Chapter 73

[Translator – Night]

[Proofreader – Gun]

Chapter 73: Karma (2)

As all ability stats soared close to doubling, the first thing to notice was a change in the overall feel of the body.

Should one say that confidence in one’s own body had increased?

It might be a temporary phenomenon, but it felt as if he had become invincible.

Actually, it was only natural, as not only strength but also the durability of the body had strengthened.

‘Unbelievable.’

Yeongwoo clenched and unclenched his fist repeatedly, exclaiming in admiration.

He seemed to have some understanding of why Gyeongbuk Strongest Sword (Advance), whom he had just knocked down, was so confident.

His current ability stats were almost twice as high as theirs.

So, how much awe was he feeling for his own abilities?

Just two days ago, he was just an ordinary person too.

It felt like he had become a god.

‘Wow… I feel like I could even break buildings with my hands.’

Strength 1,200, durability 1,050.

Since his initial ability stats were strength 19 and durability 13, he hadn’t known if he could really break buildings with his hands.

And maybe…

‘If my ability stats increase further, could I even block bullets?’

Yeongwoo’s gaze naturally fell on the opposite side to Kwon Taeyoung, who was sitting there.

He had definitely heard the sound of gunfire in the morning, but he hadn’t seen any traces of bullets hitting the dead man.

* * *

“…Are you okay?”

With a deep voice accompanying a long shadow falling over him, Taeyoung lifted his head towards the source of the sound.

“Ah, Jong….”

Because he was so inexperienced, Taeyoung couldn’t immediately recall the other person’s name.

So, as the other person crouched down, he lowered his body and said his own name.

“I’m Kim Jongsu. Actually, I’m not that important.”

“Sorry, I…I’m sorry.”

“…Ah. It’s not like I felt bad.”

Actually, Jongsu was equally inexperienced, so he couldn’t find anything more to say and just closed his mouth.

Jongsu had only lived for 29 years.

He was still too young to comfort someone’s sorrow skillfully.

Also, due to his days in the previous world not being generous at all, he was too preoccupied with his own safety to care about others’ emotions.

“Umm.”

Seeing Jongsu looking uncomfortable and scratching the back of his head, Taeyoung, still gazing at the corpse of Byungcheol, spoke.

“Actually, I…didn’t shoot the gun right away. No, it’s more like I didn’t shoot at all.”

“…?”

When Jongsu tilted his head wondering what he meant, Taeyoung fidgeted with the gun in his hand.

“He said he wouldn’t touch me if I didn’t shoot.”

“…Ah.”

Only then did Jongsu understand Taeyoung’s words and nodded.

“But in the end, you did shoot, didn’t you? It’s not that you, as a police officer, were bad or weak. The situation itself was just unreasonable.”

Upon hearing this, Taeyoung murmured in a defeated tone.

“Yes. Maybe that’s true, but….”

What followed was so unbelievable that it was shocking.

“Even the shot didn’t go through him.”

“What…?”

With a puzzled expression, Jongsu asked again, and another shadow of comfort fell over the two.

“You mean, even though the opponent was hit by a bullet, it didn’t penetrate?”

It was none other than Yeongwoo.

He had just finished greeting the Women’s Alliance and had come to see Taeyoung one last time.

“Yes. Probably… something like that.”

Taeyoung looked up at Yeongwoo with a slightly frightened expression.

To him, both that crazy guy who survived even after being shot and Yeongwoo seemed like similar monsters.

Both were the Strongest Swords…

No, strictly speaking, wasn’t Yeongwoo a step higher in monstrosity?

“If the durability reaches about 2,000, then it seems bullets can be blocked too. Of course, if it’s a larger caliber, it might be a different story.”

Yeongwoo spoke unrealistically, but in a very casual tone.

However, for him, it was a reality that was right in front of him.

With him being a superhuman possessing considerable ability stats, and with those he would face in the future likely to be monsters who bullets couldn’t penetrate, it was inevitable.

“Bullets don’t penetrate… Even if you say so, does that make sense?”

Jongsu still had an expression of disbelief.

On the other hand, Yeongwoo looked towards a silhouette waiting elliptically near the entrance of the motel.

“At this point, there’s nothing that doesn’t make sense no matter what happens. Who knows if suddenly people will start flying next week.”

He had been feeling vibrations coming from the direction where the Negwig was since earlier.

So, with a sense of suspicion, he gestured towards it.

Shoo!

The “parking mode” Negwig quickly unfolded its body and took on the form of a horse.

-Kweeeee!

Thanks to this, the people who had been lingering near the motel retreated in surprise, and thus, Negwig ran out along the open road.

“….”

Still the troublemaker Strongest Sword.

But it couldn’t be helped.

In this world, isn’t using newspaper ahead of others a matter of survival?

-Kwiiik.

Finally, Negwig reached Yeongwoo’s vicinity and stopped walking.

The current time was 10:42 a.m.

It was time to start heading back.

‘This above us is Seongnam. And next is finally Seoul.’

He would probably be able to enter Seoul before the end of the day, even before the mutant drops.

“Do you still plan to go to Seoul, officer?”

As Yeongwoo grabbed Negwig’s reins and asked, Taeyoung hesitated for a moment, then nodded firmly.

“Yes. I have to.”

Then.

Swoosh!

He took out the gun from Byungcheol’s waist and the thin bracelet wrapped around his left wrist.

The deceased had left behind one more souvenir besides the gun.

“Oh, now that I think about it.”

Yeongwoo realized belatedly as he looked at the bracelet Taeyoung had taken off from Byungcheol.

Byungcheol was also a Strongest Sword who had killed a mutant.

And when a mutant dies, it leaves behind one equipment of mutant grade.

There had been no exceptions so far, so it must have been a basic rule.

“Can I take this… if you’re okay with it?”

Taeyoung dared not to wear the bracelet immediately and asked Yeongwoo.

In response, before answering, Yeongwoo briefly examined the tooltip of the bracelet.

「Cross Knot」 – Mutation Bracelet

【Ability resistance 20%】

【–Empty slot–】

Ability resistance.

It was a concept he had first encountered on a kekaidite gemstone used for slots.

‘What exactly is ability resistance?’

[Translator – Night]

[Proofreader – Gun]

He didn’t know for sure, but it was likely something that didn’t include basic resistances like fire, cold, lightning, etc.

So, Yeongwoo became even more interested.

There must be a reason why equipment with ability resistance was appearing frequently.

For example, it might have to contend with something much more alien than monsters at some point.

“….”

What naturally came to Yeongwoo’s mind were the shareholders of the weapon brand Dogo.

Even they were not just simply described as ‘monsters’.

But it wasn’t the time yet.

The ability resistance wasn’t urgent enough for him to forsake his humanity and become greedy.

“Yes. Of course, you can take it. It’s your colleague’s souvenir.”

Yeongwoo gestured meaningfully as he looked away from the bracelet.

Then Taeyoung nodded and gently put the bracelet on his wrist.

“Um… then, officer, how will you be traveling? Is the car still there…?”

As Jongsu looked towards the motel parking lot and asked, Taeyoung pulled out the car keys from his pocket.

“Yes. I checked this morning, and the car was still there.”

This meant that the anomaly climate didn’t vandalize vehicles that had already been paid for.

“That’s good to know.”

Yeongwoo learned yet another thing about this world as he climbed onto Negwig’s back.

* * *

Leaving Yongin for Seongnam.

In just one day, the group had shrunk from four to three.

So this time, Jongsu decided to ride in the patrol car with Taeyoung.

Partly because the position atop Negwig, leading the way, was dangerous in various ways, and also because for Jongsu, riding a creature from another world was a precarious matter.

“Oh, I prefer things made by humans. It’s more familiar.”

As Jongsu tapped the window frame of the passenger seat with his palm, Taeyoung, who held the steering wheel, chuckled faintly.

It felt like he was trying to lighten the mood a little.

“Mr. Jongsu, you’re such a nice person.”

“Oh, it’s just basic human decency. Especially in a world like this, it’s even more important.”

Jongsu wrinkled his nose.

Since the reset, humanity and being human had become much more valuable.

In the past, even if there were disputes among people, at most it ended in a fistfight, and even that was mediated by law enforcement before the worst scenarios occurred.

But now, there were no police to intervene even if crimes occurred.

No, it was worse than that.

On the third day of the reset, strong individuals who bullets couldn’t even penetrate began to appear.

“Since there’s nowhere to run anyway, I just followed along to Seoul blindly, but I’m actually scared.”

Taeyoung said quietly, looking at Yeongwoo atop Negwig, beyond the steering wheel.

Jongsu seemed to understand what the other was getting at, but deliberately asked again.

“Yes? What exactly are you afraid of?”

“All of this. The fact that strong people like Mr. Yeongwoo are starting to appear, and that anyone can become stronger if they have karma.”

“Well, that’s… Mr. Yeongwoo is probably the same. So am I.”

Of course, the scale of that fear was much larger for Taeyoung, who had been a police officer in the previous world and still wanted to be a police officer now.

“If so many Strongest Swords are that strong, there might not be any rule of law in this country, or even the future of humanity as we know it. At least, justice as we knew it may no longer exist.”

“……”

There was nothing Jongsu could do to reply to Taeyoung’s words.

In reality, they were already heading in that direction.

However, not all Strongest Swords were necessarily evil.

There were cases like Yeongwoo who had enough power but restrained its use, and there were Strongest Swords like Byungcheol who were unrealistically just.

In other words, while ‘law’ had practically disappeared, some of the ideals it pursued still remained.

“I’m not optimistic about the situation either… But we’ll have to wait a bit longer to see, won’t we? Just because everyone has power doesn’t mean they’ll suddenly turn evil.”

“That’s true. But it seems easier for them to turn evil.”

“…It’s hard to argue against that.”

As the two conversed, the patrol car they were in finally left Yongin jurisdiction.

And that meant…

“Oh.”

“Ah, now it’s Seongnam.”

Before Jongsu’s words could finish, the regional status was updated abruptly.

Ping!

Surprisingly, there was a Strongest Sword in this area, and their status wasn’t ordinary either.

|The current area of residence is ‘Seongnam.’

|The Strongest Sword in this area is ‘Lee Namhee 101.’ Rank 31st, 1 defense.

“What the…”

“31st generation?”

A 31st generation Strongest Sword.

This meant that in the past two days alone, Seongnam had dealt with thirty Strongest Swords.

[Translator – Night]

[Proofreader – Gun]