*****
*****
“Hoo…” Ha Yoori, who had been excited for a while, suddenly seemed dizzy and took a deep breath, holding her head.
“Yoori, are you okay?”
“Yeah, sis… I guess I got a bit too excited.”
“Phew, really!”
“Uncle… Can you please heal her?” Yoon Seah asked in a worried tone.
“That sounds like a good idea.”
Seong Jihan nodded and cast a set of three recovery spells.
“Heal. Great Heal. Regeneration.”
Although his class had changed, he still had the healing skills he acquired when he chose the support class.
Ha Yoori felt vitality returning to her body and her eyes sparkled.
“Woah aren’t these the skills I only ever say on the streams? There’s strength, healing magic, and everything! I’ve finally experienced what I saw on the channel!”
“Don’t overdo it.” Seong Jihan said in a cautious tone.
“Yes, yes!”
Seong Jihan checked the time in the hospital room.
It was 8:30. It was almost time to connect to BattleNet.
“I might end up on a survival map this time.”
After the last incident with the world tree, he had never been back to a survival map.
“If I can get the World Tree’s Leaf in this game, I can ask Ha Yoori’s help in finding out more of its mysteries.”
“Maybe playing the game here is better than going home.”
“I’m going to log into the game now. Can you appraise an item for me when I return?” Seong Jihan asked Ha Yoori.
“Oh? Uncle, are you going to play the game here?”
“Um… Seong Jihan, I think it’s late…” Ha Yeonjoo was about to say something but…
“It’s okay! It’s okay! Go ahead! I’ll definitely appraise it for you! Besides, I’m going to watch that broadcast, so it won’t be boring for me!”
Ha Yeonjoo looked concerned that her still-recovering younger sister might stay awake until late, but Ha Yoori quickly encouraged Seong Jihan to go.
“Ah… what would you do?” Seong Jihan asked Yoon Seah.
“I’m going to chat with Ha Yeonjoo just like earlier. She’ll give me advice!”
“Is that okay?”
“Yes, of course.”
With a smile, Ha Yeonjoo nodded, and Yoon Seah casually shook hands with Seong Jihan.
“Uncle, take your time!”
Seong Jihan chuckled and approached Akari.
“Just rest for a moment.”
Tapping her vein, he watched as Akari closed her eyes.
They hadn’t established a completely trusting relationship yet, so it was an unavoidable choice.
“Well, I’ll be off then.”
With a whirring sound, Seong Jihan logged into the game. As he disappeared, Ha Yoori turned to her manager.
“Manager, please.”
“…Alright.”
The manager rummaged through her bag and took out a beam projector. The VIP room’s wall was covered with a screen. When Ha Yeonjoo saw it, she asked in amazement.
“Um… We have a TV here, so why are you using a beam projector?”
“The screen is too small. We need to watch Jihan-Ssi broadcast on a big screen… Oh, it’s starting. Sis, could you turn off the lights?”
“You’re really… sigh.”
She knew that this kid was a big fan of Seong Jihan, but she didn’t realize it was this serious. Ha Yeonjoo let out a deep sigh while complying.
“Even if you tell me to relax, I’m not the type to listen.”
She walked over to turn off the lights.
“I want to look at the stream too.”
“Sure, sis. I’ll make you a fan!”
‘What’s this about being a fan… Is Seong Jihan an idol or something?’
Ha Yeonjoo chuckled and took her seat.
*****
[This mission is a survival mission.]
[Entering the ‘Experiment Zone.’]
Seong Jihan, who had logged into the game, looked around. The environment was quite different from the last game.
‘The zone has changed.’
While the last game had them trapped within red walls, this time, they found themselves in a lush, green forest. For players, this green zone offered the highest chance of survival.
“Hey, Seong Jihan!”
“You were amazing today! Defeating Russia, woohoo!”
As Seong Jihan was summoned, the players in the green zone enthusiastically cheered. From their perspective, having Seong Jihan in the same zone was almost like a death sentence in the survival game. However, the excitement from the victory against Russia had not yet worn off, and everyone was in high spirits.
-Is this a survival map? The atmosphere seems warm. We’re here to watch Superstar anyway, haha.
-Well, the game is done for. Let’s just enjoy watching Superstar.
-Man, we really rocked in the Russia match today. It took us a while to get that first win in the league… Now, let’s go for a winning streak!
-Of course, a winning streak is a must. We defeated those Russian Warriors easily, but honestly, can we beat any other country?
-Japan and China are a bit tough… At least we can beat Taiwan, right?
-If there had been Sword King with us as well, we could have competed with the U.S. too.
-Shut the hell up. The viewers are more interested in today’s Russia match than your nonsense about the game.
And at least a minimum of 10,000 GP in sponsorships started coming in. It all started with Ha Yoori donation using her ID ‘DownGlass’.
[‘Downglass’ has sponsored 10,000 GP.]
[Congratulations on the victory against Russia!]
[‘Top of the level’ has sponsored 10,000 GP.]
[Today’s top sniper!]
…….
-What?! 10000 GP?? Really!
-It’s insane; the rush from the Russia match is huge. Even though the minimum sponsorship was 10 million won, the sponsorship messages keep on pouring in.
“Thank you for the sponsorship,” Seong Jihan replied briefly to the sponsorship messages and thought, “I should increase the limit to 100,000 GP.”.
In the meantime, the game started as all 100 players were summoned.
[The game has started.]
“Elves asked me to come, but the zone has changed,” Seong Jihan thought. When it was the Red Zone, he could use the portal to visit the elves, but in the Green Zone, there were no clues.
Seong Jihan looked around. There were ten players gathered in the forest, including himself.
“Let’s start by getting some kills,” he thought. He needed to maintain his record of consecutive first-place finishes on the BattleNet.
Seong Jihan summoned Eclipse.
Seeing this, the players who had been moved by the excitement of the Russia match gave up on resistance and started to scatter in all directions.
“Run!”
“Let’s scatter in all directions!”
The distance between the players was quite substantial, so it was judged that if everyone ran in different directions, at least some of them might survive.
However.
“Let’s deal with it,” Seong Jihan’s words were barely finished when something terrifying happened.
Swoosh…
From the shadows of the fleeing players, a sword emerged.
Thunk! Thunk!
Players fell to the ground, fatally wounded in an instant. Nine players were eliminated almost simultaneously.
-As expected, he’s a devourer, isn’t he?
-Seong Jihan, who annihilated the Russian national team just a while ago, is no pushover. Gold players running away won’t change much.
Now, even the viewers had to accept it as an inevitable outcome.
Seong Jihan easily secured nine kills and then leaped into the sky. The forest was densely packed with large trees, much like a jungle. In the center of the forest, there was an area without any trees.
“I should go that way,” Seong Jihan thought.
He soared forward in the air. Below him, players from different places in the Green Zone were fiercely competing for survival. But Seong Jihan paid them no mind.
“Getting more kills will just speed up the end of the game unnecessarily.”
*****
*****
With nine kills secured, first place was virtually guaranteed. Seong Jihan reached the center of the forest, which strangely had not a single tree. In the middle of this open space, there was a massive, elliptical brown sphere.
‘It’s the seed of the World Tree, absorbing the life force of the surrounding trees.’
Seong Jihan realized that this was the reason why there were no trees in this area.
The nearby trees were rapidly disintegrating, and their life force was wholly dedicated to the seed of the World Tree.
‘Could the previous Red Zone be inside this thing?’
No matter how large the seed of the World Tree might be, it didn’t seem possible for it to encompass the entire Red Zone and the space beyond.
There seemed to be a spatial distortion that was different from what one would observe from the outside.
To examine it more closely, Seong Jihan approached the seed.
Then, something extraordinary happened.
Whoooosh!
Light began emanating from the leaf tattoo engraved on Seong Jihan’s chest. This light touched the seed’s shell and transformed it into a green portal.
Inside the portal, a young voice echoed.
“Finally, you’re here. Turn off your broadcast and come in.”
Seong Jihan wondered why this entity was so fixated on his broadcast.
‘Is it because they’re concerned about leaving a record on BattleTube? But even if that’s the case, the BattleNet system isn’t that lax.’
He pondered whether there was a way for the entity to confirm if he was broadcasting or not.
‘I don’t think they have a way to check if I’m broadcasting or not.’
‘But if it’s an elf, it might be possible.’
‘In that case, I should turn it off for now,’ Seong Jihan decided.
“Viewers, I will momentarily stop the broadcast.”
-?????????
-Why all of a sudden????
Click-
Seong Jihan, who had turned off the broadcast in his settings, entered the portal.
*****
“You’ve finally arrived. Our superior test subject,” the elf greeted Seong Jihan. They were speaking in Elvish, just like before, but since Seong Jihan had absorbed the World Tree’s leaf, he naturally understood the words.
“Come this way.”
In response to that voice, a flash of light radiated from Seong Jihan’s chest. Then, his body seemed to move on its own.
‘I might as well leave it alone for the time being. I can return to my original state at any time with this level of forced control.’
Seong Jihan pretended to fully succumb to the elf’s influence.
“Your physique is impressive as always…”
The elf touched Seong Jihan’s body and tasted his blood, wearing a delighted expression.
“At this level, you might even be evaluated as a top-tier Irregular!”
Shuuuu-
The elf summoned a green portal once again and said, “Follow me.”
Seong Jihan followed her with a blank expression. The elf changed portals five times, each time the portal led to a place almost identical to where the elf had been before. It felt like they were repeatedly moving to the same location.
Seong Jihan started feeling anxious, wondering how long this constant movement would last and what would happen when the game ended. Just when he was feeling uneasy, the elf said, “We’ve arrived.”
The space beyond the final portal was entirely different from what Seong Jihan had seen moments ago. While the previous scenes had been typical forest environments befitting the image of an elf, this time, he found himself in a massive laboratory with white walls and columns.
[We’ve made contact.]
[Starting collection, superior test subject.]
A wind spirit with lenses over its eyes floated around Seong Jihan and spoke in Elvish.
‘What is this place?’ Seong Jihan wondered.
The lenses on the wind spirit’s eyes started to emit a red light, and the light that had been scanning Seong Jihan’s body suddenly stopped.
[The current equipment cannot analyze this entity.]
[This is a superior entity. We must send it to the laboratory immediately,] the spirit said, making the elf ecstatic.
“Superior…!? I had doubts, but it really is a superior entity!” she exclaimed.
[It will take the BattleNet system two minutes to detect it,] the spirit continued. [Please retrieve the World Tree’s leaf. I will open a dimensional portal.]
“Understood,” the elf responded.
She hurriedly placed her hand on Seong Jihan’s chest. Green light extended out, and the leaf from Seong Jihan’s chest seemed to be about to emerge.
But then, it suddenly retreated back into Seong Jihan’s body.
‘Why isn’t it going out?’ Seong Jihan wondered. The leaf started acting up suddenly.
The elf quickly placed her hand on Seong Jihan’s chest again. Seong Jihan also cooperated from within.
And then, the leaf finally emerged.
“Oh, it’s out!” the elf exclaimed in relief.
For a moment, there had been an unexpected hiccup, but it ended well. Now, all she had to do was secure the leaf of the World Tree.
Rustle!
“…Huh?”
Suddenly, her right arm was severed…
“Inventory.”
Seong Jihan easily snatched away the leaf from the severed hand and put it in his inventory.
“You… You…”
“Thanks, mate. I needed this.”
Seong Jihan chuckled and turned his broadcast back on.
-Uh, what’s going on here?
-Huh… Is this the Survival map?
Just as viewers were getting puzzled by the sudden change in the environment…
[An anomaly has been detected by the BattleNet system.]
As soon as he turned on BattleTube, an urgent system message appeared in front of Seong Jihan.
*****
*****
