Level 4 Human in a Ruined World

Chapter 59

Chapter 59: Land of Chaos, Gyeonggi Province (2)

“Can I help? Those people over there.” Jongsu asked, pointing to the cows approaching.

His right hand had already reached the early bird at his waist.

If Yeongwoo agreed, he would get out of the car and hit the cow on the head.

With just that one guy, wouldn’t all the people rushing over there right now be able to fill their stomachs?

“….”

In response, Yeongwoo looked at the cow with a discerning look and hesitated for a moment before nodding.

“Let’s do it, and gather information about the situation nearby.”

“Yeah.”

As soon as Yeongwoo’s approval came down, Jongsu opened the driver’s seat door and got out.

Thunk.

Then the people chasing the cows hesitated and slowed down.

It was not common to see a ‘moving car,’ and now someone came out of it with an early bird, making them scared.

-Uh…!

Even the cow fleeing felt an unusual energy from Jongsu and turned its head towards the edge of the road.

Snap!

A rough movement that showed the intention of hitting the forehead if it continued to interfere.

However, Jongsu, being no ordinary guy, did not step back.

Rather.

“Wait!”

Running towards the cow at an angle, he grabbed the early bird with both hands and swung it down vigorously.

Shwack!

A creepy sound echoed as the cow rushing like a tank crashed to the ground.

Thud!

It was also the moment when the large head of the creature bounced up into the air.

It had just been severed by that blow.

“….!”

At this scene, the people chasing the cow realized that Jongsu was no ordinary skilled person.

It would have required tremendous strength and endurance to stop a cow in full sprint.

Of course, Yeongwoo knew this fact well, so he was actually worried about Jongsu.

‘Handling that level of attack would not be easy with ordinary stats. Isn’t it too reckless?’

It was a thought that Yeongwoo, who had steadily built up his stats and grown, could afford.

“Ugh.”

Jongsu’s face twisted with considerable burden on his arm.

But it didn’t seem like his elbow was broken or anything.

“Are you okay, Jongsu?”

Yeongwoo asked, sticking his head out of the car window.

Jongsu clenched and loosened his hand repeatedly, smiling.

“Yes. Stronger than I thought, this guy.”

Jongsu looked at the fallen cow with a pitiful expression.

Then he waved his hand towards the people standing far away who couldn’t approach.

“What are you doing over there? Come here.”

Upon seeing this, people glanced at each other, then one by one approached Jongsu and the cow, each carrying weapons such as knives and axes.

A total of 11 people.

Not only were there many of them, but each had a weapon like a knife or axe, but there was no threatening feeling at all.

It was because there was no feeling of the energy typical of strong individuals emanating from their eyes.

The energy emitted by someone who has experienced ‘success’ in this world is a momentum derived from expectations and hopes that, given any opportunity, they can achieve something again.

In simpler terms, it can be called confidence.

However, the 11 people who had chased the cow showed no sign of that.

On their faces, there was only a sense of defeat and worry.

Perhaps it was because the prey they had been chasing for their survival was unexpectedly taken away by a predator that suddenly appeared.

As always, they had failed this time as well.

“What… what is happening?”

Finally, one of the eleven gathered the courage to speak.

They hadn’t even imagined that the person facing them would have killed the cow for their benefit.

Based on experience, those with an early bird did not treat others as equals unless they were in an equal position.

“….”

In response, Jongsu looked at the blood splattered on his clothes, then pointed the tip of his knife at the cow’s head, which had rolled far away.

Swish.

“Weren’t you trying to eat it? That Hanwoo. That’s why I helped.”

“Ah.”

Almost simultaneously, the eleven opened their mouths wide.

And by this time, Yeongwoo, who had been sitting in the car, opened the rear door and set foot on the road.

Squeak.

The unique sound of his shoes touching the asphalt echoed strangely.

Thanks to this, the attention of the eleven, which had been focused on Jongsu, shifted to Yeongwoo all at once.

And…

“Huh?”

“Gasp.”

As if by agreement, all eleven dropped the weapons they held in their hands to the ground and prostrated themselves flat on the ground.

“What’s happening all of a sudden?”

Jongsu, looking perplexed, sheathed the early bird, and Yeongwoo also questioned the unexpected ‘welcome.’

“What are you doing now?”

When Yeongwoo asked, the one lying at the forefront of the eleven lifted his head slightly.

“Aren’t you guys from Seoul…? If we happen to meet, we were told to do this.”

“By whom?”

In response to Yeongwoo’s question, the other party raised his head a little more and uttered a very strange line.

“By those who have met people from Seoul.”

“….?”

People who have met people from Seoul.

As Yeongwoo pondered over this bizarre sentence, Jongsu asked a question on his behalf.

“What on earth is a person from Seoul?”

“Well, um…”

Only then did the eleven, from their heads to their upper bodies, finally lift themselves up obliquely.

It was only now that the two men in front of them realized that these two were not ‘people from Seoul.’

Come to think of it, the direction they had come in the car was not Seoul but the outskirts of Gyeonggi Province.

“Oh, you’re not from Seoul…?”

“….”

In response to the lame remarks of the eleven, Yeongwoo and Jongsu could only make blank expressions.

Why were people who had never directly encountered those from Seoul so frightened even at the mention of them coming and going?

“Are you not going in that direction?”

Yeongwoo said, pulling out the ‘Fearful cat.’

According to this compass, there was still no threatening presence around.

“But why Seoul? Are people from there coming down to cut and stab you?”

When Yeongwoo put the compass back into his pocket and asked, the 11 individuals just stared at Yeongwoo without saying a word.

It was as if ‘people from Seoul’ were indeed coming down to commit violence.

“Is it really true? Are they just randomly killing anyone they see on the road?”

Yeongwoo expressed disbelief, and the representative among the 11 cautiously spoke up.

“There’s nothing good about getting in their way. We know that those who hinder monster hunting are all dead.”

“Ah.”

Yeongwoo immediately grasped the bizarre situation upon hearing the term ‘monster hunting.’

“So, people from Seoul are meddling with the monsters in Gyeonggi Province. And they kill those who might pose a threat.”

Perhaps this is also the reason why there is no Strongest Sword in Yeoju.

| Currently in the area of ‘Yeoju.’

| There is no Strongest Sword in this area.

‘It’s a power struggle. The world has come to this already….’

It made sense, as everyone’s lives were directly at stake.

Getting stronger meant an increased chance of surviving encounters with any kind of being.

‘How is Seoul doing anyway?’

Yeongwoo glanced briefly in the northwest direction where Seoul was.

Then he gestured to the Gyeonggi Province residents to get up.

“Anyway, we are not from Seoul, so there’s no need for you to act like this. We were just curious about what was going on.”

In Yeongwoo’s ‘what was going on,’ everything, including the cow lying on the ground with spilled blood, were also included.

“Have a good meal… anyway.”

For some reason, Yeongwoo felt uneasy, and he retreated into the Audi like taking a step back.

Then, after a while, Jongsu came to the driver’s seat, sat down, and checked his complexion in the rearview mirror.

“Hyung-nim, should we leave like this? Do you need more water over there?”

In response, Yeongwoo, hesitating while glancing around, looked with a bitter gaze at the people who were subtly gathering near the ‘Hanwoo.’

Would they really cut up and eat the meat like that?

“They’ve never seen people from Seoul in person. Even if you ask more questions, you won’t get proper answers.”

“Yes. That’s true.”

“Let’s just go up quickly. We might be able to meet someone or something. Whether it’s people from Seoul or whatever.”

The current time was 6:54 PM.

The outside of the car window was already getting dark.

Therefore, those people who luckily solved their meals for today needed to hurry.

They should find a room before complete darkness and abnormal weather arrives.

Of course, it was the same for Yeongwoo and Jongsu.

* * *

Vroom…!

The two continued to drive the car northwest.

And just like before, they saw three more groups of people chasing cows.

It seemed like the cows had escaped from some nearby ranch.

Anyway, the sight of people wielding knives and chasing animals was still eerie, no matter how many times they saw it.

“It’s probably just for a moment, right? Those who can’t pay taxes today will all die immediately.”

Jongsu had not mentioned helping those chasing cows since a while ago.

It was because they had realized that those running around at this point were likely to die within a few days.

Tax collection at 10 PM, abnormal weather at 11 PM.

Even if someone managed to survive unnoticed by monsters and mutants, they still had to overcome at least two more survival hurdles.

And that had to be done every day.

However, could those who didn’t have the money to secure food immediately, nor the ability to run faster than cows, overcome such challenges?

Moreover, it was rumored that now people from Gyeonggi Province couldn’t even touch monsters in their own area, as people from Seoul were preventing it.

Betting their lives had become impossible.

‘The world has become a place where once you fall, it’s hard to get up again.’

Yeongwoo thought, gazing at the darkening sky.

If this wasn’t hell, what else could it be?

If things continued like this, only superhumans would remain on Earth, facing mutants falling every day…

‘Wait a moment.’

Lost in various thoughts while looking out the window, Yeongwoo suddenly blinked as something occurred to him.

‘Come to think of it, what about other countries?’

The reset.

According to the announcement on the first day, the ‘reset’ was an extraordinary measure applied to the entire human race.

「This means that the majority of humans had become hostile towards humanity, and accordingly, the reset function was forcibly activated.」

In other words, it wasn’t just happening in Korea;

Japan, China, even places like the United States or Africa might be experiencing the same situation.

‘Oh my God.’

As horrific scenes flashed through his mind, Yeongwoo, in the midst of trying to shake off those thoughts, noticed a faint message appearing in his field of vision.

「An advertiser will visit in 1 hour.」

「Prepare gifts for the guest.」