The day before the Space Arena Master League finals.
[Octane, the CEO of Octane Investments, has sponsored you with 100,000,000,000GP and sent you a message.]
[Becoming the finalist… Investing in this bet was the right choice. Thank you for succeeding, Blue Chip.]
Along with a substantial sponsorship, Octane Investments sent an additional message to Seong Jihan.
[And 100 billion isn’t enough for the profits, so let’s also give you some information about your finals opponent…]
“The finals opponent? It lists them as Little Sun.”
The finals opponent, Little Sun
With a name like Little Sun, Seong Jihan thought it must be another grandiose name given to an alt by some Constellation.
[Little Sun… That is the summon of the Sun King.]
“The Sun King?”
[Yes… He is a Great Constellation aiming for the position of the missing Red Administrator. An entity beyond considering race evolution quests, yet intriguingly, he sent his summon to the Master League…]
“He must be quite strong, then.”
[Quite… Watch the fight.]
Ziiing.
A screen appeared before Seong Jihan’s eyes, displaying a familiar scene of the Arena battleground.
On one side was an ancient elf with half green hair.
On the other, a small, fist-sized glowing orb hovered.
-Little Sun… why would an entity like you come to the Master League…
Despite the ancient elf’s questions, the glowing orb remained silent.
Flash!
And then, with one flash of brilliant white light, the entire arena was engulfed in light, soon burying everything in oblivion.
[Victor: Little Sun.]
In a world obliterated by light, the system message announced the game’s conclusion.
Other matches Octane showed had identical outcomes.
[Overwhelming power… In this tournament of the Master League, both you and Little Sun have dominated the games. However, based on the power demonstrated in the matches, Little Sun seemed stronger…]
“After all, it managed to blow away the battlefield.”
[Yes… Thus, our Investment firm decided to allow autonomous investment based on individual judgments for this match. Everyone, except for me, bet on Little Sun.]
“Is that so? Then, did you bet on me?”
[No… I didn’t bet on this game. Normally, I would have surely invested in a Great Constellation’s cause, but… my intuition sent a warning.]
Following his gut, Octane didn’t invest in the Great Constellation.
But that didn’t mean he was willing to put money on Seong Jihan either.
Seong Jihan chuckled.
“Well, thanks for the info.”
[Then… Good luck.]
Beep.
As Octane’s message faded, Seong Jihan muttered softly,
“Providing sponsorship and now information, quite the gentleman.”
[Hmm. Normally, he’s not that kind… It seems Octane wants to maintain a connection with you.]
“Really?”
[Yeah. He used to be kind when investing in me as well, but became ruthless later.]
Well, it’s unlikely for an investment firm to show unconditional kindness.
Thinking that he would need to maintain a proper distance, Seong Jihan recalled the battle scenes Octane had shown him.
‘Little Sun, huh…’
Despite being called a sun, Little Sun was no larger than a lightbulb, yet the power it emitted was indeed worthy of its solar moniker.
Until reaching the finals, he had mostly encountered alts of Constellations, but now, unexpectedly, a formidable opponent had emerged at the very end.
‘If it comes down to it, engaging all my powers like when I faced Longinus should be enough to stop it…’
With the half-mask and activating Constellation traits, his power would greatly amplify, making it possible to handle even Little Sun.
But,
‘Since this isn’t a real-life battle, let’s take the hit first.’
Since battles in the Space Arena didn’t carry the same weight as the direct descent of Longinus,
Seong Jihan decided to directly experience Little Sun’s light.
Both the use of the half-mask and activating Constellation traits were powers with their own limitations.
‘Taking a critical hit might give me a clue about the Return of the Light’s usage.’
The third Annihilation technique, Return of the Light was known only by name, with no idea of how to use it.
He had even inflicted self-injuries in a training ground to test it but to no effect.
It was worth feeling the effect of a critical hit from someone else.
Having decided how to face Little Sun,
‘Now, about that message to use the Ice Sword Rain…’
The fourth Annihilation Technique, Ice Sword Rain.
This technique, which had a searching function, was trickier to utilize in actual combat, so it hadn’t been used much lately.
However, Pythia, with whom contact had been lost, had suddenly sent a message urging its use.
‘Could it be related to Little Sun?’
Speculating this, Seong Jihan prepared for the finals.
The first thing he checked was the betting odds for his final match.
‘10 to 1… It’s shot up.’
As Seong Jihan demonstrated his formidable abilities, the betting odds had sharply decreased.
But after it became known that his finals opponent Little Sun was a summon of the Sun King, the odds skyrocketed.
While humans often continued their faith betting on Seong Jihan, alien species quickly gathered information and placed safe bets on Little Sun.
‘Looks like I’m going to make some money this time.’
Seong Jihan put all his accumulated GP into the bet.
* * *
On the finals day.
The atmosphere in Seong Jihan’s channel chat was starkly divided.
-Seong Jihan… We owe you a lot up until now. Thanks to you, I made a lot of GP, but I couldn’t bring myself to bet on the finals.
-How is he supposed to win against a Great Constellation’s alt… It’s remarkable he’s made it this far.
-A lot of effort for a lowest-tier species ^-^
-But why would the Sun King bother coming all the way to the Master League finals to stir up trouble?
-Exactly, no sense of fairness at all ㅡㅡ;
In the alien chat, Seong Jihan’s defeat was already considered a foregone conclusion, while
-Wow, the finals odds are pretty high
-Did all the aliens bet on the other side?
-You guys lack faith in Mr. Seong Jihan
-Waiting in on alien chats, I heard about a Great Constellation’s alt. What’s a Great Constellation?
-Don’t know lol Seong Jihan who has beaten Constellations, will easily crush him, right?
With little information about Great Constellations, humans were still hopeful for a victory, judging that Seong Jihan would prevail as he had before.
Objectively, the sharp rise in betting odds indicated that the finals opponent was indeed a formidable being, but given Seong Jihan’s history with humanity, many placed faith bets.
Meanwhile,
‘So that’s Little Sun.’
Flash!
Summoned to the battlefield, Seong Jihan gazed at the entity floating across from him.
A lightbulb-size white glowing sphere.
Among all the opponents faced in the Arena, it was the smallest, yet the power contained within was incomparably intense.
‘Truly worthy of being called the alt of a Great Constellation.’
This alt harbored a different caliber of power than those Seong Jihan had effortlessly dispatched until now.
Considering the previous matches shown by Octane, an attack should have been launched before Little Sun flashed its light, as once it began emitting light, everything, including the arena, was destroyed.
However,
‘Let’s see.’
Swoosh.
Without summoning any weapon, Seong Jihan crossed his arms, signaling for the first strike.
Fwoosh!
As soon as Seong Jihan crossed his arms, light exploded from Little Sun like a burst.
-Is this the end…
-The rebellion of the lowest-ranked species ends like this.
-Either way… this species, humanity, it won’t be long before they move up from the lowest rank. Their champion is so strong.
-Right. With that level of strength, a Constellation will be born soon.
-With your help, we earned well. Thank you, Seong Jihan!
As the light exploded, the alien chat quickly offered thanks, assuming Seong Jihan was finished.
While elsewhere, everything was filled with light, only the spot where Seong Jihan stood remained untouched by the stark white brightness.
Instead,
Fwoosh…!
Strong red flames engulfed him, resisting the light.
‘The power of Little Sun. Its firepower is considerable, but manageable with my stats.’
The Unranked Stat Red.
This ability, having overwhelming control over fire, resisted Little Sun’s light strongly.
Initially, he thought to take a critical hit from it to test the Return of the Light, but the light was unexpectedly weak.
-…
-What? Why is he still alive?
-How did he block Little Sun’s light…?
-No, even though it’s just sent to the Master League, it’s the alt by the Sun King. A player shouldn’t be able to block that light…
-No. Seriously, what is he?
-Is it a 10 times return!!
Meanwhile, as Seong Jihan stood firm against Little Sun’s light, alien viewers couldn’t comprehend the situation.
Although ‘Little Sun’ was merely an alt and not an avatar of the Great Constellation, thus lower in status, its creator was still a Great Constellation.
Despite Seong Jihan’s impressive Arena performance, blocking such an attack seemed inconceivable.
-…Just wait, it’s only temporary!
-Yeah, he’ll eventually die! He has to! Betting on the Sun King was a sure win!!
-How could he possibly block the Sun King’s light with fire? Does that make any sense??
-So, he’ll be overwhelmed by the light soon lol lol lol
Alien viewers keep clinging to hope that Seong Jihan couldn’t endure, but
Ssshhh…
The side to cease first was Little Sun.
“Already over?”
Disappointed, Seong Jihan looked around.
Except for him, the arena was devastated.
No more light emanated from Little Sun, and the world was still submerged in bright white.
‘There’s hardly any power left in Little Sun. Time to finish it.’
At the beginning of the match, it was filled with tremendous energy, but after emitting light once, the white glowing orb seemed drained.
-So much for an alt by a Great Constellation? This might end here?
-If it was stronger, it should’ve been in the Grand Master League, not here.
-But then why is Seong Jihan here lol lol lol
-He’s still only at the Master level lol lol
-Literally, why did the aliens think this would end sadly for Seong Jihan? – –; Just because they bet on it? Lacking faith in humanity, tsk tsk.
-Amen. Please, if you’re human, bet on Seong Jihan lol lol lol
-‘Please, if you’re Korean’ has now expanded to ‘if you’re human’ lol
As people who switched sides in the alien chat lamented their choices,
‘Now it’s time to use it.’
Ssshhh…
Seong Jihan drew out Eclipse from his left arm.
Fundamental Divine Arts, Annihilation God’s Secret – Ice Sword Rain
Whoosh!
Instantly, Eclipse froze over, rising above Seong Jihan’s head and beginning to freeze the atmosphere.
Little Sun’s lingering warmth, still present from its light, resisted the formation of Ice Sword Rain,
but…
Crack…!
Eventually, the sky froze over, and from there, a giant ice sword targeted Little Sun.
Compared to the small glowing orb, the sword made of ice descended in overwhelming size.
Yet,
Ssshhh…
Most of the ice swords melted before reaching the orb, and only a few made contact, barely touching the tip of Little Sun.
Tap. Tap…
As they continued hitting the top surface, the swords aimed for the center of Little Sun’s top, repeatedly striking it.
Then,
Flash.
A faint red glow appeared on the top surface of the white Little Sun.
‘Is that the target of the Ice Sword Rain?’
Though encapsulated within the bright orb, the appearance of the red glow, revealed by the Ice Sword Rain, seemed to emanate a different aura from Little Sun.
Seong Jihan approached it.
Reaching out towards the light, characters appeared.
[This is an item of the Sun King.]
[Only he can possess it.]
‘This is…’
Hadn’t he seen this phrase before?
As Seong Jihan paused to think,
[Those who covet it, shall bring ruin to their three generations.]
The last phrase appeared, and the white glowing entirety turned a deep red.
And then,
Boom!!
A massive explosion encompassed the map, covering everything in sight.
