Fused Settings

He'd forgotten it for a moment amid the skull-splitting pain, but there was no such thing as synchronization in the settings of Invincible Lay Disciple.

There's no way a setting that never existed would just suddenly appear.

Even in the midst of his bewilderment, as the synchronization took hold, Seo Joo-cheon felt the chaos in his mind gradually settle. Once all of Po Un's information had been sorted and filed away in his head, he recovered enough of his wits to actually think about this absurd situation.

Then a message rang out in his mind.

"Good God."

Seo Joo-cheon recoiled at the new message. What had just appeared was absolutely not a setting that could exist in the wuxia novel Invincible Lay Disciple.

Why the hell is this happening?

This was a setting he'd applied to the protagonist of his modern fantasy novel.

Why is this message showing up here of all places?

Seo Joo-cheon's head throbbed from the sheer volume of changes hitting him all at once. The Fusion Creation function was a setting he'd invented to give the protagonist overwhelming power, because his editor had been so insistent on a munchkin lead. It was an ability that could fuse multiple lower-tier powers into a new higher-tier one. It could also transfer the properties of a fused object onto any target of the user's choosing. That was how you made an invincible protagonist, after all — a skill Seo Joo-cheon had thrown in, in the most shameless, over-the-top fashion, purely to create a true cheat-level hero.

And then there was Character Search. He'd designed it so that whenever the protagonist wished it, a character's personal history would appear below their neck. Modeled after a resume, it worked by concentrating mana into the optic nerves — look at someone's face, and you could grasp their background and private history. He'd meant it as a slight twist on the stale status window, a touch of freshness. His editor had just scoffed that it was no different from a status window anyway.

These two were, in every sense, the most shameless settings he'd cooked up to make the protagonist invincible. And he'd gone even further. To properly stack the protagonist buffs, he'd written in additional synchronizations that upgraded the user's power. The so-called 2nd Synchronization was designed to grant even more formidable abilities.

Alright. I'll think about this later. For now, I need to act like Po Un so I don't raise any suspicions.

With the synchronization to Po Un — the supporting character from Invincible Lay Disciple — now complete, Seo Joo-cheon finally had a grasp on how ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠he needed to act.

Was it because Seo Joo-cheon himself was the author of this work that he'd somehow ended up with the protagonist's settings? Looking at how his mind hadn't collapsed even after being thrown into this insane world, maybe so.

"Daehyeong, I ordered breakfast the usual way."

"Good."

Second brother Ham Cheon-yeong said it with a smile that didn't quite match his massive frame. They always made sure to eat meat for breakfast — chicken and duck, pork and beef, whatever they could get their hands on. There was a reason they insisted on meat no matter which inn they stayed at. It was following Po Un's words: At least people don't usually start sword-fighting first thing in the morning, so let's eat well at breakfast.

Martial artists usually died after noon. Duels and brawls tended to happen after midday, so in a martial artist's life — where death could come at any moment — morning was the one time you could actually indulge. Of course, this too was one of those little flavor settings from Invincible Lay Disciple.

"They had chicken and pork, but Fourth said she was craving chicken today, so I ordered that."

Third brother Dokgo Ho-in added.

"Good call."

When Po Un replied, fourth sister Kang Chu-mi picked up her chopsticks and spoke.

"Daehyeong, are we leaving right after breakfast?"

"That's the plan."

Kang Chu-mi said it with a smile.

"Can't we stay here just one more day? We have plenty of time on the itinerary. We only need to arrive there within ten days. There's nothing to do even if we get there early."

Kang Chu-mi wanted to enjoy herself for once in Shaanxi's provincial capital. They always lived as if they were being chased, so they rarely got to linger in a large city like this before having to leave. This place was on the outskirts of the capital, true, but it was still a fairly bustling county town. It had been a long time since they'd found an inn this decent, with lodging and meals this good, and she wanted to stay even one more day.

When Seo Joo-cheon infused inner energy into his eyes and looked at Kang Chu-mi's face, her information flowed down below her neck.

Looking at Kang Chu-mi, Seo Joo-cheon felt a warm affection.

I never wrote character settings for anyone except Po Un, but Kang Chu-mi is a living person, so she's been writing her own. The fact that she's lived this long means she has a past of her own.

In the original work, Po Un regarded Kang Chu-mi as his little sister who'd died long ago in a blood feud. Seo Joo-cheon had written that setting and then used them as sacrificial lambs for the protagonist's growth. He'd named these four the Four Evils of Shaanxi — a name he'd slapped together, and it reeked of ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠extras from the very first syllable. He'd set them all at Second-Rate martial arts, but made their loyalty thicker than anyone's, so that when the protagonist killed them, not a single one would flee. They would all die at the protagonist's hands.

Hah. If I'd known it would come to this, I should've given the Four Evils of Shaanxi stronger martial arts.

Now that he was in this mess, he bitterly regretted how carelessly he'd written them.

"Let's stay here a few more days, Big Brother."

It was then, as Kang Chu-mi made the same request again, that Seo Joo-cheon recalled what came next in the story after her words. He swallowed the chicken he'd been chewing without chewing it, and nearly choked.

Oh, for God's sake.

Startled, he asked Ham Cheon-yeong sitting beside him.

"Is this Namcheon Inn?"

Ham Cheon-yeong looked at Seo Joo-cheon as if something was off.

"Daehyeong, you still half-asleep? This is Namcheon Inn, not Seocheon Inn. You were the one who found this place — why are you asking?"

Seo Joo-cheon's heart dropped.

Ah, fuck. This is completely fucked.

He even swore internally, something he didn't usually do, and felt his body go cold. In the original flow of the story, Po Un would agree to Kang Chu-mi's request and stay one more day at Namcheon Inn — and there was a reason for that. This was the very place where the protagonist of Invincible Lay Disciple, the rising star of the Wudang Sect, would fight the Unorthodox masters targeting him, then, assuming the other Unorthodox martial artists were all in the same gang, slaughter every last one of them. And in that process, the Four Evils of Shaanxi would die too.

Namcheon Inn was also a critically important stage in the early part of Invincible Lay Disciple. It was where the protagonist met the heroine. To set up their dramatic meeting, Seo Joo-cheon had used the Four Evils of Shaanxi, who appeared in the early chapters, as sacrificial lambs. And now the author of this novel was in a position where he might die as one of those sacrificial lambs. It was so absurd he didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

Seo Joo-cheon knew that if he granted Kang Chu-mi's request, all four of them — himself included — would not escape death, and he fell into troubled thought.

"Big Brother."

When Kang Chu-mi spoke with a touch of coquettish charm, Seo Joo-cheon's gaze warmed. This was character setting. There was nothing he could do about it. Kang Chu-mi knew perfectly well that if she called Po Un "Big Brother," he would give in most of the time.

"Hahaha, looks like our Fourth has taken a real liking to this place. Let's do it, Daehyeong. We should clean ourselves up a bit here too, or they'll look at us like country bumpkins at the Yongcheon Sect. While we're at it, we can get some new clothes made."

Originally, they'd planned to enter the provincial capital, get new clothes tailored, and then join the Yongcheon Sect. When even third brother Dokgo Ho-in chimed in, Po Un sighed. Rather than staying one more day and running into the protagonist, it was better to get ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠into Xi'an even a day sooner. That gave him a higher chance of surviving. Was there any need to stay here and die a dog's death at the protagonist's hands?

"Fourth. Let's go into Xi'an instead and stay a few days there. I'll even buy you a few of those trinkets you want."

The three of them paused mid-bite, staring at Seo Joo-cheon. Their faces said they hadn't expected their cold-hearted eldest brother to accept Kang Chu-mi's request this easily.

"Really?"

Kang Chu-mi sucked the chicken grease off her fingers and continued.

"We're really going to stay in Xi'an for a few days? Not going straight to the Yongcheon Sect? And you'll buy me trinkets too?"

Looking at Kang Chu-mi, who was genuinely delighted, Seo Joo-cheon felt strangely good. Perhaps he was feeling Po Un's emotions along with his own.

"That's ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠right. We've been pinching every coin because we hadn't settled on our next move. But now that we're joining the Yongcheon Sect as instructors, let's spend what we have a little more freely."

Ham Cheon-yeong smiled.

"This is the first time I've seen Daehyeong be this generous. I'm all for it. We've been living too poorly all this time."

Dokgo Ho-in chided him.

"That's not because Daehyeong is stingy, Second Brother. We all did it to stay alive."

"Hehehe, of course I know that. I just never thought I'd see Daehyeong like this."

Po Un had always saved money whenever possible. Living under the infamous name of the Four Evils of Shaanxi, they never knew when some novice chivalrous hero overflowing with righteousness might attack, so they always had to keep money in reserve. Running away or going into hiding — all of it required money. This too was all Seo Joo-cheon's setting, something that came up whenever the Four Evils of Shaanxi were described.

"Daehyeong, let's head to Xi'an right away. If we hurry, we can arrive in a day."

Seo Joo-cheon stood and nodded.

Right. The faster we leave Namcheon Inn, the less chance we have of running into the protagonist.

For now, avoiding the protagonist was the best strategy.

"Check carefully that we haven't left anything behind."

At Ham Cheon-yeong's words, Dokgo Ho-in and Kang Chu-mi scanned the room once more.

"Nothing."

Dokgo Ho-in replied, and Ham Cheon-yeong said,

"Daehyeong, shall we go?"

"Let's."

The moment they stepped out the door of Namcheon Inn, a sound rang in his mind and a message appeared in midair.

The moment Seo Joo-cheon saw that message, his entire body went rigid.

This is from Antagonist too.

The setting and characters of that novel weren't visible here, but some of its settings had mixed into Invincible Lay Disciple. Antagonist had a Karma Generation setting designed to keep the protagonist driving the story forward. Cold sweat ran down Seo Joo-cheon's spine. The second thing that horrified him was the penalty for failing a Karma Generation mission.

If I receive this karma and don't carry it out, I die. There's a time limit on the mission.

It was unnerving to have his life threatened by a setting he himself had created.

"Daehyeong, what's wrong?"

Unaware of any of this, Ham Cheon-yeong urged him on.

"Let's go quickly. If we want to reach Xi'an in a day, we need to keep moving."

"I need a moment to think. Stay put."

When Seo Joo-cheon frowned, Dokgo Ho-in jabbed Ham Cheon-yeong in the side. He knew well that at times like this, you left Daehyeong alone.

"Daehyeong is pondering something. Let's wait a bit."

Seo Joo-cheon couldn't get a handle on what to do.

It's telling me to kill the protagonist? Twelve shichen, so within twenty-four hours? Join forces with Unorthodox martial artists. You've got to be kidding me.

The even bigger problem was that this Karma Generation mission wasn't even something author Seo Joo-cheon had written.

Who the hell is giving me this kind of mission?

As the original author, he knew every character and every plot point in the novel — but he didn't know the karma missions being issued as quests, and that made his anxiety spike.

Karma missions are going to keep coming later too. This is a problem. Damn it — should I just skip the mission and see if the penalty actually kicks in?

The thought crossed his mind. But Seo Joo-cheon quickly shook his head. He himself had written it so that failing a karma mission in Antagonist meant death. He didn't need to test it to know what would happen.

I made it so every character would faithfully play their role — and now I'm the one getting hit by it.

Seo Joo-cheon accepted the setting that he had to play his role as the eldest of the Four Evils of Shaanxi, a character in Invincible Lay Disciple.

Wait. That means I can change the karma mission.

The moment that thought struck him, Seo Joo-cheon recalled another setting from Antagonist that he himself had created. The protagonist Jo Yong-nam, when he didn't like a karma mission he'd received, had killed the person he was supposed to protect and received a different karma mission instead.

If this world currently follows the settings of both Invincible Lay Disciple and the Antagonist universe, then that could work as a method.

Seo Joo-cheon's thoughts continued.

My mission is to ally with Unorthodox martial artists and kill the protagonist. But what if I pick a fight with those Unorthodox martial artists here and kill them instead? There's a chance a new karma mission would generate.

This method was actually more worth trying than carrying out a karma mission that might get him killed.

"Second."

Ham Cheon-yeong, who had been waiting all this time, answered respectfully.

"Yes, Daehyeong."

"Go back to the inn and get us rooms again. We're staying here longer. I forgot we have important business."

"What?"

Dokgo Ho-in looked at Seo Joo-cheon with puzzled eyes, and Ham Cheon-yeong answered.

"Understood, Daehyeong."

With a slightly uneasy face, Dokgo Ho-in muttered.

"Whenever Daehyeong gets like this, he ends up causing some kind of incident. It's honestly a little scary."

"Right? Daehyeong's face was as cold as if he were about to go into battle."

The two of them watched Seo Joo-cheon's back with uneasy faces.