Chapter 212
Chapter 212
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 212
Chapter Title: 48. Karma (4)
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‘Oh no!’
Only after summoning the coordinates did Young-woo remember.
The laser beam fired from the Returner’s room had a fairly wide strike radius.
‘Uh-oh? At this rate, it’ll just kill them outright…?’
He had initially called the coordinates behind the enemy just to scare them off and chase them away.
But at this rate, those two Chinese men would vanish in the blink of an eye.
“General…!”
Young-woo hurriedly tried to request a cancellation of the barrage, but he shut his mouth upon seeing the two Dandong Triple Swordsmen about to cross the bridge.
‘Well, considering they came all the way down here right after the border opened….’
They wouldn’t back off just from a little scare.
Even if they retreated now, the odds were high they’d return later, properly prepared.
So, how could he resolve this issue for good?
Truth be told, Young-woo already knew the answer.
‘…Destroy the problem, and the problem ceases to exist.’
It was the Chairman’s teaching.
With that, Young-woo took the evil karma meter back from the goblin and aimed its muzzle across the bridge.
Crack!
“……!”
“Eh!”
The two men, who had just set foot on the iron bridge, stealthily backed away, and right on cue, the sky tore open.
Fwoooooooosh!
The General’s laser barrage had finally reached Earth.
“What is that?”
“D-Damage…!”
Both men sensed the crisis from the laser beam ripping through the air from above, but it was far too late to dodge.
Baaaaang!
One man, who had been staring blankly up at the sky, vanished without a trace on the spot. The other, who had at least managed to hurl himself sideways,
Splat!
barely got his head out of the blast radius, losing the rest of his body in the process.
“…Gasp.”
Seeing the Chinese head thud to the ground, Young-woo finally realized.
Just how terrifying a laser barrage looked to others.
And one more thing.
“W-Wait!”
Young-woo, staring blankly at the strike zone, widened his eyes and bolted across the iron bridge.
Because.
‘All their gear evaporated?’
Not only the bodies of the two Dandong Triple Swordsmen but also any equipment they had carried was completely gone.
“So the barrage destroys the enemy’s gear like some illegitimate child.”
No wonder—it was firepower that had one-shot the Kim family trio wielding mythic gear.
It was only natural that ordinary equipment couldn’t withstand the laser cannon’s output.
‘If I want loot, I’ll have to be careful with the barrage too.’
Of course, even in this mess, one item remained perfectly preserved in its original form.
It was none other than.
Clink.
The crimson coin Young-woo picked up from the ground.
Just like last time, this currency had survived a direct hit from the laser.
‘Doesn’t the Chairman make guns? A firearm that uses these as bullets would be perfect.’
For now, Young-woo ordered the goblin to collect the coins scattered everywhere.
-Keeek!
14,000 karma worth of ‘loose change’ poured into Young-woo’s balance.
* Available Karma: 41,348,500
With this, today’s tax issue was perfectly resolved.
But another problem arose immediately.
Flash!
「You have acquired a title from a region not belonging to your nation, so the stigma ‘Land Infringer’ has been generated.」
By stealing the two Dandong Triple Sword titles, Young-woo had earned himself another stigma.
‘It’s here.’
As a veteran title thief, Young-woo waited calmly.
Soon, a blood-red sword mark appeared before his eyes, notifying him that from this moment on, countless Chinese would be tracking him.
『Land Infringer: China』
|You have stolen assets from China. To punish this crime, all of China’s martial world will know your location.
‘China’s entire martial world probably means First Swords level, right? How many are there in total?’
Right before the Reset, China’s population was about 1.42 billion.
In contrast, South Korea’s was around 50 million.
A simple population comparison put it at about 28 times larger.
‘Then the number of First Swords should be at least 20 times more.’
Would the pursuers number 20 times as many too?
‘Wait… is this okay?’
Even North Korea, with a population half of South Korea’s, had eleven First Swords join the Paju North-South War.
For China, then…
‘That’s 40 times North Korea… 440 showing up every full-scale war?’
The number was laughable.
Of course, the actual chance of that happening was extremely low.
With most communication gear crippled, how could martial artists scattered across China’s vast lands coordinate and unite?
At best, there might be regional alliances by compass direction.
‘Even so, I can’t ignore it. Even if the region is quartered, each chunk has five times our population.’
And this was the minimum estimate.
“…….”
Young-woo imagined himself standing before 100 martial artists gathered from across China.
And soon after, laser beams raining down from above them.
‘100-to-1? Even with the laser cannon, that’d be tough.’
On top of that, what if China had someone sponsored by a space corporation too?
His head was starting to ache.
Swoosh.
Young-woo reached down and grabbed the headless nameless Chinese man.
He checked if the Serpent of Greed coiled around his wrist reacted.
‘…Nothing.’
As expected, no loot hidden in the corpse’s head. Young-woo set it down on the ground with a regrettable expression.
‘Where even is Dandong? One of the North Korean border areas?’
The only Chinese region Young-woo vaguely knew was Shandong Province, under the Shandong Twin Evils and Zhang Jaham.
The hot-tempered middle-aged Chinese man he’d met in last night’s dungeon.
‘He said he’d come find me tonight, but only these worthless guys showed up.’
Swoosh.
Young-woo’s gaze turned north.
He wanted to head up to the North Korean-Chinese border, but the sun had already set, so he had to turn back.
He didn’t know how long tonight’s dungeon would be, so he needed rest in advance. Plus, he had to meet the Gwanak and Taewon people arriving in Paju soon.
‘Angry Chinese might approach Seoul via other regions. Better head back now.’
Flick.
Having made up his mind, Young-woo raised his hand to summon Neuggug, and the alien iron horse came charging fiercely from afar.
* * *
7:46 PM.
Behind Young-woo, returning to Seoul from Paju, over thirty swordsmen and four hearse carts followed in a line.
They were manpower from Seoul National University brought by Gwanak’s Jo Sang-ik, and monster hunters urgently dispatched from Taewon.
Responding to Young-woo’s call to recover the soldiers’ bodies, both Gwanak and Taewon had sent people.
Originally, the plan was to locate the families first before recovering the bodies, but Jo Sang-ik, upon arriving at the scene, suggested otherwise.
If they couldn’t find the families quickly, the bodies would be damaged by tonight’s abnormal weather, so better transport them to Seoul first and handle the rest later.
Young-woo, who hadn’t even considered body damage, had no choice but to accept Jo Sang-ik’s opinion.
‘Adults really are adults.’
Young-woo stared intently at Jo Sang-ik riding in the lead hearse, who rolled down the window to meet his gaze.
“The matter’s wrapped up nicely, so feel free to go ahead. You must be far busier than me.”
Jo Sang-ik spoke with a kindly expression.
The body recovery was done well, and with Seoul National University swordsmen and even Gwanak’s First Sword—himself—here, what reason was there for Jeong Young-woo to stick around?
But Young-woo’s situation was a bit different.
“…Haha, it’s fine. You never know.”
You never know.
Meaning, angry Chinese launching a massive night raid.
And sure enough.
“You never know? You’re talking like you caused another huge incident, haha!”
The perceptive Jo Sang-ik caught on to something and shot Young-woo a glare.
Then.
“You did, didn’t you?”
“…Pardon?”
“The incident. What was it this time?”
Jo Sang-ik said this while glancing behind.
Likely looking at the northern area where Young-woo had caused trouble, and the Seoul National University and Taewon Group swordsmen present here all at once.
“No matter what it was, I know you’re capable of handling it, Young-woo, but shouldn’t I know too? My people are here.”
“…….”
With Jo Sang-ik pressing like this, Young-woo couldn’t keep silent any longer.
And anyway, everyone would catch on by tomorrow at the latest.
“This time, it’s China.”
Young-woo finally confessed.
Jo Sang-ik looked puzzled, as if he didn’t understand.
“What do you…?”
But his face soon hardened.
“No, have you lost your mind?”
For Jo Sang-ik, this was top-tier outrage.
“Really? China?”
Jo Sang-ik unwittingly yelled, causing the swordsmen behind to murmur.
He lowered his voice and shrieked again.
“China? Do you know how many people are there? A whopping 28 times ours…!”
As expected of an educated man, Jo Sang-ik immediately calculated the population multiple.
Then, he looked north again in disbelief.
“Nothing left up in North Korea now. Borders are basically wide open.”
“That’s how it seems.”
“The remnants in North Korea will be in a tough spot too.”
Jo Sang-ik’s perspective was broad indeed.
Before the Reset, North Korea and China were friendly, but now after?
‘No way. If the Reset judged China’s leadership en masse, it’d be hellish like there. A total lawless zone.’
Corrupt bureaucrats, massive wealth gaps.
China was a country where the Reset’s results would show most starkly.
With such a huge population, the early competition would’ve been far fiercer than elsewhere.
‘I’d never make an enemy of that country.’
Jo Sang-ik sighed and looked back at Young-woo.
The future looked bleak, but what could he do?
All he could do was hope this man, now collecting defense taxes in earnest, would properly defend the sector.
“So, what’s your plan now?”
As Jo Sang-ik asked, Young-woo scratched his chin.
“What else? Stock up on even stronger firepower.”
That’s why he’d gone north and snagged another orb.
The golden orb. Ticket to the night dungeon.
‘If there’s a Chinese guy in tonight’s party, it could get a headache.’
He was confident he could beat any number of Chinese, but add the dungeon’s unique rules on top, and things might shift.
‘How brutal will tonight’s dungeon be?’
As Young-woo thought this and gazed at the Seoul skyline appearing ahead, an alert chimed, signaling 8 PM.
「Night falls.」
「To guarantee your right to sleep, Daytime Shared Reality will begin in 1 hour.」
“Ah… night’s already starting.”
Jo Sang-ik murmured, looking up at the now-quite-dark sky.
But today’s system messages didn’t end there.
「The third phase of the Reset, ‘Pangea,’ will begin soon.」
“What?”
“……!”
“…Pangea?”
With the new message, everyone in the area froze in place, and soon a massive timer appeared in the air.
[11:59:48]