Chapter 33
Chapter 33
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 33
Chapter Title: 11. Alien (1)
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Inaugural Gyeongbuk Greatest Swordsman.
As Youngwoo read all the text aloud, the title he held underwent a fresh change.
Flash!
「Gyeongbuk Greatest Swordsman」 - Epic Title
【Prestige of the Greatest Sword】
【Voting Member】
【Gyeongbuk Swordsmanship】
‘Huh...? New effects have been added.’
Two things stood out the most.
First, the ‘Unique’ rating of the title had upgraded to ‘Epic.’
And second, it had gained a new option: ‘Voting Member.’
Voting member... That meant he could exercise rights in some kind of assembly or council.
So, exactly what was he voting on?
‘Given that it starts from major regional Greatest Swordsmen, this must be no ordinary authority.’
Whatever it was, to make use of this power, he’d need to stay alive first.
“......”
Youngwoo wrapped the bracelet Dokgo Se-hwan had left behind around his own arm, then snatched the Early Bird the man had been gripping and shoved it into his backpack.
Then.
Crunch!
He turned his gaze to Kim Hyun-ho, who was bulldozing through Sangju’s elites from afar.
「Raaargh!」
A tangle of emotions laced his roar alongside the blade.
Rage, sorrow, and joy.
From his perspective, he was in the midst of slaughtering the enemies who had killed him.
At the same time, he was butchering the citizens of Sangju while forsaking his role as mayor.
[Sangju Mayor - Kim Hyun-ho]
Youngwoo glanced briefly at the name tag above the mutant’s head, then gripped the Early Bird and charged forward.
Thud!
The elites who had come to aid Sangju’s Greatest Swordsman had dwindled to two, and they were now fleeing with their backs exposed to Kim Hyun-ho.
But their escape wasn’t likely to succeed.
Both were already under the shadow of his massive form.
Whoosh!
At last, Sangju Mayor Kim Hyun-ho swung his sword toward the fugitives.
And at that exact moment.
—Break (破)
—Break (破)
Two ‘Break’ markers appeared in Youngwoo’s vision as he pursued the mayor from behind.
It meant he couldn’t kill them with this attack, but he could disrupt their stance.
The markers clung to Kim Hyun-ho’s lower back and the rear leg of the black horse he rode, and according to the hologram, both were ‘thrown attacks.’
He was to hurl the Early Bird and dagger tucked into his belt in sequence.
“......!”
Youngwoo followed the guide, throwing both weapons while leaping to Kim Hyun-ho’s left flank.
That was where the vision’s hologram was racing toward.
‘Why all of a sudden...?’
It was the first time the hologram had expanded its space this much, but Youngwoo complied without question.
Because.
“......!”
Kim Hyun-ho somehow sensed the rear ambush and whipped his sword back to deflect the thrown dagger from Youngwoo.
He even twisted his body at an unbelievable angle to dodge the Early Bird flying toward his lower back.
—Miss (虛)
—Miss (虛)
The two markers flipped to ‘Miss’ in succession, but the hologram’s battle was still ongoing.
Soon, the hologram positioning itself at Kim Hyun-ho’s side pulled back its arm in a weapon-recall gesture, and Youngwoo swiftly mimicked it to summon both blades.
Flash!
The Early Bird and dagger, which had scattered in different directions, snapped back at once, attempting a pincer attack.
And seeing this, Youngwoo finally realized.
‘Advanced swordsmanship provides far more sophisticated guidance.’
Of course, the belt’s remote retrieval alone couldn’t deal a fatal blow to Kim Hyun-ho.
But.
Screeech!
If even a blade could just graze him...
—Break (破)
—Break (破)
At last, ‘Break’ markers reappeared at the tips of the two weapons slicing through the air, though Youngwoo watched one of them soon shift back to ‘Miss.’
Ping!
Kim Hyun-ho had twisted his sword once more to bat away the Early Bird.
The dagger arrived a half-beat later, only to be swatted by his left arm, wrapped in full plate.
Ting!
At that instant, the ‘Break’ marker on the dagger flashed red and vibrated.
「Hngh?」
That was when Kim Hyun-ho’s towering, castle-like shadow lurched wildly back and forth.
The unique effect of Golden Punishment had activated.
【Inflict pain on the enemy.】
‘It’s here! The opening...!’
As Youngwoo’s eyes gleamed and he drew the returning Early Bird from his waist, Kim Hyun-ho twisted his left arm to glare at him from beneath it.
「You bastard...!」
But despite his furious words, his eyes shook violently.
He was terrified of Youngwoo, who had inflicted agonizing pain with mere contact.
Kim Hyun-ho couldn’t string together more words and spurred his horse toward the two fugitives already far ahead.
Boom!
‘You’re not planning to fight me.’
But the pain, once ignited, didn’t release Kim Hyun-ho so easily.
「Urk!」
Even as he fled from Youngwoo, he arched his back in spasms several times.
He didn’t stop his horse, though.
Instead.
Rumble!
He drove it harder, closing the gap to the fugitives before swinging his sword savagely.
Whoosh!
With a heavy whoosh, the fugitives’ bodies cleaved in two.
Then Kim Hyun-ho’s black horse trampled their corpses underhoof.
Pure vengeance.
Watching this, Youngwoo had a gut feeling: Kim Hyun-ho might truly be innocent.
“Sangju Mayor Kim Hyun-ho! I heard there was some unfortunate suspicion—is it true?”
Youngwoo shouted.
For a split second, Kim Hyun-ho’s torso hesitated.
But that was it. He didn’t stop—instead, he veered off, charging toward somewhere else.
Probably a crowded area.
It looked like he planned to rack up as many kills as possible before his strength gave out.
Youngwoo accelerated further, calling his name again.
“Kim Hyun-ho!”
At last, the man glanced back.
「Suspicions? Whatever. You already killed me. Now there’s only one thing left to do: make you all suffer. That’s all I’ve been waiting for.」
No one overhearing would doubt the sincerity in his tone.
‘No point telling him to surrender peacefully.’
Youngwoo grimaced, sensing malice sizzling even from Kim Hyun-ho’s back.
Looked like he wouldn’t be making friends in Sangju.
Rumble...!
Kim Hyun-ho’s faltering momentum revived bit by bit, his black horse picking up speed.
The pain from Golden Punishment was fading.
‘Have to end it here. If he hits the city streets, every swing will carve through dozens.’
Apartment complexes loomed ahead.
As expected of the mayor, he knew the city’s layout inside out.
Snap!
As Youngwoo ramped up his speed and prepared to launch weapons like before, Kim Hyun-ho, sensing it keenly, spoke again.
「Leave me be. Once I finish my business, I’ll die quietly.」
“I can see you’re heading to slaughter people—why would I leave you alone?”
Youngwoo had already flung the dagger from his waist, and Kim Hyun-ho, watching him, twisted away.
Screech!
The dagger whistled past his shoulder.
Next came Youngwoo’s Early Bird, aimed at his head—but it met the black sword.
Ping!
But Youngwoo’s attack didn’t end there.
The moment he threw the Early Bird, he himself drew another from his backpack and lunged.
“......!”
Having tasted bitterness from the prior pincer, Kim Hyun-ho could only gape. This time, it was a three-pronged assault.
「Damn it.」
Grinding his teeth at the hellish future, Kim Hyun-ho gripped his sword tighter as Youngwoo recalled his launched weapons and swung.
Whoosh!
Naturally, the ‘main body’—Youngwoo’s—attack posed the greatest threat, so Kim Hyun-ho had no choice but to block his sword first. That left him to deftly evade the blades targeting his back and right flank.
Clang!
His best was parrying Youngwoo’s Early Bird with his black sword, then twisting his upper body to minimize his profile.
Scrape.
The motion was so abrupt it strained his armor’s joints—but it wasn’t enough.
Due to the height difference with Youngwoo, the incoming blades’ angles were too wide.
Swish!
As Kim Hyun-ho twisted to dodge both, his black horse’s neck lay fully exposed beneath.
「あ...!」
Realizing it, Kim Hyun-ho’s face twisted, but the Early Bird and dagger had already plunged into the mane.
And what followed.
「Grk!」
Was Kim Hyun-ho’s scream that wasn’t quite a scream.
Expecting the horse to collapse, Youngwoo tilted his head at the man’s agony.
‘What...? That black horse was part of him too.’
Either way, no better moment would come to behead the mayor.
For the first time, a ‘Kill’ marker had appeared on his foe.
—Kill (殺)
Just one.
It clung to Kim Hyun-ho’s head, flailing wildly in the air.
‘Only one weak spot, huh.’
Youngwoo menacingly raised his Early Bird toward Kim Hyun-ho’s head, and the man, sensing something, cried out in terror.
「W-Wait! Hold on!」
Even as he did, his eyes flicked unconsciously to the apartment complexes ringing the rear like a screen.
If only he could run a bit faster... or if this mad bastard hadn’t interfered, he could’ve vented fully.
For the first time doubting his foe, Kim Hyun-ho asked with utter incomprehension.
「What are you...? Why the hell does someone like you even exist?」
Someone like you.
Kim Hyun-ho was furious at the very existence of a human stronger than a mutant.
According to the ‘voice’ he’d heard ceaselessly in the darkness, mutants had been sent back to the original world to judge the masses.
But this? Any onlooker would see not a judge, but a mere monster. And he hadn’t even settled his grudge.
“......”
Youngwoo had no answers either.
He was just another human scraping by day by day in this reset-ruined world.
“Why’s someone like me here? Beats me. You just get stronger if you survive well in this world. That’s why I thought you guys might have the answers.」
Youngwoo eyed the still-twitching Kim Hyun-ho, then gripped his sword tightly again.
“But looks like you’re just as clueless.”
Swoosh.
As Youngwoo aimed his blade tip at Kim Hyun-ho’s head, the man’s eyelids flew wide.
“Time to die. Let’s get that golden rain.”
Shing!
Youngwoo’s silver-white blade cleaved the air like an arrow.
「No!」
Kim Hyun-ho wailed, but the blade had already pierced his skull.
Crunch!
His head shattered like crumbling pastry, and at the same instant, a white beam shot skyward.
‘If golden rain falls again, that’ll be the third time already.’
As Youngwoo eyed the golden orb left behind and mused, a new notification appeared in his vision.
「Sangju’s second mutant has been eliminated, so basic welfare will now apply to this region.」
|Time until Daily Quest activation: 20 minutes.
|Time until Merchant appearance: 5 minutes.