Chapter 120

[Translator – Night]

[Proofreader – Gun]

Chapter 120: Transition (3)

‘Receiving compensation.’

As Yeongwoo decided to receive the reward for his achievement ‘Nocturnal,’ a bright light began to emanate from around his neck.

Swish!

“Huh.”

Then, a necklace with a round gemstone attached to the end of a metallic cord was hung around his neck.

「Eye of the Typhoon」- Epic Necklace

【Ignore abnormal weather of wind type.】

*Special reward for ‘Nocturnal’.

‘Ah, as expected.’

Yeongwoo’s expression brightened as he read the tooltip of the necklace.

Although conditional, he had obtained another piece of equipment for immunity to abnormal climates.

And above all.

‘If it’s a wind type…’

On the second day, there was red fog, and on the third day, obsidian rain.

So, considering the situation, the probability of a different type of abnormal climate appearing on the fourth day, today, was high.

‘I hope it’s a wind type. It seems that the same type of climate doesn’t occur twice in a row.’

Of course, since there wasn’t much data accumulated yet, it was just a guess.

‘Anyway, it’s a good thing.’

So far, the identified types of abnormal climates were fog and rain.

In addition to those, he learned about the existence of the wind type through the necklace he obtained this time.

Swish.

As Yeongwoo lifted the gem parts to put the necklace into the encyclopaedia, he saw a cute typhoon swirling inside the small gem.

‘What a fascinating world.’

At Yeongwoo’s mutter, Golden Goblin pointed north and shouted.

– Kitkii…!

It seemed to be a suggestion to quickly go to the new area.

“You seem to have become a bit comfortable with me. You’re even expressing intentions.”

Although it was a surprising thing, the Golden Goblin must have been a resident of some world, right?

But how did he end up coming all the way here and end up dead?

I was curious.

It would be difficult to hear the full story because I couldn’t have a proper conversation with him.

‘Well then, shall we move?’

By 1 p.m. today, the mutants of the fourth day were supposed to land throughout Seoul, so he had to return to Seoul before noon.

Dealing with mutants appearing in Gangnam was an issue, but he also had to meet Kim Taejoon’s family, whom Jongsu and Taeyoung had found.

And one more thing.

‘If possible, I should also look for the man who is my father.’

There was still a tracking mark of ‘Wanted Poster’ in Yeongwoo’s field of view.

A holographic arrow pointing to the biological father’s location.

‘But how did I end up having to find someone else’s family first?’

So now, it was time to look for his own flesh and blood. While there was still a chance.

“Let’s go for now. Northward.”

As Yeongwoo stroked Negwig’s neck, the horse from another world began to step forward without hesitation.

Clack!

That’s how Yeongwoo crossed the military demarcation line of the Korean Peninsula after the reset.

That’s none other than the history of Kaesong’s Strongest Sword.

Gaah!

|The current area of stay is ‘Kaesong.’

|The Strongest Sword of this area is ‘Kim Seongu 02.’ Rank 1, Defense 311.

‘Ah, so North Korea also uses the title of Strongest Sword. But defense 311 times…?’

It’s an unprecedented number of defenses.

At least, it has never been seen in South Korea.

So, this indicates that after the reset, it perfectly reflects the atmosphere of North Korea.

‘Indeed, the situation seems quite different from our side. Down below, the number of defenses is at most a few tens.’

It’s one of two things.

Either there were too many challengers, or Kaesong’s Strongest Sword was a crazy serial killer.

Anyway, it’s true that North Korea is a much harsher environment than South Korea.

“Hmm.”

As Yeongwoo gradually picked up speed on Negwig, he scanned the desolate outskirts of Kaesong with his eyes.

The surroundings were filled with rice fields and mountains, and in the far southwest, there was a place that seemed to be the downtown area of Kaesong.

‘At least I might see people over there.’

There were no signs of mutants or monsters, and most of the buildings were intact.

This meant that when mutants and monsters fell into Kaesong, someone cleaned them up.

‘Since I can’t see mutants falling here anyway… I’ll just check the atmosphere.’

Yeongwoo had two main purposes for visiting North Korea.

First, to see if he could progress with the achievement ‘Golden Journey.’

[Golden Journey]

|Summon a golden rain in the next area.

|Domestic (2/3) |Foreign (0/2)

However, since Kaesong, the closest North Korean city, was doing well at keeping mutants out, the first goal became difficult to achieve immediately.

And second, to see what the current atmosphere of North Korea was like.

According to the antagonistic relationship before the reset, North Korea was the enemy of South Korea, and this was likely to remain largely unchanged even after the reset.

In terms of the likelihood of war, it was much more dangerous now than before the reset.

Just one person.

Even if only one Strongest Sword in South Korea harbored enmity toward North Korea, wouldn’t that lead to war?

‘If that’s the case, what I’m doing now might be seen as a provocative act towards North Korea.’

As soon as Yeongwoo’s thoughts reached this point, he tapped his left chest to hide his title and covered his golden equipment with his cloak as much as possible.

Since he was riding a horse in the first place, it was almost impossible not to attract attention, but at least he had to hide his origin.

‘It’s a risky move, but I need to examine the situation in North Korea while I have the chance. Seoul is already establishing its system, but who knows if North Korea is any different.’

Especially considering that North Korea was under a dictatorship led by Kim Jong-un.

Therefore, the collapse of society due to the reset would likely have a very different aspect here.

‘Of course, there’s a high probability that Kim Jong-un has been put on the list of potential casualties, or even if not, he probably died after receiving hundreds of thousands of hits.’

If he were still alive, that would be the worst-case scenario.

‘And even if Kim Jong-un is dead, the existing senior military officials could have easily attempted a coup… Whatever happened, those guys are hard to predict.’

If Kim Jong-un were alive, he would probably be the Strongest Sword of Pyongyang at least, and if he were dead, it was highly likely that an immensely powerful mutant would return to this land.

“……”

Mutant, Kim Jong-un.

The Strongest Sword of Pyongyang, Kim Jong-un.

Which of the two is closer to disaster?

It was truly an absurd imagination, but surprisingly, this was reality.

And from the perspective of South Korea, which is adjacent to North Korea.

‘… A time bomb.’

As Yeongwoo made a horrifying imagination, the area gradually changed into fields, and buildings began to appear one by one.

Most of them were outdated buildings between 1 and 3 floors, but as he moved forward, the buildings became more sophisticated in shape and taller in height.

There were even apartment complexes forming a large-scale city on the other side.

It was then that Yeongwoo remembered.

[Translator – Night]

[Proofreader – Gun]

Kaesong was a city that had received special privileges as part of the inter-Korean joint economic project known as the ‘Kaesong Industrial Complex.’

‘Thanks to that, Kaesong was once considered one of the well-off cities in North Korea.’

However, due to the ongoing tensions with North Korea and, crucially, the revelation that the funds injected into the Kaesong Industrial Complex by the North were used for nuclear development costs, the Kaesong Industrial Complex was shut down at the end of 2016.

So, it was natural for the city of Kaesong, once called ‘Buchon,’ to collapse rapidly.

After that, the last news Yeongwoo heard about Kaesong was an article from 2023, which reported that deaths from starvation were rampant in Kaesong.

‘It was said that the people of Kaesong were in such a miserable state that they had even provided free food distribution. Just looking at this, it must have been difficult for Kim Jong-un to survive the purge…’

Clack, clack!

Eventually, Negwig brought Yeongwoo into the inner part of Kaesong.

However, there was strangely no sign of life in the well-constructed city, even when compared to South Korea.

It was truly a ghost town.

‘Even though it hasn’t been long since the abnormal climate subsided, could this happen?’

If there were no people in the city, shouldn’t there be mutants or monsters?

“……”

But the sky over Kaesong remained clear without a single pillar of light.

“What’s this?”

Just as Yeongwoo blinked, as if in a dream, he heard a momentary sound in his ear.

“Wait…!”

As Yeongwoo pulled the reins to stop Negwig, his intuition turned into certainty.

Clack!

Although very faint, it was clear that there was a sign of life between the buildings to the right.

Something was fleeing from Yeongwoo.

“Wait!”

Yeongwoo turned his head in the direction of the sound and shouted, and Negwig started the pursuit on its own.

-Whee-ee-ee!

With a long howl.

“Shh…!”

Yeongwoo was startled.

If the opponent was a person, wouldn’t they run away even more desperately after hearing this horse’s cry?

And during that time, the figure of the opponent, who had been fleeing with all their might, came into Yeongwoo’s view.

Clack!

Since there were no more buildings to hide around, the identity of the opponent, who finally revealed themselves on the main road, was none other than…

“Yi… Eik!”

It was a barefoot boy wearing clothes that were half tattered.

“P-please save me!”

He must have been around middle school age at best.

Then, the boy who had lured Yeongwoo here widened his eyes and asked quite innocently.

“What’s that?”

Upon seeing the boy closing its eyes, Yeongwoo wrinkled his nose.

At this, Yeongwoo wrinkled his nose as he watched the boy closing its eyes.

“You guys have a cat that tells you bullshit.”

“……”

It seemed like it was the first time someone had given them this kind of feedback, as the teenage scavengers couldn’t find anything to say and exchanged glances among themselves.

So, inevitably, Yeongwoo, who was closer to double their age, took the lead in the conversation.

“Where are your parents?”

“They’re dead.”

“When?”

“Eight days ago.”

The parents of the boy who brought Yeongwoo here were already deceased before the reset occurred.

Then, the other boys chimed in one after another.

“Last year.”

“Yesterday.”

“A hundred and forty-three days ago.”

“The day before yesterday.”

A kind of unfortunate battle, where they boasted of their misfortune.

A sense of profound pessimism emanated from them.

However, even so, this phenomenon of only orphans remaining in Kaesong was not explained.

Surely, there were adults here before.

“So, where did the other adults go?”

Yeongwoo asked, hoping they wouldn’t say they had killed them.

In response, the barefoot boy pointed north.

“They all went to Pyongyang.”

“To Pyongyang? Why?”

“Because the Supreme Leader left his seat, so now they’re going to become outstanding generals.”

“What’s that supposed to…?”

Yeongwoo, who was about to retort, closed his mouth.

He understood the rebuttal belatedly.

‘Ah, so that bastard received a hit after all. That’s why everyone went up to Pyongyang because there’s no leader in Pyongyang now. Since there wasn’t anything to eat or live on in Kaesong anyway.’

And the situation where brainwashed children who still call Kim Jong-un ‘Supreme Leader’ are left to guard their positions, even though the world has come to this point.

‘If they managed to get some food by doing odd jobs, they could have held out for a few days.’

But even so, they couldn’t handle mutants and monsters.

“Let me ask two more questions.”

“What is it? Go ahead.”

As Yeongwoo kept asking questions, the North Korean scavenging youths started giggling.

“Where is Kaesong’s Strongest Sword right now?”

Then, as the crowd fell silent for a moment, the barefoot boy answered on behalf of everyone.

“He’s probably waking up.”

“I see.”

It was a predictable response.

Kaesong’s Sword was probably the kingpin among these guys.

The reason for setting a trap here was probably because the Strongest Sword’s residence was nearby.

“Then, one more question.”

“Why are you so curious? Besides, sir, you came from South Korea. You can’t live even if you leave anyway.”

Swish.

The barefoot boy drew a dagger from his waist.

It seemed like their hunting game was over.

And other boys who had been surrounding the area also raised their weapons threateningly.

However, before Yeongwoo could slaughter everyone here, he wanted to hear one thing.

“Kim Jong-un.”

“……?”

“Did Kim Jong-un also become a mutant? If he became one, what did he turn into? I’ll tell you what, even if you’re leaving, I’ll make sure you leave with your belly full.”

As Yeongwoo finished speaking, he took out chocolate from the goblin’s dimensional pocket, causing the eyes of the teenage scavengers to widen unexpectedly.

[Translator – Night]

[Proofreader – Gun]