Chapter 39

[Translator – Night]

[Proofreader – Gun]

Chapter 39: Unfamiliar World (3)

Jang Chun-yong 16, Rank 1, 96 Defenses.

Yeongwoo felt the heat inside the car rising frighteningly as the identity of Strongest Sword was revealed, thanks to Yoonho in the passenger seat who opened his mouth with a rather aggressive tone.

“Rank 1? Doesn’t that mean it’s incredibly powerful?”

Upon hearing this, Myeongho, gripping the steering wheel, responded while keeping an eye on the road.

“Absolutely. It’s better not to enter the city if possible.”

It was not just expressing concern but an attitude that seemed to be formulating a plan.

Even Yoonho, in a difficult situation, exuded a spirit that seemed willing to face a duel with the Strongest Sword if necessary.

So, Yeongwoo reconsidered the strength of the two brothers.

‘Maybe they’re stronger than they look.’

At first glance, the armament of Myeongho and Yoonho seemed quite poor.

Myeongho’s weapon was undoubtedly a sword pulled from the mountains, and Yoonho had only a single-handed axe.

Myeongae, who was riding in the back seat, didn’t even have a weapon.

The unmistakable symbol of a strong individual, the Early Bird, was nowhere to be found.

‘But they might have awakened later. Realizing that if they don’t become stronger, their mother’s life is in danger.’

Perhaps their mother was a powerful motivation for growth.

Yeongwoo imagined the scene of the two brothers charging into the turmoil of the exchange at the currency exchange office with their mother behind them.

Then he asked Myeongho.

“Have you ever met him before? The Strongest Sword.”

“Yes? Strongest Sword?”

Myeongho made a puzzled expression at the unexpected question and then shrugged his shoulders.

“Well, not yet. I don’t want to meet him. Besides, there’s probably only one Strongest Sword in the area… would it be that easy to meet him?”

With a laugh, Myeongho finished his sentence with a light tone.

Then, Yoonho, who had been quietly listening to their conversation, suddenly asked Yeongwoo a question.

“Then have you met him? The Strongest Sword.”

“……”

In response, Yeongwoo looked into the other person’s burning eyes and then moved his gaze out the window.

“No. If I had, I wouldn’t be alive like this. If it’s the Strongest Sword, he’s probably the strongest person in that city.”

“Oh, boring.”

Yoonho, spewing out a snort, turned his head back to the front, unlike Myeongho, who continued to steal glances at Yeongwoo through the rearview mirror.

Come to think of it, it wouldn’t be strange at all that the uncomfortable guest in the back seat was a Strongest Sword from another region.

At first, with a grotesque appearance resembling a mutant and a level of martial arts that was absurdly high, and above all…

‘He had several Early Birds.’

This was fairly solid evidence.

Unless he had taken them by killing other strong individuals, there was no way he could carry several precious Early Birds around.

‘So, could it be that I’m carrying a Strongest Sword from somewhere right now?’

Right next to his mother.

“Sigh.”

As Myeongho jerked his body for a moment, the steering wheel he was holding shook, and the car swayed.

Thunk!

“Ah, what’s wrong? Why is it like this?”

While Yoonho, who almost bumped his head against the window, grumbled, Yeongwoo, who had been looking at the sky beyond the window, spoke again.

“Hey, right now, Strongest Sword might not be the problem.”

“What? What do you mean…?”

“Yes? What’s that…?”

Checking Yeongwoo’s reflection in the rearview mirror, Myeongho realized that the other was looking up at the sky and shifted his gaze to the area above the driver’s side window.

Then he saw it.

“Ugh!”

A beam of light was pouring down into the sky far away, towards Mungyeong City.

* * *

Current time: 2:11 PM.

Yeongwoo, checking the time on his wristwatch, raised an eyebrow.

‘I thought 1 PM was the time for monster appearances, but is there a difference in each region? Or…’

It could be that the monsters that appeared about an hour ago haven’t been dealt with yet.

‘But considering the number of light pillars, it’s too many. Is Strongest Sword a bit weak here? No, then he should have died sooner.’

It was a phenomenon that was difficult for Yeongwoo’s common sense to comprehend.

In an area where only one Strongest Sword was holding on so steadfastly, why weren’t the monsters being dealt with?

Moreover.

“Oh my goodness.”

As the distance between the vehicle and the city decreased, another red light pillar appeared on the other side.

The mutant is also alive.

‘Where the hell is the Strongest Sword? What is he even doing?’

Yeongwoo clenched his teeth, suspecting where the Strongest Sword of Mungyeong City might be hiding.

It was a different situation from the time of Gimcheon, where there was no proper Strongest Sword, and the succession of positions kept happening.

This time, there was a Strongest Sword capable of fighting against mutants, but the person wasn’t fulfilling their role.

“……”

It was truly strange.

Meanwhile, Yeongwoo and the Jeong family in the SUV, who had covered their bodies, were heading towards the entrance of Mungyeong City.

Vroom…!

In the escalating engine sound, Myeongho, gripping the steering wheel, glanced at the rear through the rearview mirror and spoke.

“When we encounter monsters, we need to get out and fight. It would be troublesome if the car breaks down.”

It was a statement clearly made with Yeongwoo in mind.

Yeongwoo could run at a speed similar to a vehicle with just his two legs, but it wasn’t the case for the Jeong family, especially since they were carrying their mother, a non-combatant.

And Yeongwoo, well aware of this, nodded.

“Yes, that’s not a problem. However…”

After lifting his head slightly, Yeongwoo added.

“What about you two? Have you fought many monsters?”

It was a question born out of concern for Myeongae, who was relying on her two sons for survival, but Yoonho in the passenger seat took it as a provocation and got irritated.

“Why? Are you worried that we can’t handle even one monster on our own? Don’t worry about it. We’ve been managing just fine without your concern.”

“…Yes. Then that’s good.”

Yeongwoo stopped speaking and closed his mouth.

After all, he would soon see firsthand the level of the two brothers’ combat capabilities.

‘The monsters on the second day are different from those on the first day. If they haven’t raised their stats a lot, it might be difficult to handle.’

Even if it was Myeongho and Yoonho, Yeongwoo couldn’t help but feel uneasy, thinking about Myeongae, their mother, might be attacked by the monsters.

But it wasn’t a role he could continue to play for this family. Yeongwoo could only hope that the two brothers were strong enough.

“Oh, already.”

Eventually, a dejected voice came from Myeongho in the driver’s seat, and the vehicle suddenly came to a noisy stop.

Screech!

“…What the hell. What’s that now?”

Yoonho pulled out his weapon with a determined expression, matching the timing.

Seeing this, Yeongwoo slightly turned his upper body to assess the situation ahead.

Then, they saw the imposing silhouettes of the monsters on the second day in Mungyeong City.

Occupying the road leading to the outskirts of the city were beings with a hefty silhouette.

“Orc…?”

[Translator – Night]

[Proofreader – Gun]

Yeongwoo unconsciously muttered, and hearing that, Myeongae asked with a somewhat tense voice.

“Orc? What’s an orc?”

In response, Yoonho in the passenger seat intercepted, as if fishing for Yeongwoo’s answer.

“It’s just like a monster in games… Don’t worry too much about it.”

Myeongho, shifting gears to neutral, added with a tone similar to his younger brother.

“They’re just weak mobs… It should be fine.”

But is it really okay?

Yeongwoo, who had encountered a 2-meter tall goblin as the first monster, couldn’t agree with the opinions of the two brothers.

‘Even goblins weren’t easy to deal with… Will orcs really feel like weak mobs?’

Of course, leaving aside creatures like dragons and facing goblins, trolls, orcs, it seemed that the monster system in this world was not significantly different from people’s general perceptions.

However, the problem was that these monsters were no longer confined to games or novels.

Thunk.

Meanwhile, Yoonho was opening the passenger door with an axe in hand.

On the other hand, Myeongho, gripping the steering wheel, remained in standby.

Yeongwoo, with a puzzled tone, asked.

“Aren’t you going out with your brother?”

“Ah… I’m not much help, and in case there’s a problem, one of us needs to survive to bring our mother with us.”

“Ah, I see.”

Having heard Myeongho’s explanation, Yeongwoo nodded.

In other words, the Jeong family’s combatant was only Yoonho at the moment, and Myeongho’s role was to reverse the car if his younger brother died while fighting and leave the scene.

‘Focusing the stats on one side does have its advantages.’

Yeongwoo glanced at Myeongae next to him and left the backseat door open, stepping outside.

He doesn’t like Yoonho very much, but he still should pay a fair share of the ride.

Thunk.

As Yeongwoo stepped onto the road barefoot, Yoonho, who sensed his movements, turned around.

“…What’s up?”

“I’m here to help. It seems you’re about to fight these guys for the first time.”

“It’s not because you’re greedy for money, right?”

Yoonho came out aggressively as expected.

Of course, Yeongwoo understood Yoonho’s position of needing to gather karma to protect his mother.

But Yeongwoo was no ordinary person either.

“If I really wanted to be greedy, I would have killed you guys first. If I did that, the car would be mine. Don’t keep provoking me.”

Staring at the SUV in the back with a cold expression, Yoonho’s face finally showed fear.

“W-what are you talking about… That’s inhumane.”

“That’s why you should also maintain some rationality. Don’t you understand the situation?”

Saying this, Yeongwoo looked past Yoonho’s shoulder.

Suddenly, the disorderly gathered orcs had formed ranks and were walking steadily toward them.

The distance between them and this side was approximately a hundred meters.

‘What the hell, these guys.’

A strange sense of frustration washed over Yeongwoo.

Even though they had clearly noticed this side, their cautious approach in maintaining formation, different from the previous monsters that rushed haphazardly, was what caused the discomfort.

“These guys are a bit…”

As Yeongwoo was about to warn Yoonho, intending to say more.

Thunk!

Yoonho rushed fiercely toward the orcs.

“They’re moving! We need to…!”

In Yoonho’s mind, he needed to stop the orcs from approaching the vehicle where his mother was.

-……

On the other hand, the orc group remained unfazed, even though they saw someone charging at them with an axe.

Not only were they undisturbed, but rather…

Clank, clink!

They began to pull out large rectangular shields from their backs, readying their guards.

Like well-trained soldiers.

“Huh…?”

Yoonho, who rushed forward, was momentarily taken aback by their calm movements, and Yeongwoo, who was following at a suitable distance, also sensed something suspicious.

‘It feels like we’re falling into a trap.’

And sure enough.

Vroom!

One orc on the far right of the formation blew a horn.

Following that, a sinister whistling sound echoed from a distance.

Shuuaaang…!

“What the hell is this noise?”

“…”

Yoonho and Yeongwoo didn’t need more than a second to directly confirm the source of the whistling.

Without hesitation, one orc on the far right blew a horn, and in the next moment, dark points, about a dozen in total, appeared in the sky behind the orcs.

Soon after, they rained down towards Yoonho and Yeongwoo.

Shuuaaang!

It was none other than spears.

‘That must have been a bombardment request.’

Since they could already see long spearheads, Yeongwoo hastily raised his black sword to prepare for defense.

Swoosh.

Yeongwoo’s current sensory perception was 100.

Even though more than ten spears were pouring down from above, there was no change in his sensory perception value.

Since the opponent hadn’t specifically targeted Yeongwoo, the sensory theft ability didn’t activate.

‘Crazy.’

The moment Yeongwoo realized this, he quickly raised his shield to cover his head.

With a sensory perception value of around 100, he judged that he couldn’t parry the falling spear blades in mid-air.

Thud, thud, thud, thump!

However, the orc side’s bombardment was also poorly aimed, with most of the attacks hitting the ground around Yeongwoo.

Only one spear struck the outer surface of his shield.

Crash!

“Ugh…!”

Tremendous impact surged through Yeongwoo’s arm, spreading across his entire body.

If he hadn’t raised the shield, he would have been pierced through by the spear.

Then, what about Yoonho, who didn’t even have a shield?

Thud.

As Yeongwoo raised his head, he saw Yoonho standing in an awkward posture about ten meters away.

His legs trembling on the ground.

And there were spears that barely missed him embedded in the ground around him.

In other words, Yoonho was alive purely due to luck.

‘He’s incredibly lucky. But there will be another attack next. And then I’m in danger too…’

The moment Yeongwoo thought about clearing out the orcs in front of him before the next bombardment, the orcs moved first.

Shuffle, shuffle, shuffle!

Simultaneously, they opened their guards and shouted.

-All units, charge!

[Translator – Night]

[Proofreader – Gun]