Riiiing—!
Seo-jun calmly steadied his breath as the call from Sword Maniac came through.
‘This should work.’
Sword Maniac. A lunatic obsessed with the sword. If he lived up to that name, then even if he realized this was a trap, he wouldn’t be able to resist charging in.
Didn’t they say that once someone reached Transcendence Realm, they always had some kind of obsession?
And this guy’s case was particularly severe.
If Sword Maniac’s obsession with the Hwangun Divine Sword was even a tenth as strong as Seo-jun’s attachment to Geum Chunbong, then this plan was practically guaranteed to succeed.
Switching perspectives—what if some Kidnapper A had taken Geum Chunbong and sent a message like:
"I have Geum Chunbong. If you don’t come immediately, she dies."
Even if that Kidnapper A was a martial artist of the Heavenly Realm, Seo-jun would still rip that bastard’s head off and use his fastest Lightness Technique to rescue her.
Trying to set a trap for someone who's waiting? That was close to impossible.
Who knew when the kidnapper might disappear with Chunbong—or, in Sword Maniac’s case, the Hwangun Divine Sword.
A desperate warrior, especially one who had absolute confidence in their own strength, wouldn’t waste time hesitating.
So this plan was effectively fail-proof.
Which meant... acting skill didn’t matter.
Sword Maniac didn’t even know Baek Yoon that well, so even if Seo-jun’s performance was awkward, he’d still have no choice but to come.
"Ahem!"
Clearing his throat, Seo-jun pressed the call button.
Ding—!
With a crisp sound, a communication display projected into the air from the communication crystal.
Seo-jun’s gaze immediately scanned the background behind Sword Maniac, checking his surroundings.
Looked like a mountain area.
Felled trees were scattered about, and Sword Maniac’s entire body was drenched in sweat.
He had been training.
That explained why he had taken so long to answer.
Seo-jun carefully examined him.
Unkempt hair, gleaming wild eyes, lean but solid build—and even through the crystal, his blade-like aura pricked Seo-jun’s skin.
As Seo-jun studied him with strange tension, Sword Maniac suddenly roared.
["Why the hell didn’t you pick up earlier!? You found the Hwangun Divine Sword!? If you’re lying, I swear I’ll rip your head off!"]
Crazy bastard.
Seo-jun exhaled.
There was something surreal about having the other person say exactly what you were thinking before you even had the chance to say it yourself.
"Haaah...."
What was the point of acting nervous?
Looking at this maniac, he probably would’ve rushed over even if Seo-jun had spoken in his own voice.
But since he had already committed to the role, he might as well see it through.
Recalling the feeling ~Nоvеl𝕚ght~ of getting his head ripped off as Baek Yoon, he slipped into method acting.
"The Hwangun Divine Sword is indeed in my possession."
With Baek Yoon’s usual emotionless expression, Seo-jun reached out and traced a line in the air.
To an untrained eye, it was just a meaningless gesture.
But to Sword Maniac, a warrior of Transcendence Realm and an absolute lunatic for the sword, that simple stroke contained a profound truth.
["O... Ooooh...! It’s real! Stay right there! Don’t move a single step from that spot!"]
Click—!
The call disconnected instantly.
Seo-jun blinked in surprise. That was fast.
Baek Yoon had claimed that Sword Maniac wouldn’t know his location.
But judging from that reaction, he had been completely wrong.
Just in case, Seo-jun considered sending a message—
Riiiing—!
Another incoming call. From Sword Maniac.
"...What now."
["You bastard! Where the hell are you!? Spit it out!"]
Seo-jun held back a sigh and gave him the location.
Click—!
And the call ended immediately.
Even Seo-jun, who prided himself on being open-minded, was struggling to understand this guy’s logic.
"Should I just punch him in the face the moment he arrives?"
Having made up his mind, Seo-jun sat cross-legged and surveyed his surroundings.
Sure, he had spent a few days playing games, but it wasn’t like he had wasted all his time.
The area around Baek Yoon’s hideout was littered with traps.
Formations like Frozen Celestial Trap Formation and One Hundred and Eight Arhats Formation were layered across the terrain.
Thousands of landmines using Primal Sun-Moon Art were buried underground.
A magician is one who prepares in advance.
Seo-jun wasn’t technically a magician, but at this moment, he felt like one.
If Baek Yoon stepped in here, he’d be blown to pieces instantly.
As for Sword Maniac? That remained to be seen.
Baek Yoon had claimed that Sword Maniac had reached Transcendence Realm 600 years ago.
Even if he had only advanced one step every hundred years, his level was bound to be monstrous.
But too much preparation was better than too little.
Like an old craftsman polishing his work, Seo-jun stacked dozens of formations, layer after layer.
And even in the short time spent waiting, those formations continued evolving.
Seo-jun pondered.
"If I can engrave martial techniques into formations... why not engrave a domain as well?"
Insane.
Even Namgung Jincheon himself would have said, "Son-in-law... are you doing okay?" if he had heard this.
But Seo-jun did it anyway.
He dismantled his Ideal World and extracted its components:
Sky, earth, lightning, the sun, the moon, mountains, oceans, plum blossoms, snowfields...
He compressed them into transparent spheres of qi.
With this, he could manifest multiple domains at once.
For now, three or four was the limit, but even that defied common sense.
"Haaah...."
Smack, smack—!
Slapping his cheeks, Seo-jun flopped onto the ground, grabbed his communication crystal, and booted up a game.
"He’ll get here when he gets here..."
For now, he just wanted to rest.
***
To properly use Murim speech, one must recall the pure and unfiltered thoughts of a fifteen-year-old.
(At least, this was Seo-jun’s personal theory.)
For example, the phrase “You idiot.”
—should be translated as—
"Alas, I cannot help but lament your boundless foolishness!"
Now, with a slight modification:
“You idiot, then just die.”
—should be translated as—
"May you pay the price for your ignorance."
or
"Regret your folly for all eternity."
These were the linguistic revelations Seo-jun had gained after three years of surviving in Murim.
Not long after the call, Sword Maniac arrived—his hair whipping wildly in the wind as he charged forward.
Seo-jun, ever the reasonable man, decided to attempt a proper conversation first.
"What brings you—"
"THE HWANGUN DIVINE SWORD...!!"
The attempt ended before it even began.
"Haaah..."
With a long, deep sigh, Seo-jun made his declaration.
"Regret your folly for all eternity."
(Translation: "You idiot, then just die.")
KWA-AAAAAAAAANG──────!!