Chapter 40
Chapter 40
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 40
Chapter Title: 12. An Unknown World (4)
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“Uwaaaaaah!”
As the orcs charged forward with thunderous roars, Young-woo could only stare in a daze.
‘Didn’t they just say a full charge earlier…?’
For a moment, he wondered if he’d heard things, but then the orcs’ dialogue nailed it home.
“Vanguard! Shields up!”
“Execute the combat troops on the spot and secure the chariot and the remaining humans!”
Not only were the orcs speaking human language, which was shocking enough, but the meaning behind their words was no joke either.
‘Combat troops… they mean us, right?’
Young-woo watched as the two orcs at the front center of their formation thrust their shields forward, just as he’d heard.
Clank!
‘The chariot’ probably referred to the SUV behind them, so the ones slated for immediate execution, the ‘combat troops,’ could only be…
‘Us, who came out to protect the chariot. They plan to kill the fighters and capture the people inside alive.’
But why not just kill all the enemies and be done with it? Why capture some alive?
Questions bubbled up, but right now, dealing with the crisis barreling toward him took priority.
“Kraaaah!”
“Die!”
The orcs’ vanguard was already upon Yoon-ho.
“Eek…!”
Yoon-ho, whose fighting spirit had already crumbled, stood frozen in place like a statue even as a shield as tall as he was smashed through the air toward him.
‘Damn it, he’s already broken.’
Young-woo had been through a similar situation with Ye-chan before.
He knew exactly what line worked like a charm in moments like this, so he put it to use immediately.
“Jeong Yoon-ho! If you die, your mother will…!”
But Young-woo was just as much a target for the orcs’ summary executions.
“Graaaah!”
Before he could finish his line, four orcs loomed with heavy shadows and lunged at him.
「Sensory stat temporarily increased from 100 to 134.」
「Sensory stat temporarily increased from 134 to 168.」
Golden flashes of sensory theft messages scrolled by, and with them appeared the hologram guide for the Gyeongbuk Swordsmanship.
—Break (破)
—Break (破)
—Kill (殺)
‘This is insane.’
The complexity of the optimal sword paths matched the number of foes, but with his sensory stat rising accordingly, Young-woo’s execution of the guide was nothing short of divine.
Shhling!
He slipped nimbly through the deadly clash of metal, stabbing the orcs in the napes of their necks. Anyone watching would call him a sword prodigy.
And that’s probably why.
The moment Young-woo pierced the fourth orc’s throat, a desperate cry came from behind him.
“Young-woo-ssi!”
“…?”
He whipped his head around at the razor-sharp emotion that chilled his spine, and there was Myung-ae, who had leaped from the car, her face twisted in horror.
“Ah.”
The instant Young-woo saw Myung-ae’s tear-streaked face, he spun to the opposite side as if burned.
And that’s when he saw it.
“Huff, huff…!”
Yoon-ho, his face bruised and battered, crawling wildly between the orcs’ legs.
He hadn’t even exchanged a single blow before collapsing to the ground.
And then, right away.
“Graaaah!”
One of the orcs surrounding Yoon-ho swung a massive axe with savage force.
Whoosh!
From above to below.
The motion was identical to butchering a fish, and that’s exactly what happened.
Thud!
The sound of metal striking the ground rang out as Yoon-ho’s head snapped off at an utterly unnatural angle.
“…Huh.”
Young-woo knew instinctively.
Yoon-ho’s upper body and head had just been severed.
Soon after, one orc kicked Yoon-ho’s torso away, and Myung-ae, who’d been near the vehicle, learned the truth too.
“Aaah… Ah…! Yoon-hoooo!”
A scream so piercing it felt venomous shot out.
It was an impossibly high-pitched wail from such a small frame.
And that’s probably why.
Screeeee…!
Soon, a familiar whooshing sound pierced the sky from afar.
‘These crazy bastards.’
The orc reinforcements had fired a second volley toward the scream.
There wasn’t even time to warn Myung-ae.
Whoosh!
Young-woo hurled himself desperately and snatched the still-screaming Myung-ae.
And moments later.
Boom! Boom-boom-boom!
Over a dozen spears rained from the sky, stabbing the spot where Myung-ae had stood.
Young-woo had taken cover behind the SUV with her, so he clearly saw three or four spears shatter the windows and embed in the passenger and back seats.
“Hic, sob….”
The silver lining was that Myung-ho in the driver’s seat had miraculously survived.
His hands gripped the steering wheel, his face drained white as he stared at the spear shafts that had torn up the car’s interior.
Then the remaining orcs, who’d been holding shields over their heads, grumbled as they approached the vehicle.
“We almost got killed too.”
“Why’d those guys fire without orders?”
“One of the humans let out a hell of a scream earlier. Must’ve sounded like a flute from far away.”
“Idiots.”
With the orcs’ voices drawing closer, Young-woo cautiously spoke to Myung-ae, who seemed out of it.
“Your eldest son is still in the car. I’ll get him, so please don’t move from here.”
“……”
Naturally, he got no response from her, and Young-woo slipped out from behind the vehicle, drawing his black sword.
Shing.
The orcs who spotted him flinched and froze in place.
They’d clearly seen him take down four orcs alone moments ago.
And coincidentally, the number of orcs left here was also four.
“Hey.”
One orc finally pointed at Young-woo with its chin and spoke.
“Just go.”
“…What?”
“Go.”
Swoosh.
The orc raised its axe, pointing to the road behind it.
Meaning it wouldn’t fight him—just pass through.
“What the hell are you saying, you lunatics.”
Young-woo had already spotted multiple ‘Kill (殺)’ markers in his vision, so he bared his teeth and prepared to attack.
The orcs made awkward gestures, and at the same moment, Young-woo’s form shot forward like an arrow.
Flash!
“Wha—!”
“Watch ou—!”
Before they could brace, the foremost orc crumpled, and then—
Whooooosh!
A pitch-black blade extended to five meters, sweeping the area.
“Wh-whoa!”
“What the—?!”
“Sp-spare me!”
The startled orcs reacted in all directions.
Their responses were so vivid that even Young-woo, burning with killing intent, almost mistook them for humans.
‘What is this… it’s too real.’
Young-woo had always assumed monsters were artificially created to play the role of game enemies.
Like NPCs, basically.
But the expressions and eyes of the orcs he’d just seen held something more.
An attachment to life or a soul—something no programmed disposable couldn’t have.
Of course, it could just prove how masterfully crafted these monsters were as consumables.
But what if not?
If these were truly real beings, what were they, and where did they come from?
“…….”
Slash!
In the end, Young-woo felled three orcs in a flash, then halted his blade just before piercing the last one’s throat.
Flick.
The final orc, who’d squeezed its eyes shut anticipating death, slowly lifted its eyelids.
“…?”
A perfectly realistic reaction.
Instead of counterattacking, it stared back and forth between the blade stopped at its throat and Young-woo with puzzled eyes.
“Y-you… Why…?”
Even stumbling over words from shock felt real.
Young-woo pressed the blade to its throat and asked.
“What are you? Why are you here?”
He’d never imagined a day would come when he’d interrogate an orc, leaving him deeply confused.
“We’re…”
The last orc finally moved its massive green jaw and spoke.
“Settlers.”
“What?”
The unexpected word from the orc’s mouth left Young-woo even more bewildered.
It was shocking enough that it had the intelligence to call itself a settler, but beyond that…
‘Settlers means they have a homeland they left behind.’
The orcs’ homeland.
No—could orcs, a human invention, even have a homeland?
“How are you settlers? You’re fictional, right? Orcs are.”
As Young-woo spoke, the orc twitched its ears at ‘fictional’ and bristled.
“You’re the ones who…”
“…?”
“You’re the fictional ones. Aren’t you that ‘human’ from Carmol mythology?”
For a split second, something like pride flashed in the orc’s eyes.
It was dead serious, at least.
To it, humans were imaginary beings from orcish myth, making it the protagonist even here—much like Young-woo’s own position.
“What the…”
At this point, Young-woo could only form an absurd hypothesis.
Maybe, just maybe.
Neither humans nor orcs were real species?
They’d both thought the other fictional until actually encountering one now.
‘But orcs have a clear origin. Tolkien created them, and D&D and Warhammer built on that—it’s real history.’
Of course, the orcs would say the same.
Didn’t their myths feature humans too?
‘What the hell is going on?’
His head throbbed.
Questions flooded in, but he couldn’t keep the orc any longer.
Screech.
Myung-ae, hidden behind the vehicle, spotted the orc in front of Young-woo and screamed.
“Aaaah!”
It was loud enough to fear a third volley, and the orc seemed to know it signaled its doom.
“W-wait.”
It begged Young-woo with a pathetic expression.
“Please spare me. We can talk, right? Let’s solve this with words.”
But Young-woo’s blade was already slicing through the air.
Slash!
After lightning-fast beheading of the orc, he yelled at Myung-ho in the driver’s seat.
“Start the engine! Unless you want us all dead here…!”
“…Ah!”
Myung-ho had been listening to the bizarre exchange between the two species in a stupor, snapping to only at Young-woo’s command.
Clunk!
He shifted back to drive and stomped the accelerator. The back door flew open, and his mother was practically thrown inside.
“…….”
For a moment, his chest tightened like stone, but he couldn’t protest.
All he could do was—
Vrooom!
Floor the pedal with all his might.
The SUV lurched violently, bouncing over the orcs and Yoon-ho’s corpse.
Like a boat hitting waves.
And that’s probably why.
Myung-ho’s hands on the wheel grew slick with sweat, as if dipped in water.