Regression Sword Apocalypse Reconquest - Chapter 55
Only Noblemtl
Episode 55
A livestock market visited to acquire slaughtering skills and meat preparation tools.
The livestock market I visited had, strangely enough, no signs of destruction.
That’s why there’s a more suspicious and threatening silence hanging over the place.
And, the object that Sehyuk discovered that seems to be related to this situation.
It was a huge iron gate hanging at the corner of an alley.
After examining the iron gate for a moment, Sehyuk could see that it was indeed tightly blocked.
‘They made it so you can’t get in unless you open the iron gate.’
A truly suspicious iron gate.
“I don’t see any particular locking device.”
Choi Sung-hyun, who was looking around the building, smacks his lips.
If he, an expert, says so, then it seems like it’s not a normal lock.
‘It seems to be locked by some magical power.’
It’s not normal.
‘In order to open this door, we need to continue to monitor the market.’
The moment you come to a conclusion and turn around at the iron gate.
‘what?’
Sehyuk let out a small laugh.
A worn-out market alley on gray asphalt.
It was because in that alley, something new had appeared that clearly wasn’t there until just a moment ago.
And, Choi Sung-hyun, who saw that sight, shivered as if he had goosebumps.
“Uh, that watch. Wasn’t it gone just a moment ago?”
Choi Sung-hyun pointed to a large round clock hanging on a pillar.
‘It’s definitely strange.’
The smell of rotting meat that has been lingering for some time now.
Sehyuk could tell for sure.
That the stench was coming from that watch was strong.
‘What that means is that the watch is related to the strange phenomenon that occurred here.’
Sehyuk bit his lips slightly.
‘What a strange phenomenon where a clock appears. This is not good.’
Because a clock usually signifies a time limit.
And, if you exceed the time limit, there will be a corresponding penalty.
A tightly closed iron gate.
Time limit.
‘There must be an answer in this market.’
The fact that there is a time limit means that the answer is surprisingly close.
Think about what you’ve seen in the market so far and think about what to do.
‘What’s peculiar is that it looks like the object has evaporated while being used.’
Rotten food was still on the table.
While I was thinking like that, someone’s shadow appeared at the entrance.
“Who’s there? Come here quickly! You can’t be here!”
An old man runs towards Sehyuk and his group in a hurry.
“Hey, let’s go out first! I’ll tell you everything once I get out there!”
He quickly grabbed Choi Sung-hyun’s arm and pointed outside.
“If you stay here, your mind will be polluted!”
As he said that, the old man pulled Choi Sung-hyun towards him.
Is that because he is a polite person?
Choi Sung-hyun is restless and unable to shake it off.
Sehyuk made a quick decision.
“Let’s all go out first.”
The time on the clock was roughly indicating 6 o’clock now.
‘The watch itself was pretty normal, except for the smell.
‘Looking at it, it seems like there’s still quite a bit of time left, so I guess it’s better to just listen to what they have to say.’
Now, I have no clue as to how to open the iron door.
Maybe this old man can help open the suspicious iron door.
‘This old man must be someone from this livestock market.’
In many ways, the old man seems more likely to have what Sehyuk needs.
After exiting the alley of the livestock market again.
Sehyuk and the old man sat on a nearby bench and caught their breath.
“At some point, a monster began to appear deep inside the livestock market.”
As expected, the old man was from the livestock market.
The old man sighs.
“Because of that, all the people who lived in this livestock market left here.”
And then he started talking about the iron gate that Sehyuk and his group were looking at.
“Just looking at that guy makes people lose their minds and turn into monsters. That’s why quite a few people in our livestock market have turned into monsters.”
Sehyuk and his group were dragged out in a hurry for fear that they would turn into monsters.
“Are there many people alive in the livestock market?”
The calculation was that if I did well, I could get both the chef and the tools.
Follow the old man to the temporary shelter of the people at the livestock market.
They lived in groups in a container-filled area near the market.
A table with legs wrapped in box tape, possibly broken once, in a half-torn container.
In front of that table, the old people sitting on various chairs are watching Sehyuk and his group.
‘Is this supposed to be a public rest area? Like a village pavilion?’
In front of the table was a fire lit in a construction site tin can and chairs of all kinds that looked like they had been picked up from somewhere.
Like a broken wooden chair that was taped up like a convenience store plastic chair or table.
There are even things like backless bath chairs.
Similar to that landscape, the open containers are decorated with old furniture, like the homes of elderly people in the countryside.
There was something like a worn-out silk quilt with the cotton poking out.
Sehyuk could smell a faint scent of dust inside the containers.
“You can rest as much as you want. There’s not much there, though.”
The old man looks inside the container, laughing.
“Grandma Park! I’m home!”
“The village chief is here? Who are these people?”
A middle-aged woman welcomes the old man and Se-hyeok and his party.
“Were you the leader of this group?”
“Captain? I was the village head and mayor, so that’s why I’m like that. Hehe.”
He is an old man who does not deny it.
‘That’s good.’
It is cleaner in many ways to deal with the leader.
If the leader agrees, the subordinates will also be somewhat convinced.
“Chief.”
“What’s going on?”
“We came here because of the chef and the meat preparation tools. Could you provide them to us?”
“Hmm. Are you saying I should leave with you?”
The old man looks troubled.
“Cooperation is good, but we can’t abandon our homeland either. You are welcome to stay here.”
“I have my own house. So how could I not have at least one cooking utensil and a chef?”
“Then just wait a minute.”
After saying that, the old man called the people inside the container together.
People gather around and gossip, as if they are discussing Sehyuk’s proposal with others.
After a while.
The old man sighs and approaches Sehyuk.
“Then there is one condition. In this world, we also have to eat to survive, don’t we?”
The condition was something that Sehyuk could easily guess.
“Defeat the monster in the market.”
As he said that, the old man looked towards the livestock market.
“The reason we continue to stay here is to get the market back. It’s a place filled with memories.”
The old man is burning with hostility towards the monster deep inside the livestock market.
“When you take back the market, the best chef in town will come with you.”
“Okay, I’ll do that. But I’ll take all the stuff you get when you defeat that guy.”
“Oh, of course.”
If the difficulty is high, the rewards will definitely be good.
It’s not a bad deal if you get what you need and also get a reward.
‘It’s too late to give up here and look for slaughter skills elsewhere.’
Things seem to be working out well though.
“I’d like you to tell me what you know about that monster.”
“As much as you want.”
The investigation begins.
Elderly people loitering outside the container.
Grab them and ask them questions.
“You said you locked that monster up. Can you tell me more about it?”
Several villagers begin to tell their stories one by one.
“At first, it looked like a crazy boar, but it grew in size as it ate this and that.”
“It’s really weird that it’s buried under a mass of flesh and can’t move very quickly.”
“I don’t know, except that it smelled like something was rotting. I was too scared to look closely. Sorry.”
From what I’ve gathered, the monster is a giant lump of flesh that stinks.
There is no particularly useful information.
I think it would be better to talk to the village chief.
The village chief sat in front of a container, in front of a fire lit in a tin can, and looked toward the livestock market.
Sehyuk took an old plastic chair from a convenience store and sat down next to the village chief.
“Sir, I think we should go inside the market. How do I open the locked iron gate?”
“Hmm. That was locked up by a magician who passed by a long time ago.”
The village chief mumbles.
“He said that we should take all three of the monster’s items in the market and bring them to the iron gate.”
After saying that, the village chief gave three directions.
I remember there being a monster thing there.
“I’m not sure. It’s been a while since I’ve been able to go inside the market because of the increasingly strange phenomena. It’s embarrassing.”
The village chief bows his head deeply.
‘In the end, I have no choice but to go and find out for myself.’
“It’s okay. But you definitely have to pay the price.”
After receiving the promise, we head back towards the livestock market.
Shops with slate roofs built close together.
We pass a slanted brick house with a strange chimney and head deep inside.
Through the narrow, maze-like alleyways.
As you pass through the alley, you will come across a market inside.
Unlike the outside where you can see a few stylish shops here and there, it is a completely outdated old market scene.
Chunk. Chunk.
As is often the case in markets, the asphalt is uneven, so standing water gets caught underfoot.
Soon after, Sehyuk and his party were able to discover the first point.
An old shop that appears to have been used extensively for butchering work, including deboning.
The inside of the store was filled with the characteristic red light of a butcher shop.
A blinking red light in an old alley.
It looks somehow gloomy.
I pass by the large meat counter and cutting board and look inside the store.
‘Everything is empty except for the checkout counter next to the cutting board.’
I wondered if I could get a meat cutting tool, but it seemed like the people at the livestock market had already taken everything and left.
‘Then, it looks like there’s something in that inner door.’
A single iron door that appears to be a warehouse hanging in the corner of the room.
There’s only one place you can find more here.
“Don’t go inside.”
Sehyuk squeezed his way inside and grabbed the handle of the iron door.
And then, at that moment.
Ding— ding—
A strange clock ticks.
At the same time, the loudspeaker attached to the pillar begins to sound.
[*38 minutes left.]
[2 hours and 3* minutes left.]
The sound quality is poor, and it seems like there is some noise in it.
There was an eerie sound that sent shivers down the spine of those who heard it.
The content is also unusual.
‘What comes after 2 hours and 38 minutes?’
And Sehyuk knows the answer to some extent, thanks to his many years of experience.
Time limit.
That means, most of the time, death which cannot be dealt with when time runs out.’
Instant death that cannot be dealt with.
It’s an unreasonable and harsh penalty.
‘In this case, it seems likely that a terrible monster that cannot be defeated will appear when time runs out. We must hurry.’
Sehyuk hurriedly opened the iron door.
Squeak-
The iron gate opened without a lock.
And then, Sehyuk and his group encountered something terrible inside.
As soon as you open the iron door, the smell of rotten meat hits you.
It seemed like it was a meat warehouse, with meat hooks hanging from the ceiling.
Below, someone of enormous size was sitting with his back turned to the door.