Chapter 68
Chapter 68
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 68
Chapter Title: 19. Debut in the Martial World (5)
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Room 403 was much larger than expected.
In a space that looked about eight pyeong in size, there was a queen-size bed, a small dining table, a built-in vanity, and underneath it, as always, a mini-fridge humming with its distinctive mechanical noise.
The standout feature, aside from that, was the mirrors installed on three walls around the bed.
"Ha."
As Young-woo examined the area around the bed, he caught sight of his reflection in the mirror and let out a chuckle.
It was because he'd thrown on every piece of gear he could find, making his outfit look utterly ridiculous.
It was like kids mimicking knights for a sword fight, slapping on whatever they could grab.
Swish.
He removed the helmet that had been tightly wrapped around his head, and only then did the tension throughout his body finally ease.
"Good lord."
Next, he took off the cape, belt, and shoes one by one, then stripped away all the gear clinging to his forearms and laid it out on the dining table.
The golden goblin stared at him with a look of utter incomprehension.
-Keek?
The little guy still didn't realize this place was a safe zone.
"You rest too. You've been running around all day."
Young-woo said this to the goblin, then stripped off his training clothes right in front of the bathroom door.
He flung open the frosted glass bathroom door.
"……!"
Surprisingly, there was a bathtub.
* * *
It was a narrow tub that required pulling his legs together, but it was more than satisfying for a half-bath.
Having finished all his business, Young-woo lay down on the bed wearing only a bathrobe.
Plop.
As he did, the goblin that had been lounging on the bed while he washed shot upright.
-Kit!
It couldn't fully relax in front of its master.
Of course, that was probably just for show.
After all, when Young-woo's body had been sliced apart by the Chungju First Sword, the thing had bolted without a second thought.
Even so, Young-woo waved it off, signaling it to keep resting.
He lay there staring at the ceiling.
'Oh.'
There was a mirror on the ceiling too.
'What's with all these mirrors?'
His image as the Gyeongbuk First Sword in a bathrobe was reflected starkly.
The goblin next to him had already clasped its hands together and entered rest mode.
The subspace pouch it always gripped tightly was placed by its head.
-Keee......
A languid sound he'd never heard from it before leaked out.
'Already asleep……?'
Young-woo checked the bedside clock in disbelief.
Current time: 9:57 PM.
"Huh?"
Young-woo jolted upright in shock, and the goblin, which had dozed off, sprang up like it had been launched.
-Kit?
"Tax collection time's almost here."
He checked his wristwatch for cross-verification, and saw the seconds tick from 57 to 58.
「21:58」
It really was approaching 10 PM, which meant.
'Anyone without cash is about to get wiped out…….'
As Young-woo swallowed dryly, a system-wide announcement appeared.
―Tax collection will begin at 10 PM shortly.
―The base tax is 1,000 karma. Tax evaders will be instantly eradicated at collection time.
At the same time, noise erupted outside the door.
"What the hell?"
When Young-woo opened the door, he saw female alliance members lined up in the motel hallway.
Unlike last time, though, they held a single crimson coin each instead of weapons.
'No way—are they doing a headcount? To make sure no one dies from not having tax money……?'
If that was really it, it was impressively organized.
It was only day two of the reset, and even if they were all from Cheoin-gu, they were still strangers to each other.
In a world like this, strangers were practically......
"What are you doing there?"
Before Young-woo could finish his thought, Seong Ye-rin's head popped into view from one side.
"Eek!"
Startled, Young-woo stepped back, and Ye-rin tapped at the protective barrier blocking the door.
"Why so jumpy? Now I see you're human after all. Earlier you seemed like some kinda monster."
"Oh."
Hearing her, Young-woo suddenly realized he was in a bathrobe.
Ye-rin, meanwhile, was in full combat gear—just without her weapon drawn.
Her day wasn't over yet.
"Is that... a headcount?"
As Young-woo straightened his robe and pointed down the hall, Ye-rin nodded, holding up a coin.
"Yeah. If someone's short on cash, the squad leader loans it out."
"Loans it out......?"
"Yep. They join monster hunts the next day and pay it back."
According to Ye-rin, anyone with working limbs who refused to hunt monsters wasn't accepted into the alliance to begin with.
"Well... they might die before paying it back, but that's still worth the money."
A brutally tough statement.
Young-woo couldn't help but be shocked again.
How many alliance members were staying in this motel?
Just the ones lined up on this fourth-floor hallway numbered at least ten.
A six-story building meant roughly sixty combatants living by their own rules.
'And they said they control half the buildings around here......'
That had to be at least a few hundred.
They said theJoseon-era capital's police force, the Podocheong soldiers, numbered less than two hundred.
In these times with the population decimated, mobilizing hundreds was an enormous force.
Beep.
Soon, his wristwatch chimed, signaling 10 PM.
And at the same moment.
―Tax collection begins now.
As the system announcement appeared, something bizarre happened.
Pop, pop!
The crimson coins held by the female alliance members began vanishing one by one.
"Whoa."
Ye-rin's coin, right outside 403, disappeared without a trace soon after. Then.
Whoosh.
Something came for Young-woo too.
"......!"
It felt just like a breeze brushing over his entire body.
Then a message appeared in his vision.
|Base Tax: 1,000
|Deduction: Single Occupancy
|Final Tax: 500
'This is......'
A tax bill.
That odd sensation just now was the final tax amount being deducted.
"Everyone good? Check the back again from the start."
Meanwhile, the hallway was busy confirming no changes in numbers before and after collection.
Young-woo watched as they efficiently finished the check and dispersed, then asked Ye-rin.
"What's this alliance's goal? There has to be a reason for being this organized."
Ye-rin stared at him blankly.
"If you're really asking out of curiosity, hear me out without prejudice."
"Yes. I'll do my best."
"Imagine getting jumped by thugs on the street and losing the fight. Worst case, you'd probably just die. But that's not usually how it goes for us."
Her jaw muscle twitched.
"...Yeah."
Young-woo easily understood.
She was talking about sexual violence that could follow a duel.
"Right. Of course, you get what I mean. But that's exactly it."
"So... you mean I can understand and imagine up to that point."
"Exactly. Unless you've ever been raped or been in something similar—which most guys haven't. Not saying that's bad or anything. It's just unavoidable."
"Yes. Unavoidable."
"That's why we don't take in men. You might understand our situation, but we can't expect you to fight tooth and nail alongside us with true empathy."
At this point, Young-woo had nothing to say.
As Ye-rin said, he couldn't fully empathize with their double-layered terror, but he could accept why the alliance had to be single-gender.
"Our goal is not dying—or worse. For that, we need overwhelming strength, so we built organization first."
By the time Ye-rin finished, the hallway was empty as if nothing had happened.
They'd checked that everyone paid up before ending the communal routine.
"Answer enough for you?"
Ye-rin scanned the empty hall.
Come to think of it, she hadn't participated in the fourth-floor headcount herself.
All Seong Ye-rin had done here was.
'Talk to me till roll call ended.'
Young-woo finally realized.
She'd come to keep tabs on his group—the only men in the building.
'Is she way stronger than she looks? Covering for the Icheon First Sword staying here, all by herself?'
As Young-woo scrutinized Ye-rin's seemingly ordinary gear, she gave him a cold look.
"Anything else?"
"No. I just......"
She vanished from his sight the moment he started to speak.
Her day was done too.
'No idea what's really going on, but damn, impressive.'
Young-woo glanced at the now-truly-empty hall and closed the door.
He returned to bed and lay staring at the mirror ceiling.
'So these people are just gonna stay here gathering karma from now on?'
Judging by Ye-rin's talk of someday becoming First Swords, they might be waiting for a mutant to drop here tomorrow.
Killing it for a monopoly on 3 million would be huge for future First Sword duels.
'Hundreds of female warriors clustered under that red pillar......'
Two days ago, it'd have been pure fantasy. Not anymore.
'...But the First Swords are getting stronger every day.'
As his eyelids grew heavy, Young-woo recalled his recent mutant battles.
Events from just days—or hours—ago felt like months past.
All that exhaustion, mental and physical.
"Fwew......"
Half-asleep, he exhaled long, like a whale surfacing briefly.
He drew another breath to exhale again.
.
.
.
Splash!
His body suddenly shot up.
Or at least, that's how it felt to Young-woo.
'...Huh?'
He snapped his eyes open.
Shiii!
"Hk!"
Through the ceiling mirror, he saw a red eye icon floating above his left eye reflection.
Probably the 'One-Eyed Sentry' mutant-grade cornea effect, but before he could think, Jong-soo burst in.
"Brooo!"
Yelling loud enough to rattle his ears.
"Bro! Big trouble!"
"......?"
Young-woo felt off seeing Jong-soo pass through the door unrestricted.
Whoosh.
He hurriedly checked the bedside clock.
「10:07」
'Ten......? No way.'
His head whipped the other way.
Bright light seeped through the window frame.
It wasn't night—it was 10 AM.
He'd slept straight through for 12 hours, missing even the day-use system's wake-up call.
That's why his room rights had expired, letting Jong-soo waltz in.
'Oh god.'
Sensing something major was wrong, Young-woo rushed to gear up from the table.
Clank!
As he grabbed 'Scaredy Cat', he finally noticed its eyes were open.
「Scaredy Cat」 - Narrative Compass
【Points to threatening targets.】
【--Empty Slot--】
Meaning something threateningly powerful was nearby.
And right after.
Bang bang bang!
Gunshots rang out from outside the motel.