Chapter 154
When Seong Jihan reached level 100, he received a message similar to those he had received during his Bronze and Silver ranks.
[You’ve finished the Gold League as the top-ranked player.]
[You’ve earned the title ‘Dominator of the Gold League.’]
[You’ve the qualification to participate in the TOP 100 Promotion Matches.]
The ‘Dominator of the Gold League’ title provided an additional stat boost of +7 to all stats compared to the ‘Dominator of the Silver League’ title, but Seong Jihan realized that changing titles didn’t affect his martial soul.
‘It seems that no matter the title, my Martial soul doesn’t increase.’
He recalled the time in 108 Arhat Formation when his abilities had dramatically improved, but despite continued training, his Martial soul didn’t progress as it did then.
‘Adapting Crimson Thunder was never an easy task…’
He couldn’t help but feel a sense of urgency as it seemed his growth had stalled.
‘But this time, they aren’t asking me to participate in a Promotion Battle one level above like they did before.’
Nonetheless, with the inconsistent progress, he felt anxious, as if his growth had come to a halt.
‘But this time, they didn’t mention the Promotion Matches one level above, like they did last time.’
Seong Jihan couldn’t hide his surprise when he noticed that there were no additional system messages. Even when he was in the Silver league and his level was far lower than it was now, he had been granted qualification for the Gangnam 1 Gold League Promotion Battle.
However, this time, despite reaching a higher level and even showcasing his prowess as a national representative, he didn’t receive qualification for the Platinum league Promotion Battle.
‘I don’t plan to jump straight to Diamond anyway, but… this is strange.’
Just as he was contemplating this, a system message suddenly appeared.
[You’ve achieved victory in the national representative match at the Gold level, and obtained the MVP title three or more times.]
[You’ve obtained the abilities of the stars.]
[You’ve met the Qualification for the Space League Promotion Battle.]
[Will you participate in the Space League Gold TOP 25 Promotion Battle?]
‘…The Space League!?’
Seong Jihan’s eyes widened in surprise. This was the first time he had seen a Space League Promotion Match in all his lifetimes. He had no idea such a thing existed, let alone that he would be granted the qualification to participate in it.
Unusually, Seong Jihan’s eyes widened. It was a Promotion Battle for the Space League, something he had never encountered in his past life. To make it even more surprising, he was offered a qualification!
As if to represent his thoughts, an additional message appeared:
[Caution – This is a Promotion Battle where players from the tutorial-completed world can also participate. Decide carefully!]
‘Of course, I should participate,’ Seong Jihan decided after casually dismissing the system’s cautionary message.
[You’ll participate in the Space League TOP 25 Promotion Battle.]
[The match will be held on October 27th.]
[You’ve cleared the achievement ‘Promising Star of Space – Gold’.]
[You’ve obtained 500,000 Achievement Points.]
[You’ve cleared the achievement ‘Chosen as a Promising Star in the Tutorial’.]
[You’ve obtained 1,000,000 Achievement Points.]
‘1.5 million?’
Achievement points poured in as soon as he made the decision to participate. This amount far surpassed all the achievement points he had acquired until now. It meant that this achievement was beyond remarkable.
‘I should upgrade all the achievement store items to level 3 with this.’
Among the numerous items in the level 7 achievement store, some were currently useless, like the Seat of Power slots or Gift slots. However, as they would be needed when upgrading the achievement store later, he decided to invest in them now.
‘I have more points than I know what to do with, even after reaching level 3.’
However, since he hadn’t fulfilled the ‘Donate 5 times’ condition to upgrade the store level, Seong Jihan decided to use the remaining points to upgrade ‘All For One.’
As a result, ‘All For One’ had already reached level 5. This increased its efficiency from the original 4 times to 6 times.
‘Now that it’s 6 times, I hope the inspiration effect triggers more often.’
Seong Jihan had become dependent on the inspiration effect at a high price, but it hadn’t activated once yet.
‘With the effect upgraded this time, it might be different.’
With these expectations in mind, Seong Jihan dedicated himself to training until the Promotion Battle.
As a result:
[Martial Soul has increased by 5.]
Thanks to the proper activation of the Inspiration effect, he was able to raise his Martial soul to 120 while advancing his martial arts, which allowed him to enter the Promotion Battle.
* * *
October 25th.
= Yoon Seah… disappeared again! She dodged all the attacks!
= No. What kind of technique is that? Arrows disappeared, and she disappeared too!
= It doesn’t seem to be a simple invisibility effect! She had a Firewall cast above her, but when it went out, Yoon Seah was unharmed!
= Ah… Only two of them left! Oh, the invisibility arrow activated again…!
After Yoon Seah pierced her opponent in the TV broadcast.
Not long after that, Yoon Seah dashed into the living room, bouncing around.
“Uncle! Uncle! I won!!”
“Oh, I was watching. Congratulations.”
“Hehe, when I asked you to bet on me, Uncle avoided my gaze, right? I’ve proven it with the results! I’m the first place in this Silver league!”
Void Archer class and the Void Shield that Seong Jihan had given her were a perfect match. She could easily evade dangerous enemy attacks by flipping the shield and bypass her opponent’s defenses with Void Arrows.
– What’s with this family? Seong Jihan, Seong Jiah, and Yoon Seah are on a different level. Yoon Seah probably got the opponent really frustrated, lol. She can flip and disappear, and the arrows are invisible, lol.
– Seriously, even I was jealous watching, lol.
– I’m a Yoon Seah fan, so I bet 1 million won with fan enthusiasm, and I won 100 million… Yoon Seah is a goddess and invincible!!
– Wow, 100 times, lol.
“Wow, it was 100 times, for me? Ah… that’s a shame.”
“Whether it’s 100 times or 1,000 times, don’t even dream of betting.”
“Oh, I see. I won’t do it, I won’t do it!”
When Seong Jihan firmly said that, Yoon Seah clapped her hands.
While she continued to look at the comments, she noticed something captivating.
– But why isn’t Seong Jihan on the betting site? I’m going all-in, lol. He’s not participating in the promotion match this time? Is he not even level 100 yet?
Whenever Yoon Seah was mentioned, the talk about Seong Jihan inevitably came up. As the most anticipated game on BattleNet’s betting site, TOP 100 Promotion Match, people thought Seong Jihan’s name would naturally be there.
However, strangely, Seong Jihan’s name was not included in this month’s promotion match list.
“Uncle, no one knows the fact that you’re going to the Space League.”
“Why bother telling them? They’ll know tomorrow.”
“Yeah… You’re right.”
“What do you think about celebrating your victory with a meal? Let’s reserve a restaurant.”
At Seong Jihan’s suggestion, Yoon Seah scratched her cheek.
“Uncle, that’s… too… laid back, isn’t it? Let’s eat together when your match is over tomorrow. Today, we need to prepare for the Space League!”
“Okay, okay. Got it.”
***
And on October 26th, when news broke that Seong Jihan would be participating in the Space League, the entire world went crazy, as expected.
[Seong Jihan! The first human to participate in the Space League Promotion Match!]
[The Space League, never seen before. Will the veil finally be lifted?]
[Even international news is rushing to cover it! Seong Jihan dominates the front page of global media!]
– Space League?? This is insane!
– I’ve been doing BattleNet tutorials for ten years, and I was curious about what the Space League is all about, and now Seong Jihan is starting it, lol.
– Wow, are we going to see aliens now?
– Wow, is it true that he made it to the front page of international news? Korean pride is soaring!
Cheers! One more shot of Korean pride here!
– Cheers, the director already overworked himself because of Seong Jihan, lol.
Next year, Earth would be included in the Space League – Bronze. Everyone had been curious about what the Space League had to offer. Seong Jihan’s participation in the promotion match inevitably drew global attention.
Many people stayed up all night, unable to sleep, eagerly awaiting the Space League Promotion Match.
Then, the next day.
“I’ll be back.”
Seong Jihan waved to Yoon Seah and logged into the game.
* * *
[TOP 25 Gold Promotion Match is beginning.]
[This mission is a survival mode.]
[Enter the ‘God King’s Throne’.]
Flash!
‘God King’s Throne. A map I’ve never seen before.’
Seong Jihan, summoned into the game, checked the message and looked around. All around, the space was wide open, and instead of the sun, thick clouds filled the sky. However, these clouds were pierced by light, dividing the earth into 25 sections, with one of them directly illuminating Seong Jihan.
It was as if a spotlight shone down on the player. Seong Jihan glanced at the other sections of light piercing through the clouds, illuminating the distant areas.
‘Giants, dragons… It’s a gathering of colossal monsters.’
The most eye-catching were the giant creatures, such as the steel giants that appeared to be dozens of times his size, and the dragons that seemed like small mountains. There were even massive beings that appeared to be a fusion of various life forms. Rather than fellow TOP 25 players, they resembled boss-level monsters.
‘There are about 15 giant entities.’
[Rrrrr…]
[Is it you again?]
[You’re squirming around, lizard!]
Whether it was from a previous TOP 25 match or not, these colossal entities seemed to recognize each other. They emitted intense auras and faced off against one another.
‘Hmm… These are real boss monsters, that’s for sure.’
These giant entities displayed strength commensurate with their size. From their perspective, Seong Jihan, who appeared insignificant, was not even on their radar.
‘They can fight amongst themselves.’
While on Earth, Seong Jihan could crush his opponents with overwhelming power, here he couldn’t employ the same strategy. So, he decided to remain indifferent and focus on reconnaissance.
‘Most of them are of significant size. Humanoids seem to be few… like that one elf.’
As Seong Jihan continued observing the others,
Suddenly, near him, a man in a black robe appeared. Unlike the others summoned so far, he was human-sized and dressed in a robe. His face was hidden in darkness, but his familiar way of speaking caught Seong Jihan’s attention.
“Are you… the Constellation of the Dead star?” Seong Jihan inquired.
“Right on the money! That’s me! My name… I mean, my name is… right, it’s Karlein! A nickname made just for you!” Karlein said, brimming with enthusiasm.
Seong Jihan was taken aback. “But aren’t you a Constellation? Why are you here?”
“Oh, this is just my avatar. Avatar.”
“Avatar?”
Karlein looked around and explained, “If you’re participating in the TOP 25, most are avatars of constellations. See that dragon over there? It’s a avatar of the ‘Dragon God.’ Inside that giant monster is the essence of the Void. I made a sub character for my King of Ghosts!”
As Karlein pointed at different entities, Seong Jihan realized that all the participants in the Promotion Match seemed to be sub-characters of the Constellations. It appeared that most of them had created these avatars for the TOP 25 Promotion Match.
“But why go through the trouble of creating avatars to participate in this match?”
“Well, the rewards for the Promotion Match are quite lucrative. I already met you, so I got my wish!”
“What’s the reward?”
“If you become my head, you’ll naturally find out. Head, head!” Karlein continued his peculiar rant.
Seong Jihan raised his hand in exasperation.
“Alright, enough. Go away.”
“Head! Wait, I prepared a slogan for you! Listen!” Karlein insisted.
Seong Jihan sighed.
“What nonsense are you trying to pull now?”
“Head, head, would you be my head? I’ll be your heart!” Karlein pleaded.
Seong Jihan furrowed his brow.
‘Why is this guy even a Constellation?’
“Can I just kill you right now?” Seong Jihan asked.
“No, no, I haven’t started the game yet! If we fight before it begins, we’ll receive penalties!” Karlein replied and pointed to the sky.
“Look at the color of those clouds over there! It seems like the Constellation of the Cloud or the Constellation of the Thunder might be coming… If we stumble into the Constellation of the Thunder, we better run for our lives! No need to save your strength!”
“Is the Constellation of the Thunder really that powerful?”, Seong Jihan asked.
“Yeah, he’s the worst of the Constellations! They just growl at each other and don’t fight, you see,” Karlein explained as he gestured towards the dragon and the giant.
As Karlein continued to energetically discuss the situation, both the dragon and the giant, who had been eyeing each other warily, turned their attention towards Seong Jihan.
[…The Constellation of the Dead Star?]
[Why is that guy so confident?]
They seemed puzzled by Karlein’s high tension but were taken aback when they looked at Seong Jihan.
[That feeble guy… he’s not the Constellation’s avatar?!]
[Whoa, he’s not the avatar of the Constellation, but he’s participating in the promotion?]
Just as the interest of the dragon and giant rapidly shifted to Seong Jihan, a system message appeared:
[The God for the Throne is determined…]
[The Divine Constellation, Thunder God, takes the throne.]
Crack! Crack!
The clouds parted, and within them, lightning poured down like a torrential rain. While looking at the intense yellow lightning, the dragon and the giant seemed disappointed.
[This is bad.]
[Thunder God really is coming…]
What could be the problem with Thunder God that even the Constellation’s avatars have such an attitude?
As Seong Jihan was about to inquire, additional system messages appeared.
[Punishment for Thunder God is applied.]
[When you die, you cannot resurrect.]
[Due to the ‘No Resurrection’ penalty, you have the right to forfeit the game.]
‘No Resurrection…’
Seong Jihan’s eyes widened in surprise at the stronger penalty than expected.
[I pity you, Lizard.]
[I’m giving up too. If I die, when will I be able to raise them again?]
Zap! Zap!
The dragon and giant, who had displayed the most intense determination among the 25 players, quickly gave up the game.
“Head, should we give up too? I can start anew, but you’re the main character.”
“What’s the reward for this game?”
“Rewards? Ah, well…”
Unlike a little while ago, Karlein explained the promotion rewards quite readily.
“In that case, we should participate.”
Seong Jihan decided to participate in the game, despite the penalties.
