Chapter 34

The Alien (2)

"A merchant has appeared? What kind of merchant? And where?"

Yeongwoo had a bad feeling about the announcement, but his attention was immediately stolen by what happened next.

BOOOOOM!!

With a deafening roar that seemed to tear the sky apart, a massive pillar of black light shot down through the clouds.

"...!"

It radiated an overwhelming presence unlike the markers that had previously indicated the locations of Mutants. Goosebumps spread across his entire body.

'Is that where the merchant is appearing?'

The black pillar had landed several kilometers to the northwest of his current position.

As Yeongwoo turned toward it, another series of messages regarding the defeat of the Sangju Market Mutant filled his vision.

「The Mutant has been defeated.」

「Please choose your reward to complete the procedure.」

Guaranteed Reward

「Dullahan's Sword」 — Mutated One-Handed Sword

The blade length is proportional to the user's height.

Choice Reward

3,000,000 Karma

OR

Distribute 30,000 Karma to every resident in the region

'Now they're giving weapon rewards too.'

This was the first time a Mutant kill had rewarded equipment.

And since it was Mutant-grade, it ranked above Early Bird, which was merely Hero-grade.

'Just like Kim Hyun-ho did, I should be able to extend the blade.'

For the first time, Yeongwoo genuinely wanted to claim a weapon reward immediately.

Without hesitation, he selected the second option.

Flash!

[30,000 Karma has been distributed to every resident in the region.]

Just like before, a golden sphere spun rapidly before soaring into the sky.

Moments later—

Whoooosh!

A brilliant golden rain poured down from above.

"Gyeongbok's Number One Swordsman 'Jeong MYeongwoo07' has given up his exclusive reward of 3,000,000 Karma and gifted 30,000 Karma to every resident of Sangju."

"The 30,000 Karma will be distributed in the form of Memorial Coins. Please prepare to receive them."

It was the third Golden Rain.

MYeongwoo caught three Memorial Coins as they fell before opening his Achievement window.

Golden Flood

Summon a Golden Rain in fifteen or more regions.

Progress: (3/5)

'Just two more regions and I'll finish another achievement.'

Three achievements still remained.

Nocturnal

Spend one night outside your residence.

Jeweler's Touch

Equip two Hero-grade or higher rings on both your index and ring fingers.

Progress: (2/4)

Perfect Orphan

Eliminate your parents.

Progress: (1/2)

None of them had any obvious method of completion, leaving him at a standstill.

Besides, new achievements would only appear after clearing existing ones and freeing up slots.

For now, continuing toward the next city remained the best option.

'Though I should probably meet this so-called merchant first.'

The moment that thought crossed his mind—

SHIIING!

A black sword descended from the sky and embedded itself into the ground.

THUD!

It reminded him of the day he first received Early Bird.

It was the Mutant-grade one-handed sword—

Dullahan's Sword.

Yeongwoo pulled the pitch-black blade from the earth, feeling an odd sense of déjà vu.

The heavy hilt was attached to a blade roughly one meter long.

"It's definitely longer than Early Bird... but how do I make it extend further?"

He swung it through the air as Sangju's Number One Swordsman had done earlier.

Nothing happened.

So he tried thinking instead.

"Grow longer."

Shrrrriiing!

"Huh?"

The blade suddenly shot forward.

"It actually worked?"

Judging by eye, its maximum length was about five meters.

Dullahan's Sword — Mutated One-Handed Sword

The blade length is proportional to the user's height.

'So that's what it meant...'

Yeongwoo stood somewhere in the mid-170 cm range.

The sword could extend to roughly three times the user's height.

'Then if I become taller, the sword will become longer too.'

And perhaps...

Without a word, MYeongwoo pressed one Memorial Coin against his lips.

Transparent outlines traced the contours of his body.

A new menu appeared.

Character Settings

Appearance

Attributes

"W-What is all this?"

Even if he had opened this earlier, he would never have understood it.

The Appearance menu covered everything—from body proportions and facial structure to body hair distribution and even hair color.

As Yeongwoo walked toward the black pillar, he continued browsing the Appearance interface.

"This is insane... I can even change the default position of my pupils."

Skin color.

Skin texture.

He could even lengthen his nose like Pinocchio's or make only a section of his forehead protrude.

Of course, there were limits.

According to the guide displayed at the top of the interface, appearance changes that exceeded normal human standards would incur penalties.

"At least I should be able to change my height."

It was something he'd never even considered before, too busy struggling to survive.

Flash!

Selecting Appearance caused an enormous amount of information to flood his vision.

The standard range for each appearance category is Human.

Any value exceeding the human standard dramatically increases the Karma cost.

"But if someone had enough Karma... they could go beyond being human."

Yeongwoo imagined a four-meter-tall giant with horns growing from its forehead and crimson skin.

Theoretically...

This new world allowed such monsters to exist.

"Though... I doubt that's what this system is meant for."

Below the guide was another menu.

Presets

Combat

Charm

Special

Longer arms meant greater reach.

Longer legs meant larger strides—and therefore greater mobility.

When he selected the Combat preset that appealed to him most, the required Karma was calculated automatically.

2,116,000

"What's this?"

The Combat preset opened a translucent window containing dozens of body templates.

"Huh?"

Every single sample was completely naked.

They represented physiques the system judged to be optimal for combat while remaining within the human category.

Two-meter height.

Nearly perfect bodily proportions.

"So I just choose one and copy it?"

After all, how could an ordinary person manually optimize dozens of appearance settings?

The preset served as a textbook guide, preventing Karma from being wasted.

Whenever he looked at one of the body samples, its detailed values appeared alongside comparisons to his own.

'...My legs really are short. And my upper-body frame isn't particularly impressive either.'

It was a somewhat depressing realization.

Still, there was something encouraging about it.

2.116 million Karma.

That was the cost for someone born as a Grade 4 Human to obtain the ideal physique.

As Gyeongbok's Number One Swordsman, Yeongwoo no longer considered it an impossible amount.

For most people, however, it certainly was.

"Every point I spend here is one less point invested in Attributes... Most people could never afford it."

He also had his own dilemma.

With 2.116 million Karma, he could raise 2,110 attribute points.

His highest attribute—Strength—was only around 600.

Was sacrificing over two thousand attribute points really worth it?

"This is a difficult choice..."

His gaze shifted to the next preset.

Charm.

A translucent window appeared again.

This time it contained an astonishing number of face samples.

The Combat category had only dozens.

Charm had hundreds...

Perhaps even over a thousand.

"Basically... collections of handsome and beautiful faces."

As long as someone had enough Karma, becoming incredibly attractive was entirely possible.

However, the merchant's location was drawing closer, leaving him no time to examine every face.

He closed the Charm tab and selected the final option.

Special.

Flash!

"...!"

This time, the displayed samples were nothing like the previous ones.

"Th-These are..."

They were grotesquely modified bodies.

Arms longer than their entire height.

Eyes whose irises were the same color as the whites, making it impossible to tell where they were looking.

Each sample listed the physical burden caused by its modifications.

It was obviously meant as a warning.

Almost anything one could imagine was possible—

But the cost-performance ratio would be terrible.

"Just looking at them is horrifying..."

Closing the Special tab caused another warning message to appear.

「All appearance changes are permanent. If a next generation is created, some traits may be inherited.」

"What...? Inherited?"

Yeongwoo couldn't believe his eyes.

Although the world had been reset, the system in which parents' grades and settings influenced their children still remained.

Which meant...

"So innate grades never disappeared. They were merely reset. The survivors have simply become the first generation."

The achievements each person accumulated throughout life would determine the grades of their future children.

Just as when he had first read the Book of Fate, Yeongwoo felt his stomach twist.

But this bizarre world gave him no time to dwell on it.

Whoosh!

Something was launched from the sky.

Following the black pillar of light, an object rapidly descended.

"Is that the merchant?"

A merchant sent from somewhere beyond the heavens.

Before the reset, Yeongwoo would never have dared approach something like this.

Now, however, he was no longer the same man.

"Obviously... it's not going to be human."

He steadily approached the black pillar.

「As Sangju's second Mutant has been defeated, the region's Basic Welfare system has now been activated.」

According to the system message, the merchant was one form of this Basic Welfare reward.

Rather than wondering what the merchant actually was, Yeongwoo focused on a different question.

What exactly does it sell?

No matter where it came from, surely it existed to provide useful goods to the survivors.

But—

Flash!

The instant he finally laid eyes on the so-called merchant—

"...!"

He realized just how naive he had been.

His first encounter with an alien.

Almost instinctively, Yeongwoo drew his sword.