Level 4 Human in a Ruined World

Chapter 245: Powdered Bean (5)

A handshake.

It is said that it originated from the practice of showing one’s right hand to prove that they had no weapons.

This gesture, which actively expresses that one has no intention of fighting, has come to signify cooperation, requests, greetings, and other amicable relationships in modern times.

And it was clear that this was still the case even in the world after the reset.

Otherwise, there would be no reason for a mutant to stop his mission as an avenger by shaking hands with a human.

—……

Song Taeho looked down at the hand his nephew extended.

—If I shake this hand, I’ll end up in prison…?

Yeongwoo slightly furrowed his brow as he answered.

“No, you’ll become my friend. However, since you can’t stay in this world in your mutant form, you’ll be sent to another space.”

When Yeongwoo added that in the ‘other space,’ one could live in human form, Song Taeho twitched his steel upper lip.

—I prefer my current state. In a world like this, living as a human seems more disadvantageous. Humans are weak.

He was a case in stark contrast to someone like CEO Kim Taejoon, who eagerly wished to regain his human form as soon as possible.

CEO Kim Taejoon’s sole purpose for returning was ‘family,’ but Song Taeho’s purpose was to live again as a privileged person.

Even if that meant ruling through fear with the body of a dragon.

“…It’s still better than dying. You probably learned about the return function before coming here.”

Yeongwoo said this to teach him the way to shake hands, but Song Taeho said something entirely different.

—You don’t understand at all.

“…What?”

Yeongwoo responded, sensing that the negotiation with his uncle had broken down.

After negotiating with countless mutants, he could now guess their intentions just by their tone.

—Simply staying alive means nothing to someone like me.

“Then what does have meaning?”

—Being the protagonist.

“……?”

—I have lived my whole life as the protagonist of this world, leading everything. Everyone bowed to me, and I had everything under my control. Do you think I can exist as a ‘friend’ under you?

“Oh.”

Yeongwoo seemed to understand what his uncle was saying, but precisely because of that, he found it difficult to agree.

“But you weren’t always the protagonist in the previous world, were you?”

—What?

“If living as the so-called well-off protagonist is what you desire, you weren’t living that life even in the previous world.”

Yeongwoo looked up at the sky again.

He felt he might need to request bombardment soon, but he also vaguely looked up, thinking about his mother somewhere.

“My image of you, uncle, is that of an unfortunate eldest son of a conglomerate family who lost his management rights to the youngest. Of course, you weren’t lacking materially as a second-generation chaebol, but… you didn’t seem satisfied with that.”

When Yeongwoo said this, Song Taeho widened his eyes and raged.

—You bastard…!

“See, it hit the mark, didn’t it? What did you say as soon as you saw me earlier? Didn’t you ask where Song Jiseon was?”

The world had turned upside down, Song Taeho had lost his human body and become a dragon.

Even in such a state, the fact that he had deep feelings for his youngest sibling indicated that he was still suffering from a sense of defeat.

“Seeing you appear today means my mother will show up soon. So if you really want to see your sibling, shake hands with me. You need to be alive to either fight or reconcile with your enemy.”

To function properly as Yeongwoo’s ‘friend,’ one had to have a favorable sentiment towards the owner of the whistle, Jeong Yeongwoo.

A prime example was CEO Kim Taejoon.

To him, Jeong Yeongwoo was more than just a bridge to meet his family; he had a deep bond with him.

Now, Kim Taejoon needed Jeong Yeongwoo to stay alive to continue seeing his family.

‘But I’m not sure about this man. With such a strong sense of privilege… will he work properly in the returnee’s room?’

Yeongwoo continued to look at his right hand extended towards his uncle.

“……”

Perhaps such traits were common among dragons, or rather, among those who could transform into dragons.

People with inflated egos, arrogance, and a life steeped in privilege.

Would his mother and second uncle be the same?

‘Well… and even if we don’t become friends, we can still be together.’

This time, Yeongwoo’s gaze shifted to his left chest.

Killing a dragon directly grants one a unique heart as a reward.

So perhaps killing his uncle and burying him in his heart was the true way to do right by him.

‘Looks like I’ll have to wait until next time to make a dragon friend.’

Thinking this, Yeongwoo looked up at his uncle, who had begun to emit a threatening aura.

“Have you made your decision?”

—Hah, crawling under you was never an option.

“Then you’ll disappear without seeing my mother.”

—Shut up!

With Song Taeho’s command, a steel breath spewed from his mouth, and Yeongwoo hurriedly dodged it while calling out the coordinates.

“482! 183! 4405! 36!”

These were the coordinates aimed directly at Song Taeho’s head.

He truly intended to kill him with a single strike.

However…

Swoosh!

Just as Yeongwoo recited the coordinates, the entire body of the dragon, Song Taeho, turned a dazzling white, emitting a blinding light.

“What, what’s happening all of a sudden?”

Momentarily panicked, Yeongwoo stepped back and drew his sword.

And soon…

Whoosh!

The laser cannon, fired on Yeongwoo’s command, pierced through the clouds and descended.

To the exact spot where his uncle, who had been emitting an immense amount of light, had been just moments before.

Boom!

The orbital bombardment from Tomah struck the center of Gwangjin-gu.

However, Yeongwoo knew that Song Taeho was no longer there.

“Uncle? Where did you go?”

Yeongwoo shouted, ready to stab his uncle with his sword, when a purple hologram appeared before him.

“…!”

A flash from the left side.

“What the…!”

Yeongwoo reflexively raised his sword to block the attack, then turned his head towards the direction of the strike.

There, he saw a knight clad in armor shaped like a dragon.

“Oh?”

The texture of the armor was identical to Song Taeho’s dragon hide…

“Uncle…? You can polymorph too?”

Polymorph.

Also known as transformation magic.

Typically used by wizards to transform an enemy into a weaker creature or to enhance a summoned creature.

However, there are cases where this transformation magic is used on oneself, with the most notable example being the polymorphing of dragons.

Dragons often choose to transform into humans when they want to intervene in human society or explore the world out of curiosity.

This is why, from ancient times to the present, dragons transformed into humans frequently appear in literature across various cultures.

‘Of course, all of this was only found in fantasy novels. But to see it firsthand…’

By now, it seemed that every creature humans had imagined might actually exist somewhere in this universe.

Anyway, the immediate concern was…

—Perhaps you are the trial set for me. The test I must pass to return to my rightful place!

His uncle, transformed into a three-meter-tall black knight, was still deluded.

Squeak!

Judging by the strength transmitted through the blade of the sword, his uncle’s delusion was somewhat understandable.

‘As expected of a dragon, his strength is insanely high.’

However, this was the world after the reset.

As had been declared early on, one’s previous status and fate held no significance here.

Even for someone who had returned with the high status of a dragon in this reset world.

“Sorry, but if you were truly the protagonist of this world, I would have known it first!”

—What? What does that mean?

While Song Taeho questioned this, he continued to press down with his blade, trying to pin Yeongwoo to the ground.

And indeed.

Crack!

Yeongwoo’s ankles were gradually being pushed into the earth.

Despite this…

[Ending Maker]

| Discover the main character of the world after the reset.

The achievement “Ending Maker” that Yeongwoo was looking at showed no sign of being achieved.

Contrary to Song Taeho’s desires, he was far from being the protagonist of this world.

“I will not forget you, uncle! Live forever in my heart…!”

—…?

“Die!”

With murderous intent, Yeongwoo, who had been merely defending, finally drew upon the demonic energy of the legendary sword.

Whoosh!

As he gripped the handle tightly and swung, the blade of his sword penetrated through Song Taeho’s sword and pushed inward.

Crack!

Into the armor made of Song Taeho’s dragon hide.

The unique effect of the mythic sword, ‘Contempt for the weak’, had been activated.

—What? Oh no…

Seeing the unbelievable sight, Song Taeho made a vague sound, neither a scream nor a shout, from within his pitch-black helmet.

It wasn’t just surprising that his nephew’s sword had disregarded his own and pierced through; it was also because, thanks to this, his own sword had deeply cut through the other’s torso.

It was truly a mutual destruction.

—You fool! What’s the point if we both die?

Song Taeho spat out in disbelief, as white steam began to pour from within his armor, likely signalling the approaching time of his demise.

Yeongwoo seemed to be in the same near-death state.

With his chest slashed diagonally by the massive sword, his upper body was severed and slid down, slumping onto the ground.

Thud!

—You idiot.

Seeing his nephew’s body split in two, Song Taeho staggered backward, constantly spewing steam.

Then he collapsed.

Hiss!

He could see his life force dispersing into the air in real-time.

—…

As he awaited death, he heard his nephew’s voice from the ground.

“Uncle.”

—…

“Before you leave this world, give your nephew one last tip. What is the personality of my second uncle?”

—What?

Though Song Taeho hadn’t been living in this reset world for long, he was quite perceptive.

He immediately realized that, unlike his own near-death state, his insane nephew wasn’t about to die.

—What… are you?

When Song Taeho asked this, he saw his nephew, who had lost everything below the solar plexus, using his arms to prop himself up.

“You can’t even imagine what I’ve been through, uncle. Simply being reborn as a dragon doesn’t compare to my life story.”

Step, step.

Song Taeho watched in a daze as Jeong Yeongwoo, the son of Song Jiseon, walked with his arms.

He then saw the scene where Yeongwoo reattached his lower half that had been lying on the ground.

Schlock!

When the flesh below his solar plexus and around his navel made contact, it made a sound like a freshly cooked sticky rice cake being slapped.

“Would you like to shake hands now?”

Yeongwoo lay on the ground and lifted his right hand slightly.

At this, Song Taeho flinched involuntarily and then let out a hollow laugh.

—Screw you. You really are an insolent brat.

“…Then you’ll have to die. Either way, it’s no loss for me.”

The paradoxically genuine tone in Yeongwoo’s indifferent words made Song Taeho feel a sudden black fear.

It was a deep emptiness from realizing he had not inflicted any harm on his opponent despite dying.

A meaningless death.

Even in this situation, Song Taeho did not attempt to shake hands with Yeongwoo.

Instead, he put all his remaining strength into a final outburst.

—You won’t be able to handle that guy. My brother, he’s a real lunatic.

He was referring to Jeong Yeongwoo’s second uncle, the second son of the Jinhyeon family.

“Really?”

—But scarier than him…

“…Scarier?”

—Is your mother.

“What? You’re cursing my mother even now?”

Yeongwoo strained to lift his upper body in anger, reopening the cut, but it was in vain.

Hiss…

For his uncle had already passed away.

「Dragon Song Taeho has been defeated by ‘Jeong Yeongwoo07’, the Strongest Sword in Joseon!」

An announcement appeared, notifying that Yeongwoo had defeated the dragon, and shortly after…

Rumble…!

A vibration was transmitted to Yeongwoo’s back.

It must have been the footsteps of another mutant from a different area.

“Can’t even get a moment’s rest.”

Feeling the tremors, Yeongwoo slightly lifted his head and looked around.

From the north, he saw a dark trail being drawn. It was none other than Negwig, with Kim Jeonggu riding on it.

He had brought a mutant from Dobong.

“Oh my, Yeongwoo!”

Seeing his son lying on the ground with his body split in half, Jeonggu forced himself to feign concern.

Then.

“Huh?”

He widened his eyes when he saw the giant black knight fallen not far from Yeongwoo.

Then he genuinely exclaimed in surprise.

“Oh my! Brother! What on earth happened here…!”