SFRW-Chapter 108

Ch. 108 Sword God From The Ruined World

After the Geum-bong Gate explosion incident, the voices of those advocating for the closure of Gates grew even louder.  

When Gates exploded in France and Japan, the South Korean public had simply accepted it as an unfortunate event.  

While they harbored doubts—Are Gates dangerous?—it wasn’t something they felt viscerally.  

But after the Geum-bong Gate explosion, public sentiment shifted.  

South Korea hadn’t suffered damages like France or Japan, but that was solely because of the unwavering presence of Seo Do-jun.  

What if Seo Do-jun hadn’t been there?  

If they imagined the devastation the One-Horned Kowabiru could have inflicted under such circumstances, it would have been horrifying.  

Government and Association officials privately believed the damage could have been even worse than Japan’s.  

Yet, the government and the association still refused to even discuss closing the Gates.  

“Why worry when we have Seo Do-jun?”  

“As long as the Casserian Guild exists in South Korea, Gate explosions won’t be a big deal!”  

“Are there any monsters in domestic Gates stronger than Casserian? No, right? As long as Casserian, the Boss Monster, protects South Korea, let the Gates explode all they want!”  

In this way, the existence of Seo Do-jun, the Casserian Guild, and Casserian himself contributed to eroding the vigilance of those in power.  

In fact, they went further:  

“Isn’t this an opportunity? If Gates are truly dangerous, other countries will eventually start closing them one by one, right?”  

“The world’s only Gate-safe nation! This is huge! Becoming the country that monopolizes magic stones and monster byproducts most stably isn’t just a pipe dream!”  

“The day we stand tall as the world’s strongest nation isn’t far off! And I’ll be part of the power group ruling it! Kehahahaha!”  

“Honestly, I hope more Gate explosions happen in other countries!”  

Foolish dreams.  

And delusions.  

The corrupt South Korean establishment, after the Geum-bong Gate incident, even began wishing for Gate explosions to occur in a chain reaction worldwide.  

But then—  

“What?! The Mungyeong Gate was closed?”  

“Where? The Cheorwon Sanjeong Gate?”  

“Even the Hyeongok Gate and Eulungsan Gate?”  

The establishment, which had been dreaming of becoming the world’s only Gate-safe nation, was furious as news of Gates closing one after another came in daily.  

“We restricted Gate hunts to those with reservations, didn’t we? What? Unauthorized entry? What the hell was the association doing while that bastard was closing the Gate?!”  

“Isn’t Chairman Na Tae-hwang in on this too? How could they just stand by and watch the Gates close?!”  

Despite implementing a reservation system to restrict Gate usage and catch the Gate closer, it was futile.  

The Gate closer openly mocked the system, entering unauthorized and closing Gates anyway.  

The speed at which Gates were closed was staggering—sometimes as fast as an hour, at most slightly over two hours.  

Agents dispatched by the association and the Gate Control Center tried entering the Gates or blocking the exits, but—  

“H-He… disappeared before we could even stop him.”  

“Disappeared?”  

“Even if we followed him inside, he was too fast to chase. Even if we blocked the exit, he vanished like a ghost…”  

CRASH!  

“You bastard! Is that supposed to be an explanation? Is that guy some kind of ghost?!”  

For the subordinates who had to report to their superiors, it was hell.  

In reality, the Gate closer disappeared the moment he exited the Gate.  

“Commission a large guild—no! Right! Commission the Casserian Guild! If anyone can catch him, it’s them!”  

If it was the Casserian Guild, they could do it.  

No matter how formidable the Gate closer was, could he possibly surpass Seo Do-jun, the world’s greatest Hero?  

They should have commissioned the Casserian Guild from the start.  

“Internal training?”  

“Yes. The Casserian Guild announced they will refrain from all external activities for the time being due to internal training.”  

“What the hell? Those guild bastards think they can just train while the nation’s industry is in crisis? Are they out of their minds? If they want to stay in South Korea, they should stop spouting nonsense and catch the Gate closer first!”  

The power-holding establishment, already wary of the Casserian Guild’s influence, seized this opportunity to suppress them.  

This was partly because Seo Do-jun had spent enormous sums building his home, and most guild members were South Korean—they wouldn’t easily leave South Korea.  

Confident in this assumption, they pushed forward.  

But then—  

“The Casserian Guild will not be swayed by any national authority. If we face retaliatory unfairness as a result, we will immediately withdraw from South Korean soil.”  

Park Sung-wook, representing the guild’s official stance, spoke with grave determination, his voice filled with resolve.  

The guild’s bombshell declaration—that they wouldn’t flinch at petty authority—sparked massive public support. Citizens rose up in their defense.  

The establishment, which had tried to suppress the guild and manipulate them under the guise of national interest, attempted to sway public opinion subtly, but it was useless.  

The personal misdeeds of several politicians and high-ranking officials leading the charge against the guild were exposed online.  

“I knew this bastard was like this! A guy who can’t even take care of his own kid at home dares to talk about serving the nation? Bullshit!”  

“A seventy-year-old geezer harassing his secretary? This fucker! A limp-dick old man like him is in politics? Disgusting!”  

“Real estate speculation, fake residency, and not just his wife—even his son and daughter were born abroad? He put his name on a university research paper he never worked on? Ugh! Spit!”  

The exposure of these morally bankrupt power figures’ misdeeds drew fierce public backlash.  

The fact that they had tried to suppress the Casserian Guild to protect their own interests in the stinking political arena only deepened the outrage. They were metaphorically buried alive.  

Even the President stepped in, promising a thorough investigation, but public anger didn’t subside easily. The Casserian Guild also made it clear they would monitor the situation to the end, effectively sentencing the politicians’ careers to death.  

The ripple effect caused by a single Gate closer had triggered a massive political storm in South Korea.  

Meanwhile, the Gate closer causing all this uproar—  

“That makes 40 closed.”  

Seo Do-jun gazed at the opaque Gate core in front of him and lightly raised his fist.  

He had been diligent, but he’d only reached half of his minimum target.  

There were 273 Gates in South Korea.  

Seo Do-jun had resolved to close at least 30%, up to 50%.  

Of course, closing all Gates was the ultimate goal, but doing so alone in a short time was difficult, so 30-50% was the immediate target.  

Just as he was about to channel magic into his fist to strike the Gate core—  

WHOOSH!  

“……?”  

A sudden magic storm erupted.  

Though not strong enough to push Seo Do-jun back, it was an unprecedented situation, so he paused to observe.  

Maybe I’ll witness a Gate explosion firsthand.  

UUUUOOOONG!  

The Iron Guard reacted, suppressing the magic erupting from the Gate core.  

The clash of two forces—neither clearly dominant—revealed something peculiar to Seo Do-jun.  

“A rift?”  

The space around the Gate core was cracking.  

Even more astonishing, magic poured out from those rifts, amplifying the Gate core’s power.  

“So that’s the reason.”  

The cause of Gate explosions.  

Why controlled Gate cores could suddenly shatter the Iron Guard.  

Seo Do-jun had accidentally witnessed the root cause.  

“That’s the problem. Did that massive interdimensional passage exist from the beginning? No. It must have started as a tiny crack, then expanded as concentrated energy fed into it. If we’d known from the start… things wouldn’t have gotten this bad.”  

The colossal interdimensional passages that had formed across the ruined world—  

Luntruna had said their beginnings were never grand. Had they known earlier, they could have slowed the world’s destruction.  

Gates, or more accurately, rift zones, were those cracks.  

The being trying to devour Earth had to pry open interdimensional passages, and those were the ‘rift zones’.  

In the ruined world, magic was abundant everywhere, making it easy to create such passages. But Earth was different.  

A vast vacuum world—where magic barely existed and couldn’t linger—Earth’s nature excelled at blocking the energy needed to breach dimensions.  

“If they create rift zones to separate space and gradually infuse magic into Earth…”  

Earth’s natural defenses weaken.  

Moreover, as humans use magic, believing magic stones are a new energy source, Earth’s environment changes.  

Had they closed every rift zone and avoided using magic stones—  

“Synchronization rates would never have exceeded 30%.”  

But it was too late now.  

With synchronization rates surpassing 30%, every Gate in the world, like the one before him, could explode at any moment.  

And more critically—  

“The danger of rift zones will only increase.”  

To put it simply—  

Gates are like shackled beings, while rift zones are unshackled.  

Which would be more active and troublesome?  

Yet, Seo Do-jun prioritized closing Gates over rift zones for one simple reason:  

Gates showed clear abnormalities.  

Rift zones at least progressed from Brakes to Waves, allowing some preparation.  

Unlike Gates, which could explode suddenly, rift zones didn’t detonate unpredictably. So Seo Do-jun focused on the time bombs that were Gates first.  

KWA-BOOM!  

The Gate core and Iron Guard, locked in their struggle, shattered under Seo Do-jun’s fist.  

Having closed his 40th Gate, Seo Do-jun exited.  

“He’s out! Everyone, attack!”  

Heroes from the Hero Association immediately launched their assault.  

Their eagerness to attack without a word was understandable.  

But—  

Seo Do-jun had no intention of humoring their painfully slow, telegraphed strikes.  

CRACK!  

A light stomp of his right foot flipped the ground like a volcanic eruption, sending earth surging upward.  

“Gyahk!”  

“R-Retreat!”  

“D-Don’t fall back, keep atta—URK!”  

Not a single person could stay standing on the upheaved terrain.  

In an instant, they were flung back, tumbling awkwardly. Seo Do-jun kicked off the ground and vanished into the distance.  

“…Dammit!”  

Despite preparing thoroughly based on rumors, the Heroes couldn’t hide their frustration at failing to catch Seo Do-jun even when he was right in front of them.  

***

Returning after closing the 40th Gate, Seo Do-jun had no choice but to face someone he had no desire to see.  

“Your stepmother…”  

“Drop those three meaningless words.”  

Seo Jung-jin’s words faltered at Seo Do-jun’s emotionless retort.  

There was not a trace of emotion in Seo Do-jun’s voice.  

He had expected at least some anger, but surprisingly, Seo Do-jun’s face remained as blank as his tone.  

The sheer detachment in Seo Do-jun’s demeanor—as if facing a complete stranger—left Seo Jung-jin deeply shaken.  

“I get that Hong Hee-ju is dead. So what do you want from me? Don’t tell me you think I’m the killer?”  

“I don’t think it was you.”  

At Seo Jung-jin’s firm denial, Seo Do-jun gave him a look that said, At least it’s not the worst-case scenario.  

“We already have the suspect’s description.”  

“Then just catch them.”  

At Seo Do-jun’s blunt Why are you here?, Seo Jung-jin revealed his reason for coming.  

“Attend the funeral.”  

Even if she was just a stepmother, Hong Hee-ju had once been called his mother.  

To Seo Jung-jin, it was a natural request. From T Group’s perspective, it was also a golden opportunity to reconcile with Seo Do-jun.  

He didn’t expect an immediate yes, but he thought Seo Do-jun might at least consider it.  

Especially now, with growing suspicions around Hong Hee-ju’s death, Seo Do-jun’s absence at the funeral would send the wrong message.  

“I’m not asking you to act as the chief mourner. Just pay your respects for old times’ sake…”  

“No need to hear more.”  

Seo Do-jun turned away coldly.  

“She was still the woman you called mother. My wife, the mother of your blood-related siblings, is dead. Can’t you at least do the bare minimum as a human?”  

“Human decency?”  

Seo Do-jun openly scoffed at him, as if the topic wasn’t even worth discussing.  

Seeing no further reason to engage, Seo Do-jun turned to leave.  

“Fine. If not for her, then at least think about your social standing—”  

Seo Do-jun snorted and walked away.  

“I’ll wait until you come!”  

Seo Jung-jin’s final shout didn’t even make Seo Do-jun blink.  

The news of Hong Hee-ju’s death—someone he’d loathed—had reached him through Park Sung-wook and Hyun Joo-yeon after he closed a Gate.  

Her murder had been horrifically brutal.  

To anyone, it was clearly a crime of hatred—  

“They mentioned my name, didn’t they?”  

Beside Hong Hee-ju’s corpse, the name ‘Seo Do-jun’ had been written in large letters.  

Because of this, her death and Seo Do-jun were now inextricably linked.  

“They said they have the suspect’s description… I should take a look at their face.”  

Seo Do-jun immediately called Park Sung-wook.