Chapter 55
Chapter 55
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 55
Chapter Title: 15. Alien Kind (2)
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Swish.
As Young-woo picked up the questionable gear, Jong-soo tilted his head.
“Bro, what’s that?”
“It’s a compass.”
“…That’s a compass?”
It was a perfectly normal reaction.
Even to Young-woo, the item looked nothing like a compass on the outside.
「Scaredy Cat」 - Narrative Compass
【Points to threatening targets.】
【--Empty Slot--】
The device from Shin Young-joo’s left pocket was a tricolor cat figurine smaller than a palm.
True to its name, it was curled up tightly, but right now, in its deactivated state, the cat’s eyes were closed.
‘Does that mean there are no threatening targets nearby for now?’
Young-woo instantly grasped how the 「Scaredy Cat」 worked.
He already owned something similar.
「Greedy Serpent」 - Narrative Compass
【Always gazes at rare treasures.】
In the reset world, Young-woo was one of the few who had encountered new items relatively quickly.
‘So that’s how Shin Young-joo found me right away—thanks to the compass.’
Of course, he still didn’t know why the Scaredy Cat had flagged him as a threat back then.
‘I never intended to fight the First Sword in the first place… There might’ve been some conflict over the merchant issue, but I planned to resolve it through talk.’
But that was just Young-woo’s one-sided perspective.
In the end, Shin Young-joo was dead by his hand, so he had indeed been a threat.
“…….”
Young-woo pocketed the Scaredy Cat with a lingering unease.
The Greedy Serpent coiled around his left wrist flicked its tongue and turned its head.
Swish.
What it stared at was none other than the longsword Shin Young-joo had gripped until the end.
It wasn’t the supply sword stuck in the Mountain of Swords, nor was it the Early Bird, so Young-woo had been curious about it.
‘A mutated item?’
The odds were high.
By this point, any First Sword would have at least two mutated items.
One from a mutated being they’d personally slain, and one from their predecessor.
Clack.
Soon, Young-woo drew the longsword from Shin Young-joo, and a tooltip appeared in his vision.
Pop!
「Underdog」 - Mutated One-Handed Sword
【25% power increase against targets larger than the user.】
‘Oh.’
Compared to its plain appearance, the special effect was outstanding.
‘Against mutants, this would apply constantly.’
If the tooltip’s “size” referred simply to height, it would trigger against most adult males.
Conversely, it would have no effect against shorter men or most women.
Click.
Young-woo unfastened Early Bird from his belt and slotted Underdog in its place.
Jong-soo, watching this, let out a thick chuckle.
“Even First Swords rummage through corpses after a fight. How’d the world end up like this?”
“…No choice. The Gangnam First Sword probably does the same.”
Gangnam First Sword.
Young-woo had no ties there, but since Gangnam was known as the rich district, he said it half in jest.
Surprisingly, Jong-soo took it seriously.
“Come to think of it, there’s probably a First Sword in Gangnam too. Or maybe just one Seoul First Sword covers it…?”
“Who knows.”
Now that he thought about it, yeah.
Chungju and Seoul were both “cities,” but their populations differed by dozens of times.
Chungju City had about 200,000 people, while Seoul had 9.4 million—a whopping 47-fold difference.
So logically, there should be more First Swords accordingly.
Maybe one per district, for example.
Even then, Seoul would still have too few First Swords per capita.
It was divided into 25 districts, after all.
“There might really be a Gangnam First Sword.”
As Young-woo said this, Jong-soo’s voice lit up with excitement.
“Right? Aren’t you curious, bro? Who’s holding a spot like Gangnam First Sword?”
“…….”
Unlike the inexplicably thrilled Jong-soo, Young-woo struggled to understand his emotions.
Was it because everything still felt like a game or a dream?
The way he’d suddenly abandoned his comrades to join him, and given up a chance to become a First Sword… Young-woo couldn’t shake the feeling that Jong-soo wasn’t taking life after the reset seriously.
“What do you plan to do from now on, Jong-soo?”
“From now on?”
Jong-soo’s expression suggested he hadn’t thought that far.
Then he flashed his usual playful grin.
“Just… get by without too much hardship, see the world a bit.”
“See the world?”
“Yeah. Isn’t it wild how the world’s turned? You probably didn’t expect to get stabbed by a judge a few days ago.”
“Well, sure, but…….”
That confirmed it.
Jong-soo definitely saw post-reset life as some kind of bonus round.
Otherwise…….
“You think I’m weird right now, don’t you, bro? Like I’m missing a few screws.”
Sure enough, Jong-soo voiced Young-woo’s exact thoughts.
So Young-woo stopped beating around the bush.
“Yeah. Most people are desperate to survive or paralyzed with fear. You’re the first I’ve met who wants to sightsee in all this. Probably won’t meet another.”
“Haha, fair enough. Survival’s priority one for most.”
Jong-soo’s laugh sounded forced for some reason.
Young-woo had to ask.
“Isn’t survival your top priority, Jong-soo?”
Surprisingly, Jong-soo fell silent.
The smile vanished from his face, reverting to the intimidating impression from their first meeting—a stark contrast to what he said next.
“I wanted to die, not survive. I was supposed to kill myself today.”
“……?”
Young-woo tilted his head, thinking he’d misheard, but Jong-soo wrinkled his nose and doubled down.
“My Fate Log said today was my death day. Without the reset, I’d have gone through with my plan and really done it.”
Which meant.
“You were planning to commit suicide even before the reset?”
“Yeah.”
“No, why?”
Young-woo reflexively questioned.
It made no sense.
This guy had physical prowess that made him seem like a dangerous figure in this world.
Sure, looks and circumstances were different things, but he appeared so strong that Young-woo found it hard to believe.
“The reason… I’ll explain slowly later. It’s not something to brag about.”
Seeing the shadow cross Jong-soo’s always cheerful face, it seemed the suicidal intent was real.
With it even written in his Fate Log, without the reset, he really would have died.
“So now you’re like, ‘since I didn’t die, might as well live’?”
“Something like that… I’m pretty curious. Chaebols turning into dragons and coming back? Can’t miss that.”
Jong-soo roared with laughter, back to his energetic self.
Young-woo couldn’t help but laugh in disbelief.
* * *
The bizarre chat with the former suicidal man and his helpless chuckle didn’t last long.
Young-woo still needed to finish searching Shin Young-joo’s body.
No second mutated item had turned up.
‘No way the First Sword didn’t get a Day 1 mutant kill?’
Unlikely, but the situation pointed that way.
Even the Greedy Serpent had stopped eyeing the corpse.
‘Really nothing. Weird.’
As Young-woo seriously checked her pockets again, Jong-soo asked.
“Why? Missing something?”
“Gear. You get one from killing a mutant, but it’s short one. One of the previous First Swords must’ve had it…….”
“Yeah? Maybe the predecessor never had it.”
“Yeah, probably.”
Young-woo gave up the search around then and stood.
Maybe the missing mutated item was a consumable like a potion.
“…….”
It felt off, but time was short.
“Still good for trading?”
Young-woo asked Kubu, hovering and staring from midair. It blinked.
—Yes. Possible. Fee unchanged, but cannot switch trade target due to prior transaction history.
As expected.
Kubu’s trade target selection was only available to first come, first served—like Young-woo.
“No choice. Proceed.”
Kubu blinked once more and recited its formal line.
—This transaction’s brokerage fee is 10%, included in item price. Trade target: Armor Merchant of Cheokok.
‘Armor Merchant of Cheokok…….’
Learning the counterpart’s origin, Young-woo involuntarily glanced at the massive wheel trapped in the light pillar.
He didn’t know if Cheokok was a planet or another dimension, but apparently, that place was swarming with things like it.
—Item list complete.
Kubu rolled its eye, signaling readiness, and blue blotches appeared before Young-woo, forming human-readable text.
Ssshh.
1 — 「Executor」 - Ancient Two-Handed Axe
【Destroys normal weapons.】
【Massive power reduction when one-handed.】
◇ 70,000 Karma
2 — 「Miole’s Crystal」 - Hero Shield
【--Empty Slot--】
【Doubles effects of equipped gems.】
◇ 116,000 Karma
3 — 「Vanguard」 - Relic Helmet
【This helmet cannot be damaged.】
◇ 310,000 Karma
4 — 「Mirage」 - Unique Shoes
【30% chance to evade insight.】
◇ 630,000 Karma
As expected, slot 5 was empty.
Shin Young-joo had traded her legendary feat for the compass here.
But in the end, it came to Young-woo, saving him a legendary feat.
‘The rest are insane too. She didn’t leave them on purpose—didn’t have the cash.’
Young-woo currently had 871,000 Karma.
‘The axe is pointless now… Shield’s iffy. Not unusable, but better to dual-wield swords for now.’
So the tempting ones were the relic helmet 「Vanguard」 and unique shoes 「Mirage」.
Especially Mirage—its high grade came with an extraordinary tooltip.
‘30% chance to evade insight… What does that exactly mean?’
Insight.
Literally, discerning an opponent’s intentions.
‘No way.’
Young-woo’s eyes widened as he inhaled sharply.
In the post-reset world, the closest thing to insight he’d experienced was the hologram guide from his Swordsmanship skill.
‘30% chance to evade insight… Does that mean 30% of my movements won’t register on the hologram?’
If that was true, it was essential for Young-woo, who often fought at a stat disadvantage.
‘Mirage is 630k. Affordable, but means skipping the helmet.’
After Mirage, he’d have 241,000 left.
Vanguard cost 310,000—short by 69,000.
Not insignificant, but not huge either.
‘A few monsters would cover it, but I don’t have time…….’
Swish.
Glancing around for any overlooked monster markers in his regret, Young-woo suddenly realized something.
“Ah.”
He turned to his lifesaver, watching the trade from afar.
“Jong-soo.”
“Yeah.”
“How much money you got?”
“……?”