Chapter 8

[Translator – Peptobismol]

Chapter 8: The Level 4 Extra (1)

‘This is insane…’

Yeongwoo, who had made a hole in the large man’s body in an instant, took a few steps back with a bewildered expression.

‘This is the Gumi Sword Technique.’

To be more precise, it could be called real-time swordsmanship training.

The hologram only demonstrated where to attack and how to defend, leaving it entirely up to Yeongwoo to execute it.

Moreover,

‘The hologram disappeared without a trace again. Does it only appear during battles?’

Yeongwoo looked at the two challengers frozen about six steps away.

Their gazes were shifting between the bodies on the ground and Yeongwoo, indicating that they sensed something significant.

“Hey… Sorry. It seems we made a mistake.”

“We’ll step back quietly if you just let us go.”

At the mention of letting them go, Yeongwoo finally realized.

They were still under the influence of the ‘Authority,’ after all.

‘What’s going on?’

Yeongwoo then glanced at Yechan, who had been acting normally for some time.

“Are you okay?”

“Huh? Yes. I was really scared earlier; my legs almost gave out, but I’m fine now.”

“Really?”

This meant one of two things.

First, Yechan’s energy was strong enough to quickly shake off the Authority’s influence.

Or second,

‘Since I didn’t consider this guy an enemy…’

This was a problem that could be easily verified by showing hostility to the other person, but it wasn’t easy to genuinely want to kill someone.

‘Just staring at someone won’t cut it. Do I really have to be willing to kill?’

If anyone could have murderous intent, they wouldn’t be an ordinary human.

‘Then, on the other side…’

Swish.

As Yeongwoo approached the two challengers, a sudden change occurred.

“…!”

Symbols of ‘kill’ appeared all over their bodies, but the hologram was still not visible.

‘Anyway, I genuinely feel like killing them.’

For some reason, it felt bitter.

However, he had no more time or reason to hesitate.

‘It makes no sense to let people like them go.’

As Yeongwoo twisted the angle of the Early Bird threateningly, the two men, who felt the impending danger, screamed like mad.

“No, please!”

“Stop! I’m really sorry!”

Nevertheless, Yeongwoo mercilessly stabbed their throats one after the other.

Shwoop, pith!

Then, before the blood had a chance to pool on the ground, he searched their pockets and found some coins.

1,000, 3,000.

The big man holding the ax didn’t have a single penny.

Despite his robust physique, he hadn’t even managed to bring basic funds from the currency exchange.

‘So, that’s why he clung to my backpack.’

Maybe he, too, had been robbed at the currency exchange.

Yeongwoo glanced briefly at the area status in the corner of his vision.

| The current region is ‘Gumi.’

| The Strongest Sword in this region is ‘Jeong Yeongwoo07.’ Rank 1, 3 Defenses.

‘Three defenses…?’

He calculated the recent battle as three consecutive title defenses.

People were still passing by the area, most avoiding Yeongwoo and the scattered bodies.

“Uh… Should I take all of this?”

“….?”

When Yechan spoke, Yeongwoo turned his head, and saw him carrying various weapons.

Hammer, spear, shield, sword.

Spoils of the battle.

“You wouldn’t be able to walk far with all that.”

“Yeah, I-I guess.”

Yeongwoo stared at Yechan’s thin forearms.

“Take the spear and shield. Discard the rest. You can’t use them anyway.”

“You want me to throw all this away?”

Yechan looked at the weapons with an expression of regret, but Yeongwoo had already made up his mind.

“We’ll encounter new challengers with new weapons. Don’t cling to useless things. Let’s move on.”

***

Back to the west.

With his watch and even his phone turned into stones, it was impossible to know how much time had passed, but one thing was certain.

―A new component, ‘Dungeon,’ has been added to this world.

―A new component, ‘Requests,’ has been added to this world.

Even now, the world was changing second by second.

―A new type of monster, ‘Knight,’ has been added to this world.

―[Chaebol Heir- Shin Yeonhwa] has now become a Black Knight, threatening all of you.

Once again, a new ‘Named’ monster type was added.

Although Yeongwoo hadn’t encountered any monsters yet, just the fact that such creatures now existed was terrifying.

‘Reset, they said… This seems more like punishment.’

To anyone looking, the reset world was closer to hell than a new one.

After the reset, the only things happening among people were murder and robbery.

‘Is there really nothing good about this? Is this how we’re going to live from now on?’

As Yeongwoo wore a gloomy expression, Yechan, apparently worried about the future, cautiously initiated a conversation.

“What do you plan to do from now on?”

“What?”

“After we finish our transaction. Once we find a safe place, settle accounts, the transaction will be over, right?”

“That’s true, but… I haven’t thought about what comes after that.”

Upon hearing this, Yechan looked at Yeongwoo with a puzzled expression.

“What about your family? Usually, people go to find their families.”

“I’m alone. If I had a family to find, I wouldn’t be doing this with you.”

“Oh.”

After hearing Yeongwoo’s answer, Yechan made a complicated expression.

“And what about you? Shouldn’t you hurry to find your parents?”

“I’m also in an orphanage right now.”

“What a mess.”

“Yeah.”

Observing Yechan’s bittersweet smile, Yeongwoo asked again.

“What Level are you in?”

“I’m in 3rd Level.”

“You’re older than I thought. You’ll be leaving soon, then.”

He was talking about leaving the orphanage.

As a rule, once he turned 18, he would have to leave the orphanage.

And when Yechan heard this, he realized that Yeongwoo also came from an orphanage.

[Translator – Peptobismol]

“Yeah. It won’t matter now, I guess.”

“Probably.”

Yeongwoo nodded and looked at the arrow at his feet.

It had been tilting rapidly since a while ago.

“I think we’re almost there.”

As Yeongwoo spoke, a huge crowd, he hadn’t seen before, appeared on the other side.

“Huh…?”

Seeing what seemed like hundreds, Yechan halted first, while Yeongwoo, in contrast, moved forward to examine the armed state of the people.

‘So, those who passed through the Sword Mountain have gathered here.’

Yeongwoo noticed that most of the crowd was carrying weapons, and even those with Early Birds seemed quite formidable.

The top leaders from various parts of Gumi had gathered here.

Yet,

‘Where on earth are they looking…?’

Everyone was so focused on looking ahead, not bothering to check the rear.

Thanks to this, Yeongwoo and Yechan joined the rear of the crowd without any hindrance.

Some belatedly noticed Yeongwoo’s title but quickly turned back to face forward.

“….?”

It was indeed strange, but soon both Yeongwoo and Yechan understood.

Swish.

They turned their heads, following the gazes, and saw something they hadn’t seen before.

‘Park Dohwan…?’

President Park Dohwan, who had ‘Dismantled’ and thought to be dead, was standing in the middle of the street.

***

‘How can he be here? Wasn’t the Quest added after he died?’

Yeongwoo looked at the President in disbelief but realized something was off.

The face, clean suit – all exactly as seen on television. His height and build were just like the President’s, but one thing was different.

That was the occasional flickering of the President’s body.

‘Wait, is this a hologram too?’

Swoosh.

Just then, Park Dohwan’s figure disappeared and reappeared.

It felt unsettlingly alien.

Additionally, there was a red circle drawn around him, about a 10-meter radius, preventing anyone from approaching recklessly.

‘There’s no way that’s the real Park Dohwan. It makes no sense for him to come here out of all the cities.’

Then what could it be?

Could an unknown entity be using Park Dohwan’s appearance to manifest here?

Perhaps similar entities had appeared in every city across the country.

“….”

Yeongwoo once again confirmed that the arrow of the Early Bird was pointing at Park Dohwan.

And then, simultaneously,

Swoosh.

Park Dohwan made a gesture as if checking his wristwatch.

Then he looked around the crowd, before speaking.

–Time’s up. I will now reveal each of your predetermined destinies.

“…Destiny?”

“Destiny is destiny, but what is this predetermined destiny?”

“There was something about changing your destiny in the quest. I think that might be it.”

Amidst the buzzing crowd, a yellow-tinted rectangular object appeared in front of everyone’s heads.

Bzzt! Bzzt! Bzzt!

Then followed Park Dohwan’s explanation.

–What you are currently seeing is the pre-reset destiny log. If the reset hadn’t occurred, all of you would have lived and died exactly as written there.

“What did he just say?”

“Does that make sense?”

Upon hearing Park Dohwan’s words, everyone’s eyes widened, focusing on their respective destiny logs.

Yeongwoo was no exception.

Right from the first line of his destiny log, something caught his attention.

[Jeong Yeongwoo-49523-IIIIII_II-Level 4-Extra]

Level 4… Extra.’

Amongst unknown numbers and barcodes, he could clearly recognize his name and the designation of Level 4 Extra.

And the subsequent contents confirmed what it meant.

[This character is a random combination of Level 4 settings.]

[Influenced by parental settings, this individual possesses the following immutable elements from birth: #Level4 #Orphan.]

[As a Level 4 combination character, it’ll receive reverse compensation for acquiring settings of Level 2 or higher throughout its lifecycle.]

To put it simply, this meant that it would be difficult for someone born as a Level 4 person to become a Level 2 human even if they worked hard throughout their lives.

And parents seemed to have a huge influence on the Level at birth.

‘…Is this for real? Was it predetermined from the start?’

The destiny log continued downwards.

[Father]: Level 6 Extra

[Mother]: Level 1 Supporting Role

‘My father was a Level 6 Extra. But my mother…’

A Supporting Role, not an Extra, and a Level 1 at that, 5 Levels higher than his father – likely the highest Level.

Then what kind of person was a Level 1 Supporting Role?

‘No, even before that, how did the man who was a Level 6 Extra meet a Level 1 Supporting Role?’

Yeongwoo knew nothing about his parents except for being abandoned as an infant in front of an orphanage. So, he had no idea about their identities, let alone their whereabouts.

It was only after the world reset that he indirectly learned about his parents’ status, peering into the internal settings of the former world.

“….”

As Yeongwoo wore a perplexed expression, the destiny log pushed upward once more, revealing the next content.

|Name: Jeong Yeongwoo

|Role: Level 4 Extra

|Function: Background, Maintenance Crew

|Creation: April 8th, 1992, 11:41 PM, edited due to unintentional deliberate intervention.

|Annihilation: November 7th, 2028, 8:36 PM, fatally assaulted by a drunk passerby while returning home.

‘Fuck, what is this?’

A nauseating feeling engulfed him.

Yeongwoo couldn’t endure it any longer and turned away from the destiny log.

Right beside him, he noticed Yechan with a pale face, staring at his destiny log as well.

And the log floating before him revealed:

|Name: Kang Yechan

|Role: Level 6 Extra

|Function: Background, Eraser

|Creation: July 16th, 2006, 2:30 AM, edited due to forced adultery.

|Annihilation: February 1st, 2039, 8:36 PM, committed murder in a bar while working and then committed s*ic*de.

[Translator – Peptobismol]