***
***
Longinus could scarcely believe it as he looked at Dongbang sak.
“A kinsman of the Martial God… are you saying Seong Jihan is not human, but a member of the god race?”
“The god race…”
Dongbang sak stroked his beard.
“The concept of the god race is vague, not easily pinned down to a single definition. Among the races of the BattleNet, those who are transcendental are commonly referred to as the god race. There are human-shaped god races, and there are many grotesque and bizarre ones as well.”
“That may be, but… there is a commonality among the god race, isn’t it?”
“What’s a common trait of the god race?”
“Those who are recognized as ‘god race’ by the BattleNet.”
In the universe, all sorts of races participate in the BattleNet.
In order to be classified as of the god race there, one must receive official recognition by BattleNet.
Before that, no matter how powerful the race, they did not fall under the classification of the god race.
“Recognition by BattleNet… Indeed. No matter how powerful, they are only semi-godly without it. And certainly, the Martial God is officially recognized as of the god by BattleNet.”
“Then Seong Jihan is really of the god race too?”
“No, that’s not necessarily the case.”
“…Didn’t you say he is a kinsman of the Martial God?”
Longinus retorted as if not sure what Dongbang sak was getting at.
Dongbang sak plucked a strand of his beard.
“If he were of the god race, he wouldn’t be able to participate in the Space League or the Bronze. The grade is different; he wouldn’t have been able to participate under humanity’s banner.”
“That’s true, but…”
Why then did you call him a kinsman of Martial God?
Longinus looked puzzled at Dongbang sak, who just then…
Smoke rose from the torn strand of his beard.
Then the smoke transformed into characters and floated in mid-air.
“I said he was a kinsman because he saw the letters of God Slaughter.”
“The characters… of God Slaughter?”
“Yes. You were absorbed by the spear, God Slaughter and disappeared; you must not have seen it… but he certainly was staring at something within the smoke of the spear, just as the Martial God did.”
Longinus’s expression became grave.
He was well acquainted with the purple characters that emerged from the spear, God Slaughter.
He had been granted the spear by the Martial God, and each time he used it, those characters appeared.
He once tried to completely memorize the characters to interpret them, but there were no corresponding references in the languages of the world.
Furthermore, he couldn’t interpret them even with BattleNet’s translation system, so he had given up.
Only the Martial God.
Only he could recognize those characters….
“…That is surprising. To think that he could read letters only the Martial God can see. But isn’t it premature to say he’s kinsman based on this alone?”
“When I use my Nine Palaces and Eight Trigrams, I see similar characters, don’t I?”
Longinus nodded.
Before the Martial God had modified the spear into the Many Returns Celestial, in the form of the Nine Palaces and Eight Trigrams that Dongbang sak used.
Even then, unusual characters like those from the spear of God Slaughter appeared.
“At that time, the Martial God murmured that it was the script of his kin.”
“Because of that one aspect, you deduced he’s kinsman?”
“Yes. The grounds are thin. Hence, it’s still a conjecture. But given that the Martial Soul was bestowed upon him, and other factors… the Martial God and he are surely closely connected.”
“Uhm… but still…”
Script of the kin.
Longinus frowned thoughtfully, to which Dongbang sak replied while stroking his beard.
“We must use Seong Jihan well. If we find the meaning of the script through him… we might find clues about our ‘stolen business.’”
“Hmm…”
“Don’t go rushing to Earth to kill him just because your spear was blocked.”
“That’s quite an accusation. What do you take me for…! I am not someone to seek revenge over such trivial matters.”
“Is that so? Good then.”
Dongbang sak looked up at the ceiling.
The cork of the giant gourd was slightly shaking.
“We can no longer hide here. Let’s go out.”
“Understood.”
Pop!
The two ascended through the opening of the uncorked gourd.
‘Seong Jihan can read the characters…’
Longinus was plunged into complex contemplations as he followed Dongbang sak.
* * *
Void training ground.
As soon as Seong Jihan arrived home, he entered the training ground.
He could have accessed the training ground through the BattleNet center, but…
‘It could take days of training, and it’s uncomfortable staying there.’
Even though the training ground provided 5.5 times more time, since he didn’t know when the training would end, he chose to enter the training ground at home for his peace of mind.
‘The sensations at the time I was pierced by the God Slaughter. I have to make it mine before I forget.’
The spear, God Slaughter that Longinus manifested.
The movements it made inside his body when it struck him were quite fresh for Seong Jihan.
The strange movements of the Martial Soul and the void that occurred while his body was disappearing left a strong impression on him.
‘Did it start… like this before?’
As Seong Jihan was trying to follow the flow from a little while ago…
[Recent battle records are saved.]
[Do you wish to use the replay function?]
The system message made Seong Jihan’s eyes sparkle.
‘Replay… such a feature exists?’
After the promotion, the Void training ground was obtained.
Initially, the replay function was not active.
However, after playing the game once, this feature seemed to have been unlocked.
“I will use it.”
The best method to learn is always to revise.
As Seong Jihan moved to use replay…
[The current replay slot cannot save this data.]
[Would you like to upgrade your replay slot to premium?]
[Upgrading the slot requires 1,000,000 achievement points.]
‘1 million?’ One million achievement points.
That was the amount he paid to unlock the training ground of the other world.
And now, an upgrade for the replay storage space costs this much?
Seong Jihan was flabbergasted, however…
‘…But there are still plenty of achievement points left. Let’s consider it as an investment.’
The slot upgrade wouldn’t go anywhere once invested.
Seong Jihan boldly invested 1 million.
Then,
[Today’s battle record is saved to the replay slot.]
[The player can playback the battle record from both the player’s first-person perspective and the third-person perspective shown by the BattleNet camera.]
The battle records of his first and fourth matches were saved.
‘This interface… it’s similar to the BattleTube editing screen…’
Having some knowledge of BattleTube editing from his past life, Seong Jihan skillfully trimmed the saved battle records.
‘There’s nothing important about the first match…’
The crucial moment was when he was stabbed with the God Slaughter.
Seong Jihan deleted the first match record and decided to focus only on the replay of the fourth match.
‘In the third-person perspective… no characters appeared.’
In the viewer’s third-person mode…
There, the characters arising from Longinus’ spear did not appear.
Even as Seong Jihan was pierced and his body was blown open,
No matter how much he slowed the playback speed, it occurred instantly.
‘That mode isn’t helpful.’
After checking the third-person mode, Seong Jihan decisively entered the first-person mode.
Thud!
When the spear was thrust into the cross and smoke rose…
[Target conditions, partially met.]
[Extinction code activated.]
There, characters appeared that did not show in third-person.
Characters whose origin was unknown but oddly understandable.
‘Oh, in replay mode, it’s possible to play, pause, and adjust speed.’
Seong Jihan observed the characters for a moment while paused, and then slowed down the replay speed to study the effects of the God Slaughter spear on his body once more.
‘This… worth one million points indeed.’
With each slow replay, Seong Jihan learned more about the God Slaughter.
Although he initially doubted whether the replay mode was worth a million achievement points,
As he learned about the spear, he began to feel like the investment was a bargain.
‘Slow playback is annoying since the pain sensation is prolonged…’
The prolonged pain sensation due to the slow playback.
Despite that, without the option to block the senses, Seong Jihan sought the answers in the midst of continual pain.
‘The extinction code’s manifestation… this is unique.’
The extinction code of the God Slaughter spear, which suppressed the Martial Soul in union with the void.
However, before Seong Jihan’s body could find the void.
it pierced through the Iron Blood Cross, there was no void for the God Slaughter to merge with.
So, what caused the normally durable Iron Blood Cross to disappear instantly?
‘Let’s try playing it even slower.’
From the point of the stab.
Seong Jihan returned to that moment and played the replay even more slowly.
‘I still can’t grasp it at this pace.’
A notch slower.
Seong Jihan replayed the entire process of being stabbed by the spear over a hundred times and continuously felt it in his body.
Without the replay mode, he might have missed certain subtle clues that gradually fit together like a puzzle.
‘From the moment the spear was stuck, there was a strange flow inside the cross.’
‘When the extinction code manifested, the Iron Blood Cross began reacting from within.’
‘The essence of the Iron Blood Cross is the Martial Soul. The extinction code… fundamentally ignited the Martial Soul.’
The flame that instantaneously burnt and erased the Martial Soul.
Only after playing at the slowest speed, could he briefly sense that flame.
‘When “Target conditions, partially met” appeared, the void momentarily emerged.’
‘That became the fuel to burn the Martial Soul of the cross…’
The starting point that destroyed the Iron Blood Cross and penetrated Seong Jihan’s body was the flame of the void that arose through the manifestation of the extinction code.
It ignited instantaneously.
It extinguished so quickly that it was unnoticed before the slowest speed playback: the void’s elusive fire.
‘Can I… make use of this too?’
Seong Jihan’s eyes sparkled.
If he could only harness it, this could become his most potent weapon.
Seong Jihan finished playing, wondering…
‘How shall I use this?’
‘No. This is to be discarded. I have to start with target conditions…’
‘I need to look into the extinction code again.’
In reality, to use the void’s stat, he went through countless trials and errors.
And then, on February 11th…
“Hmm…”
Having been in the void training ground for over 50 days, Seong Jihan…
“…Originally, this wasn’t my goal.”
From the tip of the phoenix spear.
He blinked, staring at the more intensely blazing crimson lightning.
The original goal was to harness the stat of the void.
‘Has the Crimson Thunder Cannon… been completed?’
An unexpected result emerged.
He had only mixed the imperfect Crimson Thunder Cannon with an aim to kindle the void’s stat…
‘Perhaps Brahma will think otherwise.’
It seemed finished to Seong Jihan.
But from Brahma’s point of view, there might still be many deficiencies.
To confirm, Seong Jihan exited the training ground and logged into the game to enter the Brahma’s Constellation Map.
“Brahma, I have brought the Crimson Thunder Cannon”
Displaying The Crimson Thunder Cannon…
[Ohhh…! To achieve such a level of completion… ]
“Is it enough?”
[Enough! It is sufficient!]
Immediately, he received the go-ahead from Brahma.
***
***
