Chapter 42
Chapter 42
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Vine
Chapter: 42
Chapter Title: 12. An Unknown World (6)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
“Uh… what’s going on?”
Myeong-ho asked this even as he was already shifting into reverse.
In this world, any inexplicable phenomenon was something for a mere prey like him to avoid entirely.
That was why he had no desire to know the reason behind the alliance between the mutant and the Mungyeong First Sword.
It might be valuable information, but it wouldn’t help his immediate survival in the slightest… No, it was clearly a threat instead.
‘Risk my life out of curiosity? That’s insane.’
The moment Myeong-ho was about to slam on the accelerator in reverse, Yeong-woo in the passenger seat spoke up.
“Wait. I need to get out.”
“Yes?”
Myeong-ho looked back with a what-are-you-talking-about expression, but Yeong-woo answered by opening the passenger door instead.
Clunk.
Immediately, the sounds from the scene across the way shot into the vehicle.
-Grraaaaaah!
-Kreurgh!
Most of those on-site noises were orcs letting out dying screams as they collapsed, and the actual battle situation was tilting inexplicably toward the duo.
That made sense, given that one of the duo was a Day 2 mutant, and the other was the First Sword with 96 defenses.
Meanwhile, Yeong-woo was.
「The current Gyeongbuk First Sword is ‘Jeong Yeong-woo07’. Generation 1, 0 defenses.」
He had zero defenses because he hadn’t killed anyone since becoming the Gyeongbuk First Sword.
Even adding up all the defenses from his Gumi First Sword days wouldn’t compare to 96.
But what had immediately caught Yeong-woo’s attention was the reason this duo had formed.
‘Having fought 96 defenses means he didn’t become First Sword by accident… So why is he cooperating with a mutant?’
Yeong-woo observed the two figures rapidly thinning out the orcs.
The blue orc that appeared to be the Day 2 mutant stood five meters tall, and with every swing of its arm, orcs flew off like sheets of paper—its strength must have been immense.
And the Mungyeong First Sword’s feats, darting around like a bullet nearby, were just as impressive.
Swoooosh!
Just from the lightning-fast sword speed and optimized movements, you could tell he was accustomed to the hologram guides.
In other words, it wasn’t a picture of one side submitting due to weakness.
‘Did they just agree to take out the orcs first for now? No, even that doesn’t make sense. The First Sword aside, what’s in it for the mutant?’
Of course, mutants were fundamentally human, so they had plenty of room for unconventional choices.
Maybe he’d chosen to mutate but then returned to find his rage gone, or perhaps he’d been an oddball to begin with?
‘…Or maybe they just know each other.’
If it was the latter, he’d most likely have to face both at once.
‘Mess this up, and I’ll be fighting 1v2 again.’
Swoosh.
As Yeong-woo touched the whistle around his neck, a tooltip appeared in his vision.
「Pumpkin-Colored Whistle」 - Legendary Necklace
【Calls your friend.】
|Yeong-tae.
It was soon followed by a notice that he couldn’t use the summoning function.
「Today’s friend summons remaining: 0.」
The whistle’s base uses per day were 2.
But Yeong-woo had already exhausted them.
Once when he first got it, and once in the duel with the Sangju First Sword.
On top of that, the reason he’d used it in Sangju was to face a First Sword and mutant at the same time.
And now, in the very next city, he’d run into a similar… no, even more bizarre situation.
‘Back then it was divide and conquer, but this time there’s a high chance I’ll have to fight both together.’
Thus, if a fight was inevitable anyway, this was Yeong-woo’s golden opportunity for a sneak attack.
-R aim for the back!
-Kraaak!
Right now, the orcs were dividing the two powerhouses’ attention.
If he struck now, he could pierce one’s guard, apply the pain effect of ‘Golden Chastisement,’ and use that to steer the battle in his favor.
But Yeong-woo.
“…….”
Even as he saw the orcs dwindle to single digits, he didn’t join the fight.
He knew that committing to a sneak attack would seal off any potential other options.
Like dialogue, for instance.
‘Is this why the system diagnosed me as stubborn?’
Step, step.
Yeong-woo simply walked forward at a moderate pace, without even drawing his sword.
-Sp-spare me!
-Wait!
Thanks to this, the mutant and First Sword duo could clean up the fleeing orcs without interference, and only then did they notice the intruder.
「Huh.」
“Huh?”
The blue orc and the white-haired old man’s eyes widened simultaneously upon spotting Yeong-woo.
Just then, the orc corpses scattered everywhere began dissolving, spewing up karma, making their encounter all the more dramatic.
Shwaa!
Crimson coins scattering in all directions.
A few even rolled to Yeong-woo’s feet, and sure enough, the Mungyeong First Sword Jang Chun-yong’s white eyebrows twitched at the sight.
“…….”
A clear message: Don’t touch the spoils.
『Mungyeong First Sword』
A title gleaming as sharply as the old man’s piercing gaze.
In response, Yeong-woo looked at the opponent’s title and slowly spread his arms wide.
It was primarily to show he had no intent to fight, but also to keep Jang Chun-yong from collecting the coins right away.
If it came to blows with those two in the end, he planned to gather them after the fight.
“Is there some story behind this? It’s my first time seeing something like this.”
Yeong-woo asked this while glancing sidelong at the mutant behind Jang Chun-yong.
Then a very familiar name entered his vision.
[Actor-Jang Dae-myung]
‘Ah… Jang Dae-myung’s from Mungyeong.’
Jang Dae-myung, 49-year-old male.
He’d built his reputation over 15 long years as a specialist in villain roles, but two years ago, a hit-and-run incident got him expelled from the film industry.
Adding that he’d been blackout drunk at the time of the accident, and that prompt first aid might have saved the victim, only fueled the public outrage.
Of course, Jang Dae-myung had been sentenced to prison time in court, but the public fury didn’t die down easily—it kept resurfacing online, which was why Yeong-woo remembered the name so clearly.
‘Ended up as a purge target after all… Well, that’s only natural.’
It was the first purge wave, where hated celebrities got culled far more than vicious criminals, but Jang Dae-myung’s case was a bit different.
He might not have driven with the malice of a murderer, but he’d hit someone anyway, and by fleeing responsibility, he’d effectively committed murder.
Plus, Yeong-woo thought drunk driving was manslaughter by negligence, but hit-and-run was straight-up murder.
So the moment he learned the Mungyeong mutant was Jang Dae-myung, any curiosity or leniency toward trying dialogue vanished.
In this case, at least, he figured the guy deserved death.
‘Damn, I should’ve just attacked earlier.’
Now he regretted slyly letting the perfect chance slip by.
And Yeong-woo’s thoughts shone through in his eyes.
Or more precisely, the Mungyeong First Sword Jang Chun-yong16’s vast experience had picked up on it.
“You seem to recognize my boy, so I’ll tell you upfront: I’m Dae-myung’s father. That answers your question about the story, doesn’t it.”
“…So that’s how it is.”
He’d already guessed as much from the shared surname.
Yeong-woo nodded, lips pressed tight.
He’d read a lot from the old man’s two short lines.
Jang Chun-yong16 looked at least eighty.
Before getting that ID and title, he’d probably been just another ordinary old man.
Then suddenly the reset hit, forcing him to watch the public judge and imprison his son in real time…
‘Did he know his son would return here? Or was it just revenge against the world…?’
Either way, the old man with Jang Dae-myung as a son had ended up as Mungyeong First Sword.
It wasn’t his imagination that those 96 defenses now looked different.
“You came all this way to see my son?”
Soon, Jang Chun-yong16 menacingly raised the sword he’d been dragging on the ground and asked.
‘Ah.’
It was an early bird sword, as expected.
Yeong-woo cautiously moved his hand to his waist, imagining what kind of opponent had clawed through the exchange brutalities at the exchange office.
“I didn’t know your son was here. I was just…”
Yeong-woo’s gaze shifted to Jang Dae-myung, standing like a mountain behind him.
But unlike when he’d been crushing orcs earlier, he was now looking back and forth between the outsider and his father with a face full of fear.
At the very least, Jang Dae-myung didn’t want to fight people.
‘What…? They must know they’d have a huge advantage if a fight starts.’
The moment Yeong-woo gave a puzzled look, Jang Dae-myung moved his blue jaw and spoke.
“If you’re not here to kill me, then be on your way. We don’t want to fight people either.”
“……!”
Having met more mutants than most, Yeong-woo was all the more shocked.
“Then why… did you come back?”
As the flustered Yeong-woo stammered, Jang Dae-myung clenched his huge fingers and pointed at Jang Chun-yong16.
“To see my father, of course. I was curious about what the hell happened to the world, too.”
The Jang Dae-myung saying this showed no rage, nor did he look dazed.
‘He really came back purely out of worry for his father…?’
Was filial piety really like this?
Yeong-woo, who’d never had a father in his life, could only grasp it conceptually.
“If you’re hesitating, just go. Don’t throw away a precious life.”
Jang Chun-yong16 warned again, reading the conflict in Yeong-woo’s eyes.
Showing up here in the first place meant he’d tracked the mutant marker, right?
Thus, Jang Chun-yong had already realized the outsider before him wasn’t some average player.
And in reality, Yeong-woo was a First Sword—no, not just any, but Gyeongbuk First Sword.
He had the pumpkin-colored whistle, so he needed mutants; to hold onto Gyeongbuk First Sword, he needed to keep collecting First Sword titles; and furthermore…
‘If I let Jang Dae-myung go like this, the Golden Rain achievement gets way out of reach.’
[Golden Flood]
|Summon Golden Rain in 5 or more regions. (3/5)
Yeong-woo’s stats were noticeably lower than other First Swords because he hadn’t chosen karma monopolies, making the Golden Rain achievement crucial.
“Even if I let this slide, someone else will come gunning for your son anyway.”
Yeong-woo said this, and Jang Chun-yong snorted.
“Ha! Isn’t that just an excuse? Sounds to me like you’re here to take him down too.”
“…I won’t deny it. It’s true I’ve been hunting mutants. But I don’t want to kill your son.”
“Then what do you want? This spot’s starting to feel uncomfortable.”
Jang Chun-yong seemed sincere. An immense killing intent had been building in his eyes since earlier.
Yeong-woo quickly extended his right hand toward Jang Dae-myung.
“Mr. Jang Dae-myung! Didn’t you get the explanation on the return function before coming here?”
「……?」
Jang Dae-myung looked blankly at Yeong-woo’s words for a moment, then glanced down at his palm.
Even Jang Chun-yong, who’d been radiating fierce energy, stepped back a couple paces and looked worriedly at his five-meter-tall son.
“What’s that supposed to mean? Return what?”
「Ah. No way.」
Soon, Jang Dae-myung remembered something.
He half-opened his palm, emitting a blue glow.
Fwaa!
A door-shaped return marker was forming in his hand.
‘Just as I thought…!’
Yeong-woo’s eyes widened.
As expected, Jang Dae-myung had been taught the reconciliation method with locals—the return—before being sent here.
However.
Fwoosh…!
Jang Dae-myung soon closed his palm again, erasing the marker.
Then he stared straight at Yeong-woo and spoke in a tone slightly different from before.
「But why should I go back?」