SFRW-Chapter 71

Ch. 71 Sword God From The Ruined World  

Seo Do-jun walked alone through the darkness without saying a word.  

Even in the pitch-black darkness, he moved unhesitatingly before stopping at one side of the rare space and beginning something.  

He took out magic stone powder from his subspace and very carefully drew patterns and characters that couldn’t be seen on Earth.  

“…Did I get it right?”  

As far as he could remember, it seemed correct, but honestly, he wasn’t 100% sure.  

“Kassal, you better remember this too. As long as you remember this Magic Circle properly, monsters won’t pop out in any space you want. You might not need it right now, but who knows what might happen later. And this much is simple enough to remember anyway. It’s complicated! But you can definitely remember this much! What are you looking at? Look here! This part is important!”  

A Magic Circle that blocks interdimensional pathways.  

Ryuntna had developed a Magic Circle that blocked warp magic through several stages to create one that could block interdimensional passages.  

At the time, Seo Do-jun had scolded Ryuntna for teaching him the Magic Circle when monsters had already spread across the continent, asking what good it would do now.  

Nevertheless, Ryuntna stubbornly made Seo Do-jun memorize it, insisting it would be useful someday.  

Since he hadn’t forgotten that memory, he thought drawing the Magic Circle wouldn’t be difficult…  

But now that he’d drawn it, he felt uneasy, wondering if it was actually correct.  

“Ryuntna, you really…”  

He never thought he’d miss Ryuntna’s stern and serious face when she insisted he memorize it for future use.  

Once again, Seo Do-jun racked his memory and carefully checked the Magic Circle.  

Only after 10 minutes did he conclude that the Magic Circle matched the one in his memory.  

“But just in case it’s wrong…”  

Seo Do-jun placed an intermediate-grade magic stone on the Magic Circle.  

Though it was worth 500,000 won on the market, it was the lowest grade among the magic stones in his subspace.  

Even if the Magic Circle failed and the stone was wasted, it wouldn’t be a burden.  

To activate the Magic Circle, Seo Do-jun slowly recited the incantation.  

And then—  

Uuuung—  

The Magic Circle began to glow brightly.  

As the intermediate-grade magic stone and the powder emitted a bluish light, a terrifying pressure settled over the surrounding space.  

‘It worked.’  

Seo Do-jun could be certain the Magic Circle was properly activated.  

The light that had flashed for about a second disappeared, and the Magic Circle and intermediate-grade magic stone vanished without a trace.  

As if nothing had happened.  

“Hmm…”  

Seo Do-jun took one step, then another from where he stood.  

Only after moving five steps did his footsteps stop.  

Then he moved to the left and right.  

Seo Do-jun walked forward from where he had been standing.  

Five steps.  

Exactly five steps before he stopped.  

Next, he returned to his original position and moved left, right, and even backward.  

Ultimately, he couldn’t move more than five steps in any direction.  

He was measuring the effective range of the Magic Circle.  

This was exactly how far a single intermediate-grade magic stone could block interdimensional pathways.  

There might be slight errors, but even conservatively narrowing the distance, the space where a new rift zone’s creation could be blocked with one intermediate-grade magic stone was surprisingly wide.  

Having confirmed the Magic Circle and the magic stone’s range, Seo Do-jun immediately headed to the center of the 10,000 pyeong (approx. 33,000 sq.m) of land he had purchased.  

Again, he took out magic stone powder from his subspace and drew the Magic Circle on the ground.  

Now that he had drawn it once, he completed the Magic Circle smoothly before placing a mythic-grade magic stone on top—the highest-grade magic stone currently existing on Earth, which he had previously sold for 19 billion won through Chairman Na Tae-hwang.  

Though anyone might hesitate to burn such an expensive stone, Seo Do-jun didn’t blink an eye.  

Once more, the incantation flowed from Seo Do-jun’s lips.  

Uuuung uuuung uuuung—  

A spatial vibration and light on a completely different level from the intermediate-grade magic stone began to erupt.  

For a moment, it felt as if the world had brightened.  

‘This… is going to cause a commotion.’  

Clicking his tongue in annoyance, Seo Do-jun watched as the Magic Circle emitted an intense light for over ten seconds.  

Then, for a brief moment, an enormous pressure weighed down on his entire body before disappearing.  

Seo Do-jun immediately checked the range of the mythic-grade magic stone.  

It was undeniably far wider than what the intermediate-grade stone could achieve.  

Not only did it cover Seo Do-jun’s 10,000 pyeong of land, but it also extended about 1 km beyond it.  

“Was this the land Hyun Joo-yeon bought?”  

Seo Do-jun looked at the construction site next to his land where a house was being built.  

And next to that, Jung In-joo and the Silk Flower Guild members were constructing a mixed-use building.  

They weren’t the only ones.  

Chairman Na Tae-hwang and Deputy Chief Min Hong-gi had also bought land near Seo Do-jun’s, and countless others had been snapping up properties nearby, turning the entire area around Seo Do-jun’s land into a construction zone.  

He knew the T Group and W Group were among them, but Seo Do-jun couldn’t care less.  

He had no intention of being friendly with his neighbors, and if they bothered him even slightly, he was fully prepared to make them leave on their own.  

As Seo Do-jun surveyed his land, the sound of blaring sirens reached his ears.  

Several police cars were approaching from a distance.  

“Did someone report it?”  

Not wanting to get involved in unnecessary trouble, Seo Do-jun quickly left the scene.  

That morning.  

“Early this morning, an unidentified intense light appeared in Guro District for over ten seconds. Startled citizens reported it, prompting police and Heroes to respond, but…”  

News about the light generated by the Magic Circle’s activation was broadcast from the morning.  

Many people expressed concern and anxiety over it.  

As a result, Seo Do-jun had to field calls from numerous people starting early in the day.  

While the news didn’t mention that the light had originated from Seo Do-jun’s land, anyone with quick access to information—starting with the Hero Association—could easily find out.  

From Chairman Na Tae-hwang to Hyun Joo-yeon, Jung In-joo, and even…  

“Kassal, what happened?”  

“Gloria?”  

Gloria and Cain from the U.S. called him internationally.  

Thus, Seo Do-jun’s morning began with this minor uproar.  

***  

Meanwhile…  

Eun-young had never been as happy as she was now.  

Just six months ago, she had only seen nice apartments on TV, but now she lived in one, eating delicious meat to her heart’s content every day.  

Moreover, her grandmother no longer had to collect scrap metal despite her ailing body, and her brother no longer left home for exhausting part-time jobs.  

The change in how people treated her was also a massive shift.  

No more scornful looks calling her a parentless, filthy beggar, no more pitying gazes treating her like a pitiable wretch.  

Most of all…  

“Oh? You’re Eun-young? Your brother is Hero Seo Do-jun, right?”  

“Oh my! You’re Hero Seo Do-jun’s little sister? You should play with my Chae-eun!”  

“Wow! You’re so lucky, Eun-young! Having Hero Seo Do-jun as your brother!”  

“Eun-young, do you want to come to my place with Hyo-jun for some tasty food?”  

“Joo-hee! Don’t be like that with Eun-young! You should get along! Apologize right now!”  

“Oh my, my! Our Geun-ji likes Eun-young! Eun-young, you should play with Geun-ji often, okay?”  

At first, she didn’t understand what was happening.  

Whether it was scorn or pity, the important thing was that her friends had never wanted to play with her.  

But now, everyone treated her like a princess, always urging her to stay close and befriend their children.  

She was thrilled.  

She thought it was just because she lived in a better place now.  

But as time passed, her thoughts began to change based on what she saw and heard.  

Before, she had lived in a crumbling old house with just her grandmother, so her ability to process social situations had naturally lagged behind her peers.  

But after Seo Do-jun became a Hero and met many people, Eun-young grew rapidly day by day.  

Especially…  

“Next month, our Eun-young will already be an elementary school student!”  

Hyun Joo-yeon said as she brushed Eun-young’s hair.  

To Eun-young, Hyun Joo-yeon was the prettiest and kindest sister in the world.  

Naturally, she was one of Eun-young’s favorite people, and Eun-young followed her around especially well.  

Hyun Joo-yeon also taught her many things.  

“Our Eun-young will listen well to her teacher and study hard at school.”  

“Yes!”  

‘Even though I don’t have a mom, is this what it would feel like?’  

The way she felt around Hyun Joo-yeon was distinctly different from how she felt with her grandmother or brother.  

“Um… sister.”  

“Hmm?”  

“Are you and brother getting married?”  

“W-what?”  

Hyun Joo-yeon stuttered, flustered by the question.  

“In-seok’s mom said you and brother might get married.”  

“T-that’s not… That’s not it.”  

As Hyun Joo-yeon denied it with a red face, Eun-young’s expression fell.  

“I wish sister and my brother could live together.”  

“T-together?”  

“I don’t want my brother to marry that foreign lady on TV.”  

“Gloria?”  

When Eun-young nodded, the corners of Hyun Joo-yeon’s lips curled up slightly without her realizing.  

Though Eun-young’s opinion shouldn’t matter in Seo Do-jun’s marriage, the fact that the family member Seo Do-jun cherished most preferred her over Gloria made Hyun Joo-yeon inexplicably happy.  

“But Gloria is pretty too. Everyone says so.”  

“She is pretty… but sister is too. And I… I can’t even speak English.”  

“O-oh, I see.”  

Was she better than Gloria just because of the language barrier?  

Hyun Joo-yeon’s lips dropped again.  

“Can’t you ask my brother to marry you?”  

“…Well.”  

Hyun Joo-yeon forced a smile.  

Feeling a sudden existential crisis over this meaningless conversation with an 8-year-old, she changed the subject.  

“Which game have you been playing with your brother lately?”  

“Hmm… A game where I close my eyes and my stomach tickles.”  

“What does that mean?”  

Knowing Seo Do-jun wouldn’t do anything strange, she didn’t suspect anything inappropriate, but sensing there was more to it, she pressed further.  

Since Seo Do-jun had never told her not to talk about it, Eun-young innocently explained everything from start to finish.  

After hearing the explanation, Hyun Joo-yeon’s expression stiffened.  

‘Don’t tell me… He’s making her sense magic?’  

Non-Heroes couldn’t sense magic at all.  

Sensing magic literally meant ‘awakening’.  

Thus, magic was the most crucial aspect for Heroes.  

The problem was that even after ten years since awakened Heroes appeared, no human had truly mastered controlling magic.  

At best, people only vaguely understood it, like grasping at clouds.  

Because of this, most Heroes considered magic an ‘unfathomable power’ beyond human control.  

But what if Seo Do-jun could control magic?  

‘Then his incomprehensible strength would make sense.’  

Despite having awakened only eight months ago, Seo Do-jun had demonstrated power surpassing the world’s strongest.  

It was so far beyond common sense that Hero associations worldwide—and many Heroes—were desperately trying to unravel his abilities.  

‘Now that I think about it…’  

Back in Brazil, Seo Do-jun had looked incredibly frustrated while explaining dark magic.  

“How do you even know about these things?”  

“It’s weirder that you don’t.”  

Clearly, Seo Do-jun had treated all other Heroes like fools.  

This was something that absolutely needed verification.  

Come to think of it, Seo Do-jun had entered the new Mapo rift zone alone and unarmed.  

He went in without even basic supplies and came out alive.  

That meant he had sourced food inside the rift zone—something notoriously difficult to do.  

So what had he eaten to survive?  

‘…Monster meat, right?’  

In the Brazil rift zone, Seo Do-jun had consistently eaten Blue Croco meat.  

It wasn’t that it tasted bad, but there was no reason to eat monster meat when other options existed.  

At the time, she thought it was just a weird quirk, but…  

‘Was that also related to magic?’  

“Try eating it. Who knows? Something good might happen.”  

When her thoughts reached that point, Hyun Joo-yeon recalled something Jung In-joo had said recently.  

“Hyun Joo-yeon, by any chance…can you get me some Hero magic stones? Not that I’m asking you to sell yours, but…”  

Jung In-joo had been urgently trying to obtain Hero magic stones.  

That meant Jung In-joo, like Hyun Joo-yeon, was in an optimal state to absorb magic.  

And surprisingly, this was true for all members of the Silk Flower Guild.  

‘It’s clear! Seo Do-jun… knows how to properly control magic!’  

Something no Hero in the world could do.  

The realization that Seo Do-jun had achieved this alone sent shivers down Hyun Joo-yeon’s spine.  

Finally, she understood why he was so strong.