Chapter 18
The Dignity of the Greatest Sword (2)
It happened.
The Greatest Sword was angry.
In fact, everyone could feel it so vividly that their hearts seemed to seize up.
The moment the Aura of the Greatest Sword spread out, everyone instinctively clutched their chests.
"Ghk...!"
As this happened, Yeongwoo noticed three glowing golden sword symbols floating above people in the crowd.
It was such an obvious sight that he understood immediately.
Those were the people whose senses had been stolen.
And they were the same men who had tried to stab the supermarket owner in the back while he was confronting him.
"You."
Unconsciously regarding everyone present as a potential attacker, Yeongwoo pushed through the crowd with a cold voice.
The first assailant he found was a man in a suit who looked to be in his forties.
His pupils, already filled with terror, reflected Yeongwoo's glowing eyes and shone gold.
Yeongwoo raised his blade threateningly in front of the man's face and asked,
"Do you have any family?"
The man's eyes widened even further.
"If not, that's a relief. At least nobody else's life will be ruined because of you."
"H-Hic...!"
The man's body trembled at the murderous hostility in Yeongwoo's voice.
Then—
Slash!
A silver-white arc cut through the air diagonally, and the man's head separated from his body.
A beheading.
Yeongwoo's Strength had become so high that a single swing was enough to sever a neck.
Gush! Splurt!
The headless body spewed blood from its neck while making noises like a broken water pump.
"Aaaah!"
"H-He killed him!"
"P-Please spare me...!"
As the corpse collapsed among the people, the entire area descended into panic.
Yet nobody possessed enough willpower to break free of the Greatest Sword's aura, so they remained forced to their knees.
Unable to watch any longer, Yechan barely managed to resist the pressure and shout,
"Mister! The others haven't done anything wrong! And there are children here...!"
"...?"
Yeongwoo, who had just been about to punch a hole through the second attacker, flinched.
"Huh...!"
Only then did he realize how enraged he had become.
Rumble...
At that moment, the Greatest Sword's aura was completely withdrawn.
"Aaaaah!"
"Save me!"
The instant they regained control of their bodies, over a hundred people scattered into the darkness, desperately seeking escape.
Naturally, the remaining two attackers joined the fleeing crowd.
But—
Whoosh! Stab!
They couldn't escape Yeongwoo's lightning-fast pursuit and were killed one after another.
In the end, the only people left in front of the supermarket were:
"Umm..."
"This is awkward."
Yechan and the Hanulchae group.
And the supermarket owner's family.
Thud. Thud.
Yeongwoo returned from the darkness, his heavy footsteps echoing.
The Early Bird sword was stained reddish from fresh blood, and Yeongwoo's face still looked flushed from lingering tension.
"Haa..."
He let out a heavy breath.
The atmosphere in front of the supermarket had become somber.
Even though it had been self-defense, this was the first time Yeongwoo felt uneasy afterward.
Over a hundred people.
Compared to the entire population of Gumi, it was only a tiny fraction.
But from now on, those people would spend the rest of their lives associating the face engraved on commemorative coins with terror.
Yeongwoo stared sadly at the place where they had fled.
Then he glanced at the Hanulchae children hiding behind their parents and asked Yechan,
"Were the kids also..."
Exposed to the Greatest Sword's aura?
Before Yechan could answer, one of the parents replied.
"Ah... I don't think so. If they had been affected, they would've cried immediately."
The parents smiled reassuringly.
Still, regardless of the aura, the children had witnessed something terrible.
Yeongwoo couldn't help feeling guilty.
To truly live as the Greatest Sword—the one who distributed Golden Ratios and commemorative coins—he himself needed to remain a proper human being.
It's easy to become a tyrant.
Becoming a hero is difficult.
Even more so in chaotic times like these.
Slowly, Yeongwoo looked at the supermarket family.
The owner handed the Early Bird sword back to his wife and suddenly dropped to his knees.
"I-I apologize. I think I lost my mind for a moment. I'll accept any punishment you give me. Just spare my family."
He had apparently heard Yeongwoo's earlier words about family.
After a brief pause, Yeongwoo pointed toward the inside of the supermarket.
Tap.
"Huh?"
"As I said before, take as many supplies as you can carry and leave. More people will arrive soon."
"...What?"
"Go."
"...!"
The owner's eyes widened.
For some reason, the Greatest Sword was showing mercy.
To him, it felt like a miracle.
Without another word, he sprang to his feet and rushed inside the supermarket.
His family hurried after him.
Meanwhile, Yeongwoo waited while fiddling with the coins he had collected from the attackers.
9 commemorative coins.
16 ordinary coins.
About five minutes later, the former owners of the supermarket emerged again.
And their appearance was...
"Ah...?"
"Oh my God."
"W-What is that?"
The Hanulchae group stared in disbelief.
The family had brought far more supplies than anyone imagined possible.
They had taped together over a dozen shopping baskets, piled them high with goods until they resembled mountains of rice, and were carrying the gigantic stacks on their backs.
Each family member carried one.
Three enormous towers of supplies in total.
If the sun had been low in the sky, their shadows would probably have covered the entire area.
They looked like dung beetles.
The kind that roll balls many times larger than themselves.
"Is that really okay, mister?"
Yechan stared at Yeongwoo with his mouth hanging open.
Yeongwoo was equally dumbfounded.
Are these people insane?
To carry loads that massive, the entire family must have invested heavily in Strength.
The baskets and tape had likely been restored from stone using Karma as well.
Even more impressive was the fact that they had planned and executed everything in only five minutes.
As expected of a shopkeeper's family.
Yeongwoo silently watched the human dung beetles line up carefully in front of him.
Once they seemed settled, the family patriarch asked,
"W-We packed everything. Can we leave now?"
An odd silence followed.
Neither Yechan nor the Hanulchae group looked at the family with pity anymore.
Yeongwoo stared at their bizarre appearance before nodding.
"Go."
"Th-Thank you. Truly."
The owner barely managed a bow.
Then he turned away and disappeared into the darkness with his family without looking back.
"Whew. Well then..."
Now that the supermarket was completely empty, it was time to take care of their own business.
Yeongwoo was about to gesture awkwardly for Yechan and the others to enter the store.
Then—
Ping!
A sudden notification interrupted him.
What now?
Achievement Unlocked: Forgive Your Enemy
Achievement Rank: Heroic
Completion Rank: 46
It wasn't an achievement that had appeared in the recommendation list.
Don't tell me this is because I let them go?
Yeongwoo looked toward the direction where the family had disappeared.
A new message appeared.
[You have 1 unclaimed achievement reward.]
[Would you like to claim it?]
A Heroic-grade reward... that's basically on the same level as Early Bird.
The moment he accepted the reward—
Clink.
"Huh?"
The next scene was exactly as expected.
Flash!
Six coins materialized in midair.
Six?
With his Sensory stat now at 100, locating six coins and catching them before they hit the ground was trivial.
Tap! Tap! Tap!
Yeongwoo snatched all six immediately and opened his hand.
This time the coins were blue.
On the front were four vertical lines crossed by one horizontal line.
Confused, he examined them.
A tooltip appeared.
[Blue Coin] - Standard Currency
Worth 150,000 Karma.
So 50,000-Karma coins exist too.
That meant the achievement reward had been worth 300,000 Karma.
Money accumulates faster than I expected.
Of course, looting the attackers had helped considerably.
In truth, killing people and taking their coins was the fastest way to get rich.
Then my current assets are... 4,590,900 Karma. That's equivalent to 459 stat points.
After buying necessities from the supermarket, Yeongwoo decided to invest the remainder into his stats.
They still had no idea what time it was.
Even the clocks hanging inside the supermarket had turned to stone.
The lighting fixtures had suffered the same fate.
So Yeongwoo and the Hanulchae group first searched through the darkness for flashlights and batteries.
"The supermarket owner seems even more impressive now."
After finally finding everything and turning on a flashlight, Yechan spoke in admiration.
"He probably knew where everything was."
Yeongwoo borrowed the flashlight and quickly found batteries himself.
After that, things moved smoothly.
They restored stone shopping baskets, then began filling them with supplies they thought would be useful.
"So are we supposed to walk around looking weird like those people?"
"I'd rather not."
Besides, how long would tape even hold?
Not a day.
Probably not even a few hours before everything spilled onto the ground.
Furthermore, Yeongwoo needed to travel to other regions for achievements.
Standing out too much would be troublesome.
"We have bicycles. Let's find some sacks or nets and tie supplies onto them."
They could try obtaining a car eventually.
But then they'd need a steady fuel supply.
"Honestly, as long as you're strong enough, you won't starve."
Yechan spoke cynically.
And he wasn't wrong.
Petrified food didn't spoil, and restoring it only required Karma.
Compared to a normal apocalypse, food supplies would remain available much longer.
As long as someone had the strength to take what others possessed, starving to death was unlikely.
"Um... Greatest Sword, would it be okay if we started eating first?"
"Hm?"
Turning around, Yeongwoo saw a married couple from Hanulchae standing politely behind him.
They had apparently already gathered food.
"Oh, sure. And you don't have to call me Greatest Sword..."
"Thank you."
The couple hurried off the moment he gave permission.
Yeongwoo watched them leave before turning back to Yechan.
"You should eat too. I need to replenish my calories. I doubt today is going to end this easi—"
BEEEEEEP!
A sharp alarm suddenly echoed through the air.
[Night is approaching.]
"Night?"
What nonsense was this now?
Yeongwoo held a coin against a can of food and waited for the next message.
As expected—
[To guarantee everyone's right to sleep, room rentals will begin in one hour.]
Another bizarre event was about to occur.
Even Yeongwoo found this one absurd.
"Room rentals...? Don't tell me it's that kind of room rental?"