Level 4 Human in a Ruined World

[Translator - Night]

[Proofreader - Gun]

Chapter 329: Negotiation (4)

‘What the… why do I have six Mythic cards now?’

Cognitive dissonance.

Seeing that the number of Mythic cards had actually increased after shuffling, Yeongwoo could only blink in disbelief.

[Total cards: 25]

| Mythic: 6

| Legendary: 4

| Epic: 7

| Unique: 8

Before the shuffle, there were only three Mythic cards, but now there were six.

The Epic cards had decreased from ten to seven, and the Unique cards had increased from seven to eight.

So, to sum it up:

‘Could it be that my initial hand had three Mythic, one Legendary, and one Unique card?’

Looking at the increased number of Mythic cards post-shuffle, it seemed likely.

He had just discarded the ultimate hand that could have secured victory in every round except one, with a very high probability.

‘No way, damn it.’

Yeongwoo realized instantly that he was, in colloquial terms, screwed.

‘Why are there six Mythic cards here?’

Yeongwoo was stunned at the sheer quality of his deck, now returned to the deck pile after shuffling.

‘Wait, then what’s on the table now?’

He looked at the five cards still face down on the table.

He could deduce their identity by reverse-calculating from his previous hand and the current deck.

‘Two Legendary and three Epic.’

Considering that the lowest grade in his deck was Unique, he had at least avoided the worst-case scenario.

But knowing there were no Mythic cards in this hand made the situation even more grim.

‘And one card can’t even be used because one round has already passed.’

This meant that only four cards would be used.

‘So, realistically, the remaining hand could be either two Legendary and two Epic, or one Legendary and three Epic.’

Adding to this, if the opponent drew a card of the “Human” type in this round, its power would be increased by 300.

‘This round won’t be easy.’

As confirmed in the first round, Yuto had Epic-level cards.

The first card he had drawn in a random hand was Epic, so he likely had several Legendary cards as well.

‘In that case, I have to hope his hand has a lot of Unique cards.’

Yeongwoo thought this, but then quickly changed his mind.

‘No, relying on luck alone would just be gambling.’

He couldn’t leave the future of the Korean Peninsula—or this entire planet—to mere chance.

‘If the hand isn’t good, what’s the way to win? It comes down to momentum.’

Yeongwoo resolved himself.

This second round would be won through a bluff, using sheer force of will.

《All Representatives, please pick up your card for this round.》

It was time to choose his second-round card. Yeongwoo hesitated for a moment and then picked the card in the center, as he had in the first round.

Swipe.

Immediately, the silhouettes of his ‘friends’ rained down from the ceiling.

[Workers]

[The Workers]

"Yeongtae, Taejoon, Younghyeom, Geumhwa."

| Card Grade: Epic

| Power: 1,000

Performance-based

If this card is drawn again, its power doubles.

‘Damn it...’

Yeongwoo almost rubbed his forehead but managed to stop himself.

Even though it was a high base power for an Epic card, the timing was not favorable.

《Both sides have confirmed their cards, so negotiations will begin.》

A flash of light followed, and three negotiation rights appeared above each player’s head.

《Please state your negotiation proposal and touch one of the rights above your head to make the proposal official.》

Yeongwoo locked eyes with Yuto.

“…….”

Yuto’s eyes showed no signs of wavering, so Yeongwoo spoke while maintaining eye contact.

“Let’s start by cutting off one arm each.”

Yuto, who had been interlacing his fingers, twitched them.

“…What did you say?”

“Let’s keep this round light. Let’s fight with one arm each cut off.”

“What on earth are you saying?”

Yuto’s face hardened, and he frowned in genuine displeasure.

“Stop joking and make a serious propo—”

Beeep!

“Huh?”

The familiar alert sound made Yuto unclasp his fingers and look at the space between them.

[Both the Representatives of Dogo and Lemu must cut off one arm before proceeding with the battle.]

Yeongwoo had really locked in the proposal to fight with an arm cut off.

“Hurry up and accept it. I’m really curious about what’s going to happen.”

Yeongwoo gestured as if choosing which arm to cut, and Yuto shook his head.

“Is this some kind of bluff? Your hand must be pretty bad to pull such a desperate move….”

“If it looks like I’m desperate, then make a bold move too. If you win the card duel, I’ll be the only one who loses an arm, right?”

“…….”

This time, Yeongwoo didn’t even tell Yuto to refuse.

Even if he lost and ended up cutting his arm alone, it wouldn’t be a huge disadvantage.

In fact, he might need to cut it to gain the effect of a physical impairment and blood loss.

“Hurry up! We don’t have all night. Don’t forget we also have to fight Mara.”

As Yeongwoo urged him, Yuto bit his lip.

“Fine… I’ll make another counterproposal.”

[Both the Representatives of Dogo and Lemu must fight in the nude.]

Beeep!

Yuto finally started to get pulled into Yeongwoo’s pace.

While he had no issue fighting nude, the idea of cutting an arm off was frightening.

“You were eager to strip and fight at the start, but now you’re scared to lose an arm? I could cut off both of mine.”

“…There’s a difference between noble sacrifice for one’s country and just being a lunatic with no arms.”

Then Yeongwoo pulled out Bastard from his belt.

Swaaash!

He extended his left hand and placed it on the table.

Thump!

“W-what are you doing now?”

Yuto’s pale face turned even whiter, and Yeongwoo looked at him with a predator’s glare.

“If you’re not crazy, you can’t achieve anything in this universe!”

“What?”

“So, I can’t hand over this planet to someone who’s not fully committed.”

“……!”

With that, Yeongwoo positioned Bastard vertically over his left hand and drove it down.

Slam!

“Ahh, you maniac!”

Yuto jumped up from his seat, losing his composure for the first time, while Yeongwoo shouted fiercely.

“Sit down, you bastard! The game isn’t over yet.”

“Y-you…!”

“Sit tight and accept the negotiation. Let’s see what the cards reveal.”

Even as Yeongwoo spoke, Yuto was already activating his veto.

Flaaash!

《The Representative of Lemu has rejected the proposal from Dogo.》

Now, Yuto had only one veto left.

Seeing this, Yeongwoo immediately proposed the same negotiation again.

[Both the Representatives of Dogo and Lemu must cut off one arm before proceeding with the battle.]

[Translator - Night]

[Proofreader - Gun]

“It’s no use. I’ll keep proposing the same thing.”

“What’s wrong with you?”

“It’s easier now that we’re on informal terms. Stay sharp; this is just the beginning.”

Yeongwoo smirked, blood trickling from his left hand, while Yuto wiped the sweat from his temples and activated his last veto.

Flaaash!

《The Representative of Lemu has rejected the proposal from Dogo.》

Yuto now had no more vetoes left.

He could no longer refuse the opponent's proposal, which meant that for Yeongwoo, this was finally the chance to put forth an advantageous offer.

Since the odds of winning this battle were not high after drawing an epic card, wouldn't it be enough to propose an offer that was nearly null?

However, Yeongwoo, now caught in the momentum, proposed the same limb-severing clause again.

[Both the delegates of Dogo and Lemu shall fight after amputating one of their arms.]

“You can't run away,”

Yeongwoo declared.

“Wha...!”

Fear flickered in Yuto's eyes as he realized that the opponent who suggested cutting an arm was genuinely serious.

“Th-the Representative of Dogo is insane. Unpredictable and... cosmic...”

Yuto recalled the description he had once read about Yeongwoo.

Yeongwoo then finished the line for him, “So avoid encounters whenever possible...!”

BANG!

Yeongwoo slammed the table hard with his remaining right arm, confirming the proposal.

Immediately, both negotiation clauses were adopted, and the card in front of Yeongwoo began to glow.

《Round 2 negotiation terms have been confirmed.》

《Representative of Dogo, please reveal your card.》

Yeongwoo swiftly flipped his card, revealing an illustration of four friends assembling a player statue, and its power was disclosed.

Flash!

[The Workers]

"Yeongtae, Taejoon, Younghyeom, Geumhwa."

| Card Grade: Epic

| Power: 1,000

Performance-based

If this card is drawn again, its power doubles.

“What... what? An epic?”

Yuto's eyes widened, even more so than when he had witnessed Yeongwoo self-harming.

He had expected an overwhelmingly strong card, so he was shocked to see only an epic card.

“A bluff? No, this is just...”

Madness.

―The Representative of Dogo is insane!

While the profile description echoed in his mind, Yeongwoo pointed at Yuto's card and spoke.

“Now we shall fight on Tsushima, stripped and with one arm cut off.”

Of course, Yeongwoo knew he was going to lose.

Yuto, trembling with horror, roughly flipped his card.

“Stop with the nonsense, you madman! You cut your own arm off!”

BANG!

The card of Lemu's delegate, Kawachiya Yuto03, was revealed.

[The Giant Slayer]

“The bigger the opponent, the easier it is to attack.”

| Card Grade: Legendary

| Power: 1,100

Climber

When faced with a higher-ranked card, power increases by 700.

“So it was a legendary card after all,”

Yeongwoo commented calmly, prompting Yuto to shoot him a bewildered look.

“You’re not surprised at all? Did you just want to cut your arm off for fun?”

Having regained some composure after winning this round, Yuto resumed speaking formally.

“Either way, you’ll end up stripped and missing an arm.”

“But I gained a round,”

Yeongwoo replied.

“...?”

“How could a crow understand the phoenix's intentions?”

Yeongwoo said as he pulled out Bastard embedded in his left hand.

Swish!

The wound on his hand healed rapidly, but Yeongwoo quickly hid his arm to avoid revealing this fact.

There was no need for Yuto to know that he could reattach limbs.

And so, the shuffling phase began again.

《Round 3 will begin soon. Shuffle counts have been recharged.》

Seeing this, Yeongwoo activated the shuffle without hesitation.

He had nowhere left to fall.

‘Shuffle, start!’

Flash!

As Yeongwoo approved the shuffle, the cards on the table were shuffled, altering the deck composition.

《Round 3 shuffle complete. Deck composition updated.》

[Total Cards: 25]

| Mythical: 3

| Legendary: 5

| Epic: 9

| Unique: 8

‘Ah...!’

Yeongwoo gasped inwardly as he observed the remaining cards.

‘They're back! My mythicals!’

Three mythical cards had returned to the table.

“...”

As Yeongwoo's eyes gleamed wildly post-shuffle, Yuto cautiously asked while watching him.

“What now? You're not going to propose something absurd again, are you?”

With fierce eyes, Yeongwoo stared back at him.

“We’re going to strip.”

“Pardon...?”

“How much is Lemu paying you for that?”

[Translator - Night]

[Proofreader - Gun]