***
***
=Game… over?
=The horrifying 5th match ends with Korea’s victory!
=Should we say fortunately…?
=At least we won’t have to see Oliver or Barren floating around with just their heads anymore.
The 5th match that was distorted by the King Of Humans.
Although the commentators’ home country, the United States, lost, considering the disgraceful behavior shown by the rankers of both countries, the commentators said it was better for the game to end here.
-Wow… I wondered why he suddenly flew up, but he grabbed a weapon in the sky and the game ended
-Gilgamesh, did you hide the treasure there from the beginning? No, you said the bandaged sphere was the primordial treasure
-So this bastard is lying whenever he opens his mouth lol There was no top floor of the Tower of Babel, and he hid the primordial treasure in such a place
-Is this… who do they call a king?
And in that short moment, viewers denounced Gilgamesh who lied whenever he opened his mouth.
This was a sentiment shared by viewers of both Korea and the United States.
And
-Anyway, with this… Korea is the champion?
-Yeah, it’s the first time we’ve won in the Champions League
-Ah, it’s good, but the last match leaves a bad taste in my mouth
-Are the players with only their heads left… okay? I’m worried that there might be consequences in reality for this.
-Since it happened in the game, it should be fine…
Since the Korean national team ultimately won in the 5th match, Korea claimed the championship.
But perhaps because the shock of the final match was so great, the festive atmosphere wasn’t greatly expressed.
What drew more public attention than that was the people who had been absorbed into the Tower of Babel.
It was questionable whether they would return to the real world normally.
Meanwhile,
[How did you know the location of the primordial treasure?]
The bandaged sphere that had been following Seong Jihan asked in a leisurely voice, even though the game had ended.
“Isn’t it strange that the weapons in the sky remained the same even though the map turned completely black? That’s why I came to check.”
[Is that so? To think your sight reaches this far… You had some leeway.]
Gilgamesh spoke as if he was satisfied, even though he lost the game.
A strand of the sphere’s bandage loosened and changed shape as if it were a hand.
[Then, will you hand over the primordial treasure back?]
Gilgamesh shamelessly asked for the dagger back as if he had entrusted it.
“Inventory.”
Seong Jihan didn’t even respond to him and immediately put it into his inventory.
[Hoho… Can you handle it? If you take that to Earth, it will cause quite a stir.]
“What is this dagger?”
[It’s an item related to Earth’s World Tree. If it reveals itself on Earth, the World Tree that was barely eliminated might regenerate.]
A dagger related to the World Tree.
At those words, Seong Jihan recalled the void training ground.
It should be fine to summon it there since it’s not Earth anyway.
“It’s okay. I’ll handle it.”
[Will you really not return it to me? Then, the human rankers who have submitted to me will turn against you.]
“Let them.”
[When you return to Earth, it’s no longer a game. What will you do if the rankers confront you and die?]
If they clash with Seong Jihan, the ones who will die are obviously the rankers.
Gilgamesh was pressuring Seong Jihan using the lives of the rankers who had submitted to him.
“Are you threatening me with people’s lives?”
[Threatening, no, it’s a suggestion. The rankers who pledge loyalty to me… They will be necessary for humanity to navigate the Space League.]
Seong Jihan chuckled at those words.
“The most important thing for humanity to navigate the Space League is me. Not the 100 Korean-American rankers.”
[Oho… What arrogant confidence.]
“Besides, I can’t trust your words at all.”
The top floor of the Tower of Babel was a lie.
The primordial treasure was also a lie.
To Seong Jihan, Gilgamesh was a type he could never trust.
But if he fell for his threat and handed over the dagger.
Far from keeping his promise, Gilgamesh would continue to use the rankers’ lives to control and manipulate Seong Jihan.
He absolutely couldn’t let that happen.
[Oh dear, I’ve lost quite a bit of trust.]
“My trust in you is already nonexistent.”
[Then I’ll have to keep my word this time… Look forward to it.]
With those final words, the bandaged sphere gradually became transparent.
And when he completely disappeared.
[Logging out.]
Seong Jihan was able to escape from this map.
And then.
“Uh… I’m out!”
“U-Uncle! You’re back!”
As he returned to the BattleNet Center, Yoon Seah ran to him with teary eyes and let out a sigh of relief.
“Thank goodness…”
“What? Did something happen?”
When Seong Jihan asked with a puzzled face, Yoon Seah pointed her finger behind her.
“Oh, player Seong Jihan has returned!”
“That’s a relief… What about the other players?”
“Well… The players who connected through the connectors are still unable to come out!”
Yoon Seah and Sophia, who had logged out early.
And except for Seong Jihan, who ended the game, all the players were trapped in the connectors.
‘Is this what Gilgamesh meant by looking forward to?’
He doesn’t lie about these things.
Seong Jihan frowned.
***
[The Korean national team wins the BattleNet Champions League for the first time! However, the champagne didn’t pop.]
[What is the health status of the players trapped in the BattleNet connectors? According to data displayed on the external screen of the connectors, they are still healthy.]
[This incident that also struck the US national team, is it a ploy by the King Of Humans Gilgamesh?]
[Players who serve the King Of Humans as a constellation say that player Seong Jihan must return the ‘primordial treasure’ to resolve this situation.]
The victory in this year’s Champions League was claimed by South Korea. It should have been a time for mutual celebration and enjoyment of the unbelievable victory, but the actual situation turned out quite differently.
-Wait, what’s with this sudden bolt from the blue when there’s not much left of the Space League?
-At least Seong Jihan survived… If the US national team players are trapped in the connectors like this, won’t the human representative team’s power decrease tremendously?
-Yeah… I think the US players accounted for almost 30% of the power
-And the Sword King is also gone… When Seong Jihan gets banned, the Sword King and the US national team players were supposed to fill the gap.
-Gilgamesh is such a pain till the end.
-No seriously, why is an Earth-born constellation doing this?
-He’s telling us to hand over the primordial treasure damn it.
“Ah, is that constellation a dumbass?”
Yoon Seah, who rarely used harsh words, spoke intensely towards Gilgamesh and even cursed at the end.
“The rankers who serve the King Of Humans in the US are gathering to issue a statement of condemnation? They are saying not to recklessly covet the king’s item and return it quickly…”
“What kind of constellation bastard! He gave it as a map reward and now he’s taking hostages with people’s lives…!”
When Sophia spoke while looking at the news from the US on her phone, Yoon Seah burst out in anger.
It was too low-level of a threat to be called an act of a constellation but perhaps because the value of the bound players was so great, the effect of the threat was tremendous.
“Jihan… Uh, a direct request has come from the US association. They say the government will compensate according to the grade of the primordial treasure item, so how about handing it over to the constellation?”
Lee Hayeon, who had hurriedly rushed to the BattleNet Center, conveyed the message from the US side with a troubled face.
With 50 top rankers trapped in the connectors at once, the US association, which had fallen into a state of panic.
Their position was to accept the conditions set by Gilgamesh for now.
“How do they know the grade of the primordial treasure?”
“For now, they say they will provide a minimum of 3 SSS-grade items. And they will give you a blank check, so you can use as much GP as you want…”
“They sure love blank checks.”
Seong Jihan said that and opened his inventory.
‘Hmm… This has grown.’
The dagger ‘primordial treasure’ that originally occupied one slot in the inventory.
But while Seong Jihan was looking for a countermeasure to this situation, the primordial treasure had somehow transformed into a long sword occupying 4 slots in the inventory.
“What should we do?”
“For now, I’ll go to the training ground and take a look at this item. Let’s skip the award ceremony.”
“Yeah, Uncle. There won’t be an award ceremony anyway. It’s better to go train and come back.”
Compared to the US, Korea had saved 3 people, but 47 members of the Korean national team were also trapped in the connectors.
In such a serious situation, there was no way they would hold an award ceremony for winning the Champions League.
“I’ll be back.”
Seong Jihan, who went to the void training ground like that, took out the primordial treasure from his inventory.
It was definitely a small dagger with a green glow when he put it in.
‘…Why did it grow so much?’
When he took the item out of the inventory, the dagger had transformed into a long wooden sword three times larger than Seong Jihan.
And the sword imbued with a green light, when Seong Jihan took it out of the inventory.
Rumble…
With the tip of the sword stuck in the ground, it slowly began to grow.
The primordial treasure that seemed like it would continue to grow if left alone like this.
An item description appeared in front of Seong Jihan.
[Modified World Tree Root Strand]
Grade: FFF
A prohibited item designated by the Green Administrator.
‘This is a root strand?’
No wonder the life force was extraordinary.
Judging by the power it possessed, it seemed like an item that would easily surpass SSS-grade.
Perhaps because it was a prohibited item, the grade was set as FFF.
And then,
[The target is a ‘prohibited item of the Administrator’.]
[Would you like to report this item to the Administrator?]
[If you report and return the item, a huge reward will be given by the Administrator.]
The system asked if he wanted to report this item to the Green Administrator.
‘I can’t return it to them.’
Judging by the fact that the system message appeared saying they would give a huge reward, this item seemed quite important to the Green Administrator or the World Tree Alliance.
There was no way he could hand it over to them.
‘For now, I’ll try analyzing it in my own way.’
Seong Jihan touched the rapidly growing World Tree root strand.
The life force he had absorbed so far and an unknown power coexisted within it.
“Hmm…”
Clang!
He tried hitting it as a weapon with the giant wooden sword and firing Dragon Thunder at it, Seong Jihan conducted various tests.
‘The regenerative power is outstanding, befitting the World Tree line.’
No matter how much he cut and burned it, the giant wooden sword kept regenerating.
Through such continuous testing, he identified the life force, but…
‘There’s one more thing…’
The analysis of the other power hidden within it was not successful.
How long had he trained like that?
[The Void Faction detects the ‘prohibited item’.]
[It demands the player to open the void training ground for confirmation.]
[Will you make the training ground public?]
Another message appeared to Seong Jihan.
‘Even the Void has popped up.’
The giant wooden sword that had somehow reached the sky of the training ground.
No, it was now closer to a pillar supporting the sky and the earth rather than a wooden sword.
Did it grow this much and get detected by the Void?
The modified World Tree root strand was overflowing with popularity.
‘It’s about time for the final test.’
Seong Jihan used Gilgamesh’s power in front of the wooden pillar.
Fundamental Divine Arts, Annihilation God’s Secret – Heavenly Tree Descending Spirit
Chains extended from Seong Jihan’s body towards the pillar.
At first, Seong Jihan intended to just make the chains of the Heavenly Tree Descending Spirit touch the wooden pillar, but…
Clank! Clank!
The chains of the Heavenly Tree Descending Spirit endlessly extended to the sky and the ground.
‘…How much will it grow?’
It wrapped around the World Tree root strand as it was.
And then,
Slither!
The chains, in reverse, pulled Seong Jihan.
“Hmm…”
It drew him into the World Tree root.
As Seong Jihan was sucked into the pillar like that.
Flash!
A new sight unfolded before his eyes.
***
***
