The Crazy Battle God Has Returned - Chapter 154

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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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A Mad Swordsman Returns – Chapter 154

The Difficult Realm, an island where the Sunken Treasure Vault had appeared.
From the Underground Cavern beneath it, agonized screams echoed out.

“Aaaaaaahhhhh!”
“Speak, you Korean! How did you know there was a Difficult Realm here!”
“Tell us everything you know about the Difficult Realm!”

The Underground Cavern, lined with iron bars like walls, resembled a prison.
Within that prison was one prisoner and multiple guards.
The Technicians of the Zanwol Guild and Chu Gyu-il.

“D-Damn it. I told you already! I don’t know anything…!”
“Bullshit! You’re the one who discovered this Difficult Realm, and you’re telling us you know nothing? One on an uninhabited island in the East Sea, no less?”
“I-I just happened to find it! Please believe me… Aaaaahhh!”

The Technician’s hand moved, and Chu Gyu-il screamed.
Chu Gyu-il protested his innocence, but no one believed him.
In a way, it was only natural.

“It’s an incredibly dangerous Difficult Realm that could collapse at any moment! You’re telling us the man who found it alone knows nothing? That’s absurd!”
“If you know nothing, then you must have some means to conquer it. Or perhaps some special unique ability. Tell us everything you know!”
“Cough! I-I don’t know! I’m telling you I don’t know!”

Chu Gyu-il stubbornly insisted he knew nothing.
The Technicians clicked their tongues and exchanged glances with one another.

‘He’s not the type to open his mouth easily.’
‘Damn it, if we had time, we could probably break him eventually….’
‘But we don’t have that time. The chairman won’t wait for us.’

They had to conquer the Difficult Realm before the creatures swarmed in.
Time was practically non-existent.

“This won’t do. I didn’t want to resort to this, but…”

The Technician reluctantly drew out his trump card.
It was a scroll imbued with peculiar magic.
A scroll containing magic that could certainly extract information if used, but would leave a person broken for some time.
He hadn’t wanted to use such a rare artifact, but he had no choice.

“We’re running out of time. I’ll have to force his mouth open.”
“Wait, wait! I don’t know what that is, but stop. Just a moment…!”

Chu Gyu-il felt an intense sense of dread.
His instincts warned him that if he fell victim to the magic contained in that scroll, something irreversible would happen.
But the Technician was preparing to tear the scroll open.

“O-okay. I understand! I’ll talk…!”

Just as Chu Gyu-il reluctantly opened his mouth.
He witnessed something unbelievable.

‘What… what is that? The shadow…’

The shadow beneath the Technicians’ feet rippled with an otherworldly distortion.
The shadow, writhing as if alive, soon took the shape of an awl and surged upward.

Whoooosh!

“Gack…!”
“Ugh, grraaahhh!”

It pierced through the hearts of every Technician present.
An ambush with no warning whatsoever.
The Technicians couldn’t even manage a proper scream before they fell.

“What… what is this…?”

Chu Gyu-il stared at the shadow with trembling eyes.
The shadows gathered in one place, forming another shape.
A muscular man clad in a black robe.
It was Han Yu-sung.
His gaze, which had been sweeping the surroundings, turned toward Chu Gyu-il.

‘He looks even more gaunt than I remember.’

Chu Gyu-il was a man in his twenties with a small frame and a lean physique.
In my past life, he had a rather sturdy build, but now there was nothing of that.
Only his expressive face remained unchanged from then to now.

“Who on earth are you… No, that’s not what matters right now!”

Chu Gyu-il’s bewilderment transformed into relief.
Truth be told, I still don’t understand what’s happening. But one thing was certain—this person was my lifeline.
Chu Gyu-il writhed like a worm.

“H-Hey! I don’t know who you are, but thank you for helping! Can’t you see I’m trapped? Come save me! Hurry! I’m scared!”
“You’re as loud as ever, I see.”
“Ugh, uuugh! Uuuugh!”

A shadow clamped over Chu Gyu-il’s mouth.
Han Yu-sung, walking slowly, came to stand before the prison cell where he lay.

“Do you want to live?”
“Uuugh!”

Chu Gyu-il nodded urgently.
Of course he wanted to live.
Who would want to die in a cave like this?
The world was vast, and there was so much left to steal. I hadn’t even made a proper name for myself yet.
I couldn’t die like this.
As he cried out inwardly, a single sheet of paper appeared before his eyes.

“Then, sign here.”
“U-uugh…? Phew! What is this?”

Scanning through it carefully, it was a contract densely packed with multiple clauses.
In summary, it read as follows:

[You will erase from memory everything you witnessed here.]
[You will assist Han Yu-sung in conquering the Difficult Realm, ‘Sunken Treasure Vault’, with utmost sincerity and by mobilizing all your strength.]
[Furthermore, ownership of all treasures obtained here belongs to Han Yu-sung.]

“Damn it all, I didn’t come here to rescue you!”

Chu Gyu-il’s eyes widened as he examined the contract.
What was even more shocking was the utterly thuggish nature of the contract’s terms.

“Look at this contract! It’s pure extortion—the only thing missing is the sword!”
“I have the sword. Can’t you see it?”
“This is insane, absolutely insane!”

Chu Gyu-il shrieked as Han Yu-sung extended the blade toward him.
Just when I thought I’d finally escaped those Japanese bastards, now I’m trapped by this madman from Korea.
What’s next—will someone from China come to “help” me?
Chu Gyu-il bit his lip, entertaining these grim thoughts.

“If… if you don’t want to sign?”
“You’ll survive. Your life, at least.”
“Y-you’re insane…”

Han Yu-sung’s eyes gleamed with an icy light.
Witnessing that gaze, Chu Gyu-il’s body began trembling involuntarily.
Then, suddenly, the name on the contract felt strangely familiar.

‘What is it? Do I know this person? No, that can’t be it.’

Chu Gyu-il desperately searched his memory.
Then a news article he’d seen online came to mind.
It was a column about rising Korean players.
The one they’d called a rising star…

“W-wait! You! Are you that Han Yu-sung?!”
“You know of me? Then this will go faster.”
“How could I not know! Ah, wait—could you put the sword away…!”
“Choose.”

Han Yu-sung’s eyes gleamed with an icy light.
Chu Gyu-il possessed several unique abilities, one of which was ‘Pathfinding’.
Using that ability could help clear the Difficult Realm, but…

‘Seeing him in person, I’m not impressed.’

If I considered the atrocities he committed in his past life….

“Hmm, perhaps I should just kill him.”
“…!”

Chu Gyu-il swallowed hard at the utterly emotionless words.
There was no trace of murderous intent—only an attitude as though performing a mundane task.

‘This… this bastard… he really is going to….’

Kill me.
No, it felt as though he actually wanted to kill me right here.
Chu Gyu-il’s body trembled like an aspen leaf as the threat to his life became unmistakable.

“I-I’ll do it! I’ll sign! Give me the contract!”

Unable to endure the terror any longer, Chu Gyu-il surrendered.
It was then that Ran, who had just entered the prison, witnessed the scene.

“Han Yu-sung. The situation is… well, it seems settled.”
“Good. What about those outside?”
“I’ve diverted their attention. We should be able to leave now.”

Ran’s expression grew peculiar as she observed Chu Gyu-il.
She felt a strange sense of déjà vu in this moment.
It was the feeling from when she had once tried to eliminate Han Yu-sung and failed, forced to sign a contract instead.
She shook her head and produced a small item.

“This is an item that comes in a pair. They vibrate when brought close to each other. You’ll be able to locate each other within the Difficult Realm.”
“Thorough preparation. Will you stay near Linjo?”
“That’s the plan. I need to ensure he doesn’t escape.”

Han Yu-sung pocketed the pebble-like item.
It was then that Chu Gyu-il finished signing the contract.
Han Yu-sung verified the contract, then severed Chu Gyu-il’s restraints.
The liberated Chu Gyu-il exhaled a breath of relief.

“Phew… damn, I’m not even sure if I should be relieved to be alive.”
“Move. The groundwork should be nearly complete by now.”

It was time to send the Difficult Realm into a “rampage.”

* * *

An ‘unstable Difficult Realm’ is a time bomb waiting to detonate at any moment.
There are two typical ways it can explode.
First, the Difficult Realm collapses, and everything inside—mechanisms, monsters, and the like—spills out, reducing the entire area to rubble.
And second.

‘A rampaging Difficult Realm that devours everything around it.’

It forcibly pulls everything in the surrounding area into the Difficult Realm.
Since it swallows both ordinary people and players indiscriminately, it was arguably more vicious than the first type. The damage was far greater too.
The second type was what Han Yu-sung was aiming for.

“Kakasha, are you ready?”
[It is done. Though I am bound as your sworn companion, you are truly a relentless human… Are you not afraid?]
“Afraid? No, I’m actually looking forward to it.”
[You are mad, utterly mad….]

Kakasha clicked his tongue as if exasperated.
The Difficult Realm has an entrance and an exit.
But if the Difficult Realm goes into a rampage and forcibly pulls you inside, you fall at a random location—not through the entrance.
What if you landed where countless monsters dwelled?
What if you landed where a boss monster resided?
You could die the moment you regained consciousness.

[Hmm. Come to think of it, this is precisely the sort of situation you would relish. You would probably be delighted to spare yourself the trouble of finding a path….]
“You know me well.”
[Sigh, having such a sworn companion fills me with endless worry. Be cautious—this time, I cannot aid you within the Difficult Realm.]

Kakasha, in his fairy form, placed his hand against the entrance of the Difficult Realm.
Power flowed from his palm into the entrance.

Shhhhhhh…!

An ominous light erupted from the entrance of the Difficult Realm.
It was a sign I had witnessed in my past life—the Difficult Realm was about to “rampage.”

“Good. What method did you use?”
[Simple, it is. That Difficult Realm forbids the intervention of lords, does it not? A place forbidden so strictly that one cannot even observe it. What happens when a lord forcibly attempts to intervene in such a place?]
“The Difficult Realm would resist the intervention.”
[Precisely that.]

Kakasha snapped his fingers.

[A Difficult Realm so unstable it would collapse the moment someone enters, it is. Yet it resists the lord’s intervention? Even more unstable it becomes. And if one pours more coins to break through that resistance….]

KWAAAAANG!

The entrance to the Difficult Realm crumbled with a deafening roar.
And beyond it, a grotesquely expanding portal materialized.

[Thus it runs wild, it does. Kuhuhuh! Splendid!]

An eerie, otherworldly shriek echoed forth.
Simultaneously, a tremendous suction force erupted from the portal, beginning to consume everything within the surrounding radius.
The earth, the trees, the sea, and.

“U-uaaaagh?!”
“W-what! The Difficult Realm… gaaaaaaah!”

Even the Zanwol Guild members who had been waiting on Trial Island.
Han Yu-sung wore a faint smile as he gathered up the fallen Chu Gyu-il.
I felt the tremendous suction force drawing near.
I did not resist.

“This should be interesting. Very well, let us go.”
[Be cautious, you! Do not weep that I am absent!]

Ignoring Kakasha’s nonsensical prattling lightly.
Han Yu-sung surrendered himself and Chu Gyu-il to the suction force.

“D-dammit… dammiiiiit! Gaaaaaaagh!”

Chu Gyu-il’s anguished screams vanished beyond the portal.

* * *

The Uninhabited Island where the Sunken Treasure Vault had appeared.
At the heart of the base established there stood Maezato Rinzo.
He was lost in deep contemplation as he gazed at the documents before him.

“Is this all the information we extracted from that Korean bastard?”
“Yes, Chairman. He’s keeping his mouth sealed tight….”
“Useless information.”

Linjo clicked his tongue in displeasure.
What was his name again? Chu Gyu-il, wasn’t it?
Regardless, he was the one who discovered this Difficult Realm.

‘He must possess some special unique ability.’

Perhaps the ability to locate hidden Difficult Realms.
Considering he attempted to enter that perilous Difficult Realm alone, it could be the ability to navigate within the Difficult Realm itself.
Either way, it was an ability I desperately needed right now.

“Employ whatever means necessary to make him talk. And force him to work for our Zanwol.”
“Yes, Chairman.”

The subordinates bowed and departed.
Linjo exhaled a heavy sigh, his gaze turning toward the Difficult Realm beyond.

“O-ju, I regret losing you so much.”

Though he was an incompetent son, his abilities and potential were undeniable.
If he were still here, I could entrust the conquest of that Difficult Realm to him with confidence.
If only that potential had fallen to me instead of O-ju.

‘I would have conquered that Difficult Realm myself.’

All I could do was command from a safe distance.
I clicked my tongue in frustration and rose from my seat.
I needed to extract information from this man called Chu Gyu-il quickly.
Even if I had to step in personally….

CRASH!

It happened in that very instant.
A thunderous roar erupted from the direction of the Difficult Realm.
Linjo spun around in panic toward the Difficult Realm.

“W-what on earth…?”

What entered his vision was a portal grotesquely swollen and distorted.
A horrifying sight unfolded before Linjo’s eyes—the portal emitting an eerie, otherworldly wail as it indiscriminately absorbed everything in the surrounding area.
What was happening? What in the world was that…?

“C-Chairman! It’s dangerous! We must leave this place at once…!”

Ran and the other subordinates rushed in urgently.
Linjo attempted to respond to the crisis, but he was too late.
The portal’s suction engulfed the island in an instant.

“Chairmaaaaaan!”
“No, this can’t—urgh… aaaahhhhh!”

It consumed everyone on the island.
Han Yu-sung and Chu Gyu-il, Linjo and Ran, and all the members of the Zanwol Guild.
Every last one.

Splash!

The sound of waves echoed across the island, now an uninhabited wasteland once more.

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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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