Master Swordsman’s Stream - Chapter 303

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 303

“Have the Asherus bastards gone mad?”
An Emergency Quest appeared. A quest that could be—and had to be—undertaken immediately.
A quest with the nation’s survival at stake.
If they started late, there was no telling how badly the snowball would roll.
“Why are the Atura people suddenly…. Asherus bastards, really.”
After the early game, quests involving Atura barely appeared.
So there was no real reason to push Atura’s front lines.
Both sides lost.
One side got no quest, and the other got a quest to defend but with no reward.
Which meant that during the Alternate History Record period, the resources Atura could provide had already been exhausted.
“If there was anything special, we’d have gotten a reward for blocking them.”
“So the enemy is attacking for no real reason.”
“Could it be… that ‘person’ has returned? From Train? What was he supposed to be doing?”
“…….”
The two noble participants from Daran grew serious.
A chill ran down their spines, freezing their expressions.
This was ominous.
“If that person really came, their goal might be to utterly destroy Daran. We need to be careful.”
“…….”
“Let’s head to Atura first.”
“Both of us, then.”
“Yes.”
Using the information from the quest, they deduced the situation.
Given that Atura would have a quest appear the very day any significant change occurred on the front line, and no such quest appeared in the previous cycle, it was almost certain that Asherus had begun their offensive in this cycle.
Of the four hours that had passed, three had elapsed.
So in just three hours, Atura’s front lines had been pushed back severely.
“Didn’t Asherus have three Champions?”
“Daran has five, Asherus has three. But ‘that person’ killed one from Asherus and one from our side.”
“Really…….”
Remarkable. Simply reckless.
It wasn’t without reason that they felt a chill.
That person’s mere existence froze even the two Pros of Daran.
Made them afraid to even speak the name.
“Then Asherus is down to two, and it’s highly probable that person is involved in Atura this time.”
“And more than that—one person alone couldn’t push the front lines so far as to trigger a quest like this…….”
“…….”
“They might have persuaded and brought participants from Train.”
“Persuaded?”
“Yes. We might now have to face dozens of them. All those participants supposedly in Train.”
How they brought them didn’t matter.
For a demon to lure people would be as easy as eating soft rice.
Their excessive wariness of Seo Jun came from no other reason.
Daran had four noble Champion participants and one Guildmaster participant from Daran.
And that Guildmaster participant had shared information about Train with them, where they learned that Geomsin’s Warehouse had been robbed.
How very demon-like.
No matter the justification from before.
Since they had seen it before…….
“Can we stop him?”
“Don’t know.”
“Why is it like this.”
“That’s something you’ll have to ask when you get there.”
“Will we survive?”
“Yes. We have to try. In any case, let’s prevent Daran’s destruction. Whatever it takes.”
“As for defense……. Haha. We’d best prepare ourselves for death.”
Their Champions were Daran’s nobles.
And Daran’s nobles never flee alone to save themselves.
So.
No matter how much they feared death, no matter how poorly they’d performed, they had to fall here.
There was no other choice for them to show.
“Let’s steel ourselves.”
“At least grab his ankle.”
“Can we take that person’s head?”
They arrived at Atura with their minds already prepared for the worst possible outcome—elimination from the Historical Record.
“Greetings, noble lords.”
And there they met a participant from the Thief Guild who had arrived first.
Along with shocking news.
“Are you aware that there is currently only one Champion in Atura?”

* * *

Seo Jun had spent the last two hours diligently cutting down soldiers.
He didn’t think an ordinary crisis would be enough for the NPC to summon the Daran participants.
The sole participant pushing the front line was him alone. He had no allies, and no enemies besides his foes.
But that actually made things easier.
There was no need to hide his damage output. The same went for managing his health.
He currently had an item that increased raw damage by 30%.
Since his damage didn’t increase much from his Hidden Mastermind buff, this was the most efficient choice.
The second item was Lifestealing.
He didn’t have to worry about taking hits and could focus purely on processing soldiers as quickly as possible.
The third item was armor that granted Temporary Invincibility.
This was insurance. It let him act even more freely.
Besides the weapon, two of his items also contained special stats like movement speed, which allowed Seo Jun to push the front line absurdly fast by himself.
And here were the results.
“Brothers? Shall we have a word?”
Finally, they came. From a slight distance away.
Two of them.
‘I thought all four would come? Not that it matters.’
He’d spent the last two hours pushing the front lines to save a hundred Points, which had worked out fine.
He’d learned through his conversation with Fragment that the real start of the quest would happen on day nine.
Seo Jun only needed to enter Daran before then. That was the extent of today’s agenda.
The two Pros approached Seo Jun.
They didn’t come within close range, just as before.
At his current movement speed, even this distance was risky, but they didn’t know that.
Information was this valuable.
“Greetings, Seo Jun. Haha. We’ve met before, haven’t we?”
“That’s right, brother.”
“Your tone sounds a bit like an Asherus NPC. Ugh……. My head.”
The atmosphere was playful.
And Seo Jun noticed that his opponents were heavily tense but deliberately trying to hide it with the banter.
‘They’re nervous, sure, but aren’t they a bit too nervous?’
Seo Jun was alone, so from their perspective, he should be more of a threat—given how far he’d pushed the lines.
But would that alone make them this visibly nervous, even to a glance?
Couldn’t they just think they’d escape if needed?
‘There’s something more here.’
These two could be connected to Daran’s passageway.
“Brothers. Did you come to fight?”
“Haha, no.”
“If the front line advances even a bit further, the Canyon will end. Beyond the Canyon lies open plains where one can go anywhere—Daran’s territory. An Invasion War will commence. Didn’t you come to stop it?”
“It’s not as though we need to fight in order to stop Kael’s advance, is it?”
Interesting.
“What do you mean?”
Even as Seo Jun thought things were going well, he didn’t lower his guard.
Going well was precisely what made it dangerous.
“Is there perhaps something you desire? Kael?”
‘Testing me?’
No matter how strange Seo Jun’s actions were, it was more rational to assume his reason for pushing Atura stemmed from something other than wanting something from them.
One couldn’t know what would happen in a Historical Record.
Information was scarce, and there was no community.
Yet they pinpoint exactly what he wanted.
‘Information. Ah.’
A glimmer passed through Seo Jun’s eyes.
‘Daran has a Guildmaster participant.’
What if that participant was connected to this quest?
If they were even vaguely aware of the situation through their connection to the quest, they would be wary of every stranger approaching Daran.
In that sense, Seo Jun already considered his identity compromised.
It would certainly be revealed on day nine, and possibly even on day eight.
There wouldn’t be a unified front of all participants like there had been against Geomsin.
So even the AI probably wanted people who knew Seo Jun’s identity to emerge and stop his killing spree.
‘Did the Guildmaster participant make a move? Or are these two participants involved in the passageway quest?’
Getting a Forged Identity Certificate might become slightly bothersome.
“If there’s something I want?”
“Didn’t you push the front lines to make demands of us? Alone.”
“Why do you think that?”
Seo Jun sheathed his sword.
He took a step back, neither approaching nor retreating, standing in place with a smile as he asked.
Yet the enemies grew even more tense.
Both their adam’s apples bobbed, and their eyes avoided his gaze.
Their center of gravity shifted imperceptibly backward, eyes darting toward an exit.
That confirmed it.
‘They suspect me of being the Hidden Mastermind.’
So they were checking whether he sought a way into Daran or not.
Had he become troublesome?
No. He’d already factored in the possibility of being exposed now.
‘Rather…….’
Knowing made things easier.

* * *

“Why do you think that?”
Before Kael’s face—hostility completely hidden—the two Pros readied themselves to flee at any moment.
‘If he’s trying to get into Daran and asks us for a Forged Identity Certificate, that confirms he’s the Hidden Mastermind, right?’
They hadn’t heard the detailed explanation of the quest, but they’d been told the general reason.
They’d been given evidence.
And all of it pointed to one conclusion.
If a Forged Identity Certificate came from that innocent-looking face, he was definitely the Hidden Mastermind.
‘You crazy bastards. How am I supposed to handle someone like that as the Hidden Mastermind!’
It wasn’t for no reason they’d been casually slaughtering people since the early game.
“Haha, never mind then.”
And now.
Seo Jun’s lips parted.
“No.”
“Pardon?”
“You’re right. I do want something.”
The two Pros swallowed hard.
Should they kill him if he’s the Hidden Mastermind?
One was currently preparing an ambush in case of emergency, though it was still the mid-game of the Historical Record.
The probability of defeating the Hidden Mastermind in direct combat was near zero.
They lacked numbers. Most importantly, the enemy was far superior in strength.
“Before I tell you what I want, I have something to say.”
“What is it?”
Seo Jun’s atmosphere shifted.
His smile didn’t change. His gaze remained calm.
But his bearing, his breathing, his every gesture turned threatening.
Was it an illusion?
“Yes. I am the Hidden Mastermind.”
“……!”
“And I’d like to enter Daran.”
The conversation continued slowly. But the air around them grew cold instantly.
“Will you give me a Forged Identity Certificate?”
“How could we possibly give you that? We heard your side’s Champion is conducting a quest to stop you. In such circumstances, there’s no way we could…….”
“Then you’ll just perish as is? I can enter regardless, you know.”
“…….”
Seo Jun was saying this:
Even if he received a Forged Identity Certificate now and moved, he could push the remaining front lines, launch an invasion, and enter Daran in that chaos without much trouble.
An Invasion War would bring airships over Daran’s skies, and he could simply board one.
The latter was simply—
“A bit more inconvenient, that’s all.”
“…….”
Could special abilities or items from the Hidden Mastermind stop his further advance on Atura?
Likely not.
If so, the entire nation would fall into chaos, and they’d face even greater obstacles, and the quest would very likely fail.
“Ah. I was joking. I can’t possibly be the Hidden Mastermind, right? Don’t you agree?”
Seo Jun had read them completely. A fight they’d already lost from the start.
Seo Jun spoke. With words and with his eyes.
“I came to help with that quest. So will you give me the Forged Identity Certificate?”
As if asking what else they could possibly do besides give him a Forged Identity Certificate.
Since the outcome was already determined, their deliberation didn’t last long.
“Yes. I’ll give it to you.”

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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