Chapter 166 – Sword Immortal’s New Seoul Adventures (1)

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Translated by Pratt

Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net
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After taking care of everything he needed to do, Tae-ju came home.

The staff working at his house greeted him.

“Welcome back, Chairman.”

“Yes, you’ve all been working hard, right? …By any chance, is Yeon-hui here?”

“She’s in the underground training room together with the guest.”

“I see?”

When he went down to the training room, he heard Sword Immortal’s voice.

“Your bones and muscles are good. However, to behold the ultimate profundity of the sword, cultivation of the heart is also important. You must not yield to the surrounding environment or to temptation. If the heart wavers, the tip of the sword also wavers.”

…That doesn’t really sound like something Sword Immortal should be saying.

Wasn’t Sword Immortal precisely the immortal who was weaker than anyone else when it came to temptation?

If what he said himself were true, then Sword Immortal’s sword would go beyond merely wavering and be almost at the level of a vibrating sword.

‘A vibrating sword. Is that why he’s so strong?’

There was a tripod set up with a smartphone mounted on it in the training room.

In front of it, Sword Immortal was slowly demonstrating sword techniques while teaching Jeong Yeon-hui.

When Tae-ju entered,

“Oh! You’re here.”

“Was I interrupting?”

“Absolutely not! It’s almost over.”

Jeong Yeon-hui was drenched in sweat.

“Did you learn a lot?”

“Yes, he went over the lacking parts of the Demon-Subjugating Sword Art again. And also a footwork art called Azure Lotus Divine Step.”

“Aha.”

Did she perhaps know?

Just how enormous a thing it was to receive martial instruction from Sword Immortal.

Even in the murim world, there would be no greater lucky encounter than this.

“Sword…, no, I have something to say alone with Mr. Dobin.”

“Please talk comfortably. I’ll step out.”

“No, Yeon-hui-ssi can continue practicing here in the training room.”

Tae-ju came up together with Sword Immortal to the living room of the house.

After brewing two cups of coffee from the home-bar espresso machine, he sat down on a soft luxury sofa and said,

“In any case, since you’ve come to Earth, have you already thought about what you’ll do?”

“Hmm, first, there is something I want to ask.”

“Yes, anything.”

“That bastard who forcibly opened the door.”

“Vincent Moretti?”

“Yes. Vincent-whatever-his-name-is, shouldn’t we catch that bastard first? It’s thanks to him that I came to Earth, but if he’s left as he is, order may collapse.”

Was collapse all?

Thinking of the great explosion in Moscow, the world might even perish.

“I’m looking for him too, but I still don’t know where he is. I’ll be able to find out soon enough. I’ve got people inquiring here and there.”

He had asked not only the hacker Kim Dong-hun but also the Imperial Intelligence Bureau.

In order to find him as quickly as possible.

“Is that so? Contact me when you find him.”

Even by himself it would be sufficient.

Unless something happened that he couldn’t handle.

Of course he would contact him.

“Then may I be absent from now on?”

“…Yes, that’s fine. But where to?”

“Since I’ve come to Earth anyway, I’d like to look around to my heart’s content,”

Tae-ju nodded.

“Shall I guide you?”

“You’re busy with much public and private business, so don’t trouble yourself over me. I’ll play quietly and go.”

“Where?”

“I hear the biggest city in the Samhan Empire is New Seoul?”

“That’s right.”

“If one is going to play, one should play in a big pond. Put your mind at ease, I have no intention of causing trouble.”

Even so, he worried.

An immortal had come to Earth.

And not just any immortal, but Sword Immortal, famous for being a troublemaker even in the Immortal Realm.

He had thought something over.

Taking a card from the Infinite Space,

“Take this, Sword Immortal-nim.”

“Hm? What’s this?”

“If you’re going to enjoy yourself in New Seoul, you’ll need money, right? You can use this card. You know how, right?”

“Oh!”

Sword Immortal’s face brightened.

“Even at a glance, it looks like a luxurious card.”

“It’s a black card. Unlimited limit.”

“Hahaha, as expected of a great hero, …th-the shamelessness aside,”

“Spend as much as you like.”

The card was a gift for Sword Immortal, but at the same time it was also a tool for learning where and what he was doing.

Because whenever the card was used, the transaction details would be sent to his smartphone.

“Shouldn’t the Immortal Realm delivery signal be about to go off soon?”

“It should be about time.”

“Then I’ll take this opportunity to offer greetings. Since I’ve disappeared, the other immortals may be worried.”

Yeah right?

Would the immortals worry about Sword Immortal?

“How will you offer greetings?”

“Let’s record a video.”

Tae-ju took out a spare smartphone.

“Shall I film?”

“Please do. But revealing myself right from the start would be tacky. You should go outside first and…”

Sword Immortal explained the shooting plan.

This was practically like filming a movie.

He had him go outside and film the garden first, then open the front door and pass through the hallway to the living room, then sweep once around the ceiling and the whole room, and only then did the camera lens catch Sword Immortal.

The living room with warm sunlight coming in, the back of a man standing before the picture window, a sleek black suit, his left hand in his trouser pocket and his right holding a coffee cup.

Sword Immortal slowly turned backward.

The sunlight shining from behind his head was dazzling.

“Hello, everyone. As you can see, this is Earth, and specifically the residence of Hero Tae-ju.”

After a brief greeting, he walked to the table, picked up a remote control,

pik!

and the 150-inch extra-large TV mounted on the living-room wall turned on.

This was something he still hadn’t been able to send even to the Immortal Realm.

“The TV is large. …Oh! There are many dramas and films I haven’t seen before. All recent ones. The Immortal Realm still doesn’t have them, right? But I can watch them immediately.”

Then he set the coffee cup on the table and walked to the kitchen in one corner of the living room.

Tae-ju’s spare smartphone continued following behind him.

Sword Immortal opened the refrigerator.

It was filled to the brim.

Beverages and liquors of every kind.

He took out a can of beer, opened it with a chchik! and took a sip.

“Well, there may be beer in the Immortal Realm too, but beer drunk on Earth truly has a different taste.”

Was this boasting, or a greeting?

“Ah! Do you know what this is?”

Sword Immortal took out the black card Tae-ju had given him from the inner pocket of his suit.

“It’s apparently a card with no limit whatsoever. Hero Tae-ju told me it was fine to swipe it to my heart’s content. I was so grateful. His generosity differs not at all from the great sea itself, does it not?”

It was boasting.

And very blatant boasting at that.

“Though the soul is the same, the difference is striking compared to that someone who hands over a peach and then sends coins over in tiny dribbles.”

That was a dangerous thing to say.

What was he going to do when he returned to the Immortal Realm after saying something like that?

“In any case, fare well in the Immortal Realm. Well, it may be less fun than Earth.”

Sword Immortal’s crooked smile.

The arrogant eyes of a victor enjoying proper rights.

The greeting-recording was finished.

What sort of reaction would the immortals have when they saw this?

The aftershocks would be enormous.

Even Tae-ju, who wasn’t the person concerned, felt worried.

“That’s done. Now shall I go have some fun?”

“You’re heading straight to New Seoul?”

“There’s no need to dither. …Do you happen to have a spare interspatial bag left?”

“I do. Shall I give you one?”

There was no real need anymore to send goods with an interspatial bag, so he had simply kept it.

The shared storage had also become nearly five times larger than at first, and when he temporarily ascended to the Immortal Realm, he had already handed Tang Gun-ak his whole Infinite Space crammed full of goods.

“Thanks. If anything happens, I’ll contact you.”

Spat!

Sword Immortal vanished in an instant.

Right, let him understand.

He had come to a new world he had never experienced before; how many things must he have wanted to do?

At that moment!

Jjiririr,

as if it had been waiting, the Immortal Realm delivery signal rang.

Tae-ju immediately put in first the still-warm spare smartphone on which Sword Immortal’s greeting had just been recorded.

* * *

Three days had passed since Sword Immortal arrived.

All of the doping-potion experiments on the expert rank had also ended safely.

They had been extremely successful.

Not just escaping from elite demonic beasts, but hunting them outright.

Junior expert, nine-minute clear. Middle expert, five-minute clear. Superior expert, two-minute clear.

The final experiment was a one-man show by Deputy Mayor Lee Jeong-hak, the master.

After completing all three kinds of doping at once, he hunted an elite steel-feather owl alone within eight minutes.

Lee Jeong-hak wore a stunned expression even after doing it himself.

The elite steel-feather owl.

He had hunted alone an extremely difficult prey that, they said, was hard to catch even with three masters.

“How is it? Is the drug effect usable?”

“To an unbelievable degree. It feels as if I’ve become a Grand Master.”

“What about side effects?”

“I do feel somewhat tired, but just taking a recovery potion would be enough for me to join battle immediately.”

“If it comes onto the market, would you have the intention to buy?”

“Absolutely. Even if I have to do an open-run, I’ll buy as much as I can and stockpile it.”

The reaction was much better than expected.

However, if there was a problem, it was that because the potion’s effect was so outstanding, raid teams could become greedy…

‘I have to state it clearly. That it’s a drug to be used only when one is in danger.’

The price also had to be high.

So that it couldn’t be used casually.

At that moment!

Dding,

a message rang on his smartphone.

When he checked.

[Web Notice]

Baekdu Card 5*6* approved

Kim*ju

98,000 won lump-sum

Baekdu Hotel New Seoul branch.

And K-Talk rang as well.

Sword Immortal had sent it.

Along with a picture of cold shaved ice piled high with mango.

‘He’s really living the immortal’s life.’

It rang several times a day.

He truly went around swiping the card however he wanted.

He did not hesitate even over transactions in the tens of millions of won.

At one point, the card company even called him.

– Chairman Kim Tae-ju, this is Baekdu Card.

“Yes, what is it?”

– Just a moment ago, a payment of 41.9 million won was made at Ducati Motors, and since it wasn’t you personally…

“A motorcycle?”

– Yes, it’s the latest model bike.

“It’s fine. I know about it too.”

He was manly.

He didn’t watch Tae-ju’s expression in the slightest.

‘This much is nothing…’

Compared to what Sword Immortal had done for him all this time, it was a drop in the bucket.

Now that the experiments were all done, if only Dong-hun, or the Imperial Intelligence Bureau, could find that bastard Vincent.

As soon as the raid doping-potion experiments ended, the military made the first move.

General Oh Jin-hyeong, Logistics Commander of Army Headquarters, came down to Gurye to meet Tae-ju.

He wore four stars and was soon due to be promoted to the position of Army Chief of Staff.

His Logistics Commander position was only a temporary post he was passing through because of his connection to Tae-ju.

“So then, Chairman Kim, state the terms first. How much will it take?”

“How much do you need?”

“Hahaha, we’ll buy the entire stock, of course. Our military will buy it all.”

“You know that’s impossible, right? Half to civilians, half to the military. Let’s do it that way.”

“Come on, between us,”

“Be grateful that I’m not yet thinking about exports.”

“Tsk, all right then. Then supply it as quickly as possible.”

Oh Jin-hyeong rose from his seat.

“Where are you trying to go?”

“I thought I’d stop by the Jirisan demonic-beast army for the first time in a while. It was a place with memories, wasn’t it?”

“A four-star general says he’s going to a frontier defense unit?”

“…Would that be a problem?”

“Come on, please get a grip.”

Tae-ju knew from experience.

The moment even a single star showed up, junior officers, NCOs, and ordinary soldiers all suffered terribly.

“Tsk, it was better when I was rolling around at Jirisan. I got promoted for nothing.”

After parting ways with Oh Jin-hyeong, Tae-ju decided to go see Kim Dong-hun.

He didn’t know whether Vincent’s trail had yielded results.

He had to go and check.

And then,

dding,

the card-payment notice rang without fail.

[Web Notice]

Baekdu Card 5*6* approved

Kim*ju

5,000,000 won lump-sum

Arabia Octagon

He swiped five million won in one go?

‘Arabia Octagon… I’ve heard that somewhere before,’

He searched it.

‘This is a club?’

The biggest club in New Seoul.

‘Maybe he booked a room.’

The money itself was nothing.

Even if he spent a hundred million at once, what was the problem?

But,

‘…Why would an immortal go to a club?’

Sword Immortal truly was someone whose next move could not be predicted at all.

* * *

The great hall of the Purple Tenuity Palace in the Celestial Realm.

The Tathagata Realm was absent.

They had originally never had much interest in worldly affairs, so they often skipped meetings of the representatives of the higher realms as well.

The Dragon King did not come either.

To come up to the Celestial Realm, he had to ascend in his dragon’s true body, and he said his body was too tired to climb up.

The Queen Mother of the West also stayed absent, giving the management of the Peach Orchard as an excuse.

So the ones attending were the Supreme Emperor, Yama, and Poison Immortal Tang Gun-ak.

The Supreme Emperor was the first to bring up the matter.

Since it was he who had requested the meeting.

“What do you think is the meaning of the Celestial Realm’s existence?”

“Why, to allow the heavenly people to live their afterlife happily without care or worry.”

“Indeed. Flowers bloom in all directions, the scenery naturally inspires admiration, the air is clear, the climate is neither too hot nor too cold, fruits and grains grow of their own accord…, in this way the Celestial Realm is a beautiful place.”

“It is heaven itself.”

The Supreme Emperor shook his head from side to side.

“I also used to think so. Yet I must admit it.”

“If admit, then what?”

“That the Celestial Realm is boring. Peaceful, but dull.”

“…”

He agreed.

To be honest, it was true.

It was also the reason why heavenly people were flocking into the Immortal Realm.

“So I ask Poison Immortal to use his strength.”

“For what? Please speak concretely.”

“Let us change the Celestial Realm too. Wouldn’t it be best to begin with living spaces? Something like top-class apartments.”

“Ah…”

“Make them sturdy enough that there is no noise between floors, build a large parking lot too, lay roads, and there should be shops nearby as well, right? So that the heavenly people may also enjoy the pleasure of earning money while working.”

Tang Gun-ak understood what the Supreme Emperor meant.

The construction of a new city in the Celestial Realm.

That was what he wanted.

“It’s too large in scale…”

“I will support you with the Heavenly Army. Labor will not be lacking.”

The Heavenly Army.

The military that guarded the Celestial Realm.

They numbered in the tens of thousands alone.

At this level, might it not be possible?

“I’ll do it. Let’s first build a model house.”

Thus the plan for constructing a new city in the Celestial Realm was drafted.

Yama was strongly in favor as well.

“If labor proves lacking, just say the word. There are sinners enough to support it in any amount.”

“I will probably have occasion to ask.”

“Good! …But I have something I want to ask.”

“Please ask.”

“Is it true that Sword Immortal crossed over to Earth? Immortals rushed into the Palace of Karmic Fire and that’s how I learned of it.”

“…Haa.”

Just thinking about it made his head throb.

Why did it have to be Sword Immortal who crossed over?

“To be honest, I’m curious. How can one create doors that cross from world to world so easily?”

“There is a discipline called magitech. It is a fusion of science and sorcery, and as for how this came about…”

Yama listened to Tang Gun-ak’s explanation.

“Heoheo, truly, the world is wide and vast. Wide enough to wound one’s pride.”

It couldn’t be helped.

Sorcery would be one thing, but magitech was an unfamiliar discipline not only to Yama, but to the Supreme Emperor and the immortals as well.

“Is there any method to drag that fellow Vincent over here? Like that one called Drek Karax.”

“Well. Drek wasn’t human, so he could be brought into Infinite Space, but Vincent is human, so…”

“Hmm, if it were possible, then through the Summoning Bell we should be able to examine his knowledge and experience.”

“There is no need to open a door to Earth at all. As things are now, it is sufficient.”

“No, it’s just that the immortals keep raising a fuss.”

He understood.

The problem was that because the door was always open, crossing over to the Yellow Springs Realm was too easy.

“I will regulate it. So that the immortals cannot cross over to the Yellow Springs Realm for private business.”

“Thank you. Ah! I wonder how Sword Immortal is getting on.”

“Hoo…”

In truth, that was what Tang Gun-ak worried about most as well.

Among the troublemakers of the Immortal Realm, if there was one who would feel wronged being ranked second, it was precisely Sword Immortal.

“He shouldn’t go causing trouble…”

“Will that happen? He absolutely will. Just hope it’s the kind of small trouble that can still be cleaned up.”

“…”

What in the world was he doing right now, and where?