The Crazy Battle God Has Returned - Chapter 31

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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 31

Ennui.
A word that perpetually shadowed the Lord of Pleasure.
The Lord of Pleasure pursued indulgence to extremes—a sovereign who could not tolerate even a moment of tedium, nor had any inclination to try.

[That’s boring. This has nothing worth seeing. And this… is far too dull.]

Then, could he endure a situation if it were entertaining?
That was not the case either.
Even if a situation were entertaining.

[I’m sick of this! Do you know how many times I’ve witnessed something like this?]

A lord possessed of a temperament that grew bored all too quickly, no matter how engaging the spectacle.
Such was the Lord of Pleasure.
Eyes twisted by tedium gazed upon the scene unfolding before him.

[Hmm? Well, this one at least…]
[Sigh, no. I can already see how it will unfold. How tedious!]

Countless players engaged in mini-games across various locations.
The lord’s disposition shifted with each passing moment as he observed them—briefly delighted, then swiftly bored, then delighted again, then bored once more.
Was it even possible to keep such a lord perpetually entertained?

[Huff, I completely restructured the game board, yet here we are. Perhaps next time I should eliminate the Playground itself and create something entirely new…?]

Tears began to form in the lord’s eyes.
Last time, he had enjoyed it well enough. So he opened it again—yet the fundamental structure remained unchanged, and interest simply would not kindle.
Anticipation began to drain from the lord’s heart.
The predictable flow of events left him thoroughly weary.

[Tedious, so tedious… wait?]

That was true until he witnessed a certain spectacle.
The lord’s eyes, which had been listlessly observing the various mini-games, suddenly widened.
His gaze fell upon the Guardian Stone Defense.
An ordinary mini-game—nothing more than a simple affair of holding back monsters.

[I created this game, but I made it poorly. It’s just about blocking and that’s it. Where’s the fun in that?]
[The hidden mechanisms I set up… they’re meaningless….]

The Lord of Pleasure looked dejected.
Since it was a common mini-game, I had hidden something for the sake of entertainment.
But it held no meaning. There was no one seeking to find it.
Yet right now, an intriguing sight caught my eye.
A spectacle I had only imagined, never believing it would actually come to pass.

– W-what?! Why is that person doing that?!
– Huh? Wait, alone…?!

A man with his face hidden beneath a hood leaped down from the platform.
The players were utterly bewildered by this sudden recklessness, and even the monsters climbing toward the platform stared blankly at the man.
But only for a moment.

– Graaaaaaah!
– Shrieeeeek!

The monsters rushed at the man in unison.
The outcome that would follow was predictable. The man who had acted so recklessly would pay the price, torn to shreds by the monsters.
Even the Lord of Pleasure anticipated this.
And yet, simultaneously, I harbored hope.

[Perhaps, perhaps, perhaps….]

That he would shatter expectations grounded in common sense.
That he would transcend the mundane progression and reveal something unforeseen.
And.

Crash-crash-crash-crash!

The man, Han Yu-sung, was precisely one who could accomplish such a thing.
Shadows erupted upward. The shadows cast across the surrounding area surged forth savagely, transforming into all manner of weapons.
And those weapons moved as though seized by frenzy.

– Gack, ugh… Graaaaaaah?!
– Shrieeeeeeek!
– W-what in the world is that?!

【Nox Frenzy】.
Swords, spears, axes, and all manner of weapons wrought from shadow began attacking enemies indiscriminately within a certain radius.
Monsters with bodies torn to shreds screamed and collapsed.
In that instant, a gap opened in the enemy formation.

Whoooooosh!

A fierce wind rushed through that opening.
Han Yu-sung, wielding the Gale Cloak, pierced through the monsters in an instant and reached the portal from which they had emerged.
What came into view was the portal’s core—a crystal.
Blood wind gathered at Han Yu-sung’s fist.

Crackle!

A fist cutting through empty air.
The fierce blood wind shattered the crystal. The portal, now bereft of its core, twisted violently before vanishing without a trace.
The portal had been closed.
Having sealed the portal, Han Yu-sung kicked off the ground once more.

[Aha….]

Han Yu-sung dashed across the ground teeming with monsters.
By ‘common sense,’ it should be impossible to break through a horde of monsters.
The monsters should stop Han Yu-sung and kill him for standing out alone.
That was common sense.
And that common sense had just been shattered.

[That’s it! That’s the one! Portals can be destroyed! Not just stupidly blocking monsters, but stepping forward and destroying the portal itself!]
[This! This is what I wanted to see!]

The Lord of Pleasure cheered.
Had he been his usual self, his joy would have faded quickly. But this time was different. It had to be.
Because he had satisfied his ‘anticipation.’

[Why did I even prepare the portals! Idiots. Every time I saw them cowering in fear, unable to step forward, how frustrated I was!]

When people enjoy entertainment, they harbor ‘anticipation.’
Anticipation of what development might come next. Anticipation that the scene they wish to see will soon arrive. Anticipation that it will be fulfilled.
The Lord of Pleasure harbored much anticipation when creating the Playground.

– If I set something up here like this, they’ll move exactly like this, won’t they?
– This might be hard to find. But if someone does manage to discover it….
– I think it’ll be fun if I arrange it this way?

Like a child lost in endless imagination with a toy in hand.
The Lord of Pleasure had prepared many things in the Playground, and he hoped the players would discover them. He hoped they would satisfy his anticipation.
But such a thing never happened.
And now.

[That’s it….]

Han Yu-sung’s figure, carving through the very heart of a hellscape teeming with countless monsters and destroying portals, was fulfilling the anticipation he had long harbored.

[Yes, that’s it… that’s exactly it!]

The anticipation the Lord of Pleasure had been unable to satisfy for so long.

[Pleasure Gauge: 32%, 39%, 45%….]
[The Lord of Pleasure feels tremendous interest and delight!]
[Han Yu-sung’s stats increase by 20%!]

The reward granted was a powerful buff.
Han Yu-sung felt his body grow lighter.
Should he be pleased about receiving the buff? The Lord of Pleasure thought so.
And Han Yu-sung betrayed that expectation in the best way possible.

“I don’t need the buff. I’ll handle this with my own strength, so watch.”
[Aha, ahaha…!]

He essentially demanded the removal of the buff given to him.
Witnessing this, the Lord of Pleasure burst into laughter.
Anticipation, joy. Emotions felt after so long erupted into uncontrollable mirth.
Simultaneously, a new anticipation took hold.
How much entertainment would this human show him?

[Ahahaha!]

And.
Han Yu-sung did not disappoint that expectation.

* * *

The mini-games continued without pause.
With each round, the number of players dwindled. Many had grown satisfied with their accumulated rewards, or feared that pushing further would cost them their lives and opted to withdraw.
Of course, Han Yu-sung was an exception to this trend.

“W-what the hell… Is that even possible?”
“Is he clearing multiple mini-games by himself?”
“But our gauge isn’t rising at all…?”

Han Yu-sung was, quite literally, running wild.
Defense, offense, object searching, maze navigation, and everything else—I conquered every mission with overwhelming dominance and methods no one could have anticipated.

[That’s it! This is what I hid here!]
[You found it! This is exactly the kind of scene I wanted to see…!]

And I did so in a way that thoroughly satisfied the Lord’s expectations.
I discovered and utilized the mechanisms the Lord of Pleasure had hidden throughout the Playground. It was only natural that the Lord was deeply satisfied upon witnessing this.

[Pleasure Gauge: 4%.]

The other players’ gauges hadn’t risen at all.
They fluctuated in single digits at best. The only saving grace was that because of Han Yu-sung, the Lord seemed entertained enough that the gauge hadn’t dipped into negatives.
But what about Han Yu-sung?

[Pleasure Gauge: 85%.]

An absurd figure had been achieved.
85%.
What was truly shocking was that it continued to climb.
What manner of being was the Lord of Pleasure?
Just moments ago, he had been cackling with delight, only to shift in an instant to an expression of utter boredom—a lord whose very nature embodied capriciousness itself.

“He’s… continuing to satisfy such a lord?”
“At that rate, what kind of buff would he receive? Around 80%?”
“Damn….”

The players caught in the same mini-game as Han Yu-sung lamented their fate.
How was this even possible?
It was simple.

‘Anticipation allows one to endure tedium.’

If you could bear the boredom for just a moment, and then witness the scene you had been waiting for? If such anticipation existed?
Then boredom itself became seasoning for an even greater pleasure.
That was what Han Yu-sung had been aiming for.

‘With that man here, does it even make sense to continue? ‘
‘Even if we push forward, won’t it be meaningless anyway?’
‘Wouldn’t it be better to just give up here?’

The players, unaware of his scheme, naturally arrived at such thoughts.
As long as Han Yu-sung existed, the Lord of Pleasure would never spare them a glance, no matter what they did.
Everyone became certain of this.

“…I’m giving up here.”
“Me too. There’s no point in continuing.”
“Same here….”

The players began surrendering one by one.
They were the ones who had been caught in the same mini-game as Han Yu-sung.
The others, watching them quit, were bewildered.

“Wait, what? You’re giving up? We’re almost there!”
“It’s pointless. Continuing will only put our lives in danger.”
“Let’s just watch from outside.”
“Hold on, just a moment!”

The number of players dropped sharply.
But the Lord of Pleasure paid them no mind. His attention was fixed solely on Han Yu-sung, not on some common player.
Han Yu-sung felt the weight of the Lord’s gaze pouring down upon him.

‘Things are unfolding as I calculated. The problem is….’

It’s terrorism orchestrated by the other Lords.
The Lords who suffered massive losses because of the Lord of Pleasure would unite and attack this predicament. Unless some unexpected variable emerged.
And perhaps, their method would be.

‘They opened the Gate. I think that’s what happened.’

But I still don’t see any suspicious figures.
It couldn’t be helped. The allied Lords would have hidden their Oath-bearers as carefully as possible to avoid detection before sending them in.
Even the Lord of Pleasure had been deceived, so it was impossible to notice.
Then there was no choice.

‘For now, I’ll have to break the game until something happens.’
[You’re playing the fool quite thoroughly, aren’t you?]
‘Tell me about it.’

But being a fool with compensation wasn’t so bad.
And another mini-game had begun.

[A new game is starting.]
[The Lord of Pleasure is clapping his hands with great delight!]

The number of remaining players wasn’t large anymore.
At most a few hundred. They had all gathered in the same place.
It appeared to be a vast, empty Plain.
Only briefly—the Plain transformed. Tension bore down upon the players.
And.

“….”

Among them were those who tensed for a different reason.
Several players were breaking into cold sweat. Not from nervousness or fear about the game that would unfold ahead.
They were crushed beneath the weight of the task they had been given.
A voice reached their ears.

– Get ready….
– Open the Gate….
– It’s time for revenge against the Lord of Pleasure….

It was the voice of the Lords.
Thus, with all manner of emotions intertwined, the game began.
Perhaps the final game it would ever be.

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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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