“What’s the use of Constellation fame?”
Seong Jihan, upon seeing a reward he’s never seen before, asked the Shadow Queen.
[Constellation fame? It’s not particularly useful for anything. Think of it as a score for the honor of one who has become a constellation.]
“Is that so? So, it’s like achievement points?”
[Achievement points… Yes, you could see it that way. The achievements made after becoming a constellation are converted into fame points.]
Hearing this, Seong Jihan’s eyes lit up.
Achievement points, treated as useless by regular players.
But for Seong Jihan, they were very useful through his exclusive achievements store.
‘Perhaps there might also be a store related to Constellation fame.’
First, I need to collect the fame points.
Thinking this, Seong Jihan drew out Eclipse.
Swoosh!
He swung the sword horizontally.
Then,
Crackle!
Sparks flew from the chambers imprisoning the players, and they all shattered at once.
[Manager, the chambers should not be opened under any circumstance.]
Upon seeing this, a lesser great golem hastily dissuaded Seong Jihan.
“It’s fine. I have a top-secret mission. For now, let the players be.”
[…Understood.]
Unable to defy Seong Jihan’s words, the spirit returned to its duties.
And from the broken chambers, players staggered out, one by one.
“Ah…”
“Did, did it unlock?”
Disbelieving, they looked at their bodies and then,
“Logout!”
Immediately attempted to exit the game.
“Damn, logout isn’t working…”
“Curse this map. The World Tree elves should have been more careful when pulling this out…”
Perhaps because it’s a special map touched by the World Tree Alliance, the players couldn’t log out voluntarily even after escaping the chambers.
“Maybe if I kill myself, I can get out of here…!”
Eventually, some of them attempted suicide by clutching their throats, but,
“My body is too healthy; it’s hard even to die.”
“Being okay even with suffocation, what kind of situation is this…”
Was it due to the regenerative agents administered by the great elementals during their experiments?
They couldn’t kill themselves even if they wanted to.
Especially since all their armories and such were confiscated, making it even harder for players to end their own lives.
Seong Jihan approached them.
“Shall I kill you instead?”
“You are…”
“The one who freed you.”
To fulfill the objective of the Emergency Mission.
There was no need to carry these players around any longer.
Since this was still within the game’s map, if players could die and log out, that would also count as liberation.
Upon Seong Jihan’s offer, the players looked at each other, and one stepped forward first.
“Please kill me first!”
“Alright.”
Schwaaak!
Seong Jihan’s sword brushed past the player, splitting him in two.
However, one would think that was enough to kill anyone.
“Huh?”
Swoosh…
Vessels popped out between the split body, reconnecting the severed parts.
And then quickly regenerated.
The sight mirrored the healing capabilities similar to those of elves.
“What, I’ve never seen this before…”
“Is this an aftermath of the experiment? It makes us unable to die…!”
Was it the power of the regenerative agents deployed during their experiments?
The players wore a look of dismay, but,
“Just need to cut deeper.”
Schwaaak!
Seong Jihan’s sword turned a vivid purple, moving several times in a flash.
Turning a player into dozens of pieces.
The body’s vessels burst forth, attempting to reconnect once more, but,
Flurr…
The void-bearing Eclipse flickered, fundamentally blocking regeneration.
And then,
Flash!
Completely receiving a fatal blow, the player logged out.
[You have liberated 1 player.]
Simultaneously, a message appeared, confirming Seong Jihan had completed the liberation.
“Oh, he logged out!”
“Can we really escape from here…!”
“Please kill me too!”
Excited by what they saw, the players.
Though they varied in size and appearance, belonging to different alien races, they unanimously wished for Seong Jihan to end their lives.
“Alright.”
Chiiiik!
As Seong Jihan proceeded to log out the players in response to their pleas,
[Your level has increased by 1.]
A level-up message appeared on Seong Jihan’s system window.
‘It’s rare to level up in the game like this.’
Normally, one’s level only increased immediately after defeating a significantly higher-leveled adversary.
Usually, levels were cumulatively increased after the game’s conclusion during the settlement.
But to react like this after cutting a player, the opponent’s levels must be high, right?
Seong Jihan, while swinging his sword, asked them,
“So, what levels are you guys at?”
“I’m at 401…”
“414 here.”
Apparently, all subjects exceeded level 400.
Seong Jihan was the lowest level here.
“You all were high-leveled, huh.”
“High-leveled? But isn’t the Constellation the highest level here?”
“Constellation? I’m still in the 300s.”
“What? But with that strength…”
“Yep, I’ll level up a bit from this.”
Swoosh!
Seong Jihan’s sword moved, and the experiment subjects started to scatter.
[You have cleared the Emergency Quest.]
[You gain 100 Constellation fame.]
Thus, the Emergency Quest was easily cleared.
[Your level has increased by 2.]
And the level up was fairly rewarding too.
[Manager, logging out the subjects is a taboo within the laboratory.]
“Can you give some of those regenerative agents?”
Seong Jihan, in turn, reached out to the great golem warning him, wanting the regenerative agents from the World Tree Alliance that showed astonishing efficacy on the subjects.
[We currently need to prioritize data transmission.]
“Then just point me to it.”
[Over there.]
Flash.
On one side of the laboratory,
where bottles were gathered in large numbers, a light flickered briefly.
Seong Jihan headed there and decided,
‘There’s a lot here. No need to just take regenerative agents.’
He swept all dozens of bottles into his inventory.
-Cleaning out, haha.
-Really going at it, even taking the pillars with him.
-This Manager role is too good…
Despite worries of being executed, Seong Jihan behaved as if he was at home in this place.
Viewers watched the final game comfortably, acknowledging it as Seong Jihan’s hallmark.
And then,
‘Before it ends, maybe I should gather some more of this.’
As Seong Jihan thought of collecting more items of elves instead of players’ items,
Flash!
A bright light burst from the direction where a great golem was transmitting data.
[Manager, the order to blow up the laboratory has been given. Self-destruction will commence.]
Perhaps the data transmission was somewhat complete.
Flames flickered from the body of the great golem and then,
Boom! Boom!
Explosions began to occur from all sides.
With the void rapidly approaching from the ground, and the laboratory itself initiating self-destruction at various points, both the upper and lower levels of the Constellation Laboratory were collapsing.
‘The end is near indeed. Better start moving quickly.’
Opportunities for level-up and item acquisition.
They couldn’t be missed.
Ziiing.
A screen appeared in the air.
[…Customer. You’ve indeed led to the closure of the laboratory map. Are you satisfied?]
The tired-looking branch manager spoke up.
“Hey, why close it so quickly? I was still leveling up.”
[Leveling up… Ha.]
The branch manager disdainfully observed Seong Jihan demolishing the chambers, then,
Tap! Tap!
Knocking on his own mask, he brought up the main matter.
[The mask you were given, would you return it, please?]
“Once given, asking for it back is not right.”
[That was given under the assumption that you would become part of Yggdrasil’s lineage. You might be enchanted by the void power contained within for a while… but without periodic purification by Yggdrasil, the user will eventually be consumed by the item.]
His words held a certain meaning.
Seong Jihan, having briefly wielded the void within the mask, saw his void stat increase by 4.
Using it a few more times might exceed the playable limit of void stat a player can hold.
Then, the player would be bound to the will of the void.
Yggdrasil’s ‘purification’ would be the solution to this issue.
“So, you’re saying you care so much you’re now offering to take it back for free?”
[Would you give anything for free? Come to the loan counter. I will… price it very high for you.]
The branch manager spoke through clenched teeth.
Seeing his frustrated look, Seong Jihan smirked.
Looking that pissed off, if I go to the loan counter, there’d be at least a hundred traps waiting.
“I’ll think about it.”
[…A wise decision, I’ll await.]
Upon receiving a response devoid of any sincerity from Seong Jihan.
Beep!
The screen flicked off abruptly.
Shortly after,
[‘Constellation Laboratory’ will close.]
[The player has escaped the Constellation Laboratory.]
[You win the 5th match.]
As the map of the ‘Constellation Laboratory’ completely exploded and closed, the game came to an end.
* * *
After the 5th match concluded.
=Humanity!! Conquering the challenging game with a victory!
=Against the 200 World Tree elves… leading the bronze league in 1st place, they overturned the game 3:2!
=In the last match, player Seong Jihan didn’t specifically escape…
=It seems he received an escape judgment as the Constellation Laboratory collapsed!
The commentators announced humanity’s victory with bright voices.
-Wow, losing to rank 20 but winning against rank 1, humanity’s class lol
-See how the points are evenly shared… a guardian of balance?
-Honestly, this is thanks to Seong Jihan lol
-If it wasn’t for Seong Jihan, they’d just be toyed with and executed.
-At Seong Jihan’s level, shouldn’t he not just be a Constellation candidate, but a Constellation?
-He’s really powerful lol
Although there weren’t many matches in this series, the game was once again decided by Seong Jihan.
As viewers worldwide joyfully talked about Seong Jihan’s strength,
“…”
The elf high priest returned to the coach’s waiting room, her face pale.
Biting her lips, she urgently said to Coach Davis across the table.
“Where is humanity’s top ranker?”
“Why him?”
“Please call him here. I have an urgent trade to propose.”
‘Is it because of the mask?’
Having watched the recent game, Coach Davis guessed her intention and proceeded towards the human players’ waiting room.
“Seong Jihan, what will you do?”
“Let’s hear them out.”
“Understood.”
Thus, Seong Jihan was brought to the coach’s waiting room, where he asked the high priestess in a relaxed voice.
“What kind of trade do you want to make with us?”
“…The items you acquired at the Constellation Laboratory. Please return them to us.”
“There were so many things I got; what exactly do you want back?”
As Seong Jihan shrugged his shoulders,
The elf high priest, clenching her teeth, slowly said,
“…If you return the research laboratory’s reagents, the World Tree elves 200 will guarantee a loss to humanity until the end of this league.”
“Oh?”
He went there to take regenerative medicine, but he decided to put everything in it, so he brought all the glass bottles with him.
There Were about 100 bottles in Seong Jihan’s inventory.
To provide such, promises guaranteed loss.
‘Did these things have such value?’
As Seong Jihan thought to examine what was in the bottles more closely,
“And if you return the Shadow Queen… the three planets of the World Tree elves currently in the Bronze League will guarantee a loss to humanity.”
[…Me?]
The high priest treated the Shadow Queen as ‘goods’ and proposed a trade to bring victory to humanity from three locations.
“Hmm…”
If three races guaranteed a win, the possibility of humanity being relegated would drop to zero.
Seong Jihan, interested by her words, glanced leisurely at his left arm.
[Wait, don’t tell me… not really, right?]
From within, the Shadow Queen asked with a trembling voice.
