Chapter 190
Chapter 190
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 190
Chapter Title: 41. Everyone's Greatest Swordsman (10)
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Dragon.
These beings were clearly given special treatment in the reset world.
They could pre-designate their arch-enemy before descending, and even summon abnormal weather to their spawn area.
But even so.
—Oh, don't come...!
There was always someone even more special and stronger.
For instance, Jeong Yeong-woo, the Joseon Greatest Swordsman, who had just begun charging at Im Gwang-ho.
“Chairman!”
Yeong-woo's golden eyes gleaming as he gripped his sword and rushed forward—even Im Gwang-ho, who had lorded over countless people in his human days—froze in terror at the sight.
—Th...!
In the end, another breath began to gather in the chaebol chairman Im Gwang-ho's maw, prompting Yeong-woo to bark orders at his friends in a tone more domineering than ever before.
“Shut that mouth!”
His three friends flinched for a moment, but Yeong-tae was the first to move.
—Argh!
He leaped high into the air and slammed his fist right under Im Gwang-ho's jaw.
Crack!
Im Gwang-ho's mouth, where venom had started to pool, snapped shut, green steam hissing from his nostrils instead.
Hiss!
And right after.
—He's gonna fire again! We gotta turn his head!
General Kim Young-heum shouted as he clung to Im Gwang-ho's nape.
—You little shits...!
Finally, the utterly enraged Im Gwang-ho reached out with his arm to pry off Yeong-tae and General Kim Young-heum, but the golden streak pinned to the ground surged back into the air.
And joining them was CEO Kim Tae-jun, who had started yanking at his rear leg.
—...!
No visible wounds yet, but these punks were getting on Im Gwang-ho's nerves like nothing else.
Because.
Thud!
Thanks to them, that so-called Joseon Greatest Swordsman was now right up in his face.
“Die!”
At last, the freakish sword in the bastard's grip swung down.
Screeech!
A red arc trailed a wedge-shaped rune, and scorching heat bloomed instantly in his lower abdomen.
—Uh...!
For the first time since arriving, his outer hide had been torn.
Hiss!
Poison liquid cascaded like a waterfall from the two-meter diagonal gash in Im Gwang-ho's belly—a lethal weapon in itself.
Just look at CEO Kim Tae-jun's body, clinging to the dragon's leg and now melting rapidly from the exposure.
—Ah...!
The CEO's form crumbled in seconds as he shot Yeong-woo a panicked glance, putting even Yeong-woo on alert.
“...?”
The CEO's gaze wasn't on his eyes, but his torso.
Sizzle!
He realized next that the CEO wasn't the only one doused in venom.
“...Ah!”
The berserker's pain nullification was merely blocking the agony—Yeong-woo's body was corroding all the same.
—Huh?
—Dude! Your body right now...!
Yeong-tae and General Kim Young-heum, wrestling the dragon's jaws, finally noticed Yeong-woo's state and went wide-eyed.
And Yeong-woo himself.
‘...Heart! Gotta stab the heart fast.’
His eyes darting wildly, he planted his foot on the dragon's gaping belly and leaped upward.
Thud!
His right foot, soaked in venom, melted away in a shimmer, but Yeong-woo couldn't care less.
A foot would regenerate in time, no big deal.
The real issue was if Im Gwang-ho survived long enough for round two while his own body dissolved.
“Hold him tight so he can't move! If not now, we might not kill him!”
With his lower body half-melted, Yeong-woo stabbed Saseonga into Im Gwang-ho's chest underside and clambered up like a leech, leaving General Kim Young-heum slack-jawed in awe.
—H-Hurry! This guy's strength is insane!
And sure enough.
Crunch!
Yeong-woo reached the chest center and plunged Saseonga into what he guessed was the heart, making Im Gwang-ho's eyes bulge as he thrashed wildly.
—You bastard!
The Joseon Greatest Swordsman had found his heart.
Crunch!
Im Gwang-ho's green scales shuddered, his body convulsing, while CEO Kim Tae-jun—his lower half fully dissolved—still gripped the dragon's leg and muttered.
—Ah, feels like early clock-out.
Then his eyes dimmed, head lolling forward.
—Huh? CEO?
—What? He's dead?
His two surviving friends gawked, but Venom Dragon Im Gwang-ho shook violently, spinning his body half a turn like a whale breaching the surface.
Whoosh!
Trying to fling off the two mutants and Yeong-woo.
“Fuck, where the hell is this heart even at?”
Crunch, crunch!
Sensing things going south, Yeong-woo stabbed wildly around the chest, but Im Gwang-ho kept thrashing with vigor.
By now, it was starting to click.
‘No way.’
Maybe each dragon's heart was in a different spot.
‘No, then how the hell do I find...’
On the verge of panic, Yeong-woo's eyes caught a snake flicking its tongue near his wrist.
-Hiss.
「Serpent of Greed」 - Narrative Compass
【Always covets the rare.】
And the thing was staring at Im Gwang-ho's chin.
“...Ah.”
Following the snake's gaze up the dragon's neck, Yeong-woo scrambled that way before it was too late.
But.
Thud!
Im Gwang-ho caught on and clamped both hands around him, trapping him in his grip.
—You're a real madman. But this ends here.
Crunch!
Im Gwang-ho tightened his hold for the kill, but Yeong-woo's remaining body refused to crumple.
His durability outstripped most Greatest Swordsmen, boosted by absurd defense from the armor codex.
[Collection Effect: 20]
|Designated gear effects +50%
【Enemy attack power -75%.】
Im Gwang-ho grimaced at the anomaly, and Yeong-woo shouted to his two friends.
“Neck! The heart's gotta be inside the throat. Hurry and dig in there!”
—What?
—Heart?
They cocked their heads but swung at Im Gwang-ho's throat as asked.
Crack!
—Cough! You lunatics.
It only pissed him off more—their blows weren't enough to crack the thick hide.
Then.
-Weeeeng!
The golden streak flew in, halting at Yeong-woo's side as he dangled from Im Gwang-ho.
“...?”
Yeong-woo blinked in confusion at the odd maneuver, when the Joseon Swordsmanship hologram marked the dragon's throat center in the distance.
—Kill (殺)
And Yeong-woo's own holographic copy appeared before him.
“Huh...?”
It was dropping the Saseonga from its right hand toward the ground.
‘Oh god.’
In that split second, foreseeing much, Yeong-woo let go without hesitation.
Slide.
The mythic-grade sword plummeted with gravity, and from below waited the legendary-grade greatsword.
Whoosh!
Swinging diagonally like a baseball bat, it smacked Saseonga upward.
Clang!
—Huh?
—Urk!
The unexpected trajectory stunned both friends and Im Gwang-ho alike, but by then the crimson-maqi-shrouded Saseonga had already.
Crunch!
Pierced the green scales, skewering the hidden heart within.
—Fuck.
Seeing the blade buried deep in his own throat, Im Gwang-ho glared back at Yeong-woo.
Then.
Sloooowly.
Just like CEO Kim Tae-jun, the light faded from his eyes as he toppled to the ground.
Boom!
「The first dragon has been defeated by Joseon Greatest Swordsman ‘Jeong Yeong-woo07’!」
***
“Oh man, Yeong-woo...!”
Jeong-gu had been circling overhead on Neugig, mutants in tow, but only rushed to Yeong-woo once the dragon collapsed.
Finally safe, he thought.
But.
“Huh?”
The scene on arrival was far from expected.
Yeong-woo's ‘friends’ had just despawned as their summons ended, and with the massive dragon corpse vanished, Yeong-woo's condition was anything but normal.
“What... happened to you?”
From atop Neugig, Jeong-gu asked, and Yeong-woo looked up at his father.
“Gave myself a venom shower. Ended up like this.”
Yeong-woo shrugged from the ground, eyeing his lower half.
Everything below the knees had melted away, barely a shape left.
Most of his upper body and front were corroded too—hardly a pretty sight.
“Th-Then... you gonna die now?”
Jeong-gu asked half in doubt.
Who could blame him? Yeong-woo looked two seconds from death.
And behind them.
Whoosh!
Dobong-gu's mutant—returned as a griffon—swooped in with ferocious momentum.
Meaning, if Yeong-woo couldn't even walk properly, not only was his life in peril, but every Greatest Swordsman here could be doomed.
“Damn it, right on our tails!”
Jeong-gu whipped around at the mutant's presence, sweating bullets.
Abandon the crippled Yeong-woo? He'd be griffon chow. Fight? No chance.
Then.
“Oh!”
His eyes lit on the lone Saseonga nearby.
“Hey, lemme borrow your sword.”
Splash!
Jeong-gu hopped off Neugig to grab it, just as Dobong-gu's Day 5 mutant, Actor Han Sang-mo, spotted Yeong-woo.
—What the hell?
[Actor-Han Sang-mo]
Film actor Han Sang-mo.
Infamous for assaulting staff on set, with rumors of a brutal temper.
And those rumors held water—he bared his talons the instant he saw Yeong-woo sprawled on the ground.
Screeech!
Zero hesitation, diving straight to crush him.
About seven meters up, plummeting diagonally.
“No, that bastard!”
Jeong-gu reached for the grounded Saseonga—when.
Swoosh!
At Yeong-woo's call, Saseonga rocketed through the air.
“Huh?”
Jeong-gu clawed at empty dirt and whipped his head toward Yeong-woo.
There.
—Gurk!
Yeong-woo gripped the griffon's descending foreclaw with one hand.
—Th-This guy's strength... why?!
Fear laced Han Sang-mo's voice.
Unbelievable power from a dying man crushed down on his leg.
And finally.
Snap!
The foreclaw in Yeong-woo's grasp shattered pathetically.
—Arrrgh!
Overwhelming might.
“Popu, time to resume the tune. Gotta call the others too.”
Still clutching the trembling-beaked Han Sang-mo, Yeong-woo spoke, snapping Popu Tenta from his daze.
-Ba... ba-bam!
Popu jammed the trumpet to his lips and blared.
-Bwaaaaaah!
Han Sang-mo, wings flapping till then, plummeted onto Yeong-woo, Saseonga's blade slicing up through his back.
Crunch!
Flat on the ground, he'd one-shot a Day 5 mutant.
“Whew.”
Endless bleeding had boosted his strength 25%, plus ‘Body Loss’ at full throttle.
「Body Loss」 - Narrative Breastplate
【Power scales up to +80% by limb loss.】
Both legs gone meant max effect.
Splash!
Yeong-woo propped up his torso, crossing his partially regrown legs—up to the shins—into lotus position.
Next.
-Keeek!
He sent the golden goblin to fetch the white blast scattered far off.
“Wh-What're you doing?”
Jeong-gu flinched preemptively, but Yeong-woo raised the bowstring, aiming at the distant mutants.
“Gotta clean up quick while output's maxed. Ten million a shot.”
And so, the ultimate cripple, Jeong Yeong-woo, drew back the bowstring.