-Is it really ending today?
-With the team not dragging Seong Jihan down, points are going up real quick
-For real, we’ve already hit 5,000 points. Isn’t it just a matter of going to defeat the Chimera for 8,000 points?
The progression of the game was exceptionally smooth. For Seong Jihan, who had far surpassed the Platinum level, the only weakness was the team penalty.
Given his ability to single-handedly crush all three races, there was no one who could stand against him. The newcomers who encountered Seong Jihan and got annihilated immediately fled at the mere sight of humans.
[NO.4212… Avoid them. That race has a monster in it.]
[To encounter a Constellation candidate’s race in this game, how unlucky.]
The races defeated by Seong Jihan were busy escaping just seeing humanity.
[What, what is this? Why is he so strong?!]
[I thought only platinum… could participate…]
[how could there be such an existence… in the Space League…?]
Participants, dreaming big and joining the chaotic battlefield, disappeared as soon as the barrier vanished, succumbing to Seong Jihan’s overwhelming attacks.
“These guys are easier than I thought.”
“I know right? I really think we’ll clear it today.”
“It was a bit precarious at first, but now… it’s nothing difficult.”
They only suffered a bit of damage from the giant’s palm and the ant’s attacks. Still, over 400 members of the expedition team remained.
‘Where do I invest the +7 stats when I get them?’
‘Glad I stayed in platinum instead of promoting.’
‘Seong really really is a monster. I feel sorry for the Northeast Asian League players.’
Now, most were expecting the chaotic battlefield to come to an end today.
At that moment,
Rumble…!
“Ah, another earthquake.”
“Isn’t it the same as before, with the giant ants popping up?”
“It doesn’t seem like an enemy… just, this map is a bit weird.”
The expedition team halted their advance due to the sudden earthquake. It was a pretty powerful tremor, but since the expeditionary force was at a Platinum level or above, there were no casualties.
However, the ground shook so violently that movement became restricted.
Rumble…
“It’s lasting longer this time…”
“Yeah. It didn’t last more than 5 minutes last time.”
“Could it be that real enemies are coming?”
Unlike usual, the earthquake continued for an extended period. While people were just thinking it was odd, suddenly…
Boom! Boom!
“Whoa! What, what’s that?!”
“That’s a rift….”
A powerful explosion occurred in the nearby land. The ground erupted, and the chaos rift slowly began to form. From within, chimeras started emerging one by one.
Seong Jihan, watching this, recalled memories from his past life.
‘When the chaos rift starts forming due to an earthquake, the sky and the ground will soon be reversed….’
The terrain would be destroyed, and the world would flip before returning to normal. The chaotic battlefield was overwhelmingly advantageous for flying races.
Until now, the game had been too easy for humanity to perceive these changes. But now, things are different.
‘Originally, I should protect the main base here….’
Seong Jihan, who had no intention of ending the game so soon, made the opposite choice.
“There are no enemies nearby, so let’s head to where the rift appeared.”
“Got it.”
“If the chimeras attack, just focus on defense. I’ll go inside the rift and get some points.”
“Understood!”
Seong Jihan rushed alone toward the newly formed rift. Chimeras appeared in an instant as he wielded his spear and sword, swiftly cutting through the horde.
Surviving chimeras that stayed out of the attack range briefly glanced at Seong Jihan, then turned and charged towards the expeditionary force’s main base.
A monster that judged it was better to charge at a horde of over 400 people rather than rushing at Seong Jihan alone. It seemed irrational, but it was making a very rational decision.
“Shield binding to the front!”
“I’ll use the barrier as well!”
Warriors and supporters took a defensive stance. “Heh… It stings a bit, but it’s fine. Finally, I’ll get to attack.”
“I’ll step up with ranged support.”
Other promising players from different classes chosen by Seong Jihan tried to make their own attacks.
“I’ll take second place in points after Seong! Fire Wave!”
Barren, using his signature Fire Wave, unleashed a wave of intense flames towards the chimeras. The fiery waves covered the chimeras instantly.
Roar!
Chimeras engulfed in flames, their entire bodies burning. “Huh…! It’s nothing special.”
Barren smiled confidently as he watched the chimeras burning in the Fire Wave.
“They keep moving even when on fire?”
“Huh…….”
However, the chimeras, either resistant to or immune to fire, strongly resisted the Fire Wave.
“I should be the one getting 2nd after uncle. Void Arrow.”
Yoon Seah, wielding her bow, used the Void Arrow skill. Unlike Barren, she couldn’t perform wide area attacks, but with each twang of the bowstring, chimeras stopped moving and fell.
Precisely taking care of them one by one, Yoon Seah caught Barren’s attention.
Watching from the side, Barren bit his lips.
‘At this rate, I might lose to his niece again.’
“I’ll show you…….! Just watch, Yoon Seah!”
“Sure, give it a try.”
“I’ll join in too.”
“Oh, Uncle Masied might be more threatening.”
With that, the promising players Seong Jihan brought started eliminating chimeras in their own ways.
“We can hold out.”
“I know right? We even blocked the giant’s palms, this much is nothing.”
The trained Lv 200 warriors easily fended off the Chimeras.
The game progressed too smoothly.An incredibly easy game.
“Captain, should we just…… commit suicide now?”
“Why’s it always suicide! They can sufficiently block these Chimeras even if we die.”
“But at this rate, they might really clear it…!”
While the warriors from the People’s guild were feeling uneasy, a system message appeared, announcing a change in the game.
[The chaos rift is expanding, and the heavens and the earth are overturning.]
* * *
The change was sudden.
“Uh, uh….”
The sky and the ground flipped in an instant. Players who were standing on the ground began to fall into the sky.
Whooosh!
Although the world had quickly returned to its original state after being inverted,
“What, what’s going on? We’re… in the sky!
“The damn Chimeras can fly too?!”
“Cough, cough…!”
The expedition team was now floating in mid-air. The defensive posture was completely released for a moment, and the expeditionary force was attacked by the Chimera.
Unlike a moment ago, casualties increased rapidly.
“Let’s use Shield Binding again!”
“Let’s hurry!”
Just as the expedition team tried to somehow recover from this situation,
[10 seconds later, gravity will return to normal.]
The world, which had been overturned, weakened gravity, suddenly returned to normal.
The weakened gravity from the world flipping soon returned.
“If it’s like this, we’ll fall…!”
“Flight magic, can everyone use it?”
“It’s difficult in 10 seconds!”
“Then let’s use Shield Binding towards the ground!”
The expedition team desperately tried to prevent a free fall. At the critical moment when the main expedition team was in the greatest danger, the warriors from the People’s guild, the Chinese warriors, exchanged glances.
‘Now’s the time!’
‘Let’s commit suicide.’
“Shield Binding!”
Shield Binding. A skill that summons a giant shield when more than 150 warriors gather together. Until a moment ago, whether the warriors of the People’s guild participated or not, Shield Binding was well maintained.
But now, with the sky and the ground flipped, it was different. The perfect gathering of warrior power was not achieved, so if a few fell, the Shield Binding situation would not be maintained properly.
The warriors of the People’s guild seized this opportunity.
“Ch-Chimera…! Argh!”
“Ah, the shield fell…!”
Some deliberately let themselves get attacked by Chimeras.
While some floating in the air panicked and dropped their shields to the ground.
The Chinese warriors hindered team unity through various acts.
“Shield Binding didn’t cast properly!”
“Oh no…!”
Boom! Boom!
Many players plunged to their deaths.
“Ah, I didn’t die…”
“Huh?”
Towards the collapsed humanity, not just Chimeras, but
[He’s not here.]
[Let’s kill them before he comes here.]
The powerful races chased away by Seong Jihan earlier simultaneously charged the humans.
Boom!
A giant summoned abruptly struck the expedition team.
And a giant ant grabbed humans from underground and swallowed them.
-Hell… What is this;
-Were those guys hiding and following us? Why are they suddenly all coming out?
-We’re too powerless without Shield Binding….
-Wow, I thought it was all over
As viewers lamented the expedition pushed to the brink of annihilation after the world flipped,
‘Is this the end?’
Seong jihan descended to the bottom of the chaos rift.
[Ugh, ugh….]
[Don’t know… I don’t know…!]
[Show mercy… to the deceased….]
A world dyed in purple.
As the Chimeras synthesized, voices of lost souls, echoing from everywhere, spread throughout.
Both the surface and hell were turned upside down, and this place was no less than hell.
Seong Jihan recalled the epic quest.
[Epic Quest]
-Find the ‘Fragment of a Dead Star’ hidden within the chaotic rift.
Reward – Achievement Points: 1,000,000
– Max Level Cap increased by 50.
– Additional rewards depending on the fragments found.
With rewards so tremendous,
There was no sign of the fragment at the bottom of the rift.
At this rate, he might not find the fragment before the rehearsal ended in December.
‘No, this won’t work. First, I need to clean up the surrounding environment.’
Seong Jihan took out two more swords from his inventory.
Nameless Divine Arts, Annihilation God’s Secret – Myriad Ghost Sealing Gods.
As the swords shattered, small symbols appeared on the ground.
Swoosh…!
The moaning souls from all around were sucked in.
[Ah… no way?]
[The shackles of chaos… are released…!]
[Finally I can disappear!]
Even while being sucked in, the souls rejoiced.
The world, previously filled with purple smoke, was purified in an instant.
The Chimeras that had been charging from all directions came to a halt.
Indeed, among Annihilation God’s skills, none surpassed Myriad Ghost Sealing Gods in handling souls.
‘This is the limit.’
The amount of souls in the rift exceeded what could be controlled even with his martial soul.
Boom!
As the symbol of Myriad Ghost Sealing Gods exploded, the absorption of souls stopped.
Nevertheless,
[Salvation, salvation has come!]
[Oh savior, here we are…!]
The attitude of the Chimeras’ souls, just pleading to be saved earlier, completely changed.
Calling Seong Jihan their savior, they gathered in one spot.
Swoosh…
The ground opened.
A hidden space undetected even with his martial soul was revealed.
[Please completely obliterate us!]
As Seong Jihan entered the concealed space, a massive purple-hued cube floated in mid-air.
An even stronger deathly energy than before flowed out, almost comparable to what Karlein possessed.
‘I can’t just endure this with martial soul.’
Seong Jihan used the same method as when he faced Kalrein.
Nameless Divine Arts, Annihilation God’s Secret – Blood Cross.
A pure white cross with a hole in the middle.
Originally designed for offense, this martial art had been increasingly used for defense lately.
After imbuing it with the life energy gained from The World Tree,
Whoosh…!
A green protective barrier completely enclosed him, blocking the deathly energy.
[As expected of the savior…!]
[He’s enduring it!]
[He’s not dying!]
They cheered, now filled with hope.
[Please destroy that thing. Oh savior…!]
With newfound hope, they pleaded for Seong jihan to break the cube.
This situation required careful consideration. One look and he knew he had to use the Myriad Ghost Sealing Gods.
‘Using both Annihilation God’s Secrets will completely drain my soul…’
Even for Seong Jihan, the tremendously consuming Annihilation God’s Secret wasn’t easy to double cast.
Using Myriad Ghost Sealing Gods here would surely drain him.
Since he planned more fights later, he should withdraw here.
If only the expedition force ended here, he could go all out without worries.
‘The sky flipped but they’re still holding out? Hmm… Is the People’s guild warriors not making any move?’
While Seong Jihan was conflicted,
[Team’s survival rate has dropped below 10%.]
[You will be expelled from the map in 15 minutes.]
A timely system message appeared.
The system message informed Seong Jihan that the team had been wiped out.
‘Perfect.’
With the game coming to an end, he could go all out now.
Seong Jihan took out two more S-rank swords from his inventory and approached the cube.
He plunged the swords into the cube and used the Myriad Ghost Sealing Gods,
Crackle…!
As cracks formed on the cube.
[‘Chaos Sealing Stone’ is crumbling.]
[‘Fragment of a Dead Star’ reveals itself.]
The goal of this epic quest, the Fragment of the Dead Star, appeared from within the cube.
*****
*****
