The Swordmaster Wants To Live Peacefully [EN]: Chapter 1

“Ugh, ugh… How could this happen…?”

The armored man, sword in hand, trembled.

He desperately clung to his sanity, trying to suppress the fear, but the dread rising from his gut wouldn’t subside.

It was understandable. The massive lion before him radiated a menacing aura, a clearly dangerous monster.

It was a formidable foe for a novice like him.

“Why is there a guy like this in an 8th-grade Abyss…!”

The lion seemed to be considering the best way to kill him, as if he weren’t even a challenge.

This lion had already killed several novices. And he was the last one left.

“Ugh, UAAAAAA-!!”

The man raised his sword and charged the lion, choosing an honorable death over cowering, even if it was futile.

The lion casually raised a forepaw to tear him apart.

But then, the lion’s head fell to the ground with a thud, its massive body collapsing beside it.

The man, mid-swing, stumbled and saw something unbelievable.

A naked man covered in crimson blood stood there. In his hand was a sword, also stained with blood.

That was the man’s last memory.

* * *

“Is this really Earth?”

Something was wrong.

It had been dozens of years since he’d fallen into that other world.

He hadn’t kept exact count, but it had been at least 40 years.

He’d fought for three days and nights to defeat the Demon God, as the god of that other world had demanded for him to return to Earth.

He’d returned through the dimensional gate created from the Demon God’s heart, flipping the bird to the other world’s god as he left.

Everything was fine until he crossed the dimensional gate.

He instinctively knew he’d arrived on Earth.

But why were there monsters in front of him that he’d only seen in the other world?

Without hesitation, Yoo Seong-woo raised his hand. A cluster of bright red light gathered, forming the shape of a sword.

“The blade feels a bit shorter…”

Then he checked his condition.

He was naked.

All the equipment he’d been wearing had vanished.

For now, without overthinking it, he slashed and killed everything he saw.

Even if the sword was a bit short, he was still the Swordmaster of the other world.

Flash of Illusion [a technique that allows the user to move and strike with incredible speed].

His swordsmanship, which defied the limits of distance, was more than enough to slice through the monsters in an instant.

A few monsters bravely charged, but they were quickly cut in half and died.

Walking around covered in monster blood, he found other people besides the monsters. Unfortunately, they were dead, torn to pieces.

Yoo Seong-woo closed their eyes, since they couldn’t do it themselves.

‘…What happened?’

Judging by their faces, they looked Korean.

But why wasn’t this the Korea he remembered?

There were no such monsters in Korea, and he didn’t feel this ominous energy.

He moved toward a presence he felt nearby and saw a person being attacked by a monster. He immediately jumped in and beheaded the monster.

The monster’s head fell, and its body crumbled. He turned to speak to the man he’d saved, but…

“Hweek.”

The man collapsed and fainted.

He tried to wake the man and ask him questions, but sensing a large number of people approaching, Yoo Seong-woo quickly left.

He was naked and covered in blood.

Showing himself like this wouldn’t earn him any favors.

‘And…’

He needed information.

On his way here, Yoo Seong-woo had encountered a strange hole.

It resembled the dimensional gate he’d come through, but it was different.

It was black, with an unfathomable depth, and the energy flowing from it was unlike anything he’d ever felt.

He vaguely thought it was connected to another dimension, but that was all.

Yoo Seong-woo took off the robe of a dead person and put it on. He’d avenged them, so it was okay to take this much.

If not, he’d return it later.

Leaving the area, Yoo Seong-woo headed toward the city he could see in the distance.

He stuck to the shadows as much as possible to avoid being seen, moving toward the city.

With a few leaps, he climbed a high-rise building to check the surrounding area and figure out where he was.

“…Where is this?”

Where is this?

What the hell…….

Yoo Seong-woo cursed inwardly. It was a city he’d never seen before.

The buildings sparkled as if they were brand new, and the layout was unfamiliar.

For a moment, he wondered if it wasn’t Korea, but seeing the Korean signs everywhere, it seemed to be.

“Then where is this?”

It seemed like a world he didn’t know.

Was this not the Earth he knew? Had he landed on Earth 2344?

Yoo Seong-woo pondered this, then decided he needed to deal with his grimy [찝찝한] body.

If he was caught like this, he’d be mistaken for a criminal.

Besides, there was a good chance they’d realize he’d defeated the monsters.

His goal was to return to Earth and live quietly without being noticed.

After leaping down from the high-rise, he entered a damp back alley near a building that looked like a school.

It was a place with a strong scent of violence. No matter how much time had passed, barbaric acts still happened in such places.

In the alley, students in school uniforms were giggling and smoking.

In front of them, several students stood huddled.

Whether they were being disciplined or extorted, the sight of them being intimidated was unpleasant.

Even if the world had changed, the kids hadn’t. He was relieved for a moment and spoke to them.

“Put out your cigarettes.”

At the sudden voice, the students turned their attention to Yoo Seong-woo.

It was a man in a robe and barefoot, giving off a strange vibe. The students replied with some tension.

“What the fuck? Who is this old fart?”

“Looks like a homeless guy? Hey, should we share a cigarette?”

“I said put out your cigarettes.”

Yoo Seong-woo glared at the students.

His slightly bloodshot eyes flashed from within the robe, and the students flinched, taking a step back and quietly putting out their cigarettes.

“Is that okay?”

“And lend me your phone. Give me your slippers and money, too.”

“…….”

The student on the inside took out his smartphone, pretended to hand it to Yoo Seong-woo, then threw it as hard as he could.

At the same time, he kicked off the ground and threw a punch.

“I have anger issues! Do you know anger issues?!”

“I have that too.”

The angry student couldn’t control himself.

Yoo Seong-woo caught the smartphone, slightly tilted his head to avoid the punch, and then threw one of his own.

His outstretched fist grazed the delinquent student’s ear and slammed into the wall.

The brick wall crumbled softly as if it were tofu.

The student who had rushed in rolled his eyes and fainted.

The other students couldn’t move after seeing their friend subdued so quickly.

Yoo Seong-woo was already looking at them.

With eerie red eyes.

“I said I have anger issues, too.”

“…Yes, yes.”

“You guys give me some money, too.”

The remaining students voluntarily paid up.

Yoo Seong-woo rummaged through the fallen student’s wallet, stole the cash, and took the slippers.

He had evolved from a naked robe to a cash-naked-robe-slipper combo.

He grabbed the back of the student’s head, used face recognition to unlock the smartphone, and searched for information.

First, a nearby bathhouse.

There was a bathhouse with good facilities nearby, so he memorized the location and placed the smartphone on the student’s back.

“You guys, live nicely. Nicely. Don’t extort others. You bastards…….”

“Ye, yes, we will live nicely.”

“I’ll come to see if you’re living nicely later, so keep your promise. You guys standing there, get out of here quickly, too.”

At Yoo Seong-woo’s words, the hesitant students quickly disappeared.

The remaining delinquent students took their fainted friend and left the alley.

“Kids these days don’t carry much cash.”

I extorted three people, but it’s only fifty thousand won [approximately $38 USD].

You should carry a little more…….

Flicking five ten-thousand-won bills, Yoo Seong-woo entered the building with the bathhouse. It also had a 24-hour sauna.

“One adult.”

Yoo Seong-woo said at the entrance and handed over two ten-thousand-won bills.

The receptionist, a middle-aged woman, looked up at the tall Yoo Seong-woo for a moment and said.

“Just a bath? Or sauna too?”

“Sauna too.”

“Make sure to shower before entering the bath.”

The middle-aged woman handed over a cabinet key, a towel, and the largest size sauna suit without paying much attention to Yoo Seong-woo, who was in shabby clothes.

Yoo Seong-woo accepted it and headed to the bathhouse.

He soaked his body in warm water for the first time in a long time.

He washed away the monster’s blood and fluids with the warm water, and leisurely soaked in an empty bath.

“Hoo…….”

How long had it been since he’d enjoyed such luxury?

Yoo Seong-woo paid for a body scrub, then came out, dried off, and changed into the sauna clothes.

It was the largest size, but it was a little tight.

Anyway, it was the first proper clothing he’d worn since returning to Earth.

Yoo Seong-woo stretched the bursting chest and arm parts a few times and looked around the sauna.

‘There it is.’

Inside the sauna, a small PC room was set up.

He entered the PC room, sat down, and turned on the computer.

It was the first time he’d used an electronic device in a long time, but he quickly became familiar with it.

He opened an internet window and checked the date.

October 6, 2022.

Autumn of ’22.

The moment Yoo Seong-woo saw the date, he felt dizzy.

While he’d spent decades in another world,

Only 10 years had passed on Earth.

It was unbelievable.

He’d expected a time gap, but not this big.

While he was over seventy, Earth was only ten years older.

That fact was a shock.

He checked several times to see if the computer’s clock was wrong, but nothing changed.

Having fallen into another world, he’d arrived on Earth only 10 years later, after decades.

“Hmm…….”

For now, he decided to put aside the time gap and look for the information he wanted.

Where was this place, why were there monsters on Earth, and what was that black hole?

Someone had summarized it in a 10-minute YouTube video, so Yoo Seong-woo watched it.

“The Earth is in its last days.”

Yoo Seong-woo muttered after finishing the video.

It really was the end of the world.