Chapter 32
Chapter 32
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 32
Chapter Title: 10. Villain Battle (6)
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Kwaaaang!
The one known as BJ Ppagle, internet streamer Hong Young-tae, shattered the ground as he landed, plunging the arena into momentary silence.
Not only Sangju First Sword Dokgo Se-hwan, but even Sangju Mayor Kim Hyun-ho failed to grasp the situation.
Another mutated being had suddenly plummeted from the sky...?
Of course, Young-tae, summoned via the whistle, was equally stunned.
“...Huh? What the hell is all this?”
He had come with bold ambitions to rack up achievements this time, but the atmosphere was far from ordinary.
A massive mutated being with its head already severed, Jeong Yeong-woo, and yet another First Sword.
“Why...”
Before Young-tae could finish asking why there were two First Swords, Yeong-woo scattered golden light from his eyes and swung his blade.
Swaaaaang!
Not at anyone else, but straight at Sangju First Sword Dokgo Se-hwan.
“What the fuck, you crazy bastard?”
It was a surprise attack, but Se-hwan’s superior stats allowed him to barely block Yeong-woo’s blade.
Chaeng!
Two silver-white blades clashed at Se-hwan’s throat.
At last, an enormous message appeared before Yeong-woo’s eyes.
“Sensory stat temporarily increased from 480 to 808.”
“...!”
Sensory at a whopping 808.
This was the result of stealing both the Sangju First Sword’s and Sangju Mayor’s sensory stats.
Now, no one in the room could match him in a sensory contest.
“Young-tae! Kill this guy first!”
As Yeong-woo swung his sword again and shouted, bewilderment and terror flashed in Se-hwan’s eyes as he parried the blow.
“...”
He hadn’t known until now, and even seeing it with his own eyes, he couldn’t believe the shocking truth.
There were First Swords in this world colluding with mutated beings.
And this one was even teaming up with a mutated being to attack him.
Sangju Mayor Kim Hyun-ho was still holding firm like a fortress in the back, which wasn’t an illusion.
In other words...
‘You’re saying... you’re leaving that mutated being alone to come kill me first...?’
Exactly that.
A massive orca was already charging with its long jaws gaping wide.
‘This motherfucker, am I dreaming right now?’
Se-hwan barely blocked the onslaught from both sides, his eyebrows twitching wildly.
His wealth of combat experience was telling him survival would be tough this time.
Swaaaaak!
Shiiik!
The beast’s claws and Early Bird’s blade had completely different ranges and trajectories, making it hell to block them alternately.
No matter how much Sangju Swordsmanship assisted, Se-hwan himself had to move his body.
“Urgh...!”
Before even twenty exchanges, Se-hwan’s breathing lost its rhythm, falling into disarray.
“Aaaah!”
Never dreaming his end would come today, Se-hwan let out an ambiguous cry between scream and roar.
Yeong-woo sensed his opponent losing composure and hurled a dagger at Se-hwan’s back.
Hwak!
He planned to retrieve it during Young-tae’s next attack and strike from behind.
And soon enough.
Shiiik!
Young-tae swung his massive arm and charged at Se-hwan.
That was when Yeong-woo recovered the dagger embedded far in the ground.
He didn’t forget to swing Early Bird at Se-hwan’s neck.
Swaaaaak!
It was effectively a three-pronged assault, so even Se-hwan, who had shown near-miraculous defense, took a solid hit this time.
Psh!
He couldn’t dodge the dagger from the rear.
The dagger grazed his side diagonally before returning, soaked in Se-hwan’s blood, and slotted into Yeong-woo’s belt. From that moment, the battle’s momentum shifted.
“Hup...!”
Dokgo Se-hwan’s movements, which had held strong until now, grew noticeably erratic.
‘No way?’
Sensing something, Yeong-woo shoved Young-tae aside and retreated himself.
Reflexively swinging his sword, Dokgo Se-hwan staggered and half-collapsed.
“Ugh...!”
Se-hwan clutched his side with his shield hand, face contorted.
Yeong-woo was certain now.
‘It activated. Golden Punishment.’
“Golden Punishment” - Legendary Bracelet
【Inflicts pain on the enemy.】
That pain-infliction effect only triggered after landing a hit on the opponent.
Of course, Yeong-woo had no idea how intense the pain was.
What was clear: it was enough to halt a Sangju First Sword mid-battle.
“What... what is it? It hurts that much?”
Young-tae stared at Yeong-woo in bewilderment, seeing the foe writhe despite the minor wound.
He suspected some trick. And he wasn’t wrong.
“We need to finish him quick.”
As Yeong-woo menacingly raised his sword, Se-hwan, down on one knee, gritted his teeth and lifted his shield.
But with his focus halved by the agony, he was pushed back even in a one-on-one with Yeong-woo.
He barely endured five exchanges before exposing an opening.
Chwiik!
For Yeong-woo, it was a simple thrust at the collarbone-neck junction, but Se-hwan deflected it at an angle, botched his counter, and got his trapezius pierced.
Puk!
Once the blade properly sank in, it was smooth sailing.
Yeong-woo left it embedded, drew the dagger from his belt, and stabbed at Se-hwan’s chin.
Puk!
Blood streamed from the metal that pierced the jaw like lightning.
“...Kruk!”
Yet strength lingered in Se-hwan’s body, so Yeong-woo immediately swung his left-hand shield at the skull.
Kwak!
Se-hwan’s upper body went limp at once, collapsing to the ground.
Early Bird and the dagger were still lodged in his trapezius and somewhere in his head.
“...”
Young-tae eyed the mangled corpse, thinking of skewered meat but keeping silent.
His body had begun dissolving into nothingness.
His return time had come.
“Huh?”
As Young-tae vanished into thin air in panic, the massive shadow he cast also faded.
But an even larger shadow remained.
“Impressive. Is this happening elsewhere too?”
Sangju Mayor Kim Hyun-ho.
He still stood with his sword planted on the ground, holding Yeong-woo’s severed head in his left hand, staring down.
He hadn’t moved a single step while two First Swords and a random mutated being tangled before him.
Why interfere when the enemies were fighting each other?
“I don’t know how other neighborhoods are faring. It’s only been two days since the reset.”
Yeong-woo politely replied, reminded that this foe, like past mutated beings, was new to the post-reset world.
“Two days? Only two days have passed...?”
Kim Hyun-ho showed agitation for the first time.
Yet holding his own severed head made him no less gruesome, and his sweeping attack soon after was the same.
“Either way, you should vanish now. Seems dangerous.”
Hwuaaaang!
“...!”
Yeong-woo’s eyes widened; the bastard’s sword felt faster than before.
‘Damn, my sensory dropped back when Dokgo Se-hwan died.’
His sensory was back to 480.
Without Young-tae too, he had to handle the fight solo.
Paat!
Yeong-woo gritted his teeth, feeling a monstrous blade whistle over his ducked head.
‘The only way to boost my power right now is to grab that guy’s gear.’
As Yeong-woo approached Sangju First Sword’s corpse, Kim Hyun-ho charged, slashing down.
Kwaaang!
“Ugh...!”
He barely evaded, but Dokgo Se-hwan’s body split in half, flying into the air.
Yeong-woo spotted a purple bracelet on the corpse’s wrist but couldn’t retrieve it.
“Die...!”
Kim Hyun-ho soon loomed, casting a shadow everywhere.
With the black demon’s body he wielded like a limb, his height reached 5 meters, feeling like battling a tank.
‘How the hell did a lunatic like this show up so soon?’
Even Gumi Swordsmanship warned against clashing blades head-on.
No chance in a strength contest.
Conversely, Yeong-woo held the edge in total sensory, so Kim Hyun-ho’s strikes yielded no results.
Just pounding the harsh ground, kicking up dust.
Kwak!
Another miss shattered sidewalk blocks, scattering debris. That broke Kim Hyun-ho’s calm.
“You motherfucker.”
He was human at core, now pissed.
He hadn’t returned here to dance swords with some nobody all day.
He wanted to punish the masses who judged him.
“You...!”
As he raised his sword in fury, Kim Hyun-ho’s eyebrows twitched, gaze shifting elsewhere.
‘What?’
Yeong-woo sensed it too, looking the same way.
“There!”
“What, what is it? It’s huge!”
Heavily armed people were rushing in.
Their speed screamed non-civilian, so probably...
‘Sangju City’s monster hunters.’
Monster hunters, elites, hunters, superhumans... labels didn’t matter anymore. No standards left.
‘What guts brought them here? Did that woman send them to help her husband?’
Yeong-woo recalled Sangju First Sword’s wife was still alive.
She had vanished somewhere when the fight started at Honeymoon Motel.
“...”
Irrelevant now anyway.
What mattered.
Kuduk.
Kim Hyun-ho turned toward the ‘reinforcements.’
No point fighting forever; he’d slaughter the small fry for fun.
‘Suits me just fine.’
Kung!
Kim Hyun-ho thundered toward the monster hunters, shaking the earth. Yeong-woo seized the gap to reach Dokgo Se-hwan’s corpse.
Specifically, the upper half flung far away, to loot it.
Taak!
But something unexpected happened.
“...?”
As Yeong-woo cast a shadow over Dokgo Se-hwan’s head, the eyelids fluttered.
“Huh?”
He first thought it a trick of the eye or ground tremors.
‘W... he’s still breathing.’
Incredibly, the chest rose and fell repeatedly.
Despite half his skull smashed and body bisected top to bottom, he lived.
‘Does that make sense? Even with high durability...’
As Yeong-woo gaped, massive roars and screams erupted behind.
The Sangju mayor was gleefully carving up the monster hunters.
‘Damn, time.’
No leisure to marvel at the near-miracle.
Yeong-woo swung Early Bird to fully sever Dokgo Se-hwan’s breath, then stripped the bracelet.
Tak.
The purple bracelet’s tooltip floated up, revealing the miracle’s source.
“Slime’s Core” - Mutant Bracelet
【Regeneration dramatically increased.】
Regeneration boost.
That explained why Dokgo Se-hwan, little more than meat chunks, hadn’t died fully.
‘No way... an item like this existed?’
But the astonishment didn’t end there.
“Acquired Sangju First Sword via merger!”
...Gyeongbuk region titles owned: 3.
“Became Gyeongbuk First Sword (True)!”
...Currently the sole Gyeongbuk First Sword (True) in Gyeongbuk region.
‘Wait, this means.’
Amid the notification parade, Yeong-woo realized something, eyes widening.
Per the last similar title rule, the Gyeongbuk First Sword (True) with the most titles upgrades to Gyeongbuk First Sword.
In other words...
‘I’m the only candidate.’
The moment Yeong-woo thought that, a notice broadcast to all of Gyeongbuk.
“Gyeongbuk region’s First Sword elected!”
“Current Gyeongbuk First Sword: ‘JeongYeongwoo07’. 1st gen, defenses: 0.”
Then a warning only to Yeong-woo.
“All subsequently elected Gyeongbuk First Swords (True) will receive your real-time location.”