Chapter 302
Chapter 302
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 302
Chapter Title: 69. Heir (1)
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<[|l||I-Earth has a "Myth" appearance.]>
Myth appearance on Earth.
This phrase, appearing for the first time since the reset, meant a great many things.
‘What? There was no announcement like that when I got the Illegitimate Child?'
That notice meant the system currently overseeing the reset had detected a myth entering this planet proper.
So why hadn’t the Illegitimate Child—a myth already on Earth early on—been announced?
‘Does it mean the Illegitimate Child’s arrival wasn’t official?’
Young-woo couldn’t help but think so.
‘But I paid taxes on it, and as far as I know, the Chairman paid transfer taxes too?’
Of course, the Illegitimate Child and the holy relic from the red-footed orcs he’d just acquired had entered through entirely different processes.
The former was equipment paid for via an official contract as service fees, while the latter was, strictly speaking, the result of an ‘incident.’
‘Right. If anything, the holy relic was closer to pure coincidence, so why…’
Young-woo tilted his head, even as he stroked the surface of the holy relic at his fingertips.
The whispers of the red-footed ancestors dwelling within it quieted, and soon an equipment tooltip appeared.
Fwaaah!
「Aratubank」 - Myth Shield
【Invulnerable】
【Coffin】
【Pain Sharing】
‘Ho. The shield’s name itself is Aratubank.’
The first myth equipment he’d seen since the Illegitimate Child, and his first myth armor.
And in a way, it was the first myth Young-woo had truly obtained on his own.
Though the red-footed orcs had forged the myth, it had crossed dimensions to reach Earth here because of Young-woo’s bizarre, fateful summons, hadn’t it?
Granted, whether that was due to his heart’s effect or pure coincidence was unknown.
【Fateful Roll】
|At every fateful fork, the lowest-probability outcome is applied at 3x multiplier.
【Stubborn】
|All problem difficulties increase. All unexpected elements surge.
But one thing was certain: if there were no Jeong Young-woo on Earth, Aratubank wouldn’t be here now.
‘Ah, is that why the system reacted? From a cosmic perspective, this myth’s arrival is the only natural one…?’
Gauging a cosmic perspective as a mere insect was still no easy task.
“…….”
Young-woo ceased his pondering and shifted his gaze to the detailed tooltip for his new myth, Aratubank.
‘Let’s see just how amazing a myth shield’s effects are.’
A total of three unique effects.
And the very first one lived up to the ‘myth’ name, exceeding expectations.
【Invulnerable】
|This shield cannot be destroyed and blocks most non-physical damage and mental attacks.
‘What? No, ancestors…!’
Young-woo reread the Invulnerable details with an awestruck expression.
Shields were obviously for blocking physical attacks, and with some imagination, maybe a dragon’s breath.
But this one blocked ‘most non-physical’ damage and even mental attacks.
‘The Devourer’s influence probably counts as a mental attack too.’
So, if his orc brethren had wielded this holy relic, could they have kept their homeland from Mara?
“…….”
Young-woo thought not.
At best, only one could make use of the shield’s effects, and above all, the brethren lacked the firepower to slay void beings.
‘To reach my side, you shed far too much blood.’
Young-woo wiped his dry eyes and moved to the next tooltip.
【Coffin】
|You can place bloodkin in the coffin. Gain special effects based on the subject’s status and presence. (0/2)
‘Huh…?’
This effect was unbelievable for entirely different reasons.
‘Place bloodkin… in a coffin? This shield?’
No matter how he looked at it, that’s what it meant.
Put bloodkin in this shield and carry them around for special effects.
Even.
‘Depending on presence and status… I get presence, but what exactly is status?’
Various thoughts swirled in Young-woo’s mind.
Contextually, ‘status’ left room for multiple interpretations.
‘No way it means whether they’re alive or dead, right?’
Young-woo scratched his chin.
If not that, then what?
‘It’s not referring to health status.’
It could well refer to racial type.
On this reset-active planet, even bloodkin could differ by race.
Like his mother, who might one day return as a dragon, or his second uncle.
‘Either way, it’s insane. No, why the hell would you stuff bloodkin corpses into a shield?’
His mind reeled, but one effect remained.
【Pain Sharing】
|The red ancestors bear half the pain. Pain is greatly reduced, and mental agonies like guilt or sorrow are alleviated.
‘These guys… what kind of equipment did they even make…?’
Young-woo turned back with a baffled look, making the watching Bang Daehyeop flinch.
-How is it? Aratubank, our myth.
Young-woo let out a deep sigh in response.
“It seems like an impressive piece of equipment.”
-…But? Is there a problem?
“It seems like equipment that turns you into a crazy psychopath.”
The Pain Sharing taking half the pain was fantastic.
He already ignored pain past a certain threshold thanks to his berserker amulet.
So Aratubank’s final effect would drastically mitigate pains too great or too minor for the berserker to handle.
However.
“The ancestors take on guilt or sorrow-like mental pains. What, are they worry dolls now?”
-Worry dolls…?
“…Yeah, they exist.”
Young-woo held back further explanation.
“Anyway, it’ll help squeeze out every last drop of blood without mercy.”
With that, he pulled Aratubank from his relic vault, drawing sighs from the orcs around him.
-Ah…
-It ends like this.
-The holy relic!
-Aratubank!
To them, it was their tribe’s treasure falling into an alien’s hands.
Sure, Young-woo was officially recognized as red-footed, but there was a clear difference.
‘I can’t stuff my brethren into this shield. I’m not a real orc, and I don’t have their blood.’
He understood their feelings, but that didn’t mean he felt like returning the relic.
Because.
Pah!
[Myth Codex]
〔2〕
His myth codex collection had just increased by one.
‘Two isn’t enough to unlock effects. Need three?’
Like the Illegitimate Child, a warning appeared that Aratubank’s effects wouldn’t activate without wearing it.
[3 unapplied effects exist.]
|Targets: Golden Trajectory, 「Illegitimate Child」, 「Aratubank」
|Reason: Binding effects
‘Makes sense, since you have to carry bloodkin around.’
Young-woo thought briefly, slotted the void flesh into his codex, then gripped the shield in his left hand.
Clunk.
The myth shield Aratubank was a massive 1.5-meter-diameter shield that nearly covered Young-woo entirely.
With its Coffin function, it resembled a huge iron coffin, a detail Young-woo quite liked.
‘It looks like the Chairman’s ship.’
Anyway, with two myths secured and two legend kills under his belt, his business in Australia was done.
“Guess it’s time to head back.”
As Young-woo gazed toward the Korean Peninsula and spoke, Bang Tubangtung—his face gloomy till then—brightened and asked.
-Finally leaving?
“Yeah. Mutants are about to drop on Seoul soon.”
Time to collect his due.
With the new shield, he could confidently claim invincibility against mutants.
Even if his mother returned today as a great dragon, he could give her a proper thrashing.
‘Mom won’t mind seeing how much her son’s grown.’
Swoosh.
Young-woo beckoned Negig and signaled it was time to go.
Bang Daehyeop approached cautiously and murmured low.
-The money… how does that work?
“You need to prepare it. After mutant cleanup, I’ll come collect 380 million.”
-380 million…?
“Yeah. The 300 million we agreed on, plus the 80 million you were supposed to pay today anyway.”
-…….
“Don’t make that face.”
Young-woo started to say more but held back, wondering if Aratubank’s Pain Sharing was already active, opting for mercy.
“I’ll take 180 million no matter what, and the remaining 200 when that number fills up.”
Swoosh.
Young-woo pointed to the rescued count on Darwin City’s gate ledger.
[3,682/15,000]
While Young-woo coveted the brethren’s relic, refugees kept flooding the holy site, saving 3,682 brethren in the interim.
“Even if no more brethren show, keep the portal open till I say otherwise. Gotta catch the Devourer if it appears again.”
-What? Then until you come, we…
“So it’s wise to clear the portal area. Send a messenger to Seoul if something shows.”
Call it fortunate amid misfortune.
Like Young-woo, the brethren could use ultra-high-speed routes, theoretically summoning him in minutes.
Theoretically, at least.
“I hope to see as many brethren reunited as possible. And don’t forget the 180 million prep. I only feel half the guilt now, so who knows what I might do.”
Young-woo scanned the Australian brethren once more, then mounted Negig.
Thud!
The red-footed orcs’ gazes listlessly followed the relic in Little Foot’s hand.
-Little Foot, will we ever reclaim our holy relic?
As Bang Daehyeop pleaded on behalf of the brethren behind, Young-woo pondered briefly.
“Hm… When I return it, the relic might have something inside.”
Whether father, mother, or uncle—he hadn’t considered which.
Still, from the brethren’s view, their relic would return defiled.
If they still wanted it then.
“Someday, when I no longer need even myths, I’ll return it for sure.”
Despite Young-woo’s promise with no set date, the red-footed orcs’ faces lit up.
-Really?
“Of course. But you’ll grant one more request.”
Young-woo raised a wicked index finger, hardening Bang Daehyeop’s expression again.
-…What request?
“Come to Seoul with me now and donate some kill records.”