Chapter 309
When Seojun got off the train, he sensed a strange aura.
One of the participants was staring at him.
Not even bothering to hide it, the person watched openly, then sauntered across the road and disappeared as soon as Seojun stepped off.
Seojun grasped the situation from that alone.
"The Sword Saint is back."
The key was how many people were waiting for him.
[The Sword Saint? That insignificant pest who first figured out your identity?]
"Yes. And 'pest'? He's a hero too, you know."
The Fragment then started rambling about how from his perspective they were all the same, and that Seojun was the only one getting special treatment.
Seojun let it go in one ear and out the other as he left the station and walked slowly toward the workshop.
[So what will you do? They're obviously banding together to confirm your identity.]
"Hmm. It must mean the shop items are good for me. Or there's something they need to do on the Train. What kind of passageways does the Train have?"
Seojun looked ahead.
[Ha! Those passageways are beyond my jurisdiction! I didn't open them in the first place. So if the one who first stepped into my world wishes it, the passageways will close at any time.]
Meaning the participants weren't staying on the Train because of a quest.
'Having someone keep watch means there's a group above a certain size.'
For them to spend that entire time waiting just to stop him, there had to be another reason they needed to block him.
'The shop.'
He hadn't been told it would close in just one day.
Meanwhile, Seojun arrived in front of the workshop.
No, the area in front was blocked by people, so he stopped a bit farther down the path.
Immediately, Yon and Gerteu approached him and spoke.
[What now? We'll be watching your choice.]
"Let me confirm just one thing, Kael."
"Confirm what?"
"You insisted so strongly that Seojun is the mastermind. Here with Sir Sword Saint and Sir Yasuo."
"Hmm... Could I just go into the shop first?"
"Brother! No joking around!"
Yon's urgent and desperate cry.
"Hey, you damn Kael. I know you can't commit massacre either."
The Sword Saint's sneer, having figured out the secret.
"Just take one hit and go in."
Gerteu's warm smile, still believing Seojun might not be the mastermind — a smile that would twist once he learned he'd been fooled.
At first glance, this situation seemed like a major problem.
'Hmm.'
But it wasn't a crisis.
That's what Seojun thought.
As the atmosphere grew tense and Seojun said nothing, the others raised their weapons properly and began preparing for a fight.
"Aren't you going to get hit, Kael? I know it's unpleasant."
"Ah, I'll take the hit. Everyone."
Why wasn't this a crisis?
Even knowing he couldn't kill people.
Because.
"I'm coming now. Watch closely, brothers."
Seojun opened his inventory window, threw his sword on the ground (it would return to his waist after a set time), and began walking among them with his hands raised.
And then.
What followed happened in an instant.
As Seojun passed between them at a measured pace, the momentarily flustered group unleashed their attacks on him.
"Just kill him now! You idiots! Everyone pour your skills! Just pour them all!"
Seojun calmly took every single attack, didn't even use Blessing of Brilliance, and walked into the shop.
"Huh?"
"Huh?"
But.
Seojun's health didn't drop.
No, it wasn't even visible.
And it wasn't like he dodged all their attacks.
"Everyone, have you ever heard of a toggle?"
Seojun went straight into the safe zone of the shop.
The gathered people gained nothing.
"What?"
"Block him! We have to block him! Stop that bastard from entering the shop!"
"Too late now. He's already inside, Sir Sword Saint. He caught us off guard by coming so suddenly."
"What did he do?"
"Bug play? It's definitely not physical skill."
"Yon, explain right now!"
"Argh! That bastard!"
* * *
"Toggle! It was a toggle!"
- LOL LOL LOL
- Sword Saint LOL, he attacked like crazy trying to kill him LOL
- The streamer just toggled LOL
- Just one item and that's it LOL
"Destroyer's Armor grants 15 seconds of invincibility! Seojun simply used invincibility and breezed through! The invincibility effect was buried under all those skills! So everyone got even more confused!"
And so, Seojun entered the safe zone.
Very easily and simply.
"With just one toggle. But there's still a problem, right? Ah, the participants are talking!"
The mastermind is effectively confirmed.
Whatever Seojun did, it wasn't Blessing of Brilliance.
Then it must be something only the mastermind could do.
Even if not, hiding things like this meant something shady was going on.
"Yes! Naturally, the opinion that we have to catch him emerges! It seems Yon and Sword Saint are going into the shop! And the rest set up a formation outside!"
To catch the monster.
Seojun seemed to have nowhere to run.
* * *
"Brother, are you really the mastermind? If this is a joke, the loss to all the participants waiting outside is no joke. We're allies! Just take one hit as a representative and put an end to this. Okay? It's not like that. Brother! Brotherrr!"
Ignoring Yon's words, Seojun was shopping.
The items greeting him from the display rack were all consumables.
Consumables you could buy in any quantity, without limit.
His inventory had 20 slots.
Potion that restores health by percentage.
Elixir that grants lifesteal for 1 hour when drunk.
Elixir that makes you tougher.
Elixir that increases attack power.
Elixir that raises stats.
And so on.
'Where have I seen these before?'
They were the options of the Destroyer set.
'Hmm.'
He was pondering.
How should he combine them?
"Brotheeeer!"
Unlike Yon, who was throwing a tantrum, the Sword Saint was observing Seojun with a cool gaze.
Seojun made his decision.
But he dragged things out. Slowly. As if calculating each item.
Those who finished buying probably took at least 30 minutes, so he took longer than that.
As several participants started entering and exiting to see the situation firsthand, the tension began to mount sharply.
Time passed further, and finally Seojun approached the NPC, opened the system window, and purchased the items.
Having witnessed the entire process, the Sword Saint asked from behind Seojun.
"So what are you going to do when you leave? Think you can just run away easily? Gonna threaten us with something like 'Even if I can't win, I can kill you'? Huh?"
Seojun ignored him.
"You're finished, you bastard. There's no shop here to help you escape. Let's just end it here. Stop stalling! Hahaha! Scared?"
Hmph.
Seojun smiled faintly, then walked past Yon and began looking around Creste's workshop.
There was something he needed.
The only way out for Seojun was the entrance, but Sword Saint and Yon followed.
Soon, Seojun found a chair he could carry, picked it up, and returned to the entrance.
And right in front of that entrance, on the boundary of the invincibility zone, he set down the chair and sat, looking down at the entrance.
"Nice to see you all."
Rachel approached.
"What's your goal? Are you stalling?"
"Just a moment. Let's see. One, two, three... Hmm. Thirteen of you."
"..."
"If I fought, would I lose?"
Seojun smiled arrogantly.
At that, everyone discarded their last remaining possibility that this was just a prank.
Seojun was the mastermind.
And now, he was revealing that fact.
"Thirteen against one, you say. So you finally admit your identity!"
The Sword Saint laughed scornfully, and Rachel kept sounding Seojun out.
"Are you revealing it now because you're cornered?"
"No. There's no way this situation is a corner for me."
What was he saying.
"You are cornered. What was your reason for entering the shop, Seojun?"
"Because I thought it was worth going in even if I had to reveal my identity."
"You could have gone in tomorrow."
"Ah. I didn't know that, but anyway, that wouldn't be any fun."
The Fragment spoke.
Soon chaos would break out.
Thanks to him guarding Daran's passageways as they gradually stabilized, a greater power would flow in, and the situation would become that urgent.
"Fun?"
Someone asked again.
"Yes, fun. Let me share an interesting fact with you. All of you must destroy the numerous passageways connected to other worlds. If even one remains and fully opens, the evil god will invade."
"..."
"And there are a great many of them."
This was why Seojun deliberately spoke openly.
According to the Fragment, they would find out soon anyway.
"How many are there?"
Sitting in the chair before them all, Seojun gently announced.
"So many that none of you have time to be doing this right now."
"...?"
"That's why I'm stalling. If more than a third of you abandon the passageways in your areas just to try and catch me here, when you can't even catch me anyway."
What would be the result?
Everyone fell silent.
"The passageways have three stages. Stage 1, the incubation period, the easiest phase for you to destroy. Stage 2, the growth period, where they begin actively destroying their surroundings and preparing to advance to Stage 3. It takes more time to destroy them than in Stage 1. And Stage 3: if it reaches that point, it's my victory."
The completion stage.
"Though in reality, there aren't any Stage 2 passageways yet."
Seojun shrugged.
"So doesn't that mean we have leeway? This bastard's trying to sell us a lie."
The Sword Saint behind him spoke as if ready to grab him by the collar, but Seojun merely crossed his legs leisurely and answered with silence.
He was making it clear who would suffer if they wasted time here.
A brief silence fell.
"You mean there's one in each region?"
"Yes."
"Even if we're a bit late, we can still close the passageways eventually, can't we?"
"I suppose so."
Wasting a day or two wouldn't make it impossible to stop them.
Except.
"If I'm not there."
Seojun smiled down at them.
"Damn. Is he telling the truth?"
"It doesn't seem like a lie..."
"He might have subtly hidden or mixed in lies. To get out of here. To break through this crisis. That's why he's telling us this."
Having listened to the participants' conversation, Seojun corrected their mistaken assumption.
"No. The reason I'm out here telling you now is... Ah, right on time. Perfect timing."
The Train's watchtower began to ring.
In every nation's capital-level city, there is a device that detects danger across the continent and warns of threats.
And on the Train, the watchtower served that role.
System alert warnings came to the participants.
"What?"
"Daran?"
"Monster attack? Are they talking about the otherworldly monsters?"
"Exactly."
At the same time, the voice only Seojun could hear laughed joyfully.
[Kuhaha! More power is flowing in! I shall share it with you!]
"A Stage 2 passageway has just opened."
Now the participants of Daran would have to work their bones to the dust until the final day, preventing annihilation and closing the Stage 2 passageway.
"Will you waste more time?"
Seojun was at ease.
Did he warn them a little earlier and buy them 20 minutes?
No.
By revealing his identity slightly earlier—something that would have come out soon anyway—he made over ten participants waste an entire day here.
So consider this a final favor. For fun.
Still seated, Seojun urged a choice upon them.
"Hurry and scatter to your respective homelands, everyone. And find the passageways."
Instead of standing in his way like this and threatening him.
You're the ones in a hurry.
"I'll be sure to follow along soon."
* * *
"Even if he comes out now, we have no certainty we can catch him. If we just let the mastermind sit in that damn chair and keep stalling while all the passageways advance to Stage 2..."
"We'll lose."
"We need to find out exactly what's happening in Daran."
"News will spread to each region. And the quests will appear too."
"That bastard is right in front of us! And we know he can't properly kill anyone, but we have to leave?! Graaah!"
"Ignoring Sir Sword Saint, let's decide what to do now."
"We have no choice."
In the end.
The participants were forced to leave the revealed mastermind untouched, unable to band together, and scatter to their own territories.
And while Seojun had detained those ten people,
[Two passageways have been closed.]
Other participants had begun achieving results.
The history book had entered its latter half.
Game Broadcast of the Sword Master
Chapter 310