Chapter 68

[Translator – Night]

[Proofreader – Gun]

Chapter 68: Strong Tiger’s Early Appearance (5)

Room 403 was surprisingly spacious.

In the room, which seemed to be about 8 square meters, there was a queen-size bed, a makeshift dining table, and a built-in vanity.

Underneath, as always, the mini refrigerator emitted its distinctive mechanical sound.

Another notable feature was the mirrors installed on three sides of the walls around the bed.

“Hah.”

Yeongwoo, surveying around the bed, chuckled when he saw his reflection in the mirror.

Due to the various equipment haphazardly placed, his attire looked quite peculiar.

It seemed as if children had imitated knight attire in a playful sword fight.

Swoosh.

Taking off the helmet that tightly encased his head, he finally felt a sense of relaxation spreading throughout his body.

“Oh, man.”

Next, he removed the cloak, belt, and shoes one by one, placing all the gear on the table.

The golden goblin looked at him with a face expressing incomprehension.

– Keet?

The creature still didn’t understand that this place was a safe zone.

“You should take a break too. You’ve been running around all day.”

Yeongwoo said this to the goblin and tossed his training clothes in front of the bathroom.

He then opened the opaque glass door of the bathroom.

“…!”

Surprisingly, there was a bathtub.

* * *

Although it was a narrow bathtub that required folding both legs, it was a satisfying half-body bath.

After finishing all the preparations, Yeongwoo lay on the bed with only a gown on.

Thump!

Then, while Yeongwoo was bathing, the goblin lying on the bed suddenly sat up.

– Kit!

He couldn’t loosen up too much in front of his owner.

Of course, that was clearly part of the “show.”

Ironically, when Yeongwoo was in trouble against the Chungju Strongest Sword, this goblin had fled without a word.

Still, Yeongwoo gestured for him to relax.

Then, lying on the bed, he looked at the ceiling.

“Oh.”

There was a mirror on the ceiling too.

‘Why are there so many mirrors here?’

The Gyeongbuk Strongest Sword in his gown was clearly reflected.

The goblin on the next bed had entered relaxation mode with both hands clasped, and the pocket of the empty space he always held was placed next to his head.

– Keet….

A sluggish sound, unfamiliar from him, flowed out.

‘Has he fallen asleep in the meantime?’

With an unbelieving look, Yeongwoo checked the desk clock on the bedside table.

The current time was 9:57 PM.

“Huh?”

Surprised, Yeongwoo got up from his seat, and the goblin, who had been asleep, also sat up abruptly.

– Kit?

“It’s almost time for tax collection.”

Upon checking the wristwatch for cross-verification, the minute hand, which was 57 just a moment ago, moved to 58.

「21:58」

It was indeed approaching 10 PM, which meant…

‘Anyone who hasn’t paid their taxes yet will die….’

As Yeongwoo swallowed dryly, a system-wide announcement appeared.

– Tax collection is scheduled to begin shortly after 10 PM.

– The basic tax amount is 1,000 Karma, and whoever doesn’t pay taxes will be immediately extinguished at the time of collection.

Shortly afterward, there was a commotion outside the door.

“What’s going on?”

When Yeongwoo opened the door, he saw Women alliance members lining up in the motel corridor.

However, unlike the last time he saw them, each one now held a crimson coin instead of weapons.

‘Are they conducting a headcount? Trying to prevent people from dying because they can’t pay taxes…?’

If that were true, it would be a surprisingly systematic approach.

Even though it was only the second day after the reset, and although they were all people gathered in the Cheoin-gu area, they were still strangers to each other.

Moreover, in a world like this, being a stranger practically meant being a potential…

“What are you doing there?”

Before Yeongwoo could finish his thought, Seong Yerin’s head popped up from one side.

“Oops!”

Startled, Yeongwoo took a step back, and Yerin lightly tapped the barrier blocking the door.

“Why are you so surprised? Now that I see it, you’re a person too. You looked like a real monster earlier.”

“Ah.”

Hearing Yerin’s words, Yeongwoo suddenly realized that he was still in a gown.

On the other hand, Yerin, who hadn’t drawn her weapon, was in full combat gear.

Her work was not yet finished.

“Is that… a headcount?”

As Yeongwoo pointed down the corridor while adjusting his gown, Yerin nodded, showing a crimson coin.

“Yes. In case someone doesn’t have karma right now, the leader might lend it to them.”

“Lend it…?”

“Yes. They can repay it by participating in monster hunting the next day.”

Yerin explained that those who didn’t participate in monster hunting despite being physically able wouldn’t be accepted as alliance members in the first place.

“Well… they might die before repaying the karma, but even that is worth the value of the karma.”

It was a surprisingly tough statement.

Yeongwoo couldn’t help but be surprised again.

How many alliance members were staying in this motel?

Just looking at the number of people in the corridor on the 4th floor, there were at least ten.

With a total of six floors in the building, a simple calculation suggested that close to sixty combatants were living according to their own rules.

‘But they said they occupy half of the nearby buildings…’

At least several hundred.

In this fragmented era, being able to mobilize several hundred personnel was truly an incredible strength.

Beep beep.

Finally, the alarm on Yeongwoo’s wristwatch rang, announcing 10 PM. Simultaneously,

– Tax collection is now in effect.

As the system announcement appeared, a strange phenomenon occurred.

Pop, pop!

The crimson coins held by the Women alliance members began to disappear one by one.

“Huh.”

Yerin’s coin, which was standing outside Room 403, soon vanished without a trace, followed by others.

Ssht.

Something came to Yeongwoo as well.

“…!”

It felt as if the wind was passing through his entire body.

Then a series of texts appeared in his vision.

| Basic Tax: 1,000

| Deduction item: Single household

| Determined Tax: 500

‘This is…’

It was a tax notice.

[Translator – Night]

[Proofreader – Gun]

The discomfort he just felt was the moment when the determined tax was deducted.

“Is everyone okay? Please check the headcount again from the back.”

Meanwhile, in the corridor, they were busy verifying whether there were any changes in the number of people before and after tax collection.

Yeongwoo, watching people in the corridor complete the check and disperse, asked Yerin,

“What is the purpose of this alliance? There must be a reason for such organization and order.”

Upon hearing this, Yerin stared at Yeongwoo.

“If you’re asking out of genuine curiosity, I hope you’ll listen without prejudice.”

“Yes. I’ll do my best.”

“If you imagine encountering a robber on the street and losing in a fight. In the worst case, the probability of you, Mr. Yeongwoo, dying is high, but generally, that’s not the case for us.”

The muscles around Yerin’s jaw flexed.

“…Right.”

Yeongwoo could easily understand the other party’s words.

She was talking about the potential sexual violence that could follow the duel.

“Yes. Of course, Mr. Yeongwoo, you probably know what I’m talking about. But that’s as far as it goes.”

“So… you’re saying I can understand and imagine up to a certain extent.”

“That’s right. If, by any chance, Mr. Yeongwoo has experienced rape or a similar situation, the story would be different… But generally, that’s not the case. It’s not a bad thing. It’s simply unavoidable.”

“Yes. It’s unavoidable.”

“So, that’s why we don’t actively recruit men. We can make you understand our situation, but we can’t make them empathize with us to the point of asking them to risk their life and fight with us.”

At this point, Yeongwoo had nothing more to say.

While he couldn’t fully empathize with the two layers of fear they felt, he could understand perfectly why this alliance had to be composed of a single gender.

“Our goal is to avoid death or anything worse. To achieve that, we need a very strong force, and we’ve organized ourselves for that purpose.”

By the time Yerin finished speaking, the corridor was eerily empty, as if it had always been.

“Is that a sufficient answer?”

Yerin scanned the empty corridor with her eyes.

Come to think of it, she hadn’t directly participated in the headcount on the 4th floor.

‘The only thing she did here was talk to me until the headcount was over.’

Yeongwoo finally realized that the reason Yerin came here was to monitor his group.

They were the only male group in this building.

‘Is she much stronger than she looks? She covered for the Strongest Sword of her city alone?’

Yeongwoo tried to scrutinize Yerin’s equipment status, who seemed quite ordinary, but she gave him a cold look.

“Is there anything else you’re curious about?”

“No, it’s nothing. I just…”

As Yeongwoo spoke, Yerin disappeared from his sight the moment.

She, too, had finished her tasks for the day.

‘I don’t know what all this is about, but it’s incredible.’

Yeongwoo glanced at the now truly empty corridor and closed the door.

Returning to the bed, he lay down, looking at the mirrored ceiling.

‘So, are these people going to stay here and gather Karma continuously?’

Thinking about Yerin’s words that hinted at becoming the Strongest Sword in the future, he wondered if they were waiting here for the mutation to happen tomorrow.

If they monopolized 3 million by killing the guy, it would be a significant advantage in the eventual duel with the Strongest Sword.

‘Hundreds of female warriors gathered under the red light pillar…’

Just two days ago, it would have been an unrealizable fantasy, but not anymore.

‘…But the Strongest Swords are getting stronger every day.’

Yeongwoo felt his eyelids getting heavy, recalling the recent battles with the mutants.

It felt like it had been months since those events, even though it was just a few days, or even hours ago.

All those events had brought intense fatigue, both mentally and physically.

“Pfhu….”

Halfway into a doze, Yeongwoo let out a long exhale, as if a whale briefly surfaced above the water.

And again, he tried to exhale with a “Pfhu,” but…

Suddenly, his body shot up.

Or at least, that’s how Yeongwoo felt.

‘…Huh?’

As he opened his eyes wide, he saw it.

Shaaaat!

“Heck!”

Reflected in the ceiling mirror, there was a red eye-shaped icon above his left eye.

This was probably the Mutant Rank Cornea effect, the ‘One Eyed Sentinel,’ but before Yeongwoo could recall it, Jongsu burst in.

“Hyung-niiiiim!”

He screamed as if hitting his ears.

“Hyung-nim! Something big has happened!”

“…?”

Yeongwoo felt discomfort as he watched Jongsu nonchalantly pass through the door.

Swiftly checking the table clock,

「10:07」

’10 o’clock…? No way.’

This time, Yeongwoo’s head turned in the opposite direction.

Suddenly, a bright light seeped through the window frame.

It wasn’t night; it was morning at 10 o’clock.

Yeongwoo had slept for a whopping 12 hours without even hearing the Morning Call from the rental system.

Because of this, with the ownership rights to the room having expired, Jongsu could freely enter without any restrictions.

‘Oh my goodness.’

Sensing that something was seriously wrong, Yeongwoo hastily put on the equipment on the table.

Chyuk!

While doing so, he realized that the ‘Fearful Cat’ was wide awake.

「Fearful Cat」 – Epic Compass

【Indicates a threatening target.】

【–Empty slot–】

This signifies that there is a considerably powerful and threatening presence nearby.

And then,

Ta-aaang!

Gunshots resonated from outside the motel.

[Translator – Night]

[Proofreader – Gun]