Level 4 Human in a Ruined World

[Translator - Night]

[Proofreader - Gun]

Chapter 298: Den of Evil (3)

'Why do I keep getting things like this?'

Was there still something called fate?

With the constant developments urging him toward the path of evil, Yeongwoo looked up at the sky.

However, after slaying a tentacle-formed dragon, it was only natural for a sword entwined with tentacles to appear.

In truth, this was all karma.

Strictly speaking, it was Yeongwoo himself who had willingly walked down the path of evil, to the point where he had now become a demon.

After all, it was only a few minutes ago that he declared he would resort to kidnapping, threats, and violence just to register his hunting record.

- Little one, grasp the sword.

As Bantubangtong pointed to the sword left behind by the slain dragon, Yeongwoo asked,

"Master Bang, do you know what that sword is...?"

To this, Master Bang gently closed his eyes.

- It is certain that this item has been tainted by Mara's filthy touch. Can't you smell the stench even now?

"...You can just say you don't know."

Feeling the tense gazes of his brothers, Yeongwoo walked towards the ominous sword.

Clank, clank.

He was already clad in the Vesedel armor, and with the mythical weapon Bastard glowing red in his right hand, he looked like a demon lord even without the cursed sword.

'Of all places, among my brothers.'

Surrounded by large, red-footed orcs, he felt strange as he picked up the obviously evil sword.

Especially since this scene was being recorded, and who knows how it might affect future elections.

'Well, for now...'

Loot was always welcome.

Especially weapons.

Tap!

As Yeongwoo touched the tip of the cursed sword, gray waves spread out in all directions, revealing the weapon's tooltip.

「Void Flesh」 - Void One-Handed Sword

【Absorbs other Void Flesh.】

【Phantom Dragon: 10% increased damage against living creatures.】

"Hmm?"

Yeongwoo's eyes widened upon checking the sword's tooltip.

The word "Void" was inscribed where the grade of the equipment should have been, just like the Vesedel armor that had the royal family name stamped on it without a manufacturing symbol.

'If it's Void... it might be...'

―Master of the Void, one who walks in the shadow of cosmic laws, King of Ten Thousand Demons.

A title attached to Mara.

In other words, as Master Bang had suggested, this equipment indeed belonged to Mara.

To be precise, it should be seen as equipment governed by Mara's domain.

'So, Mara's equipment doesn't have manufacturing symbols either. It must be a very powerful piece.'

This fact implied a lot.

After all, Mara was one of the three forces that had won the right to develop Earth.

'But only Mara doesn't have a manufacturing symbol on their equipment. That must mean their status is incredibly high.'

On the other hand, Dogo had a ◇-shaped manufacturing symbol on their equipment.

The same went for Toma, which was another force outside the development rights holders. Lemu was likely the same, with manufacturing symbols attached to their equipment since their cosmic law rank was lower than Dogo's.

Summing it all up,

'The official ranking of the cosmic forces currently on Earth is Mara, Dogo, and Lemu in that order.

Toma was probably on the same level as Lemu.'

Now, only one question remained.

'So, is Mara a second-tier entity in cosmic law?'

At first glance, it should be the case, but circumstantially, it wasn’t.

As far as Yeongwoo knew, entities of the second tier or higher could not have their names casually spoken by mere mortals.

Yet, Master Bang and his brothers, who were undoubtedly cosmic entities, frequently invoked "Mara."

Therefore, judging by circumstantial evidence, Mara's presumed rank was...

'Probably third-tier... on the same level as the Chairman.'

However, despite being of the same third tier, Mara's external prestige was clearly higher than Dogo's.

'So instead of comparing Mara to the Chairman, it makes more sense to compare them to the Vesedel royal family.'

This made Chairman Dogo's position rather ambiguous.

Despite being from a family that could formally be included in the cosmic equipment ranking, he was still the head of a private corporation.

Thinking about this, it made more sense why Guppy, a special-grade enforcer from the Mon-O tribe, had beaten up Mara's subordinates while working for Dogo.

Although attacking Mara was a kind of rebellion, it was more like a younger sibling hitting an older sibling, rather than a child striking a parent.

'But in any case, Mara does seem like the stronger force... Can we really win?'

Although the Chairman's majesty, which was comparable to the Master of the Void and King of Ten Thousand Demons, was impressive, that wasn’t important to Yeongwoo right now.

'Chairman? Did I board the right ship? Yes?'

While Yeongwoo was glaring fiercely at the sky, a thousand red-footed orcs completed their evacuation through the portal.

Thud!

The last orc leaped out of the portal, and the massive gate promptly closed behind it.

Swoosh!

With a chilling sound, the 100-meter diameter dimensional gate vanished in an instant, and Yeongwoo grabbed Master Bang in shock.

Thud!

"Wait, there were still brothers left behind! Is it really okay for the gate to close like that? If we had waited, more dragons might have come through!"

To this, Bantubangtong wrinkled his blunt nose.

- There's nothing we can do. If you wanted to save more brothers, you could have...

"Put in more money? And?"

Eager to reopen the gate, Yeongwoo sent a desperate look, urging Master Bang to finish his sentence.

Master Bang walked to the side of the portal.

- It’s faster if you see this.

The grand city of the red-footed orcs, Darwin.

Installed here was an enormous metal gate.

It was built to securely house the 100-meter diameter dimensional portal.

Yeongwoo only realized this after the portal had closed.

"What... is this?"

He stared blankly at the oval metal frame that stretched far into the sky.

Just moments ago, this gate had shown another dimension’s planet, but now it only reflected Earth's sky.

In some ways, Darwin was the most advanced city on Earth at this moment.

Nowhere else had a dimensional gate connected to an alien world.

Swish.

Then, Bantubangtong stood in front of a large lever next to the gate.

"Is this the gate's control mechanism?"

When Yeongwoo asked, Bantubangtong placed his hand on the lever and pulled it down forcefully.

Rumble, clank!

As the lever moved, a magical circle appeared above it, and a familiar system message popped up.

「Please input the number of entities to pass through the gate. 10,000 Karma is required per entity.」

"So, it costs 10,000 Karma per brother."

- Yes. But...

Master Bang gestured as if telling Yeongwoo to pay close attention, then pulled the lever down another notch.

Rumble, clank!

A new system message appeared.

[Translator - Night]

[Proofreader - Gun]

「Set the gate's danger level. The number of entities allowed to pass will increase based on the set level, but the risk of unexpected variables will also rise.」

[Current Danger Level: 0%]

[Maximum Danger Level: 100%]

"Ah."

Yeongwoo instantly understood.

"If you take the risk, you can bring more brothers through. What was the danger level earlier?"

- 25%. It was the first time. After I saw you arrive, I pulled the lever one more time.

'As expected of a great master, bold as ever.'

Indeed, the red-footed orcs had been able to steadily increase their numbers by always setting the gate’s danger level to 0%.

They hadn’t taken any risks until now.

But as soon as they confirmed that the demon from the Korean Peninsula had arrived in the city, they bet on 25%.

"At 25%, dragons might intrude. What would happen if we set it to 50%?"

Muttering to himself, Yeongwoo looked back at the cursed sword he had acquired in Darwin today.

「Void Flesh」 - Void One-Handed Sword

【Absorbs other Void Flesh.】

【Dragon: 10% increased damage against biological targets.】

'If my guess is correct, this weapon's effect will continue to grow. If I acquire two Void Flesh swords, they'll merge into one. If I get three, the effect will either triple or I’ll gain three different options.'

So, theoretically, the Void Flesh was a weapon with ridiculous potential.

And the way to obtain another Void Flesh was probably...

‘...to kill something like that phantom dragon again. I’ll have to open a portal and summon another being from the domain that Mara governs.’

Anyway, since he was planning to use this portal as a glory points dispenser, there was nothing more to think about.

"We don’t have time. Let’s open it before the mutators fall."

- What do you mean?

"What else? The portal. We need to rescue our brothers as soon as possible, don’t we?"

Sure, killing Master Bang in front of him would earn me another legendary kill record, but... Yeongwoo wasn’t that much of a villain.

Swish.

So, Yeongwoo lifted the 'Void Flesh' and pointed it at the inactive gate instead of Master Bang.

"Shall we try it at 50% risk? I'll deduct the rescue cost from today’s tribute, so hurry up and deposit it."

However, for some reason, Master Bang didn’t budge.

"...Why are you hesitating?"

- A signal.

"...What?"

- "A signal from our brothers. Only then can we open the portal."

"...What? You mean the brothers on that planet need to send a signal?"

- Yes. Even if we open the path, if there are no brothers on the other side, no one can be rescued.

"Hah."

Yeongwoo blinked rapidly at the unexpected response.

He had naturally assumed that the portal on the other planet, like the gate here, had a fixed location.

‘So, in fact, the location of the portal is determined by the other planet, and all we can do is respond?’

Well, their home planet has already been swallowed by Mara, hadn't it?

So the brothers left on the other side were likely fugitives or independent fighters, without any fixed place of residence.

‘So, the signal they sent earlier was probably while they were fleeing.’

On the rocky mountain of the other planet that he saw through the portal behind the phantom dragon, there were at least thousands of brothers standing.

And yet, the reason they didn’t all rush towards the portal...

‘They could see the number above the portal. They knew it wasn’t their turn yet.’

Thud.

Without realizing it, Yeongwoo clutched his chest over the Vesedel armor.

For some reason, every time he came to meet Master Bang and his brothers, his humanity seemed to return temporarily.

"Master Bang, there can’t be many brothers left on your home planet, can there?"

The Orc Lord Bantubangtong's eyes turned nostalgic, as if recalling the past.

"The number of brothers is dwindling. And Mara’s interference is getting worse by the day."

He was talking about the increasing number of monsters that came through when they opened the portal.

"......"

Yeongwoo checked the cash he currently had.

* Available Karma: 65,212,500

* Available Defense Funds: 38,967,105

Including both personal and state funds, his total assets were about 100 million Karma.

And with that money, he could save a whopping 10,000 brothers on the other planet.

He could bring in 10,000 more Red Foot Orc warriors to Earth.

"Whew."

Yeongwoo took a deep breath as if making a big decision, then grabbed the lever handle that Bantubangtong was holding.

Thud!

"Master Bang! I will lend you 100 million Karma right now."

- What? 100 million...?

"Yes! Take the 100 million from me, save 10,000 brothers, and when you get a golden sphere by defeating the mutators... choose the 30,000 Karma supply."

- Small Foot, if that’s really possible...

"Yes, then with just the newly rescued brothers, you’ll generate at least 300 million Karma, right?"

When Yeongwoo raised his hand and formed the number three, Master Bang, sensing something suspicious, let go of the lever and stepped back.

- We are not good with numbers.

"It’s 300 million! Master Bang!"

Shouting at the leader of thousands of Orcs, Yeongwoo then calmed his voice and folded one of the three fingers he had raised.

"You’ll gain 300 million in an instant, and out of that, just give me 200 million."

- 200 million?

"Yes. Since I lent you 100 million, it’s basically just giving me back 100 million. And you and the brothers will still have 100 million left. This is what we call a creative economy, Master Bang."

- B-but according to your words...

100% interest rate.

Master Bang was speechless at the outrageous usury.

But as Small Foot said, it was indeed a deal where both sides would gain an enormous profit.

It was just that using the brothers' rescue mission as a money-making scheme felt unsettling.

"Master Bang, do you think I’m comfortable with this? I’m using state funds, so if I spend the people's taxes, I have to report the purpose and outcome. There’s no choice, I tell you."

As Yeongwoo spoke, his face showed both vigor and excitement.

This was, after all, a high-stakes game.

"Master Bang! Think of your brothers! Is your pride really the issue right now?"

As Yeongwoo once again sternly urged, pulling Master Bang's hand towards the lever, a horn-like sound suddenly echoed long and loud from inside the inactive portal.

"What's that? Could it be...?"

Yeongwoo's eyes widened as he looked around, and the Orc Lord Bantubangtong sighed and closed his eyes.

- It's a signal. Somewhere, our brothers have reached a dead end.

On the other hand, Yeongwoo, excited, drew both Bastard and the Void Flesh.

"Then we must save them quickly! Master Bang! What are you doing? Hurry up and take my money."

As Yeongwoo gave a nod, a golden goblin that had been waiting behind poured 100 million Karma in cash onto the ground.

Rattle!

The dark money brought by the demon of the Korean Peninsula.

Clearly, it was money with an impure intent, but it could also save countless brothers.

- Hmm.

As Master Bang clenched his eyes tightly again, urging him to hurry, the horn sounded once more from inside the portal.

Hooorn!

"This is already the second signal. Isn't it telling us to open the door quickly because they're dying?"

When Yeongwoo pushed for the portal to be opened, Master Bang, his patience worn thin, opened his eyes wide.

- Human! I’ll endure you tainting our honor with your money! But do not mock the sacrifices of our brothers!

At this, Yeongwoo firmly grasped Master Ban's hand that had moved away from the lever.

"Do you think I’m mocking your brothers? With this money, your brothers won’t even need to sacrifice themselves. Wake up, Bantubangtong."

- ......!

Because Yeongwoo's grip was so strong, Bantubangtong had no choice but to be pulled back to the lever.

But the decision on the number of people to be rescued was entirely up to the city’s lord, Bantubangtong.

- This is disgraceful. But the preservation of our brothers comes first.

In the end, as Bantubangtong set the rescue cost at 100 million Karma and was about to pull the lever, Yeongwoo stopped him again by grabbing his arm.

Clench!

- What, what now? I’ve agreed to everything you proposed.

Then Yeongwoo lowered the lever handle another notch that Bantubangtong was holding.

Click!

"If you open it at 50% risk, you can save 15,000."

- What...?

"Then it seems even if you give me 300 million, there’ll be plenty of money left. What do you think, should we save another 5,000 brothers?"

[Translator - Night]

[Proofreader - Gun]

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