Chapter 66
Chapter 66
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 66
Chapter Title: 19. Debut in the Martial World (3)
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Boom!
The propulsion of the Iron Horse Negig was truly tremendous.
Just from it accelerating sharply, both Youngwoo and Jongsu were unable to keep their bodies steady.
Youngwoo, in particular, possessed superhuman physical abilities.
‘Just how fast are we going right now?’
Youngwoo barely straightened his upper body and looked back. Beyond Jongsu's shoulder—who had his eyes squeezed shut while screaming—he could see the dark road stretching straight out.
And at the far end of that road, something small was glowing. It was a patrol car approaching with its warning lights on.
They had put this much distance between them in that short time.
The gap with the patrol car was still widening.
‘No way it can go even faster than this?’
Youngwoo considered testing Negig's capabilities further but stopped when he heard Jongsu's screams continuing.
“H-Hyungnim! Can’t you go a little slower?”
“Let’s see. Hang in there just a bit longer.”
Having heard Jongsu's plea, Youngwoo groped around Negig's nape and head, searching for what looked like a brake mechanism.
Then.
-Kwee!
Part of the iron plate covering Negig's muzzle stretched downward at length, instantly forming reins.
‘Neat trick.’
The reins were made of the same black metal as Negig's outer shell, but their texture and flexibility felt just like leather.
‘Pulling this slows it down?’
Tug.
As Youngwoo gave the reins a light pull, Negig's head lifted upward. With that, the guardrails—which had been blurring into afterimages—began to take on their proper shapes.
It had really slowed down.
“Phew.”
Jongsu let out a huge sigh of relief, as if he’d finally survive.
A little more time passed, and then the sound of sirens reached them from afar.
“……?”
“Huh?”
When they looked back, the patrol car—with its emergency lights flashing—was approaching at high speed.
It had sounded the siren to stop them once Youngwoo had completely vanished from sight.
“Youngwoo!”
Soon, Byung-chul's flustered voice rang out from the patrol car as it pulled right up behind Negig.
“No matter what, we need to be able to see each other’s positions, don’t we?”
Byung-chul scanned the dim surroundings with eyes full of wariness.
Meanwhile, Youngwoo pulled out the Frightened Cat, checked that it was fine, and calmly replied.
“It was way faster than I expected. But now that I know how to control it, there shouldn’t be any issues.”
Swoosh.
Youngwoo held up the reins, and Byung-chul’s expression grew complicated once more.
He felt uneasy at the sight of reins on that bizarre iron horse.
It was like the uncanny valley effect.
‘How can he ride something like that so casually? Is it only freaks like him who can adapt to this world?’
Byung-chul watched with wry admiration as Youngwoo loosened the reins again, preparing to set off.
* * *
9:26 PM.
The surrounding scenery was still just rice paddies, fields, and simple buildings, but according to the region status window, they had now entered Yongin.
Flash!
|You are currently in the ‘Yongin’ region.
|This region has no Greatest Swordsman.
“As expected.”
“Is this the work of those Seoul bastards too, hyungnim?”
“Probably.”
Youngwoo gazed toward the west, which he presumed was toward central Yongin.
He’d have to get closer to know for sure, but there were no visible pillars of light so far.
In other words, with no mutants or monsters around, the disappearance of the Greatest Swordsman meant…
‘Someone must have swept through and cleared everything.’
Most likely someone from Seoul.
The next possibility was one of the provincial Greatest Swordsmen who had headed to the capital early.
‘If the fighting over mutants is fierce enough that they’ve come all the way down here from Seoul… maybe it’d be better to just settle here?’
Youngwoo thought this as he pulled out the Frightened Cat.
“…….”
It still had its eyes closed.
Meaning there were no threats in the immediate area.
Thud thud thud…!
As they ventured deeper to the sound of Negig’s hooves, signs of fierce battles began to appear.
Vinyl greenhouses torn to shreds, warehouse buildings completely collapsed.
Given the scenery all around, this looked less like the result of superhumans fighting each other and more like monsters running rampant.
It meant monsters had survived long enough to damage the city on all fronts.
‘Guess Yongin’s Greatest Swordsman wasn’t that strong.’
Probably a situation similar to Kimcheon, where the title passed to whoever was handy in real time due to a lack of suitable candidates.
“…….”
As Youngwoo stared blankly at the devastated Yongin outskirts, Jongsu spoke up from the back seat.
“Hyungnim.”
“Yeah.”
“Once a building’s damaged like that, it can’t be repaired, right?”
Jongsu pointed to a building in the distance.
It was a four-story small building, but two floors were completely crushed, rendering it functionally useless.
“Probably not. Looks like even short-term rentals wouldn’t work there.”
“Damn… Then shouldn’t protecting buildings be the top priority over everything else?”
Jongsu had pointed out something quite important.
With no telling how many more mutants and monsters would pour in, the essential “shelters” needed to survive the night were gradually disappearing.
“Yeah. No matter how strong the Greatest Swordsman is, they can’t defend multiple places at once.”
Thus, ongoing damage to shelters from monsters was inevitable.
And in the end…
‘Only regions with strong Greatest Swordsmen might keep their buildings intact.’
Of course, that region would most likely be Seoul.
‘Even now, a ton of provincial cities have already lost their Greatest Swordsmen. By tomorrow, they’ll probably be ruins.’
In short, everyone would have no choice but to head to cities dominated by Greatest Swordsmen to survive.
Thud thud…!
Deeper into Yongin City on Negig, far more buildings appeared than in the outskirts, and accordingly, so did the number of damaged ones.
And finally, they spotted people.
“Eek?”
“M-Monster……!”
People who took one look at Youngwoo and screamed “monster” before bolting away.
“Save us!”
“Aaah!”
It was a perfectly natural reaction from their perspective.
Youngwoo appearing out of the darkness on an iron horse looked exactly like a monster or mutant.
“Wh-What… Is it really that scary?”
Jongsu gaped, surprised by the intense reaction.
Youngwoo, already causing trouble for civilians twice today, quickly stopped Negig and scanned the area.
“If we go any deeper, it’ll cause a huge commotion. Better to find a place to stay around here.”
As Youngwoo said this, the Icheon police patrol car approached from behind.
“What’s going on?”
Byung-chul poked his head out the passenger window, asking in a puzzled tone.
They had just reached the city entrance—why stop now?
“Seems like there are still a lot of people left in Yongin. Let’s not stir up unnecessary trouble and start looking for rooms around here.”
“…Ah.”
Byung-chul understood the situation without further explanation.
After all, he was the first person Youngwoo had terrorized.
“How many rooms do we need? We should sleep separately, right?”
Byung-chul’s “we” referred to himself and Officer Kwon Tae-young.
Youngwoo glanced back at Jongsu, then turned to Byung-chul.
“I’ll sleep alone for now. So three rooms would be ideal. If that’s not possible…”
Jongsu and the Icheon precinct folks would have to share one.
“…….”
“Hmm.”
Since it was the opinion of the strongest person present, the other three showed discomfort but didn’t raise any objections.
“Whether it’s three rooms or whatever, we should stay close together. Let’s look for a villa or apartment.”
Byung-chul tried to lighten the mood, and soon Jongsu spotted a suitable building.
“How about that one?”
Swoosh.
Jongsu pointed to a motel in the corner across the street.
‘…A motel again.’
Youngwoo’s expression soured. It wasn’t a pleasant place for him.
But he couldn’t rule out motels entirely going forward.
“Yeah. Let’s check there first.”
In the end, Youngwoo agreed to head to the motel.
* * *
「Russo」
The motel was called Russo.
Aside from the half-destroyed cars strewn about the parking lot next to the entrance, the exterior looked fine.
“Two, three… five… six floors. Should be plenty of empty rooms.”
As Jongsu counted the windows, the patrol car pulled up behind them and stopped.
“How much is the usual rate for a motel…?”
Byung-chul asked as if Youngwoo would naturally know.
And coincidentally, Youngwoo had experience staying in a motel after the reset.
“A small room’s around 3,000 karma.”
“3,000…? Way cheaper than apartments.”
“Aren’t apartments more expensive?”
“Of course. They wanted 8,000 karma for an 18-pyeong one.”
“……!”
New information.
“8,000 a night doesn’t add up financially.”
“Obviously. That’s why trustworthy groups usually pool money to rent them.”
“I see.”
Youngwoo nodded.
Conversely, lone individuals without reliable company would have no choice but to go for motels or goshiwons due to cost.
‘But that only works while motels stick around. Like Jongsu said, if shelters keep disappearing, eventually we’ll be forced into group stays every night.’
Did everyone realize this?
“…….”
Youngwoo gave the fairly upscale-looking motel a quick once-over and hopped off Negig.
Clank!
Jongsu followed suit, and once both had dismounted, Negig suddenly sank down in place. It tucked its head, limbs, and tail into its body, transforming into a massive ovoid shape.
Scraaape!
Like an egg.
“Gasp.”
“Eek?”
Caught off guard, even Youngwoo stared at Negig in surprise.
“What is it…?”
“P-Parking mode or something?”
Jongsu offered a plausible guess.
Being in front of a shelter building, Negig might have switched to parking or standby mode on its own.
“If that’s really it, does it not get affected by abnormal weather?”
This was Byung-chul’s question from inside the still-running patrol car.
He was wondering what would happen to the patrol car if they stayed the night here.
Of course, Youngwoo didn’t know the full extent of abnormal weather effects either.
“Who knows. We’ll have to park it and check tomorrow.”
Today’s abnormal weather was a heatwave…
People left outside would obviously burn to death, but what about legitimately purchased items?
“For now, let’s check if there are empty rooms here. If not, we’ll have to move again.”
As Youngwoo said this and reached for the motel door, a shadow flickered behind the frosted glass.
“……!”
A scene that gave Youngwoo an ominous sense of déjà vu.
‘…Motels are never trouble-free.’
Sure enough, as he swiftly stepped back, the glass door shattered massively, and a bloodied man came flying out.