Chapter 39
Chapter 39
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Vine
Chapter: 39
Chapter Title: 12. An Unknown World (3)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Jang Choon-yong16, 1st Gen, Defense 96 times.
The moment the Mungyeong First Sword's status was revealed, Youngwoo felt the air inside the car heat up instantly.
It was because Yoon-ho in the passenger seat opened his mouth in an unusually aggressive tone.
“1st Gen? Doesn’t that mean he’s insanely strong?”
Myung-ho, gripping the steering wheel and staring straight ahead, replied.
“Definitely. We should avoid the city center if at all possible.”
It wasn’t just voicing concern—it was the attitude of someone already devising countermeasures.
Yoon-ho, in particular, radiated the kind of energy that said he’d duel the First Sword without hesitation if the situation demanded it.
That made Youngwoo reassess the brothers’ skills.
‘They might be stronger than they look.’
At a glance, Myung-ho and Yoon-ho’s gear was laughably basic.
Myung-ho’s weapon was clearly a single sword pulled from the Mountain of Swords, and Yoon-ho’s entire arsenal was a single hand axe.
Myung-ae, riding in the back seat with him, didn’t even have a weapon.
There was no sign anywhere of an Early Bird, the hallmark of the strong.
‘But they could’ve awakened late. They must’ve realized that if they didn’t get stronger, their mother’s life would be in danger.’
Their mother—probably an incredibly powerful motivator for growth.
Youngwoo imagined the two brothers escorting her into the fray over exchange territory disputes.
Then he asked Myung-ho.
“Have you met him before? The First Sword.”
“Huh? The First Sword?”
Myung-ho looked surprised by the unexpected question, then shrugged.
“Ha, not yet. And I don’t want to. Besides, there’s only one First Sword per region… You don’t just run into them easily.”
He capped it off with a dry chuckle: Ha-hat.
Yoon-ho, who’d been quietly listening to the exchange, turned the question on Youngwoo instead.
“Then have you met one? A First Sword.”
“……”
Youngwoo met Yoon-ho’s blazing eyes for a moment before turning his gaze out the window.
“Nope. If I had, I wouldn’t be alive right now. A First Sword’s gotta be the strongest guy in the city, right?”
“Ugh, boring.”
Yoon-ho snorted and whipped his head back to the front, but Myung-ho in the driver’s seat started stealing glances at Youngwoo through the rearview mirror.
Now that he thought about it, there was nothing strange about the uncomfortable passenger in the back being a First Sword from some other region.
At first, his bizarre outfit had made him seem like a mutant, and his skills were freakishly high… and above all…
‘He had a few Early Birds on him.’
That was pretty solid proof.
Unless he’d killed other powerhouses and taken them, how else could someone carry around several of those precious things?
‘So… am I riding with a First Sword from somewhere right now?’
And right next to his mother, no less.
“Gasp.”
Myung-ho flinched for a split second, causing the steering wheel to jerk and the car to swerve.
Bump!
“Hey, what the hell.”
As Yoon-ho grumbled, nearly smacking his head against the window, Youngwoo—who’d been scanning the sky outside—spoke up again.
“Hey, the First Sword isn’t the problem right now.”
“Huh? What do you…?”
Myung-ho caught sight of Youngwoo in the rearview and realized he was looking up at the sky. He shifted his own gaze toward the top of the driver’s side window.
And saw it.
“Eek!”
In the distance, over Mungyeong City, countless blue pillars of light were raining down.
* * *
Current time: 2:11 PM.
Youngwoo checked his wristwatch and tilted his head.
‘I thought monsters appeared at 1 PM. Does it vary by region? Or…’
The monster from about an hour ago might not have been dealt with yet.
‘But that doesn’t explain the sheer number of light pillars. Is the First Sword here weak? No, then he’d have died ages ago.’
It was a phenomenon Youngwoo couldn’t make sense of with his own knowledge.
How could a region with a steadfast 1st Gen First Sword still have unhandled monsters?
And not just that.
‘…My god.’
As the car drew closer to the city, red light pillars came into view as well.
Mutants were still alive and kicking.
‘Where the hell is the First Sword and what’s he doing?’
Youngwoo furrowed his brow, mentally cursing the Mungyeong First Sword wherever he was holed up.
This was nothing like Gimcheon, where the position kept changing hands because there was no proper First Sword.
Here, there was a First Sword capable of fighting mutants—he just wasn’t doing his job.
“……”
Truly bizarre.
Meanwhile, the SUV carrying Youngwoo and the Jeong family barreled toward the city outskirts.
Vroooom…!
Amid the rising engine roar, Myung-ho glanced in the rearview at the road behind them and said.
“If we run into monsters, we’ll have to get out and fight. We can’t let the car get wrecked.”
It was obviously meant with Youngwoo in mind.
Youngwoo could match the car’s speed on foot with just his two legs, but the Jeong family couldn’t.
Especially for the two brothers protecting their non-combatant mother, the vehicle was a lifeline as precious as their own lives.
Youngwoo, who understood this well, nodded.
“Yeah, no problem there. But…”
He paused slightly before continuing.
“What about you two? Have you fought monsters a lot?”
He asked purely out of worry for Myung-ae, who was relying entirely on her sons for survival, but Yoon-ho in the passenger seat took it as a provocation and bristled.
“What, you think we can’t handle a monster on our own? Don’t worry about us—we’ve managed just fine without your concern.”
“…Yeah. Good to hear.”
Youngwoo shut his mouth, saying no more.
He’d see the brothers’ combat prowess firsthand soon enough anyway.
‘Day 2 monsters are on a whole different level from Day 1. If they haven’t pumped up their stats enough, they might not handle them.’
That was fine for the brothers, but the thought of Myung-ae—old enough to be his mom—getting torn apart by a monster didn’t sit well.
Still, he couldn’t stick with this family forever. All he could do was hope the brothers were strong enough.
“Ah, already.”
Soon, a dejected voice leaked from the driver’s seat, and the car screeched to a halt.
Screeech!
“…Goddamn it. What the hell is that?”
At the same time, Yoon-ho drew his weapon with a grim expression.
Youngwoo twisted his upper body slightly to check ahead.
Immediately, he spotted Mungyeong’s Day 2 monsters boasting massive silhouettes.
The identities of the ones blocking the road leading to the city outskirts were none other than.
“Orcs…?”
Youngwoo muttered unconsciously, and Myung-ae beside him caught it, asking in a tense voice.
“Orcs? What are orcs?”
Yoon-ho in the passenger seat snatched the answer before Youngwoo could reply.
“Just like monsters from games… Don’t worry too much.”
Myung-ho shifted into neutral and chimed in with similar reassurance.
“They’re just mob monsters… Should be fine.”
But would it really?
Having faced a 2-meter goblin as his first monster, Youngwoo couldn’t agree with the brothers.
‘The goblin was no pushover… Are orcs really just mobs?’
Of course, with dragons on hold and goblins, trolls, orcs showing up first, this world’s monster hierarchy seemed pretty standard.
The problem was that those monsters were no longer confined to games or novels.
Clunk.
In the meantime, Yoon-ho gripped his axe and opened the passenger door.
Myung-ho stayed at the wheel, waiting.
Youngwoo asked in a puzzled tone.
“You’re not getting out with your brother?”
“Ah… I’m not much help in a fight, and if something goes wrong, one of us has to survive to get Mom out.”
“Ahh……”
Youngwoo nodded at the explanation.
In other words, the Jeong family’s sole combatant was Yoon-ho, and Myung-ho’s role was to reverse the car and flee if his vanguard brother died in battle.
‘Focusing stats on one person does make sense strategically.’
Youngwoo glanced at Myung-ae beside him, then opened the back door and stepped out.
He didn’t like Yoon-ho much, but he couldn’t just freeload.
Thud.
As Youngwoo’s bare feet hit the road, Yoon-ho sensed it and turned.
“…What?”
“Came to help. These are your first orcs, right?”
“Not because you’re greedy for our money?”
Yoon-ho came out swinging, as expected.
Youngwoo could understand his position—needing to hoard karma to protect his mother.
But Youngwoo wasn’t some saint either.
“If I was really greedy, I’d have killed you guys first. Then the car would be mine too. Stop pissing me off.”
As he shot a cold glare at the SUV behind them, fear finally flickered across Yoon-ho’s face.
“W-what are you talking about… That’s not human.”
“That’s why you should act human too and show some manners. Can’t you read the room?”
Youngwoo said this while peering past Yoon-ho’s shoulder.
The orcs, clustered haphazardly before, had now formed ranks and were marching forward steadily.
About a hundred meters away.
‘What the hell with those guys.’
Something felt off.
Even though they’d clearly noticed this side, they were approaching cautiously in formation—nothing like the previous monsters that had charged with mindless roars.
“Those guys seem a bit…”
As Youngwoo started to warn Yoon-ho.
Thud!
Yoon-ho bolted toward the orcs with ferocious momentum.
“They’re moving! We gotta……!”
In his mind, he had to keep the orcs from reaching the car with his mother.
-…….
The orc group, however, showed no agitation even as their opponent charged axe-first.
No, far from agitated…
Clank, clank!
They pulled large rectangular shields from their backs and formed a guard line.
Like well-trained soldiers.
“Huh……?”
Yoon-ho froze, eyes wide at the disciplined movements, and Youngwoo—who’d followed at a safe distance—sensed something suspicious.
‘Feels like we’ve walked into a trap.’
And sure enough.
Bwaaaang!
One orc on the far right of the formation blew a horn.
Then came the ominous whoosh from afar.
Whiiiish…!
“Fuck, what’s that sound?”
“…….”
It took less than a second for Yoon-ho and Youngwoo to identify the source.
A dozen black dots appeared in the sky behind the orcs, then shot straight down at the two.
Whiiiiiish!
Spears.
‘So that was a call for bombardment.’
The long spear shafts were already visible, so Youngwoo hurriedly raised his black sword in defense.
Swish.
Youngwoo’s current Sense was 100.
Even with over ten spears raining down, his Sense stat didn’t budge.
Since they weren’t targeting him specifically, Sense Theft didn’t trigger.
‘Crazy.’
Realizing this, Youngwoo quickly raised his shield over his head.
He judged that Sense 100 wasn’t enough to deflect spears falling from that height.
Boom boom boom boom!
But the orcs’ bombardment had abysmal accuracy—most spears slammed into the ground around Youngwoo, with only one striking his shield.
Clang!
“Ugh……!”
An immense shock traveled up his arm and wracked his body.
Without the shield, he’d have been skewered instantly.
So what about Yoon-ho, who had no shield?
Thud.
Youngwoo looked up to see Yoon-ho standing awkwardly about ten meters away.
His legs, planted on the ground, were trembling visibly.
Spears that had narrowly missed him were embedded all around.
In short, Yoon-ho surviving unscathed was pure luck.
‘He’s got insanely good luck. But there’ll be another volley. And next time, even I’m in danger…….’
The moment Youngwoo thought he needed to clear the orcs in front before the next barrage, they moved first.
Shhhhk!
They dropped their guards in unison and shouted.
-All units, charge!