Chapter 196
Chapter 196
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 196
Chapter Title: 43. Black Rain (2)
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Splash!
Youngwoo shook the blood off Dragon's Legacy onto the ground while scanning his surroundings.
‘Luckily, no witnesses.’
It had been so long since he last killed someone that it felt strangely awkward.
‘That said, I still haven’t gotten to properly use Illegitimate.’
The reason Youngwoo had set Illegitimate aside and faced Gyeonggi First Sword with Dragon's Legacy was purely to take the enemy’s attacks.
He had wanted to exchange at least one clash and have a brief conversation.
Illegitimate’s blade could only be blocked by Mythic-grade equipment or higher, so if Youngwoo had swung it, Gyeonggi First Sword would have died without even touching the blade.
‘Of course, I went out of my way to let him land one hit, but got nothing out of it.’
In the end, he hadn’t learned the territory under the now-deceased Gyeonggi First Sword’s control.
But Youngwoo was someone who had unlocked the martial arts list long ago.
「Acquired Gyeonggi First Sword by merger!」
Thanks to inheriting the title and gaining the opponent’s martial arts along with it, he could infer the dead man’s territory to some extent.
‘If I sort through the newly added regional sword styles, I should get a decent idea.’
When Youngwoo opened his martial arts list, the sword techniques Gyeonggi First Sword had stolen from other First Swords appeared in a row.
|Gyeonggi Sword Style – Unique Grade
|Pocheon Sword Style – Relic Grade
|Gapyeong Sword Style – Relic Grade
|Hwacheon Sword Style – Relic Grade
Four in total.
One of them, Hwacheon, even belonged to Gangwon Province.
‘Was he from Hwacheon? If he started there and passed through Gapyeong and Pocheon, the route lines up pretty consistently.’
For example, listing his own regional titles showed his path starting from Gumi perfectly.
‘Hwacheon’s a bit far to manage… Guess I’ll have to hope someone’s handling Gangwon Province.’
Day 5 of the reset.
Once, he had seen every First Sword as a potential enemy, but ironically, now he hoped powerful First Swords remained in numbers.
Unless he wanted Seoul to be the only surviving city on the peninsula, he had no choice.
“Whew, at least you collected your gear meticulously.”
Unlike his apologetic gaze, Youngwoo rummaged through the corpse’s body with busy hands.
-Screeech!
Along with the golden goblin that Gyeonggi First Sword had wondered about in life.
‘No hidden equipment, it seems.’
Confirming Greed Snake showed no reaction, Youngwoo registered the stripped gear in his codex.
Three items could go straight into the codex.
‘Two pieces of armor, one accessory.’
The rest were two weapons.
「Precaution」 - Mutated One-Handed Sword
【Durability increases by 15% when defending】
‘Not bad. Perfect for the codex.’
The second weapon was a bit unusual.
「Preemptive Strike」 - Mutated One-Handed Sword
【First attack power increases by 20%. Reactivates on sheathing】
‘Oh ho.’
This was probably the one Gyeonggi First Sword had been holding.
The power of the first attack after drawing from the sheath increases.
‘And sheathing reactivates it, so repeating draw and sheath should work.’
The effect itself wasn’t standout compared to other weapons, but registering it in the weapon codex would change that.
‘Even just the opener boost is hugely significant, and sheathing mid-fight isn’t hard outside of chaos…’
Somewhere out there, gear that buffs on sheathing surely existed.
‘Hope the chairman hurries with that codex.’
Youngwoo glanced at the sky, then turned to Kubu.
“You two still there?”
Referring to the broker Kubu and the merchant.
Kubu, who had left only a thin thread-line in the air, snapped his eyes open.
Sssslip.
―Yes. Standing by.
“Then let’s wrap up the deal. I’ll take one archery skill.”
Kubu blinked at Youngwoo’s words.
―Processing purchase of Epic Archery ‘Calling the Gods’.
With that, 3.94 million karma deducted from Youngwoo’s balance, transferring the Epic-grade archery to his ownership.
「Calling the Gods」 - Epic Archery
【With enough faith, your arrows can reach even gods.】
And simultaneously.
* Available Karma: 1,274,500
His balance dropped to 1.27 million karma.
‘No way the coordinate scanner costs more than 1.2 million, right?’
His anxiety grew with his shrinking funds.
Either way, he was done here for today, so Youngwoo bid Kubu farewell.
“Thanks for your trouble. See you soon in Yangju.”
―Until next time. Thank you for your business!
Poof!
The broker Kubu vanished into the air somewhere beyond.
“…….”
Youngwoo stared at the spot for a moment, then turned toward his next stop, Yangju.
‘I’ll buy a scanner or ability resistance gear if they have it. Otherwise, straight back to Gangnam.’
Time was getting tight.
He needed to return to his home turf before sunset, scatter the golden rain, and wait for the First Swords arriving with bundles of cash from all directions.
‘And if conditions allow, better install that heart ASAP.’
As Youngwoo pushed off the ground with his knee to stand, Neugeug approached first, wrapping its reins around him.
Splat!
“Huh……?”
Startled by the sudden action, Youngwoo decided to quietly observe for now.
He figured the mount gifted by Togo wouldn’t harm him.
And indeed.
Whirr!
All Neugeug did was hoist Youngwoo onto its lower back.
Thud!
It had considerate mounted him, given his still-legless state.
“Oh, Neugeug……!”
Touched despite himself, Youngwoo stroked the alien steed’s steel mane as the squat slave duo climbed aboard after their master.
-Kit!
-Babat!
Even the golden goblin pointed north toward Yangju, so Youngwoo gripped the reins and urged Neugeug up.
* * *
4:16 PM.
No notable gains in Yangju, once Final Selection’s lair.
A merchant was there, but everything was already picked over by Gyeonggi First Sword in life, leaving only one fixed trade option.
And what the Yangju merchant sold were all combat weapons.
‘If I had plenty of cash left, maybe I’d snag one or two…’
But he needed to save for an unknown-cost coordinate scanner—or at least for tomorrow’s acquisition taxes.
Plus, the chairman’s weapon codex would incur taxes too.
‘This insane world. How are taxes scarier than dragons?’
Of course, this was Youngwoo-specific.
Most folks just paid basic taxes as simplified taxpayers, nothing more.
Kwang! Kwang!
Having struck out after ages, Youngwoo whipped Neugeug around toward Gangnam and was now cutting through Dobong District into Seongbuk.
Home turf of Seongbuk First Sword, I Yubin, who stood there with her brilliant title.
“Huh.”
Youngwoo spotted her first and voiced his surprise, just as Yubin sensed Neugeug and turned.
『Seongbuk First Sword』
Her shoulders and back sagged with backpacks clearly stuffed with coins, her face oddly glum.
She had been heading out to pay ‘protection money’ when she ran into Youngwoo.
“What, you were up there the whole time?”
Yubin glanced north, the direction Youngwoo came from.
She dropped her laden packs to the ground with thuds.
Clank!
“Was on my way to find you anyway. Perfect timing. Take these. The promised 10 million karma.”
“Thanks.”
Youngwoo eyed the moneybags from Neugeug’s back, pondering briefly.
“…No need to count them, right?”
“God, you’re unbelievable.”
Her brow furrowed in sudden irritation, but she soon let out a hollow laugh.
“How’d we end up paying this guy too?”
“Beats dying.”
As Youngwoo pointed at the bags, the golden goblin swept them into the subspace pouch.
-Kikiki!
It grinned greedily for some reason.
Yubin shot the golden slave a disgusted look, then asked Youngwoo as if it just occurred to her.
“Heading back to Gangnam now?”
“Yes. Anything else?”
“Nothing urgent, but mind giving me a ride?”
“All the way to Gangnam……?”
He had no intention of refusing a customer who just paid 10 million karma, but Youngwoo was curious why.
“Business in Gangnam?”
“Lemme watch the show.”
“……?”
“Other folks dragging in moneybags.”
* * *
First full payer: Seongbuk First Sword I Yubin.
Youngwoo continued south with her aboard.
Soon, Dongdaemun—Jang Jeongho’s turf—appeared, but no sign of him.
“No Jeongho. Took another route?”
As Youngwoo muttered while looking around, Yubin snorted from behind.
“That idiot’s too stubborn to show up all meek.”
“…Really?”
It wasn’t in Youngwoo’s expectations for the guy to outright refuse.
“You know what he’s like, right?”
“Even so, trade 10 million for his life?”
“……?”
Yubin startled at Youngwoo’s calm words.
“What? It’s death if you don’t pay?”
She spoke as if she hadn’t dreamed of it.
When dropping golden orbs on each region, Jeong Youngwoo had returned the mutated gear from the bursting spheres to the local First Swords.
Though taking 10 million under protection guise, the gold orbs were essentially theirs, so he wouldn’t touch fixed rewards.
That consideration made Yubin grateful, and more than that, she didn’t want beef with Jeong Youngwoo, so she prepared the fee without complaint.
But.
‘No way he planned to kill non-payers? Total psycho?’
At least it proved her choice right.
Had Seongbuk skipped prep, that maniac would’ve shown up swinging.
“…….”
As Yubin imagined horrors, Youngwoo glanced back reassuringly.
“Hey, not like I’d show up like some loan shark out of nowhere.”
“Th-then?”
“You know best, Yubin. How First Sword meetings settle disagreements.”
“…….”
Her pupils drifted skyward.
A core First Sword meeting rule.
If no consensus on an issue, representatives duel, victor’s view prevails.
“Duels……? So officially killing?”
“If they don’t pay what’s owed.”
“But that’s…….”
Worse than loan sharks? Yubin’s trailing thought stayed unspoken.
Neugeug was already leaping the massive hole at Cheongdam Bridge’s end in Gwangjin.
Taat!
That hole was yesterday’s trace: Youngwoo’s wyvern return and arrow through ‘Seoul Assemblyman-Kim Seokshin.’
“Gangnam already.”
Youngwoo’s voice sounded oddly excited.
Yubin had her own anticipation, so she peeked past his back.
But what she needed to see approached from behind.
Tatata!
Someone charging at blinding speed.
Both Yubin and Youngwoo whipped around—and saw it.
“Huh?”
“Uh.”
“What, you two buddies now? See you at the hotel anyway!”
Dongdaemun First Sword Jang Jeongho rocketed past them near full sprint.
Like them, headed to Gangnam.
Likely delivering the ‘protection money’ Youngwoo ordered.
The issue:
Tatata……
Jeongho, now far ahead, looked suspiciously light.
Not just fast—actually unburdened.
10 million karma in coins should mean packs everywhere, like Yubin back in Seongbuk.
Youngwoo naturally aimed Illegitimate at him.
Sshk.
“That bastard looks broke. Why?”