The Crazy Battle God Has Returned - Chapter 99

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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 99

[All monsters have been defeated.]
[The promotion battle has ended! Results are being calculated.]
[Congratulations, Han Yu-sung! You have achieved the highest contribution in this promotion battle. Additionally, you have resolved the promotion battle through an unexpected method.]

Among the Star Battlefields, there exist hidden solutions in certain cases.
Just as in this promotion battle, where I destroyed all the Gates and prevented monsters from emerging.
And when clearing a battlefield through such special methods, enhanced rewards were typically granted compared to normal.

[You receive 100,000 Star Points as that reward.]
[You have obtained a massive amount of experience. Your level rises by 5 stages!]
[Strength +5, Agility +5, Stamina +5.]
[Due to the Mad Swordsman effect, Strength and Agility increase by +2, and Stamina increases by +1!]

This was exactly how it worked.
Considering I had resolved it in mere tens of minutes, it was an extraordinary level of reward.
Han Yu-sung closed the message window with a satisfied expression.
Right then, a new message appeared.

[You have been promoted to ‘Silver’ grade.]
[From now on, you can participate in higher difficulty Star Battlefields and events, and you can access the next tier of the Star Store.]
[Powerful beings from other worlds await you!]

Upon reading the message, Han Yu-sung clicked his tongue.
God’s Trial had not opened only on Earth. From the beginning, the Star Battlefield itself was a place where players from worlds where trials had opened participated.
This meant other worlds where trials had opened existed.
Worlds where beast-men lived, places with races like dwarves, the Murim.
And.

‘Worlds inhabited by races far superior to humans also exist.’

One could say their very species was fundamentally different.
The higher my grade rose in the Star Battlefield, the more often I would encounter such races.
At Silver grade, I wouldn’t encounter them yet, but if my grade rose further from here, I would have to fight against such races.
Not only in the Star Battlefield, but also in God’s Trial.

‘Well, it’s not something I need to worry about right now.’

It was exactly as I thought.
A future that hasn’t arrived yet.
Even if it does, it won’t be a bad thing. Rather, it will become an opportunity to build my strength.

‘I should save the Star Points for later.’

A considerable amount of Star Points had come in.
But rather than spending them now, it would be more advantageous to use them later, when the Star Store is strengthened through the additional rewards from the Ascension.
Han Yu-sung turned his back and stepped into the portal that appeared at just the right moment.
It was time to return to Earth.

“….”
“….”

The Players stared blankly after Han Yu-sung as he departed.
Not a single one of them could open their mouth. They could only watch.
They couldn’t believe what they had just witnessed.
It was only after Han Yu-sung had left that they found their voices.

“He, he’s gone?”
“Hey, what in the world was that… what did I just see?”
“Ugh, I wanted to say something to him, but my legs wouldn’t move.”

The Players clicked their tongues in amazement.
How could they have spoken to him after watching him tear through an enemy position teeming with monsters and destroy all the Gates single-handedly?

“I never imagined the promotion match would end like this.”
“Well, we got a proper carry this time, so I guess that’s a win?”

When the promotion match had just begun, the Players were tense.
If they failed this promotion match, they would have to remain Bronze until the next one opened, so there was no helping their anxiety.
But to think it would end this way.
It was almost worrying how pleased the Lord must be.

“But who was that? Does anyone know him?”
“He looked Asian by appearance. Was there a Player like that?”
“Hmm. A Player who uses the sword, martial arts, and even magic all at once.”

Everyone was curious about Han Yu-sung’s true identity.
One player stroked his chin, lost in thought.
He was the man who had seen Han Yu-sung’s face from a relatively close distance among them.
He realized that the face he had seen was familiar.

‘Who was it? I feel like I’ve seen that face somewhere. Where exactly…’

The man searched his memory for where he had seen that face.
After pondering for a moment, it suddenly came to him.

“Ah, Han Yu-sung.”
“What? Who did you say?”
“Han Yu-sung! From Korea! Damn it, don’t you even watch the news?!”

Many Western players still didn’t know that name.
But the Eastern players were different.
Especially the Chinese and Japanese players.

“Han Yu-sung? The Korean who killed Oju?!”
“The one who killed Wei Hao. There was an uproar in China over it.”
“Wait, a guy like that was still Bronze until now?”
“Who exactly is he that everyone’s making such a fuss?”

A player who had eliminated rising stars from Japan and China.
A player who had become one of the major reasons Japan lost the ‘National Buff’ through his tremendous performance in the National Inter-Country Tournament.
The players who belatedly realized it was Han Yu-sung dropped their jaws.

“Damn it. I should have talked to him!”
“If only I’d asked about his Class or unique abilities…”
“That’s money if I leak it to the journalists!”

Such thoughts struck them suddenly, but it was too late for regrets.

* * *

News that captured public attention began circulating through the community.
It was news about the one currently receiving the most interest in player society.

[Spilling the tea on getting carried by Han Yu-sung in the promotion match;;]
[Met Han Yu-sung in the Silver promotion match and he solo cleared the entire thing. It was Hell’s Fortress, right? But the moment it started, he charged straight at the monsters and destroyed all the Gates;]
[You believe it? You don’t, right? Honestly, I don’t either; but it’s facts… Not just me, other people saw it too….]

News that Han Yu-sung had essentially solo cleared the Silver promotion match.
The problem was how he’d done it.

[He destroyed the Gates that spawn monsters? Solo?]
[Is this guy insane?]
[Isn’t that place a strategic stronghold with hordes of monsters? Gates keep spawning them continuously, so you shouldn’t even be able to destroy them.]
[So you’re saying he cleared a Difficult Realm that normally takes 6 hours in just tens of minutes?]

It wasn’t just one or two players who’d cleared the promotion match, Hell’s Fortress.
That’s why they knew well. For a Silver promotion match, it had fairly high difficulty, and it wasn’t something you could clear easily like the rumors suggested.
It was a method that was hard to believe even when witnessed firsthand.

[Does that make sense? What kind of viral marketing is this;;]
[Why would I run viral marketing for some stranger? And you idiot; what would you even do with viral marketing for a player? Where would you use it?]
[Maybe he’s trying to get famous and pull in sponsorship deals.]
[Han Yu-sung? Does he even need to do that?]

It was to the point where people were questioning whether it was viral marketing.
But currently in Korea, Han Yu-sung was a player who had no need for viral marketing.
He’d gained enormous fame from his consecutive remarkable performances in the Trials.
And he continued to grow more famous even now.

[Isn’t Han Yu-sung the one with barely any news? Reporters are desperately searching for articles to write about him.]
[Yeah, doesn’t seem like he’s in a Guild either, and nobody knows which Lord he’s contracted with. The rumor is he’s going solo, independent.]
[Our Lord mentioned he seems to be contracted with the Blood Demon?]
[The Blood Demon? Isn’t that The Wanderer? Do they even take sworn servants?]
[Don’t know;; but that’s the consensus among the Lords.]

Han Yu-sung had virtually no media exposure despite his recent impressive performances.
He simply wasn’t particularly interested, and he had too much to do.
Perhaps because of that, the community discussion quickly turned into news articles.

[Han Yu-sung Clears Promotion Exam Solo… Community in Uproar.]
[“Is this even possible?” An Unprecedented Promotion Exam Strategy!]
[Player Han Yu-sung Proves His Combat Prowess Once Again.]
[Who Is the Star Lord That Han Yu-sung Contracted With?]
[Han Yu-sung Contracts with The Wanderer Blood Demon?]

The journalists began churning out articles without any real investigation.
Whether the facts were accurate hardly mattered.
Han Yu-sung generated traffic—in other words, revenue.
The fact that he avoided the media spotlight only intensified the frenzy.
Articles were bound to pour out endlessly.

“The journalists are going wild. Though I suspected as much.”

Jain clicked her tongue as she read through the articles.
The media always celebrated fresh faces. For exceptional players like Jain and Lee Su-ho, this was hardly a novel experience.
Of course, this particular wave of attention far exceeded anything they’d encountered before.

“Guild Master. Here are the materials you requested.”
“Mm. Sigh…”

But what truly concerned Jain now was something else entirely.
Her expression darkened as she reviewed the documents Park Yu-ha had handed her.
The materials detailed the movements of foreign nations.
She could feel the entire world’s attention converging on Han Yu-sung.

“The whole world is targeting Han Yu-sung. Linjo remains quiet, but given that old man’s nature, he’ll make his move one way or another. As for the United States…”
“According to rumors, Fuse America is making moves.”
“This is maddening.”

Fuse America.
One of the premier guilds representing the United States, it was renowned for actively recruiting foreign players through naturalization.
In essence, this meant they possessed enormous capital and influence.

“In your assessment, Guild Master, how does Han Yu-sung strike you? Does he seem like someone who would waver at such recruitment offers, or does he appear indifferent?”
“He seemed largely disinterested in such matters.”
“So you’re not entirely certain.”

Jain sighed, pressing her fingers to her brow.
She had already given him the promised coins, and on top of that, she’d obtained the Key of Trial for him, so he probably wouldn’t harbor any major grievances about the compensation.
And judging by Han Yu-sung’s demeanor, he seemed utterly uninterested in naturalization proposals from other countries—more like he found the whole thing tedious, really.

“For now, I’ll need to discuss this with the government. In a situation like this, we’ll have to use the compensation to keep him tied down, so I should at least secure some budget.”
“Yes. I’ll make sure to keep the promise in place.”

And so each nation and the Player Alliance began moving with urgency.
All targeting a single player: Han Yu-sung.
Meanwhile, their target, Han Yu-sung himself, was—

“A Difficult Realm, tucked away in a place that’s hard to find.”

I was searching for the Difficult Realm, the Hall of Trials.
I had already achieved the Silver grade requirement on the Star Battlefield, which was the entry condition for the Difficult Realm.
Now all that remained was to use the Key of Trial that Jain had given me.
I had to resolve this before the reward Dungeon, the Tomb of the Lord, opened.
Fortunately, thanks to Jain’s guidance, finding the Hall of Trials wasn’t particularly difficult.

“Never thought I’d end up taking a boat to an island like this.”
[Such Difficult Realms are always hidden in places like this.]
“In any case, these Lords really are something else…”

The Hall of Trials was on an island.
An island that didn’t even appear on maps. It wasn’t an island that had existed from the beginning—I suspected it had been created when the trials manifested.
The Difficult Realm was hidden in the very center of that island.

[Difficult Realm: Hall of Trials.]
[A Difficult Realm opened by a Lord who concealed themselves. Various trials with different themes await the participants. The more difficult the trial, and the more you exceed the conditions, the stronger the rewards become.]
[Currently, only the Trial of Swift Speed remains in the Hall of Trials.]
[This Difficult Realm is ‘adjusted’ according to the participant’s level.]
[Entry Restriction: Only those who possess the Key of Trial.]
[Entry Fee: None.]

A doorway leading into the Difficult Realm appeared deep within the cave.
After confirming the description of the Difficult Realm, I stood before the entrance.

“The Trial of Swift Speed, huh. The rewards are looking promising.”

Without hesitation, I opened the door and stepped into the Difficult Realm.

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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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