Level 4 Human in a Ruined World

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[Proofreader - Gun]

Chapter 328: Negotiation (3)

[Dogo’s Rules]

The battle between the Dogo and Lemu factions can only take place within Daema Island.

[Lemu’s Rules]

The representatives of Dogo and Lemu must fight unclothed.

As the terms of the negotiation were finalized, Yuto toyed with the card in his hand.

“This is a reasonable proposal for the first round, wouldn’t you say? The outcome isn’t of great importance, regardless of who wins.”

Yeongwoo, baring his teeth in response, shot back,

“Who cares? You psycho. I have no intention of fighting naked.”

Of course, even in the worst-case scenario, Yeongwoo wasn’t entirely without a foothold.

Even if all his gear was removed, he would still benefit from the effects of his catalog collection.

This was one reason why Yeongwoo quickly accepted the proposal.

‘He’s not completely wrong. For the first round, it’s sensible for both sides to set manageable terms.’

Neither side knew the true power of the other's cards or how each round would unfold.

‘And if necessary, we can just cancel the last round’s agreement in the next negotiation. That should be doable, right?’

Naturally, taking such a step would waste an entire round, so caution was essential.

‘Besides, it’s just clothes. I can manage if I can rake in a ton of money in the later rounds.’

As a glint of enthusiasm appeared in Yeongwoo’s eyes at the thought of money, Yuto, who had been watching him closely, settled back into his chair.

“Shall we proceed?”

For some reason, he was brimming with confidence.

With that, Yeongwoo turned his gaze to the space above the table, awaiting the system message.

Shhh..

Immediately, padlock icons appeared on both negotiation terms, and a new notification was displayed:

《The terms for Round 1 have been finalized.》

《Now the power of each side’s cards will be compared to determine the winner, and the representative who wins the battle will secure both sets of terms.》

Losing meant giving up his terms, while winning allowed him to take everything.

It was…

‘Just like a gamble.’

As Yeongwoo surveyed the gambling table where the fates of both nations were staked, the time finally came for the cards to be revealed.

《Dogo’s representative, please reveal your card.》

Yeongwoo glanced at Yuto’s expression briefly before placing his card on the table.

Thud.

“…Let me introduce my mother.”

The blue glow covering the card vanished in an instant, and a dragon’s roar—likely from an ice dragon—reverberated throughout the negotiation chamber.

KUA-AAAAAAH…!

At that moment, a frigid stream of icy energy flowed along the ceiling, chilling the room further.

‘Was that really necessary?’

While Yeongwoo remained unfazed, Yuto looked up at the ceiling with an expression of awe.

“Did you say… your mother? Just who are you…?”

Then, immediately—

Shwaaaah!

A silver-white dragon emerged from the icy current on the ceiling and leaped into Yeongwoo’s card.

CRASH!

“Mo… mother?”

Seeing the dragon, Yuto reflexively jumped up from his seat.

Meanwhile, the image on Yeongwoo’s card changed to depict a massive ice dragon roaring over a city.

[Mother Who Returned from the Heavens]

“Mother breathed her blue breath.”

| Card Grade: Legendary

| Power: 1,200

Strongest Mother

If the opponent’s card is a dragon type or mother type, power increases by 600.

“A legendary card, as expected.”

Admiring Yeongwoo’s card, Yuto smiled appreciatively.

“And what about yours?”

When Yeongwoo gestured with his chin toward the card in Yuto’s hand, he raised it with a serious expression and threw it toward the table like a whip.

Snap!*

The card glowed a bright white as soon as it touched the table.

“…!”

“Observe closely! This is my declaration!”

Yuto’s sharp voice echoed as a shout of determination resounded from somewhere.

WAAAH!

“…What the hell?”

Startled, Yeongwoo looked around to locate the source of the noise, only to see naked Japanese warriors pouring down like a waterfall from above Yuto.

[200 Naked Warriors]

“Success always requires adversity.”

Card Grade: Epic

Power: 800

Effect: Comradeship

If the next round’s card is human, it increases that card’s power by 300.

“What….”

Watching the naked warriors being absorbed into the card, Yeongwoo grimaced.

‘Damn it… he got me.’

He realized that Yuto, a self-proclaimed veteran duelist, had bluffed.

This guy knew from the beginning he had a high chance of losing.

‘So that’s why he was going on about patriotism and whatnot.’

Of course, since he was willing to fight naked for his country, there was likely some truth to his sense of duty.

‘Anyway, a win is a win.’

The only issue was...

If the next round’s card is human, it increases that card’s power by 300.

Yeongwoo had realized that the card effect of “Comradeship” could influence the next round, not just the current one.

‘If the next card is human…? Unlike “mother” or “father,” humans are pretty common, aren’t they?’

Currently, the power of the Epic-grade Naked Warriors card was 800, while the Legendary Mother card had a power of 1,200.

So if there was an Epic card with a base power of around 900 or a Legendary card with a power of around 1,100, then this “Comradeship” effect could actually enable the Epic card to surpass the Legendary card.

‘Better to assume the opponent will have an additional 300 power in the next round.’

As Yeongwoo considered this, the cards lying on the floor rose into the air and collided.

PAH!

In the next instant, Yuto’s “200 Naked Warriors” card shattered into pieces.

CRACK!

《Dogo’s card “Mother Returned from the Heavens” has destroyed Lemu’s card “200 Naked Warriors.”》

《Dogo’s representative has secured full control over the terms of the negotiation!》

At last, the first-round victory.

In front of Yeongwoo, the terms of both sides and a new option appeared.

《Dogo’s representative, please select the final terms.》

A help message popped up for Yeongwoo.

「You have won the power battle! The opponent’s terms are now yours.」

「You may nullify or partially modify the opponent’s terms, but at least one term must remain active.」

“Partial modification?”

As Yeongwoo muttered, the help message elaborated.

「If the opponent’s terms have the potential to be disadvantageous, partial adjustments are possible.」

[Translator - Night]

[Proofreader - Gun]

With a flash, a modified term appeared:

Lemu’s representative must fight unclothed.

“Oh.”

The original condition was for both sides to fight unclothed, but it could be modified so that only the opponent would have to comply.

However…

‘The guy is already unclothed. In fact, he seems to prefer it.’

Yeongwoo’s gaze shifted to Yuto across the table.

Already prepared for the next round, Yuto watched him, hands clasped and chin resting atop them, exuding an eerie intensity.

‘What a lunatic.’

Yeongwoo muttered to himself, then had an idea and asked the helper for clarification.

‘Is it possible to change the suggestion to, like, a rule about keeping clothes on, instead of taking them off?’

The response came back immediately:

「You cannot alter the basic format of a suggestion.」

‘Damn. So all I can decide is whether I join him in taking them off or not.’

In that case, there was no question: reject the opponent's proposal.

‘For that guy, making me undress might be crucial. So, let's leave it open enough that he keeps debating over it through the remaining rounds.’

Fighting while undressed wasn’t itself a major ordeal for Yeongwoo.

But doing so without any advantage...that felt utterly unfair.

‘If I could at least gain something for going naked for a round, I could accept it. But just taking it off? No way.’

With that thought, Yeongwoo immediately rejected Yuto's proposal.

《Lemu's negotiation offer has been rejected. As a result, only the conditions set by Dogo’s agent are now active.》

‘Good. At least we’ve secured the battleground.’

This meant that, in the battle against Lemu's side, the likelihood of civilian casualties had been drastically reduced.

[Dogo]

|The battle between Dogo and Lemu's forces can only take place within Tsushima Island.|

In a few hours, he would be facing 200 naked Japanese warriors on Tsushima Island.

‘Is this a dream or reality?’

When Yeongwoo looked up at his opponent again, pale flesh once again filled his view.

"Alright, now that we’ve got the basic rules down, let’s move quickly. The war’s about to start."

As Yeongwoo said this, Yuto nodded, and soon a system message appeared.

《Negotiation round two will now begin.》

《From this round onward, each round will allow one ‘shuffle’.》

“Shuffle?”

“Oh.”

Yuto’s face lit up with interest, while Yeongwoo immediately asked the system for clarification.

“Shuffle, as in, mixing up cards?”

《From now on, at the beginning of each round, you can view the number and grade of the cards in the deck, and use ‘shuffle’ to randomly mix the cards on the table with those remaining in the deck.》

Yuto summed up the explanation in one word:

“…A reset.”

Exactly.

Simply put, it was a way to reset the cards on the table.

The key here, though, was that each round allowed for inspection of the deck’s remaining card count and grade.

‘So, does that mean I can get an idea of whether any mythic cards have been drawn from my deck yet?’

For instance, Yeongwoo had two cards in his deck that could definitely be classified as mythic: the mythic items "Bastard" and "Aratubank."

If he counted resources broadly, there was even the possibility of a mythic-grade Chairman card.

‘In other words, there’s a good chance I have three mythic cards in the deck.’

So, if the deck showed three mythic cards left after the shuffle, that would mean...

‘It would mean no mythic cards are on the table right now, so legendary would be the highest I can expect.’

As Yeongwoo grasped this part of the rule, he saw Yuto nodding on the other side, clearly having caught on to the significance of the "shuffle" as well.

《Before drawing the second card, each representative, please confirm your deck.》

Following this prompt, a hexagonal hologram appeared in Yeongwoo’s view.

It was his deck.

[Total Cards: 25]

|Mythic: 3

|Legendary: 5

|Epic: 10

|Unique: 7

‘What... I have 25 cards in my deck?’

Which meant that, including the five cards already on the table, there were 30 cards total.

And one of his legendary cards was already in play.

‘Damn, getting Mom on the first turn was actually incredibly lucky?’

The price of not trusting the strongest mom card.

Yeongwoo belatedly regretted his unfilial behavior.

‘So, what are the remaining four cards on the table? All epic or unique?’

That’s what it looked like based on the deck's configuration.

Lower-ranked cards were usually more common in this type of battle game.

‘Then, should I go for a shuffle...?’

As Yeongwoo pondered this, a curved arrow icon appeared to his left.

That must be the shuffle icon.

"......"

Without a second thought, Yeongwoo activated the shuffle.

Whip!

The five cards on the table were sucked into the air.

Then—

Swish! Swish! Swish!

Five blue lights shot down onto the table in their place.

The shuffle was done.

Cards reshuffled, and the ones for the second round were laid out anew.

‘So, what about my deck? Since I can’t shuffle again in the same round, I guess they’ll at least show me the deck’s status?’

As Yeongwoo asked this with a hopeful look, the system quickly responded.

《The shuffle for round two has been completed, and the deck’s composition has been updated.》

And now, Yeongwoo’s updated deck status showed:

[Total Cards: 25]

|Mythic: 6

|Legendary: 4

|Epic: 7

|Unique: 8

[Translator - Night]

[Proofreader - Gun]