Level 4 Human in a Ruined World

Chapter 74

[Translator – Night]

[Proofreader – Gun]

Chapter 74: Karma (Part 3)

‘This doesn’t seem like an ordinary situation here.’

Seongnam, where the 31st Strongest Sword reigns.

Yeongwoo couldn’t help but think of Gimcheon.

It was a city where there was no proper Strongest Sword, and the mutants were being abused.

Yeongwoo furrowed his brow, recalling the time when the Strongest Sword title was automatically passed on to anyone near mutants in Gimcheon.

It was a good example of what could happen if no one proclaimed themselves strong in this reset world.

‘But it’s unlikely the same thing happened in Seongnam.’

Yeongwoo’s gaze shifted back to the regional situation in Seongnam.

|The current location is ‘Seongnam’.

|The Strongest Sword of this area is ‘Lee Nam-hee 101’. Rank 31st, 1 defense.

Seongnam is a city right below Seoul, even under the bustling district of Gangnam.

Therefore, even though the Strongest Sword in Seongnam might be weak, it was nearly impossible for mutants to survive there for long.

Because…

‘They’re already stretching from Seoul to the outskirts of Gyeonggi Province. With this situation, why would they leave Seongnam, which is the closest?’

Therefore, the succession of Strongest Sword in Seongnam had a high probability of being unrelated to mutants.

For instance,

‘If a challenger of a high level continues to appear.’

It was hard for Yeongwoo to imagine, but wasn’t this right under Seoul where mutants appeared in numbers of 25 every day?

Nothing would be surprising.

‘At least, if I go to the downtown area, I can find out what’s going on.’

Current time, 11:15 AM.

Yeongwoo was traveling along the highway as he did yesterday.

However, even though it was the same highway, the atmosphere was quite different from when he crossed Chungbuk and the outskirts of Gyeonggi Province.

Apartment complexes were already lining both sides of the road, and people could be seen near the complexes.

‘Definitely a lot of people near Seoul.’

Of course, it was the time when the population was most active.

It had been an hour since the end of the curfew.

Regardless of weak or strong, people would be roaming the streets, collecting necessities, or solving daily quests.

‘Oh, now that I think about it.’

Finally, Yeongwoo’s gaze shifted to the quest list on the left side of his vision.

Then, the daily quest list adjusted to match the current location, Seongnam.

[Daily] “Scout”

[Mission] Approach the monsters until you are 10 meters away.

[Reward] 3,000 karma

The first quest was the same as always.

An assignment to lead people into battle against the monsters.

The mission is to encourage people to fight monsters.

‘This is fixed no matter which area you go to.’

From now on, everyone had to consider whether or not to perform the Scout quest as soon as they woke up in the morning.

Of course, it applied to the majority of people who were still closer to civilians than skilled individuals with considerable combat abilities.

While skilled individuals would naturally search for places where monsters appeared, civilians were in a position where they had to avoid monsters.

However, even if they just breathed without eating in this world, they still needed about 4,000 karma a day.

The smallest room rental fee at a motel was 3,000, and the basic tax was 1,000 karma.

So, if they didn’t perform the Scout quest, they had to make 3,000 karma by begging from others or providing some kind of service to earn wages.

In addition,

‘For civilians, the second quest is practically mandatory. Taxes are a problem, but you can’t live without eating at all.’

Yeongwoo checked the second daily quest, which differed by region and date from the Scout quest.

Then he widened his eyes.

“…!”

It was because there was a quest floating there that he didn’t want to believe, a dreadful quest.

[Daily] “Helping the Needy”

[[Mission] Find the disabled and give them karma.

[Reward] 2,000 karma

‘What kind of nonsense is this…?’

Yeongwoo realized once again that the reset world was not being governed by human morals and conscience.

At first glance, this quest seemed like a win-win situation where you help the disabled and receive rewards, but it lacked context.

Where this quest would progress.

This was a ruthless world where individual morality and conscience were no longer monitored.

Therefore, if someone was a decent human being, they wouldn’t lead the unspecified majority of this world to wander around looking for disabled people.

And they wouldn’t dare to name the quest “Helping the Needy.”

“….”

Yeongwoo felt chills running down his arms and neck.

Who on earth created such quests?

Whether they had a profound malice towards humanity or an immense misunderstanding, only beings with extreme negativity or immense ignorance could create such quests.

‘At least neither of them seems optimistic.’

As Yeongwoo examined the dreadful daily quest, the row of apartments that had been stretching along the right side of the road suddenly broke, and his field of vision opened up.

“….?”

As Yeongwoo turned his head in that direction, he saw two relatively shabby buildings passing by in succession.

‘Ah…’

Although it was momentary, Yeongwoo, who read the writing on the top of the buildings, became speechless.

「Evergreen Middle School」

「Evergreen Elementary School」

He realized it was a school.

Perhaps it was a building that was no longer in use?

In this world, where most surviving people were likely murderers, what were they teaching the children?

[Translator – Night]

[Proofreader – Gun]

And it was uncertain whether children would continue to exist even before that.

‘Perhaps humanity will not continue in this generation.’

As Yeongwoo quickly looked back at the two schools that were getting further away, he noticed a patrol car slowing down in the rear.

It was evident that both Jongsu and Taeyoung had also been distracted by the schools.

‘11:23 AM.’

Glancing at his wristwatch, Yeongwoo pulled on the reins of Negwig to slow down.

He had some time to wait for his colleagues to finish observing.

According to the pattern so far, mutants and monsters would appear around 1 PM.

‘I’ll either wait here and catch the mutants or head straight up to Seoul.’

It was a turning point.

The advantage of waiting in Seongnam was undoubtedly the monopolization of mutants.

There wouldn’t be as many competitors as in Seoul, so it would be possible to monopolize mutants more stably.

On the other hand, Seoul had many strong competitors, but it also had many mutants.

And above all,

‘If I enter Seoul an hour earlier, I can immediately see how things are going there.’

Now, 1 PM was the hottest time in this world.

It was the time when the most money circulated in the market.

Strongest Swords would be looking for mutants, and other skilled individuals would be busy trying to catch monsters.

However, what made Seoul special was that this phenomenon would occur simultaneously in the 25 adjacent districts.

‘Going to Seoul would be the right choice, wouldn’t it? It seems like my father is also in Seoul.’

Yeongwoo noticed that the arrow on the “Wanted Poster” was still pointing north.

Of course, he only knew that it was north from Seongnam, so he didn’t know if his father was staying in Seoul, Uijeongbu, or Dongducheon.

In any case, he would find out once he entered Seoul.

From his father’s location to the situation in Seoul, the country’s largest population-dense area.

And also, who the strongest Strongest Sword in this country was.

“….”

As Yeongwoo’s thoughts reached this point, he felt an unusual tension.

Just then, there was a noise from the road ahead.

Vroom…!

‘Engine noise?’

While questioning himself, Yeongwoo was already sure.

It wasn’t a sound that could be easily mistaken for something else; it was something commonly heard.

Clunk.

As Yeongwoo pulled the reins again to completely stop Negwig, the patrol car following him also stopped.

“Hyung-nim, what’s going on?”

Eventually, Jongsu opened the passenger door and asked, but he closed his mouth as he spotted the objects starting to appear on the other side of the road.

Vroom…!

It was because a line of cars was approaching along the highway.

No, more precisely, they were heading towards where Yeongwoo and his group were.

Of course, since the adjacent lane was empty, it didn’t obstruct traffic.

“Uh… wait, what’s this?”

Taeyoung, noticing that the speed of the vehicles on the other side was quite fast, made a worried sound mixed with apprehension.

He thought they might be surprised when they saw Yeongwoo and hit the brakes abruptly.

And sure enough…

Screech!

As the distance between them decreased to about 40 meters, the leading vehicle started to brake abruptly.

However, the problem was…

Crunch!

The driver was so surprised to see the horse that they ended up turning the steering wheel too sharply.

As a result, a disaster unfolded.

Crash!

As the leading vehicle lost control and spun around, the cars behind crashed into each other, causing a chain reaction collision.

Bang, crash!

Six cars in front of Yeongwoo’s group collided with the front vehicle and the guardrail, coming to a halt.

“Whoa…”

Jongsu and Taeyoung only let out startled breaths at the sudden turn of events, but Yeongwoo’s reaction was a bit different.

Thunk!

He jumped off Negwig’s back simultaneously.

It was because he drew his black sword.

Current time, 11:28 AM.

Six vehicles crossing from north to south across Seongnam, starting from the north toward Seoul at this odd hour.

In Yeongwoo’s mind, there was no way they were ordinary civilians.

Just the fact that they owned cars meant they had a significant amount of cash, and the probability of them being a cartel with some purpose was high.

They could be like the so-called “hunters” who had visited Icheon, feared by people chasing cows in Yeoju and claimed to be “people from Seoul.”

“Hyung-nim?”

Click, clunk.

Ignoring Jongsu’s slightly puzzled voice, Yeongwoo approached the leading car that had crashed into the guardrail with its driver clutching his forehead.

Then he saw a man sitting in the driver’s seat, holding his forehead.

“What the… fuck.”

Though he seemed surprised by the unexpected accident, as Yeongwoo had expected, he didn’t seem to be injured.

He must have been a driver at the superhuman level, where a car accident wouldn’t hurt him much.

“Are you okay? I’m sorry. It seems like the accident happened because of me.”

As Yeongwoo spoke with a tone that showed no remorse at all, the man who had been clutching his forehead turned to him with angry eyes, but quickly calmed down.

He quickly remembered what had surprised him.

The unusual equipment status of the opponent.

And above all,

“What… what is that?”

The man, confirming Negwig again, was startled.

What he saw earlier wasn’t a mistake.

However, the other drivers in the back, unaware of the situation, jumped out of their cars, banging on the crumpled doors and getting out of the cars.

[Translator – Night]

[Proofreader – Gun]