Level 4 Human in a Ruined World - Chapter 128

———

Chapter 128: Diary of a Wanderer (1)

It would be a lie if I said it wasn’t a waste.

To use the whistle once in a non-combat situation.

Especially today, there were at least three major battles scheduled.

One, a fight with the mutants who might appear, whose strength was unknown.

Two, a battle with the Strongest swords coming down from the north.

Three, the hardships in the unpredictable nighttime dungeon.

But wasn’t there a promise made to Kim Taejoon?

‘He said he would definitely find and meet his family.’

For Kim Tae-jun, it is no exaggeration to say that it was a bet that put the meaning of life on the line.

He chose to be trapped in the whistle, believing only in Yeongwoo’s words that he would find his family.

If he had chosen death instead of becoming a “friend” then, he wouldn’t have suffered the agony of waiting for eternity in the white room.

But he finally made a difficult decision.

‘I have to meet his expectations as well. There’s a way to repay faith with faithfulness.’

For some reason, Yeongwoo lightly sniffled his nose, which had become a little sore, and then spoke politely to the woman in her 50s, who had a nervous expression on her face.

“You’ll be able to meet him soon. Please wait a little longer.”

“…Yes. I understand.”

Kim Seok186.

The wife of VC Soft founder Kim Taejoon and the chairman of the Moi Cultural Foundation.

Yeongwoo didn’t know it well, but the Moi Cultural Foundation was quite famous for supporting struggling artists as a non-profit organization.

So, even though her husband became a target of hatred among gamers and was put on the brink of extinction, Kim Seok, who was as famous as her husband, could save her life.

“What… exactly is the condition of our husband now? I heard he’s with Yeongwoo.”

Kim Seok asked cautiously.

“Uh… about that……”

At this, Yeongwoo glanced briefly at the two pale-faced children behind Kim Seok.

One girl, one boy.

Both looked to be in their mid-teens at most.

Of course, in this world, there are children who commit murder and robbery, but at least the two in front of him were purely “kids.”

“It’s okay. Our kids know roughly what happened to their father.”

It means they saw with their own eyes that their dad was targeted by the public and turned into a monster.

“……”

And hearing this story, Yeongwoo felt a heavy heart.

Fortunately, a dramatic reunion would be arranged soon, but that didn’t mean Kim Taejoon’s situation had changed significantly from before.

The father of those two children no longer had to fight the public, but instead had to traverse various battlefields following the thread of fate.

―In the end, the ending of my life is a bad ending.

Kim Taejoon’s last words, as he accepted the handshake, were not wrong.

“If I blow the whistle, your husband will fall from the sky.”

“From the sky?”

“Yes. He won’t stay here long, so if you have anything to say, you should think about it now.”

“Oh……”

While Kim Seok made a complicated expression, Lim Suna came to inform that the “Restricted Zone” had been prepared.

“Yeongwoo, it’s all set.”

The current time, 12:24 PM.

The place Yeongwoo was at now was the heart of Gwangjin-gu, where all the residents were relocated due to the absence of the Strongest sword.

Calling Kim Taejoon to Gangnam’s heart would have caused panic among the residents, so they moved to a less populated area as much as possible.

‘Well… as expected of my brother, he’s not going to spend a single moment quietly. For some reason, he seems a bit taller in the meantime…’

Jongsu made an amazed expression as he looked around Yeongwoo, Kim Taejoon’s family, and the vast desolate landscape of Gwangjin-gu.

Of course, there were some people in the area.

Taewon Group’s employees secured an area with a diameter of about 400 meters.

However, they only installed barricades sparsely along the perimeter of the designated area and surrounded it with restricted access tape, so they couldn’t completely block the locals from gathering one by one.

“It’s almost time for the appearance of monsters and mutants! Everyone, go back home!”

Although Taewon Group warned as 1 PM approached, it was not enough to curb people’s curiosity.

“Why… why are they doing this all the way out here in Gwangjin-gu?”

“What’s that? Isn’t that our Strongest Sword over there?”

Residents of Gangnam, upon discovering Gangnam Strongest Sword Jeong Yeongwoo, began to murmur.

However, Yeongwoo couldn’t postpone the reunion of Kim Taejoon’s family any longer, as he had to take up a sniping position before 1 PM.

Those who had risked coming here would witness a rare sight.

If you have the courage to endure what you are about to see.

“If your children are surprised, will it be okay?”

Yeongwoo asked one last time.

“I haven’t mentioned it because I have no experience, but when I blow the whistle, it’s not just the chairman who gets summoned.”

“What? Then who else…?”

“Um…”

This time, Yeongwoo’s expression became complicated.

“One more mutant is also contained in this whistle.”

And when he mentioned that he was a giant beast who had the head of a hyena, Kim Seok, who had maintained composure so far, looked shaken.

“A hyena…? Could it be that person is fighting with our husband?”

“Oh! No! Both are… friendly. I confirmed they’re doing well.”

“Oh, that’s a relief. Really, it is.”

“…Yes.”

It was a great relief that they had left the room after watching the returnee through the television.

‘I guess families can think like that. I thought they would be getting along just fine until I watched TV.’

Certainly, family is family.

Yeongwoo looked at Kim Seok and her two children with an even more remorseful heart than before.

Then.

Swoosh-

He brought the whistle near his mouth.

“Then I’ll call the chairman.”

“Yes.”

Kim Seok shifted her gaze to the sky with a resolute expression.

Yeongwoo also slowly looked up at the sky.

“Phew.”

He blew into the whistle vigorously.

Brrriiiiiiiiiiiiiing!

Suddenly, the saturation of the entire area decreased, and an alert message appeared in front of Yeongwoo.

「Friends, Yeongtae, Taejoon are summoned in response to your call.」

“……!”

Yeongtae, Taejoon.

The list of friends who had truly responded to the call had expanded to two.

And indeed.

「Yaaaaaah!」

With a shout that was starting to get annoying, typical of Yeongtae, along with a scream filled with fear rather than a shout from chairman Kim Taejoon.

「Uwaaaaaaaaah!」

The harmony of the two former mutants.

Kwaaaaaaang!

Kuuuuuuung!

Both “people” seemed to have the same height of 3 meters, but their components and masses were completely different, so the sound of landing was completely different as well.

And the tension right after landing was definitely different too.

「Wow, where are we now?」

As a seasoned friend, Yeongtae, upon returning to this world, immediately looked for Yeongwoo’s enemy, or rather, the target to make a deal with.

*Cough…!*

Kim Taejoon habitually coughed in the midst of the dust clouds filling the surroundings, revealing himself to be a novice summon, because he wasn’t actually choking or coughing.

「Ah…?」

Kim Taejoon, who realized this fact belatedly, stopped coughing, and Kim Seok, who sensed her husband’s tone in that brief cough, tossed her words into the dust.

“Honey…?”

She had shown tremendous courage as someone who had only known from the reset notification on the first day that her husband had turned into a “Granite Golem” but had never actually seen him like that.

Because.

*Dudududuk…*

In the dense dust, the sight of two giant silhouettes wriggling was a sight that could only evoke fear as a human.

「What…?」

Eventually, Kim Taejoon, who felt like he had heard something, raised his head and his voice flowed from within the dust cloud.

Seeing this, Yeongwoo moved closer to Kim Seok just in case of any accidents.

He thought Kim Taejoon might jump out in excitement.

“Darling!”

Then Kim Seok called her husband again, and this time, Kim Taejoon, who clearly detected his wife’s voice, emitted an excited voice as expected.

「Seok!」

*Wham!*

He started to push aside the dust to see his wife.

「Is this real? Are the kids here too?」

As soon as Kim Taejoon pronounced “kids,” his movements, which had been swiping through the air, suddenly stopped.

He had a moment of enlightenment.

It was because he belatedly realized that he was currently not in a human body but in the body of a 3-meter Granite Golem.

「…Uh.」

He was afraid that moving this body recklessly might hurt his family, and before that…

「Wait, Seok. I… right now…」

Kim Taejoon stuttered from within the dust.

He realized that if his family saw the body of a monstrous creature, their hearts might be hurt.

「Brother…」

Yeongtae quickly caught on to the situation and immediately flattened himself on the ground.

Compared to Kim Taejoon, who was a rock, Yeongtae was much more beastly, so he tried to shrink his size a bit.

As the dust that had covered them finally began to settle, the surreal bodies of the two figures that had been seen only as murky silhouettes gradually became apparent in this world.

「Seok-ah, wouldn’t the kids be too surprised? How about we close our eyes for a moment? We can still talk like before.」

Kim Taejoon suggested, and Seok responded with a faint smile.

“What are you talking about? How much they’ve been wanting to see you…”

At the same time, she swallowed heavily as she felt the body heat of her two children, who had been holding her hands tightly for some time.

Gulp.

“…Dad’s here.”

With Seok’s line, the dust cloud that had obscured the relationship between the couple finally dissipated.

The skin made of gray-white granite.

Shoulders so broad they felt monstrous, and arms formed even more terrifying than that.

It was a figure sculpted for brutal combat.

Seok, confirming her husband’s physical form, cautiously observed her children’s expressions while feeling their slightly trembling breaths.

However…

“….?”

Contrary to expectations, the children’s expressions weren’t too dark.

No, a faint smile seemed to be delicately wrapped around their faces, repeating the process of appearing and disappearing.

Although there was still some fear in their eyes, it wasn’t entirely absent.

Curious, Seok followed their gaze.

「Ugh.」

Behind her husband, there was a creature that was ambiguous as to whether it was human or beast, making absurd facial expressions and poses frantically.

“Oh.”

Although it wasn’t that the terrifying feeling unique to mutants had completely disappeared, it was quite ridiculous and amusing.

The fact that with that monstrous body, he was doing his best to make the children laugh.

[Friend of Jeong Yeongwoo07 – Hong Yeongtae]

It was only now that Seok realized who the other person, whom Yeongwoo had talked about, spending time with her husband, was.

“Thank goodness… it seems like you have a friend.”

As Seok stuttered her words and laughed more comfortably than before, Kim Taejoon, who hadn’t said a single word so far, opened his eyes wide.

「Darling…! Mo-se, Lee Hyeon-ah!」

Kugung.

Kim Taejoon knelt on the ground, his cheek made of granite distorted, and finally, the family reunion began.

———