‘This one is strong…!’
Until now, Seong Jihan had managed to counteract the attacks from Little Sun with the power of Red.
However, this explosion was distinctly different.
Fwoosh…!
The flames, effortlessly piercing through the resistance of the stat Red, incinerated Seong Jihan’s body.
Within the blast, his flesh seemed about to vanish momentarily, but
Seong Jihan found a way to counter in the blink of an eye.
Fundamental Divine Arts, Annihilation God’s Secret – Heavenly Tree Descending Spirit
Heavenly Tree Descending Spirit reached towards the Eternity residing within his body in the form of a tree.
[The seal on the stat ‘Eternity’ is temporarily lifted.]
Then, a surge of life force erupted from within, initiating the regeneration of the incinerated body.
A regenerative power reminiscent of the World Tree Elves.
As the charred skin transformed back into its pristine state, the spectacle drew interest from the alien races.
-The power of the Sun King seemed fully deployed there, yet he’s regenerating… Is the human species specialized in regeneration?
-Such regeneration isn’t something you’d expect from the lowest-tier species. Just for regeneration alone, it should be rated above average. It must be a trait unique to him.
-It’s like watching a World Tree Elf. If he can resist the Sun King’s power to this degree, does that make him equivalent to an ancient elf?
-No. When Little Sun and a high elf faced off before, the high elf couldn’t display any regenerative abilities. Isn’t this level more akin to that of a Grand elf?
-Grand elf? That’s stretching it… each of them is almost at the level of a Constellation.
-Ah, why won’t he die. Please die die die!!
-Is he really surviving this? Really?? The lowest-tier??
Alien races, estimating Seong Jihan’s regenerative capacities between a high elf and a Grand elf, began to despair one by one as he continued to withstand even this.
Meanwhile,
‘I can regenerate, but I can’t extinguish this fire…’
Seong Jihan frowned as he observed his body flaring up and regenerating.
He could survive through the power of Eternity, but the Sun King’s fire was a problem.
Furthermore,
‘Little Sun has already disappeared… Why hasn’t the game ended?’
Had there been an enemy to confront, battling while aflame might have been feasible.
But Little Sun vanished after its explosion, leaving no opponent within the light-transformed arena.
With no adversaries to face, his body simply burned.
‘Could this fire be the Little Sun itself…?’
Having employed the power of Eternity tens of times already, Seong Jihan pondered this when,
[‘Constellation of the Dead Star’ sends an urgent message to the player.]
An urgent message arrived from the Constellation of the Dead Star.
[The fire of the Sun King, once ignited, does not extinguish, and the Sun King’s mark might be imprinted on your current body, so be cautious, he warns.]
[If the mark is completed, it will remain even upon returning to the real world. He advises that suicide might be preferable the moment the mark begins to form.]
[He urges you to make a wise decision quickly because once the seal is placed, you cannot become its leader.]
‘Mark?’
Upon reading Karlein’s warning, Seong Jihan examined his body.
After regenerating from being burnt to a crisp 50 times,
On the 51st time,
Sssss…!
Suddenly, the flames engulfing his entire body converged into one spot.
The flames focused towards his chest.
[This is…]
The concentrated blaze began etching characters into his chest.
‘Is this the mark the Constellation of the Dead Star warned about…!’
A script that wouldn’t vanish even with Eternity’s regenerative power.
The characters slowly started to expand in number.
[‘Constellation of the Dead Star’ sponsors you with 100,000,000,000GP and sends a message.]
[Didn’t you read my message? Hurry up and kill yourself! Once it’s fully inscribed, you’ll become a slave to the Sun King! It inscribes quickly, so die now! Please!!]
Karlein, thinking that his message wasn’t read, sent another, alongside a hefty sponsorship.
The aliens also echoed this sentiment.
-Yeah! Die! Die! Die!
-Please let me profit from the tied bet!!
-But from Seong Jihan’s perspective, dying is better than becoming a slave to the Sun King, right? lol What’s the use of winning the finals then?
-Wow, but to become a slave to someone like the Sun King, he must have gained some recognition.
-This player named Seong Jihan, I do want to dissect him.
-He does have research value.
Aliens argued it’s more rational to die than to become the Sun King’s slave.
Seong Jihan made a swift decision.
‘I’ll use the last resort, and if it doesn’t work, I’ll choose death.’
It was regrettable to lose all the GP he’d wagered on himself,
But better than becoming the Sun king’s slave before the characters fully formed.
As Seong Jihan was about to deploy his half-mask and activate his Constellation trait,
The characters were already inscribed up to,
[This is the Sun King].
Then,
Click.
The character touched the solar emblem in the very center of Seong Jihan’s chest.
Fwoosh…!
The six inscribed characters began to tremble intensively.
Subsequently,
[Detection. Detection. The King’s target, detected.]
Beep. Beep-beep. Beep-beep.
The six characters started flashing and emitting a loud noise.
* * *
‘The King’s target…’
Seong Jihan gazed at his chest.
There, after gaining the stat Red, a crescent-shaped mark had emerged.
Originally concealed by the solar emblem Seong Jihan discovered while analyzing Longinus’s powers,
‘Did touching this trigger the Sun King’s inscription…!’
The solar emblem, which had remained intact even amidst the flames, was unveiled just as the Sun King’s inscription was made.
Seong Jihan recalled the message when he had first concealed it.
[The stat ‘Red’ is concealed.]
[Except for administrators, no one can detect the power of Red.]
[Entering the code temporarily reveals the concealment.]
Never had he imagined that the stat Red, only temporarily visible upon code entry, would be revealed like this.
Hurriedly, Seong Jihan restored the solar mark but,
[To ensure accurate detection, switching to search mode.]
Ziiing…!
The six characters that had blurred during the change to search mode started emitting a strong energy directly towards the chest center.
‘Detection must be avoided at all costs.’
Seong Jihan promptly donned his half-mask and activated his Constellation trait.
Instantly, his power amplified significantly.
[The level needed to become a Constellation has been lowered to 769]
Though the required level for reaching Constellation status dropped by 1 due to activating the trait, now was not the time to fret over it.
Using the amplified strength urgently, Seong Jihan confronted the Sun King’s mark, now in search mode.
Crackle. Crackle…
The Sun King’s script, initially advancing towards the solar mark, started to retreat gradually.
Alien viewers were startled by the sudden surge in Seong Jihan’s power.
-Uh… he’s definitely a Grand elf! He’s wearing a mask!
-Grand elves don’t disguise their originating planet. He’s definitely human.
-Then where did he get that mask from? And how does he manipulate the Void?
-Who knows; he’s such an irregular.
-I believe he’s a Grand elf on a special mission.
From debating whether Seong Jihan was a Grand elf or not,
-Wow… Even crumbling the Sun King’s mark, isn’t he nearing a Constellation’s power by now?
-But the characters were already dissolving before he put on the mask.
-Right, it felt like the characters transformed on their own, not due to Seong Jihan’s resistance.
-So, definitely not a Constellation level. No matter what.
Discussions about Seong Jihan’s power reached peak interest.
Meanwhile,
[Energy depletion.]
[Detection failed.]
The Sun King’s mark, which had changed to search mode, was losing strength.
‘It didn’t last as long as I thought it would for detection.’
The characters had blurred, and within what felt like under a minute,
The Sun King’s force, trying to reach the center of the chest, was completely blocked by Seong Jihan.
The force emitted during search mode was more ferocious and persistent than when it was burning Seong Jihan’s body,
but by taking the penalty and amplifying his strength in two stages, Seong Jihan was able to effectively block it.
‘Had I known this, I would have used my full power from the beginning…’
Seong Jihan grimaced.
[The Void increases by 2.]
The penalties for the two-stage power-up were an increase in the Void by 2 and a decrease in the level needed to reach Constellation status by 1 level.
Although the figures were negligible for now, accumulated, it would lead to significant consequences, so he had been cautious.
Such prudence, however, had backfired in the face of Little Sun’s explosion.
‘Next time, if a Great Constellation is involved, I’ll use full power right away.’
He had thought that, being an alt, it would be manageable even if related to a Great Constellation.
This was a misjudgment.
As Seong Jihan reflected, intending to completely eradicate the Sun King’s mark,
[Search termination.]
[Reporting detection failure to the Sun King.]
The weakening mark of the Sun King emitted a bright beam of light.
Failed, but still reporting.
‘Can’t leave it be.’
If the Great Constellation takes interest in trying the failed detection again, it would be troublesome.
Seong Jihan made this assessment, attempting to block it, but
Flash! Flash!
‘Damn.’
The light had already flown somewhere.
Was it now just to hope that the Great Constellation wouldn’t act upon receiving the report?
‘Not a comforting thought…’
The Sun King, who aspires to the position of the Red Administrator.
Frankly, Seong Jihan wasn’t sure if he would remain inactive after receiving this report.
But spilled water cannot be retrieved.
Accepting it as inevitable, as Seong Jihan prepared for what was next,
‘Hm?’
Suddenly, a martial art entirely unrelated to the current situation came to mind.
‘Why would Return of the Light come to mind now…’
The third Annihilation technique, Return of the Light.
It was a technique Seong Jihan had never succeeded in using.
The theoretical operation of power was simple.
It involved reversing the flow of fire energy within the body, opposite to its normal flow.
‘But it only resulted in my skin turning red, nothing significant.’
So, he wondered if it only had use in a life-or-death situation.
Just now, what protected Seong Jihan’s body was the Eternity stat, not Return of the Light.
Unable to grasp any clues, he had placed Return of the Light on the back burner in his mind.
But strangely, at this moment.
He felt it absolutely necessary to use this technique.
‘…Well, might as well try. The operation is simple enough.’
Though unsure why he suddenly felt the urgency to use Return of the Light,
He decided to follow his instincts.
Fundamental Divine Arts, Annihilation God’s Secret – Return of the Light
And, as he used Return of the Light,
‘No…’
The light, which had flown far away just moments ago, returned to him.
Along with it,
The mark of the Sun King, which had lost its strength within his body,
Began to redraw itself in the form of [This is the Sun King] instead of the order it had initially appeared.
Starting from [This is], not in the order of disappearance.
Witnessing the change within his body, Seong Jihan’s eyes widened.
Return of the Light.
This was…
‘Reversing time…?’
