Chapter 69
Chapter 69
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 69
Chapter Title: 20. Motel Front Life-or-Death Duel (1)
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‘Crazy.’
The moment Yeong-woo heard the gunshot, chills ran down his entire body.
That bullet that had just been fired was an expensive one worth a whopping 200,000 karma per shot.
And on top of that.
‘Even combining what the two of them had, it was only two rounds.’
Current time: 10:07 a.m.
What the hell had happened that, just seven minutes after the day-use service ended, the officers had opened fire?
“What’s going on down there?”
Yeong-woo asked as he fitted on his last piece of gear, the relic helmet ‘Vanguard’.
Jong-su replied in a voice that sounded out of breath.
“I’m not exactly sure. Some crazy bastard just came out of nowhere demanding the Gyeongbuk First Sword...”
“…What?”
Yeong-woo froze at the completely unexpected culprit.
He had been suspecting a sudden attack from the women’s alliance.
They needed a First Sword to secure their position, after all.
And with the Icheon First Sword entering their territory right on cue, it wouldn’t have been strange if they’d launched an assault the moment the day-use ended.
‘But he specifically asked for the Gyeongbuk First Sword?’
As Yeong-woo bolted out the door like lightning, fully armed, a sudden thought struck him.
‘Ah, no way.’
There was definitely someone out there who would show up out of nowhere demanding the Gyeongbuk First Sword.
* * *
‘Fuck... I haven’t even set foot in Seoul yet.’
Icheon First Sword Kim Byeong-cheol139 ground his teeth hard.
It was bad luck.
Just five minutes ago, while basking in the sun in front of the motel waiting for Jeong Yeong-woo to wake up, that’s what had caused it.
Thanks to that, he was the first to encounter the man who had emerged from between the buildings across the way.
“Boss, someone’s coming this way.”
“What?”
Even at that point, he hadn’t considered that this man might have come here right at 10 a.m., when the day-use service ended.
There was no title above his head, and his pace looked extremely leisurely.
Even so, the reason the two officers didn’t let their guard down was.
“What the hell is that...?”
“A sword... maybe?”
Because the item in the man’s right hand looked far from ordinary.
A weapon reminiscent of a massive thorn.
It was hard to call it a standard ‘sword’. The boundary between blade and hilt was ambiguous. It was closer to a spear.
In any case, it wasn’t standard-issue gear, so the chances were high that this guy was a powerhouse.
And in this world, powerhouses were almost always.
‘...A dangerous individual.’
As Byeong-cheol’s face hardened, Tae-young, standing beside him, cautiously asked.
“Should we block his approach? That guy seems...”
“No. No need to stir up trouble for no reason.”
Byeong-cheol shook his head soon after.
He didn’t want to provoke first while wearing a police uniform just because the guy looked dangerous. It would be unseemly.
Besides.
‘Our forces are much stronger. If he attacks, it’ll be his mistake.’
Byeong-cheol reminded himself that the Gyeongbuk First Sword and over sixty women’s alliance fighters were holed up in the six-story motel right behind him.
In other words, the one entering dangerous territory was actually that man.
“Wow, officers are here.”
The man, now within about ten meters, feigned surprise upon seeing Byeong-cheol and Tae-young’s uniforms.
Then.
“......”
He stared blatantly at the ‘Icheon First Sword’ title above Byeong-cheol’s head.
‘...Damn it.’
Byeong-cheol groaned inwardly at the man’s gaze.
It was a look he’d seen plenty of times from those playing guardian in Icheon.
The eyes of a vicious raider.
And the fact that his momentum didn’t falter before a First Sword title meant he had the skills to back it up.
It was around then that Byeong-cheol realized.
‘No way, is this guy a First Sword too?’
Some First Swords could hide their titles. Didn’t Gyeongbuk First Sword Jeong Yeong-woo have that ability?
‘Age estimated mid-to-late twenties... average build, unremarkable face. Doesn’t look like a First Sword.’
Even as Byeong-cheol thought that, his right hand unconsciously moved toward his pistol.
“What brings you here?”
As Byeong-cheol shot a warning glare not to come closer and asked, the man glanced at Tae-young and gave a strange smile.
“I’m looking for someone, but you officers don’t seem to be it.”
The man’s gaze shifted back to the motel Russo.
Then, he pointed straight at the motel entrance with his finger and asked Byeong-cheol.
“Excuse me, but how many more are inside? I figured they’d all be out by now... Day-use is over, right?”
“…What?”
At the out-of-left-field question, Byeong-cheol reflexively turned toward the motel, and in that instant, the man lunged as if he’d been waiting.
Thud!
It was too obvious an ambush, but that split-second gap seemed enough for the man.
“Wha...!”
“Ah!”
Before Byeong-cheol, warned by the Icheon Swordsmanship, could turn his head back, the massive thorn pierced his throat.
Ssshh!
“Guh!”
A very brief groan leaked through Byeong-cheol’s tightly clenched teeth.
“Boss!”
The shocked Tae-young quickly drew his pistol, but the man’s following words blocked the trigger.
“Shoot, and the officer dies too. You willing to risk your life?”
In other words, if he didn’t shoot, the man wouldn’t bother killing him either.
“......”
In extreme tension, breath ragged, Tae-young looked at the man with a complicated expression.
He had, in effect, missed the timing to fire—indirectly compromising with this murderer.
“Wise choice. Good.”
The man then pulled the long thorn from the Icheon First Sword’s throat.
Spurt.
Byeong-cheol collapsed to his knees on the ground, blood gushing from his neck.
“...Gulp.”
He’d still been alive up to that point.
“B-Boss...!”
But before Tae-young could even support him, he stopped breathing.
Flash!
The ‘Icheon First Sword’ title floating above his head vanished—that was the proof.
The basic inheritance method for First Sword titles, ‘kill’, had activated.
Yet even after Byeong-cheol died, no title appeared above the man’s head.
‘What, what is it? No way.’
The young officer belatedly realized what his superior had grasped earlier.
That this man was also a First Sword hiding his title.
“......!”
As Tae-young moved to call for another First Sword in the area, Jeong Yeong-woo.
Crunch.
A group of people stepped out from the motel Russo entrance, crunching over glass shards.
“What...?”
“Officers?”
It was Jong-su and about a dozen women’s alliance members.
With the day-use fully expired and no longer able to use the rooms, they had started coming outside.
“You fucking...!”
Jong-su was the first to draw his blade.
Because he’d spotted Byeong-cheol’s body.
And next.
Whoosh, shing!
Over a dozen female fighters drew their weapons with a clamor.
Before the issue of a guest dying, the mere presence of a murderer invading their territory was a huge problem.
“Hoo.”
Seeing people with eyes as sharp as their weapons, the man wore an expression close to admiration.
“What’s this, almost all women. What the hell’s the world coming to?”
Then he added a meaningful afterthought.
“By any chance, is the Gyeongbuk First Sword a woman too?”
“......!”
At those words, Jong-su felt the hairs on his body stand on end, while the women’s alliance members—who didn’t yet know Yeong-woo’s identity—growled and surrounded the man.
“What the fuck are you saying, you bastard?”
“You came to the right place to die.”
The reason the fight didn’t erupt immediately despite the hostile atmosphere was simple.
The Icheon First Sword lay dead over there.
In other words, this intruder had the skill to kill the Icheon First Sword single-handedly.
“...Where’s the squad leader?”
One of the women surrounding the man whispered to her comrade beside her.
Asking if the squad leader of this district, Seong Ye-rin, hadn’t come out yet.
From that, Jong-su intuited that the fighters gathered here weren’t all that strong.
‘We’re screwed. Big bro needs to get here.’
It was well past 10, but... was he still lying in bed?
“.......”
As Jong-su glanced anxiously toward the motel, the man, quick to notice, gripped his needle threateningly and spoke.
“There’s more.”
It was then that the man’s relaxed expression turned icy.
He figured he needed to clean house before more enemies arrived.
Sensing the killing intent, Jong-su bolted back into the motel first, yelling at the top of his lungs.
“Big brooo!”
“Aha.”
The man turned toward the motel entrance, as if grasping the situation—like what he’d done to the Icheon First Sword.
Then, the women’s alliance members thrust their swords at him in unison.
“Haaah!”
“Die...!”
But could ordinary people pierce a First Sword’s guard?
Shririp!
The man easily dodged over a dozen blades before starting to shred the one who’d called him a bastard.
Slash!
His specialty was rapid successive thrusts reminiscent of a sewing machine.
In less than a second, one fighter became a pincushion, spewing blood.
“Wha...!”
“...Ah.”
The combat prowess gap revealed in a single exchange.
The women’s alliance momentum shattered in an instant, the mood sinking, but a gunshot soon reignited the flames.
Bang!
Icheon precinct officer Kwon Tae-young had finally fired.
And with that as the signal, every fighter in the area charged at the man.
* * *
Thud!
By the time Yeong-woo reached the motel’s first floor, the lobby was already a madhouse.
Women’s alliance members inside, hearing the shots, were trying to rush out, while those who’d been fighting outside first were now fleeing into the motel.
“G-Give some space!”
“Just go outside! If you’re not fighting, get out!”
The reason those outside first insisted on coming back in was because there were many comrades here.
Better to hide in the motel full of dozens of allies than run into open ground where the enemy could plainly see and stab them in the back.
“What the hell are you doing right now?”
Seong Ye-rin, who had come down to the lobby next, furrowed her brow at the dozens crammed in the narrow entrance.
But was that the only problem?
Outside was an intruder so strong even valiant fighters chose to flee.
“Move!”
A man’s voice shot in from beyond the lobby entrance blocked by the crowd.
And soon.
Crunch-crunch!
With gruesome sounds of flesh being pierced, those trying to flee into the motel began collapsing one after another.
The bastard was carving a path himself.
“Aaagh!”
“Gaaah!”
In seconds, three or four hit the ground with holes riddling their bodies, and seeing that, Yeong-woo drew and hurled Early Bird to halt him.
Whiiish!
It was fast, but he’d thrown it assuming the opponent would block it.
If the guy was really a First Sword, he wouldn’t fall to a mere ambush.
And sure enough.
Ping!
The man casually deflected Early Bird and looked at Yeong-woo.
Then, his face lit up with excitement.
He was certain this was the one he sought.
“Who are you looking for?”
As Yeong-woo took a couple steps forward and asked, the man grinned and shook the blood from his needle onto the ground.
Splash.
“Gyeongbuk First Sword.”
“......!”
The shocked ones weren’t Yeong-woo, but the women’s alliance filling the lobby and Seong Ye-rin.
They’d thought they’d only hosted the Icheon First Sword as a guest; they hadn’t known there was another First Sword in his group.
And moreover.
‘Wait. Gyeongbuk First Sword...’
As Ye-rin pondered the meaning of ‘Gyeongbuk’, Yeong-woo took another step toward the man.
Now the distance between them was about six meters.
Close enough to start a real fight anytime.
So Yeong-woo first checked the quest text attached to the left of his vision.
[Dogo] “Debut in the Martial World”
<Mission> Duel 0/2 times with targets whose total stats exceed 3,000.
<Reward> 5,000,000 karma
<Special> In this duel, you must disclose Dogo’s support.
Duel twice with targets whose total stats exceed 3,000.
This would probably fill one of those two.
So Yeong-woo.
Shing!
Drew the black sword from his waist and cautiously spoke.
“This... battle is sponsored by the pan-galactic weapons brand Dogo.”
“…What?”
“I am a human of Earth, the strongest of Gyeongbuk, Jeong Yeong-woo07.”
“What the fuck? You crazy bastard.”