Level 4 Human in a Ruined World - Chapter 156

———

Chapter 156: Father (5)

A complete orphan.

“……”

Upon hearing these words, Choi Jongseon couldn’t help but think that Yeongwoo was generous, but Kim Jeonggu’s perspective was entirely different.

‘…Is he completely insane?’

Regardless of whether he was his real father or not, saying he’d kill his father if he made a mistake was not a normal thought.

‘Did I commit a grave sin in my past life? How did I end up with a son like this?’

But he was also a top survivor who became the Strongest Sword in Dobong, surpassing tens of thousands of competitors with his Level 6 physique.

That’s why.

“…Is there no other choice? Besides dying right now.”

At this point, he quickly understood his situation.

“Yes. You said it yourself. And earlier, weren’t you trying to stab me? So, if I kill my father now, it’s self-defense.”

“Ah, I see.”

Kim Jeonggu let out an awkward laugh.

Then, with a casual tone, he said as he slapped his thighs with both arms.

“Well, then. Can’t be helped. Three days? Let’s try it once.”

Three days of challenges to avoid becoming a father.

As Jeonggu gladly accepted and got up from his seat, Jongseon let out a deep sigh of relief.

Although she was relieved not to see the crazy tyrant immediately, the thought of going to Seoul with those two stubborn men still bothered her.

‘…Is this the right choice?’

Jongseon instinctively looked down at her child.

Still, compared to life in the city where she always had to be vigilant as she never knew when a challenger would appear, Seoul seemed better.

At least for a while, there wouldn’t be a challenger to defeat Yeongwoo, so safety should be guaranteed, right?

-Keet!

As the situation seemed to settle, the golden goblin that was with Jongseon darted out to the scene.

Taht!

It was none other than to retrieve the loot from the deceased former Strongest Sword, Gwak Seongwon, who was cut in half.

“Oh, I killed someone today.”

Upon this, Yeongwoo took out the ‘Serpent of Greed’ to check if there were any hidden items.

And seeing this, Kim Jeonggu…

‘What the hell is this, you bastard?’

He clicked his tongue at the scene that seemed to have some procedure for looting.

How many people did he have to kill to have a goblin picking up loot for him?

-Keet!

Soon, Yeongwoo’s relic-level slave brought him the loot and reported.

-Keet!

The first loot removed from the dead was:

「Slime Fingerprint」 – Mutant Gloves

【Can be attached to the wall or ceiling.】

‘Hmm…?’

Mutant Gloves, Slime Fingerprint.

It was a special mobility-related equipment like the ‘Climbing Gear’ or ‘Jump Boots’ he obtained before.

「Climber」 – Mutant Pants

【Leap distance tripled.】

「Jump Boots」 – Unique Shoes

【Movement speed doubles when no enemies are nearby.】

‘It’s not common, but items like this do show up from time to time. I wonder why?’

Increasing jump distance or being able to stick to walls or ceilings wasn’t particularly helpful in regular combat situations.

However, in this world, there were no items made without reason.

It was like the ability resistance he couldn’t understand at first.

‘Where would I even need to climb?’

As Yeongwoo had visited dungeons of other dimensions before, his imagination far exceeded that of an ordinary person.

When he thought of ‘climbing’, it wasn’t a mountain but something like a gigantic dimensional structure.

‘Anyway… it’s good to have many things. They might come in handy someday.’

As Yeongwoo shifted his gaze to the next loot, this time he saw the golden goblin extending a knife directly.

「Unfair Trade」 – Unique One-Handed Sword

【Inflicting wounds on enemies, increasing wearer’s recovery rate.】

-Keekit!

As if they found remarkable loot, the voice exclaimed.

Of course, Yeongwoo agreed.

“It’s a perfectly tailored gear.”

Among Yeongwoo’s survival mechanisms during battles, ‘regeneration’ was undoubtedly one of the most representative.

「Slime Core」 – Mutation Bracelet

【Regenerative power increases dramatically.】

With an amazing regeneration ability that allowed him to recover as long as his head wasn’t smashed, even if his body was torn apart.

On top of that, what currently supported Yeongwoo’s ‘fortitude’ were various damage reduction effects and resistances.

Since he often had to resort to self-harm to reach the bleeding state, this loot was more than welcome for him.

Already a regeneration monster, if recovery rate is added to it, how much tougher would he become?

‘If it’s recovery rate… is it a superior concept to regeneration? Anyway, he had something remarkable. The synergy would be tremendous.’

The only downside was that this equipment was a sword, not an accessory.

‘Of course, I could ask the chairman to acquire a weapon encyclopaedia.’

However, which encyclopaedia to request would depend on the nightly dungeon that would appear today.

‘Then next.’

As Yeongwoo shifted his gaze to the last loot, a dusky leather belt came into view.

「Fireproof Leather」 – Mutation Belt

【Fire resistance 10%】

【–Empty Slot–】

‘A resistance and a slot. Not bad.’

Yeongwoo nodded approvingly as he watched the goblin toss the loot into his spatial pocket, then he titled his head.

“Wait, is that all?”

Yeongwoo’s gaze returned to the Serpent of Greed once again.

Apparently, the snake didn’t sense any other loot nearby, as it remained quietly wrapped around Yeongwoo’s wrist.

“There was only one unique item… But still, being the Strongest Sword, only three items?”

While it was possible that one piece of equipment was devoured, there should still be at least one more mutation gear, shouldn’t there?

If he had dominated all mutants while reigning as the top in Uijeongbu, wouldn’t he have taken all of their mutations?

“……”

Without further thought, Yeongwoo walked briskly toward the corpse of the former Strongest Sword in Uijeongbu.

Then.

Shhwack!

He swung his sword twice, tearing apart the dead man’s clothes to retrieve the loot.

“Oh my.”

“Ah……”

The spectators in the audience grimaced at the corpse’s dishonor, but at the same time, they were amazed.

Because there was a tattoo of a muscular large dog shape engraved on the deceased Strongest Sword’s thigh.

「Ferocious Dog」 – Mutant Tattoo

【Strength increased by 700.】

Once again, it was a tattoo item.

‘Strength increased by 700… Certainly, even if they are of the same grade, tattoo items have higher values.’

And tattoos couldn’t be taken or passed on.

Neither the golden goblin nor the Serpent of Greed treated that tattoo as loot, which was evidence of that.

‘It’s a bit disappointing to leave behind Strength 700. But still, I’ve learned one more thing.’

Without lingering regrets, Yeongwoo turned his gaze away from the corpse.

Then.

“We’re done here. Let’s start heading out.”

He said to Jongseon, gesturing for her to come this way.

Swoosh.

At his signal, the Negwig trotted over, nudging Yeongwoo with its iron hoof.

“Where are we going now? Are we heading to Seoul?”

With her head full of surreal, tyrannical, and horrifying events, Jongseon looked to the south with hopeful eyes.

To this, Yeongwoo said the words she had been waiting for.

“Yes. We’re going to Seoul now. If we go to Gangnam, people there will arrange accommodations for you and the baby. And we can also find someone to take care of the baby while fighting mutants.”

The “people there” that Yeongwoo mentioned referred to the Taewon Group.

“…Is it really happening? Is the crazy development finally over?”

“That’s right.”

Yeongwoo smiled faintly and reassured Jongseon.

Then he climbed onto the front of the Negwig and took the reins.

“I have some more things to take care of here, so I’ll take you to Seoul first.”

“O… Okay.”

Finally, the end of hardship, the beginning of happiness… No, maybe stability?

With hopeful eyes, Jongseon looked at Yeongwoo, and then Kim Jeonggu, who had been watching them both, cautiously spoke up.

“So… do I need to go to Gangnam too?”

To this, Yeongwoo looked down at Kim Jeonggu from atop the Negwig and nodded.

“Of course. You have to accompany me for the next three days.”

“Um… but don’t you have no room for another person to ride?”

Indeed, there was no space for another adult male on the back of the Negwig right now.

Certainly, if they squeezed tightly, they could barely fit one more person… But it seemed unlikely that the other party would agree, thought Kim Jeonggu as he threw out the question.

And indeed.

“Yes. Since Father has no room…”

Scratching his nose, Yeongwoo glanced up and down at Kim Jeonggu.

“It looks like you’ll have to run a bit.”

* * *

‘…Crazy.’

‘That bastard.’

Both Jongseon and Jeonggu naturally thought it was a joke.

Although they had only met today, what kind of situation was it to ask Father to run after them?

But Yeongwoo was serious, and so in the end.

Swooosh, swooosh!

Kim Jeonggu had to run after the Negwig, which was running at a considerable speed.

“Can you keep up? With this speed, it won’t take long to get to Gangnam.”

Yeongwoo said, turning back to look at Jeonggu, who nodded vigorously, sweating profusely.

Dobong-gu being directly under Uijeongbu, which was Jeonggu’s jurisdiction, he wanted to leave this area as quickly as possible.

“What’s… what’s going on?”

“…Isn’t that our Strongest Sword?”

As fate would have it, as Yeongwoo’s group began passing through the bustling streets of Dobong-gu, the residents outside murmured to themselves upon seeing Jeonggu, who was practically being dragged along, with only a rope around his neck.

‘Ugh, thanks to that kid, we’re all being sold out.’

Meanwhile, Yeongwoo was observing that the wanted poster’s tracking symbol was still in its original form.

If this epic-grade fountain pen wasn’t lying, the middle-aged man who was now running behind him was indeed his father.

“Is it true that my uncle passed away?”

As Yeongwoo asked this, Jeonggu furrowed his brow at the term ‘Uncle,’ seeming to not understand the question at first, then realizing it late.

“Why would I lie about that, no matter what?”

The tone was different from usual, indicating that this was likely true.

“What about other relatives?”

“…I only had one brother. But even though he got married and had children… As far as I know, they’re all dead.”

Jeonggu’s steps, which had been running vigorously, noticeably slowed down.

Then.

Thunk.

He came to a complete stop where he stood.

The fact that he was now left alone in this world with his brother’s death hit him anew.

“……”

Of course, according to the claims of that monster that fell from the sky, Jeonggu still had some blood ties left.

“Um, Father? Are you okay?”

Although his brother had died, hadn’t he acquired a son?

This is the son who casually tells his father that he will ride a horse and that he should run himself.

Clank!

Suddenly, Jeonggu’s illegitimate son jumped off the Negwig and looked apologetic.

“I’m sorry. I misspoke. I didn’t know that my uncle really existed.”

“……”

Uncle.

It was still an awkward term for Jeonggu, who had not yet recognized Yeongwoo as his son.

Why should my brother become this lunatic’s uncle?

“My brother was a much better person than me, so from now on…”

He couldn’t even finish the long afterword, saying, ‘I hope you don’t use the word ‘uncle’ so casually.’

Because.

Swoosh!

Suddenly, a beam of light shot down from the sky, and a black metal card appeared out of nowhere.

“What… what’s this?”

As Jeonggu retreated in surprise, Yeongwoo grabbed the card from the air and began undressing abruptly.

————