Level 4 Human in a Ruined World

[Translator - Night]

[Proofreader - Gun]

Chapter 313: Noble Family (5)

— Oh, have you finally come to your senses?

Jiseon, who had been pondering over the problem with the return gifts contracted out, brightened as she saw her son reappear from the south.

Well, no matter how much of an orphan he might be, how could he treat his mother, whom he had barely gained, so cruelly?

It was clear that after leaving, he felt uneasy and was now returning.

— Right. Once could be a mistake.

Just as Jiseon decided to forgive her son's disrespect with a generous heart.

Tat-tat!

Suddenly, a swift presence burst out from behind her son.

— Huh…?

Someone who looked much younger than the problematic son had the audacity to point his finger and charge towards her.

Tat-tat-tat!

His movements were unusual.

Jiseon's head, still in the form of a dragon, was hundreds of meters above the ground.

From her vantage point, the approaching figure appeared as a tiny dot, yet she could feel the incredible speed at which he was moving.

An unexpectedly skilled opponent had suddenly appeared.

— What is this…?

Jiseon's gaze naturally shifted to her son, running behind the intruder.

She saw him glance over at her, saying something to the young man holding a spear.

And then...

— …!

Whirr!

The extremely young man raised his spear threateningly and began to accelerate.

She could feel his intent to fight in his movements.

He was coming to engage in battle.

— This insolent brat!

Realizing belatedly that her son had sent an assassin, Jiseon's body began to glow blue.

It was due to the boiling blue blood within her.

— You insolent fool!

As the "Iron-Blooded Empress," the ice dragon Song Jiseon, opened her massive jaws and roared, Yechan, who had unwittingly gotten involved in a contest to determine the second strongest in Seoul, widened his eyes in shock.

The power in her voice was anything but ordinary.

“What… what is that? Is that really a mutated one?”

It was understandable.

The ice dragon in front of him was incomparable in size to any other mutated ones he'd encountered.

Until now, the largest mutated beings he'd seen were only about 10 meters tall at most, but this dragon was at least 100 meters tall.

— Dieee!

As Jiseon unleashed a long breath towards the south, sharp, blue ice shards poured down like a tidal wave.

KWAHHHHH!

In response, Yechan pushed his mobility output to the maximum, hurriedly dodging to the side.

Whoosh!

“Is this for real? Is Seoul always like this?”

He swallowed heavily as he watched the massive ice shards pierce the spot where he had just been standing.

He was certain that taking even one of those shards would mean instant death.

‘But if I can just get close…!’

Yechan’s eyes gleamed again.

It was clear that he had encountered an opponent far more formidable than expected, but backing down now would hurt his pride.

Besides, wasn’t his hyung watching from behind?

This was his first public battle in Seoul.

Claiming to be the "Strongest Spear in Gyeongbuk" and failing to defeat even one mutated creature would be unacceptable.

Tat!

Yechan gripped his spear, and black flames erupted from his entire body.

Whooosh!

This was the effect of Yechan’s most prized legendary spear, "Shadowless."

「Shadowless」 - Legendary Spear

【Lumoa's Incarnation】

Transforms into a black fire demon, gaining a powerful piercing attack, and all combat abilities increase by 15%.

Unlike Yeongwoo, who had roamed the central and southern regions, Yechan had met various merchants and once even encountered someone who traded goods through a kind of card gambling.

The trade involved guessing three consecutive numbers between 1 and 9 on an overturned stone tablet.

If successful, one could obtain the desired item; if not, 1 million karma would be forfeited.

Yechan succeeded in just 11 tries, obtaining the legendary spear "Shadowless."

While extraordinary luck or immense capital was required, there were still ways to obtain legendary gear in this world.

Moreover, Yechan had unlocked the "Monarch Without a Crown" achievement series, which is gained by defeating mutated beings consecutively without a Strongest Sword title.

Currently, he owned three legendary items.

In other words, as Yeongwoo predicted, Yechan was indeed one of the strongest within the ‘standard,’ and thanks to that...

KA-KA-KA-BOOM!

He dodged all of the ice dragon's furious breath attacks and was now within reach of her front paw.

Finally, he had drawn the gigantic beast into his range, just as he had hoped.

‘Now it’s over! I’m confident in close combat!’

Certain of victory, Yechan prepared to strike the ice dragon's front paw, and Jiseon, who was about to cast an ice spell, momentarily hesitated.

— Damn it.

There were still injured humans in Gwangjin-gu who hadn't recovered yet.

They were the Strongest Swords, supposed to help fund her trip to space.

And during that brief hesitation...

SWISH!

Yechan's spear thrust towards her front paw.

“Take this!”

It was a strike from a legendary spear.

Though it couldn't compare to Yeongwoo’s mythical demon sword, it was still a sufficiently threatening attack.

Crack!

The spearhead managed to break through Jiseon’s scales, digging slightly into her flesh.

— You...!

For Jiseon, it was only a slight sting, but the fact that her opponent’s attack had landed was infuriating.

After all, another relatively threatening figure had appeared, following her insane son.

— These crazy bastards, enough is enough!

Finally fed up, Song Jiseon dispelled her dragon form.

SWOOOSH!

Her massive body, spanning hundreds of meters, transformed into a giant mass of light, forcing Yechan to retreat.

In that instant, the light rapidly compressed and, in the blink of an eye, created a grayish-white swordsman standing 3 meters tall.

This was Song Jiseon’s polymorph ability.

In less than an hour after her return to this world, she had already fully armed herself twice.

— Do you even know who I am, you little brat?

Wearing thick steel armor over her face and letting her long white hair billow in the air, Song Jiseon’s presence was enough to make anyone think of the word ‘strongest.’

“W-who are you…?”

Feeling the overwhelming force of his opponent, the cocky Kang Yechan hesitantly pulled his spear back and asked.

In response, Song Jiseon pointed at the name tag above her head as if she couldn’t believe what she was hearing.

—You really don’t know who I am? You’ve never heard of Song Jiseon of the Jinhyeon Group?

[Translator - Night]

[Proofreader - Gun]

“…I’ve heard of Jinhyeon Group, but…”

No matter how formidable Yechan had become in this reset world, he had just been an ordinary high school student in his previous world.

So while he may have heard the name of Jinhyeon Group, it was understandable that he didn’t know the name of its head.

—Is that so? Well then, I suppose it’s time you learned.

“Huh?”

Suddenly finding himself in a swordfight with an offended business tycoon, Yechan turned around with a bewildered expression.

Swoosh.

That’s when he spotted Jeong Yeongwoo, a former orphan, standing far away, just watching.

“Yechan! Look ahead! She’s coming in now!”

Yeongwoo called out while casually gesturing with his fingers as if he were giving some relaxed advice.

“Huh?”

At the moment Yechan finally realized something was off.

KRAAAASH!

A massive greatsword sliced through the air, heading straight for him.

“Ugh!”

Even without having to take the hit, Yechan could feel the immense strength behind the attack.

The mere force of the sword swinging towards him was enough to make his hair flutter.

“Argh!”

As Yechan instinctively gripped his spear tightly and raised it to guard, the merciless downward slash of the business tycoon’s greatsword landed on top of it.

—You insolent brat!

THU-UUUNG!

With a loud ringing sound, like striking a giant bell, a blue flame sparked from the center of Yechan's spear shaft.

Simultaneously, the ground beneath him cracked like a spider web.

CRAAAACK!

“...!”

It had been a long time since he had felt such overwhelming strength.

But Yechan was no longer the boy who trembled in front of heavily armored goblins.

Despite the overwhelming situation, he angled his spear shaft slightly, attempting a counterattack.

SCREECH!

As the greatsword pressed against his spear shaft, Song Jiseon’s body naturally tilted, and Yechan, waiting for this moment, thrust the tip of his spear towards her neck.

“Just being strong isn’t enough! Let me teach you a lesson!”

Sensing victory, Yechan shouted boldly, but Song Jiseon merely scoffed from within her helmet.

—You’re going to teach me? How amusing.

With that, she quickly grabbed Yechan’s spear shaft with her left hand, which she had already freed earlier.

KRAK!

Right before the tip of the spear could reach her neck.

“Huh?”

Yechan was stunned.

No mutants he had fought before were this skilled in combat.

It made sense for Strongest Swords to be battle-hardened since they had to fight to earn their titles, but not mutants.

This was essentially a duel, each wielding their own weapons.

How could a corporate tycoon engage in such intricate combat, unless she had secretly trained in fencing or kendo as a hobby?

“How… how did you block that?”

Seeing Yechan's bewildered expression, Song Jiseon, using only her raw strength, pushed his spear shaft away as she spoke.

GRIND.

—Always assume your opponent has one more move than you. Crises always come from places you can’t anticipate, kid.

This was not only Song Jiseon’s management philosophy but had also become her combat principle now that she possessed extraordinary physical prowess.

Even in moments when victory seemed certain, she focused on preparing for unexpected moves.

“Ha.”

As Yechan, who truly felt like he had learned something, let out a sigh, a red flash suddenly appeared at the edge of his vision.

“…?”

When Yechan turned to look in that direction, the red demonic energy of the cursed sword, Bastard, had already cut through the air.

CLAAAANG!

Yeongwoo, who had seemed like a passive observer until now, had suddenly thrown Bastard into the fray, crashing into the scene.

“When your opponent’s last move has been exhausted, that’s when you strike from behind. That’s how you become the strongest.”

Yeongwoo said confidently as he extended his empty hand, and the cursed sword that had lodged itself in Song Jiseon’s shoulder swiftly returned to him.

SWOOSH, THUNK!

With the strength drained from her arm, Song Jiseon dropped Yechan’s spear shaft, and Yechan didn’t miss the chance to retreat quickly.

“Huh, what just happened?”

Yechan looked back and forth between Song Jiseon and Yeongwoo, asking in confusion.

Yeongwoo pointed his sword at his mother and said,

“Say hello. This is my mother.”

“Huh?”

Then he swung the red blade to point at Yechan.

“Mother, this is my younger brother, Kang Yechan. He helped me out a while back. You’re not strangers anymore, so feel free to get acquainted.”

— What?

Still trying to process the situation, Song Jiseon made a sound of disbelief from inside her helmet, and Yeongwoo continued.

“Now, Mother is the second strongest in Seoul, no, in the entire Korean peninsula.”

— …?

Yeongwoo then turned his head back to Yechan.

“Yechan, since you lost to my mother, that makes you the third strongest. So you’ll be responsible for debt collection now.”

“Mister, what are you talking about…? Why am I suddenly in charge of debt collection? And what does that even entail?”

As expected, Yechan immediately expressed his refusal, and Yeongwoo pulled out a pre-prepared argument.

“Well then, how are you going to pay for trying to attack my mother…?”

“What?”

Yechan’s pupils widened to their maximum size.

He was so shocked that his entire body became stiff, making breathing hard.

He had walked right into a colossal trap.

‘Th-this is Seoul…?’

Yechan glanced at Song Jiseon with fear in his eyes.

The corporate tycoon clad in steel armor was right.

Crises indeed came from places he couldn’t imagine.

[Translator - Night]

[Proofreader - Gun]