Chapter 155
Chapter 155
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 155
Chapter Title: 37. Biological Father (4)
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That grotesque old man was asking his age.
Which meant.
“…….”
Kim Jeong-gu glanced at the Uijeongbu First Sword, split in half and lying dead.
“There’s no way I’m your father……? You’ve got the wrong guy.”
Based on the pattern he’d seen so far, revealing his age would likely get him killed.
But he doubted they’d let him live if he refused to answer.
‘What should I do? He really seems to think I’m his father.’
The opponent was an unbeatable powerhouse, and escape was impossible, as he’d witnessed earlier.
‘How did I end up running into a lunatic like this?’
Cold sweat poured down his back.
Even so, Jeong-gu desperately calculated the age difference between himself and the freak.
‘Uh… how old did he say? Thirty-four?’
And Kim Jeong-gu was fifty-eight this year.
Subtract the freak’s age from his own……
‘…Twenty-four.’
What could have happened back then?
It was so long ago that he truly couldn’t remember.
‘No way. What kind of son would I have had at that young age for him to act like this?’
As Jeong-gu stood there with a face like he might burst into tears at any moment, the Joseon First Sword gripped his demonic sword tightly and pressed for an answer.
“Tell me your age.”
“W-Why does it even matter? You’re just gonna kill me once you hear it anyway!”
“…….”
In response, Yeong-woo glanced at the demonic sword ‘Bastard’ that was already drenched in blood.
“I’m still deciding on that.”
“What……?”
Kim Jeong-gu was starting to fear the man himself now.
Yeong-woo, on the other hand, was dead serious.
“I killed him because he was the Uijeongbu First Sword. I’d heard all about his notoriety in this area ever since Cheorwon.”
Then Yeong-woo scratched his chin with the Dragon’s Legacy.
It was an unconscious habit since he was holding swords in both hands, but to onlookers, it looked like a straight-up murder threat.
“Of course, even if he turned out to be my father, I probably would’ve killed him anyway. A Grade 6 human who was locked up in prison right up until Reset Day… He’d be the kind of father who deserved to vanish.”
Yeong-woo rambled on about his inner thoughts.
Naturally, most people there didn’t fully process his words, but Dobong First Sword Kim Jeong-gu was different.
“Grade 6……?”
Kim Jeong-gu’s mouth fell open involuntarily.
Just as expected, Yeong-woo spoke as if he’d anticipated it.
“Father, you’re a Grade 6 human, right? That’s correct, isn’t it?”
“Uh… yeah?”
Dobong’s top fighter was visibly flustered.
What were the odds of guessing someone’s internal grade on a hunch, especially for a total stranger?
The circumstances made it clear: this freak had prior knowledge of his supposed father’s grade.
And coincidentally, the ‘father’ the freak had pointed out, Kim Jeong-gu’s internal grade was.
‘I… I’m… yeah, Grade 6.’
Goosebumps erupted across his skin, followed by a vague sense of dread.
Could everything this freak had said so far actually be true?
‘Did I unknowingly father a child who grew up without me knowing?’
Tsk.
As Kim Jeong-gu backed away in bewilderment, a woman’s voice came from somewhere behind him.
“It could’ve been a woman who raised him alone. Either way, I doubt he’s barking up the wrong tree.”
The voice belonged to Yangju First Sword Choi Jong-seon, cradling a baby while riding her Iron Horse Neguig.
“W-Who the hell are you…….”
Kim Jeong-gu startled upon seeing Jong-seon.
No way she was the ‘daughter-in-law.’
『Yangju First Sword』
‘Shit, what am I even thinking?’
Shuddering, he turned back toward the freak—only to find the madman had stepped closer.
“…Ugh!”
“Guess it’s hard to just accept it outright. Can’t really wrap your head around it, huh.”
Yeong-woo shrugged his massive shoulders as he looked down at his ‘father.’
“But it’s the same for me. This guy being my father……? I’ve never even had a father, so I wouldn’t know, but it feels way off from what I imagined anyway.”
Kim Jeong-gu, age fifty-eight.
Aside from the ‘Dobong First Sword’ title hovering over his head, there wasn’t anything particularly remarkable about him.
He stood at 165 cm—not tall—and his natural build wasn’t impressive either.
Purely on physical specs, you could slap a ‘Grade 6’ label on him without batting an eye.
And yet.
‘And yet he became the First Sword. How? How did a Grade 6 human outperform hundreds of thousands to claim First Sword…….’
That was exactly why Yeong-woo couldn’t bring himself to stab this man.
No cinematic gut feeling hit him the moment he laid eyes on him—no instant “this is my father” revelation—but some kind of connection was visibly there.
Jeong Yeong-woo07, born Grade 4 yet rose to Gumi’s First Sword.
Kim Jeong-gu11, born Grade 6 yet became the top dog in Dobong, one of Seoul’s twenty-five districts.
Did the phrase “like father, like son” even apply here?
Either way, this man was just as extraordinary as Yeong-woo.
More precisely, his post-Reset accomplishments spoke for themselves.
‘I used to think my real father created not the current me, but some poor bastard who got beaten to death on the streets. I was wrong.’
Finally, Yeong-woo’s gaze shifted to Kim Jeong-gu’s title, which now seemed disproportionately large.
『Dobong First Sword』
‘This man did help make the current me, at least in part. Something that let him exceed his birth grade came from him.’
So what had he inherited from his still-nameless mother?
“…….”
Yeong-woo squeezed his eyes shut, and to his surprise, his blackened vision brought up the achievement window.
Pop!
Whether it was a glitch in the system or Yeong-woo unconsciously summoning it himself, he couldn’t tell.
What mattered now was.
‘…Ah.’
The achievement that had held the top spot on his list longer than any other since unlocking the system—“Perfect Orphan”—appeared as if waiting for its moment.
[Perfect Orphan]
|Find and eliminate your parents. (1/2)
The achievement that would fully realize Yeong-woo’s core identity as an ‘orphan,’ etched even into his internal settings.
It was also one of the early achievements the system had recommended when it labeled him a ‘blockhead.’
In other words, whatever the reward, it had a high chance of enhancing Yeong-woo’s unique traits.
‘But to get it, I have to kill my father as the price.’
Swish.
As Yeong-woo stared silently at Kim Jeong-gu, Choi Jong-seon—who’d been watching the scene—widened her eyes and shouted.
“You crazy bastard! No, you wouldn’t, right? You’re not an orphan anymore……!”
Kim Jeong-gu swallowed dryly and said to Yeong-woo.
“Y-Yeah, you must be furious. But am I really your father? No… even if by some miracle I am, I lived my whole life without knowing my son existed! How could I be the father who abandoned his kid……!”
Jeong-gu’s plea dripped with injustice.
But when Jeong Yeong-woo didn’t even twitch an eyebrow, Kim Jeong-gu suddenly stabbed the sword in his hand into the ground.
Thud!
Then he dropped to one knee and looked up at Yeong-woo.
“Fifty-eight.”
“……?”
“Fifty-eight. That’s my age. So if I really am your biological father, it would’ve been around when I was twenty-four.”
This time, Yeong-woo spoke up.
“Quasi-intent.”
“Huh?”
“They call it quasi-intent conception. According to the Fate Chronicle.”
“…….”
How could Kim Jeong-gu even respond to that? He knelt there with a dumbfounded expression.
“Anyway, you could kill me anytime if that’s what you want.”
A son who had grown into… no, something terrifying beyond imagination, come to find him without his knowledge.
At this point, even Kim Jeong-gu couldn’t flatly deny it.
As he’d said earlier, what if—just what if—this freak’s claim was true……?
“If I’m wrong by some chance, then I’ve committed a grave sin against you. In this world’s terms, it’d be ‘karma.’”
Grade 6 human and Dobong First Sword Kim Jeong-gu’s eyes grew complicated.
He still thought it was nonsense, but the tiny possibility that he might be wrong crept in.
Above all, the fact that this guy had nailed his grade on the first try felt unnervingly bizarre.
“Just as we voted on karma to summon mutants, maybe you’re the mutant meant for me.”
Kim Jeong-gu stretched his neck out like he was offering it for the blade, reciting his dramatic line.
If this was payback for his own karma, he’d accept it.
‘…Suddenly getting all enlightened like this?’
Yeong-woo was thrown off by the abrupt shift in attitude.
Then it hit him.
‘Is this punk a con artist? Acting to weasel his way out.’
Certified ‘blockhead’ by the system.
The moment doubt crept into Yeong-woo’s mind about his father, he raised the mythic one-handed sword ‘Bastard’ into the air.
Swish.
“I appreciate you thinking that way. Truth is, I’ve got this achievement to find my biological father and kill him.”
“…What?”
At Yeong-woo’s sudden confession, Kim Jeong-gu—who’d been holding out his neck—bulged his eyes.
“W-What’d you say?”
“You’ll know soon enough once I take your head. If we’re really father and son, the achievement will complete.”
“W-Wait!”
“Even if not, you’ll have some karma of your own, so take the reward graciously, Father!”
Whoosh!
‘Bastard’ truly plummeted toward the nape of Kim Jeong-gu’s neck.
Everyone present, including Choi Jong-seon, squeezed their eyes shut.
“Argh!”
“He’s actually insane!”
“Kyaa!”
No one wanted to watch another human body split open in real time.
However.
Snikt!
Nothing like what people expected happened.
Yeong-woo had never intended to behead Kim Jeong-gu in the first place.
So the blade of ‘Bastard’ halted just before touching his neck.
But Kim Jeong-gu.
“…Gah.”
Was rolling sideways in the most obvious motion imaginable.
Whoosh!
He even drew a hidden dagger from his bosom while rolling.
Of course, his speech about stoically accepting fate moments ago had been pure deception.
“You little……?”
As Yeong-woo’s eyes blazed at the shameless trick, his vision suddenly flashed white, and a system message appeared.
Ping!
[Doggo] “Paternal Confirmation”
<Task> Spend 3 days with ‘Kim Jeong-gu11.’
<Reward> 20 million karma.
<Special> Kim Jeong-gu11 must remain alive during the task.
It was a Doggo quest.
‘Ah.’
The first commission he’d received since meeting the Chairman.
‘Spend 3 days with that guy?’
The Advertiser didn’t want outright patricide.
Makes sense—Doggo, who’d condemned the lewd content producer Remu as vile.
In Earth terms, they were a group with strong Confucian values; they wouldn’t sit idly by if their ad model killed his own biological father.
‘Then what about the achievement? Seems like I can kill him after 3 days.’
[Perfect Orphan]
|Find and eliminate your parents. (1/2)
Truth be told, curiosity about the man in front of him had killed any intent to murder—but after that astonishing roll, murderous urge surged.
Still, he couldn’t turn down 20 million karma just falling into his lap by waiting it out.
“…….”
After composing himself, Yeong-woo spoke to Kim Jeong-gu, who had already hidden the dagger again.
“I’ve changed my mind. I won’t kill my father. But I have a condition.”
“A c-condition……?”
“Convince me over the next 3 days. If you’re really not my father, prove it somehow.”
Kim Jeong-gu, lacking confidence, asked a negative question first.
“…And if I fail?”
“Then I’ll finally become a perfect orphan.”