Chapter 145

[Translator – Night]

[Proofreader – Gun]

Chapter 145: Origin (2)

‘What, what does this mean?’

As Yeongwoo looked surprised while holding the fountain pen, Sergeant Jo Seongsik tilted his head.

“Why are you doing that?”

“That’s…” Yeongwoo hesitated, then closed his mouth again.

Why would the ‘Wanted Poster’ set up to find his father react at this point?

‘Could my father have any connection to the prison?’

He couldn’t help but think so.

The wanted poster that reappeared in his sight pointed south, towards Uijeongbu.

Yeongwoo glanced vaguely to the south, pondering his own background.

「This individual is a random combination of level 4 settings.」

「Influenced by parental settings, they possess the following immutable elements at birth: #Level4 #Orphan.」

「As a level 4 combination, they receive retroactive adjustments to acquire settings of level 2 or higher throughout their lifespan.」

The ruthless preface of the fate record, which even evoked fear at the time.

But now, Yeongwoo wasn’t afraid of those ominous words anymore.

He had become the person he was now, facing much more terrifying things than those mere phrases.

Jeong Yeongwoo07.

The daring “Jeong Yeongwoo,” seventh of all the Jeong Yeongwoos on Earth to contact the Currency Exchange, and the Strongest Sword of Gyeongbuk Province, Gangnam, and Joseon.

‘Also known as the advertising model for the universal weapon brand Dogo.’

And at some point, he would compete with Kim Jong-un and who would emerge as Geumgang Yaksha.

However, despite all that.

[Father]: Grade 6 Extra

[Mother]: Grade 1 Supporting Role

Faced with the clear confirmation of his own origins in the fate record, Jeong Yeongwoo07 couldn’t help but feel diminished.

Of course, it was natural. Jeong Yeongwoo07 was also born between a man and a woman and inherited much from them.

‘A random combination of level 4 settings…’

When certain settings from his grade 6 father and grade 1 mother were appropriately integrated, it resulted in the system-designated ‘stubborn’ being born.

“What exactly happened in Uijeongbu? Did the prisoners conduct a mass breakout?”

Yeongwoo asked, hoping it wasn’t true.

In response, Lieutenant Jo Seongsik gave a merciless answer.

“Yes. It’s said that several Currency Exchanges even fell on top of the prison. Because of the chaos, it seems prisoners poured out.”

“Oh…”

Yeongwoo rubbed his forehead.

This meant that his father was most likely one of the criminals imprisoned in Uijeongbu, and he would soon have to identify him among those sinners.

‘Does the wanted poster pinpoint the exact target I’m looking for? So far, it seems to only vaguely indicate the direction.’

Would it leave a mark like a target above the opponent’s head when he got close enough?

He could only find out by meeting the target himself.

“Hmm…”

Yeongwoo stared anxiously southward.

At that moment, Jeong Seongsik cautiously asked.

“Are you planning to go to Uijeongbu…?”

“Yes. If the city is in such chaos, I need to see it for myself.”

There was no need to explicitly mention that his father might be there.

But apart from that, there was one other question.

‘If there was such a big uproar in Uijeongbu, why doesn’t Seoul know about it yet?’

At least the members of the Strongest Swords assembly, who had started the alliance early, should have been aware, shouldn’t they?

“…”

In the end, he would have to go to Uijeongbu himself to find out.

With determination, Yeongwoo reached out his left hand into the air and summoned his black sword.

*Swish.*

「Gnoll’s Iron Belt」 – Mutant Belt

【Remotely retrieve weapons.】

Instantly, the black sword lying on the ground flew back like an arrow and stabbed itself into Yeongwoo’s waistband.

*Clang!*

“Huh…?”

Once again, Lieutenant Jo Seongsik was greatly surprised.

Meanwhile, Yeongwoo was climbing on top of the Negwig with the Golden Goblin.

*Tap!*

As Jo Seongsik inserted the sword he was holding into the waistband, he bid farewell to Strongest Sword.

“If I visit Seoul, can I see you again…?”

“Yes. Every day at 3 p.m., the Strongest Sword of Seoul gathers in Yongsan Park. You can see me then too.”

Yeongwoo added that if it wasn’t at that time, he would have to come to Gangnam himself.

It also implied that he wasn’t often attached to Seoul.

“Oh… So there’s a Strongest Sword gathering.”

For Jo Seongsik, who had been guarding the front, everything he heard from Yeongwoo, who came from Seoul, was new and surprising.

“Please be careful. Pocheon is close to a gray area, but you should be a little cautious from Yangju onwards.”

Of course, whether there was anyone who could deal with this monster over there was another matter altogether.

Jo Seongsik advised with concern.

“Yes, thank you. If there are any problems on the way, I’ll take care of them.”

Meant that Yeongwoo would kill any threats to himself and Seoul as he passed through.

“…!”

Seongsik realized the meaning of Yeongwoo’s words belatedly and felt a chill run down his spine involuntarily.

*Clunk.*

Finally, the Negwig carrying Yeongwoo began to move its iron hooves slowly.

* * *

Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province.

Before the reset, its population was only 140,000, making it one of the cities with very few people compared to its size. Even Gangnam had a population of 540,000.

‘There’s literally no one there. It’s closer to a ghost town than a gray area,’ Seongsik remarked.

According to him, Pyeongtaek had become a sort of public hunting ground where all nearby Strongest Sword and monster hunters gathered around 1 p.m. to earn money.

‘It’s true that Yangju’s Strongest Sword serves as the protectors of this city. So people must be living here.’

|Current location: ‘Pyeongtaek.’

|There is no Strongest Sword in this area.

There was no Strongest Sword acting as the defense force here, and consequently, there were no residents either.

Therefore, most of the buildings along the path Yeongwoo was taking were severely damaged, to the extent that one might think rental services were available in them.

Perhaps these were traces left by monsters or mutants that had been summoned here, freely wreaking havoc.

‘This is what happens when there are no people around.’

At 11 p.m. every night, those who couldn’t find a place to stay died for the most part.

Thus, Pyeongtaek, with hardly any intact buildings left, was practically uninhabitable.

There hadn’t been any way discovered yet to restore the destroyed buildings.

Still, the fortunate thing was that there were many areas Yeongwoo could leave Pyeongtaek for.

Even neighboring areas like Cheorwon, Hwacheon, Yangju, Dongducheon, and Namyangju were difficult to count with one hand.

‘People probably scattered to the east and west, as they wouldn’t have stayed near Uijeongbu.’

Yeongwoo confirmed that even the “fearful-cat” was closing its eyes, then increased Negwig’s speed.

*Vroom, vroom!*

Since there were no people living in Pyeongtaek anymore, there was no need for him to be there.

[Translator – Night]

[Proofreader – Gun]

‘There aren’t even any merchants here.’

The sky over pristine Pyeongtaek.

As it was known as the gathering place for Strongest Sword and monster hunters from various regions, merchants who came here likely sold out their goods in an instant and left.

In other words, they were leaving work early.

“…”

Yeongwoo continued to traverse the desolate city of Pyeongtaek.

Then…

|Current location: ‘Yangju.’

|The Strongest Sword in this area is ‘Choi Jongseon02,’ Rank 2, defense 233 times.

“…”

Finally, as the location status changed to Yangju, the information about Choi Jongseon02, the Strongest Sword of Yangju, was revealed.

‘233 times…?’

What caught Yeongwoo’s attention was the number of defenses by Choi Jongseon, which was over 200 times.

Such high defense counts were usually only seen in North Korea.

‘But… with such a big uproar around here, how did they manage to defend 233 times?’

This not only hinted at the rough atmosphere of the Yangju area but also meant that Choi Jongseon was not an ordinary person.

*Vroom, vroom!*

As they passed through the entrance of Yangju and began to see houses scattered around, people started to appear here and there.

‘It’s definitely different.’

There wasn’t a single unarmed person among those caught in Yeongwoo’s sight, each maintaining a sufficient distance from each other.

‘About 40 meters apart.’

It was probably a safety distance learned through experience over the past few days.

That is, in Yangju, if someone breached that distance, people would either flee or prepare to fight.

-*Neigh!*

Of course, Yeongwoo was riding a horse from another world.

-*Whiiiinng!*

Wearing a flying greatsword shining with golden light, the rules of Yangju did not apply to him.

*Vroom!*

Since his speed was too fast, and those he encountered were busy avoiding him first, not many people paid attention.

“What’s… that?”

“Whoa! It scared me.”

“What’s going on, riding a horse…?”

The survivors of Yangju were captured by an ominous sense of foreboding as they looked at the unidentified cavalryman who had suddenly appeared.

Because…

*Vroom, vroom!*

The familiar figure of the dark light pillar that had almost disappeared from their sight was moving towards the city center.

It was heading towards the location where the remaining merchants were staying in Yangju.

‘Oh…! There are still merchants here.’

As Yeongwoo, riding atop Negwig, also fixed his gaze on the distant dark pillar, which indicated the location of the merchants, he naturally entered Yangju.

Then, he felt that the atmosphere was somewhat different from the outskirts of the city.

For one thing, there were no people walking alone, but instead, everyone was moving with about a 20-meter safety distance between them.

Perhaps, in the city center, people mostly knew each other, so that might be the reason.

‘Still, it’s somewhat unusual to maintain the safe distance. Usually, the atmosphere in the city center is more relaxed.’

Could it be related to the unusually high defense count of the Strongest Sword?

But it didn’t seem like they were indiscriminately killing everyone they saw.

If that were the case, there shouldn’t be anyone in the city center, just like in Pyeongtaek.

‘It’s a peculiar city.’

However, there seemed to be hardly anyone here who could be considered ordinary residents like in Seoul.

Most seemed to be combatants with a high level of self-defense ability.

That meant living in this area was not easy.

“…”

As the distance with the black light pillar gradually decreased, Yeongwoo pulled on Negwig’s reins to slow down the speed.

Gradually, he felt the residents of Yangju, who had been hiding between the buildings, narrowing the distance as they approached.

But they were all staying behind him.

‘What’s this? Riding a horse looks strange to them?’

In just a few minutes, the number of people following behind reached about twenty, but Yeongwoo wasn’t tense.

In a similar situation, he was confident that he could fight them all at once and survive.

And above all…

“Ho-o-o-o…!”

The eerie atmosphere characteristic of the black light pillar was emanating from ahead, almost reaching the vicinity of the merchants in Yangju.

‘I have plenty of cash right now, so I’ll meet the merchant and head towards Uijeongbu.’

As Yeongwoo thought so and continued to move Negwig forward, the scenery under the black light pillar, hidden behind the buildings in front, caught his eye.

“…”

And now, Yeongwoo finally understood why the cautious residents of Yangju had started following him.

“Ah…”

As Yeongwoo involuntarily sighed, a woman sitting in front of the merchant on the other side turned her head towards the visitors.

『Yangju’s Strongest Sword』

With this title shining brilliantly above her head, there was no room for doubt.

She was Choi Jongseon02, the Strongest Sword of Yangju, with 233 defense counts.

“…”

Studying Yeongwoo’s appearance carefully, Choi Jongseon, the Strongest Sword of Yangju, made a troubled expression, then picked up the sword lying on the ground and suddenly an unexpected sound came.

“Waaah…!”

This was undoubtedly the cry of a baby.

“Huh…?”

Surprised by this, Yeongwoo blinked his eyes, and he saw a baby wrapped in a swaddle lying on the ground, struggling at the feet of Choi Jongseon.

“If you’re going to fight, let’s do it quickly.”

Choi Jongseon urged Yeongwoo with tired eyes and a weary voice.

So Yeongwoo…

*Clunk, thud!*

Dropping all the bows and swords he had on him to the ground, Yeongwoo spoke.

“Madam! I am an orphan on my way to find my father in Uijeongbu. If it’s alright, may I meet the merchant for a moment?”

[Translator – Night]

[Proofreader – Gun]