New Morals

The goblin warlord was originally a species incapable of intelligence. Yet, this one was different. He was showing signs of intelligence, how? Interference in the trial? But why? And for me? It was a bizarre situation.

I kicked off the ground and charged at the warlord. He got ready to swing his club as soon as I got into its attack range.

I slid down and lowered my upper body while aiming for his legs. The warlord tried to bash me with his club only to end up hitting itself. Its huge belly prevented it from avoiding attacks on its lower body.

"Go work out. Fat fuck."

The sky splitting sword cut throw his Achilles and the warlord let out a blood curdling scream.

I entered a state of trance as I viciously cut through his flesh with each strike. Was this what Yoo Jinsun wanted to see? Was he satisfied now? My thoughts were hazy, as I continued to cut down the monster in front of me.

The warlord's muscly legs finally gave up and he slowly sunk to the ground. Blood trickled down from the various cuts on his body.

"Disgusting sight, isn't it?"

Maybe I was a fool. What was the use of communicating with a goblin warlord in the first place? I raised the sword above my head and prepared for the killing blow.

The warlord, accepting its fate, lowered its neck to make it as seamless as possible. I still couldn't shake off the nervousness in the back of my mind.

"How...?"

But I didn't have the time for that. Blood rushed to my arms as I swung the sky splitting sword with all my strength. In the fraction of a second it took for the blade to graze its neck, I saw tears. Was I imagining it?

Blood splattered on my face and clothes as the warlord's head went flying.

[You have successfully hunted a 'Goblin Warlord'.]

[You are the first to have accomplished this feat.]

[You have earned an achievement.]

[You have received 4000 coins for hunting a 'Goblin Warlord'.]

[You have cleared the trial.]

[You have obtained 3000 coins and 100 ethos as a reward.]

[Your level has risen. Lv.3 -> Lv.7]

The messages kept popping up one by one. I set the system window to mute to not be annoyed for a while. I walked over to the head that was lying around.

"If Yoo Jinsun was here he'd have killed me to take this..."

An item that not many people would know about. I felt a bit guilty, was I hoarding information? Kind of. But, was I in the wrong? I had to survive somehow. I was a useless bum before this happened. I didn't have any talents, no skills. If, having played this game for over a decade made me someone special, was it a bad thing?

"...Why now of all times?"

I set aside the pessimism and took out the goblin's fang.

[You have obtained the 'Scarlet Fang'.]

The difficult part was...

"Where did I go wrong in life..."

I had to eat it. Yoo Jinsun in the game nearly choked to death the first time he obtained this item. Could I do it? I wasn't sure. But I had to.

The sound of a large gulp caught the attention of the child and the woman who had regained consciousness. They watched in awe all of my movements.

"Gulp."

I swallowed it.

"Uwak! Cough! Cough!"

And I started to choke on it. I helplessly flailed around like a monkey for a few minutes and tried to get the fang past my throat.

"Bluegh!....I survived."

Faint cheering came from the child and the woman.

[Your overall stats have risen by 10 levels]

[Strength Lv.8 -> Lv.18]

[Agility Lv.8 -> Lv.18]

[Endurance Lv.9 -> Lv. 19]

[Vitality Lv.6 -> Lv.16]

I finally got something worthwhile from this boss fight. I still wasn't at his level. But, he wouldn't be able to boss me around anymore.

I approached the duo that was hiding in the darkness while adjusting my clothes.

"Your name?" I demanded.

"Jung Eunji."

"What about the child?"

"She..."

I looked at the child for a bit before realizing what she meant.

"Ah. That's how it is..."

"Yes..."

The child was mute. Suddenly, I was hit with a realization. How would these people survive in this world...? The system was cruel, unimaginably cruel. But I wasn't some Messiah. It was pitiful.

[The exclusive skill 'Character attribution' is activated.]

[Character information.]

Name: Jung Eunji

Level: 4

Class: Murim Swordsman

Attribute: Dubious Judge.

Coins owned: 1000

Lunal: None (one is showing interest)

Ethos: 50

Aspect: Sword mastery Lv.3, Trail of Flames Lv.2

Overall stats: STR Lv.4, AGI Lv.9, END Lv.6, VIT Lv.10

+

I doubted my eyes for a while. Murim Swordsman... I had to be in a dream. Why was every person I came across so strong? Her stats, aspects, and class were unbelievable. If I trained her... She could rival Yoo Jinsun. The class was directly below Murim Swordmaster. One of the five rarest classes to get in the game, and this woman, who was about to die was blessed with it.

I had to join forces with her. If I wanted to oppose Yoo Jinsun. She was vital.

"Eunji-ssi, do you have any plans on what to do next?"

"I don't..."

The was a faint trace of fear in her voice. I hadn't thought about it before. Where were the other survivors? There couldn't originally be two. Why was she in here in the first place? The origins of the woman in front of me were shrouded in mystery. And the most mysterious aspect was this child.

A story of betrayal, perhaps?

"Eunji-ssi, join forces with me."

"Um, okay...?"

If I trained her right. This woman would become my sword.

+

The meteor shower had begun.

Yoo Jinsun silently watched the meteor shower. This meteor shower would destroy half of South Korea. Igniting the start of another apocalypse.

But, Yoo Jinsun wasn't worried about this meteor shower. He had seen it countless times.

He simply gazed at it. With eyes filled with sorrow. With a melancholic look, Yoo Jinsun thought to himself.

'Was it too much?'

'He wasn't strong. He only had his knowledge going for him.'

'No! It's useless to think about it. If he can't even do that much... He's not worth being a companion.'

Yoo Jinsun fell into pessimism and began to recall the memories of his past regressions. He had lost his companions, family, and lover countless times in the past. His heart wouldn't shake by one more death.

Yet, a feeling of uncertainty still lingered. What was so special about Kim Haneul? He thought. He had met the Apostles in his past regressions. Yet, none of them spoke about the future as Kim Haneul did.

Yoo Jinsun switched his tattered suit with a black long coat and made his way towards Gangnam.

+

"Jung Eunji-ssi, what were you doing in that building?"

"The Jungwoo Alliance."

"What?"

"We were tricked into being a part of that alliance. Later on, discarded."

Why did she speak so incoherently? She didn't bother to explain anything... Well, it was fine. But what confused me was the alliance she mentioned. There wasn't an alliance by that name in the game, alliances were present, but never by that name. Was it an anomaly? Then who? I had originally expected anomalies like myself to pop up. But, altering the original storyline to this degree... I felt uneasy.

I turned around to look at the woman that was running beside me. She had a strikingly beautiful face. Eyes endowed with glossy and long eyelashes. Glistering Black hair fluttered in the air as she ran. If I hadn't saved this woman by now she would've...

It was a strange feeling. two people that were supposed to perish, were saved by me. Was it right to do so? Or should I have let the original storyline play along? No, even before these anomalies began to appear. I was the biggest anomaly. I killed the demonic duo and saved Lee Hanho, Yoo Mia, and Jung Eunji. I felt conflicted.

What would Yoo Jinsun have done?

"Why am I thinking about this?..."

"Did you say something?"

Jung Eunji's voice was interrupted by the thunder in the sky. In the game, thunder was never a good sign, it only indicated the beginning of a new tragedy.

Speak of the devil.

[I hope you all missed me!]

The pygmy that had appeared in the first calamity was now in front of us. I failed to notice it before but this guy was quite nicely dressed. Was he a hot shot in the cosmos? A hotshot wouldn't be managing calamities... A fraud, I suppose.

The child on my back began to breathe heavily.

"Hey, what's wrong?"

Her face was pale as if she had seen a ghost. Her lips trembled uneasily and her nails dug into her skin. Jung Eunji embraced the child and tried to calm her down. Was this a reaction to seeing the pygmy? I could understand it. But, wasn't it too extreme? Would a person normally react similarly to this after they saw a pygmy?

I couldn't gouge out her information too. She was likely a normal person, like me and Yoo Mia. But, a message indicating her being a normal person would've appeared. Then, why? Something was weird about this girl. I gulped loudly at the sight of the anomaly in front of me.

Only time would prove, how naive I was.