BXBX NOVEL Chapter 183
Chapter 183
Chapter 183: Everyone’s Strongest Sword (3)
Charging a protection fee from the best swords… no, charging a fee for their lives.
As Yeongwoo boldly manipulated the audience with his plan, Jeonggu approached quietly and asked in a very soft voice.
“Hey, are you… really okay? You haven’t faced dragons or fought before.”
It was a question about what would happen if he dragged mutants from as many as ten different areas, just as Jang Jeongho of Dongdaemun had said.
“Ten…? Honestly, it might be a bit much, but not all of them are dragons… there’s nothing we can’t handle.”
He said, relying on the collection effect of the defense equipment catalogue.
[Collection Effect: 20]
|Increases the effect of designated equipment by 50%
【Reduces enemy attack power by 75%.】
Although it might take some time to take them down, he had faith that they wouldn’t lose.
And above all.
‘In any case, if we want to install a generator in the returnee’s room, we need to let our friends accumulate a lot of public merits.’
Therefore, Yeongwoo intended to call his friends up to three times during today’s “hunting” in Gwangjin-gu.
In other words, even if ten mutants came rushing in during today’s battle, it wouldn’t be a one-on-ten fight but rather a four-on-ten situation.
‘And if four or more mutants gather, we can fulfill one condition for the golden storm. Such opportunities are rare.’
[Golden Storm]
|Please summon golden rain in four ways. (0/4)
-When there are seven or more mutants nearby.
Four mutants from various parts of Seoul, and three friends.
This would exactly meet the condition of “seven or more mutants nearby.”
So, in fact, Yeongwoo hoped that at least four Strongest Swords would surrender without a fight.
“Well then, please come into the rooms for now. Even if we organize a plan, it won’t be an easy fight, so we need to prepare a evacuation plan for the residents in advance.”
Thud!
As Yeongwoo increased the number of people entering the rooms and said this, the Strongest Swords began to follow him one by one, murmuring.
* * *
Around 9 a.m.
With the late arrival of Strongest Swords from distant areas including Eunpyeong, all the Strongest Swords of the Seoul Federation gathered in Yeongwoo’s living room.
And naturally, the 5th day Strongest Sword meeting was held accordingly.
The main agenda consisted of two items.
Formation of teams for today’s mutant preparedness and evacuation plans for the residents.
“First of all, it seems prudent to temporarily suspend today’s rotation.”
An expression of regret was evident on Gwanak Strongest Sword Jo Sangik’s face as he announced this.
The Seoul rotation allows residents to complete the reconnaissance quests in each area in succession, but doing so on a day like today would lead to a disaster.
“Then, regarding the formation of teams, are we grouping together with nearby areas for now?”
Kim Doha, Yongsan’s Strongest Sword asked.
Known for surrendering to Jeong Hyunsik of the former Gangnam Strongest Sword in just one move, he was notorious as a cowardly Strongest Sword.
He was well aware of his own reputation, so he asked with a bit of self-interest.
“Yes. That’s the idea for now… but… relatively green areas will suffer less civilian casualties even if mutants are attracted there. So, going straight to Gwangjin-gu might actually be safer.”
Green areas.
It was obvious to anyone that he was referring to Yongsan Park.
“But there’s a considerable chance that monsters as well as mutants will follow… are you really sure about this?”
This was the concern of Yangju’s Strongest Sword Choi Jongseon.
She was sincerely worried about the orphan Strongest Sword.
If this guy did something beyond his abilities and ended up dead, the survival of herself and her baby would become uncertain.
But Yeongwoo remained firm.
“It’s actually better if monsters come too. The more enemies, the stronger I become.”
It was the second time he mentioned this.
Sensory deprivation.
Of course, the Strongest Swords present who had never mixed swords with Yeongwoo didn’t know exactly what that meant, but they were definitely feeling as if they were being threatened.
‘Are monsters and mutants really what he means by “enemies”?’
‘Isn’t he basically telling us to listen to him?’
‘Can he really handle all of us at once?’
In any case, it was a clear fact that among the Strongest Swords of Seoul, the one most suited to be a “dragon slayer” was Jeong Yeongwoo.
He was now an irreplaceable force in Seoul.
So, even though he said he would receive ten million karma per region, no one objected.
Even Gwanak’s Jo Sangik subtly took Yeongwoo’s side.
“Um… regarding the ‘aid fee’ Yeongwoo mentioned, we will assist in fundraising. People who haven’t done this kind of thing before will face a lot of difficulties.”
When Jo Sangik, who had experience in fundraising commemorative coins for local residents, said this, Yeongwoo was surprised.
‘Come to think of it… how did Vice Minister Jo handle the concrete until now?’
Gwanak-gu was the first place in Seoul where the golden rain fell, and it was the only area that had conducted commemorative coin fundraising based on Yeongwoo’s advice.
Therefore, if Jo Sangik had any ambition, he might have continued to summon the golden rain himself and then taken some of the coins for himself afterward.
‘Surprisingly, he may be very strong now.’
Yeongwoo looked silently at Jo Sangik, then opened his mouth as if he had just remembered something.
“Oh, everyone. I have a personal request for today.”
“A request?”
“What is it?”
As the Strongest Swords gathered their attention as if surprised, Yeongwoo pointed to the sky with his finger.
“There will be merchants appearing in each area today.”
“Is that so?”
The Strongest Swords tensed, thinking he might even restrict access to merchants, but Yeongwoo wasn’t that much of a dictator.
“If you see a product called Coordinate Locator, please let me know. It will be useless to you anyway.”
Coordinate Locator.
Just hearing the name, it was clear it wasn’t an ordinary item.
“What are you going to use it for?”
Sure enough, Lee Yoobin of Seongbuk asked.
So Yeongwoo tried to evade the question vaguely.
―Waaa!
Suddenly, a loud noise came from the bedroom, distorting everything.
“What, what’s that?”
“What’s going on?”
“Is it from inside?”
Since the sound itself was somewhat peculiar, around a dozen Strongest Swords in the audience room drew their swords simultaneously.
Swoosh!
As they did, Seok peeked out from the bedroom, surprised.
“…Wow.”
It was only natural for her to be surprised when she felt the full presence of the so-called Strongest Swords from various regions.
Yeongwoo made a slow gesture with his hand, trying to calm everyone down.
“Put away your swords, everyone. It seems there’s a misunderstanding. My friends are in there. Looks like they found something interesting.”
Saying this, Yeongwoo left the living room and headed towards the bedroom with the television.
Soon, the other Strongest Swords also followed Yeongwoo to the source of the noise, and they soon saw it.
–Oh my, how do we turn this off?
–Since there’s no generator anyway, won’t it turn off soon?
–Hey, are we going to make a hole in the sky with this?
In the bedroom, three people in white pajamas were assembled, trying to figure out what to do with a laser gun.
Moreover, at the end of the troublesome laser gun.
-Phew!
A crimson laser beam was emitted with tremendous output.
“What, what is this…?”
“Are you preparing for a war or something?”
“Yeongwoo, please say something.”
As the Strongest Swords were shocked by Yeongwoo’s secret weapon beyond imagination, Yeongwoo, feeling the tension rising, spoke quietly.
“Please, everyone, be quiet. I don’t want to accidentally shoot that thing above your heads.”
* * *
Around 10 a.m., Busan City Hall in Yeonje-gu, Busan Metropolitan City.
Just as the strongmen of Seoul had an emergency meeting due to the High-Risk Mutant Warning from the council, the same was true for Busan.
The so-called “Southern Union.”
These groups, consisting of Gyeongnam Kimhae, Ulsan, and Busan Metropolitan City, hurriedly gathered at Busan City Hall.
However, their agenda was not only about dealing with high-risk mutants.
“Reset Level 3 will begin soon.”
What the Southern Union was more vigilant about than high-risk mutants was the “Reset Level 3” mentioned by the council.
Currently, after completing Stage 2 of the reset, “Individual Filtering,” they were temporarily in a state of tranquility, but now they were on the verge of entering Stage 3.
Of course, how they would know what the next stage of the reset would be and discuss it was difficult, but at least the Southern Union was different.
“I’m sure. Today, or by tomorrow at the latest, the land will be connected.”
Busan’s Strongest Sword, Kang Gyowon02, looked around the audience with a tense expression.
The basis for his confidence was the red dotted lines that began to be drawn along the coast of Busan from this morning.
Perhaps the holographic dotted lines, which seemed to indicate the start of the reset system, were confirmed to be drawn only along the coast of the South, at least for now.
So why is that?
Since the Southern Union was not made up of inland people, they could easily make an astonishing inference.
Perhaps the land would be connected.
“It sounds absurd, but… there’s no other plausible hypothesis besides that. It’s the coast, after all.”
“Well, it could mean that water attribute mutants are appearing, couldn’t it?”
Park Seongjun13, a fisherman’s son, suggested another explanation, but he didn’t receive much support.
“Oh, is it Level 3 just because some fish appear?”
So eventually,
“Then let’s take a look. Have similar markings appeared on other coasts?”
When Busan’s Strongest Sword Kang Gyowon said this, among the numerous Strongest Swords, a tall spear wielder stepped forward.
“Where to?”
『Ulsan’s Strongest Sword』
Kim Chaena 01 from Ulsan.
She was famous not only as the strongest spear wielder in the South but also as the owner of the Epic-grade compass “Telescope.”
「Telescope」 – Epic Compass
【Once a day, you can peer into the desired area.】
“I was planning to check Seoul around this time.”
As Chaena expressed her regret and took out the “Telescope,” Gyowon shifted his gaze to the southeast.
“Shimonoseki, perhaps. If the land is really connecting, that area is likely where we’ll be facing it.”
Yamaguchi Prefecture, Shimonoseki City.
One of Japan’s representative port cities.
If there were similar dotted lines drawn there, it would indicate a reaction, regardless of what it meant.
“Then let’s aim for the coastal area near the port.”
As Chaena input the coordinates, the flat, gravel-like telescope glowed brightly.
Zap!
Then, it projected a small screen into the air, showing the area around Shimonoseki Harbor.
“Oh…”
“Huh? Is that real?”
The Strongest Swords of the Southern Union widened their eyes in surprise.
Indeed, holographic dotted lines were also drawn along the coast of Shimonoseki.
But what was projected on the telescope’s screen was not just the dotted lines.
“Um, can you tilt the screen a bit higher?”
At Gyowon’s request upon noticing something, Chaena slightly adjusted the telescope, changing the shooting angle.
Then, it showed people standing side by side at regular intervals along the coast near the outskirts of the port.
Since they were taking it from a high altitude, the actual distance between them was probably quite wide.
“What’s that?”
“They seem to be doing something strange, even though I don’t know what it is.”
The Strongest Swords of the union murmured one by one while looking at the screen, and after observing for a while, Gyowon furrowed his brow and spoke.
“Maybe they’re also watching over there.”
“…What do you mean?”
“When the land is about to connect.”
“Oh, come on.”
If the land were really about to connect, there would be no need to check the moment the land started moving, considering the land would shift drastically.
Then Chaena came up with a completely different hypothesis.
“What if the land connects smoothly without earthquakes? In a world like this, nothing is impossible, right…?”
“Still, even if that were the case, why bother having people stand there and wait for it?”
They still looked puzzled.
Upon which, Gyowon spoke again.
“There must be something to do as soon as the land connects.”
“….?”
“For example… a preemptive attack?”