Chapter 12
[Translator – Peptobismol]
Chapter 12: The Goblins Are Too Big (2)
“Huh?”
As the quest prompt appeared, Yechan let out a surprised sound.
Upon this, Yeongwoo realized that Yechan was included in the list of ‘residents with monster kill records.’
The trigger for this Epic Quest.
“You see it too? Both the prompt and the display.”
“The display?”
At Yeongwoo’s inquiry, Yechan, who had been nodding, soon spotted a distant red pillar of light and jolted.
“I… I see it.”
Could it be that this time, he was determined to go and confront the mutants?
Yechan looked at Yeongwoo with eyes full of concern.
Indeed, Yeongwoo was focused on the red pillar of light that seemed to mark the location of the mutants.
‘It’s moving.’
Despite seeming to be quite a distance away, the movement of the pillar of light felt real-time.
It meant the target’s movement speed was incredibly fast.
‘Where could it be heading?’
Of course, the only way to find out was to chase it. It would be a waste of time to contemplate more here.
“We should get ready to move now. We’ve done everything we need to do here.”
Yeongwoo picked 40,000 Karma from the pile of coins and handed it to Yechan.
Upon this, Yechan glanced anxiously at the red pillar of light.
“Are we… going to the mutants?”
“Of course. If we spot goblins on the way, we need to deal with them too.”
As he spoke, Yeongwoo placed a coin inside his mouth.
The purpose was to reinvest the Karma gained this time into his stats.
Crunch!
[Character: Jung Yeongwoo 07]
[Strength] 96 (19+77)
[Stamina] 97 (21+76)
[Endurance] 13
[Senses] 24
* 1,000 Karma is consumed per stats point.
* Available Karma: 200,000
With 200,000 Karma in hand, he could increase his stats by a total of 200 points if he invested it all.
Yeongwoo decided to initially balance each stat up to a certain level.
‘Let’s raise Endurance and Senses to 50 for now.’
And distribute the rest between Strength and Stamina.
[Character: Jung Yeongwoo 07]
[Strength] 150 (19+131)
[Stamina] 150 (21+129)
[Endurance] 50 (13+37)
[Senses] 50 (24+26)
* Available Karma: 30,000
‘This is truly amazing. The rate of growth is too fast.’
Yeongwoo blinked in amazement.
Just a few hours ago, his Strength was only 19, and now it was at a staggering 150.
And even after boosting the stats this much, he still had 30,000 Karma remaining.
‘I should refrain from spending the rest. I might need cash on hand at some point.’
After closing the settings window, Yeongwoo looked at Yechan, who was surrounded by a dotted line.
Then Yechan glanced at him and carefully asked.
“Did you use up all your Karma again?”
“I left some just in case.”
“Oh, then should I…?”
“Nah. It’s better if you use it all. It’s still tough for you to fight against monsters.”
Yeongwoo expressed it as ‘some’ for the 30,000 Karma, yet he felt no unease.
With the significant increase in available funds in exchange for hunting monsters.
‘I wonder what others are doing. Are they still running away? Some of them might have fought the monsters.’
Yeongwoo still surveyed the blue pillars of light scattered around.
They indicated that there were monsters left uncleared in the area.
“Mister, I’m done too.”
After finishing the distribution of stat points, Yechan, holding a spear and shield, stood beside Yeongwoo.
Upon which, Yeongwoo asked, keeping his gaze focused on the red pillar of light.
“What’s your Stamina now?”
“It’s 52. The base was 22.”
Seeing Yechan adding to the base value, it seemed like he’d found some stability as well.
Yeongwoo double-checked that his backpack containing 30,000 Karma was securely locked before pointing with the tip of the Early Bird, indicating the red pillar of light.
“Now we’re going all the way over there. Just follow behind me.”
* * *
Moving.
It sounded grand, but it boiled down to just running.
Yet, there was something different from before.
Thud!
Despite running at a considerable speed, they didn’t tire easily.
Of course, this applied to Yeongwoo with his Stamina reaching 150, while Yechan seemed visibly fatigued from earlier.
“Haa! Gasp!”
Even so, instead of suggesting a brief rest, Yechan gritted through without asking to stop.
This was because he thought that the moment he was considered a burden by Yeongwoo, he would be abandoned.
“…Haa! Haaa! Huff!”
However, after a short while, as his stamina reached its limit, his breathing started to break down.
“…”
Upon this, Yeongwoo gradually slowed down.
“I think you should take a little break.”
“Oh, no! Just a little more…”
“No, if you push yourself too hard and collapse, it’ll be troublesome for me.”
Just a few hours ago, Yeongwoo had been overtaken ruthlessly in the race to the currency exchange booth.
Therefore, simply because Yechan lacked stamina, Yeongwoo had no intention of abandoning him. There was no reason to do that yet.
“Take a short break. Since we don’t know when we might have to fight again, it’s better if I rest too.”
As Yeongwoo came to a complete stop, Yechan, following behind, poured out sweat onto the ground, catching his breath.
‘I might need to boost Stamina next time. If not…’
Yeongwoo’s head stopped at a certain point as he looked around.
Two bicycles were lined up in front of a roadside store.
They had, of course, turned into stone.
‘But they said that by using Karma we can revert items turned to stone back to their original state.’
Yeongwoo took out a coin from his backpack and walked toward the stone bicycles.
Then…
Tap!
He placed the coin on the handlebar of the bicycle.
Phew!
“….!”
Lo and behold, a small square hologram appeared where the coin and the bicycle made contact.
“Oh, this is…”
[Translator – Peptobismol]
It was none other than the price tag.
[Bicycle: 3,000]
* To confirm purchase, re-contact the item with a coin.
Bicycle, 3,000 Karma.
It meant that by paying three crimson coins, these bicycles could be restored for use.
‘Even if I buy both, it’s just 6,000.’
To Yeongwoo, who currently had 30,000 Karma, it felt very affordable.
Riding a bicycle significantly reduced stamina consumption relative to distance traveled and also increased the speed of movement.
Tap!
While examining the price tag, Yeongwoo momentarily withdrew the coin, then touched it again to the bicycle, causing the coin to disappear, and the bicycle began to change.
Ssshhhhh!
Like when items from the previous world turned to stone, it started emitting a hazy smoke.
Then, from where the coin had made contact, the petrification quickly reversed.
“What… what is this?”
Yechan, who had been catching his breath from behind, was startled and rushed over upon seeing the smoke.
“You know how to ride a bike, right? From now on, we’ll move on these.”
“Yes? Ah, yes! I know how to ride, but…”
Yechan looked at Yeongwoo with admiring eyes.
At this moment when most people were busy running from monsters, the fact that Yeongwoo was buying a bicycle to chase down mutants… the more he thought about it, the more impressive it seemed.
“Mister, um, are you a regressor or something?”
“What?”
[TL/N: Bro read too many regressor manhwa… ngl I’d think the same in his place ]
Yeongwoo furrowed his brows momentarily at the absurd statement, then chuckled.
“What nonsense. It’s nothing like that.”
“Then how are you able to do all these?”
“How…”
Yeongwoo intended to say something but closed his mouth.
The truth was, he didn’t have a clear answer himself.
“Because I’m afraid.”
“Mister? What could you be afraid of…?”
“Being weak.”
“…Oh.”
Yeongwoo pushed a bicycle towards Yechan and asked.
“Aren’t you afraid?”
“Well, I…”
While Yechan was checking his burnt name tag, Yeongwoo had his foot on the bicycle pedal.
“Sometimes, being weak is scarier than dying. So, whenever there’s an opportunity, I try to become as strong as possible.”
Rrrrrr…
Gradually, the gears of Yeongwoo’s bicycle began to turn.
Watching Yeongwoo move away, Yechan stared blankly for a moment, then hurriedly lifted his foot to the pedal.
* * *
With their bodies enhanced by Karma, the two of them rode the bicycles at a very fast pace.
In a blink, they broke through the commercial district and entered a residential area, where they could once again see other people.
However, the issue was…
“Aaaah!”
“Save me!”
Everyone seemed extremely terrified.
Dozens of people of all ages and genders were running in the direction of Yeongwoo and Yechan.
“What is this…”
“They’re running away. Looks like there are goblins over there.”
Yeongwoo pointed at the blue pillar of light emanating from inside the residential area.
Then, he glanced at a person who had just passed by him, noticing they were carrying a rock. He didn’t get a clear view in that instant.
‘Probably an item from the previous world.’
It might be something incredibly valuable.
There were several groups, including a man carrying a child and a sister supporting her grandmother while sweating profusely, who seemed relatively vulnerable.
“This is truly like hell.”
Yechan said while looking at the staggering elderly, Yeongwoo shook his head.
“At this pace, we can’t outrun them. Someone inside must be buying us time.”
He omitted the part about the true hell being inside.
Of course, it was unclear whether someone inside was willingly buying them time or if they were simply being picked off in order at the back of the long evacuation line.
“…”
Yeongwoo frowned, recalling a terrible scene involuntarily.
If people were really dying in there, they needed to hurry more than they already were.
“Let’s go. Stick to the side to avoid the crowd.”
As people continued to pour out from the residential area, Yeongwoo and Yechan moved to the edge of the road and rode their bicycles.
“Oh, by the way.”
As Yechan pedaled hard, he spoke up again.
“There are quite a few people without any weapons.”
“Not everyone followed the quests.”
Yeongwoo sensed that the situation was getting closer as another group of people rushed out, and indeed, the blue pillar of light was now approaching.
And then…
Crunch! Creak!
Unusual cracking noises reached Yeongwoo’s ears.
‘Shit. What’s this sound?’
Reflexively, he raised his upper body and looked behind the crowd of refugees.
Suddenly, something grotesque filled his sight.
It was none other than…
Goblins, smeared with blood, clutching one person each, feasting on flesh.
Crunch!
Again, the sound of goblins tearing into human bones echoed.
“These bastards…!”
Yeongwoo shouted in rage and reversed their course through the fleeing crowd. A goblin, skinning its prey, raised its head to look at him.
Then it grinned, flashing its white teeth that had not yet stained red.
As if it was looking at more prey that had served themselves at its plate.
[Translator – Peptobismol]
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