Level 4 Human in a Ruined World - Chapter 58

———

Chapter 58: Land of Chaos, Gyeonggi Province (1)

“….”

Jongsu alternately looked at the two Audis at Yeongwoo’s words about the opportunity to tear apart.

Then, tightly gripping his facial muscles, he made a smiling face.

“Ah, where would I go? If it weren’t for you, I would have died at the hands of those brats long ago.”

While saying this, Jongsu looked at the five headless corpses with a grim expression.

“Since the world has changed, the way of survival has also changed. Still, I think you, hyung, are the kindest among the strong.”

With these words, Jongsu moved towards the white Audi.

“By the way, the yellow is too conspicuous, isn’t it? I wonder what kind of guys are in Seoul again.”

Suddenly.

Jongsu, who had opened the driver’s door, sat on the seat.

Then, he started the engine, emitting a loud noise.

Vroom…!

The sound was so loud that it would be impossible not to notice if there were other bandits nearby.

Upon this, Yeongwoo looked around, and commanded the goblins to search the bodies around.

– Kit!

As soon as the order was given, the goblin that popped out like an arrow returned with a loot of 8,000 karma.

It was an absurdly insufficient amount to repay Jongsu’s debt of 69,000.

‘They were much poorer than I thought.’

Was the profit from robbery not as good as expected?

It was clear that the amount of cash they had was low compared to the number of heads, even though they could invest the money they took from others into their stats.

‘Well, since the time for monster appearances has passed, there aren’t many ways to make money. Maybe robbery or daily quests.’

Yeongwoo’s gaze naturally shifted to the quest log.

[Daily] “Daily Ration”

Remove the petrified state of any food.

1,000 karma

[Daily] “Scout”

Approach the monster until the distance is 10 meters.

3,000 karma

Surprisingly, the daily quests of the lord were lower in difficulty than any other region seen so far.
‘Scout seems to be fixed in any region… and the other one is chosen randomly.’

Now, instead of commuting to work at the company, everyone would continue their livelihood through hunting, just as the first day’s prediction came true.

The daily quest even seemed to induce a confrontation with monsters.

Moreover, even if 10 meters were reached and the quest was completed, it was a distance that could not guarantee survival.

‘But with a reward of 3,000 karma and only one opportunity per day, it’s a job that can’t be avoided.’

Current time, 6:36 PM.

As expected, there would be no more monster appearances today based on the patterns so far.

In other words, Yeongwoo, who doesn’t need to avoid monsters, can’t immediately perform the scout quest.

Then, what remains is…

“….”

Yeongwoo approached the waiting golden goblin and looked at it.

“Do you have any petrified food in your bag? I think I’ve collected quite a bit.”

When Yeongwoo asked this, the goblin rolled its eyes and opened its right index finger, pointing to the sky.

-Cat!

Then, letters with a blue light above its index finger appeared.

Then, above the goblin’s index finger, characters with a blue light appeared.

“Huh…?”

It was none other than the status of items in the dimensional pocket.

|Food: 21

|Tools: 13

|Equipment: 11

|Special: 1

Like a system window, the goblin had its own interface.

“13 tools… including things like ropes.”

As Yeongwoo examined the goblin’s displayed inventory, he paused when he reached the last category, ‘Special.’

“Special? What’s this?”

When Yeongwoo asked, the goblin took out a small black gem from the pocket.

-Kit!

As the goblin raised the gem, a tooltip appeared in Yeongwoo’s view.

「Kekidaite」 – Heroic Gem

【Slot: Mental Resistance 10%】

“Ah.”

Kekidaite.

It was an item purchased along with this slave goblin.

A kind of enhancement item that can be worn in an empty equipment slot.

‘I’ve never seen Mental Resistance before, but… I bought it just in case. Maybe I should use it now.’

Through the Epic necklace ‘Antinomy’ seen last time, the existence of elemental resistances such as fire and cold was confirmed.

The effects of those options could be easily guessed, as they were intuitive.

However, it was different for Mental Resistance.

‘There’s no reference for this. It’s not a commonly used concept in games either.’

Therefore, for Yeongwoo, it was only a vague guess that it might be related to powerful mutants or aliens.

‘Anyway, since there are quite a few empty slots, there’s no reason not to use it.’

Yeongwoo immediately opened the equipment window and selected items with empty slots.
Pop!

「Furious Goblin」 – Mutant Ring

【Daily Strength Increase: 100】

【–Empty Slot–】

「Assassin’s Finger」 – Artifact Ring

【10% Increase in Stats in PvP】

【–Empty Slot–】

「Fearful Cat」 – Saga Compass

【Indicates threatening targets】

【–Empty Slot–】

He currently had a total of 3 gem slots.

‘Spacious.’

The problem was where to insert Kekidaite.

According to common sense in games, such enhancement gems were usually disposable.

‘Or you have to pay something when removing them.’

Since there was no specific guide on gem wear, Yeongwoo’s speculation was that ‘once you put in a gem, you can’t remove or replace it.’

Considering the current situation, it was better to prepare for the worst.

So, in the end, Yeongwoo’s choice was.

Ping!

「Assassin’s Finger」 – Artifact Ring

【10% Increase in Stats in PvP】

【Mental Resistance 10%】

It was the artifact ring called “Assassin’s Finger.”

While Furious Goblin might become useless someday when the total stats reach tens of thousands, Assassin’s Finger seemed like it would remain useful for a very long time since its effects were proportional to the possessed stats.

Of course, Fearful Cat also had high potential for long-term use, but since it was a Epic-grade item, Yeongwoo decided to put it on hold.

‘You never know, there might come a time when you have to dismantle high-grade equipment to obtain something or make a trade.’

This was intuition gained from playing numerous games during the era of internet broadcasting.

“Hyung-nim! Aren’t you going?”

Timely, Jongsu stuck his head out of the car window and asked.

In response, Yeongwoo took out two pieces of bread wrapped in plastic from the dimensional pocket and walked towards Jongsu’s white Audi.

“Do you have any money left? Let’s eat this.”

“What…?”

Just as Jongsu was about to ask, a palm-sized stone flew towards his forehead during the moment of his curiosity.

Hwaet!

“Ouch!”

Startled, Jongsu instinctively caught the stone, and Yeongwoo faintly smiled as he spoke.

“It’s good to have a simple snack before we leave. There’s also a daily quest.”

“Yes? What?”

It was only after hearing Yeongwoo’s words that Jongsu realized what had just flown towards him.

“Ah…”

Come to think of it, he hadn’t even had a single meal today.

And Yeongwoo, who had also been fasting, just found out about it as well.

The hunger that had been felt for a long time was now piercing through their backs.

[Cream Bread: 1,000]

What Yeongwoo pulled out was a cream bread that filled one hand, and the price was a whopping 1,000 karma.

‘1,000…? The bike was priced at 3,000, so does this make sense now?’

Up to now, on the second day of the reset, 1,000 karma was undoubtedly a large sum for the absolute majority.

In other words, the prices were set unreasonably high.

‘The reason the quest reward is 1,000 karma must be here. It means it guarantees just one meal.’

However, except for the Scout quest, each region had different quests every day, so it was limited to guaranteeing one meal for today.

Shuaat.

As Yeongwoo released the petrification of the cream bread, a white smoke rose, revealing the original appearance of the packaging hidden beneath the gray crust.

“1,000? The price is outrageous.”

Jongsu, who had just released the petrification, also seemed dumbfounded, muttering in disbelief.

“I guess they want to squeeze out more money.”

When Yeongwoo looked up at the sky, as if he had been waiting, the quest reward dropped down.

Ping!

A crimson coin corresponding to 1,000 karma.

‘In the end, it’s just breaking even.’

Yeongwoo, whose entire fortune was now back to 8,000 karma, handed it over to Jongsu.

“I’ll repay the 8,000. So, there’s 61,000 remaining, right?”

However, Jongsu didn’t accept it.

“Hyung-nim, I’ll feel sick eating while you’re repaying me. Just pay it back all at once later.”

“Pay it back all at once?”

“Yes. I don’t really need the money right now anyway.”

After brief replies, Jongsu quickly ate the bread, confirmed that Yeongwoo got into the back seat, and stepped on the accelerator.

“Are we leaving right away? You said there’s not much time.”

It seemed like Jongsu was now thinking of entrusting his fate to Yeongwoo, as he rushed him forward.

So, while tearing open the bread packaging, Yeongwoo nodded his head.

“Yes. Let’s leave right away. We can eat while moving.”

* * *

6:40 PM.

Approximately 1 hour and 26 minutes left until the advertiser arrives.

The white Audi carrying Yeongwoo and Jongsu continued to speed along the highway.

“That should be the downtown area of Yeosu, but I don’t see anything.”

Jongsu pointed to the right side of the road and shrugged.

Yeongwoo turned his head towards Yeosu, but there was no excitement or anticipation.

“There’s no need to go there. The fact that there’s a daily quest means a mutant has been caught.”

“Ah… I didn’t know that.”

“Most people don’t.”

The daily quest was one of the basic benefits that applied once a mutant was defeated on the second day.

Therefore, even for someone like Jongsu, who could be considered skilled, it was natural not to know such a fact.

“Do you only visit cities with mutants or monsters, Hyung-nim?”

“Yes. For now, that’s right. Since farming is the main objective.”

“Then what about after all the farming is done?”

“…”

When the conversation reached this point, Yeongwoo fell silent.

It was doubtful whether there would be a point when farming for survival would end, and even from the beginning, he didn’t know exactly how this world had changed.

Even if the reset happened suddenly, no one explained the background of why extraterrestrial merchants suddenly started doing business.

Moreover, in a while, he would meet an advertiser who came from outer space.

An advertisement…

Who, what, and why would someone use Earth as an advertising medium?

He didn’t know, but it might be related to the reset.

‘…It’s a headache. I don’t understand anything.’

Just as a real headache seemed to be coming, when Yeongwoo was about to touch his forehead, Jongsu mumbled from the driver’s seat.

“Ah, what’s that again?”

It had a subtly ominous tone, so Yeongwoo quickly stretched his head forward to look ahead.

Swish-

Then.

Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom…!

A powerful charge from the opposite side, a single cow appeared in their sight.

‘A cow…?’

And right after that.

“Yaaah!”

Shouting and chasing behind the cow, around a dozen people also appeared.

Seeing that the distance to the cow was not easily closing, it was clear that they were closer to ‘ordinary people’, and therefore, what Yeongwoo and Jongsu were seeing now was…

“Hyung-nim, are those people hunting cows because they don’t have food?”

“Exactly. It’s not that they don’t have food, but they don’t have money to release the petrification.”

“Ah. But cows are living creatures, so they won’t turn into stone.”

Understanding the situation, Jongsu casually tapped his knees as if he got it.

It meant that some humans had regressed to the era of hunting.

———