The Roles Reverse

Seo Joo-cheon swept his gaze across the battlefield, searching for someone.

Gone. Not a single Plum Blossom Swordmaster. Originally, Baek I-jin was supposed to bring four of them with her on this journey.

If even one Plum Blossom Swordmaster had been present, the Mount Hua Sect would never have been driven this far onto the back foot. Warriors of that caliber would have been more than enough to seize the advantage against Macheon Chong's experts. He had written that setting himself. It was not supposed to change.

The backdrop of this fight had shifted, yes — but the important details were supposed to hold.

Did something change? It shouldn't have changed this much.

Then a single fact cut through his thoughts.

That's right. Originally, Baek Seol was never supposed to accompany Baek I-jin on this trip. That's what changed. Once Baek Seol was added to the itinerary, the Plum Blossom Swordmasters may have been pulled from it.

A variable had crept in, but the larger frame still held. Baek I-jin had been trying to reach Namcheon Inn. The main scenario, at least, was proceeding as it should.

"You little Wudang Daoist! Let's see you take this too!"

Jang Hyeon-nam was already barely holding on against a single Macheon Chong expert. When a second master joined the assault, he looked ready to die at any moment. His inner energy, however, was immense — vast enough that he was still weathering both men's attacks on sheer volume of power.

As expected of the protagonist. Once he tempers his instincts in a fight like this, he'll grow strong in no time.

That, of course, assumed he survived.

The second expert fought with a peculiar pairing of weapons: a giant axe in his right hand, a judge's brush in his left. He blended weight and lightness with uncanny precision, and even Jang Hyeon-nam, for all his deep reserves of inner force, was being driven to desperation.

I never wrote an ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠expert who uses a judge's brush and a giant axe. A character that distinctive — even a supporting one — I would have remembered.

Seo Joo-cheon sharpened his gaze and fixed it on the man's face. Character Search ignited.

Seo Joo-cheon frowned.

So that's why he's throwing himself at Jang Hyeon-nam. He wants to take him alive. And Jang Hyeon-nam has the looks of a man as beautiful as any woman — that would do it.

But that's not the real problem. I only ever wrote the commander of the Blood Heaven Unit — a man named Mak Goeng. So why is Mak Goeng nowhere to be seen, and only the vice commander here?

He looked more closely. On the cuffs of the Macheon Chong warriors, the character for Blood had been embroidered in red silk thread.

If the vice commander of the Blood Heaven Unit is attacking with only a third of the unit's strength, where is the rest of it? Is there something here more important than capturing Baek I-jin and Baek Seol?

He turned the novel's settings over in his mind, piece by piece. Then a thought flashed through him, and he nearly gasped aloud.

Could it be because of that? Of everything I wrote, that was the only thing that actually made sense.

The moment the thought landed, urgency seized him.

"Oh no!"

Seo Joo-cheon lifted his head at Kang Chu-mi's stricken cry. Baek I-jin, the Plum Blossom Crimson Flower Sword, was moving along the edges of the formation, reinforcing any line that looked ready to buckle. She still had room to breathe. The other carriage, however, was another matter. As the Macheon Chong warriors tightened their encirclement, Kang Chu-mi's lament broke from her throat.

If Baek Seol's side is overrun, Baek I-jin's side falls with it. Right now I need to put my strength behind the protagonist. The longer I wait, the worse this gets.

Watching any further would mean missing the moment. He turned to his sworn siblings.

"I think I need to help that Wudang Daoist. Stay here and wait."

"Big Brother, why would you help a Wudang Daoist?"

Ham Cheon-yeong's question left him short of a decent answer. Publicly, they walked the Unorthodox path. There was not a single reason they should be aiding a Daoist of Wudang.

"Before I met you, I once survived because of a Wudang Daoist's help. It seems the time has come to repay that debt."

Kang Chu-mi nodded.

"A man ought to pay his debts. We'll join you."

Seo Joo-cheon shook his head.

"No. Stay here. I only need to save that one man."

"Understood."

The moment Ham Cheon-yeong answered, Seo Joo-cheon launched himself toward Jang Hyeon-nam.

"Big Brother said to wait — but if it looks like he's in danger, we all go in."

"Yes, Second Brother."

Dokgo Ho-in answered as he should, but his eyes kept drifting toward the carriage that held Baek Seol.

Seo Joo-cheon flung his sword at the Macheon Chong sword expert who was pressing Jang Hyeon-nam. Facing the vice commander of the Blood Heaven Unit felt like more than he could handle.

"Who the hell are you to interfere with my work?!"

The sword expert roared as Seo Joo-cheon entered the fight. Jang Hyeon-nam, still locked with Judge's Axe Mi-u, swept past Seo Joo-cheon's side and spoke in a rush.

"Thank you for the help! If we make it out of here, I'll treat you to a drink!"

A smile rose to Seo Joo-cheon's lips of its own accord.

He left the White Snake Sword sheathed, intending to season his newly acquired Phoenix Soaring Heaven Sword in real combat. But he had not yet fully trained the Soaring Heaven Sword, and his opponent was a veteran swordsman — more than he could comfortably handle.

"Third Brother! Where do you think you're going?"

Kang Chu-mi's sudden cry made Seo Joo-cheon turn before he could stop himself. The opening was all his opponent needed. The man's blade drove straight in.

Po Un's consciousness had been overlapping with his own, every sword form flowing out as naturally as breath — until the instant Seo Joo-cheon looked away, and a gap tore open in his defense. He realized the sword tip was so close he could see it, a hair from his face, and a chill raced down his spine. In a clash between experts, he understood at last how terrifying a single glance away could be.

In that heartbeat he cycled his inner energy and drew a square in the empty air with his sword.

Space itself seemed to buckle, and every movement began to flow as if through deep water. His opponent's blinking slowed until the eyelids took several breaths to close.

The Time Dilation Authority is working properly.

In the same instant, he felt a great clot of inner energy tear out of him, and horror bloomed in his chest. Of the Three Harmonious Swords, only the Time Dilation Authority could be used with relatively little power — and even so, the drain on his inner energy was savage.

Damn. If I use this three times, my true qi will be completely spent.

The realization that he could not invoke the Time Dilation Authority without limit landed like a stone.

The sword tip was a ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠breath from his chest. Seo Joo-cheon spun, closing the distance until he stood directly before the Macheon Chong expert — and a form uncoiled from him as if it had always been waiting.

It was a form from the White Snake Sword Art that, together with White Snake Catching the Bee, held the essence of the swift sword. Where White Snake Catching the Bee was a flash whose direction could not be guessed, White Snake Stretching Its Waist ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠was speed that ran dead straight.

Shhk!

A sound that raised the hair on the neck — and then Seo Joo-cheon was standing beside the man, as if they had simply fallen into step. The expert's head rolled onto the far shoulder and perched there for a grotesque instant before tumbling to the ground.

"You bastard!"

Mi-u, vice commander of the Blood Heaven Unit, went white with rage at his subordinate's death.

"You dare kill my lieutenant?!"

He lunged for Seo Joo-cheon — and Jang Hyeon-nam latched onto him and would not let go.

"Where do you think you're going?"

Watching Seo Joo-cheon cut down an expert seemed to have lit a competitive fire in Jang Hyeon-nam. His sword qi thickened, growing denser by the breath.

"I'll kill you all!"

Mi-u bellowed and hammered attacks down on Jang Hyeon-nam, but the young Daoist's sword forms only grew more precise as the seconds passed. The Wudang Sect's Flowing ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Cloud Sword began to unfurl from him like drifting mist. Surging sword qi rode the technique, and Jang Hyeon-nam's Flowing Cloud Sword pressed Mi-u steadily backward.

He's already found his combat instincts? Well. Anyone else, I'd call it impossible. He's the protagonist. Of course it's possible.

There was nothing in the situation Seo Joo-cheon couldn't understand.

"I'll help you."

The moment Seo Joo-cheon moved to strike at Mi-u, Jang Hyeon-nam broke off his attack, stepped back, and spoke.

"Hero! Please protect that carriage."

"I'd rather help you first, and then—"

"I can handle this on my own."

A dry laugh escaped Seo Joo-cheon.

What are you talking about? I need to help you kill Mi-u. I save you. Saving Baek I-jin is your part.

But Jang Hyeon-nam was playing the protagonist's role to the hilt — a Wudang disciple brimming with chivalry. Seo Joo-cheon answered him.

"I'll take this ground. You go save the carriage!"

He had meant to extract himself for the sake of the main scenario. But Macheon Chong warriors were already gathering around Mi-u, and Seo Joo-cheon regretted the words the instant they left his mouth.

Six of them is more than I can handle.

Po Un seemed to agree. The urge to secure an escape route rose in him, sharp and insistent. The reason a martial artist of merely Second-Rate skill had survived this long in the Jianghu was simple: the moment a fight turned against him, he ran. There were times when choosing flight over honor was the move that bought another day of life.

Jang Hyeon-nam shouted.

"This way!"

At his call, the surviving warriors from the inn and Sang Ryo closed in at his side.

"I'll fight alongside the heroes here. Please go and help them, quickly."

Jang Hyeon-nam had watched Seo Joo-cheon finish Mi-u's lieutenant in a handful of exchanges and mistaken him for a master of staggering depth. He clearly believed Seo Joo-cheon could cut through dozens of Macheon Chong warriors and still reach the carriage. He would never have sent him toward Baek I-jin otherwise.

Sang Ryo seemed to share the belief.

"Go. We'll hold this ground."

He said it with such trust in his eyes that refusing was impossible. Sang Ryo had watched Seo Joo-cheon kill the Three Evils of Luoyang at the inn, and had taken him for a master beyond First-Rate. With Sang Ryo joining Jang Hyeon-nam, Seo Joo-cheon judged the young man would not fall — and he ran for Baek I-jin's carriage.

A glance at the field told him that reinforcing Baek I-jin's position could reverse the entire battle. Mount Hua had more of its experts concentrated there; supporting that line would be the most efficient stroke.

The White Snake Sword Art poured from Seo Joo-cheon's blade in a continuous stream.

"Ghk—!"

He raised White Snake Sword Qi on the swell of his expanded inner energy, and Macheon Chong warriors reeled away wounded. He had not yet reached the true threshold of Sword Qi, but the White Snake Sword Qi looked more ferocious than most genuine sword qi he had ever seen.

I can't wait to see what this looks like once I've achieved One Gapja.

The elegance of the White Snake Sword Art pulled him under even as he performed it. And unlike before, when the feeling of killing intent had been a stranger in his chest, he now felt a thrill running through him — the raw, electric knowledge that he was fighting on a battlefield of life and death as a character he himself had created.

As he closed on the carriage, five Macheon Chong warriors who had been building the encirclement spun and came at him.

Seo Joo-cheon drew a square in the air once more, faster this time.

He had learned something from unfolding so much of the White Snake Sword Art. There was a form in it whose shape resembled the square he drew for the Time Dilation Authority.

White Snake Four Trigrams, and later White Snake Eight Trigrams. Of the two, Four Trigrams was the one that belonged with the Time Dilation Authority.

Time and space warped. Inner energy ripped out of him in a sudden rush, and a wave of draining weakness followed on its heels. The cost was brutal. It was a mercy beyond measure that the technique could be invoked even without reaching One Gapja. Without the Time Dilation Authority, he would never have survived this battlefield.

His opponents' movements slowed to a crawl. Seo Joo-cheon alone moved at full speed. To anyone watching, it would have looked as though he had overwhelmed Macheon Chong's swift assault with a divine movement art like Transposition. That was precisely why Jang Hyeon-nam and Sang Ryo had misjudged his realm.

And then, from his sword, a swift blade burst forth so dazzling it seemed to shatter the eye.

The five Macheon Chong warriors struck by White Snake Catching the Bee pitched forward at the same speed they had been charging and went down in a heap.

Thud! Whump! Crash!

They crumpled in all manner of bizarre postures and did not rise again. Through the hole torn in the encirclement, Mount Hua's Daoists burst out and smashed into the rear of Macheon Chong's net. Baek I-jin was among them.

Dressed in crimson martial robes, she unfurled the Plum Blossom Sword Art in a dazzling cascade — like a butterfly of incomparable elegance. Seo Joo-cheon watched her as if he had come to admire a painting.

I created this character, but isn't this going too far? That's a face you could never see in the real world.

The single epithet of Shaanxi's greatest beauty had made her into a woman beyond anything he could have imagined.

Caught between attacks from inside and out, the Macheon Chong warriors' momentum began to crumble. Baek I-jin's voice rang across the field.

"Switch to Plum Blossom Sword Formation!"

The Plum Blossom Sword Formation was one of Mount Hua's most powerful arrays, five swords attacking as a single organism. Until now they had been too busy weathering Macheon Chong's waves of assault to deploy a proper formation. The opening had finally come. The moment they converted and drove forward, the number of falling Macheon Chong warriors climbed without pause.

Baek I-jin could not speak in the thick of combat, but her eyes found Seo Joo-cheon and offered her thanks. She gave a slight nod of her head, then scattered Plum Blossom sword-light with a ferocity that was utterly merciless. Her robes were already crimson; the blood that joined them gave the cloth the texture of red roses painted upon scarlet silk.

That should be enough. Baek I-jin is more or less out of danger.

Seo Joo-cheon's attention snapped back to the protagonist. If the protagonist died, he could not begin to imagine what would become of this scenario. He turned from Baek I-jin to go to Jang Hyeon-nam's aid. He could not join a Plum Blossom Sword Formation — he would only be in the way. Helping Jang Hyeon-nam was the better choice.

"Third Brother!"

He had taken a step toward Jang Hyeon-nam when Kang Chu-mi's cry — raw with horror — whipped his head around.