The Crazy Battle God Has Returned - Chapter 4

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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 4

[You have been granted a reward for clearing Hell difficulty!]

A message materialized before my eyes.
Moments later, the rewards were dispensed to Han Yu-sung.

[You have received 1000 Coins!]
[As a first-clear bonus, you have acquired the Blessing of the Tutorial Tower!]
[You have acquired the skill ‘Unwavering Resolve (S)’!]
[A Unique-grade weapon and armor set have been provided for you!]

Four rewards in total.
Among them, what captured my attention was the ‘Blessing’.

[Blessing of the Tutorial Tower (Legendary)]
· All stats +10.
· Experience gain +20%, Skill experience gain +20%.
· All skill damage +20%.
· Novice skill damage +100%.

In this world, there exists something called a ‘Blessing’.
It is a form of buff granted by the Star Lords to players under contract with them, providing stat bonuses and special effects.
There is a way to obtain one without entering into a contract with a Lord.

‘By clearing the towers that have appeared across the world.’

There are towers that appeared alongside the Lords, and more will continue to emerge.
Clear such a tower for the first time, and you can obtain a Blessing. Sometimes these Blessings proved superior to those granted by the Lords themselves.
The Blessing of the Tutorial Tower was one such case.

“One hundred percent? They certainly don’t hold back.”

Perhaps because the time spent as a Novice was limited, the effect was remarkably potent.

[Unbreakable Will (S)]
· Classification: Passive.
· You possess a will that does not yield to any predicament.
· When your life hangs by a thread, all stats increase significantly.
· Regeneration Speed +30%.

The passive skill granted as a reward was equally remarkable.
Rather than being limited to specific aspects like health regeneration or mana regeneration, it was a form of superior enhancement—a skill that transcended such narrow categories.
For Han Yu-sung, who would frequently face formidable opponents and throw himself into perilous situations, it was an invaluable skill.

“Hmm, so that’s why he became so vigorous whenever he was on the brink of death.”

I recalled the player who had first cleared Hell difficulty in my previous life.
It must have been a foreign player named Randolph.
The one who dominated his own nation and enslaved the entire population like cattle.

“Finally, the items.”

Items made of light floated suspended in the air before me.
Though Unique-grade equipment was provided as a reward, I refrained from collecting the items and waited instead.
The reason was simple.

[You have defeated the formidable One-Eyed Ogre. Furthermore, you have successfully cleared the Tutorial Tower, which no one else has ever conquered!]
[You have satisfied the activation condition for your unique ability, ‘Divine Descent’.]
[The grade of the items provided as a reward will increase!]
[Additionally, your Resolve increases by +5!]

After all, they would be enhanced through Divine Descent anyway.
I examined the strengthened items.

[Bone Crusher (Epic)]
· Slot: Weapon (Gauntlet).
· Attack Power: 55.
· Strength +3, Unarmed Combat Skill Damage +20%.
· Shattering the opponent’s bones becomes easier.

[Shadowless Robe (Epic)]
· Slot: Armor (Martial Garment).
· Defense: 27.
· Agility +3, Speed +10%.
· Grants the ability to momentarily conceal one’s form while moving.

Both items were undeniably useful.
Among the additional rewards granted by the Apostle, some enhanced the base compensation itself. That was what had just activated.
Han Yu-sung smiled as he equipped the gauntlets.

‘No one else would start at level 1 with something like this.’

In my previous life, I had cleared the Tutorial Tower on Hard difficulty.
The rewards had been decent then, but nothing compared to this. With gear like this, I could grow rapidly without obstacles for quite some time.

“Good, then.”

Han Yu-sung lifted his head.
For a while now, I had felt countless gazes upon me.
As I looked up, I saw an incalculable number of eyes floating in the empty air.
Each radiating a different luminescence.

[The Star Lords wish to form a contract with you.]
[The Star Lord ‘He Who Leads the Gale Wind’ presents conditions.]
[The Star Lord ‘Watcher of Thunder’ desires conversation.]
[The Star Lord ‘Ravenous Specter’ wishes to….]

An endless stream of messages materialized.
Though the details varied slightly, the essence was simple.
They wanted to form a contract with me—state your terms, let us bind ourselves to you now.
The relentless cascade of messages conveyed their desperation.
But I had no intention of contracting with any of them.

‘Contracting with Star Lords seeking quick gains yields nothing of value.’

Among the Star Lords, there exists a hierarchy.
The method of distinguishing that hierarchy was simple.

‘Whether they possess an epithet or not.’

Icarus, the Lord of Justice who had contracted with Lee Su-ho.
That creature bore the prefix ‘Justice’—an epithet.
An epithet was a title bestowed only upon the most exalted Star Lords.
Such lords possessed both tremendous status and formidable power.

‘These creatures here lack epithets.’

Only inferior lords, those called merely ‘lords’ without distinction, lingered in this place.
I could contract with any lord I desired—but only those bearing epithets.
There was no reason to bind myself to these lords waiting here to ensnare ignorant novices.
And more than anything.

‘I need to be able to trust a lord.’

I knew all too well that lords were creatures incapable of trust.
They would do anything for ‘Coins’.
I draped the martial robe across my shoulders and moved forward.
Countless eyes followed in my wake.

[The lords await your answer.]
“I refuse.”

The eyes that had been tracking me widened in shock.
A deluge of messages appeared, desperate to hold my attention, but I dismissed them with indifference and stood before the exit of the Tutorial Tower.

‘The lord I will contract with.’

A player who contracts with a lord is called a ‘Sworn’.
The Sworn receives gifts—power and more—from their lord in exchange for obedience to the lord’s commands.
A lord grants nothing to a Sworn who refuses to follow.
Master and slave.
I had no intention of becoming that.

“The lord I choose will be one whose leash I alone can hold.”

A player who dominates a lord.
That was the vision I sought.
And.
I already knew how to make it happen.

Ahhhhh!

As I thrust open the exit door, brilliant light enveloped my body.

* * *

Exactly two hours after Han Yu-sung departed from the Tutorial Tower.
A single message appeared before every player’s eyes.

[A player has conquered the Tutorial Tower.]
[An unknown individual has cleared Hell difficulty for the first time.]

The Tutorial Tower.
Even the players who now commanded great renown in this world had failed to conquer its Hell difficulty—yet someone had just cleared it.
The first players to see the message doubted their own eyes.

“They cleared Hell difficulty? That insane difficulty?”
“Impossible. Is it even possible to clear that at level one?”
“How could anyone survive a tutorial with orcs and lizardmen appearing….”

Hell difficulty’s notorious reputation had long preceded it.
The monsters that appeared were already common knowledge.
The only unknown was the final boss monster—because everyone who had attempted it had failed before reaching that point.
Yet now, someone had cleared Hell difficulty.

“What in the world is the final boss monster!”
“Anyone capable of clearing Hell difficulty… can we recruit them immediately?”
“They concealed their identity? That doesn’t make sense… or are they completely insane?”

The player community erupted in turmoil at the unbelievable news.
The astonished players’ thoughts converged on a single objective.

“Find out who they are! Now!”
“Identify this madman and obtain the Hell difficulty strategy guide. Before the other Guilds do—as quickly as possible!”

They had to find whoever had cleared it.
Players began moving with desperate urgency.
And the very person the players were so desperately searching for—the one who had conquered Hell difficulty—was.

“Tsk, damn ogre bastard. Annoyingly thick skull.”

I spat curses while tending to my mangled fists.

* * *

A single day sufficed to mend my shattered hands.
Han Yu-sung climbed to the rooftop of his Studio Apartment and gazed upward at the sky.
Across the crystalline expanse, countless messages hung suspended in the air.

[Seek rare rewards? Journey to Jongmyo! I, the Lord of Darkness, have prepared trials worthy of your mettle! Entry fee: 300 coins!]
[A trial shall open at Dongnimmun Station. Those confident in conquering the monster wave, bring your coins! The Lord awaits you!]
[Coins laid bare for the taking! Five have already claimed theirs!]
[I, the Lord of Valor, hereby recruit valiant contractors!]

The sight resembled the sky plastered with countless billboards.
Who had posted such advertisements?
Simple. The Lords.
Why did the Lords broadcast such billboards across the heavens?
The answer was equally straightforward.

‘To obtain coins.’

Coins.
A form of currency that emerged alongside the divine trials.
Pristine white tokens that appeared unremarkable at first glance, yet possessed manifold applications.
One could purchase items, expend them in trials, or pay trial entry fees.

“The Star Lords covet these with an obsession that borders on madness.”

Or offer them to a contracted Lord.
Coins were the very reason the Star Lords operated in this world. They could only be obtained in worlds selected as trial grounds.
Then why did the Lords hunger so desperately for coins?

‘To amass greater power.’

I didn’t know the exact principle behind it, but the Star Lords could use coins to increase their own power.
As they accumulated strength that way, they would develop an ‘Epithet’, and by accumulating even more power beyond that, they could transcend into an existence far greater than a Star Lord.
To achieve that, those bastards had turned this world into a wasteland.
Just as Achiros had done in my previous life.

“What a pathetic way the world turns.”

I let out a bitter laugh.
This was why I despised the Star Lords.
There were some decent ones among them, but most were blinded by coins.
The kind of bastards who would destroy the world itself just to obtain coins.
The ones Lee Su-ho had dealt with were exactly that type.

“So then… what should I do from here on?”

First and foremost, I needed to build up my strength.
Lee Su-ho had awakened in 2022, the year the Divine Trials began.
At this very moment, he would be actively operating as a famous player.
Since I had awakened in 2024, I was two years behind.

‘If I crush Lee Su-ho, I can also obstruct Icarus.’

It would happen naturally.
Lee Su-ho’s contribution to Icarus’s scheme’s success was significant.
And there was one more thing.

“The 【Star Lord Hunt】 happened around this time.”

If I made good use of the Star Lord being hunted, I could accept a Star Lord whose ‘leash’ I could hold according to my will.
I didn’t trust the existence called Star Lords.

‘But a Star Lord is necessary.’

In my previous life, I operated without a Star Lord after obtaining the Demon Devouring Sword.
That was no different from placing great restrictions on myself. Without a Star Lord, there were many times I couldn’t obtain proper rewards.
Suffering all sorts of penalties from the Trials was just an added bonus.

‘To grow, and above all, to stop Achiros.’

I need a lord I can command.
If I resolve several prerequisite conditions, I should be able to create such a lord.
In any case, that was only possible if I had sufficient power.

‘I should tackle the challenges I couldn’t conquer before.’

I had been active as a player for a long time.
I remember all the challenging quests that offered powerful and unique rewards.
With 1,000 coins, I didn’t need to worry about entry fees.
Considering that players typically earned around 100 coins as rewards from the Tutorial Tower, this was an astronomical amount.

“Alright, it’s been a while since I visited the Library.”

One thing had just come to mind.
A challenge perfectly suited to my current situation—freshly awakened as a player.

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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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