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Somewhere in the universe.
Zzzzzt…
[Wow, they caught up so quickly.]
The red lion shuddered as it gazed at its pursuers.
Among the infamous disciples of the Martial God in the universe,
The most notorious, Dongbang Sak stroked his beard as he looked down on him.
“Thunder God. Your power has been significantly diminished. What’s the source of that red lightning?”
[…Do you think I’d tell you?]
The red lion growled defiantly in response to Dongbang Sak’s pressing questions.
“Dongbang Sak, just kill him. He’s merely a fragment.”
“Is that so?”
[Wait, wait…]
Swoosh!
With a flash of his sword, Dongbang Sak sliced him into dozens of pieces.
[What… This power…!]
“For an avatar, it’s holding up quite well. Are you sure it’s an avatar?”
“Yes, just now… Seong Jihan pulled out the chains and obliterated it alongside the Ancient Elf with a massive explosion.”
“You were watching him instead of completing your mission.”
“What are you saying? He happened to be in my scanning range during the mission. The Thunder god who had that red lightning must have gone to him.”
[What? What did you just say…?]
Even while being torn apart, the Thunder God, Brahma questioned what he heard from Dongbang Sak and Pythia’s conversation.
“Brahma. Wouldn’t it be better to just die without knowing? Disappear.”
[No. Wait…!]
“So persistent.”
Flash!
With a motion of Dongbang Sak’s sword,
The body of Brahma was shredded, discharging electric currents into the void before vanishing.
“Hmm. A failed mission, huh?”
“There’s nothing we could do. Until the Thunder God bearing the Crimson Thunder emerged from Seong Jihan’s body, we couldn’t detect him.”
“What about the other one?”
“Seong Jihan? He used the authority of Gilgamesh to eliminate both the Thunder God and Ancient Elf.”
“Hmm. I am curious. How does he know about all our abilities…”
“That’s why. Do we have any information on Martial Soul”
As the two marveled at Seong Jihan, who had handled the fifth technique, Gilgamesh’s authority,
[The Thunder God has been annihilated. Now, return.]
A deep male voice resounded over them.
They looked at each other, eyes widening with shock.
This voice is…
”…Gilgamesh?“
“Could he have awakened from the use of the authority?”
[Yes.]
“What about the master?”
[He’s gone.]
Pythia’s eyes sparked with realization upon hearing Gilgamesh’s reply.
It was the same as before.
When Gilgamesh awoke, the Martial God vanished.
There was never a moment when both of them existed together.
‘Gilgamesh and the Martial God… are they really the same person? Or…’
Pythia pondered this possibility when,
[The one who woke me. Is it Seong Jihan? I have something to say regarding him. So, return first.]
Gilgamesh urged their return.
“Understood.”
“We’ll head there immediately.”
Flash!
Both their figures vanished.
Zzzzt…
The spot where Brahma vanished briefly crackled with electricity before falling silent.
* * *
[Light has disappeared from the planet colonization map, but survivors exist.]
[The Race Competition’s 1st place, ‘Humanity,’ ascends to the Hall of Fame!]
[Ranked 47th in the Hall of Fame. Above and below are filled with World Tree Elves.]
While Ancient Elf was being extinguished, a massive void erupted from his mask, sweeping away everything on the colonization map.
Nonetheless, Seong Jihan alone survived amidst the void, managing to clear the mission.
-Hall of Fame. Didn’t know such a thing existed.
-47th place is a bit disappointing, isn’t it?
-Would have risen higher if the Elf hadn’t detonated his mask. LOL
-But how exactly did Seong Jihan defeat him?
-Even after watching, it’s unclear. It happened too fast. LOL
-Thanks to that, we managed to reach 1st in the Bronze League, awesome.
Humanity successfully achieved 1st place in the League competition. Due to their excellent performance in this game, they also rose in the rankings, securing 1st place even in the Bronze League. While reaching the Hall of Fame was a great achievement, the results were excellent overall.
-But why so many World Tree Elves in the Hall of Fame? -_-
-Exactly. Seems like there are definitely more in our league…
-Isn’t that too much? They’re clearly not Bronze level elves. Why are they causing a massacre in the lower leagues?
-Doesn’t BattleNet have penalties for this kind of behavior?
The Hall of Fame list, above and below, was filled with World Tree Elves, leading many to feel uneasy about the ranking.
With the humans ranked 47th in the Hall of Fame while the surrounding ten places were mostly filled with Elves,
Meanwhile,
Seong Jihan was sorting through a deluge of reward messages.
The first indication was that he received the title of Void Executor.
[Void Executor]
-The power of the void amplifies to the limits of the race.
-Abilities beyond the limit are activated for entities that do not follow ‘order’.
-Recognized as ‘ally’ or ‘competitor’ to void entities.
-Void absorption limit does not decrease.
Compared to the Void Executor, an even more upgraded title.
‘Even if the other aspects are acceptable, being recognized as an ally or competitor to the void entities bothers me.’
Unsure who it referred to, Seong Jihan couldn’t help but think of the Abyss’ master in North Korea.
Equipping this title may draw his attention.
‘Then, let’s equip and see.’
Seong Jihan equipped the Void Executor title and shifted his gaze to other reward messages.
[Your level increased by 10.]
[You’ve reached the Diamond League limit at level 300.]
[Upon promotion to the Master League, additional levels will be increased.]
His level climbed to 300 by eliminating Elves, Ancient Elf, and Brahma on the planet colonization map.
The additional 10 level-up rewards given post-game were unapplied due to reaching the league’s level limit.
And,
[A special achievement, ‘Killer of the Gods,’ has been achieved.]
[You gain 10,000,000 achievement points.]
[A special achievement, ‘Toppler of Constellations,’ has been achieved.]
[You gain 10,000,000 achievement points.]
‘Is ten million the maximum at once?’
For his accomplishment of annihilating Brahma and Ancient Elf with the Heavenly Tree Descending Spirit technique,
Seong Jihan had already upgraded every item in the Achievement Store to its maximum.
‘Time to upgrade the Secret Store,’ he thought,
Seong Jihan, who had already upgraded all items in the achievement store to MAX, decided to upgrade the secret store this time with the points earned.
[Secret Shop – Void LV.2]
Secret Shop Upgrade – 100,000,000P
Status Window Enhancement LV.2 – 5,000,000P
Class Enhancement LV.2 – 5,000,000P
Title Fusion – 1,000,000P
Upgrade of Interdimensional Space – Enhanced for 10,000,000P, consumes 20,000P per day when activated
Void Absorption Limit Increase LV.1 – Increases by 1 point per 100,000. Can be increased up to 200.
‘Earning is outpaced by the amount of points spent.’
The Secret Shop, with better items than the previous achievement shop, also had a considerable consumption of achievement points. If Seong Jihan hadn’t defeated Brahma and the Ancient Elf this time, he wouldn’t have even thought about it.
‘Still, I earned a lot this time, so I need to upgrade quickly. Especially the last item is essential.’
With the Ancient Elf detonating, Seong Jihan absorbed the void from the colonization planet.
His void stat climbed to 100.
His abilities were close to the void absorption limit, almost reaching the limit. With this, there was a high probability of being bound to the will of the void.
Seong Jihan decided to first increase the void limit.
[The void limit has been extended to 200.]
After upgrading his status pane and class,
[Status window enhanced.]
[All stats within the status window are enhanced by 40%, and the experience gain rate and stat growth rate increase by 100%.]
[The enhancement effect will last for 100 weeks.]
[The stats ‘Martial Soul’ and ‘Void’ are not included in the enhancement.]
[Your class is enhanced.]
[The class characteristics are enhanced, and the effects of ‘All For One’ are amplified by 200%.]
[Class evolution from ‘Wandering Warrior’ is now possible. Choose from ‘First Man’, or ‘Heterogeneous Martial Resolve’ for your new path.]
‘Class evolution?’
Previously, the class enhancement simply doubled the prior boosting effects.
However, with this class enhancement, a new option emerged.
[First Man]
-You become the pioneer of the ‘human’ race.
-You can pay achievement points to acquire any ability obtained by a human player.
-You receive preferential growth amongst all humans.
First Man.
This class focused entirely on human players.
Befitting a class of one leading the charge, it ensured a human would never fall behind others of their race.
‘This seems… similar to Martial Soul.’
Already owning Martial Soul, Seong Jihan didn’t show much interest in First Man.
Considering he had long surpassed humanity,
Acquiring the skills of other players was needless.
The next class caught his attention instead.
[Heterogeneous Martial Resolve]
Researches and absorbs martial arts and abilities of different species to suit one’s own race.
The greater the void ability value, the larger the class adjustment effect, and training efficiency increases even more in the interdimensional space.
Heterogeneous Martial Resolve presented a completely different direction from First Man.
‘This is better.‘
Without much hesitation, Seong Jihan chose this class.
‘It’s difficult to analyze Dragon Heart. This could come in handy.’
After all, with Martial Soul, he could compensate for the benefits of First Man.
Utilizing Heterogeneous Martial Resolve was a new opportunity.
[Your class has evolved from ‘Wandering Warrior’ to ‘Heterogeneous Martial Resolve’.]
Having evolved his class,
‘Now for the Void Training Room upgrade.‘
Seong Jihan also improved the Void Training Room, which he considered a valuable training area.
[Your Void Training Room has been upgraded.]
[You can now adjust the flow of time within the training facility even more finely.]
[The time adjustment limit has been increased to 20% of your void stat.]
‘This doubles what I had before.’
Seong Jihan previously could spend time in the training room proportional to 10% of his void stat’s value.
Now, with a 20% increase,
Twenty days in the training facility became equivalent to a single real-world day.
‘Thanks to these two, I’ve upgraded nicely.‘
Thanks to Ancient Elf and Brahma’s annihilation, Seong Jihan managed to enhance the Secret Store in a single go.
With remaining achievement points saved for later,
[You have been listed in the ‘Planet Colonization’ Hall of Fame.]
[The ‘Human’ race is ranked 47th in the Hall of Fame.]
[You have completed an epic quest.]
[By absorbing the power of the colonizing planet, your ‘Martial Soul’ ability has been strengthened…]
‘It’s still not over.’
After clearing planet colonization, Seong Jihan watched the loading message continue…
‘Maybe I should check out the upgraded training facility.’
Just as he considered this,
[Martial Soul has been strengthened.]
[You can now enter special codes for certain powers through Martial Soul.]
[Caution- If codes are used incorrectly, Martial Soul’s ability can be permanently consumed.]
‘Codes?’
Just then, the upgrade was complete.
* * *
On the Martial God’s star, Tuseong.
Dongbang Sak stroked his beard, eyeing the being before him.
“Gilgamesh… so he’s really woken up.”
“Yes, sooner than expected.”
A man with brown curly hair, long beard, and tanned skin.
Although he looked very tired, his golden eyes shone brightly as he gazed at the screen.
“That’s… Seong Jihan?”
Gilgamesh was looking at a replay screen of the League competition.
There, Seong Jihan had turned the Leader of the Thunder God, Brahma into chains, binding Ancient Elf with them.
“He used your power like that, huh.”
“Yeah. It’s still lacking, but he still did a good job.”
Unlike other Martial Gods Disciples who felt an instinctual distaste when they saw someone else using their powers,
Gilgamesh eyed the Heavenly Tree Descending Spirit with a smile, lifting his lips.
‘Why is he pleased?’
Even Pythia, who was typically amiable towards Seong Jihan, felt a natural rejection when he used Sword Rain from time to time.
She, perplexed by Gilgamesh’s reaction, asked,
“So, what’s this thing you have to say about Seong Jihan?”
“The Martial God… the master has commanded Longinus to eliminate Seong Jihan.“
“…Why?”
“He must see him as a threat. The master won’t tolerate even the smallest variable.”
Gilgamesh added, contemptuously sneering.
It was an incongruous expression for one of the Martial God’s Disciples.
‘Martial God and Gilgamesh… are they really different people?’
Pythia, observing his expression, mulled over whether Gilgamesh and the Martial God were distinct entities.
“However, the master’s command is only directed at Longinus… Don’t interfere with this matter.”
“Don’t interfere?”
“Yes. Only Longinus should act.”
Gilgamesh’s statement hammered Pythia’s suspicion.
It was a decision that partly defied the Martial God orders, clearly in favor of Seong Jihan.
***
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