Chapter 31
Chapter 31
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 31
Chapter Title: 10. Villain War (5)
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Soon, the fact that mutated beings and monsters were on their way became clear enough to both First Swords locked in fierce combat in the motel hallway.
Thud!
The pillar of light had made such a massive noise to begin with, but more than that...
[00:00:10]
A timer had appeared right in front of their eyes.
And the time it showed was a bit off.
[00:00:09]
"What...?"
"What the hell is this?"
[00:00:08]
As the two bewildered First Swords paused their swordplay for a moment, the time until the monsters appeared ticked down to 8 seconds.
Youngwoo quickly checked his wristwatch.
'...1:00 PM sharp.'
From now on, mutants and monsters might show up at this exact time every day.
[00:00:05]
The remaining time had already dropped to 5 seconds, and in his growing impatience, the Sangju First Sword was the first to propose a truce.
"H-Hey... how about we put out this fire first?"
For him, taking out the mutant took priority over a duel with a challenger who offered no real gain.
Ruling over a ghost town where everyone was dead held no meaning anyway.
"What do you say? No time—decide quick."
Sangju First Sword, Dokgo Se-hwan01.
The man, who looked to be in his early forties, wasn't even wearing underwear.
All he had was the single Early Bird sword he'd hastily grabbed from the room earlier.
His appearance was laughable, but to Youngwoo, who had crossed blades with him, he was nothing but a monstrous freak.
"......"
That was exactly why Youngwoo couldn't outright refuse the truce proposal.
'At this rate, I can't guarantee victory. His sword is too fast.'
So, was there a solution?
「Golden Punishment」 - Legendary Bracelet
【Inflicts pain on the enemy.】
【Cumulative Golden Power: 2】
Youngwoo glanced at the golden bracelet on his wrist.
It was the only piece of gear whose effects he hadn't tested yet.
'Clashing weapons doesn't seem to trigger it. Probably needs direct stabbing or physical contact...'
But the opponent was so quick that even simple contact, let alone a fatal blow, was nearly impossible.
No clear strategy in sight for now.
'Summon Youngtae now? No, only one summon left today—save it for when I'm sure.'
After countless thoughts in that brief moment, Youngwoo reached a decision before it was too late.
First, lure the Sangju First Sword to the mutant, steal the mutant's senses there, and then settle the score.
"Fine. Mutants first. If we leave it alone, it'll sweep up innocents too."
Dokgo Se-hwan let out a long laugh and took a couple of steps back.
"You're not a complete idiot, then."
He began slipping into the scattered clothes from the motel rooms while keeping his eyes fixed on Youngwoo.
"You got time to get dressed now? Weren't you naked more than clothed anyway?"
As Youngwoo eyed the underwear half-hanging off Dokgo Se-hwan's butt and spoke, the man scowled and growled.
"Watch your mouth, you green little punk."
At the same time, a golden wave emanated from his body, but it had no real effect on Youngwoo.
Youngwoo's eyes were glowing gold too, after all.
"......"
Dokgo Se-hwan stared hard at Youngwoo before finally finishing dressing.
In the meantime, Youngwoo had left the Sangju First Sword in the room and stepped out of the motel.
The expired timer had long vanished from view, replaced by countless blue pillars tearing through the skies over Sangju City.
'Where's the mutant?'
From what he'd heard earlier, there was a group in Sangju that practically monopolized monster hunts.
Essentially the First Sword's underlings.
So the monsters popping up everywhere were probably being handled by his minions right now.
Youngwoo just needed to prioritize finding the mutant. No one short of First Sword level would dare touch it.
'There.'
His gaze locked onto somewhere in the north.
It was pretty far, so blurry, but a bright red pillar of light was definitely shooting down.
"......"
The Sangju First Sword would follow on his own anyway.
Youngwoo pressed hard against the ground and pivoted north.
Then.
Bang!
He kicked off like a bullet and shot forward.
Who would today's second-day mutant in Sangju City be?
Based on the pattern so far, it was obvious they'd be stronger than yesterday's.
The mutants he'd faced so far were basically "mook" types based on goblins or trolls.
But as he'd seen with his own eyes yesterday morning, someone had mutated into a dragon-like high-tier monster.
It was just a matter of timing—they'd show up eventually.
Fwoosh!
As Youngwoo headed north with these thoughts, strange sights flashed by around him.
'More people than I expected.'
What he saw were people moving with military precision, as if an air raid siren had sounded.
Those outside had all taken shelter in nearby buildings in unison, while others burst out from inside.
And the latter group was all heavily armed and radiating dangerous auras.
'Those must be the monster hunters.'
Youngwoo instinctively knew they were Sangju's power holders.
Of course, the "monster hunters" who had grabbed their gear and rushed out after the timer vanished spotted the barefoot superhuman streaking through the city center and realized something was up.
"What the—"
"Not a First Sword...?"
Those who recognized the barefooted powerhouse crossing the urban district wasn't a familiar face all flinched and drew their blades.
But Youngwoo had no spare attention for small fry.
Boom boom boom boom!
The Sangju First Sword, Dokgo Se-hwan, was pursuing from behind, radiating a terrifying presence.
Now fully armed with even a shield.
"First Sword!"
Since they'd never exchanged names, Dokgo Se-hwan just called him "First Sword."
"Don't forget—mutant first!"
He reconfirmed their deal with Youngwoo and closed the distance in an instant.
"......!"
Hair-raising mobility.
Naturally, Se-hwan was barefoot too.
'Mutant first, my ass. Like you'd give up the rewards.'
Youngwoo alternated glances between Se-hwan, who was starting to overtake him, and the red pillar drawing closer.
At this rate, they'd encounter the mutant in dozens of seconds.
"Kill reward goes to whoever lands the finishing blow?"
The moment Youngwoo called out to Se-hwan's back.
Whoosh!
A heavy whoosh filled the air, and a hologram of the Gumi Sword Technique appeared before Youngwoo's eyes.
Flat on the ground.
"......!"
It meant an attack too fast to block even with a shield was incoming.
Youngwoo instantly blanked his mind, dropped low, and slid forward.
Screech!
Se-hwan, who had been ahead, slid too, kicking up dirt.
He'd received the Sangju Sword Technique guide as well.
As the two First Swords mirrored each other like shadows, a message appeared only in Youngwoo's vision.
「Sensory stat temporarily risen from 100 to 480.」
'Crazy.'
It was vastly different from when he'd first clashed with Dokgo Se-hwan.
Which meant... he'd stolen senses from yet another entity—not Se-hwan.
Namely.
「Graaaah!」
Something like Sangju's second mutant.
Boom!
With a sound like space itself ripping, a black blade slashed over Se-hwan and Youngwoo's heads.
Youngwoo felt every hair on his body stand on end as he sprang back up.
There, a pitch-black silhouette towered fully 10 meters away.
At least 5 meters tall, and not a single entity.
It was a knight mounted on a massive black horse. Cloaked in a mantle and armor as dark as the horse's hide, it gripped a longsword in its right hand with a blade at least 3 meters long.
"Shit, what the hell is that?"
Unlike the mutant from yesterday, Dokgo Se-hwan's face froze.
Seeing this, Youngwoo murmured what today's mutant was in a low voice.
"A dullahan. Headless knight."
"What?"
Instead of answering, Youngwoo pointed to the knight's left hand.
More precisely, the head it clutched.
"...Ugh."
Se-hwan finally noticed.
The knight's torso had no head attached.
It gripped its own severed head tightly in its left hand.
And that head had its eyes wide open, lips trembling and teeth grinding in rage.
So Youngwoo couldn't help but ask Se-hwan.
"Why'd this guy become a mutant?"
"What?"
Because the name tag on the dullahan's torso read none other than.
[Sangju Mayor - Kim Hyun-ho]
Sangju's mayor.
Becoming a mutant meant judgment by the masses, but how had the mayor ended up on the filter vote list?
"Shit, so the mayor came back."
Se-hwan, spotting the name tag late, wore a troubled expression.
Then continued.
"There were allegations of sexual favors."
"Sexual favors?"
Youngwoo looked incredulous.
It was eerily similar to Sangju City's current theme.
"Not sure. The reset started before the investigation wrapped up."
In other words, mere allegations of sexual favors, judged by the masses before the truth came out.
"...So he might actually be innocent."
"Could be. Or not. If he really was innocent, though..."
Se-hwan's trailing words—that he'd be pretty pissed right now—were cut short.
Crunch!
Sangju Mayor Kim Hyun-ho kicked off with his hooves and swung his sword again.
Whoosh!
The eerie whoosh returned, and the two First Swords saw it clearly.
The black sword in its grip stretched to an impossible length.
Screeeeech!
"Gah!"
"You bastard...!"
The blade extended at least 10 meters.
"Brought a monster with him. Think they gave him that to wipe out all of Sangju?"
As Youngwoo barely dodged the black arc and quipped, Dokgo Se-hwan spat on the ground.
"Cut the crap and figure out how to kill that bastard."
Se-hwan's hands and feet trembled faintly as he spoke.
Even a superhuman who'd monopolized 3 million karma couldn't help but fear a duel with a monster straight out of nightmares.
Youngwoo, on the other hand, had a slight edge over Se-hwan.
He at least knew dullahans existed, if only in human imagination.
'Something I only saw in games... Facing one for real, it's insanely huge.'
What determined the race of mutants and monsters?
Games? Novels? All human fiction?
Tsk.
Youngwoo stopped there, pulled one foot back, and assumed a combat stance.
The dullahan—no, Sangju Mayor Kim Hyun-ho—was thumping the ground with his hooves again.
'Not even talking to us—guess he plans to just slaughter everyone. Won't be easy to make friends this time.'
While watching the mayor's movements, Youngwoo subtly closed the distance to Dokgo Se-hwan.
Plan was to take out "friend" Dokgo Se-hwan right after the mutant's next attack.
'My senses are over twice his now. With Youngtae, we've got a solid shot.'
Whoosh!
Soon, the signature whoosh rang out again as another black blade cleaved the air.
"Again? Doesn't this psycho ever tire?"
As Dokgo Se-hwan recoiled in shock, Youngwoo leaped back, grabbing the orange whistle around his neck.
Then.
Tweetreeee!
He blew it hard, unleashing a piercing screech.
"Huh...?"
Dokgo Se-hwan whipped around at the unexpected noise, and even the silent mayor's head rolled its eyes toward Youngwoo.
「What are you.」
Before the mayor finished speaking.
「Raaah!」
A massive troll tore through the sky and leaped down.