Master Swordsman’s Stream - Chapter 309

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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 309

When Seo Jun stepped off the train, he caught an odd current in the air.
One of the Participants was watching him.
Making no attempt to hide it, that person stared openly until Seo Jun disembarked, then casually strode beyond the platform and disappeared.
From that alone, Seo Jun grasped the situation.
“Shin-geom’s back.”
The real question was how many people were waiting.

[Shin-geom? That insect who noticed your identity first?]

“Yeah. And insect? He’s a Champion too.”
After that, Pafyoni grumbled about how they were all the same from his perspective, how I got special treatment, and various other complaints.
Seo Jun listened with one ear and let it go with the other as he exited the station and walked slowly toward the Blacksmith.

[So what will you do? Looks like they’re all clustering together to confirm your identity.]

“Hmm. Either the shop has items good for me, or there’s something to do in Train. What’s the gateway in Train like?”
Seo Jun gazed ahead.

[Ha! The gateway here is beyond my authority! I didn’t even open it in the first place. So if whoever first stepped into my world wants it, the gateway will close.]

Which meant the Participants weren’t staying in Train because of a Quest.
‘A watchman means a group of a certain size or larger.’
And if they were waiting to block him the whole time, it meant there might be another reason they needed to stop him.
‘The shop.’
He hadn’t heard it would close after just one day.
By then, Seo Jun arrived in front of the Blacksmith.
Or rather, he arrived at a spot a little further down the street, since people were blocking the way in front.
Soon Yon and Gert approached and spoke.

[How will you handle it? I’m curious to see your choice.]

“Let me check something once, Kael.”
“Check what, sir?”
“Because you’ve been so insistent that Seo Jun is the Black Mask. Here, with Shin-geom and Yasuo.”
“Hmm… Couldn’t we just enter the shop first and see?”
“Brother! Don’t mess around with us!”
Yon’s urgent and desperate cry.
“Listen, you damned Kael. I know you can’t commit a massacre.”
Shin-geom’s mocking remark, knowing the secret.
“Just take one hit and go in.”
And Gert’s warm smile—still believing Seo Jun wasn’t the Black Mask, unaware he’d been deceived.
On the surface, this looked like a serious problem.
‘Hmm.’
But it wasn’t a crisis.
Not in Seo Jun’s assessment.
As the atmosphere grew tense and Seo Jun said nothing, the others readied their weapons and began preparing for combat.
“You planning to take that hit, Kael? I know you don’t like it.”
“Ah, very well, everyone.”
Why wasn’t this a crisis?
They already knew he couldn’t kill people.
Because.
“I’m going now. Everyone, please verify. Brothers.”
Seo Jun opened his item window and threw his sword to the ground (it would return to his waist after a certain time), then entered their formation with his hands raised.
And then.
Everything that followed happened in an instant.
As Seo Jun passed through them at a moderate pace, they panicked for a moment and unleashed their attacks.
“Kill him now! Kill him, you morons! Pour all your skills! Just dump everything!”
Seo Jun smoothly took every attack without even using Blessing of Radiance and entered the shop.
“Huh?”
“Huh?”
But.
Seo Jun’s health hadn’t decreased.
In fact, it wasn’t even visible.
He hadn’t dodged all their attacks.
“Did any of you ever hear of something called a click?”
Seo Jun entered the shop, a Safe Zone.
The gathered group had nothing to show for their efforts.
“What the hell?”
“Block him! Block him! Stop that bastard from entering the shop!”
“Too late. He’s already inside, Shin-geom. We were caught off guard by his sudden arrival.”
“What did he do?”
“Bug exploit? But it’s definitely not physical.”
“Yon, explain this fast!”
“Dammit, that bastard!”

* * *

“Click! A click!”

-Hahahaha
-Shin-geom ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ tried so hard to kill him ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
-The Abbot just clicked ㅋㅋㅋㅋ
-Just activate one item and you’re done ㅋㅋㅋㅋ

“The Destroyer’s Armor grants 15 seconds of Invulnerability! Seo Jun just activated Invulnerability and waltzed in! The Invulnerability effect was buried under countless Skills! That’s why everyone was so confused!”
And so Seo Jun entered the Safe Zone.
Very easily and simply.
“With just one click. But there’s still a problem, isn’t there? Ah, the Participants are talking!”
The Black Mask is confirmed.
Whatever Seo Jun did, it wasn’t Blessing of Radiance.
If so, it must have been something only the Black Mask could do.
Even if not, hiding it like this looks suspicious.
“Right! Obviously the opinion comes up that we need to catch him! Yon and Shin-geom are going into the shop, I hear! And the rest will set up positions outside!”
To capture the Monster.
Seo Jun had nowhere to run.

* * *

“Brother, are you really the Black Mask? If this is a joke, the damage to all these Participants waiting outside is no laughing matter. They’re our allies! Just take one hit as our representative and get exposed, yeah? No, wait, that doesn’t work. Brother! Brother!”
Seo Jun ignored Yon’s words and continued shopping.
The items hanging on the shelves greeting him were, one and all, Consumables.
Consumables that could be bought multiple times without limit.
His item slots numbered twenty.
Potions that restored health by percentage.
Elixirs that granted Life Drain for one hour when consumed.
Elixirs that hardened the body.
Elixirs that increased attack power.
Elixirs that boosted stats.
And so on.
‘Where have I seen these?’
They were options from the Destroyer’s Set.
‘Hmm.’
A dilemma.
How should he combine them?
“Brooootheeeer!”
Unlike Yon, who was laying on the melodrama, Shin-geom watched Seo Jun coldly and keenly.
Seo Jun made his decision.
But he stretched out the time. Slowly. As if calculating each item.
Even the shop owners took more than thirty minutes, so he dragged it out even longer than that.
As some Participants began going in and out to see the situation directly, the atmosphere grew thick with tension.
More time passed, and Seo Jun finally approached the NPC, opened the system window, and purchased items.
Shin-geom, who had watched the entire process, asked from behind Seo Jun’s back.
“So when you leave, what’s your plan? Do you really think you can escape easily? Will you threaten us with something like you can’t win but I can kill you anyway? Huh?”
Seo Jun ignored him.
“You’re done, you bastard. There’s no shop item that helps you escape. Let’s just end it here. Stop wasting time! Hahaha! You scared?”
Hmm.
Seo Jun smiled faintly, then passed Yon and began looking around Cresit’s Blacksmith.
He needed something.
Seo Jun had nowhere to run but the entrance, but Shin-geom and Yon followed.
Soon enough, Seo Jun found a portable Chair, picked it up, and returned to the entrance.
And right there at that entrance, at the boundary of Invulnerability, he placed the chair, sat down, and looked out toward the entrance.
“Welcome.”
Rachel approached.
“What’s your objective? Are you stalling for time?”
“Just a moment. Let me see. One, two, three… Ah. Thirteen of you, I count.”
“…”
“Would I lose if we fought?”
Seo Jun laughed arrogantly.
At that point, everyone abandoned the last remaining possibility that he was joking.
Seo Jun was the Black Mask.
And he was revealing that fact right now.
“Thirteen against one? So you finally admit your identity!”
Shin-geom chuckled, and Rachel continued to probe Seo Jun.
“Are you going public because you’re cornered?”
“No. This situation can hardly be called cornered.”
What nonsense.
“It’s cornered, though. Why did you enter the shop, Seo Jun?”
“Because I thought there was value in it, even if it meant revealing my identity.”
“You could have gone in tomorrow.”
“Ah. I didn’t know that, but besides—it wouldn’t be fun that way.”
Pafyoni spoke.
Things would get messy soon.
Because he had maintained the gradually stabilizing gateway to Darahn, greater power would flow in, and the situation would turn urgent accordingly.
“Fun?”
Someone asked again.
“Yes, fun. Let me share an interesting fact with you. You must destroy countless gateways connected to this other world. If even one remains and opens fully, the Evil God will invade.”
“…”
“And the number is very great.”
That was why Seo Jun spoke openly.
According to Pafyoni, this was a fact they would learn soon enough anyway.
“How many?”
Sitting in his chair before them all, Seo Jun declared casually.
“More than you all have time for, given your current situation.”
“…?”
“That’s why I’m stalling. If more than a third of you waste time here trying to catch me instead of maintaining the gateways in each region…”
What would be the result?
All the Participants fell silent.
“The gateways exist in three phases. Phase 1 Dormancy—the easiest stage for you to destroy. Phase 2 Growth—when they actively devastate their surroundings and prepare to advance to Phase 3. You’ll need to spend far more time destroying them at this stage than at Phase 1. And Phase 3, once it reaches that point, I win.”
Completion.
“Though, in reality, there aren’t any Phase 2 gateways yet.”
Seo Jun shrugged.
“So we’ve got time? What kind of nonsense is he selling?”
Shin-geom, standing behind, spoke as if ready to grab him by the collar, but Seo Jun merely crossed his legs and answered silently, leaving no room for doubt.
He was making it abundantly clear who stood to lose if time was wasted.
A brief silence fell.
“Is there one in each region?”
“Yes.”
“Even if we’re late, we can still eventually close them, right?”
“You should be able to.”
Wasting a day or two wouldn’t render them completely unable to block them.
But.
“Without me.”
Seo Jun smiled as he looked down at them.
“Damn it. You’re serious?”
“He doesn’t seem to be lying…”
“He could be subtly hiding or mixing in lies. To escape. To break through this crisis. That’s why he’s telling us this.”
Listening to the Participants’ conversation, Seo Jun corrected the misunderstanding.
“That’s not it. The reason I’m coming out and telling you this is… Ah, the time’s right. Perfect timing.”
Train’s watchtower began to toll.
Every capital city on the continent has a device that detects what happens and warns of danger.
In Train, the watchtower serves that function.
A system alert reaches the Participants.
“What?”
“Darahn?”
“Monster attack? You mean creatures from the other world?”
“Exactly right.”
And the voice only Seo Jun could hear laughed joyfully.

[Hahahaha! More power is flowing in now! I’ll share it with you!]

“A Phase 2 gateway has opened in Darahn.”
Now the Participants of Darahn would have to work themselves to exhaustion until the final day to prevent annihilation and close the Phase 2 gateway.
“Will you waste more time?”
Seo Jun was relaxed.
He’d told them the truth a bit earlier and given them twenty minutes?
No.
By being caught a little sooner than inevitable, he had made over ten Participants waste an entire day here.
So this was his final courtesy. For fun.
Still seated, Seo Jun urged them to choose.
“Go on, scatter back to your homes, all of you. And find the gateways.”
Don’t stay here blocking him and threatening him now.
The urgency was theirs.
“Then I’ll follow along shortly.”

* * *

“We have no guarantee we can catch him if he leaves now, and if the Black Mask just keeps wasting time sitting in that damned chair and all the gateways advance to Phase 2…”
“We lose.”
“We need to understand clearly what’s happening in Darahn.”
“News will spread to each region anyway. And Quests will appear.”
“That bastard’s right there in front of us! And we know he can’t kill people properly! And we’re supposed to just leave? Arrrgh!”
“Ignore Shin-geom. Let’s decide what to do now.”
“We don’t have a choice.”
In the end.
The Participants had no choice but to scatter to their respective regions, unable to regroup around the Black Mask who had revealed his identity.
And while Seo Jun held ten of them here.

[Two gateways have closed.]

The other Participants had begun achieving results.
The History Book had entered its final act.

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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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