Chapter 66

[Translator – Night]

[Proofreader – Gun]

Chapter 66: Strong Tiger’s Early Appearance (3)

Phew!

The driving force of Iron horse Negwig was truly tremendous.

Just the sudden acceleration alone made both Yeongwoo and Jongsu unable to control their bodies properly.

Especially Yeongwoo, who was a person with superhuman physical abilities.

‘How fast is he running right now?’

As Yeongwoo, who barely stood his upper body upright, turned around, he saw a dimly lit road extending beyond Jongsu’s shoulder, who was screaming with closed eyes.

And, at the edge of that road, something small was shining.

It was none other than a patrol car approaching with its headlights on.

All this distance was covered in such a short time.

Moreover, the distance between the patrol car and them was continuously increasing.

‘Can he possibly increase the speed more than this?’

Yeongwoo, wanting to test Kangho’s abilities a bit more, stopped as he heard Jongsu’s screams continuing.

“Hyung-nim, can’t you slow down a bit?”

“Let me look for it. Just hold on a moment.”

Upon Jongsu’s request, Yeongwoo groped Kangho’s neck and head to find what seemed like a brake mechanism.

Then.

-Squeak!

A part of the iron plate that wrapped around Kangho’s muzzle extended downward, instantly creating reins.

‘Quite innovative.’

The reins, like Kangho’s outer shell, were made of black metal, but the texture and flexibility were like leather.

‘Is this used to control when pulled?’

Thinking so, when Yeongwoo slightly pulled the reins, Kangho’s head lifted, and along with it, the guardrail, which looked like an afterimage, began to follow his movement.

He had really reduced the speed.

“Phew.”

Jongsu breathed heavily as if finally relieved.

And as a little more time passed, the sound of sirens was heard from a distance.

“…?”

“Uh?”

When they turned around, a patrol car with its siren on and lights flashing was approaching at high speed.

As Yeongwoo disappeared from view, the siren sounded, indicating to stop.

“Mr. Yeongwoo!”

Finally, from the patrol car that approached right behind Kangho, Byungcheol’s startled voice echoed.

“Even if it’s like this, shouldn’t we be able to confirm each other’s location?”

Byungcheol looked around the dark surroundings with vigilant eyes.

In contrast, Yeongwoo calmly spoke after confirming that everything was fine with the fearful cat he took out.

“It was much faster than expected. But now that I know how to control it, there should be no problem.”

Swoosh!

As Yeongwoo showed the reins, Byungcheol’s expression became complicated again.

It was because he felt awkward knowing that reins were attached to that strange iron horse.

A rather uncomfortable valley.

‘How can he ride around on such a thing so casually? Are only those kinds of weirdos able to adapt to this world?’

Byungcheol was in bitter admiration when he saw Yeongwoo preparing to leave, loosening the reins again.

* * *

9:26 PM.

The surrounding scenery was still only fields and makeshift buildings, but according to the regional status window, it was now Yongin.

Pop!

|The current area you are in is ‘Yongin.’

|There is no Strongest Sword in this area.

“As expected.”

“Is this also the work of people from Seoul, Hyung-nim?”

“Probably.”

Yeongwoo looked west, which was likely the direction of Yongin City.

To know more, he needed to narrow down the distance, but there were no visible pillars of light so far.

In other words, there are no mutants or monsters, and yet the Strongest Sword has disappeared.

It seems someone cleaned up and passed through.

Most likely, someone from Seoul.

The second possibility is that it could be the local Strongest Sword that started patrolling early.

If the conflicts between mutants are fierce enough for someone to come all the way from Seoul to here… wouldn’t it be better to settle down here for a while?

Yeongwoo thought this while taking out the fearful cat.

The cat continued to close its eyes.

At least there was no threatening presence in this area.

As they went further in, traces of a rather intense battle appeared.

Torn plastic greenhouses, completely collapsed warehouse buildings.

The surroundings indicated that it was not a result of a fight between superhumans but rather the aftermath of monsters wreaking havoc.

It meant that monsters had survived in this area for a long time, causing extensive damage to the city in all directions.

‘The Yongin Strongest Sword might not have been that strong.’

Was it a situation similar to what happened in Gimcheon, where the succession of a strong Strongest Sword was happening in real-time due to the lack of suitable candidates?

As Yeongwoo, gazing at the devastated outskirts of Yongin, Jongsu in the back seat asked him.

“Hyung-nim.”

“Yes?”

“Buildings that are once damaged like that can’t be restored, right?”

Jongsu pointed to a building in the distance.

It was a four-story small building, but two floors were completely crushed, rendering the building practically useless.

“Probably not, right? Such places probably can’t even be rented out.”

“Ugh… Then, isn’t it more important to prioritize protecting buildings over other things?”

Jongsu pointed out a fairly important aspect.

With the continuous influx of mutants and monsters in the future unknown, ‘residential areas,’ essential to spending the night safely, were gradually disappearing.

“That’s right. No matter how strong the Strongest Sword is, they can’t simultaneously block multiple places.”

Therefore, continuous damage to residential areas due to monsters is inevitable.

In the end…

‘In areas with strong Strongest Swords, buildings might be the only things left.’

Of course, that area was likely to be Seoul with a high probability.

‘Even now, many cities in the provinces have lost their Strongest Swords. They’ll probably turn into ruins by tomorrow.’

In other words, for everyone to survive, they have no choice but to find a city where the Strongest Sword is active.

As they continued with the sound of Negwig’s hooves, more buildings appeared in the inner part of Yongin than in the outskirts, and the number of damaged buildings also increased.

And finally, people could be seen.

“Huh?”

“M-Monster…!”

People started running and screaming as soon as they saw Yeongwoo.

“Save us!” “Aaaah!” It was a natural reaction for them.

Yeongwoo’s appearance on iron horse in the darkness was unmistakably that of a mutant or even a monster.

“W-What… to run away like that.”

Jongsu, who was startled by the strong reaction, opened his mouth wide.

Since Yeongwoo was already causing trouble for the second time today, he quickly stopped Negwig and surveyed the area.

“It will cause a commotion if we go further inside. If possible, we should find a good place nearby.”

While Yeongwoo was saying this, a police patrol car from Icheon approached from behind.

[Translator – Night]

[Proofreader – Gun]

Byungcheol, who stretched his head outside the passenger seat with a puzzled expression, asked.

“What’s going on?”

Now that they were entering the city, why did they stop?

“It seems there are still many people in Yongin. It would be better for us to find a room around here without causing unnecessary trouble.”

“Ah.”

Byungcheol, hearing Yeongwoo’s words, understood the situation without any further explanation.

After all, he was probably the first person to be terrorized by Yeongwoo.

“How many rooms do we need? We should sleep separately, right?”

Byungcheol’s ‘we’ referred to himself and the patrol officer Kwon Taeyoung.

Yeongwoo glanced at Jongsu in the back seat before looking back at Byungcheol.

“For now, I can sleep alone. So, it’s probably best to get three rooms. If that’s difficult…”

Jongsu and the Icheon Police Station officer might have to share a room.

“…”

“Umm.”

Since it was the opinion of Yeongwoo, the strongest in the group, the remaining three couldn’t express their discomfort but couldn’t object either.

“Well, regardless of the number of rooms, it’s good for us to be close to each other. We should check out villas or apartments.”

Byungcheol attempted to change the mood, and soon Jongsu found a building that met the criteria.

“How about there?”

Swoosh!

Jongsu pointed to a motel in a corner across the road.

‘…Another motel.’

Yeongwoo’s expression wrinkled.

It wasn’t a pleasant place for him.

However, he couldn’t completely rule out motels in the future.

“Yes. Let’s go check there.”

So, in the end, Yeongwoo agreed to go to the motel.

* * *

「Luso」

The name of the motel was Luso.

Except for the scattered vehicles in the parking lot next to the entrance, there seemed to be no issues with the appearance.

“Two, three… five… it’s about six floors. There should be vacant rooms if we’re lucky.”

While Jongsu was counting the number of windows on the building, a patrol car approached from behind and stopped.

“Motel… How much is the usual accommodation fee?”

Byungcheol asked as if Yeongwoo would naturally know.

Coincidentally, Yeongwoo had the experience of staying in motels after the reset.

“If it’s a small room, it should be around 3,000 karma.”

“3,000…? Much cheaper than an apartment.”

“Is an apartment more expensive?”

“Yes, for an 18-square-meter apartment, they charge around 8,000 karma.”

“…!”

New information.

“Paying 8,000 for one night might not be budget-friendly.”

“Of course. So usually, trustworthy people pool their money and share a room.”

“I see.”

Yeongwoo nodded.

Conversely, for those living alone without trustworthy people, it means they have to find motels or boarding houses for financial reasons.

‘But that’s only possible if motels continue to exist for a long time. If residential areas keep disappearing like Jongsu said, later on, we might have to stay together forcibly every night.’

Do they all know this fact?

“…”

Yeongwoo quickly scanned the seemingly sophisticated motel exterior and then dismounted from Negwig with a clatter.

Click!

Seeing both of them land, Negwig, who observed them, suddenly squatted in place.

It hid its head, arms, legs, and tail inside its body, transforming into a giant oval shape.

Chlorp!

As if it were an egg.

“Oh!”

“Hmm?”

It was unexpected, so even Yeongwoo looked at Negwig with surprised eyes.

“What is this…?”

“I-Is it some kind of parking mode?”

Jongsu made a plausible inference.

Since they were in front of a building that served as their residence, Negwig might have automatically switched to parking or waiting mode.

“If that’s really the case, does it mean it won’t be affected even in abnormal weather?”

This was still Byungcheol’s question, who was riding in the patrol car.

Since they might spend the night here today, he was curious about what would happen to the patrol car.

Of course, Yeongwoo didn’t know the extent of the application of abnormal weather.

“Well, who knows? We’ll have to check it out tomorrow after parking and coming out.”

Today’s abnormal weather is scorching heat…

People outside would naturally be scorched to death, but what about the items that were purchased with karma?

“Let’s first check if there are vacant rooms here. We’ll have to move again if there are no rooms anyway.”

As Yeongwoo spoke, he attempted to open the motel entrance.

At that moment, a shadow appeared behind the opaque glass door.

“…!”

For Yeongwoo, it was an unsettling sight.

‘…As expected, I don’t get to see anything good in motels.’

Sure enough, as he quickly stepped back, the glass door split wide open, and a blood-stained man jumped out.

[Translator – Night]

[Proofreader – Gun]