Chapter 44
Chapter 44
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 44
Chapter Title: 13. Opening the Gate (1)
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“The second mutated being in Mungyeong has been eliminated, so basic welfare is now applied to this area.”
|Time until daily quests are applied: 20 minutes.
|Time until merchant appears: 5 minutes.
Despite the grandiose system message, what Yeongwoo was actually doing was hardly dignified.
He was squatting on the ground, rummaging through the corpse.
But with no idea what form Jang Chunyong’s mutated equipment might take, he had no choice.
‘No ring on his finger either… Don’t tell me he carried it in his pocket?’
He checked both pockets.
Swish.
But all that came out were a few crimson coins.
‘There’s no way he didn’t catch the Day 1 mutated being.’
Otherwise, that inaction from earlier made no sense.
“……”
Yeongwoo tilted his head in confusion when his wrist caught his eye.
More precisely, the teal snake coiled around it.
Its head was bent at an odd angle.
「Serpent of Greed」 - Narrative Compass
【Always gazes upon the rare.】
‘Always gazes upon the rare…’
Yeongwoo’s eyes followed the snake’s head.
Naturally landing on Jang Chunyong’s face.
‘His face…? Something worn on the head?’
But no matter how closely he looked, there was no equipment on Jang Chunyong’s head.
‘What?’
It couldn’t be a glitch.
Yeongwoo thought for a moment, then brought his snake-wrapped wrist close to the dead man’s face.
Ssssslither.
Sure enough, the Serpent of Greed turned its head in a fixed direction.
After a few adjustments, Yeongwoo reached a conclusion.
‘His eye…?’
Whatever this mutated equipment was, it was embedded somewhere in Jang Chunyong’s left eye.
“……”
With a stunned expression, Yeongwoo carefully lifted the corpse’s left eyelid.
And there it was.
Something hazy and pale covering Jang Chunyong’s lifeless pupil.
It was…
‘A lens.’
A lens.
The moment Yeongwoo saw it, the hairs on his body stood on end.
Not fear, exactly—more like instinctive revulsion.
Some unknown thing, made by who-knows-what, a “mutated” lens he’d have to slap right onto his own eye?
And peeled straight from a corpse, no less.
‘No way… Mutated lenses like this actually exist?’
Yeongwoo shook his head even as he brought his index finger and thumb to Jang Chunyong’s left eyeball.
Then.
Squish.
He pinched and lifted the thing off the eyeball.
“Ugh.”
And just like that, the gruesome scenario he’d foreseen unfolded.
Flash!
「One-Eyed Sentinel」 - Mutated Cornea
【Stands watch while you sleep.】
The lens really was mutated equipment.
“Ah, damn it.”
And officially, it wasn’t even a lens—it was a cornea.
His stomach churned, but Yeongwoo had no time or reason to hesitate.
He had mountains of other tasks ahead.
He still needed to check the mutated equipment left by the Day 2 mutated being, Jang Daemyeong, and drop the golden rain on Mungyeong City.
‘Wearing this won’t blind me, right? Jang Chunyong was fine.’
Yeongwoo took a shallow breath, then lifted his own left eyelid.
Then…
“…Hoo.”
He exhaled and placed the mutated cornea on his eyeball.
Splash!
“Gah…!”
Like it was alive, the ‘One-Eyed Sentinel’ latched onto Yeongwoo’s pupil on its own.
“Th-this… shit. What the hell is this?”
Startled, Yeongwoo screamed without even closing his eye, but the ‘One-Eyed Sentinel’ showed no reaction.
After that brief motion, its presence had vanished entirely.
It had probably taken root.
No doubt it wouldn’t move again until Yeongwoo fell asleep.
“This……”
Yeongwoo stared wide-eyed at the ground for a while before finally accepting it.
Blink.
He closed and opened his eyelid once.
Yet the One-Eyed Sentinel that had clearly stuck to his eyeball moments ago was utterly imperceptible.
‘Is this for real…? A mutated cornea?’
Only after blinking a few more times could Yeongwoo accept that he’d be carrying a foreign object in his eye until death.
‘Stands watch while you sleep… So when I’m asleep, it’ll keep an eye on the surroundings for me.’
He wouldn’t know for sure until he actually slept.
Anyway, the next step was…
“……”
To touch the golden orb still spinning in midair.
The reward for eliminating Mungyeong’s Day 2 mutated being, Jang Daemyeong.
Thud.
As Yeongwoo’s hand met the orb, it spun faster, displaying text.
「Mutated being eliminated.」
「Select your reward to complete the process.」
≪Guaranteed Reward≫
「Blue Blood」 - Mutated Drug
【Increases strength by 30% for 10 minutes.】
【Doses remaining: 4】
≪Choice Reward≫
[3 million karma]
or
[Distribute 30,000 karma to all residents in the area]
A drug to shove inside his body, right after that cornea.
“……”
With a resigned look, Yeongwoo chose the option.
Flash!
[Distribute 30,000 karma to all residents in the area]
The golden orb spun wildly, shooting into the sky before exploding overhead, raining down golden coins.
Shwaaaaa…!
《Gyeongbuk’s Greatest Swordsman ‘Jeong Yeongwoo07’ has given up his 3 million karma monopoly and gifted 30,000 karma to all Mungyeong residents.》
《30,000 karma will soon be distributed as commemorative coins. Get ready.》
Just yesterday, even deciding on a choice reward had been agonizing.
Now? Not a flicker of hesitation.
He’d already stuck a mutated cornea in his eye, and soon he’d be chugging orc blood—what did a choice reward matter?
Thud-thud!
Yeongwoo deftly snatched commemorative coins mid-golden rain, then opened his achievements.
[Golden Flood]
|Call down golden rain in 5 or more areas. (4/5)
‘Just one more to go.’
Add to that the four Gyeongbuk Greatest Swordsman titles he’d already collected, and his position was looking solid from every angle.
Shwooo!
Soon, a bluish ripple appeared in the air, forming a palm-sized vial.
The mutated drug ‘Blue Blood.’
‘Didn’t expect doping potions to exist.’
Yeongwoo pocketed the vial, then sighed at the coins scattered everywhere.
‘No auto-loot? If they’re making doping potions, they could add a pickup feature.’
But instead of auto-loot…
KABOOM!
A thunderous roar split the sky.
Swoosh!
The ensuing black pillar slicing through the clouds was unmistakably the merchant’s mark.
Even now, it exuded an overwhelming, alien pressure incomparable to monsters or mutated beings.
‘Northeast? Not too far this time.’
As Yeongwoo gauged the black pillar’s position, a blaring horn erupted from the road behind him.
Bwaaaang!
A gray SUV barreling straight toward him—the Jeong family’s vehicle.
They’d managed to return alive without running into orcs while fleeing on Yeongwoo’s orders.
“Yeongwoo!”
Myeongho stuck his head out the window from a safe distance, calling out.
Checking if the situation was fully resolved.
Yeongwoo sheathed his sword and beckoned Myeongho over.
“Hurry and pick up the money. We need to move again.”
* * *
560,000 karma.
Collecting all the coins in the area with Myeongho’s help came to a whopping 560,000.
Equivalent to 560 stat points—enough to turn anyone into a seasoned monster hunter in an instant.
“…My god.”
Myeongho couldn’t tear his eyes from the piled coins.
With that much, he could protect his mother on his own.
But…
“Did you grab the commemorative coins earlier?”
“Huh? Oh, y-yeah… Of course.”
“Then use those for gas money.”
Yeongwoo had no intention of investing in the already crumbling Jeong family.
Clink-clink.
As Yeongwoo swept the coin pile into his backpack, Myeongho hesitantly asked,
“Um… Yeongwoo?”
“Yeah.”
“So, you’re heading to Chungju now?”
Chungju. The city where Myeongho’s father—the last Jeong family member—lived.
But given the circumstances, whether they could take that vehicle there depended entirely on Yeongwoo.
There was no one left to protect it from monsters or other people.
“Well, we have to go to Chungju, sure.”
“……?”
Myeongho’s face fell at Yeongwoo’s ambiguous words.
Then, with a ‘no way’ look, he glanced at the black pillar in the distance.
Yeongwoo’s gaze had shifted there.
“Something’s about to appear over there soon.”
“…Yes.”
“So let’s meet it first, then move.”
“M-meet… it?”
Myeongho had seen the merchant timer too, so he knew exactly who Yeongwoo meant.
But was it the kind of merchant you’d normally picture? That ominous black pillar was anything but reassuring…
“Y-yeah, got it.”
Lacking alternatives, Myeongho bowed his head against his better judgment.
Sensing this, Yeongwoo offered hollow reassurance, knowing it wouldn’t help much.
“It won’t be dangerous this time. We’re not fighting.”
“Oh… You’ve met one before?”
“Yeah, sort of. And sort of not.”
“……?”
Myeongho tilted his head at the vague reply, but Yeongwoo had stated the facts.
With a main broker now assigned, he’d likely meet Kubu again like last time… but who knew what ‘merchant’ entity would show up.
At least he could guess it wouldn’t lead to a fight with an alien caravan.
Though that was just Yeongwoo’s one-sided hunch.
Clack.
Yeongwoo dumped the last coins into his backpack and checked his stats window for his balance.
『Character: Jeong Yeongwoo07』
[Strength] 600 (19+581)
[Stamina] 350 (21+329)
[Durability] 550 (13+537)
[Sense] 100 (24+76)
* 1,000 karma per stat point.
* Available karma: 894,000
Total assets: 894,000 karma.
Dumping it all into stats would mean explosive growth, but for Yeongwoo—whose main enemies were other regions’ Greatest Swordsmen—890 extra points wouldn’t achieve much.
Because…
‘Soon, Greatest Swordsmen who’ve swallowed even Day 2 mutated beings will emerge.’
And if those Greatest Swordsmen chose the 3 million karma monopoly both times, their minimum projected total stats would be 6,000.
So 890 more points meant nothing to Yeongwoo, whose total barely scraped 2,000.
At best, it’d make monster fights easier. But what good was that if he lost to other Greatest Swordsmen?
‘I need a game-changer, like sense theft.’
And Yeongwoo planned to create that variable through golden rain achievements and alien caravan trades.
Rumble!
With less than a minute until the merchant’s arrival, explosive crackles began emanating from the black pillar.
Perhaps preparing to summon the otherworldly being.
Yeongwoo shouldered his backpack and pointed at the SUV.
“Let’s go. Time to meet the alien.”