Chapter 54
Chapter 54
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Vine
Chapter: 54
Chapter Title: 15. Alien Species (1)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
“Young-woo...!”
Young-woo called the unexpected visitor in an uncertain voice, ushering him in.
Kim Jong-su, a twenty-nine-year-old Andong native.
They were no longer total strangers, but hardly close enough to expect any loyalty.
Plus, on second thought, with his body sliced in two, would anyone showing up even help?
“Hyung-nim, where are you? I can’t see you any—urk!”
Jong-su finally arrived near the scene and slammed on the brakes upon spotting Young-woo’s upper and lower halves separated.
Screech!
Then, unable to believe his eyes, he stuck his head out the driver’s side window to double-check.
“...Hyung-nim?”
“Yeah. Right here.”
“Eek!”
Jong-su leaped out of the car in terror and stood frozen in place, blinking rapidly for a while.
Nothing about the sight was remotely ordinary.
A colossal cockroach trapped in a pillar of light, and a massive eyeball floating eerily in front of it...
But even those paled compared to Young-woo, alive and talking despite his lower half being severed.
“How are you even alive, hyung-nim?”
“Beats me. Guess people don’t die that easily from this. Or maybe it’s my high stats.”
“Even so, this defies logic. How long have you been like this?”
“Ah...”
It was only then that Young-woo realized he’d endured far longer than anyone should.
And the reason dawned on him when he finally opened his half-checked inventory window.
Flash!
「Slime’s Core」 - Mutated Bracelet
【Regeneration greatly increased.】
Slime’s Core.
A trophy seized from Sangju First Sword Dokgo Se-hwan01.
The very Dokgo Se-hwan who had clung to life even after his head was half-smashed and his body torn asunder.
‘Holy shit. So that’s what it was.’
Who knew “regeneration greatly increased” meant this level of effect?
‘If I stay like this, will the severed parts even heal back together?’
It was a very plausible guess.
He should’ve died long ago from blood loss or shock.
Sure, he’d lost a ton of blood already, but if they tried stitching it now...
“Hey, Jong-su.”
“Yeah?”
“If it’s not too much trouble, could you bring my legs over and stick them under me?”
“...Pardon?”
Jong-su stared at Young-woo like he’d seen a ghost.
Then a look close to horror crossed his face.
“W-Will that... make your body reattach...?”
“Maybe.”
“......”
Jong-su’s jaw dropped at the reply, his eyes twitching.
Visibly shaken, he grabbed Young-woo’s lower half with both hands, mouth agape.
“So... I just have to bring it over and stick it on?”
“Yeah, for starters.”
Young-woo nodded weakly, and Jong-su mirrored him with a curt dip of his head.
Then he dragged the lower half up near the upper.
Rustle, rustle.
All that remained was aligning the two severed surfaces properly.
But Jong-su froze just as he got close.
“......”
“Jong-su?”
When the silence dragged on longer than expected and Young-woo called out, Jong-su spoke in a calm voice unlike before.
“What if it doesn’t stick? Do you just die like this?”
There it is.
Young-woo let out a deep sigh.
“...Yeah, probably. But if you leave me to die, I won’t hold it against you. I’d think the same in your shoes.”
“Exactly. If I hadn’t come, you’d have dried up or gotten knifed by some bastard.”
As he spoke, Jong-su glanced at the Early Bird on his belt.
Then his eyes shifted to the alien merchant and broker Kubu, still radiating menace.
“You can’t even imagine how messed up I feel right now.”
With that, Jong-su made a big show of moving, so Young-woo squeezed his eyes shut, assuming he’d draw his sword.
But all Jong-su did was reattach the lower half.
Squelch.
“You’re saying it’ll just stick if I slap it on like this? Fuck... I can’t stay sane in a world like this.”
Jong-su muttered skeptically, but Young-woo felt something happening before he even finished.
“Hngh.”
A burning heat surged from where Jong-su had pressed the lower half.
Of course, he couldn’t tell if it was the body reconnecting or some infection taking hold.
“Um... just to be sure, did you align the front and back properly?”
When Young-woo asked out of concern, Jong-su looked blank for a moment before chuckling.
“You can check that yourself when you stand up later.”
And at that moment.
“Guh.”
Shin Young-ju, who’d been lying still as death, twitched her fingers one last time and truly died.
「Acquired and merged Chungju First Sword!」
The title merger message in Young-woo’s vision was proof.
System messages followed in a row, announcing his title status.
...You now hold 1 title in the Chungbuk region.
...You hold 4 titles in the Gyeongbuk region.
「The current Gyeongbuk First Sword is ‘Jeong Yeong-woo07’. Generation 1, Defenses 2.」
‘Ah, so titles from other regions collect separately.’
As Young-woo lay staring at Shin Young-ju’s corpse, Jong-su spoke in a bored tone.
“This guy ended up challenging you after all, huh? Was acting all gentlemanly earlier.”
“He must’ve agonized right up to the end. He had a lot to lose.”
As Young-woo said, Shin Young-ju had lost far too much from her failed bet.
Another mutant would descend on Chungju City tomorrow—could they fend it off without a First Sword, no matter how organized they were?
‘Without a First Sword anymore, maintaining order will be impossible.’
The regional status window, which should’ve listed the First Sword’s info, now resembled a warning.
|Current region: ‘Chungju’.
|This region has no First Sword.
Yet most Chungju citizens wouldn’t even imagine it upon seeing that window.
That their First Sword had gambled away their lives as collateral.
In any case, Chungju would revert to lawless chaos and likely be annihilated by the mutant soon enough.
“How’s it going? Body sticking back together okay?”
Jong-su, bored of waiting, plopped down on the ground and asked.
Young-woo unconsciously tried to sit up to check his waist—and jolted in shock.
“Gasp.”
“...Huh?”
Jong-su’s eyes went wide too.
Young-woo’s upper body was sitting upright, supported by his waist and abdomen.
Just moments ago, they’d been separated. This was impossible.
“W-What the fuck.”
Jong-su scrambled backward in horror while seated, and Young-woo, equally incredulous, lifted his shirt.
Rustle.
The severed surfaces weren’t fully healed, but the flesh had knitted together.
“No way, this...”
Even as Young-woo trailed off, the mending continued.
Soon after, ravenous hunger hit.
His organs, offline since the split, were restarting.
‘This... it’s actually working? Then I’m no longer human.’
As Young-woo sat inspecting his body, the golden goblin that had been watching from afar came scampering over.
It had noticed his recovery.
“You little shit.”
Jong-su scowled and pretended to kick, but the goblin ignored him and set a sack by Young-woo.
-Keek.
“You’re quite the opportunist yourself.”
Young-woo eyed the now-polite goblin briefly before turning to Jong-su.
“But Jong-su.”
“Yeah.”
“Why’d you save me? You had a shot at becoming First Sword.”
“Tell me about it.”
Jong-su shrugged at the question.
Then he scanned Young-woo’s regenerating body.
“Well... if I had to say why, I wouldn’t want to live like this. Seeing it actually stick confirmed it.”
Like this... meaning living in this ambiguous state between human and monster.
“Guess I’m a bit old-fashioned deep down. But if your body hadn’t stuck, I’d have drawn my sword without hesitation. I don’t care about First Sword, but getting stronger is always right.”
Blunt to a fault.
That put Young-woo at ease instead.
“You could’ve just taken my gear.”
“Yeah, I considered it... but I couldn’t beat prime you even then, right? So I chose to be your lifesaver.”
In other words, he didn’t want to become a monster, so he’d take a monster’s protection instead.
“I don’t quite get it, but I follow you.”
By now, Young-woo’s body had mostly recovered.
Meaning Jong-su couldn’t back out even if he changed his mind.
Of course, he wasn’t ready to fight another First Sword or mutant yet.
‘Gonna need some R&R until the next region.’
Luckily, Jong-su had brought a car, so he could rest on the move.
‘Him finding me is a godsend. Guess it’s not my time to die yet.’
Young-woo found himself gazing at the sky.
The clear blue and the timer at the top of his vision caught his eye.
|Time until Advertiser arrival: 03:04:11
Quite some time had passed while reattaching his body.
‘Down to the two-hour mark soon. Cutting it close.’
At this rate, he’d meet this “Advertiser” shortly after entering the next region.
“You good to keep driving?”
Young-woo asked slowly rising, and Jong-su glanced at the car before replying.
“Yeah, of course. Where to?”
“North... toward Seoul.”
“Gotta cut through Icheon or Yeoju then.”
Jong-su swished his finger through the air like sketching a map.
Meanwhile, Young-woo rummaged through Shin Young-ju’s corpse, sprawled with a hole in her chest.
Surprisingly, she had no cash at all—instead...
‘Holy shit.’
She had epic gear that required burning a legendary achievement to purchase.