Chapter 257

[Translator – Night]

[Proofreader – Gun]

Chapter 257: Beijing’s Great Evil (4)

“Ugh?”

Seeing his own chest being pierced in real-time, Yeongwoo’s eyes widened as he quickly pulled himself back.

Taaat!

It was the first time his body had been pierced by a human bare hand instead of a blade.

‘What kind of guy doesn’t use weapons?’

Indeed, the continent was different.

Yeongwoo felt a sense of tension he hadn’t felt in a long time.

He no longer thought of himself as invincible.

‘…That was close.’

Although the Berserker talisman was blocking the pain, the foreign sensation he felt was enough to realize it.

The attack had narrowly missed his heart.

And the reason was surprisingly…

「Combat Assistance from the Strongest Sword Technique has been activated.」

‘…Combat Assistance?’

The Strongest Sword Technique, acquired in exchange for the unification of the Korean Peninsula, had a new feature called ‘Combat Assistance’ included.

The tooltip for Combat Assistance filled Yeongwoo’s vision.

[Combat Assistance]

| If the user fails to perfectly execute combat instructions, forced correction within a margin of error of 15% will be carried out.

‘…Ah.’

In other words, even if Yeongwoo did not perfectly follow the hologram guide’s instructions, it would adjust up to 15% for him.

It would forcefully move his body, increasing not only the precision of his attacks but also his defense…

‘Since Combat Assistance was activated just now, it means my heart would have been pierced otherwise?’

A crazy feature that might have saved Yeongwoo’s life.

“……!”

Finally understanding the situation, Yeongwoo’s mouth fell open.

Of course, whether the purple hand of that middle-aged man could have pierced the heart of the indomitable dragon was unknown.

‘But at the very least, he could have ripped out my heart.’

As Yeongwoo stood with a complex expression and a hole in his chest, the middle-aged man with a similarly confused look glanced at his own right hand.

Chuuuaaaak…!

As a punishment for damaging the Strongest Sword’s body, his right hand was being rapidly corroded by the toxic blood.

“That arm… It won’t heal, will it?”

As Yeongwoo looked at his opponent’s half-melted arm, he asked.

The middle-aged man frowned deeply.

“I am Zhang Jinshan, the 6th Standing Committee member of the Central Political Bureau.”

“6th… what?”

Yeongwoo tilted his head at the somewhat grand title.

However, everyone except Yeongwoo knew who the middle-aged man was.

Zhang Jinshan, 61 years old.

One of the highest-ranking officials in China, and the youngest member of the Standing Committee, known to all Chinese people.

“…Who exactly are you?”

As he said this, Zhang Jinshan’s gaze was fixed on the hole in Yeongwoo’s chest.

Unless it was a hallucination, the hole seemed smaller than before.

The wound on his chest had begun to heal.

With this realization, Yeongwoo looked at the piles of money bags behind Zhang Jinshan and spoke.

“I am the Strongest Sword of the Korean Peninsula, Jeong Yeongwoo.”

“Korean Peninsula…?”

Zhang Jinshan made a subtle expression.

Although somewhat expected, hearing it directly from his opponent’s mouth confused him a bit.

“The Korean Peninsula is still divided into two, isn’t it?”

“Not anymore. I just told you, I’m the Strongest Sword of the Korean Peninsula.”

“Are you saying the Korean Peninsula has been unified?”

“Yes.”

Yeongwoo’s statement caused not only Zhang Jinshan but also all the Chinese experts around them to buzz with excitement.

Then Zhang Jinshan revealed the reason for the commotion.

“…But there’s Kim Jong-un in the north.”

That infamous Kim Jong-un.

‘Indeed, he is well-known.’

But Yeongwoo knew better than anyone what had happened to him.

“Kim Jong-un is dead. Seems like your news is a bit slow.”

“What? Kim Jong-un is dead?”

Finally, Zhang Jinshan showed genuine shock.

Then he looked at the hole in Jeong Yeongwoo’s chest with a slightly different gaze than before.

“So, you’re not just some wandering oddity, but something bizarre from Joseon.”

However, the one facing the 6th Standing Committee member Zhang Jinshan was not just someone who could be described as bizarre.

“That money was collected from Shandong Province, right? Hand it over first.”

Jeong Yeongwoo was a nationwide robber who had come to China.

* * *

When Yeongwoo pointed at the money bags with the tip of his sword, Zhang Jinshan, who had been composed until now, exuded a very cold aura.

“You crazy bastard, you must be dying to get killed.”

A muscular body that did not match his gray-haired age of sixty.

Standing at a towering 2 meters, Zhang Jinshan wrapped his entire body in a purple energy, making him look like a demon.

When Yeongwoo coveted the money meant for Beijing, in other words, the national treasury, Zhang Jinshan decided to demonstrate his true power.

Of course, even in this situation, Yeongwoo was analyzing his opponent’s traits.

‘Ah, but at least his severed arm isn’t regenerating. So, he’s not invincible either.’

Moreover, hadn’t his skin melted from the toxic blood?

That meant the blade of Bastard would penetrate his body quite well too.

‘It seems he usually doesn’t use weapons and employs some kind of martial arts.’

That meant the reach difference was at least 6 meters.

With the Dullahan Sword’s traits registered in the weapon catalog, Bastard’s blade could now extend up to 6.6 meters.

Swoosh.

With a certainty of victory, Yeongwoo slowly extended the Bastard’s blade to the ground and spoke.

“If you can kill me, go ahead. Let’s see what tricks you have up your sleeve.”

“You…!”

Finally provoked by Yeongwoo, Zhang Jinshan bent his left hand fiercely and charged.

Crash!

「Sensory stats have temporarily increased from 3,400 to 7,042.」

And with an incredible amount of sensory stats unleashed.

‘What… what is this?’

Yeongwoo could be certain at this point.

As expected, the Standing Committee members, including Im Dupyeong, were undoubtedly agents of an alien force.

‘Which company are these bastards sponsored by?’

Despite being flustered by Zhang Jinshan’s unexpectedly high stats, Yeongwoo stuck to his initial plan and instructed the golden goblin.

“Grab the money! Hurry! Now’s the time!”

Yeongwoo shouted this command loudly not only to ensure the golden goblin obeyed promptly but also to distract Zhang Jinshan, whose primary mission was obviously guarding the tribute money.

-Kiiik!

The goblin dashed towards the money bags with its characteristic swift movement, causing Zhang Jinshan to momentarily turn his head.

Whish!

In that instant…

[Translator – Night]

[Proofreader – Gun]

-Swaaack!

With the horrific trumpet sound of Pofu Tenta, Yeongwoo swung Bastard with unbelievable speed.

Ssssh!

Even Tian Zhulin of the Dalian Sword Guild, who was watching the battle closely, could hardly perceive the speed.

Swish!

In the blink of an eye, a red line slashed across Zhang Jinshan’s left arm.

And then…

“Huh?”

With a short cry, Zhang Jinshan’s left forearm fell to the ground.

In just three exchanges, he had lost both arms.

“What… what was that?”

“Did you see that? Just now?”

The other spectators, surrounding the area, only realized what happened after Zhang Jinshan’s arm hit the ground.

While Tian Zhulin at least sensed the movement of the sword, the other regular swordsmen couldn’t follow the sword’s movement at all.

‘Where did this crazy guy come from?’

Tian Zhulin couldn’t close her gaping mouth, staring at the title of the outsider consisting of three simple characters.

『Strongest Sword』

In this world, a master was not made overnight.

Especially a master of such a high level.

‘Literally the Strongest Sword.’

While Tian Zhulin cautiously sheathed her own sword, the golden-skinned goblin picked up the money bags.

-Kikiki!

At the same moment, Zhang Jinshan…

“Kraaaah!”

…lost all the composure he had maintained until now and screamed in agony.

But this wasn’t because of his severed arms.

It was purely due to the pain.

He was finally experiencing the effect of the golden punishment’s pain-inflicting effect.

‘What’s this, why now?’

Did he have some equipment to delay the pain?

Yeongwoo tilted his head in confusion but kept a safe distance from his opponent.

If Im Dupyeong and his subordinates indeed had alien sponsors, it wouldn’t be surprising if they possessed some desperate final technique.

“Hey, Jinshan.”

“Grrrr…!”

“You’re an alien henchman, right? Which company?”

An outer-space conversation incomprehensible to an ordinary person.

However, Zhang Jinshan’s answer was unexpectedly ‘I don’t know.’

“I don’t know! That kind of thing!”

“That kind of thing…?”

And oddly, from Zhang Jinshan’s phrase ‘that kind of thing,’ Yeongwoo glimpsed his sincerity.

If this man really had alien sponsors, he would have kept his mouth shut rather than calling it ‘that kind of thing.’

“Then where did all this power come from? I don’t see any equipment on you.”

As Yeongwoo tapped near Zhang Jinshan’s groin with the flat of his sword, the latter managed to speak through gritted teeth.

“This… power was directly bestowed by Chairman Im Dupyeong! It’s not some alien thing!”

“…Ah.”

Yeongwoo nodded at Zhang Jinshan’s statement.

“So, Im Dupyeong is the henchman. Or maybe…”

Yeongwoo started to say more but stopped himself.

‘Isn’t Im Dupyeong just an alien?’

No matter how high-level a master, he’d never heard of someone being able to share their power.

Of course, pre-reset China had a population of 1.42 billion, 28 times that of South Korea.

So, it would be arrogant to claim he knew everything about the world with his limited experience in the Korean Peninsula.

But still, there should be a limit.

‘It’s not like he’s creating zombies; how could he produce so many masters of this level?’

In Yeongwoo’s eyes, Zhang Jinshan’s prowess was such that even six or seven of Seoul’s Strongest Swords would struggle to ensure victory.

So, if Im Dupyeong had reached a level where he could create such masters, wouldn’t it be more realistic to view him as an alien rather than a human?

Considering this was the world after the reset.

‘What’s going to happen to Earth with these scoundrels running rampant?’

Although he had planned to kill him anyway, if Im Dupyeong really was an alien, there was even more reason to do so.

As his deceased uncle had said, Seoul… no, this Earth belonged to humans.

For the greater good, Yeongwoo pointed his sword at the Dalian Sword Guild and the experts of Dalian City.

“Alright, everyone, put down your weapons and hand over all your money.”

Thus, Yeongwoo began his first official duty as the elected ‘Strongest Sword’ of the Korean Peninsula.

[Translator – Night]

[Proofreader – Gun]