Chapter 27
Chapter 27
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 27
Chapter Title: 10. Villain War (1)
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As soon as Yeongwoo approved the reward claim, a golden flash burst before his eyes.
Paht!
Just like last time, a list of obtainable items appeared.
But the options on those items were anything but ordinary.
'What the hell is this.'
Forget whether the items were good or bad—their effects were the type that defied easy prediction.
「Golden Chastisement」 - Legendary Bracelet
【Inflicts pain on enemies.】
【Accumulated Golden Power: 2】
*'Golden Altar' perk.
「Pumpkin Whistle」 - Legendary Necklace
【Calls a friend.】
|Youngtae.
*'Special Social Worker' perk.
One inflicted pain on enemies, the other called a friend...
'They're legendary items, so they must be amazing options.'
By now, Yeongwoo couldn't help but feel confused.
Sure, the golden flash had been something he could at least infer the effects of.
But these two items had no clear numbers listed, and their effects were so unusual that he couldn't judge them without trying them out first.
'Inflicting pain—I get the gist of that... but calling a friend? What does that even mean?'
Yeongwoo's gaze settled on the 'Pumpkin Whistle.'
「Pumpkin Whistle」 - Legendary Necklace
【Calls a friend.】
|Youngtae.
That 'Youngtae' at the bottom of the tooltip was probably Hong Youngtae, the mutant from Kimcheon City—the first one Yeongwoo had repatriated.
'Does it mean it summons him to fight together?'
Yeongwoo pulled his gaze from the tooltip, and the approval process completed immediately. The new items equipped themselves onto his wrist and neck.
Saaat!
A cool sensation wrapped around his wrist with the golden bracelet, followed by a thin cord with a whistle hanging around his neck.
'It really is... a real whistle.'
A whistle that could call Youngtae.
Judging from how Jang Seon-bok, the mutant from Gumi, wasn't in his friend list, it seemed it only worked for those he'd repatriated.
'So if I have multiple friends, can I call several at once?'
Yeongwoo paused his run to think about it.
Then he cautiously brought the whistle to his lips.
“......”
A whistle out of nowhere.
Yeongwoo let out a hollow chuckle and blew hard.
Then.
Preeeeet!
The whistle's sharp sound pierced the air with force, momentarily desaturating the surrounding scenery.
「Friend Youngtae is responding to your call and being summoned.」
'Crazy, it actually works.'
While Yeongwoo gaped at the message, a white rift tore open in the air about ten meters above his head.
Crack!
Hong Youngtae burst through the rift, leaping down.
“Yaaah!”
His momentum was as fierce as ever.
The jaw that Yeongwoo had smashed to pieces looked perfectly fine now.
Kwaaaang!
Hong Youngtae landed in front of Yeongwoo, shattering the asphalt with both feet.
“......!”
Yeongwoo flinched and took a step back.
One reason was the belated realization that he might have to fight the guy again. The second was...
[Jeong Yeongwoo07's friend-Hong Youngtae]
The nameplate hovering over the creature's head.
It was completely different from when it was a mutant.
“What happened? Is that really the Hong Youngtae I just repatriated...?”
When Yeongwoo asked, the creature looked up at his own head and made an awkward expression.
「Yeah. How much time has passed?」
Hong Youngtae asked about the time right away, ignoring everything else.
A common trait among repatriates, past and present.
“Not long. Less than an hour.”
When Yeongwoo answered, the creature's eyes widened in fear.
「What...? Only that much? I thought at least a few months had gone by.」
“Did you just wait blindly in the darkness again this time?”
「No. I was lying in a room. Waiting for you to call me.」
“A room?”
Yeongwoo stared into Hong Youngtae's eyes at the unexpected answer.
But there was no trace of a lie in the eyes of this repatriate who had spent time in a place without any concept of time.
「They give each repatriate a room. But right now, it's really just one room. Can't go out, nothing to do. Just sitting there. Better than waiting in the darkness, but still hell.」
He glanced up at the sky, then back at Yeongwoo.
「But the voice said it. Help you rack up achievements, and life in the room gets better bit by bit.」
“......”
Yeongwoo couldn't find words for a moment.
He couldn't even process what he'd just heard.
“So, there's a separate world where repatriates are isolated, and to live well there, you have to help me? That's what you're saying?”
Hong Youngtae, who had listened quietly, waggled his long snout up and down.
「That's right. So, what do I need to do now?」
He acted like he only cared about earning achievements to get back.
If everything he'd said was true, then his entire remaining life depended on how many achievements he could rack up through Yeongwoo.
But unfortunately.
“Sorry, but there's nothing for you to do right now.”
「...What? You want me to go back already? You don't get it—there's really nothing there if I go back. It's...」
Hong Youngtae, who had been firing off words like a machine gun, suddenly stopped and made a terrified face.
“What? What's wrong?”
「Time's up... I can feel it.」
Yeongwoo glanced at Hong Youngtae's nameplate.
“Ah.”
He should've noticed sooner.
The nameplate had been fading from the top, like sand draining from the top of an hourglass.
'So it's not unlimited summons.'
「Call me back. Please, I beg you.」
Dejected, Hong Youngtae folded his ears flat and melted into the air.
Saaat.
For some reason, it felt like an unsatisfying end.
'So now he's locked in that room again, waiting endlessly for a call.'
Yeongwoo considered blowing the whistle again but stopped.
No point summoning him without an enemy to fight—it would just lead to pointless disappointment.
Better to let him wait eagerly and then drop him into a big achievement opportunity all at once. Might be better for his mental health.
'If we can actually earn achievements, that is.'
He tried imagining fighting Sangju First Sword with Hong Youngtae, but the picture wouldn't form.
|Current region: 'Sangju.'
|Sangju First Sword: 'Dugo Se-hwan01'. Rank 2, defenses: 147.
As Yeongwoo climbed the road through the mountains, Sangju First Sword Dugo Se-hwan01 had added one more defense to his count.
'Crazy bastard. Did he kill someone else in the meantime...?'
Then it hit him.
'No. That's defense count. Unilateral kills from attacks don't count toward it, right?'
Most of Yeongwoo's kills so far had been self-defense, so he didn't know exactly how First Sword defense counts were calculated.
He'd just assumed it went up whenever you killed someone.
Even if it only counted counter-kills, it still didn't explain things cleanly.
'With defense counts that high, people still challenge him? That's weird in its own way.'
One thing was clear: the situations in Kimcheon and Sangju were worlds apart.
Farms were coming into view ahead, but there wasn't even a blue pillar, let alone red ones.
Mutants and monsters—all cleared.
A first for him.
Tuk.
Yeongwoo thumped his left chest to hide his title, then headed toward the road leading to the farms.
Unlike Kimcheon, littered with corpses from the outskirts, Sangju City was relatively clean.
There were occasional bodies in rice paddies or fields, but not many. If anything...
'Huh?'
He spotted living people already.
About two hundred meters ahead, people were gathered in front of what looked like a warehouse building.
'What? People here. Usually they cluster in the city center.'
Yeongwoo tilted his head and walked toward the building. The others noticed him and reacted.
Some who had been crouching stood up, while others walked out to greet him.
Step, step.
The distance between them shrank.
Yeongwoo could soon make out their faces clearly.
'Elders.'
Six elderly men with graying hair.
Dark skin etched with deep wrinkles, but not scary-looking.
Just your typical old folks near farms, and the knives, shields, spears in their hands were typical too.
'Common stuff in this world.'
Yeongwoo watched silently as the elders subtly formed an encirclement.
And noted that every blade they held was stained deep red.
Meaning they'd killed a fair share of people.
Step, step.
Yeongwoo walked casually right into their midst and asked,
“First time in Sangju, so I don't know—mind telling me what happened here?”
One elder standing in front pointed his axe blade at Yeongwoo's Early Bird and said,
“Someone who looks like they know asks that.”
“No, I really don't. You know what I'm carrying, so why risk your lives?”
“If you pity us old folks risking our necks, cough up some money and we'll let you pass.”
“Drop that sword too.”
The last two lines came from the two elders covering his rear.
A gentlemanly way of saying he was surrounded.
“Hmm.”
Yeongwoo found it odd that the elders hadn't even glanced at the golden glow.
Maybe they were just too old.
No game knowledge at all—didn't even have the common sense to be wary of unusual appearances?
'Probably think it's just some weird glove I picked up.'
Before attacking, Yeongwoo tossed out one last question.
“So where can I meet Sangju First Sword?”
“...What?”
The question was so out of left field that some elders even burst out laughing.
“Total lunatic.”
“First Sword? You'd find him at City Hall.”
“City Hall? Which way?”
The last was Yeongwoo's question.
As he spoke, he thumped his backpack to make the coins jingle.
The elders' eyes lit up—they couldn't miss that sound.
“City Hall? Keep going up that main road. But I don't think you'll make it.”
One elder cackled and pointed to the road leading to City Hall. Confirming it, Yeongwoo put the whistle in his mouth.
He planned to have Youngtae handle these 'trash mobs' for some achievements. Curious what would happen too.
Swoosh.
The elders watching thought maybe Yeongwoo was mentally challenged.
A young guy in bare feet with a whistle around his neck—it looked that way.
But in the end, Yeongwoo didn't blow.
「Today's friend summon uses remaining: 1. Proceed?」
The message popped up as he inhaled to blow.
'No, if there's a limit like that, why didn't it tell me right away earlier?'
Fortunately, Youngtae would remain oblivious.
To blowing one of his two daily chances.
'No choice. Wrap this up quick and head to City Hall.'
The elders' shadows already blanketed Yeongwoo's feet.
He immediately hurled Early Bird at the elder in front.
Whiiiiiing!
The silver blade flew like an arrow, embedding precisely in the elder's forehead before returning to Yeongwoo at his call.
Whirrl!
“Urk?”
“Uh......!”
“What the hell, this guy.”
Even elders clueless about games were impressed by the semi-auto swordsmanship.
As soon as Yeongwoo retrieved his blade, they launched a desperate all-out attack.
Taat!
But their opponent was the Two-Region United First Sword.
Yeongwoo repelled the assault effortlessly with First Sword aura, then swung his blade like lightning, severing the elders' necks.
Splash splash splat!
His side had high strength, theirs low durability—like slicing tofu.
Thud thud.
Old heads rolling unevenly across the ground.
“......”
Yeongwoo looted the meager karma from the headless bodies, then stepped onto the road to City Hall.
What kind of place was Sangju City, exactly?
He had a feeling he'd see a lot more soon.