Chapter 48

[Translator – Night]

[Proofreader – Gun]

Chapter 48: The Judge with the Longsword (1)

‘What’s this again.’

Just now, after achieving the achievement of being a ‘advertisement model,’ a timer appeared indicating that the advertiser is coming with follow-up measures.

So, what does this mean?

‘Is it really about that advertisement? Then, the certificate I used earlier…’

Yeongwoo thought of the ancient certificate ‘Morning Star,’ which had disappeared without a trace.

It was a dreadful thought, but considering the situation, it seemed to refer to the star of the advertising world.

In other words, the earlier certificate was used to promote something somewhere.

There must be an extraordinary model here who attracts advertisers.

“….”

Yeongwoo was somewhat flustered by the unexpected development, but he already knew that, once the timer appeared, it couldn’t be reversed.

Speaking from experience.

‘Even meeting an alien merchant, there’s no way I can’t get an advertisement….’

Yeongwoo said courageously to himself, but his fingertips couldn’t help but tremble slightly.

It was a different kind of unfamiliarity, a fear that felt unlike the numerous obstacles he had faced so far.

Advertising…

If something in the universe is willing to advertise, who on earth would advertise what and why?

And how would they want to advertise?

Through an ordinary human, no less.

“….”

Yeongwoo stopped his futile thoughts and checked the timer.

|Time until advertiser arrives: 04:28:19

In about 4 hours and 28 minutes, the existence of the advertiser will arrive.

‘This time, there’s no mark. Could it be that the advertiser is coming to find me in person?’

Yeongwoo looked around the clear sky.

It was absurd that the advertiser would appear where the certificate was used after a whopping 4 hours. No, it couldn’t be.

Considering the situation, he couldn’t just sit here calmly.

“….”

In the end, Yeongwoo gestured towards Myeongho after a brief hesitation.

“Myeongho, start the engine. Let’s head to Chungju for now.”

* * *

Vroom…!

Inside the vehicle that started moving toward Chungju.

Myeongho, as usual, kept his gaze fixed forward, pretending to concentrate on driving, while Myeongae looked outside the window with lifeless eyes.

And the new figure in the vehicle.

“… Mr. Yeongwoo.”

Unable to endure the silence that had lasted for several minutes, the tall man opened his mouth with difficulty.

In response, Yeongwoo, who had been looking at the goblin, turned his gaze towards him.

“Just call me Yeongwoo.”

“Oh, yes. Yeongwoo, sir.”

“Come to think of it, we haven’t even introduced ourselves yet.”

“Ah… right?”

The man relaxed his expression as if relieved after hearing Yeongwoo’s words.

“I’m sorry, I don’t have much experience. As you may know, my name is Jeong Yeongwoo….”

After saying this much, Yeongwoo glanced briefly at Myeongae, who was sitting closely on the opposite side of the back seat.

“….”

The cold wind was blowing again.

Given the situation, it was difficult to expect a cheerful self-introduction.

“On this side is Miss Jeong Myeongae… And the person driving now is her son, Myeongho.”

As Yeongwoo gestured alternately between Myeongae and Myeongho, Myeongho, who felt it, quickly introduced himself.

“I’m Jeong Myeongho. Nice to meet you.”

“Oh, yes. I’m Kim Jongsu. I’m from Andong, and I’m twenty-nine this year.”

Kim Jongsu.

Despite the imposing aura emanating from his tall stature, he was the youngest among them.

“How old are you two… Are you both brothers?”

Kim Jongsu asked cautiously, extending his neck downward.

The conversation, each person with a sword at their waist, was unbelievably casual in tone.

“I’m thirty-four.”

“Oh, you’re indeed the older brother.”

When Yeongwoo revealed his age, Jongsu wiped his chest as if relieved.

Then, for some reason, Myeongho, who had been constantly watching, belatedly disclosed his age.

“Ah… I’m a bit older. I’m thirty-seven.”

“Oh, you’re the big brother.”

Then Jongsu, trying to change the atmosphere, suggested that the youngest should handle the driving.

In reality, he was doing his best to become an official member, risking his life to join this party.

So, Yeongwoo couldn’t help but ask.

“Jongsu, why did you follow us? The situation wasn’t bad when we were with our colleagues.”

Upon Yeongwoo’s question, Jongsu’s expression, which had been smiling, stiffened for a moment and then relaxed again.

“Oh, that.”

Then Jongsu began an odd story.

“Are we facing extinction?”

“….?”

Everyone inside, including Yeongwoo, raised their eyebrows at this abrupt remark.

However, Jongsu continued without paying attention.

“Actually, you could say we’re almost in a state of extinction. On the first day, humanity lost almost half. Moreover, most things have turned into monsters.”

The first day.

Referring to that first day when famous people were brought down through voting, and even the public engaged in remote killings, tearing each other apart.

At this point, Myeongho, who had been quiet until now, spoke.

“But half of us are still alive.”

Myeongho’s tone carried a nuance of hope.

On the other hand, Jongsu shook his head.

“There’s probably less than half left now. Most people must have died from monsters or bandits.”

“So what? Are you trying to say that the remaining half will eventually die?”

“In reality, until recently, I thought so… but.”

Jongsu said this much and then looked at Yeongwoo.

“After seeing Yeongwoo, my thoughts changed. It’s not that the world is ending; it’s just changing.”

“Changing?”

Myeongho asked, but Jongsu’s gaze was still on Yeongwoo.

“Yes. Now, instead of going to work, we make money by hunting monsters.”

“….”

Myeongho could not easily continue speaking.

It was an idea he could never accept as he did not even have the fighting power to face monsters.

According to Jongsu’s claim, Myeongho has no ability to make money, so isn’t he a so-called incompetent person?

“Well, that’s…!”

When Myeongho was about to retort, Jongsu smoothly continued speaking.

“This is reality. Starting tomorrow, when taxes start to be collected in earnest, those who don’t have the ability will have to find a way to make money, no matter what, whether it’s begging or becoming a slave.”

It was a grim outlook, but Yeongwoo couldn’t help but agree with Jongsu’s thoughts.

There was no need to look far; even today, people were commodifying their unique services and selling them.

“But I didn’t think that way. I had confidence in dealing with most monsters. But after meeting Yeongwoo today, I realized one more thing.”

[Translator – Night]

[Proofreader – Gun]

“…What is it?”

This time, Yeongwoo asked, and Jongsu’s gaze quickly swept over Yeongwoo’s entire body.

“I have the ability to make money, but just like office workers have bosses, people who hunt monsters also have bosses.”

Then Jongsu pointed at Yeongwoo with a cunning gesture.

“Not only monsters but also experts who destroy mutants, you can call the Strongest Sword, the final boss. In my view, sir, you have the potential to threaten even someone like me. You are a person with real power.”

“….”

Threaten someone like me…

Yeongwoo thought at this point that Jongsu must have threatened or been threatened by someone else before.

Such thinking naturally led to such an idea.

‘By the way, we met in Mungyeong, and Jongsu was from Andong.’

Andong is an area that can only be reached after passing through a couple of cities from Mungyeong.

In other words, Jongsu must have experienced various events during his journey from Andong to Mungyeong.

“Well, you know, as you may know, there’s one Strongest Sword in each city. In other words…”

He was about to say, “I’m just one of dozens of Strongest Swords,” but Yeongwoo couldn’t continue his words because Jongsu’s eyes flashed, and he couldn’t continue the conversation.

“That’s right! There are probably only dozens of Strongest Swords at best, right? Besides, sir, didn’t you do business with aliens without blinking an eye? You’re not an ordinary Strongest Sword.”

“….”

It was true, but it felt strangely distorted.

Yeongwoo, feeling embarrassed, just grinned, and Jongsu spoke on his behalf.

“So, I’ve decided to follow you and learn for at least a day. I think you will become a great person.”

In a world where all of humanity is dying, what greater compliment could there be? However, Yeongwoo, who had already glimpsed malice in Jongsu’s eyes, didn’t feel good about it.

“For just one day, it’s… We part ways in Chungju.”

As Yeongwoo spoke, looking out the front window, Jongsu blinked for a moment and then took a deep breath.

“No, Chungju? Isn’t that the way we’re going now?”

Just then, a sign pointing to Chungju direction appeared on the road, and Myeongho, who was holding the steering wheel, also confirmed it.

“That’s right. My father is there… He said Yeongwoo will accompany us until Chungju.”

“This damn…!”

Jongsu managed to swallow the curse that was about to come out reflexively, then quickly asked Yeongwoo.

“Anyway, until you finish your business in Chungju, you have time, right? You need to find Mr. Myeongho’s father and do something else… So, there is time, right?”

Yeongwoo recalled what he had to do in Chungju.

‘First, I have to find and kill the mutant, and probably during that process, I’ll meet Chungju’s Strongest Sword. After that, I’ll wait for the merchant to appear and make contact….’

Although he currently has a limited amount of extra karma, depending on the situation in Chungju, he might be able to replenish karma by sweeping away monsters.

‘Mr. Myeongho’s father… He might still be alive. I can’t search every city with him. If I can’t reunite with him immediately, my role ends there.’

After organizing his thoughts to some extent, Yeongwoo opened the status window.

『Character: Jeong Yeongwoo07』

[Strength] 600 (19+581)

[Endurance] 350 (21+329)

[Durability] 550 (13+537)

[Sensory] 100 (24+76)

* 1,000 karma is consumed per one stat point.

* Available karma: 371,000

Contrary to Jongsu, who considered Yeongwoo the best among Strongest Sword, the reality was that his relatively weak stats were covered by various equipment and ‘Gyeongbuk Sword Law.’

If he encounters a true powerhouse at any time, he could die.

‘With only 370,000 left… Meeting a merchant won’t yield much value since I can’t buy anything.’

So, how about investing karma in abilities or physical appearance this time?

“……”

While Yeongwoo was deep in thought, Myeongho, in the driver’s seat, nodded and reported.

“Uh… we’re about to enter Chungju soon.”

There was a slight sense of difficulty in the tone.

Then, Jongsu in the passenger seat also looked out the window and showed a puzzled reaction.

“Oh, what’s this?”

By this time, Yeongwoo was also looking at the distant view of Chungju City through his car window, so he could understand why the reactions were strange.

Current time, 3:46 PM.

There was not a single pillar of light falling in Chungju.

‘Even if there are monsters… have they all been eliminated, including mutants?’

If that’s the case, Chungju must have adapted to the ‘reset’ world in some way.

As Yeongwoo felt an inexplicable excitement and watched out the window, a pillar of light that had not been visible from a distance began to come into view.

“Ah.”

It was pitch black.

It was a black pillar of light indicating the merchant’s location.

Indeed, there were no mutants in Chungju.

Someone had already killed the mutant on the second day and even called the merchant.

And the mastermind was probably….

Pahat!

Soon, as the vehicle approached the entrance to Chungju, the area status notification changed.

|The current area is ‘Chungju.’

|The strongest in this area is ‘Shin Youngju 22.’ Rank 3, 2 defenses.

[Translator – Night]

[Proofreader – Gun]