SFRW-Chapter 39

Ch. 39 Sword God From The Ruined World 

“According to the law here, since I was hit first, this counts as self-defense now, right?”  

As Seo Do-jun finished speaking, Shun’ike felt as though his entire body had frozen solid.  

Why?  

Wasn’t this just a South Korean who couldn’t even dodge his punch?  

To Shun’ike, this was something that defied common sense.  

‘What kind of stupid nonsense is this?! He’s beneath me! Am I really supposed to be scared of his bluffing?!’  

Unable to comprehend his own reaction, Shun’ike’s eyes widened.  

To shake off his stiffening body, Shun’ike forced himself to throw another punch.  

‘If I crush his nose, that’ll do it! A guy like him could never dodge or block my attack!’  

He would crush the other’s pathetic bluff with sheer force.  

Once his nose was smashed and his face covered in blood, he’d wake up to reality.  

He’d forget his earlier words and scramble to hide just to survive—that much was obvious.  

Shun’ike subtly shifted his gaze behind Seo Do-jun.  

Hyun Joo-yeon.  

It was clear. This guy was acting tough because he had an S-rank Hero backing him.  

It was true that Hyun Joo-yeon was a formidable Hero, but behind him stood an even greater Hero— Takashi—who possessed power far beyond hers.  

Even if he beat Seo Do-jun to the ground here, there would be no consequences.  

Filled with confidence, Shun’ike’s fist gained strength.  

It was a punch powerful enough to shatter an ordinary person’s face.  

Even among Heroes, anyone below C-rank would be in mortal danger from such a blow.  

At the stark difference in Shun’ike’s punch compared to before, the members of the Teikoku Guild all wore cruel smiles.  

Their anti-South Korean sentiments ran deeper than any other Japanese person’s, so just imagining Seo Do-jun collapsing in a spray of blood from Shun’ike’s punch was enough to delight them.  

But reality was neither as easy nor as sweet as their imaginations.  

THUD!  

A short, powerful impact sound rang out, and a body crumpled to the ground.  

“……!”  

“……!”  

“……!”  

One person stood nonchalantly, while another knelt before him, head hanging low.  

The stark contrast between the two left the Teikoku Guild members unable to believe their eyes.  

“Shu… Shun’ike?”  

“What the hell just happened?”  

“What was that just now?”  

It had happened so fast that no one had gotten a proper look.  

No—only two people had seen it clearly.  

Hyun Joo-yeon and  Takashi.  

Takashi’s shock was greater than anyone else’s.  

Seo Do-jun’s punch, several times faster than Shun’ike’s, had been terrifyingly precise.  

SPLATTER.  

Blood and white teeth spilled from Shun’ike’s mouth as he knelt.  

Seo Do-jun’s punch had struck Shun’ike’s mouth without a single millimeter of error.  

Ten of Shun’ike’s teeth—upper and lower—had been knocked out clean.  

Suddenly deprived of ten front teeth, Shun’ike was already on the verge of losing consciousness from the shock.  

Seo Do-jun left Shun’ike as he was and turned his gaze behind him.  

From the start, Shun’ike hadn’t been his real target.  

Seo Do-jun’s eyes settled on Takashi.  

But Seo Do-jun wasn’t impatient enough to pick a fight with Takashi right away.  

He needed one more provocation.  

And he knew exactly who could serve as that provocation.  

Tap.  

Seo Do-jun lightly placed his hand on Shun’ike’s shoulder.  

Even if Shun’ike wasn’t the provocateur, Seo Do-jun had no intention of letting things end with just one punch—not after deliberately taking a hit to the face.  

The right shoulder that had struck Seo Do-jun’s face.  

Seo Do-jun’s gaze remained fixed on  Takashi.  

Expressionless, he tightened his grip.  

CRUNCH!  

Shun’ike’s body convulsed violently as his shoulder blade shattered beyond recovery, collapsing to the floor.  

“You bastard—!”  

“You fucking—!”  

“You’re dead—!”  

The Teikoku Guild members were enraged by Seo Do-jun’s brutality.  

Their bodies trembled as if they were about to rush him, their voices rough with fury—  

But a simple raise of Takashi’s hand silenced them.  

That alone was enough to show the dynamic between Takashi and the Teikoku Guild members.  

“So it’s you.”  

Takashi glared piercingly at Seo Do-jun.  

When Seo Do-jun didn’t respond,  Takashi continued.  

“I was wondering who South Korea’s new S-rank Hero was. So it’s you. Seo Do-jun, was it?”  

“You won’t live long. You’re too slow on the uptake.”  

At Seo Do-jun’s retort,  Takashi let out a kick-like laugh.  

“You know what I think when I see South Koreans like you? Arrogant. So unbearably arrogant that all I want to do is kill you.”  

A murderous aura began radiating from Takashi’s entire body.  

“Just because you took down one of my men, you think you can look down on me?”  

 Takashi coldly discarded Shun’ike, who had been fawning over him like a dog.  

The sight made one corner of Seo Do-jun’s eye twitch.  

In the ruined world, the kind of person Seo Do-jun despised most—  

The kind he never wanted to face again—  

Was exactly like Takashi.  

In a past where subordinates and comrades alike had to fight for survival, such behavior was unforgivable.  

Not wanting to waste any more words, Seo Do-jun strode straight toward Takashi.  

“Seo Do-jun-!”  

Hyun Joo-yeon urgently called his name, trying to stop him.  

“I’ll take responsibility.”  

His tone was so firm that Hyun Joo-yeon could only fall silent.  

“Keh-keh-keh! Responsibility? What kind of responsibility can trash like you take?”  

“If you understood South Korean, you should’ve said so earlier.”  

Annoyed that Takashi had understood his exchange with Hyun Joo-yeon, Seo Do-jun frowned and switched to Japanese.  

“From now on, I’ll speak South Korean… No, never mind. You won’t live long enough to hear it anyway.”  

Takashi scoffed, carefully observing Seo Do-jun’s movements before swiftly gripping the hilt of the sword at his waist.  

Without a single warning—Iaido.  

A flash of light, and a sword slash flew straight toward Seo Do-jun.  

Takashi’s signature Iaido was renowned not just in Japan but worldwide as top-tier.  

Simple, fast, and overwhelmingly powerful—countless monsters had died without even reacting to his strikes.  

It was a declaration: no matter how much he talked down to Seo Do-jun, he wouldn’t let his guard down even slightly.  

“Look out…!”  

Hyun Joo-yeon instinctively shouted a warning before clamping her mouth shut.  

SLASH!  

A sword strike that could sever the limbs of even an A-rank monster—  

Yet it scattered harmlessly against Seo Do-jun’s palm.  

“……!”  

No one was more stunned than Takashi himself.  

“This is also self-defense.”  

At Seo Do-jun’s icy words, Takashi felt a chill run down his spine for the first time.  

The moment Seo Do-jun finished speaking, his shoulder shifted slightly.  

The distance between them was ideal for Iaido—  

Which was exactly why  Takashi had struck without warning.  

Yet from that same distance, Seo Do-jun threw a punch.  

THUD!  

Takashi’s head snapped back violently.  

Blood sprayed into the air, and white fragments burst outward like freshly popped popcorn.  

“…Kuh!”  

Staggering backward, Takashi clamped a hand over his mouth.  

Blood seeped between his fingers, and air whistled through his now-empty mouth.  

Just like Shun’ike, his teeth had been knocked out.  

‘H-how…?!’  

Takashi shuddered at the realization that the sheer force of the punch had ripped out his teeth.  

The fact that he hadn’t even been able to react to an attack from a freshly minted S-rank Hero was a shock.  

‘This guy… Is strong!’  

As someone recognized as a powerhouse even among Heroes, he could tell—  

The man before him was strong enough to shatter all common sense!  

And one more thing.  

Seo Do-jun was also ruthless enough to defy all expectations.  

Closing the distance in a single step, Seo Do-jun grabbed Takashi by the collar.  

“Eek!”  

Once again, Takashi couldn’t even resist.  

He tried to pry Seo Do-jun’s grip loose, but—  

An irresistible force lifted him into the air.  

SLAM!  

A devastating suplex that made the world seem to flip upside down.  

“Guh—!”  

A scream tore from Takashi’s throat as pain like a broken spine wracked his body.  

Staring at his contorted face, Seo Do-jun drove his fist down.  

BAM! CRACK! THUD! BAM! CRACK! THUD!  

Face, chest, abdomen—Seo Do-jun’s fists rained down indiscriminately.  

The Teikoku Guild members stood frozen, witnessing violence that defied all logic.  

Their godlike leader, whom they obeyed absolutely, was being brutalized—yet not a single one dared to move.  

They were utterly crushed by Seo Do-jun’s overwhelming force, his merciless brutality.  

“…P-please… St-stop…”  

Barely clinging to consciousness, Takashi wheezed out a plea.  

For someone who had set out to hunt a rookie S-rank Hero, this was a nightmare beyond imagination.  

“No.”  

Seo Do-jun answered coldly and struck again.  

Takashi had constantly belittled South Korean Heroes and spewed endless vitriol—even the Silk Flower Guild members held no sympathy for him.  

But some couldn’t bear to watch the one-sided violence and turned away.  

‘S-someone has to stop this!’  

Jung In-joo forced her stiff body to move, stepping forward.  

“Seo Do-jun, please stop! You’ll really kill him at this rate!”  

Killing Takashi here would be disastrous.  

Beyond worsening South Korea-Japan relations, Seo Do-jun’s reputation would plummet.  

Heroes worldwide would condemn him—that much was certain.  

Jung In-joo couldn’t let that happen.  

A Hero as strong as Seo Do-jun should be revered by the world—no, by Heroes themselves.  

But if he killed Takashi here, he’d only be seen as a brutal thug.  

Not a respected figure, but an object of fear.  

Of course, Seo Do-jun wasn’t the type to care about political consequences.  

“Then I’ll just kill him.”  

He simply wanted to wipe out the filth that was Takashi.  

His fist slammed into Takashi’s already ruined abdomen once more.  

By now, Takashi could only twitch from the shock—a few more hits, and he’d likely die.  

“Please! Please stop!”  

Jung In-joo clung to Seo Do-jun’s arm.  

Hyun Joo-yeon also rushed to intervene.  

“Seo Do-jun, you don’t need to suffer consequences because of trash like him! Please, stop!”  

Only when Hyun Joo-yeon joined in, pulling at him, did Seo Do-jun finally halt his assault.  

“People like this need to be cut down. Otherwise, they’ll always crawl back.”  

Seo Do-jun spoke in Japanese, ensuring the Teikoku Guild members heard.  

A warning.  

One strong enough to be a threat to their lives.  

“…Hic!”  

Meeting Seo Do-jun’s gaze, the Teikoku members gulped and hastily averted their eyes.  

“They’ve learned their lesson after today.”  

Jung In-joo spoke even more urgently than Hyun Joo-yeon.  

“Hey! If you don’t want to die, answer properly! Swear you’ll never crawl back!”  

At her shout, the Teikoku members nodded without hesitation.  

But Seo Do-jun’s dissatisfied glare made them immediately bow at the waist, bending nearly in half.  

A clear display of submission.  

Their godlike leader, Takashi, had been reduced to a bloody mess without landing a single proper hit—any anti-South Korean hatred was now drowned in sheer terror of Seo Do-jun.  

This was the true face of the Teikoku Guild.  

Spineless before the strong, tyrannical toward the weak.  

“See? From now on, they’ll bow at 90 degrees every time they see you. So please, forgive them this once, okay?”  

Jung In-joo’s desperate mediation was admirable, but Seo Do-jun had already lost interest in the pathetic Teikoku members.  

“If they crawl back again, next time…”  

He left the threat hanging, but it was enough.  

From now on, the mere sight of Seo Do-jun—no, even his shadow—would freeze them in fear.  

The terror he had instilled in them was absolute.  

So much so that—  

“Who does Dokdo belong to?”  

“O-of course, it’s South Korean territory!”  

“And Tsushima?”  

“That… That’s also South Korea’s…”  

The Teikoku members’ faces turned red as they stammered their answers, while the Silk Flower Guild members who understood Japanese burst into laughter.