Certainly, here is the translated text:
—
It was undoubtedly depicted as a ghost village in the original work, but for some reason, quite a number of people lived in the village.
Apparently, they were planning to leave the village en masse sometime soon, but it seemed that the perspective of the original work was after they had already left the defunct village.
Anyway, that day marked the beginning of the full-fledged exploration of the Yungcheon Mine.
The Village Chief provided a vacant house that was passable to stay in until the exploration was complete.
Though dilapidated and problematic in many ways, it wasn’t too bad for merely catching some sleep.
As the Village Chief had said, the Yungcheon Mine exploration took quite a long time.
Truthfully, Yungcheon Mine was, when you think about it, just an ordinary abandoned mine with no structural reason for the exploration to take so long.
However, what I was looking for wasn’t the so-called “precious iron” at the deepest part of the abandoned mine but a secret passage connected to the ruins nearby.
The passage was divided into several sections, and due to its structure, only one section could be explored per day, leaving no other choice but to put in the manual labor.
What’s more, as the Village Chief had mentioned, the mine itself had a heavy atmosphere that a regular human couldn’t endure for more than ten hours.
Certainly, it posed no problem for me, but I couldn’t ignore the condition of the boy guiding me, so the daily exploration time couldn’t last longer than five hours at best.
Even so, the boy named Ian did his best to guide me.
The area where the Demon Sword was sealed was the final 14th section.
Theoretically, it should have taken 14 days to complete the exploration, but if it weren’t for Ian, it might have taken months, who knows.
He tried every possible method to convince me when I rejected his offer to guide, and for some reason, from our first meeting onwards, Ian showed no suspicion of people and was very friendly.
“Brother Luke!”
When I went to find Ian for the exploration, he ran towards me with his usual quick steps.
He was holding something in his right hand and showed it to me as soon as I arrived.
“…?”
When I looked at it with a puzzled expression, Ian chuckled and stretched out his hand again as if urging me to take it.
“It’s wild strawberries.”
“Wild strawberries?”
“Yes. Do you dislike them, Brother?”
Of course not.
I was merely caught off guard by the rare show of pure kindness in this world.
“Thank you.”
“Hehe, they’re delicious, right?”
As I popped the wild strawberry into my mouth, a slightly sour but sweet flavor danced on my tongue.
When I absentmindedly tousled his hair, Ian beamed with a bright smile.
With a faint smile, I said softly,
“Let’s go.”
“Yes!”
—
[Omitted middle part to maintain the requested size. The translation continues with consistency.]
—
“Brother Luke! Today’s the last section.”
“I’ll go alone today. You stay and rest here.”
“Huh? Will you be alright?”
“Yeah.”
I’ll be fine.
There was no need to explore the last section anyway.
A narrow cubical rock space—itself was Marsika’s ruins.
Once I retrieve the Demon Sword resting solemnly there, everything will be over.
Thus, it was cleanest to handle it alone, and no one’s company was necessary.
“See you this evening!”
With a casual wave in response to the boy’s farewell, I headed towards the abandoned mine.
Following the secret passage Ian and I had previously opened, I moved slowly.
First gate, second gate, third gate… After passing through the breathless series of eleven gates, the final section finally revealed itself.
A space the size of a single room unfolded in front of me.
It was mysterious how such a peculiar space existed inside an abandoned mine, but now wasn’t the time to question it.
I had to focus on finding the Demon Sword.
A wooden chest sat in the center.
Adhesive paper filled with characters resembling talismans was plastered all over the chest.
Through the gaps, ominous dark evil energy could be seen seeping out.
“…Found it.”
Opening the lid of the chest, a sword wrapped in a leather scabbard appeared.
The moment I held the scabbard to examine it closely, a surge of dark malevolent energy rushed towards me.
Of course, it had no effect on me, but it was certainly an ominous object.
The Demon Blade Yoksikkyeom.
Indeed, it was quite different from an ordinary sword, both in appearance and details.
Patterns engraved along the blade twisted like veins.
Made from blue-tinted precious iron, the edge of the blade shone red as if drenched in bl**d.
Its form resembled the Eastern straight sword.
However, the protrusions along the blade reminiscent of a spine and the grotesque carvings on the hilt gave the sword a monstrous appearance.
Especially, the sharp projections like a monster’s teeth along the handle made the sword appear like an abomination itself.
What was most peculiar was that a subtle vibration could be felt when holding the sword.
It was akin to a famished heartbeat yearning for something, clearly indicating that this sword was no ordinary weapon.
“It’s the Demon Sword alright.”
I returned the sword to its scabbard.
With that, my business here was done, so I retraced my steps.
As I stepped out of the mine, the sudden sunlight stung my eyes.
I muttered under my breath as I began to walk.
“…I should have dinner with them one last time before leaving.”
—
The way back didn’t take long.
I strapped the extremely ominous Demon Sword to my waist and headed down to the village.
From a distance, despite the blur, I could see numerous people in the village.
Each resembling a human form, yet their bodies appeared decayed… Like the Undead.
My pace quickened again.
Some distance away, quite a number of corpses lay lifeless on the ground, bleeding.
Looking closely, their faces were familiar—last night’s dinner companions, the Village Chief and the villagers.
Among them was Ian, the boy who had guided me through the mine all this time.
Ian lay limply with vacant eyes.
I just stood there silently watching the scene.
Pools of bl**d gathered on the ground, and the heavy scent of bl**d hit my head.
Late to the situation, Adina, Rudine, and Siron, who had been hunting monsters near the village, raced towards me in a hurry.
And the man who stood at the center of the crowd surrounding the village met my gaze.
A man dressed in a black robe, his face half-covered by a mask as if made of bone and pale fingers, grinned showing his white teeth.
“Oh, it’s you.”
The man looked at me with amusement as if enjoying the situation.
And soon, Siron, who had arrived hurriedly, glanced at the situation before silently approaching and spoke while bowing his head.
“…Lord of the Sixth Province, this is Lord of the Second Province.”
That was enough to identify him.
The Second Lord, Myeonggwak of the Black Hand, the continent’s greatest necromancer.
Being a necromancer, his style was about overwhelming numbers, as evidenced by the countless Undead lined up behind him.
“Are you the human the Grand Lord seated directly in a Provincial Lord position?”
That boy’s playful voice echoed.
Upon hearing it, Siron urgently whispered to me,
“Lord of the Sixth Province, it’s best to step back from this situation. Conflicts between Provincial Lords are best avoided.”
He was right.
The dead were unfortunate, but there was no way to revive them, and they were merely past acquaintances I’d met for a few days.
To start a quarrel with another Provincial Lord over such reasons would not only go against my beliefs but also only cause more trouble later.
Regardless of the Second Lord’s reasons for visiting here, it was better to pretend I hadn’t seen anything.
After all, I had what I needed, and my companions were unharmed.
But…
“Judging by your expression, you seemed to know him? This is getting interesting.”
“…”
“Wasn’t it you who spent days searching the mine? Sneaking into someone else’s territory like a rat and plundering a ruin? You’re fearless. I don’t think simply ignoring me would be wise. And what’s with that sword strapped to your waist? I think it needs to be inspected.”
For some reason, it was harder than usual to endure.
An irritation, and not a little.
I knew it was just a visceral emotion.
Walking away without a fuss would save me from any harm.
In hindsight, it wasn’t that surprising a matter.
Didn’t this despicable world originally have frequent deaths in its setup?
I had merely witnessed one of countless deaths while passing by.
But why?
Something deep down didn’t want to retreat.
Because, isn’t it something we encounter in life—something so annoying that you just want to wipe it out instantly?
Right here, it was like that.
The sprawled bodies on the ground, the face of the Second Lord babbling absurdities at me—all of it was so incredibly irritating.
If I let this pass, I’m sure I’d spend this night extremely restless.
If I let that despicable guy go, I’ll feel suffocated, regretful, and unnecessarily irritated.
And that guy, wouldn’t he ultimately be defeated by the protagonist anyway?
Because of that…
“Acceleration.”
I lifted my right hand and muttered the incantation.
Dozens of gold streaks burst out from the tattoo beneath my eye, instantly forming a globe that encased everyone except the Second Lord.
“Reversal.”
Their time stopped.
“Phase Shift.”
As if a giant hand gripped the space, an invisible whirling pressure compressed it.
Craters formed under their feet, and surging pressure rushed in from all sides.
contracting space centered around the pale yellow mist began to contort bodies grotesquely.
Limbs folded inward, and bones twisted abnormally, starting from the collarbone and pelvis.
Gravity compressed into a single point.
And then…
“Compression.”
With a deafening roar that pierced the eardrums, everyone except the Second Lord exploded all at once.
“!!!”
In an instant, the Second Lord’s lifeless eyes sparked with surprise.
Siron too stared at me in shock.
“What is the meaning of this?”
Myeonggwak emitted a fierce killing intent.
My actions were a clear declaration of war.
Thus, his reaction was understandable.
But…
“So what if you know?”
The golden streaks hovering in the air wrapped around Myeonggwak’s right arm.
Space fragmented.
Dozens of faint silhouettes enveloped his right arm.
“d*e already.”
With a blaring sound!!
Myeonggwak’s right arm was blown off, spurting bl**d.
—
[Translation concluded]
