Chapter 92
Chapter 92
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 92
Chapter Title: 25. Yongsan Park (2)
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Where on earth does fear come from?
“W-What the hell is that?”
“R-Run…!”
Yongsan’s elite police officers let out shrill screams.
Even as he did, one of them asked himself.
Why was he afraid?
That was… just a title, nothing more.
But he couldn’t ignore it.
Not the desperate fear signals his brain was pumping out.
Shiiiaaa…!
The title hovering above Youngwoo’s head looked just like a living creature.
The letters writhed as if they were truly alive.
And unlike other titles, something loomed in the background—a fragment of another dimension, unmistakably.
No one had explained it, but anyone could sense it just by looking.
It wasn’t from a normal world… no, something more, something…
‘Evil.’
One of the police officers came up with the perfect word and bowed his head.
He could no longer bear to look at the opponent’s title.
His mind had already fled dozens of times, but for some reason, his body wouldn’t move.
He had never dared challenge a First Sword before, so he had no idea what the ‘Prestige of the First Sword’ felt like.
“Ugh!”
While the twenty-odd police officers writhed in place like statues, Youngwoo looked up at the sinister title floating before his own eyes.
『Gyeongbuk First Sword』
Shiiiaaa…!
The title, once radiant with light, was now shrouded in a purple mist, from which an intensely malicious aura emanated.
‘What the hell changes even the form of a title?’
Was it corruption? Contamination?
At least it was fortunate that he could still make out the letters on it.
“F-First, everyone, please calm down.”
Youngwoo cautiously addressed the Yongsan police officers, crushed by the Prestige of the First Sword.
“You can see the title, right? I’m not a mutant. And I’m definitely not here to harm you.”
Of course, on his way up to Seoul, he had killed the son of the Gangnam First Sword, putting him in a rather complicated position.
He had no intention of harming the police, but if necessary, he was fully prepared to sever the Gangnam First Sword’s head.
Swoosh.
When Youngwoo pointed directly at the title with his finger, the officers’ gazes finally settled on the words ‘Gyeongbuk First Sword.’
“G-Gyeongbuk First Sword?”
“A First Sword…?”
“Oh…!”
The atmosphere flipped in an instant.
From fear of the unknown to concrete terror.
The Prestige of the First Sword was already fading, so starting with the officer closest to Youngwoo, they began prostrating themselves one by one.
Thud!
“W-We’ve committed a grave sin!”
“We didn’t recognize you!”
“Please forgive us!”
It was hard to believe these were the same people who had been poised to thrust their blades moments ago.
To them, a First Sword was far more terrifying than any mutant.
‘What the…?’
Youngwoo couldn’t help but be flustered.
At the same time, he got a sense of the position First Swords held in Seoul.
“P-Please forgive us, so… get up now.”
As Youngwoo made an awkward face and prepared to dismount from Negeukga, a booming voice erupted from behind the police officers.
“Won’t any of you get up?”
Everyone, including Youngwoo, turned toward the voice, and soon they saw them.
A middle-aged man in a police uniform and a man who looked to be in his early thirties standing beside him.
“…Chief.”
One of the officers quickly stood and saluted the middle-aged man, then bowed deeply to the one next to him.
The others followed suit in a rush, mimicking the front man.
They had indeed made a huge blunder against the Gyeongbuk First Sword visiting Seoul, but to the Yongsan police, those two newcomers outranked them.
The middle-aged man in uniform was none other than Yongsan Police Chief Superintendent Lee Kwang-won, and the thirty-something beside him was none other than…
『Yongsan First Sword』
Yongsan First Sword Kim Do-ha03.
Of course, in terms of First Sword rank, the Gyeongbuk First Sword, who unified a major region, was more fearsome…
‘That’s only true in the provinces. This is Seoul.’
As one officer thought, this was Seoul—the doorstep of Yongsan Park, where First Sword assemblies were held daily.
No matter how strong the Gyeongbuk First Sword was, could he take on all of Seoul’s First Swords alone?
From the police perspective, it was only natural to fear the wrath of their direct superior, protected by the Seoul Alliance, more.
Even without that, they felt more at ease bowing to fellow Seoulites than to an outsider.
“……”
With the situation sorted in an instant for these reasons, Chief Superintendent Lee Kwang-won puffed up his shoulders.
“Now, let’s talk.”
As if to say they could proceed with business, he spread his arms in a gesture clearing the way.
But the Yongsan First Sword…
‘What… what the hell is this guy?’
He was frozen upon seeing the true form of the much-rumored ‘mounted outsider.’
He hadn’t dreamed that the ‘mount’ was a monstrous beast clad in black steel plating.
‘How many pieces of gear is that thing equipped with…?’
The specs of the rider atop it looked equally terrifying.
‘This guy’s on another level entirely.’
Yongsan First Sword Kim Do-ha wasn’t a particularly tough guy. Mentally, that is.
In First Sword assemblies, when opinions clashed on an issue, they settled it with a duel.
This had been the case when deciding the assembly location as Yongsan Park, and Kim Do-ha had admitted defeat right after blocking Jeong Hyun-sik’s first strike—his opponent at the time.
He’d been scared. His resolve broke after just one exchange.
For a First Sword, he was unusually timid, but in exchange, he had one unparalleled talent.
Intuitively recognizing opponents stronger than himself.
Right now, Kim Do-ha felt the same chill as when he had just stepped into the duel arena against Gangnam First Sword Jeong Hyun-sik.
No—strictly speaking, it was worse.
Jeong Hyun-sik had at least felt human, so he’d managed to block one strike, but he didn’t even want to imagine receiving an attack from that ironclad monster on horseback.
So the conclusion Kim Do-ha reached through his own logic was…
“W-Welcome. Please, come in.”
Swoosh.
He bowed deeply, receiving the guest with utmost courtesy.
He didn’t want that monster to feel even the slightest displeasure.
“It seems my men have been rude. Allow me to apologize on their behalf.”
With Yongsan’s strongest figure going this far, even the police chief who had been barking orders moments ago had no choice but to bow.
“…My apologies.”
The officers who had sprung up like lightning now slammed their foreheads back to the ground.
Thud!
“We’re sorry!”
“Please forgive us!”
“…….”
Youngwoo was the most embarrassed of all.
Because soon enough, they might be in a position where they couldn’t kill each other fast enough.
He was the one who had killed the son of the Gangnam First Sword, a key figure in the assembly.
He hadn’t come here expecting such lavish treatment.
“Um… is the Gangnam First Sword at the assembly hall right now, by any chance?”
When Youngwoo asked this, Kim Do-ha’s rigid face softened slightly.
“Ah, so you know a bit about it. If I may ask, what’s your relationship with Jeong Hyun-sik?”
“Well…”
It seemed the man didn’t know the full story.
Youngwoo hesitated to speak, then changed his mind.
Why bother hiding something that everyone would know in a dozen minutes anyway?
“We’re mortal enemies. I killed his son.”
“Whose…?”
“Gangnam First Sword’s son.”
He didn’t even remember the guy’s name.
He had killed him even knowing his father was the Gangnam First Sword, so he still felt no regrets.
“…….”
For someone who had just confessed something so horrifying, he remained remarkably calm, which instead left Kim Do-ha gaping in shock.
“No, so you’re saying that you…”
Kim Do-ha, recapping what he’d heard, promptly shut his mouth.
The story was so absurd he was at a loss for words.
But he didn’t think it was a lie.
《If you spot the outsider riding a mount, please bring him to the assembly hall alive. I beg you.》
That was proof in the cryptic message the Gangnam First Sword had spread, and looking at this outsider’s bizarre appearance, it wouldn’t be strange if he’d sliced through the son—or anyone—without discrimination.
“So to sum it up… you killed Jeong Hyun-sik’s only son, and now you’ve come here to kill Jeong Hyun-sik himself?”
A slightly twisted summary.
Youngwoo corrected a few points.
“I killed the son of that Jeong Hyun-sik guy, so now it’s more like he’s coming to kill me. I have no intention of shedding more blood if I can help it.”
“…I see. But if you don’t have any personal grudge against Jeong Hyun-sik himself, couldn’t you have just slipped away right after killing his son?”
Everyone held their breath, riveted by the intriguing exchange between the two First Swords.
And then, from the lips of the problematic outsider Youngwoo came an utterly ridiculous line.
“It’s my karma. I have to see it through to the end, don’t I?”
“…….”
He had come to duel the Gangnam First Sword because he saw it as his own karma.
To the cowardly First Sword Kim Do-ha and the Yongsan police just trying to survive, it was a motive hard to comprehend.
Swoosh.
Current time: 2:34 PM.
Checking his watch, Kim Do-ha let out a deep sigh.
“Phew.”
About 26 minutes until the First Sword assembly began.
If this monster was telling the truth, Jeong Hyun-sik would soon storm into Yongsan gnashing his teeth.
‘New attendees will be here today too. This’ll be quite the show.’
After some deliberation, Kim Do-ha finally made up his mind.
Clap!
Spreading his arms toward the outsider, he declared:
“Welcome once again! Today might turn out to be a very important day. I’ll let the other First Swords know—a duel for the Gangnam First Sword’s seat will take place today.”