Level 4 Human in a Ruined World

Chapter 21

Chapter 21: Overnight Lodging (2)

Room 208 was a typical motel room.

It had a double-sized bed in a space of about 6 square meters, and underneath the desk, serving as a dressing table, there was a small refrigerator.

The bathroom was immediately to the right of the entrance where Yeongwoo stood.

The proximity of the toilet and the sink was worrisome, and it seemed like one’s shoulders might touch the sink when dealing with important matters.

“It’s incredibly narrow.”

“Yeah.”

Yeongwoo and Yechan briefly looked at the entire room, then sighed and pushed their bicycles upstairs to the entrance.

The bicycles, dirtied from the road, left black marks on the floor, but it didn’t seem to matter.

Thud.

Seeing the bicycle lying diagonally with a bag full of stones, Yeongwoo confirmed that the door was locked, took off his shoes, and entered the room.

Then, he realized belatedly, ‘There’s light in the room.’

It was probably part of the “night stay service.”

‘I wonder if the water will come out properly.’

Yeongwoo’s gaze fell on the shower inside the narrow bathroom.

Physically, he wasn’t very tired, but mentally, he was exhausted.

He had experienced too much in one day – the argument at the currency exchange, the first murder, the Strongest Sword, the battle with goblins, and the confrontation with Jang Seonbok at the Gumi Private Hospital.

“Sigh.”

After confirming the locked door again, Yeongwoo put down his shield and early bird on the floor and unpacked his backpack.

‘Can I take this off?’

He wondered while feeling around to remove the makeshift knife sheath from his waist.

Eventually, he found a small button attached to the back of the belt in the side-rear.

Using his fingernail, he pressed it deeply, and the seam of the belt loosened, releasing the structure.

Click.

Finally, having released the knife sheath, Yeongwoo undid his own belt and, while feeling around his waist, said to Yechan, who was also fumbling with his sheath.

“I’ll wash up first. If someone tries to come in, let me know.”

“Oh, okay.”

Yeongwoo, without hesitation, undressed and entered the bathroom.

Suddenly, the mirror above the sink reflected him.

His exposed body looked like decaying flesh covered in black and blue bruises all over.

On the other hand, the title of “Strongest Sword” on top of his head was shining dazzlingly, almost boastful, as if flaunting what he had gained as the price for all those bruises.

“Ah.”

Finally recalling something, Yeongwoo touched the spiral-shaped tattoo on his left chest with his hand.

Then, something happened.

Pod!

The title that had been attached to his head disappeared without a trace.

“It’s touch-sensitive. Not funny at all.”

Yeongwoo stood in front of the shower with his head cleared.

And with a slightly nervous heart, he turned on the water.

Squeak!

What happened next was quite surprising.

Splash!

Without a moment of silence, the water gushed out immediately.

“Wow, oh my god.”

As Yeongwoo received the pouring stream of water, he unintentionally exclaimed.

Even though it was just a shower in a single day, it felt like the first time he had taken a shower in about a decade.

***

After Yeongwoo finished showering in a good mood, Yechan, who had been sitting at the desk, approached and offered something.

Swipe-

“What’s this?”

“It was in the refrigerator.”

What Yechan held out was none other than a can of orange juice.

“And you could take this out without paying?”

As Yeongwoo received the juice, an information notice came to his mind.

* All items provided are not allowed to be taken out of the room.

Consuming the drinks provided in the room is allowed, but taking them with the intention of stocking up is not permitted.

‘Well, that makes sense.’

While sipping the juice, Yeongwoo looked around the room again.

‘…Oddly enough, there’s no computer.’

Are there motels without computers in this day and age?

Yeongwoo smirked, thinking that maybe the system deliberately left it out.

After all, would this crazy world rent a computer overnight for a mere 3,000 won?

‘Let’s be satisfied with being able to shower.’

Yeongwoo stared at the scattered clothes on the floor, then suddenly realized.

‘Ah.’

The fact that he was currently naked.

“You… You should wash up too. I need to put on a gown.”

As Yeongwoo awkwardly grabbed the gown on the table, Yechan nodded hesitantly and carefully undressed.

Slick, swish.

“…”

For some reason, it was an embarrassing moment.

Deliberately making a loud noise, Yeongwoo lay down on the bed as Yechan awkwardly took off his clothes.

Plop.

With a sound, the sheet slid down, relieving his tired body.

Then, a tremendous sense of relief enveloped Yeongwoo.

“Phew…”

Finally, the end of a long day.

「01:16:32」

The abnormal weather timer was still displayed at the top of the field of view, but he could no longer pay attention to it.

The sleep that had been pushed in during the digging moments pressed against his eyelids.

Somewhere, there seemed to be a sound of water pouring, but even this was soon forgotten. And then…

Bang.

Bang, bang!

Thunk, bang!

“Oh, who the hell is banging on someone’s door at this hour?”

Yeongwoo, in the midst of half-sleep, had such thoughts before abruptly waking up.

“Gasp.”

He remembered where he had fallen asleep just before.

It was the motel where the night stay service had begun.

In other words, in the midst of this insane world.

Thunk!

The loud noise echoed again.

This time, he could accurately pinpoint the origin of the sound.

“Is anyone in there? Please open the door!”

Someone outside was banging on the door without any consideration.

「00:06:46」

The timer at the top of his vision was pointing to the three-minute mark.

“I must have slept for more than an hour.”

Seeing that even the memory of falling asleep was hazy, it seemed like an intense nap.

Swish.

As soon as he got up, he was wide awake.

Yeongwoo first inspected the room for signs of intrusion, such as missing items or someone else’s footprints.

“Ugh…”

In the meantime, Yechan, who had been sleeping on the floor, half-opened his eyes and raised his head.

“W-What’s happening?”

“Looks like someone is looking for a room.”

Yeongwoo checked the bathroom one last time and picked up the early bird lying on the floor before approaching the entrance.

Thud, thud!

Thud!

Meanwhile, the unidentified figure continued to pound on the room door as if they were about to break it down.

‘They guarantee the right to sleep, but does that mean it doesn’t guarantee a peaceful sleep?’

Nevertheless, if he opened the door, would the other person be able to enter immediately?

‘I distinctly remember that if you rent a room, you can restrict others from entering.’

As Yeongwoo had such thoughts while placing his hand on the doorknob, a familiar text box appeared.

「When you open the door, a barrier will be created that allows only the lodger to enter.」

「If you wish to share a room, confirm the other person with the barrier, then change the room rate and maximum occupancy.」

Without hesitation, Yeongwoo opened the door.

Swoosh!

As the door opened, a blue barrier rose menacingly above the door, blocking the fist of the outsider who had been about to knock on it.

Thump!

“Ah!”

“…!”

Both Yeongwoo and the outsider were startled.

The outsider was surprised because the face of the room owner was exactly the same as the one on the commemorative coin.

On the other hand, Yeongwoo was taken aback for a different reason.

‘What… what is this?’

His surprise was due to the fact that the person outside was a woman.

Not just any woman, but a woman carrying a backpack filled with various weapons and petrified food.

In addition, a small dagger was stuck in the hip knife sheath, a one-handed sword was in her right hand, and a steel round shield was held in her left hand.

The backpack was neatly tied with a rope containing an axe, an extra one-handed sword, and another steel shield.

‘Could I still be dreaming? What on earth is this person doing?’

She was the most meticulously armed person he had seen so far, and judging by the amount of luggage she carried, her strength and stamina values seemed unusually high.

“What is this…?”

Yeongwoo unintentionally mumbled to himself.

The woman, looking at Yeongwoo’s head, tilted her head.

“Uh… isn’t it?”

It seemed odd to her that the title of Gumi’s Strongest Sword, similar to the one in the commemorative coin, was missing.

Even her first impression was surprisingly… ordinary, unlike what she imagined.

“Are you not Gumi’s Strongest Sword? But why is there nothing? The Strongest Sword is…”

As the woman continued her sentence, she suddenly closed her mouth.

Then, she looked straight into Yeongwoo’s eyes.

“No, more importantly, there’s no time now. Please open the door!”

「00:03:41」

As the woman said, time was running out.

However, Yeongwoo had no intention of playing the hero even to the extent of getting up from his bed.

“Check other rooms.”

With this statement, Yeongwoo intended to close the door.

But then, the woman began banging on the barrier like crazy.

“This is the last room! No one else is taking me in!”

“Of course. So, find another vacant room.”

Creak.

The gap of the door began to narrow further.

At this point, the woman shouted frantically.

“Hey! I’m pregnant!”

And this strategy worked reasonably well.

Yeongwoo, who had left a gap of about one centimeter, stopped moving.

“Heh.”

The woman, not expecting the door to close, reflexively flinched and looked nervously at Yeongwoo.

“I-I’m serious. But no one believes me.”

It was understandable since the woman’s belly showed no signs of pregnancy.

If her claim was true, she might be in the early stages of pregnancy.

“You’re pregnant… and you’re still wandering around like this?”

“I have to protect the child. If I die, our baby will die too.”

The woman’s gaze as she spoke was quite serious.

“What about your husband?”

“He was killed by goblins.”

“…”

By this point, Yeongwoo had nothing more to say.

Then, Yechan, who had been listening in the background, spoke quietly.

“Since we’re all awake now… why not let her in?”

“I barely slept for an hour. Should I stay up all night because of her? My stamina won’t be able to handle it tomorrow.”

“I’ll keep watch. And if we take away her weapons and tie her up, it should be fine.”

Yechan seemed determined to let the woman in.

After all, he had shown a particularly vulnerable side to the kids from the beginning.

Given that, it was hard for Yechan to simply dismiss the claim that she was pregnant.

“If we tie her up unarmed, there shouldn’t be a big problem… Do we really need to go through all that trouble?”

Yeongwoo had mixed feelings as he thought about it.

Considering the situation, it didn’t seem necessary to go to such lengths.

In any case, it appeared that the couple had challenged goblins before, and only the wife had survived.

Of course, assuming the opponent’s claim was true.

「00:02:11」

The remaining time had decreased to the two-minute range.

There was really no time now.

“Are you really going to do this? There are two of you over there. Just tie me up as the student suggested, please let me in.”

“…”

After a brief hesitation, Yeongwoo decided to let the woman in.

“Wait.”

Seeing a keypad in the corner of the barrier, Yeongwoo pressed ‘3’.

Beep.

「The total number of occupants has been changed to 3.」

「Would you like to set a lodging fee?」

At this point, Yeongwoo looked back at the woman.

“What about the money?”

“Huh?”

“How much can you pay? Check how much time is left and answer well.”

“Oh.”

The woman, after a moment of blank expression, quickly regained her composure and took something out of her pocket.

Swish.

Ironically, it was a commemorative coin with Yeongwoo’s face on it.

“This is all I have. I’ll give you this.”

To say she would give him everything was a bit of an overstatement.

The woman offered a single commemorative coin, equivalent to 10,000 karma.

Anyway, considering that the room’s rental fee was 3,000 karma, it was quite a lucrative deal.

“Yes, that’s fine.”

When Yeongwoo set the lodging fee to 10,000 karma, the blue barrier turned green.

「Hopeful occupants, please pay the lodging fee and enter.」

This message was visible to both Yeongwoo and the woman.

“Should I just go in there…?”

The woman cautiously pushed the coin through the green barrier.

Clink.

As the coin passed through, it seemed to be enveloped by a green protective shield, preserving it until the entry process was completed.

This system prevented room owners from taking the lodging fee and closing the door, a practice known as ‘evasion.’

Eventually, when the woman fully entered the room, the protective shield was removed from the coin.

Then, simultaneously, the woman’s gloomy aura, which had been visible through the face, dissipated.

“This is an outrageously expensive one-night stay. If I knew, I would’ve come earlier.”

After placing the commemorative coin on the table, the woman looked alternately at Yeongwoo and Yechan, asking.

“Your gown looks nice. Can I wash up too?”