Chapter 140

[Translator – Night]

[Proofreader – Gun]

Chapter 140: Distortion (3)

Suddenly, in the heart of Paju, the bustling market of Strongest Swords opened up.

Although they were treated as giants in their respective areas, the Strongest Swords were stumbling around aimlessly on the ground today, abandoning their usual demeanor.

The first to select their equipment could take it without any accessories, and most importantly, the first to grab it became the owner.

“Excuse me, could you move aside a bit?”

“Well, if you don’t have anything to buy there, let’s come out to the side.”

Songpa, Seocho, Seongbuk, Dongdaemun, Goyang.

Except for the Goyang’s Strongest Sword, who was alone due to not being from the Seoul Federation, the rest fiercely fought for the loot, stretching out their hands.

And Yeongwoo, who was watching them.

‘It’s desirable.’

With a satisfied expression, he displayed the status of the accessory encyclopaedia.

Pop!

〔17〕

There are currently 17 pieces of accessory registered in the encyclopaedia.

Therefore, if you obtain just 3 more, the level 2 collection effect will be unlocked.

‘If there are many requests for accessory exchange, the level 3 unlock should be quite close.’

[Collection Effect: 10]

| Usage of all accessory +1

[Collection Effect: 20]

| ???

Although only the existence of level 2 could be confirmed for now, once level 2 was achieved, the next level would surely be revealed.

‘It seems that the collection units increase by 10 each… Then, does that blessing open up at around 100 or maybe 50?’

「Each encyclopaedia has its own unique collection effect, and when the completeness of the encyclopaedia exceeds a certain level, you can obtain a remarkable blessing or skill.」

It was an effect that the system deemed astonishing, so it wouldn’t be easily unlocked.

“Um, excuse me… I’ve chosen everything.”

While Yeongwoo was examining the accessory encyclopaedia, the first buyer stood in front of him.

It was none other than Goyang’s Strongest Sword.

He had chosen his equipment skillfully from among the fierce competition in Seoul.

The equipment Park Jeongjin chose consisted of boots and pants, one each, on top of a sword.

“Oh…?”

Yeongwoo was surprised to see Park Jeongjin holding the equipment in his arms.

“Do you… have a lot of accessory? At this rate, you should give me two pieces.”

When Yeongwoo asked with curiosity, Park Jeongjin cautiously nodded after glancing at the other Strongest Sword members.

“Yes, here…”

Swish.

Park Jeongjin carefully handed over a ring and a bracelet that he had on his fingers and wrist to Yeongwoo.

「Dragon Slayer」 – Mutation Ring

【Power increases by 10% for dragons.】

「Insulation」 – Mutation Bracelet

【Lightning Resistance 15%】

‘Oh, my goodness.’

Yeongwoo’s eyes widened at the much stronger effects than expected.

Resistance equipment was always welcome, and it was the first time he had seen an option that increased power against dragons.

“Are you sure it’s okay? This ring…”

As Yeongwoo picked up the “Dragon Slayer” with his finger and asked, Park Jeongjin subtly smiled.

“Yes. Perhaps Mr. Yeongwoo is more likely to fight dragons than I am.”

The conglomerates who would eventually return as dragons.

Since they wouldn’t be typical mutants, it was true that there was a high probability that Strongest Swords strongest member, Jeong Yeongwoo, would clash with the dragon tribe.

“Ah… Thank you.”

In the end, when Yeongwoo accepted the two pieces of accessory, Park Jeongjin nodded once again and stepped aside.

Right after that, Oh Yeonhee, who was standing there holding two pieces of equipment, appeared.

What she had chosen was a pair of boots and armor.

“I do have more accessory… But this is something I can’t personally give up.”

“Yes, it’s fine.”

Yeongwoo readily accepted Yeonhee’s deal.

As long as it was an accessory, it didn’t really matter if the effect wasn’t great.

Moreover, even if it was equipment bordering on miscellaneous items, it could still fill up the accessory encyclopaedia.

‘With this, the level 2 collection effect will open.’

Yeongwoo politely accepted the small earring offered by Yeonhee.

「Bear Heart」 – Mutant Earring

【Becomes braver.】

‘…Definitely equipment she’s trying to discard.’

Certainly, Yeonhee had her own reservations.

However, Yeongwoo saw even this as a big mistake on Yeonhee’s part.

Because…

‘Becoming braver isn’t an ability that can be bought with karma, right? It means becoming less afraid.’

Especially since Yeongwoo had encountered opponents among the extraterrestrial beings like the shareholders of Dogo, he understood the importance of courage very well.

“Thank you.”

As Yeongwoo expressed his gratitude as usual, Yeonhee, who was about to step aside, paused for a moment and asked a question.

“But, Mr. Yeongwoo.”

“Yes?”

“Why do you collect accessories? Is there any specialized equipment on your side?”

She, too, knew well that Yeongwoo wouldn’t do anything to his disadvantage.

Upon this, Yeongwoo smiled slightly as he registered the earring Yeonhee handed over into the encyclopaedia.

“There are reasons, but it’s classified information.”

* * *

A very gentlemanly and legal process of acquiring accessories.

Thanks to this, Yeongwoo obtained a total of eight accessories through this deal.

Five obtained through equipment exchange, and three originally included in the loot.

So, Yeongwoo’s current status of accessory collection is…

[25]

‘25 pieces… If I collect just five more, it’ll unlock level 3.’

And accordingly, the level 2 effect, unlocked when collecting 20 pieces of accessory, was revealed.

Pahat!

[Collection Effect: 20]

| All basic resistances +15%

“Hmm?”

All basic resistances by 15%.

Considering that the single resistance values obtained through mutation or artifact equipment generally range from about 10% to 15%, this was an insane effect.

‘What exactly is basic resistance?’

Yeongwoo wondered as soon as this question arose in his mind, he opened the stats window.

Pop!

Then, he noticed that the resistance values displayed at the bottom of the screen were more complex than before.

| Fire Resistance: 25%

| Cold Resistance: 15%

| Lightning Resistance: 30%

| Poison Resistance: 15%

| Ability Resistance: 10%

[Translator – Night]

[Proofreader – Gun]

Not only had the existing fire resistance increased by 15%, but there were also additional resistances to cold and poison, even though he wasn’t wearing any related resistance equipment.

For the lightning resistance, it was likely that the 15% from the bracelet “Insulation” was added to the 15% collection effect.

‘So, basic resistance includes fire, cold, lightning, and even poison.’

As expected, ability resistance wasn’t part of basic resistance.

Yeongwoo recalled that there was an unbelievable resistance item in the possessions of officer Kwon Taeyoung.

「Cross Knot」 – Mutation Bracelet

【Ability Resistance 20%】

【–Empty Slot–】

Since the Cross Knot, an heirloom of Kim Byungcheol, was now in the possession of officer Kwon Taeyoung, it was a piece of equipment classified only as mutation, but in reality, it was at least of the unique grade, with a minimum level of effect equivalent to that.

‘It’s too cruel, but… I guess I have to get it back somehow.’

Of course, as it was equipment given to Taeyoung in memory of the deceased, he couldn’t just ask for it back.

‘…I’ll have to make an even exchange. It’s the humane thing to do.’

Isn’t it the high-quality equipment that is hitting my feet right now?

In terms of practicality, swords or armor would be better than bracelets.

Clank!

After selecting one weapon to hand over to offcier Kwon Taeyoung, Yeongwoo tidied up the rest of the equipment.

‘There’s too much… Is it okay to take all this with me?’

Even after distributing the loot to the best swordsmen, Youngwoo blinked when he saw the equipment piled up like a mountain.

Including mutation equipment obtained from opening golden spheres in Gangnam, there were already 14 pieces of equipment that he hadn’t even checked the tooltips for.

‘I can only immediately use accessories… To utilize the rest, I’ll need to acquire more encyclopaedias as soon as possible.’

With various weapons and armor gradually accumulating, acquiring any encyclopaedia would lead to a situation where he would gain a tremendous amount of stats and buffs.

‘Now, I’m looking forward to tonight’s dungeon.’

Thinking about the dungeon opening tonight, Yeongwoo looked around at the Strongest Swords.

“You’ve worked hard today. You can disperse now.”

As Yeongwoo mounted Negwig, Seongbuk’s Strongest Sword Yoobin asked,

“Are you also going back to the south, Yeong… woo-nim…?”

At this, Yeongwoo turned his head sideways.

“No.”

“Yes? Then where to?”

As the two conversed, the rest of the Strongest Swords gave a puzzled look towards Joseon’s Strongest Sword.

“What are you talking about, Mr. Yeongwoo?”

“If you’re not going south from here, where are you going?”

“Surely not back north?”

It had been only a few minutes since the North-South battle, so what kind of trouble was he planning to cause again?

While the southern Strongest Swords were in panic, Yeongwoo looked casually towards the north.

“Ah… I’m truly sorry. I’ll just make one more trip today.”

* * *

Clop, clop!

Yeongwoo started heading northward alone once again.

However, he wasn’t exactly “marching” north.

‘There’s no more war today.’

As Yeongwoo thought this, the only reason he was crossing the military demarcation line to visit North Korea again was solely because of:

[Golden Journey]

| Please summon the golden rain in the next area.

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

By doing this, he could progress one more route of the golden rain today.

Since North Korea was judged as foreign, and he happened to have two golden orbs, there was no need to postpone the achievement until tomorrow.

‘Of course, it’s risky. Right now, all the Strongest Swords in the north are probably monitoring my location in real-time.’

They might even think that the thief from South Korea who had annihilated their main force was advancing north for revenge.

Clop, clop!

Yet, he still had some leeway as he was still crossing the northern edge of Paju.

Yeongwoo utilized this time to check the remaining five pieces of accessory he hadn’t examined yet.

「Heated Stone」 – Heroic Necklace

【Ignores extreme cold.】

“Oh?”

From the start, it was extreme weather immune equipment.

‘If it’s extreme cold… is it the cold version of yesterday’s heatwave?’

So far, there were four confirmed types of extreme weather: fog, temperature, rain, and wind type revealed through the Epic necklace “Eye of the Typhoon”.

「Eye of the Typhoon」 – Epic Necklace

【Ignores extreme weather of the wind type.】

Of these four types, he hadn’t experienced the “wind” directly yet, so the probability of today’s extreme weather being wind type on the fourth day was quite high.

‘And now… I can snipe even extreme cold, which is the temperature type.’

And next…

「Steel Mark」 – Mutation Amulet

【Increases durability by 500.】

‘Not bad.’

Durability +500…

While it was still a good effect even now, if he had obtained this charm at the beginning of the reset, it would have made him nearly invincible.

Likely, the original owner of this equipment was indeed invincible.

‘Now, next.’

Smoothly shifting his gaze to the next tooltip, Yeongwoo suddenly widened his eyes.

「Osmosis」 – Epic Ring

【The lowest basic resistance value is equal to the highest resistance value.】

‘Epic?’

Yeongwoo unintentionally exclaimed.

Moreover, the effect was insane.

‘What does this mean? It sets the lowest resistance to the same value as the highest resistance?’

However, there was one condition attached.

Basic resistance… In other words, only the resistance to fire, cold, lightning, and poison could be raised.

However, the highest resistance value didn’t need to be a basic resistance.

In other words, it was possible to max out a basic resistance by adjusting an extreme resistance to its limit.

‘This is really nonsensical equipment. My noble was in North Korea after all.’

Yeongwoo expressed a belated gratitude to the unknown noble who had already passed away.

‘Now, only two remain.’

Perhaps because of the epic ring’s interference, the last two were relatively ordinary.

Or rather, one of them was detrimental to Yeongwoo.

「Rotten Flesh」 – Unique Bracelet

【Bleeding Immunity】

「Ten Commander」 – Relic Ring

【Reduces blocked damage by 10%】

‘No, immunity to bleeding? It’s impressive, but I shouldn’t have immunity to bleeding.’

Due to the Berserker effect from the slot gem, Yeongwoo’s strength increased by 25% when bleeding.

With so much equipment, he had encountered cases where the equipment conflicted with each other.

The system seemed to be aware that such situations could occur early on, as there was a separate option to deactivate effects within the catalog.

‘Thank goodness. I almost ruined myself by picking up the wrong bracelet.’

As Yeongwoo inspected each piece of equipment, Negwig carrying him was already passing through the northeastern part of Kaesong.

Clop, clop!

However, the reason Yeongwoo didn’t stop him was that there was no one in Kaesong.

‘There wasn’t a single person in Kaesong. I should find a place with people if possible.’

He wanted to spread this valuable golden rain in areas where residents existed if possible.

Although North Korea was hostile, it didn’t mean he was at war with all of North Korea’s people.

Clop!

As Yeongwoo continued northward, the status of a new area finally appeared before him.

Pat!

|The current area you are in is ‘Geumcheon.’

|There are no Strongest Swords in this area.

“Ah.”

Geumcheon County, North Hwanghae Province.

It was Yeongwoo’s first time seeing this place, but at least he had heard of ‘Geumcheon’ a while ago.

This was because one of the opponents he had encountered in Paju was carrying the title of ‘Geumcheon’s Strongest Sword.’

In other words, Yeongwoo was now in the area he had taken the title of Strongest Sword from.

“Here.”

Yeongwoo, as if possessed, pulled the reins of the Negwig to slow down its speed.

Then, as if understanding Yeongwoo’s intention, the golden goblin handed him a golden orb.

– Keyit.

As the goblin said, it was now time to drop the first golden rain in a foreign land.

[Translator – Night]

[Proofreader – Gun]