Level 4 Human in a Ruined World - Chapter 101

———

Chapter 101: Strongest Sword Assembly (3)

“Ah…”

An exhalation burst out from Jo Sangik at once.

At least he understood what Yeongwoo’s response meant, that the distribution of the binary choice compensation would be divided fairly.

“Mr. Yeongwoo, considering all the unfortunate events today… let’s just let it go.”

As Jo Sangik cautiously approached the golden sphere and spoke, other Strongest Swords also noticed that something was going strangely awry.

“Sir, what does that mean?”

“What’s good and what’s not?”

“What… What could possibly be bad here…?”

While everyone harbored suspicions, none of them dared to imagine.

None of them had anticipated that the newly appointed Strongest Sword would consistently choose ‘Grant 30,000 karma.’

≪Choice Reward≫

[3,000,000 karma]

Or

[Grant 30,000 karma to all residents in the area]

Except for Yeongwoo and Jo Sangik, the rest naturally assumed that 3,000,000 karma would be selected as the reward for dealing with mutants.

Everyone present had always done so, and therefore, it was common sense.

However.

“When I first faced the binary choice, a friend who was with me said this.”

“……?”

When Yeongwoo diverged into an irrelevant story, the Strongest Swords who had been focusing on him initially wore somewhat vacant expressions.

“…What did he say?”

The only one who somewhat entertained his words was Songpa’s Strongest Sword Oh Yeonhee.

Upon this, Yeongwoo quietly raised his hand toward the golden sphere and touched the ground with ‘Dragon’s Legacy’.

It was an implicit warning not to interfere with his impending actions.

“He said to choose 3,000,000 no matter what. He doesn’t want to give money to villains, and he wants to become stronger first to personally eliminate injustice.”

Upon hearing this, the Strongest Swords nodded with solemn expressions.

“That makes sense.”

“Even though we don’t know who he is, he spoke rightly.”

They too had once faced the first binary choice and had all chosen to monopolize the 3,000,000.

“So, what did you, Strongest Sword, do?”

Finally, Jo Sangik, who had begun to be drawn into this conversation, spoke for the first time.

This naturally redirected the attention back to Yeongwoo, and the Strongest Sword in question scratched his forehead in response.

“I chose 30,000.”

“Excuse me…?”

“Why did you do that?”

The Strongest Swords not only expressed surprise but also revealed feelings bordering on discomfort.

Because Yeongwoo’s statement just now was tantamount to negating them.

Fighting mutants meant staking their lives.

As such, a Strongest Sword who successfully dealt with mutants would inevitably have a survival instinct as strong as their reward psychology, which ultimately led to the choice of monopolizing 3,000,000 in the binary choice.

In other words, whether it was a scoundrel like Jang Jeong-ho or a celebrity like Oh Yeonhee, they all had their own justifications for monopolizing 3,000,000.

“No, why did you choose 30,000? You directly killed mutants, right? Then you deserve a reward equal to that. You don’t need to pretend to be a good person for no reason.”

Seongbuk’s Strongest Sword Lee Yoobin spoke with a slightly angered tone.

Of course, since Yeongwoo had no intention of needlessly provoking the Strongest Sword, he quickly waved his hands.

“No, I’m not trying to talk about who’s good or bad. At that time, I also struggled a lot with choosing the 3,000,000 monopoly.”

“Then why bring it up now…?”

This time, Dongjak’s Strongest Sword Lee Hanwook muttered under his breath.

Upon this, Yeongwoo finally got to the point.

“I just want to ask for your understanding. From now on, I will choose to distribute 30,000 karma in front of you all.”

“…!”

As expected, the Strongest Swords were shocked, so Yeongwoo continued without pause.

“Previously, there was a high probability that even bad people would receive 30,000 karma. But now?”

“…?”

“Thanks to all of you, isn’t order restored now? There may still be criminals, but there are far fewer than before. However, the need for money has increased.”

Like soothing children, Yeongwoo gently coaxed the gathered monsters from various places.

Of course, it was a well-known fact that all the resources allocated for the Strongest Sword, including personnel and vehicles, were all money.

“It doesn’t mean you have to choose 30,000 karmas from now on. Because 3,000,000 karma is by no means a small amount of money. However…”

After Yeongwoo said this much, he counted the number of people in this place with his fingers.

“There are nine people here including myself. If we receive 3,000,000 karma and divide it, how much will each person get?”

It wasn’t a complicated calculation.

Roughly 330,000 karma.

“At least for today, giving up that much money isn’t a big deal. If each of us gives up about 300,000, we can provide the residents of the area with several times their daily income.”

“Are you suggesting volunteer work at this time? Ha, we’re not UNICEF.”

Sure enough, Jang Jeongho, famous for being a scoundrel, grumbled with a wrinkled forehead.

But just now, someone was moved by Yeongwoo’s impromptu speech, and that was none other than…

“Um… If Strongest Sword chooses to distribute 30,000, where does that money go?”

It was Yongsan’s Strongest Sword Kim Doha.

Although the mutants came from Gangdong-gu, he asked just in case because the place where the deceased was located was Yongsan-gu.

“That’s….”

Yeongwoo hesitated.

He had never caught mutants from other areas.

So from Yeongwoo’s perspective, he had to choose 30,000 karma even more.

This kind of data had to be obtained when there was an opportunity.

“To be honest, I don’t know. This is my first time catching mutants from other areas.”

“Ah….”

Because Yeongwoo gave such an honest answer, Yongsan’s Strongest Sword couldn’t continue to indulge him.

‘He’s quite good at speaking… Maybe he’s not good at politics because he’s still young.’

Although Jo Sangik, who had been quietly listening, thought so, Yeongwoo’s honesty was not due to his lack of ability to handle situations.

“Well, I think that’s enough explanation, right? I would be more than happy if money were distributed to Yongsan, our assembly hall, but Gangdong-gu will also become a member of the federation soon, right? It’s not a big loss.”

Fundamentally, it was because he had power.

If someone were to oppose him, he had the power to turn them into a corpse, just like Jeong Hyunsik did.

“Then I’ll proceed under the assumption that there’s no objection.”

As Yeongwoo said this and manipulated the golden sphere, the other Strongest Swords only gaped.

‘I feel dizzy.’

It was because his actions were so similar to those of the deceased Jeong Hyunsik.

Of course, Jeong Hyunsik, as Gangnam’s Strongest Sword, wouldn’t have distributed 30,000 karma to the elite Strongest Swords, but still.

Thunk!

Pah-aat!

In the meantime, Yeongwoo ordered the golden sphere to distribute 30,000 karma to the Strongest Swords, whether they liked it or not.

And then.

Kwaa-at!

The sphere quickly started spinning.

Piyung!

Suddenly, it soared into the sky, drawing a golden arc in the sky.

“Huh?”

“Uh…!”

Except for Jo Sangik, all the Strongest Swords in Seoul were greatly shocked by the ‘malfunction’ of the sphere, something they had never seen before.

The ‘3,000,000 karma monopoly’ they had been choosing all along was all about the sphere disappearing from its place after the post-processing.

Shuaaaaa!

And the golden sphere that had risen to the dark side of the sky in the meantime…

Puperpung!

It exploded into a golden burst in front of the Strongest Swords eyes.

“Wow!”

“Oh my god.”

“It’s like a fireworks show.”

Dongdaemun, Mapo, Seongbuk, Songpa, Yongsan, Dongjak, Gwanak, Seocho.

The eight monsters of Seoul momentarily forgot their worries and watched as the sky was filled with golden light.

Then.

“Huh?”

As the golden threads in the sky…

Suaaaaa…!

As if rain, they fell to the ground.

Chelgeureok.

Some of the Strongest Swords felt something more than just surprise, dropping their weapons.

It was a sight too miraculous for an ordinary human to comprehend.

“…This is called a golden rain.”

Jo Sangik said, extending his palm through the golden raindrops.

And this was a subtle hint that he had seen a golden rain once before with the newly appointed Strongest Sword, implying a political statement as well.

“Oh, golden rain.”

“Golden rain….”

“Haha.”

Regardless of Jo Sangik’s intentions, the bewildered Strongest Sword repeated the word ‘golden rain’ like babies learning a new word.

And finally.

《Jeong Yeongwoo07, the Gyeongbuk’s Strongest Sword, has given up the 3,000,000 karma monopoly and gifted 30,000 karma to all residents of Yongsan.》

《30,000 karma will soon be issued in the form of commemorative coins. Get ready.》

The commemorative coins, the final event of the golden rain show, were issued.

“Commemorative coins?”

The response came without exception.

As someone muttered this, Jo Sangik pretended to know once again.

“Pay attention and catch them as they appear in the blink of an eye.”

And indeed, with a clicking sound above everyone’s heads, three golden coins appeared.

“Oh!”

“Wow!”

“What’s this again?”

The Strongest Swords, who had been standing with bright expressions so far, showed ghost-like quick movements when the coins suddenly appeared.

Pop, pop, pop!

Then, after carefully examining the shape of the coins in their hands, as if they had made a promise, everyone looked at Yeongwoo.

This was because the face of Gyeongbuk’s Strongest Sword Jeong Yeongwoo was engraved on the coins.

Then Yeongwoo, looking at the commemorative coins in his own hands, calmly said.

“If you distribute 30,000 karma, you can also have your face engraved on the coins.”

This symbolic currency was also easy to use as a political propaganda tool.

But everyone knew that no one in this gathering would easily attempt it.

Before the fact that it would be difficult to get back some of the coins distributed to residents, it was a matter of direction.

Choosing to distribute 30,000 and starting to receive some of the coins back would give the public significant power from that point on.

It was like politicians pretending to bow down to the people only during election season.

‘Even the coins need to be collected every day.’

The Strongest Swords of Seoul felt a strong opposition to this.

On the other hand, if they chose the 3,000,000 monopoly.

‘At least I’ll be comfortable.’

‘And I’ll be the only one getting stronger.’

In a way, this was the fundamental reason why the Strongest Swords had been choosing the 300,000 monopoly without any other concerns.

They wanted to get stronger themselves.

Although becoming the strongest might be difficult, they still desired to reign as the absolute authority within their own districts, which led them to choose the karma monopoly.

So, from their perspective, Yeongwoo, who had been choosing to distribute 30,000 from the first selection, seemed really odd.

And Yeongwoo himself.

‘If this continues, we won’t last more than a few days. The mutants are becoming too powerful too quickly.’

Just now, Gangdong couldn’t handle the mutants alone.

And the same was true for Gwanak.

Why couldn’t those who had been monopolizing 3,000,000 karma every day perform their roles properly?

It was simple.

The difficulty of the survival game called the arrival of mutants exceeded the growth rate of each Strongest Sword.

So what should they do?

Just as Yeongwoo was pondering the dark future, a messenger rushed over to where the Strongest Swords were.

Tap-tat!

“It’s… urgent news!”
[TL/N: Again? Seriously?]

“…?”

What’s this now?

Standing still where the golden rain had ceased, the Strongest Swords wondered what news the messenger had brought.

———