Chapter 56
Chapter 56
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 56
Chapter Title: 15. Variant (3)
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“Money...?”
Jong-su, who had been looking at Young-woo with a flustered expression, quickly grasped the situation and regained his composure.
It was obvious that the Gyeongbuk First Sword standing before him was in a bind due to a shortage of cash.
So Jong-su reflexively started to ask how much he needed, then hurriedly changed his words.
“You’d be surprised if you knew? I’ve got quite a bit on me.”
As Jong-su said this, he set down the backpack strapped to his back, and an unusual sound rang out.
Ching.
It was the loud clatter of metal objects rubbing together inside the bag.
And the one most startled by it was none other than Young-woo.
Truth be told, 69,000 karma might be pocket change to him, but to most people, it was a life-or-death fortune.
On top of that, carrying around that much money in cash instead of investing it in stats...? That was rare.
“…How much is it?”
When Young-woo asked curiously, Jong-su opened the backpack and scooped out a handful of crimson coins.
“114,000.”
An amount that far exceeded the ‘balance’ Young-woo needed.
“Good lord. Why are you carrying around so much cash?”
“There’s no guarantee when I’ll run into a monster, so I keep plenty on hand. If I sense a tough fight coming, I can just dump it into my stats right away.”
“So, in a pinch, you’d lend some to others? Like 69,000.”
At Young-woo’s request, Jong-su flashed a sly grin.
“Heh heh, that’s a pretty big sum. Would it help a lot if I lent it to you?”
“I could buy one more piece of gear.”
At those words, Jong-su shrugged and stepped back a couple paces from the backpack.
It meant take as much as you want.
The golden goblin standing at Young-woo’s feet twitched at the sight of the coins in the bag.
-Kit.
Its instincts kept drawing its eyes to them, but with no command from its master, it held back.
“You can pick out the coins and bring them? If you can, grab exactly 69,000 karma.”
Young-woo pointed at the backpack and gave the order. The moment he finished speaking, the goblin shot out in a golden trail.
Thud thud!
Just like last time, it was an astonishing burst of speed.
In the blink of an eye, it snatched the backpack, opened its subspace pocket, and poured in the crimson coins.
Clatter!
It looked like it was dumping them in haphazardly without counting, but the moment it hit 69,000, it returned the backpack to its original spot.
-Kee-it.
A gesture as if to say, check the balance.
Indeed, Young-woo’s cash total now read 940,000 karma.
Exactly the amount that would leave him penniless after buying the helmet and shoes.
“Thanks so much. Thanks to you...”
Young-woo’s gaze drifted unconsciously to the item list.
3 — 「Vanguard」 - Relic Helmet
【This helmet cannot be damaged.】
◇ 310,000 karma
4 — 「Mirage」 - Unique Shoes
【30% chance to evade detection.】
◇ 630,000 karma
Up until now, both items had existed only as blue text.
Flash!
But as soon as Young-woo confirmed the purchase, they changed.
Shoooo...!
An ominous sound began emanating from somewhere in the sky.
“Huh?”
“……!”
It resembled the noise when the early bird first descended, so both Young-woo and Jong-su looked up.
And soon, they saw it.
Flaaash!
Two thin pillars of light shooting straight down toward Young-woo.
“…Ugh!”
Startled, Young-woo shrank back as the beams from the sky passed over him, exuding tremendous heat.
Whoosh!
The heat was enough to make Jong-su, standing nearby, step back.
But Young-woo himself felt nothing.
The only slight inconvenience was...
‘Ah.’
Right after the beams passed, he felt a faint pressure on his head and feet.
Having bought gear several times before, Young-woo immediately knew what was happening.
‘Each merchant equips the gear a bit differently, huh.’
Young-woo touched near his cheek, and sure enough, cold metal met his fingers.
On his feet were silver-white metallic shoes that looked heavy but felt almost weightless.
‘At unique item level... they shouldn’t rip if I run, right?’
Practical worries hit Young-woo as he glanced at the shoes.
Meanwhile, Jong-su was staring openly at the Gyeongbuk First Sword, who now looked even more ridiculous than before thanks to the helmet and shoes.
“Hyung-nim.”
“Yeah.”
“No ability to hide gear or anything like that?”
“Why? Do I look that weird?”
“Yeah. Pretty much.”
Jong-su scanned Young-woo up and down again and nodded.
And understandably so—Young-woo was wearing training clothes from the factory dorms, draped in a black cape, with a crude brass helmet on his head.
Not to mention a snake on his arm, a golden bracelet, gloves, an iron belt with two swords hanging from it, and now silver-white shoes. It went beyond strange straight into bizarre.
“Now I get why games have skins. Shin Young-ju at least looked passable, but hyung-nim, you’re on another level.”
“No choice. Can’t exactly skip gear just to look cool. Better than barefoot, though, right?”
“Dunno. Hard to say.”
Jong-su made a genuinely puzzled face as he walked toward the sedan he’d driven.
“Anyway, you’re done here, right? I don’t wanna stare at those guys all day.”
The ‘guys’ Jong-su meant were the nameless armored merchant from Cheok-ok and the broker Kubu.
No matter their roles or origins, to Jong-su, they were just creepy aliens.
“Yeah. Let’s head out. We’ve wasted enough time.”
Young-woo said this to Jong-su, then bowed slightly to the two aliens in farewell.
In response, not just Kubu, but even the giant wheel replied.
—May you continue to live.
-Grurrk.
* * *
5:56 PM.
While driving down the road for a while, the region status window changed.
|You are currently in ‘Eumseong’.
|There is no First Sword in this region.
“Huh.”
“What the?”
Young-woo and Jong-su were both startled.
Eumseong, like Chungju, had no First Sword present.
“Doesn’t that mean another First Sword passed through here?”
At Jong-su’s question, Young-woo nodded.
“Yeah. That message only appears when the First Sword title for Eumseong itself gets absorbed by another region and vanishes.”
In other words, another person collecting titles while on the move.
Of course, on a national scale, it might be common.
A First Sword who’d fully cleared their home turf would naturally move to hunt other mutants.
And inevitably, they’d clash with other First Swords they encountered along the way.
Even before competing over who killed which mutant, sometimes they’d pick fights just to steal gear.
That was the case with Chungju’s First Sword, Shin Young-ju, for Young-woo.
“Is the next region Eumseong by any chance?”
Since the region window stayed fixed on Eumseong, he asked, and Jong-su checked the sign ahead.
“No. We’re heading to Yeoju... but looks like Eumseong’s in between.”
And sure enough, shortly after, the current region display switched to ‘Yeoju’.
The problem was...
|You are currently in ‘Yeoju’.
|There is no First Sword in this region.
“……!”
“Wha?”
Both men were stunned by the unexpected turn.
“What the hell? Who’s going around killing them all...?”
The smile vanished from Jong-su’s face.
He sensed a string of ominous events ahead.
Young-woo tensed at the shift in atmosphere but quickly regained his calm.
“Eumseong’s in North Chungcheong Province, and Yeoju’s in Gyeonggi, right?”
“Yeah...? Oh, right. Yeah.”
“So it could be different people passing through each. There’s gotta be a Chungbuk First Sword and a Gyeonggi First Sword somewhere.”
“Isn’t that even worse...?”
“Just look at me as Gyeongbuk First Sword... It’s bound to happen.”
Young-woo peered out the car window with wary eyes.
He was born a Class 4 human, not particularly combat-specialized.
Yet with some luck and courage at key moments, he’d become Gyeongbuk First Sword.
So what about others?
Nameless killers or hardcore criminals who survived the first filter, or born Class 1 humans, for instance.
‘Titles already swept from the outskirts means insane powerhouses are prowling deeper in.’
Déjà vu hit him.
It reminded him of the exchange on Reset Day One, surrounded by threats with no escape.
“We keep going? Yeoju’s coming up soon. Icheon after that.”
When Jong-su asked to confirm, Young-woo ran his palm over the two swords at his waist.
“Yeah, we keep going. That’s why I loaded up on gear.”
“Got it. Trusting you, hyung-nim—flooring it.”
Jong-su stomped the accelerator, and the scenery outside blurred by even faster.
Vroooom!
The highway to Yeoju was remarkably clear, almost no blocked cars, so they soon spotted the sign marking the start of Yeoju city limits.
“Whoa, Yeoju now.”
Of course, with nothing but hills around, it didn’t quite feel like a new region yet.
The only building nearby was a small rest stop they’d just passed.
“Really desolate, huh. All cleared out, I guess?”
As Jong-su half-joked, half-seriously remarked...
Rreeee...!
A savage engine roar, utterly different from theirs, echoed.
From the rear.
“Aw, crap—foreign import.”
Jong-su quickly checked the rearview and let out a hollow laugh.
Young-woo glanced back through the rear window at the ‘import’ Jong-su mentioned.
Rreeee!
‘Crazy bastards.’
Jong-su wasn’t kidding.
Two Audi convertibles—one white, one yellow—were barreling toward them with deafening noise.
“Guess they were waiting at that rest stop? What the hell’s with this area?”
The car they were in was an old Sonata.
Jong-su, who knew it best, glanced at Young-woo’s abdomen and said,
“Hyung-nim, they’re gonna catch us soon.”
Meaning the car was too slow—they’d be overtaken shortly.
And asking if he was ready for a fight when that happened.
Young-woo pulled out the epic-grade compass ‘Frightened Cat’ from his pocket.
「Frightened Cat」 - Epic Compass
【Points to threatening targets.】
【--Empty Slot--】
He tucked the compass away and told his partner,
“Pull over. Let’s fight now.”