Chapter 5
The First Sword of Gumi (1)
‘So “Sword Mountain” was literally what it sounded like.’
Yong-woo watched the weapons falling from the sky begin to pile up at incredible speed and instinctively realized that this would soon become an actual “mountain.”
And he also realized one more thing.
“This time, even more people will gather than at the exchange center.”
The basis for this deduction was the enormous area occupied by Sword Mountain, as well as the students from Geumo High School moving in the same direction.
‘If I, who started from Gongdan-dong, have already run into Geumo High students…’
Geumo High School was located in the very center of Gwangpyeong-dong.
In other words, unlike the exchange center incident that involved at most dozens to a hundred people, Sword Mountain was drawing people in by entire districts.
Therefore, Yong-woo assumed people from neighboring areas like Songjeong-dong and Sinpyeong-dong would also be converging here.
‘And some of them might even have Early Birds.’
Sweat gathered in his hand gripping the sword.
If someone with the same Early Bird as him came to steal coins or weapons, what were his chances of winning?
‘It’s one obstacle after another.’
While Yong-woo was thinking this, Sword Mountain continued to grow.
It had already reached the size of a small hill on the outskirts of a neighborhood, becoming a landmark in itself. Seeing this, the Geumo High students also began moving even faster.
Since most of them were unarmed, they decided they had to grab weapons first.
Even in this chaos, weapons continued pouring down onto the mountain, and the clashing of metal rang in his ears like thunder.
KWA-KWA-KWA-KWANG…!
Yongwoo shuddered as the air itself seemed to vibrate, but he couldn’t take his eyes off the summit.
Each time the weapons falling from the sky collided with Sword Mountain and bounced off, glimpses of their shapes became visible for an instant.
‘Swords… axes… is that a shield? There’s even a shield.’
While Yongwoo was identifying the types of weapons, the Geumo High students who had already accelerated began entering the outer edges of the mountain.
Whoosh, whoosh!
“…!”
At that moment, a number “5” appeared above the students’ heads.
And then—
「4」
The number changed to 4, then to 3.
‘…There’s a time limit for choosing weapons.’
This was within expectations.
Watching the students rush toward nearby weapon piles in panic, Yongwoo deliberately slowed down and ran diagonally to the side.
‘As long as I don’t approach the weapon pile, the timer doesn’t appear. Which means… if I find the weapon I want first, I can enter after that.’
As he had already confirmed, Sword Mountain wasn’t only filled with swords, but also axes, hammers, spears, and all kinds of weapons.
The problem was that all these weapons were piled up randomly.
So if he wanted to pick a specific weapon within five seconds, he had to find a spot where that weapon was already exposed on the surface.
And just then—
‘…Found it.’
The location he wanted appeared in front of him.
No one had entered it yet, and a “shield” was exposed at the edge of the weapon pile.
Tap!
The moment he locked onto it, he sprinted at full speed.
While running, he also thought:
‘Can I pick up more than one weapon within the time limit?’
He quickly scanned the area around the shield.
Axes, spears… mostly large weapons, but here and there slender shapes appeared as well.
Daggers.
‘If I can grab a second one, I’ll take a dagger after the shield.’
However, Yongwoo’s plan B never came to fruition.
Whoosh!
The moment he reached the weapon pile, a message appeared.
「You have entered Sword Mountain.」
「Select one survival equipment within 5 seconds.」
‘…One?’
That meant the choice was locked to a single item.
Yongwoo looked around cautiously and pulled the shield out of the pile.
Shrrrk!
The timer immediately disappeared, replaced by a tooltip.
「Steel Round Shield」 – Common reinforced shield
|Can also be used as a weapon.
‘Used as a weapon… so I’m supposed to hit people with this?’
The shield was about 50 centimeters in diameter, but it was thick enough to feel quite heavy.
And indeed—
Thud.
As he slid his left hand into the inner grip, a heavy weight clamped down on his entire arm.
‘Now I see why it says it can be used as a weapon.’
His impression of the shield ended there.
A rough presence suddenly erupted from behind.
Tap!
‘A sneak attack?’
His entire body felt like it was burning.
Yongwoo raised the shield to cover his upper body and face, taking a stabbing stance with his other hand as he turned around.
Ha!
Beyond the edge of the shield, he saw a boy.
“Ah… mister.”
A terrified voice matched his expression perfectly. A Geumo High student.
Probably a first-year. His face was young, his build small.
“What are you.”
Sensing no hostility or weapon, Yongwoo cautiously stepped back.
Then he noticed the number above the student’s head.
「2」
And then—
「1」
“…Ah.”
The student let out a breath of despair at the same moment Yongwoo did.
He had failed to choose a weapon in time.
Now there was no number above his head, and his hands were empty.
‘Damn.’
Seeing the student’s hollow expression, Yongwoo softened his tone slightly.
“Why did you come all the way here? Why aren’t you with your friends?”
The student glanced behind him and answered quietly.
“…They’re not my friends.”
“Huh?”
Realizing something, the student quickly changed the topic.
“Uh… mister.”
“…?”
“Can I try pulling out a weapon even now?”
“A weapon?”
Yongwoo repeated the question while scanning the surroundings.
Distant silhouettes of people were visible, but no one was approaching yet.
“Alright. Go ahead.”
Frankly, he was also curious.
What would happen if someone tried to take a weapon after the time limit ended?
Yongwoo stepped slightly aside.
The student, nervous, placed both hands on a spear sticking out of the pile.
Swoosh.
The weapon he wanted was a spear.
Probably because he was small and preferred something that didn’t require close combat.
Thud!
He grabbed the spear shaft with both hands.
“Ugh…!”
But that was it.
No matter how hard he tried, the spear didn’t budge.
“Ugh…! Ghh!”
His expression grew increasingly miserable.
Then, he finally burst into tears.
He understood it himself. In a world filled with monsters, he would now survive without a single weapon.
‘So it really doesn’t work after time’s up.’
Yongwoo didn’t feel good watching this either.
But what could he do?
“I’m sorry it turned out like this. Anyway, don’t stay here too long. More people will be coming soon.”
That was all he could say—half advice, half warning—while feeling uneasy.
Then, just as he looked down at the arrow at his feet—
Thud!
The crying student suddenly grabbed the edge of Yongwoo’s shield.
“Ah… mister!”
“…?”
“Can you take me with you? If I stay alone like this, I’ll be beaten to death by others.”
Only then did Yongwoo realize the boy wasn’t afraid of monsters—
He was afraid of other people.
He understood how cruel the world was to the weak.
Judging from the chaos at the exchange center, it was likely the same even now that the world had turned upside down.
But what use was a small, unarmed boy?
‘He’d probably stab me in the back the first chance he gets.’
Thinking that far, Yongwoo hardened his heart and was about to refuse—
Until he saw the number written on the boy’s right hand.
‘What… did I see wrong?’
Tilting his head, Yongwoo prompted the boy to show his hand.
“Ah, this…!”
“Huh?”
Yongwoo’s eyes widened.
It was real.
A number.
And not just any number.
「17」
Seventeen Karma Points.
Converted into coins, that was 170,000 Karma.
“How do you still have this? Didn’t you go through the exchange center? How did you even get here?”
Yongwoo asked sharply.
The student flinched.
“I couldn’t exchange it… there were too many people…”
“What?”
Yongwoo steadied his thoughts and asked again.
“What’s the name of your current quest?”
“Uh… ‘New Life.’”
“…My god.”
[Main] “New Life”
Follow the arrow to the nearest exchange center.
Basic living funds
First-come, additional rewards
In other words, this student had skipped the exchange center phase entirely.
“How did you find this place?”
“The kids who got swords broke the path. I just followed behind them secretly.”
It seemed he was talking about the group of students Yongwoo had seen earlier.
They must have been the frontrunners from Geumo High, likely Early Birds.
‘So weapon selection activates just by reaching Sword Mountain, even without the quest?’
It felt like a kind of bug—like discovering a loophole in this world.
Anyway, the important fact was this: a person holding 170,000 Karma was now asking for help.
Of course, there were problems.
‘We can’t go back now, so we’ll need to find another exchange center. But there’s no guarantee it’ll even work properly there.’
Still, it was too much money to ignore.
Wasn’t the basic living fund from the main quest only 3,000 Karma?
‘170,000 is more than 50 times that. Even if 3,000 is a daily wage, this puts me nearly two months ahead of everyone else.’
Yongwoo checked the boy’s hand again and spoke seriously.
“Your entire net worth right now is 170,000 Karma. So tell me—how much of your life are you willing to give me in exchange for it?”