Chapter 58
Chapter 58
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 58
Chapter Title: 16. The Land of Chaos, Gyeonggi Province (1)
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“…….”
Jong-su glanced back and forth between the two Audis at Young-woo’s words that now was their chance to split.
Then he forced a smile, his facial muscles twitching stiffly.
“Come on, where would I even go? If it weren’t for you, hyung-nim, those brat bastards would’ve killed me ages ago.”
Even as he said it, Jong-su eyed the five headless corpses with a sour expression.
“The world’s changed, so ways of surviving have to change too... Still, I figure you’re the nicest guy among all the powerful ones out there.”
With that, Jong-su turned and headed for the white Audi.
“Anyway, that yellow one’s way too flashy, right? Who knows what kinda freaks are in Seoul.”
Clunk.
He flung open the driver’s door and plopped his butt onto the seat.
Then he turned the key, and the engine roared to life with a deafening rumble.
Vroooom...!
Loud enough that any other bandit crew nearby wouldn’t be able to resist coming to check it out.
Young-woo scanned the surroundings before ordering the goblin to loot the bodies.
-Kit!
The goblin shot off like an arrow at the command and returned with spoils totaling 8,000 karma.
Pitifully short of the 69,000 karma debt he owed Jong-su.
‘These guys were dirt poor.’
Had their bandit hauls just not been that great?
Or maybe they’d dumped every coin they stole straight into stats. Either way, the cash they had was way too low for the number of heads.
‘Makes sense. Monster spawn time’s over, so not many ways to make money left. Banditry or daily quests, that’s it.’
Young-woo’s gaze drifted naturally to the quest window.
[Daily] “Daily Bread”
<Mission>解除 the petrified state of any food item.
<Reward> 1,000 karma
[Daily] “Scout”
<Mission> Approach within 10 meters of a monster.
<Reward> 3,000 karma
Surprisingly, Yeoju City’s dailies were easier than any region he’d seen so far.
‘Scout seems fixed everywhere... and the other’s random per area, I guess.’
It was just like his hunch on day one: everyone trading office commutes for hunting to make a living.
Even the dailies weren’t pushing direct fights with monsters.
Hell, 10 meters was close enough that you couldn’t guarantee survival even if you turned tail the second the quest popped.
‘But with 3,000 karma on the line and only once a day, you’ve gotta do it.’
Current time: 6:36 PM.
If the pattern held, no more monster spawns today.
Meaning even Young-woo, who didn’t dodge them on purpose, couldn’t knock out Scout right now.
Which left...
“…….”
Young-woo looked down at the golden goblin waiting by his feet.
“There’s petrified food in your pouch too, right? Pretty sure I stocked up a bunch.”
At the question, the goblin rolled its eyes and extended its right index finger toward the sky.
-Ket!
Blue text appeared above its fingertip.
“Huh...?”
It was the inventory status of the subspace pouch.
|Food: 21
|Tools: 13
|Equipment: 11
|Special: 1
The thing had its own interface, just like a system window.
“Tools at 13... that includes ropes and junk like that, huh.”
Young-woo ticked through the list, pausing at the last one.
“Special? What’s that?”
At his question, the goblin pulled a small black gem from the pouch.
-Kiiit!
As it held the gem high, a tooltip popped up in Young-woo’s vision too.
「Kekidite」 - Heroic Gem
【Slot: Psionic Resistance 10%】
“Oh.”
Kekidite.
The item he’d bought along with this slave goblin.
A reinforcement gem that slotted into empty equipment slots.
‘Psionic resistance was new, so I held onto it... might as well use it now.’
He’d confirmed elemental resistances like fire and ice existed from that epic necklace ‘Double-Edged’ last time.
Straightforward options, easy to guess what they did.
But psionic resistance? No reference point.
‘It’s not some common game mechanic.’
Young-woo could only vaguely guess it countered strong mutants or aliens.
‘Anyway, plenty of slots open. No reason not to.’
He opened his equipment window and pulled up items with empty slots.
Pop!
「Furious Goblin」 - Mutated Ring
【+100 Strength daily】
【--Empty Slot--】
「Murder Ghost Finger」 - Relic Ring
【10% stat boost in PvP】
【--Empty Slot--】
「Frightened Cat」 - Epic Compass
【Points to threatening targets.】
【--Empty Slot--】
Three empty slots total.
‘Plenty of room.’
The question was where to socket the kekidite.
By game logic, these reinforcement gems were usually one-and-done.
‘Or maybe you pay to remove it.’
No guidance on socket removal, so Young-woo’s gut said: once socketed, no take-backs or swaps.
Gotta assume the worst in this world.
His pick in the end:
Ping!
「Murder Ghost Finger」 - Relic Ring
【10% stat boost in PvP】
【Psionic Resistance 10%】
The relic ring, Murder Ghost Finger.
Furious Goblin might cap out someday when his total stats hit tens of thousands, but Murder Ghost scaled with current stats, so it’d last forever.
Frightened Cat had longevity too, but epic grade—hold off.
‘You never know when you might need to dismantle high-end gear for materials or trades.’
Intuition from countless games during his streaming days.
“Hyung-nim! You coming or what?”
Right on cue, Jong-su stuck his head out the window.
Young-woo pulled two plastic-wrapped loaves from the subspace pouch and strode toward the white Audi.
“Got any cash left? De-petrify these and eat up.”
“Huh? What...”
As Jong-su tilted his head, a fist-sized petrified rock flew right at his forehead.
Whap!
“Gah!”
Jong-su snatched it reflexively in shock, and Young-woo gave a faint smile.
“Figured we should grab a quick bite before heading out. Daily quest and all.”
“Bite?”
Only then did Jong-su realize what had just flown at him.
“...Oh.”
Come to think of it, he hadn’t eaten a single meal today.
Same for Young-woo—hunger had been gnawing for hours, now punching through his gut.
[Cream Bun: 1,000]
Young-woo’s pick was a hand-filling cream bun, priced at a whopping 1,000 karma.
‘1,000...? Bike was 3,000. This pricing is insane.’
On reset day 2, 1,000 karma was still big money for most.
Prices were absurdly inflated.
‘That’s why quest rewards are 1,000 karma. Just enough for one meal.’
But with Scout excluded, dailies varied by region daily, so even one meal was today-only.
Shaa.
Young-woo de-petrified his cream bun. White steam rose, revealing the packaging beneath the ashen shell.
“1,000? Prices are fucking nuts!”
Jong-su had just de-petrified his too, griping in disbelief.
“Trying to choke us out more, I guess.”
Young-woo glanced skyward, and as if on cue, the quest reward dropped.
Ping!
One crimson coin worth 1,000 karma.
‘Back to square one.’
Young-woo’s net worth reset to 8,000 karma, which he handed straight to Jong-su in the driver’s seat.
“8,000 paid. Leaves 61,000, right?”
But Jong-su wouldn’t take it.
“Hyung-nim, I’d choke eating on your dime. Pay me in bulk later.”
“In bulk?”
“Yeah. Not like I need cash right now anyway.”
Jong-su wolfed down his bun in seconds, confirmed Young-woo in the back seat, and stomped the accelerator.
“Straight off? Didn’t you say time’s tight?”
Now fully entrusting his fate to Young-woo, Jong-su was the one urging haste.
Young-woo nodded, tearing into his bun wrapper.
“Yeah. Let’s roll. We can eat on the move.”
* * *
6:40 PM.
1 hour 26 minutes until advertiser pickup.
The white Audi carrying Young-woo and Jong-su tore down the highway.
“That’s probably Yeoju city over there, but nothing to see.”
Jong-su shrugged, pointing rightward.
Young-woo turned that way too, but with zero expectations.
“No need to bother. Daily quests existing means the mutant’s already been taken down.”
“Oh... didn’t think of that.”
“Most don’t.”
Dailies were basic welfare kicking in after day 2 mutant disposal.
Even a decently skilled guy like Jong-su wouldn’t know that detail.
“So you only hit cities with mutants or monsters, hyung-nim?”
“Yeah. Farming’s the priority for now.”
“And after farming’s done?”
“…….”
The conversation stalled Young-woo’s tongue.
Would farming for survival ever truly end? He didn’t even fully grasp how the world had changed.
Sure, the reset happened out of nowhere—but no one explained why alien merchants suddenly showed up to peddle wares.
And soon, he’d meet this advertiser from space.
Advertise... who was shilling what, and why pick Earth as billboard space?
Probably tied straight to the reset.
‘Headache. No clue what’s what.’
Actual pain brewing, Young-woo went to rub his temple—when Jong-su in the driver’s seat let out a groan.
“Ah, what the hell’s that.”
The ominous tone had Young-woo leaning forward quick.
Swoosh.
Then...
Thud thud thud thud...!
A single cow charging full tilt from the opposite lane caught his eye.
‘A cow...?’
And right after...
“Yaaahhh!”
A dozen people shouting and chasing after it.
They weren’t closing the gap fast, so clearly ‘normals.’ Which meant what Young-woo and Jong-su were witnessing was...
“Hyung-nim, those guys hunting a cow ‘cause no food?”
“More like no karma to de-petrify food.”
“Oh. Cows are live, so they don’t turn to stone.”
Jong-su smacked his knee, grasping it.
Some of humanity regressing straight to hunter-gatherer days.