Chapter 29
Chapter 29
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 29
Chapter Title: 10. Villains' War (3)
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After parting ways with the bag merchant, Young-woo raced down the road even faster than before.
He wanted to confirm as quickly as possible whether human trafficking was really happening in this city.
Ta-at!
After passing a few farmhouses, rice paddies, and livestock sheds, the scenery gradually started to look more urban.
Gas stations appeared, buildings with glass fronts came into view, and convenience stores showed up too.
It was only then that Young-woo felt a tremendous sense of dissonance.
People started appearing again after the convenience stores, and every single one of them waved at him upon seeing him.
“……?”
It was like the gesture for hailing a taxi. And as if there was some kind of rule, they were all standing only by the roadside.
‘What the hell?’
There were already seven ‘hand-raisers’ visible in his line of sight.
Young-woo stopped in front of the nearest one, a man standing there.
Before Young-woo could even say anything, the man spoke first.
“Looking for day labor?”
“Uh, yeah.”
“Then allow me to introduce myself. Name’s Kim Tae-hong. 2,000 karma a day. Guard duty, carrying luggage, item collection… I’ll do anything within my abilities.”
The man named Kim Tae-hong delivered his lines flawlessly, without a single mistake.
“Day labor means… you’ll work for me all day, right?”
“Yes, exactly. And if you allow overnight stays, I wouldn’t say no.”
Overnight stays meant night rentals.
In other words, if the employer wanted the room for themselves after the day rental, the worker would find their own way from there.
‘Way more independent than I imagined.’
Young-woo tilted his head.
This seemed less like human trafficking and more like freelance work.
Sure, you could call it ‘selling your body’ since it involved selling your labor, but still.
As Young-woo eyed the man’s sturdy build, an unexpected line came from him.
“Um… just one condition, though.”
“What is it?”
“As I mentioned, I appreciate the overnight offer, but no sleeping together, and I don’t go near Namsung-dong.”
“Huh?”
Young-woo blinked in surprise, then realized the man had taken a step back.
‘Oh, he thought I was checking him out weirdly.’
Overnight stays were fine, but not sleeping together—what else could that mean?
He planned to earn the 2,000 karma with his body, but he wasn’t selling his ass.
‘Then what’s this about not going to Namsung-dong?’
Young-woo asked immediately.
“No interest in sleeping around or whatever. What’s Namsung-dong? Something there?”
“……?”
This time, the man looked shocked.
“You’re not from around here? Namsung-dong has the city hall.”
“Oh, city hall.”
Young-woo understood instantly.
City hall. The main haunt of Sangju’s Greatest Swordsman, and the place where human trafficking was supposedly rampant.
So for a conservative seller like this man, city hall was inevitably a danger zone.
“The reason you don’t go to city hall.”
“We’d both be in danger.”
Even a big shot who buys people wouldn’t be safe there.
At this point, Young-woo grew even more curious about what the hell was going on at city hall.
“You heading to Namsung-dong by any chance?”
The man asked, and Young-woo just nodded without a word.
The expressions of the other ‘job seekers’ who had been edging closer for their turn hardened all at once.
“…Everyone here avoids anywhere near city hall, huh.”
The man scratched his forehead at Young-woo’s words.
“Anyone in their right mind would.”
“Then one last question before I go.”
“Sure, sure. Go ahead.”
“Payment upfront or after? Honestly, the employer could just decide not to pay.”
“True. So it’s basically up to the payer’s conscience.”
“Unbelievable.”
“Well, is anything about this world believable? We’re just doing what we can to survive.”
The man gave a hollow laugh.
Seeing that laugh, Young-woo suddenly felt like pulling a coin from his backpack and handing it over.
Half pity, half gratitude for the info.
But the thought didn’t turn into action.
Cunningly, when it came time to actually do it, he felt it was a waste.
They’d probably never meet again, so why bother?
“…….”
Young-woo bowed slightly to the man and the nearby folks, then stepped back onto the road leading to Namsung-dong.
As he did, he thought they probably wouldn’t last until tomorrow.
Even Gumi’s Greatest Swordsman like him was treating them stingily—would anyone go out of their way to pay weaker folks?
This was the moment he truly understood the concrete problems ‘lawlessness’ could cause.
* * *
Not long after parting with the man and continuing down the road, Young-woo encountered another group.
Various genders and ages again, and they all shot their hands up the moment he entered their sight—just like before.
The services they offered were a bit different, though.
Some were peddlers selling petrified goods, others specialized in just ‘item collection,’ one of the first man’s services.
Name the item and meetup spot, and they’d scour the whole city to find it.
Of course, even if they found it, no guarantee they’d return alive—so it was a life-risking gig.
‘Worst case, they find it and the buyer pulls a knife.’
Anyway, the line of job seekers kept appearing.
Until Young-woo reached the sign for ‘Namsung-dong.’
「Namsung-dong 2km」
‘Almost there.’
Young-woo stood facing the sign and glanced back.
The endless roadside line of job seekers from earlier was now nowhere in sight.
They all avoided lingering near Namsung-dong.
‘This scared? The city won’t hold together like this.’
At this rate, outer-city job seekers would die without paying taxes or flee to other cities.
Population crash.
Of course, in a world where the only resource came from hunting mutants and monsters, a shrinking population wouldn’t faze the strong.
They could divvy up the city’s remaining resources and live luxuriously.
Paaat!
Soon, what he guessed was Namsung-dong’s downtown entered his view.
Finally, he saw traces of last night’s battle.
Smashed stone walls, scattered corpses everywhere, blackened bloodstains.
Unlike Gimcheon City, though, Sangju had comparatively few bodies—not even worth comparing.
They probably weren’t fighting to minimize casualties against monsters, but still, Sangju’s powerhouses were clearly more capable than Gimcheon’s.
‘Hmm.’
Deeper in, even the few corpses vanished, revealing a relatively clean scene.
And that’s when Young-woo first heard it.
Baaaaaang!
A car horn.
“……?”
The sound from behind his head really came from a car.
He turned to see a white foreign luxury sedan revving angrily with its engine on.
‘A car…? People drive around here?’
Young-woo instinctively figured it was Sangju’s Greatest Swordsman.
Reset day two.
At a time when mutants appeared only one per region—who else could afford the ‘luxury’ of buying a passenger car?
‘Unless someone monopolized 3 million karma.’
As Young-woo gathered his energy to draw Early Bird from his waist, the white sedan honked again.
Baaaaaaaang!
Then the driver’s window rolled down, and a woman poked her head out.
“What? Move already?”
Her sharp voice matched the sleek designer sunglasses.
Not stone ones—real sunglasses.
Arguably a bigger luxury than the car.
‘What the fuck is this?’
Stunned by her fresh outfit, Young-woo stared, and the woman flung open the driver’s door.
“Don’t get it? Should I just run you over?”
Click. Her high heel hit the road.
Seeing that, Young-woo belatedly realized.
This wasn’t Sangju’s Greatest Swordsman.
‘She’s wearing shoes, no weapon.’
Crucially, she showed no reaction to his bare feet.
She didn’t know some couldn’t wear shoes.
Meaning she’d never had superhuman stats.
Which made it even more absurd.
How could a non-top-swordsman afford this?
“…….”
Young-woo eyed her waist—no simple sheath even—and asked.
“What’s your connection to Sangju’s Greatest Swordsman? Family? Girlfriend?”
“What?”
Annoyance turned to bewilderment on her face for a split second.
Then it twisted back to venom as she snapped.
“You, where the hell you from? No basic common sense.”
She’d clearly seen Early Bird on his waist but wasn’t intimidated.
The reason? The car’s back seat.
Clunk.
The white sedan’s rear doors opened one after another, and Young-woo looked over.
Two burly men stepped out, each gripping an Early Bird.
‘Bodyguards.’
Her confidence wasn’t just from the top swordsman’s halo.
But the two swordsmen, upon laying eyes on Young-woo, just looked uneasy—no immediate attack.
They recognized it instantly. He wasn’t ordinary.
They might not grasp the bare feet thing, but the golden glow on his hands was no ordinary item.
“…What’re you waiting for?”
As the men hesitated, she barked, and one bodyguard cautiously spoke.
“He’s an outsider, doesn’t know better… Let’s just let it slide. No need for blood…”
“What?”
Sure enough, she exploded, pointing at Young-woo.
“Get rid of this fucker quick! If you don’t handle this, you’re dead when we get back.”
“…….”
Surprisingly, her threat worked.
The bodyguards glared at Young-woo with reluctant eyes.
Young-woo slowly drew Early Bird and said.
“That woman scare you that much? Or is it Sangju’s Greatest Swordsman?”
The bodyguards assumed combat stances and recited their lines.
“Sorry about this. It’s our only way to eat.”
“No hard feelings.”
Both apologies and detachment rang true.
So Young-woo gave a sincere ultimatum.
“Drop your weapons and leave the area. I won’t chase you. Don’t die pointlessly.”
But without revealing his title, it just sounded like a taunt to them.
“…Ha. What?”
“This fucker’s making me feel something.”
Finally, the bodyguards gripped their Early Birds threateningly, murder in their eyes. Young-woo matched them, filling his pupils with gold.
Paaat!
A golden wave erupted centered on Young-woo.
“……!”
In that instant, the bodyguards—and even the woman—knew exactly who they’d messed with.