Chapter 119

[Translator – Night]

[Proofreader – Gun]

Chapter 119: Transition (2)

Paju.

A city located at the northwest edge of South Korea, facing the border with North Korea’s Kaesong Special City.

The pre-reset population was approximately 490,000.

One notable feature of this city is the presence of many military bases due to its proximity to North Korea and the presence of a Joint Security Area.

Commonly known as Panmunjom.

Even if one briefly considers crossing over to North Korea, it’s hard to resist visiting Panmunjom.

So, Yeongwoo was already at Dorasan Station, also known as the “last station in South Korea.”

Clank, clunk!

Riding on Negwig, a horse from another world.

Kwaaaah……!

Since obsidian rain continued to pour from the sky, not a single living creature could be seen near Dorasan Station.

However, even before the reset, it wasn’t a place with much human traffic, so even if it wasn’t abnormal weather, it would have been desolate.

‘Then what about the soldiers? What happened to the soldiers stationed in Paju?’

In a world where not only weapons but even bullets had turned to stone, one couldn’t expect soldiers to be ‘sheltered’ as depicted in typical apocalypse movies or novels.

‘But that doesn’t mean contact with currency exchange was impossible, right…? In terms of reset adaptation, they might have been better off than urban areas.’

Infantry units typically live in platoon-sized groups ranging from a minimum of nine to a maximum of ten soldiers.

In other words, the situation was very different from the first currency exchange in urban areas, where people live without any sense of camaraderie or belonging common among soldiers.

‘Of course, each soldier would have received their share without question, and there wouldn’t be any preparations for a future threat…’

Yeongwoo was exempt from military service due to being an orphan, but he volunteered for enlistment and served until the end of his term as a sergeant, a rare case.

It was due to a sense of entitlement that had been with him since childhood, before his youthful vigor.

‘At that time, it was humiliating to be told that I didn’t have to go to the military because I was an orphan.’

Of course, he didn’t regret that choice even now.

Was it the right thing to do?

He wasn’t sure.

Ultimately, even that choice seemed to have followed what was written in the book of fate.

‘It doesn’t make sense even when I think about it again. That the fate of so many people was predetermined…?’

As Yeongwoo turned his head on Negwig’s back, a sign appeared on the previously deserted battlefield, indicating that they were finally adjacent to the DMZ.

And next to it, there were long rows of iron fences set up across the forest.

Due to Yeongwoo’s decision to head straight north from Dorasan Station without crossing the Unification Bridge, they ended up entering from the side of the military base near Panmunjom.

But naturally, there wasn’t a single soldier on guard duty in the vicinity.

‘Even if there were corpses, this rain would have washed them away into tiny pieces.’

Yeongwoo shuddered at the thought as he continued to enter further inside the military base, crossing over the iron fences.

Soon, he spotted the mess hall where soldiers would have once chatted and the barracks across the training grounds.

‘In fact, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that there are no borders now. During the day, one could freely come and go…?’

Perhaps the vacancy in Paju’s Strongest Sword and the unresolved issue of the mutant were related.

Until recently, it was thought that Goyang’s Strongest Sword had absorb the title of Paju, but now…

‘It could have been taken by North Korea.’

For instance, it could have been taken by the Strongest Sword from Kaesong, which they would soon see.

Clank, clunk!

As Yeongwoo continued to ascend northward, a building he had seen in pictures finally came into view.

‘We’re almost there.’

It was none other than the House of Peace, the South Korean building at Panmunjom where Kim Jong-un had visited for inter-Korean summits.

And about a hundred meters away stood the Freedom House, facing North Korea’s Panmungak across the Military Demarcation Line.

‘Oh, hold on.’

As Yeongwoo shifted his gaze between the Freedom House and Panmungak, he reflexively pulled the reins, slowing Negwig’s pace.

-Neigh…!

It was because of the astonishing sight before him.

‘…Unbelievable.’

The entire territory of the North, including Panmungak, was shrouded in a bluish mist.

‘It seems each country has its own strange climate phenomenon.’

Of course, this was within the expected range.

But what shocked Yeongwoo was…

Kwaaaah……!

The black obsidian rain, peculiar to South Korea’s strange climate, was precisely falling only up to the Military Demarcation Line.

And the bluish mist, peculiar to North Korea’s strange climate, was lingering only across the border.

In other words, it meant that some sort of system that shaped this world was still acknowledging the concepts of ‘territory, borders’ arbitrarily distinguished by humans before the reset.

‘What’s the criterion for this distinction? Perhaps it’s the reset point.’

By now, Yeongwoo was curious about whether Dokdo was considered part of South Korea or Japan.

How did the universe perceive the territorial disputes concerning Dokdo?

Clank, clunk.

Negwig finally came to a halt right in front of the Military Demarcation Line at Panmunjom.

-Neigh!

As the creature raised its head, it made a somewhat sharp sound, as if it wanted to convey that they shouldn’t go any further.

‘I know too. We don’t have the equipment to fend off such mist yet.’

After quickly surveying the surroundings, Yeongwoo used the Epic Compass ‘Fearful Cat’ to confirm once again that there were no threatening presences nearby.

Then, he thought to himself.

‘Anyway, won’t the strange climate in North Korea clear up before the lodging service ends? Let’s wait until then.’

With this in mind, he opened the Accessory Encyclopaedia.

[Translator – Night]

[Proofreader – Gun]

Snap!

Except for the equipment that needed to be checked frequently, like the ‘Fearful Cat,’ everything else that didn’t require direct wearing was stored in the encyclopaedia.

‘I can remove all the rings and bracelets. This makes things much easier.’

The method of storing equipment in the encyclopaedia was very simple.

Just focus on the equipment as if you were viewing a tooltip, or touch it with your hand, and a book-shaped encyclopaedia icon would appear along with the equipment tooltip.

Then, just look at the encyclopaedia icon, and that’s it.

Whisk.

The equipment was sucked into the encyclopaedia icon, automatically stored, and its abilities remained active.

‘I’ll keep just the compass types, Serpent of Greed, and the Whistle.’

Yeongwoo decided to keep the Legendary Bracelet ‘Golden Punishment’ as it still had its effects intact, and it also served as a sort of defensive gear on its own, which held some significance for him.

‘Now, is everything sorted out?’

As Yeongwoo glanced at his much cleaner hands, he couldn’t help but think that he wanted more encyclopaedias.

Even now, he couldn’t utilize equipment like the ‘Frost Crown’ because he couldn’t wear two helmets simultaneously.

「Frost Crown」 – Mutant Helmet

【20% cold resistance】

But if I obtain a gear encyclopaedia, I could carry the Frost Crown’s 20% cold resistance effect while wielding the Vanguard.

「Merciless」 – Mutant one-handed axe

【Increase power against opponents with a total lower stat sum than the wearer.】

Similarly, with other encyclopaedias, I could obtain different effects.

‘But to obtain more encyclopaedias, I have to challenge the dungeon every night and achieve the top rank in contributions each time. It’s definitely not an easy task.’

‘And even before challenging the dungeon, obtaining equipment that can withstand various strange climates is also a challenge. No matter how diligently I meet with traders, there must be limits, right?’

‘Since I can’t predict what kind of climate will occur every night, even if I have several pieces of strange climate equipment, ultimately, it will depend on luck.’

Moreover, there was no guarantee that he would encounter Ottavio and Ricardo in the next dungeon.

“… ”

As Yeongwoo pondered the troublesome issues, his wristwatch began to beep.

Beep, beep.

It was the 8 o’clock morning alarm.

‘I still have a long way to go until 10 o’clock. Should I take a look around other areas?’

As Yeongwoo glanced at the sky while listening to the alarm, the black obsidian rain, which had been filling the sky until just now, disappeared in an instant.

Pop!

“…Huh?”

And the same was true on the northern side of the Military Demarcation Line, just a few steps ahead.

The bluish mist that had filled the area there was also cleanly swept away.

‘Oh… So 8 a.m. is the end time for the strange climate.’

Yeongwoo learned another rule of this world.

Soon after, a series of system notifications appeared in his vision.

「You have permanently increased your strength by 100 due to the Furious Goblin.」

「The usage count of the Pumpkin Whistle has been replenished.」

It turned out that the officially designated starting point of a ‘day’ by the system was also 8 a.m.

‘Hold on. In that case…’

As Yeongwoo’s thoughts naturally shifted towards achievements, the long-awaited achievement ‘Nocturnal’ was completed.

Bang!

[Achievement Accomplished: Nocturnal]

|Achievement Grade: Epic

|Achievement Rank: #5

「Spend a night outside your residence.」

“Wow…!”

Although Yeongwoo was among the top ranks of the elites in the reset world, completing an achievement was always a welcome occurrence.

And as another achievement was completed, the Perfectionist was triggered.

「Idealist」 – Epic Ring

【All abilities increase by 100 per achievement】

Once again, there was a notification of increased stats filling his vision.

However, Yeongwoo’s attention wasn’t entirely focused on the rapidly increasing stats at the moment.

“But why rank 5? Shouldn’t it be at least 3?”

First place was probably Otavio.

He had been entering the dungeon since last night.

That meant only Yeongwoo himself and Ricardo from Brazil remained.

But the achieved rank turned out to be fifth.

In other words, at this point in time, at least ‘five’ individuals had completed the Nocturnal achievement.

‘Does this mean there were more people out at night besides our party?’

Of course, Nocturnal could be completed without entering the dungeon, so this rank didn’t necessarily imply the existence of another ‘dungeon party.’

‘But it’s not impossible. People who braved the strange climate all night wouldn’t have just sat still, right?’

Most likely, they would have explored areas they hadn’t been to before and probably encountered mutants resting during the night.

‘It’s challenging. If I can enter the dungeon tonight, I might meet more people than I thought.’

Whether it would be a good thing or a bad thing remained to be seen.

Anyway, Yeongwoo never imagined he would experience the term ‘global village’ in this way, so he was somewhat taken aback.

At the same time, he also thought that if possible tonight, he must visit the dungeon.

‘Of course, if I’m lucky enough to find more strange climate equipment again.’

As Yeongwoo scratched his chin, contemplating crossing the military demarcation line between North and South, the last system notification appeared in his vision.

‘Oh, I almost forgot.’

It was none other than…

「There are unreceived achievement rewards available.」

The completion reward for the Epic achievement ‘Nocturnal.’

[Translator – Night]

[Proofreader – Gun]