
They couldn't muster the nerve to attack first.
Young-woo was the first to turn his gaze toward them.
“…….”
Just maybe one of them could be his father.
But the tracking mark in his vision tilted eastward.
The target was nearby, but not here.
So Young-woo eyed the burliest one among them and asked.
“What's over there?”
Swk.
As he said it and raised 'Bastard' to point east, everyone in the group gasped and stumbled back.
Shaaaa……
It was a demonic sword brimming with evil aura at first glance.
“W-Well, off the top of my head…”
The giant, singled out by Young-woo, stammered as he groped for words.
“P-Prison?”
“…Ah.”
The following sigh came from Jong-seon.
She had a gut feeling they wouldn't witness a heartwarming father-son reunion here today.
Young-woo, having half-expected it, showed no disturbance.
“I see. Is Uijeongbu's First Sword at the prison right now too?”
Uijeongbu First Sword, Kwak Seongwon04—the prime biological father candidate at present.
As Young-woo asked about the First Sword's whereabouts, the giant scratched his forehead.
“S-Sir. Sorry to keep saying 'well', but… we don't know much about the prison side either. It's basically a warzone, so we avoid going near it unless we have to.”
“Warzone? Who are you fighting?”
“The Gangbuk Alliance.”
“……?”
The core of the Seoul Federation was right here, so what was this Gangbuk Alliance?
But at the same time, it vaguely made sense.
The three districts north of Gangbuk—No won, Dobong, and Gangbuk-gu—had no ties to First Sword gatherings.
So if those three had formed their own alliance and were at war with Uijeongbu…
‘That explains it. Why the Seoul Federation knew nothing about Uijeongbu.’
The front line built by the Gangbuk Alliance hadn't been pushed back yet, so the First Sword gathering in central Seoul couldn't sense Uijeongbu's presence.
“If you're going to meet Uijeongbu's First Sword, you should hurry.”
“…Why?”
When Young-woo asked back, the giant briefly glanced toward the regional status.
“It's right about time for fighting to break out. Mutants cleared, merchants sent off.”
Then he added.
“No matter how strong Uijeongbu's First Sword is, if three Seoul bosses show up at once, that's tough, right?”
“Makes sense.”
Hearing the giant, Young-woo glanced at the regional status.
|You are currently in ‘Uijeongbu’.
|This region's First Sword is ‘Kwak Seongwon04’. 2nd generation, defended 96 times.
‘Huh.’
Just moments ago, the defense count had clearly been 93; now it was 96.
Whether it was a real war or not, Uijeongbu's First Sword was definitely in combat.
“Shouldn't we hurry? If that's your father…”
Jong-seon voiced her concern, and Young-woo nodded.
But his follow-up words were completely different from what she intended.
“If he's going to die anyway, better I do the killing.”
“Why…?”