Chapter 24
The Superhuman of Beombal (2)
"Just what the hell was Gimcheon doing?"
Yeongwoo found himself criticizing the city of Gimcheon.
The fact that the Mutant had remained alive all day carried serious implications.
An unimaginable number of casualties.
And a powerless First Sword.
Of course, the First Sword had no obligation to protect the residents of their region.
But regardless of that, if the Gimcheon First Sword had truly been strong enough, there was no way the Mutant could still be alive.
Flash!
The regional status display in the upper-right corner of his vision flickered and changed.
He had finally crossed out of Gumi and entered Gimcheon territory.
However, something about the state of Gimcheon's First Sword felt strange.
Current Region: GimcheonFirst Sword: Park Gyeongtae42136th Holder, 0 Successful Defenses
"Thirty-sixth...?"
That meant the title of First Sword had changed hands thirty-five times in a single day.
In other words, nobody in Gimcheon had managed to hold the title for long.
The city simply had no true powerhouse.
"These damn idiots."
Yeongwoo felt anger rising.
In a world where everyone carried weapons, being strong usually meant staying alive.
Even so, someone had to stand up to the Mutant.
Was everyone really just going to run until they got eaten?
Wouldn't it be better to at least make a stand?
"They probably couldn't even handle the monsters before the Mutant showed up. How much of a disaster was this place if the title dropped all the way to the 36th holder?"
Remembering the goblins feasting on human corpses the previous day, Yeongwoo gritted his teeth.
Then he pushed off the ground even harder.
Boom!
Every time his feet struck the asphalt, chunks of pavement shattered and flew away.
The wind whipping past his ears felt far harsher than before.
Then, at last—
"...!"
The distant skyline of Gimcheon came into view.
As expected, behind the red pillar of light, a few blue pillars—the markers of monsters—still remained.
At least there weren't dozens of them.
Apparently some people had fought back.
But in the end, they had failed to stop the Mutant.
Some residents had been brave, but bravery alone hadn't been enough.
Kindness · Order · Cleanliness CampaignHappy Together, Welcome to Gimcheon
Passing the city sign, Yeongwoo sprinted down a road flanked by rice fields.
The distance to the Mutant marker kept growing and shrinking.
It's still moving around.
It's still hunting people.
RUMBLE!
At some point the marker began drifting westward, and Yeongwoo left the road and cut directly across the fields.
Splash!
It was early June.
The rice planting had only recently finished, and the paddies were filled with water.
As Yeongwoo dashed through them at high speed, muddy water and young rice shoots exploded in every direction.
"...?"
Then he noticed something important.
The rice plants hadn't turned into stone.
Food should have petrified...
Maybe because the rice isn't fully grown yet, the system doesn't recognize it as food?
He had no time to think further.
His legs carried him beyond the paddies and toward the foothills.
Ahead, a gas station came into view.
The real city had begun.
Crash!
Jumping down from a slope and returning to the road, Yeongwoo passed the gas station and entered an apartment district.
And then—
He saw it.
More corpses than there were apartment residents lay scattered across the streets.
Bodies crudely torn apart.
Bodies with chunks missing.
Bodies twisted into impossible shapes.
Yet every corpse faced the same direction—the direction Yeongwoo had come from.
They were trying to flee the city and got caught.
This was only the outskirts of Gimcheon.
He hadn't seen any bodies between Gumi and here, meaning most of Gimcheon's citizens had died before even reaching the highway.
Their skin is mostly intact.
So the monsters here weren't goblins?
From experience, goblins skinned their prey before eating them.
But every corpse here still had skin.
The trail of bodies continued.
As he moved deeper into the city, the dead appeared better armed.
Out on the outskirts many had been unarmed.
Now he occasionally saw people carrying multiple weapons.
This place really was hell.
Just as Yeongwoo was about to check the regional status again—
Current Region: Gimcheon First Sword: Kim Sunhwa19037th Holder, 0 Successful Defenses
The title had changed again.
"...?"
Only then did he realize the truth.
The previous holders weren't dying to challengers.
The reason the title changed thirty-six times wasn't because of people...
It was the Mutant.
Every First Sword who confronted the Mutant had died.
Each time the position became vacant, the system simply assigned a new holder.
Just as Yeongwoo himself had become Gumi's First Sword merely for displaying overwhelming strength before a crowd.
Then where is the current First Sword?
Is that person near the Mutant right now?
Yeongwoo looked toward the red pillar where Kim Sunhwa190 should be.
At that moment, the pillar trembled.
Then another update appeared.
Current Region: Gimcheon First Sword: Kang Seong ho 30638th Holder, 0 Successful Defenses
Kim Sunhwa190 had died too.
"What the hell is happening over there?"
Was it a battle?
Or simply a massacre?
He couldn't tell.
But one thing was certain.
The system kept appointing whoever happened to be nearest the Mutant as the new First Sword.
"Damn it. I'm going."
By then he was already close to the city center.
Only about two kilometers remained.
BOOOOM!
Within minutes, the scene entered his sight.
"...!"
As expected, dozens of people were gathered there.
And from Yeongwoo's perspective, they appeared to be the strongest group left in Gimcheon.
Every one of them carried both a weapon and a shield.
Some were Early Bird holders.
Others carried large backpacks, evidence of successful looting.
Yet despite all that—
Every single one was running away.
"R-Run!"
"AAAAAH!"
And behind them—
"Heh... this isn't such a bad life after all."
A gigantic beastman charged after them, radiating savage killing intent.
The Mutant...!
Yeongwoo's eyes widened.
Gimcheon's Mutant wasn't a goblin.
It was a Gnoll.
A beast man with the head of a hyena.
Its height was similar to Jang Seon bok from Gumi—around three meters.
But its build was far larger.
Thicker torso.
Bigger muscles.
More overwhelming overall.
Notably, it carried no weapon.
Its only armor was a breastplate covering its torso.
Even so...
It feels at least two levels stronger than Jang Seonbok.
Drawing Early Bird from his waist, Yeongwoo checked the creature's name tag.
Internet Broadcaster – Hong Myeongtae (Ppagle)
"Huh?"
Hong Myeongtae.
Better known as BJ Ppagle.
Even Yeongwoo recognized the name from news articles.
He was a notorious troublemaker in the online streaming world.
His license had once been revoked for drunk driving.
More recently, he had caused controversy by obstructing train operations while carrying out a viewer challenge.
Most of his scandals happened in Seoul...
So he was actually from Gimcheon?
Yet Hong Myeongtae seemed to feel absolutely no affection for his hometown.
"Another one down!"
Laughing excitedly, he chased fleeing survivors and swung his fists.
The power behind them was monstrous.
Anyone struck by one died instantly.
SMASH!
"Kikik! Looks just like a kimchi pancake!"
Hong Myeongtae crushed a corpse into the ground with his palm and laughed.
His face was twisted with pure hatred and bloodlust.
Once the corpse no longer resembled a person, he would move on to another victim.
Meaning the group that might have been Gimcheon's last line of defense had been suffering this humiliation long before Yeongwoo arrived.
Reduced to defeated prey.
Toyed with by the Mutant.
"Good grief..."
Even the 38th Gimcheon First Sword, Kang Seongho306, was fleeing together with everyone else.
At this point, Gimcheon effectively had no First Sword at all.
"Hey, First Sword! Wait up!"
Hong Myeongtae pointed a black claw toward Kang Seongho306.
Then he crouched on all fours.
And—
WHOOSH!
He launched himself into the air like lightning.
"Move, Kang Seongho!"
"Huh—?"
The terrified Gimcheon First Sword looked up.
Then—
BOOM!
Hong Myeongtae landed directly on top of him.
The man exploded.
The result truly resembled a flattened kimchi pancake.
Yeongwoo immediately struck his own chest.
Flash!
The title he had been hiding appeared above his head.
Gumi First Sword
"W-What?"
"Huh...?"
"Gumi... First Sword?"
The fleeing survivors stared at him in disbelief.
Ignoring them, Yeongwoo shouted at Kang Seongho306, who stood frozen beneath the giant shadow.
"Move!"
But it was too late.
The man was already crushed into pieces.
Looking down at the remains rolling to his feet, Yeongwoo muttered,
"I told you to move."
Hong Myeongtae grinned.
"Looks like there's another First Sword."
Then—
"...Huh?"
He suddenly sniffed the air.
His brow furrowed.
"What the hell is that smell...?"
At that moment, Yeongwoo remembered a warning message he had once seen.
This equipment carries the scent of a Mutant. Other Mutants may detect it and become wary.
The warning had appeared when he obtained the mutation-grade ring, Angry Goblin.
The scent Hong Myeongtae was detecting belonged to none other than Jang Seonbok, the former Gumi councilman.
"You bastard... don't tell me..."
While Hong Myeongtae tried to identify the scent, Yeongwoo observed the glowing Kill Marks scattered across the Mutant's body.
Every route ends in death.
But he didn't want to kill him.
Not yet.
Defeating a Mutant presented a rare opportunity to complete achievements.
[Special-Class Social Worker]Return a Mutant alive.
Instead of killing him...
Can I beat him so badly that he'll wish he were dead?
The moment the thought crossed his mind, the marks changed.
Break (destroy)
Break (destroy)
Break (destroy)
Break (destroy)
The marks no longer indicated killing blows.
They marked locations for destruction instead.
His body's huge. Plenty of places to hit.
Yeongwoo nodded, tightening his grip on Early Bird and his shield.
At last, Hong Myeongtae bared his fangs.
Crack.
And the next message confirmed that the Mutant was truly about to attack.
Sensory stat temporarily increased from 100 to 164.
As expected, the golden flash amplified even a Mutant's senses.