Chapter 41

[Translator – Night]

[Proofreader – Gun]

Chapter 41: Unfamiliar World (5)

“Where are you going? Where are you going now?”

Struggling.

Myeongae, with a distorted face, wildly scratched the remaining son’s arms and shoulders.

Yoonho is behind us, where are we going among ourselves?

“Our Yoonho! We need to bring Yoonho…!”

Myeongae’s eyes flickered.

She seemed to genuinely believe that the eldest son was abandoning the second son.

But is it really so?

Didn’t Myeongae see Yoonho’s throat being cut?

“Stop it, Mom… I’m having a hard time too.”

Myeongho, tears streaming down, held the steering wheel.

Yeongwoo held Myeongae’s arms as she pounded on the steering wheel.

Thump!

Otherwise, we would have crashed into the guardrail and all died together.

“Mom, I’m really sorry. But now is the time…”

Held by Yeongwoo, Myeongae poured out resentful words before he could finish speaking.

“You…! What did you do? My child was right in front of me! What the hell…!”

Yeongwoo, feeling Myeongae’s arms throbbing in his grip, remained silent, feeling her struggling.

He thought he was somewhat responsible for Yoonho’s death.

If he hadn’t let him go ahead and attacked the orcs first…

If that had happened, Jeong Yoonho might have survived.

‘But even if that’s the case, he would have died someday. If it weren’t for me in the first place, these people would have all died.’

Yeongwoo looked out the window with a perplexed face.

Then, on the other side of the road, a bundle of arrows shot up.

‘There it is.’

He finally identified the position of the orc reinforcement that had been shelling them continuously.

“Myeongho.”

“Yes?”

“Did you see that just now? I’ll deal with them and leave. So, decide on your own whether to go or wait during that time. If you plan to part ways here, put my things on the ground and go.”

When Yeongwoo finished speaking and checked the scabbard on his waist, Myeongho’s expression stiffened.

Now that they had lost Yoonho, who was practically the strength of the Jeong family, there was no other choice.

“Uh… Where should I wait? I’ll wait until you come.”

Having heard Myeongho’s powerless words, Yeongwoo tapped the back of the driver’s seat.

“Now.”

Gee-eek!

As soon as Yeongwoo’s words were spoken, the vehicle abruptly stopped.

“Since we don’t know when another arrow will come, it’s better to move slowly.”

After saying this, Yeongwoo opened the rear door and stepped onto the road.

Thud.

Then, in the distance, black silhouettes were wriggling.

It was the orc reinforcement which was now a thorn in the eye.

The distance between them and here was about 300 meters.

Thud!

Soon, when Yeongwoo stomped on the ground and bounced forward, the distance with them quickly decreased.

Swish!

Yeongwoo moved with a sound as if the arrow was piercing through the air, and the Orcs, who sensed an unusual presence, also responded.

Hwae-at!

The spear was thrown straight at an unidentified object.

However, this time, unlike artillery fire, it was a targeted attack.

「The sensory value has temporarily increased from the original 100 to 134.」

「The sensory value has temporarily increased from 134 to 168.」

「The sensory value has temporarily increased from 168 to 202.」

It resulted in a disaster that raised the sensory levels of the target of the attack, Yeongwoo.

“….!”

Thanks to that, Yeongwoo could clearly see the trajectory and anticipated path of the spear flying straight towards him.

He was clever enough to deflect it before the spear pierced his body.

Clang!

When Yeongwoo drew his sword and deflected the first spear, the orcs were so close that he could see their expressions.

Ching!

When he bounced off the second spear, their bewildered voices echoed vividly.

-What, what is it?

-Human…?

-Kill him quickly!

There were a total of six in the orc reinforcement.

They stood among the pile of spears on the ground, each holding a long spear in both hands.

In other words, they didn’t have shields to block the attacks.

“Hup!”

As soon as Yeongwoo confirmed their armed status, he drew the black sword to its maximum length and swung it.

Hwae-a-a-at!

A dark and massive trail swept across the orcs’ waists, and the sensation of cutting through flesh of the orcs was vividly transmitted to Yeongwoo’s grip.

Pudd-deduk!

Rather than saying Yeongwoo slashed the orcs, it might be more fitting to say that he shattered them.

The orcs with their waists split fell to the ground in a staggered rhythm.

And then.

Pop, pop, pop!

With the light, their bodies vanished, and crimson coins poured out in their place.

Chwarruk!

‘Oh no.’

Yeongwoo realized for the first time that he hadn’t picked up the coins that the orcs dropped when they fell earlier.

‘Does this make sense? Do I have to pick up money like this every time a fight ends…?’

He bent over and rummaged through the ground, as if he were picking up ears of corn.

All the various emotions that had been squeezing his chest until a moment ago disappeared.

And by this time.

Bud-dudd-dudd…

The SUV of the Jeong family approached Yeongwoo with a low engine sound.

“Are you okay?”

Myeongho cautiously asked from the inside of the driver’s seat.

In response, Yeongwoo poured a handful of coins into his backpack and looked at Myeongho.

“How about your mother?”

“…She fainted.”

“Thank goodness. When we go back, we have to pick up some money again.”

“Yes…?”

* * *

Clang.

At the scene of Yoonho’s death, Yeongwoo collected a total of 160,000 karma.

Adding what he obtained from the support unit, the total karma became 280,000.

‘Now, my total assets… 304,000.’

If converted into attribute points, it would be 304 points.

If he invested in appearance changes, he could achieve about 14% of the optimal body conditions recommended by the combat preset.

However, Yeongwoo had one more choice.

That was…

‘Mungyeong is still in the state where the 2nd-day mutant hasn’t been caught.’

And that means…

[Translator – Night]

[Proofreader – Gun]

“If I kill him, a merchant will appear here too.”

He could have another trade with the extraterrestrial merchant.

Thanks to a special agreement with the intermediary Kubu, Yeongwoo could preview and choose from all the items up for bid in the trade.

‘I don’t know what will be available this time, so I should save money if possible.’

Swoosh.

|The current location is ‘Mungyeong.’

|The highest-ranked in this area is ‘Jang Chunyong16.’ Rank 1, defense 96 times.

Yeongwoo glanced briefly at the information about Mungyeong’s Strongest Sword ‘Jang Chunyong16’ that was still surviving somewhere.

‘What is this… Could it be that he left Mungyeong long ago?’

The red light pillar had gotten quite close by now, so it would take about ten minutes whether he rode a car or ran to reach the mutant.

“Are you okay?”

When Yeongwoo turned his head towards the waiting SUV nearby, Myeongho, who had been in a daze, twitched.

“Yes? Oh, um…?”

“Are you really okay going with me? I’m going to kill the mutant now. But I don’t know what kind of creature it is, so I can’t guarantee the safety of Mr. Myeongho and your mother.”

Of course, killing the creature would lead to even more astonishing events…

So, he omitted the story about ‘real’ extraterrestrials coming for business.

“Ah….”

Myeongho made a blank expression again.

What else could he do besides staring blankly?

Since the Reset incident, everything had been so surreal, and he couldn’t think about anything since hearing Yeongwoo’s conversation with the orcs.

“We have to go… We have no other choice.”

Myeongho glanced at his mother lying limp in the back seat.

He had lost all functions and abilities as the eldest son and the head of the family.

So, the best he could do now was to tragically express gratitude that he could at least work as the driver for Jeong Yeongwoo, a person whose identity was not even certain.

If the guy is strong enough to kill even the mutants, their lives would continue as long as he lived.

“….”

It was practically a life delegation.

If everyone’s fate had been reset, is this the result they ended up with?

Recalling his own fate, which had no significant flaws, Myeongho made a bitter expression.

If a new fate record was being written, how would this scene be recorded?

And what would be the end…?

Crack!

Myeongho’s contemplation was cut off by the sound of a cracking window from the passenger seat.

Startled, he raised his head, and Yeongwoo was seen pulling out a spear stuck in the passenger seat from the outside.

“Now that I think about it, this is ours, isn’t it?”

“What?”

“This spear was not brought by the orcs, it was a weapon given to people. From the Sword’s Mountain.”

Yeongwoo threw the spear to the ground as he spoke.

If that spear had been brought by the orcs, it should have disappeared along with their bodies when they vanished.

‘Can they use our resources against us?’

It felt strangely unpleasant.

Yeongwoo pulled out two more spears stuck in the vehicle and sat in the passenger seat this time.

At this point, Myeongho showed a puzzled expression.

“….?”

“Now your mother probably won’t like this. Lock the back door.”

In response to Yeongwoo’s words, Myeongho silently locked the back door.

“So where do we go now? Should we follow that thing?”

Pointing to the red light pillar visible on the other side, Myeongho looked at Yeongwoo.

* * *

Vroom…

Inside the speeding vehicle, Myeongho finally asked the question that had been lingering in his mind.

“Hey.”

“Yes.”

“You’re the Strongest Sword, right? From somewhere.”

Yeongwoo, who had been staring outside the front passenger window, turned his head towards Myeongho.

“That’s right.”

A very indifferent tone.

“Oh, I see… I see.”

“….”

During the moment when silence was about to return, Myeongho barely managed to throw the next question.

“Then, have you faced other mutants before?”

It was a question that Myeongho couldn’t help but ask.

It was no exaggeration to say that the lives of Myeongho himself and his mother depended on Yeongwoo’s combat experience.

So, Yeongwoo decided to give an answer that would somewhat reassure his opponent.

However.

“Yes. I killed two, and the other one…”

He couldn’t complete the rest, the part where it was about the mutant waiting to make the sound of a flute while trapped in another world.

Because.

Kwagwagwack!

Somewhere, a loud noise as if a building collapsed resonated.

“Huh?”

The timing was perfect as the vehicle entered a roundabout into the city, allowing both Myeongho and Yeongwoo to see.

-Don’t be scared…!

-Keep going!

-Dodge it!

Dozens of orcs were rushing in one direction.

Already, there was a battle going on, with dust in the air, and buildings collapsing or breaking in various places.

“What is this?”

Screech!

Due to Myeongho instinctively slamming the brakes, a loud noise was heard, but not a single orc looked back.

That’s natural.

「Huaaah!」

The orc horde was already facing a formidable threat.

In the midst of facing dozens of orcs, another orc with a vibrant red color was screaming while swinging its weapon.

「You’re dead!」

Facing dozens of orcs, this orc, whose size was unusually large enough to make others look like dwarfs, seemed to be…

‘Could it be a mutant…? Why is the mutant fighting with the monsters?’

Squinting his eyes and surveying the situation, Yeongwoo soon found out the reason.

It wasn’t just the mutants from Mungyeong fighting against the orcs.

“This, what is this?”

Squeak!

Near the blue muscle mass, there was another presence moving very agilely.

Sweeet!

A slim figure, darkly tanned skin, and contrasting white hair.

‘It can’t be.’

Yeongwoo’s eyebrows twitched at the unbelievable sight.

Jang Chunyong16, the Strongest Sword in Mungyeong, was fighting alongside the mutant against the orcs.

[Translator – Night]

[Proofreader – Gun]