Chapter 129

[Translator – Night]

[Proofreader – Gun]

Chapter 129: Diary of a Wanderer (2)

“Did you know about it?”

When Songpa’s Strongest Sword, Oh Yeonhee, asked, Choi Namhee responded with a distracted voice.

“…I didn’t know. No one knew. Who would have imagined such a thing?”

Seocho’s Strongest Sword, Choi Namhee, 11.

Right now, she was too preoccupied trying to understand the inexplicable event unfolding before her.

Summoning mutant beings…

Does that even make sense?

But such an event did occur.

Not even during the usual appearance time for mutants, but in broad daylight in the heart of Gwangjin-gu, two mutants were summoned.

If news hadn’t reached quickly that Gangnam’s Strongest Sword was heading to Gwangjin-gu, they might have missed the scene just now.

“It seems like they’re friends of Jeong Yeongwoo, right? Allies… I don’t know if it’s an alliance or a master-servant relationship.”

O Yeonhee chuckled as she looked at the name tags above the heads of the two mutants.

[Jeong Yeongwoo07’s Friend – Hong Yeongtae]

[Jeong Yeongwoo07’s Friend – Kim Taejoon]

Judging by the format of the name tags, it was clear that these two mutants had somehow become indebted to Jeong Yeongwoo, akin to genies in a lamp, in some way.

But what really piqued curiosity was…

‘Do those mutants also fight for Jeong Yeongwoo? But they didn’t appear when Jeong Hyunsik was in a confrontation?’

As someone who didn’t know that the magic lamp had a usage limit, Oh Yeonhee couldn’t help but be puzzled.

“What’s happening… I really don’t know.”

Choi Namhee was equally bewildered, if not more so, by the increasing confusion.

Isn’t Jeong Yeongwoo supposed to be the absolute villain from the start?

But now, even the suspicion arose, ‘Is he really the same human being?’

“Anyway, we should start heading back soon. It’s almost 1 o’clock.”

As Choi Namhee looked at her watch and turned her head south, Oh Yeonhee nodded in agreement.

Current time, 12:31 PM.

In roughly 29 minutes, the fourth-day mutants would appear all over Seoul.

Also, the appearance of mutants and monster marks could occur as early as 30 to 10 minutes before, so they needed to return to their respective districts in advance.

Meanwhile, Yeongwoo was now observing the family reunion, which was now calming down.

Contrary to his initial concerns, chairman Kim Taejoon’s family quickly recovered from the shock of the recent events, allowing Yeongwoo to quietly step aside.

「How heartwarming. I’ve lived for so long to see such things happen.」

Yeongtae, who had also escaped from the scene with Yeongwoo, laughed heartily while patting his long chin with his hand.

To this, Yeongwoo chuckled.

“Living for so long, well…”

He was about to say, ‘It’s been four days since you became a mutant,’ but quickly closed his mouth.

He momentarily forgot that this world and the ‘Returnee’s Room’ had completely different time flows.

While the remaining people in this world had spent only four days, Hong Yeongtae and chairman Kim Taejoon had spent what could literally be an eternity.

So when Yeongtae casually used the phrase ‘living for so long,’ it wasn’t a big deal.

‘Right. From Yeongtae’s perspective, it could be considered living for a long time.’

Thinking so, Yeongwoo checked the time.

Current time, 12:34 PM.

“…?”

If it wasn’t a mistake, the two ‘friends’ were staying in this world longer than usual.

Before, they would disappear after a short period, maybe tens of seconds at the shortest, or three to four minutes at the longest.

‘What’s going on? Did they give them extra time for family reunions?’

If so, who?

Does the system even have ’emotions’?

As Yeongwoo vaguely thought about his opponent, Yeongtae tilted his head.

「Why? What’s up?」

“Oh, nothing, I’m just… worried about the mutant appearing soon.”

As Yeongwoo vaguely replied, Yeongtae perked up his ears.

「Oh, really? Then will you call us again when it happens?」

Yeongtae was always eager to earn merits.

But Yeongwoo had no intention of using the horn in the mutant battle.

Not at the moment.

‘Thankfully, thanks to the encyclopaedia effect, I earned one more usage…’

[Collection Effect: 10]

| Usage of all artifacts +1

‘But that only makes it three in total. I can only use it twice more.’

Of course, there was no need to deliberately crush Yeongtae’s hopes.

It’s a sad story, but whether he calls them shortly after 1 o’clock or after the nighttime dungeon appears, it’ll be the same long wait for Yeongtae.

“Yeah, we’ll see each other again soon.”

Yeongwoo lied with good intentions.

Then, to avoid any possible loss of expression control, he changed the subject.

“What are you planning to buy with the points you’ve collected? Have you thought about it?”

The topic Yeongwoo chose was none other than the public point shop.

According to what he saw on television in the hotel room, points could also be accumulated in the Returnee’s Room to buy televisions.

And if what Yeongwoo saw was indeed true…

「Oh, that’s it. I’ve decided. A television!」

“Ah.”

Confirming that Yeongtae’s response was as expected, Yeongwoo uttered a remark with significant meaning.

“If you buy a television from there… what’s broadcasted?”

「Well, I don’t know. The price list only had the product names written on it.」

“…I see.”

Yeongwoo nodded.

Personally, he thought a television might shed light on this world, but he decided to save his words on that matter as well.

“Well then…”

Just as Yeongwoo was about to bring up the next topic, the time had come.

「Oh!」

Yeongtae exclaimed, widening his eyes.

Then.

「We are already leaving…!」

With a regretful expression, he flattened his ears.

Even the extension time permitted by the system had been completely used up.

Swoosh.

Yeongtae’s two feet were already disappearing rapidly into thin air, which meant…

“Darling!”

“Hm? Oh, Dad…?”

On the other side, chairman Kim Taejoon, who was having a precious conversation, was also disappearing.

“Thank you for your hard work, Yeongtae.”

As Yeongwoo bid farewell with a smile, the faint voice of Yeongtae, with only the tips of his ears left visible, murmured.

「Let’s meet again!」

Then.

Swoosh.

He completely disappeared from this world.

And the same went for chairman Kim Taejoon, who had cast a large shadow on the other side.

“…”

The family who were exchanging fond words under Kim Taejoon’s shadow just moments ago were now looking at the empty space with desolate expressions.

It was such a short time.

“…Hyung-nim, what happens now? Those people…”

Jongsu, who had been silently observing everything from behind, spoke up.

To this, Yeongwoo smiled bitterly and glanced back.

“First, Jongsu, thank you for your hard work. And you too, officer.”

“You’re too kind. After coming here today, I think I made the right decision to follow Mr. Yeongwoo.”

Taeyoung, still seeming unsettled, wiped his eyes with the sleeve of his police uniform and sniffed.

Meanwhile, Yeongwoo organized his emotions and spoke in a somewhat businesslike tone.

“Since the usage of the whistle is limited, I can’t just summon chairman Kim Taejoon anytime. Today’s family gathering is over.”

“What about tomorrow?”

This was Jongsu’s question.

So Yeongwoo deliberated.

“Well, we’ll have to wait and see how things go tomorrow. If I die or if the safety of the family members is jeopardized, the meeting may not happen.”

“That makes sense.”

“For a while, please take care of chairman Kim’s family. I’ll request accommodation near Taewon Group. And if there’s anything else to do, please let me know.”

Perhaps Jongsu would be suitable for monster hunting, while Taeyoung would be suitable for private security in Gangnam.

Not only the mutants but also the monsters might suddenly become stronger, so both of them needed to earn money.

“Hyung-nim, have you completely settled down in Seoul now?”

Jongsu’s question was quite sharp.

But for Yeongwoo, it was difficult to answer.

“Well, we’ll have to wait and see. But for the time being, I’ll be based around Gangnam.”

Of course, this was just a guess.

[Translator – Night]

[Proofreader – Gun]

After all, isn’t it a world where it’s hard to predict even what will happen tomorrow?

‘Just the Golden Journey achievement alone suggests leaving the country. Nobody knows what else will happen in the future.’

Anyway, he needed to hurry up and get ready for the mutants.

First, he had to send chairman Kim Taejoon’s family to a safer place within Gangnam.

‘The current time… is 12:40.’

Now there were exactly 20 minutes left.

As Yeongwoo was about to call Lim Suna from Taewon Group, a tremendous noise erupted from the sky.

Taaaang…

Tattang!

It sounded like the gunfire amplified dozens of times.

Sssshooooo!

Red and blue pillars of light.

It was the sound of the marks of the invaders of this world falling.

* * *

“Aaah!”

“Ack!”

“Save me…!”

Time left until the appearance of mutants and monsters: 19 minutes.

The residents of the area, who were watching the astonishing “family reunion,” started running for their lives, each heading towards their own vehicles or towards their neighborhoods several kilometers away from here.

Amidst the chaos, Yeongwoo observed the red pillars of light piercing the sky in the direction of Gwangjin-gu.

‘Fortunately, it landed in the southern part of Gwangjin-gu.’

The location where the fourth day mutant was scheduled to appear in Gwangjin-gu was inside the campus of Konkuk University.

It wasn’t as close as the Han River, but still relatively close to Gangnam-gu.

Amidst this, Taewon Group had already dispersed their employees into vehicles and one of them came near Yeongwoo before stopping.

“Yeongwoo-nim!”

As the window opened and someone called out, it was none other than Lim Suna.

She had brought chairman Kim Taejoon’s family in the car.

“I’ll take care of your colleagues. If Yeongwoo-nim plans to move to Gangnam for now…”

It was a gesture to offer him a ride out of courtesy.

However, Yeongwoo only took Jongsu and Taeyoung in the car, as he had a means of transport from another world.

“I’ll look around here and make my own way. Please go ahead. Thank you for your hard work.”

He had to say something appropriate to be Seoul’s Strongest Sword.

“Ah, yes. Understood.”

Lim Suna stared at Yeongwoo for a moment, then snapped out of it and grabbed the steering wheel.

And then.

Vroom!

Like any other evacuees, they dashed towards the outskirts of Gwangjin-gu.

“Hmm.”

The current time was 12:49 PM.

With 11 minutes left until the appearance of the monsters.

Yeongwoo glanced at the red pillars of light piercing the sky, then released the parking mode and climbed onto the nearby Negwig, which had approached.

“Let’s go to Cheongdam Bridge.”

* * *

Cheongdam Bridge.

A two-story bridge over the Han River, between Jayang-dong in Gwangjin-gu and Cheongdam-dong in Gangnam-gu.

Once, Subway Line 7 used to run through the lower section of this bridge, but now subway operations, like those of Dongjak Bridge, were suspended.

Instead.

Vroom!

Several cars were racing madly across the bridge, in the midst of the evacuation time attack by the residents who had witnessed the family reunion in Gwangjin-gu until the end.

“…”

And ahead of them, having arrived at Cheongdam Bridge ahead of time, Yeongwoo was hanging on the railing, looking around.

To the left, Gwangjin-gu.

To the right, Gangnam-gu.

‘It seems like I might be able to reach it if I’m lucky.’

From Cheongdam Bridge, located between the two districts, one could simultaneously confirm the red marks of the mutants about to fall in each area.

In other words, for someone like Yeongwoo with a maximum range of 2 kilometers, it meant he might be able to snipe both mutants in succession.

Paat!

As Yeongwoo activated “Clairvoyance,” a holographic scope appeared in his right eye, enhancing his vision up to 5 times.

「Clairvoyance」 – Mutant Earring

【Visibility is amplified up to 5 times.】

‘Gangnam is near Jongno, right? It’s a little further than Gwangjin.’

The distance from his current location to the mutant in Gwangjin-gu was about 2.3 kilometers.

Meanwhile, the mutant in Gangnam-gu was scheduled to appear a little over 2.5 kilometers away.

‘If this is the case, you will have to bleed before shooting the arrow.’

Youngwoo’s strength increases by 25% while bleeding, and as strength increases, the arrow’s distance increases.

「White Fire」 – Epic Bow

【Sense values apply to arrow power.】

【Power increases depending on the distance the arrow flies.】

And as the distance increases, the power of the arrow also increases.

So, in theory, it was possible.

After stabbing one’s own arm and causing bleeding, he jumps to a high altitude to gain visibility and continuously snipes mutants in Gangnam and Gwangjin-gu.

「Climber」 – Mutant Pants

【Leap distance tripled.】

‘If this works, I’ll be a genius.’

With a satisfied smile, Yeongwoo glanced at the Golden Goblin who was watching him from a distance.

And as he did so.

[00:00:10]

The timer for the monster hanging in the air decreased to 10 seconds.

‘It’s almost time. Have people evacuated?’

[00:00:08]

‘I should start bleeding soon.’

[00:00:06]

Slash!

Yeongwoo slashed his own side with the end of the bow, and blood began to trickle from inside his skin.

“Ugh.”

It was quite painful, although not enough to be stopped by the Berserker talisman.

But with considerable vitality already flowing through his body, Yeongwoo felt confident.

‘At this level, what’s 2 kilometers? I can snipe even up to 3 kilometers away.’

[00:00:03]

Suddenly, three seconds left.

Yeongwoo, in a stance ready to jump, alternately looked at the two red pillars of light fiercely cutting through the sky on both sides.

[00:00:01]

Now, one second.

[00:00:00]

Vroom!

As the timer reached 0 seconds and disappeared frighteningly, the sky flashed, and from all the marks including the red pillars of light, numerous figures began to rain down like hail.

“Unbelievable.”

Seeing the monsters falling from the clear sky for the first time, Yeongwoo was momentarily stunned.

But then.

Shaaaat!

Shaaaat!

Seeing the large silhouettes falling from beyond the sky along with the red pillars of light, Yeongwoo quickly snapped out of it.

‘They’re here…!’

With a swift motion, Yeongwoo’s feet forcefully planted in the middle of Cheongdam Bridge, and then.

Vroom!

His body soared into the sky, raising the bow and aiming from Gangnam.

[TL/N : Hawk Eye moment from avengers 1.]

[Translator – Night]

[Proofreader – Gun]