Chapter 18

[Translator – Peptobismol]

Chapter 18: Dignity of the Strongest Sword (2)

The Strongest Sword was furious.

This fact was palpable to everyone to the extent that their hearts could feel it chilling.

In reality, as soon as the ‘Aura of the Strongest Sword’ was unleashed, everyone involuntarily clenched their chests, feeling an overwhelming pressure.

“Ugh!”

“Grrr…!”

Meanwhile, in the midst of the crowd, Yeongwoo noticed three golden patterns floating above someone.

It was an incredibly intuitive sight, and Yeongwoo immediately understood.

They were the ones who had their Senses halved, the ones who were about to stab him in the back while he was comforting the owner of the mart.

“Move aside.”

Unconsciously perceiving everyone in the audience as potential assailants, Yeongwoo, with a chilling tone, pushed through the crowd.

The first assailant identified.

A man in his 40s dressed in a suit.

His pupils, filled with fear, glittered with a golden hue under the influence of Yeongwoo’s gaze.

As Yeongwoo twisted the blade threateningly in front of the man’s face and asked, the pupils dilated even more, expressing sheer terror.

“Do you have a family? If not, consider yourself lucky. At least there won’t be anyone else suffering because of you.”

“Heeik…”

The man’s body trembled with fear at Yeongwoo’s words filled with intense hostility, and then…

Swoosh!

A silvery trail traced a diagonal line, and the man’s head rolled off his body.

Decapitation.

Yeongwoo’s increased strength allowed him to sever his opponent’s neck with a single slash.

Splurt, spurt…!

The decapitated man, making gurgling sounds resembling a malfunctioning water pump, spewed blood from his neck.

“Kyaaaah!”

“H-he’s crazy!”

“Please spare us…!”

As the decapitated corpse collapsed through the crowd, the atmosphere inside turned into complete panic.

No one was strong enough to counter the Aura of the Strongest Sword, so everyone remained forcibly seated.

In the midst of this, the unexpected plea from Yechan managed to break through the forceful presence.

“Mister! Others haven’t done anything wrong! And the children…”

“…?”

Just as Yeongwoo was about to strike the second attacker in a fit of extreme rage, he flinched upon hearing Yechan’s words.

It was then that he finally realized the extent of his extreme agitation.

Shwaaa….

At that moment, the Aura of the Strongest Sword dissipated entirely.

“Uwaaah!”

“Save me!”

Around a hundred people, their fear palpable, hurriedly found paths through the darkness, fleeing for their lives.

Of course, the remaining two attackers who were still in good health tried to join the escaping crowd.

Swoosh! Plunch!

They were unable to escape Yeongwoo’s swift pursuit and were killed one after another.

In the end, what remained in front of the mart was…

“Ugh…”

“This is awkward.”

Only Yechan and the Haneulchae group.

Thud! Thud!

Before long, Yeongwoo returned from the darkness, making heavy footsteps.

The atmosphere in front of the mart had subsided.

Yeongwoo’s face still retained a reddish hue from the recent experience with blood.

“Haa.”

Yeongwoo let out a deep breath.

He realized that the atmosphere had settled, and it seemed uncomfortable to him.

About a hundred people.

Although a tiny fraction in the context of the entire Gumi City, they were the ones who would now live with faces marked by fear on commemorative coins for the rest of their lives.

“…”

Yeongwoo looked at the vacant space where people had fled, his eyes filled with bitterness.

Then, he turned his attention to Yechan and the children hiding behind their parents, glancing at Yechan for an answer.

“Do the kids also…”

A question about whether they were exposed to the Aura of the Strongest Sword.

Upon hearing this, the parents answered instead of Yechan.

“Ah… it doesn’t seem like it. If they were affected, they would have cried and caused a scene.”

The parents made reassuring expressions, trying to convey that everything was fine.

However, regardless of the Aura, the children had seen enough of what shouldn’t have been seen, so Yeongwoo still felt remorseful.

The Strongest Sword. As the Strongest Sword that spread the commemorative coins with the golden rain, to truly live up to that role, he knew he had to be a proper human being first.

It’s easy to become powerful, but becoming a hero is difficult, especially in times like these.

Swoosh.

Yeongwoo looked at the mart family with melancholic eyes.

Suddenly, the mart owner handed over the Early Bird to his wife and knelt on the ground.

“I… I apologize. I think I lost my mind for a moment. I’ll accept any punishment, but please spare my family.”

Perhaps he overheard Yeongwoo mentioning something about family to one of the assailants earlier.

Considering for a moment, Yeongwoo pointed inside the mart with his finger.

“As I said before, pack as much stuff as you can carry and leave. Others will come here soon.”

“Yes…?”

“Go, now.”

“…!”

In an instant, the mart owner’s eyes widened.

For some reason, he realized that the Strongest Sword was showing an unexpected mercy.

Practically a miracle.

Thud!

Without a word, the mart owner hastily got up and rushed back into the mart.

His family hurriedly followed suit.

And Yeongwoo…

Click.

He waited for the mart family to reappear, fiddling with the coins he had retrieved from the assailants he had dealt with moments ago.

Nine commemorative coins and sixteen regular coins.

“Haa, haa.”

It was about five minutes later that the three families, once the owners of the mart, returned, gasping for breath.

But their appearance was…

“Ah…?”

“Oh… my!”

“What, what’s this? Can they really take all this?”

The Haneulchae group widened their eyes, each trying to stifle their exclamations.

The mart family emerged carrying far more items than anyone could have imagined.

[Translator – Peptobismol]

They had attached around ten shopping baskets inside the mart with tape and piled various goods inside, creating a towering structure resembling a boulder.

And astonishingly, there were three such ‘boulders’ in total.

If the sun had been at a slant, the shadow of the mart family’s creation might have covered even the group and still remained.

It was similar to… a dung beetle.

The insect that rolls a dung several times its own size.

“Is that okay, Mister?”

Yechan looked at Yeongwoo, unintentionally showing bewildredment.

Yeongwoo was equally bewildered.

‘These people are insane, seriously.’

To carry such a load, it would have required the combined strength of the entire family.

Even the baskets and tapes were likely turned into stone and returned to their original form using Karma.

What was more astounding was that they managed to plan and execute all of this within five minutes.

Should they be called the business family?

“…”

Yeongwoo quietly observed as the dung beetles carefully arranged their colossal load in front of the mart.

Clunk.

After assessing that they had finally settled in, the mart owner, pointing toward Yeongwoo, asked,

“We… we’ve gathered everything. Can we leave now?”

A strange silence fell.

Neither Yechan nor the Haneulchae group looked at the mart family with pity anymore.

“…”

Without saying a word, Yeongwoo nodded as if to indicate they could go.

“Th… thank you so much.”

The mart owner bowed hastily in gratitude. Then, without looking back, he ushered his family into the darkness.

“Hmm. Now then…”

With the mart completely empty, it was now their turn to take charge.

With a somewhat awkward gesture, Yeongwoo attempted to usher Yechan and the Haneulchae group into the mart.

Ping!

Suddenly, an alarm rang out, breaking the silence.

‘What now?’

[Achievement Unlocked: Forgive Your Enemies]

|Achievement Rank: Hero

|Achievement Grade: 46th

It was an achievement not listed in the recommended list.

‘Did this trigger because I let those people go?’

Yeongwoo glanced in the direction where the mart family had disappeared.

But a new message intercepted his view.

[There is one unclaimed achievement reward.]

[Would you like to receive the reward?]

‘Hero Rank… if it’s about items, it should be at the level of the Early Bird.’

When Yeongwoo approved receiving the reward, the message vanished all at once, making a sound.

Click.

“Huh?”

What happened next was as expected.

Swoosh!

Six coins appeared out of thin air.

‘Six?’

With his current Senses value of 100, it wasn’t difficult for Yeongwoo to accurately locate the six coins’ positions and catch them before they hit the ground.

Thud.

Yeongwoo caught all the coins swiftly.

This time, they were blue coins.

Four vertical lines and one horizontal line adorned the front.

So how much were they worth?

As Yeongwoo tilted his head and looked at the coins, a tooltip appeared.

「Blue Coin」 – Normal Currency

|Worth 50,000 Karma.

‘There were 50,000 Karma coins.’

That meant the reward for this achievement was 300,000 Karma.

‘Money is growing faster than I thought.’

Of course, it was also due to pocketing from killing people. In truth, when it came to amassing wealth, this was the quickest way, after all.

‘Then, my current assets are… 45,950. In terms of stat points, it’d be 459.’

After purchasing what he needed from the mart, Yeongwoo decided to invest the remaining money back into ability points.

* * *

He still didn’t know the time.

Even the clock at the mart had turned to stone.

The same fate befell the indoor lighting, so Yeongwoo and the Haneulchae group had to search through the darkness for flashlights and batteries.

“That mart owner seems even more impressive now, doesn’t he?”

Yechan exclaimed in awe after gathering all the supplies and turning on the flashlight.

“He probably had a good grasp of where things were placed.”

Eventually, even Yeongwoo found batteries borrowing Yechan’s flashlight.

Then it was swift progress.

They released petrified plastic baskets, began gathering essential items, and swept them into their bags.

“We’ll have to move around in strange ways like those people earlier, won’t we?”

“Well, I don’t really want to.”

Plus, how durable could the tape be?

It was evident that within not even a day, let alone an hour, everything would spill onto the ground.

Moreover, from Yeongwoo’s perspective, who needed to go to other areas for achievement purposes, being too conspicuous was not ideal.

“We have bicycles. Let’s find suitable bags and ropes to attach them to the bikes.”

Although acquiring a car could be an option… it came with the drawback of constantly needing fuel.

“Truthfully, if you have strength, you won’t starve no matter what.”

Yechan remarked somewhat cynically.

And it was true.

Petrified food doesn’t decay, but to consume it, one had to pay in Karma.

Therefore, as long as there was the strength to seize what others had, the chance of dying was extremely low.

“Um… Mister Strongest Sword, excuse me, but can we start our meal first?”

“Yes?”

Someone politely inquired, and turning back, Yeongwoo saw the Haneulchae couple waiting in line.

They had probably already arranged the food.

“Oh, yes, please don’t mind me. You don’t have to call me the Strongest Sword…”

“Thank you.”

The couple quickly moved away as soon as Yeongwoo gave his approval.

And Yeongwoo, after watching their retreating figures for a moment, turned his head towards Yechan.

“You should eat too. I think I need to replenish some energy. Surely today won’t end just like this…”

Beep!

His premonition hit.

The sharp warning sound drowned out Yeongwoo’s trailing words.

「The night is approaching.」

“The night?”

What kind of new predicament was unfolding this time?

Yeongwoo held the can he had just picked up and tapped it with a coin, waiting for the next message.

And just as expected.

「Therefore, to ensure your right to sleep, the Lodging System will commence in one hour.」

Once more, something eerie seemed about to happen.

Even Yeongwoo felt perplexed.

“The Lodging System…? Is it the same lodging?”

[Translator – Peptobismol]