[Seong Jihan, Victorious in the Space Arena! Humanity Benefits the Most.]
[Targeting Lower-rank with More Race Bonuses! The World BattleNet Association is in Search of Players to Conquer the Space Arena with Seong Jihan. The participation fee of 100 Billion GP will be covered by donations.]
[Humans Who Bet on Seong Jihan Earn a Fortune. 1GP=2 Dollar Exchange Rate Broken for Days.]
[Significant Increase in Gift Recipients. Level 2 Players Surge Compared to Last Month.]
[ER Busy Due to Increased Strength? Extra Caution Needed Even When Holding Children.]
-The real winner in the arena was humanity.
-For real, I awakened this time LOL
-I’m one of those who just believed in Seong Jihan and earned billions haha. All thanks to alien money, right?
-No… some of that was my money too… ㅠㅠ
-?? How could a human not bet on Seong Jihan? Traitor, right?
-I thought the finals opponent seemed strong… ㅠㅠ ㅠㅠ
The reward Seong Jihan received benefitted all of humanity, and societal changes were already evident just days later.
“Everyone’s talking about needing to send more players to the Space Arena, right?”
“Really? I doubt there are many capable contenders… Who are the candidates?”
“Well, there are players from the U.S., and my dad, and China’s Je Galheon… Even I get mentioned occasionally! Though I’m not at the level yet.”
Seong Jihan thought to himself as he heard this.
‘The only player that would stand a chance in the arena is probably my brother-in-law.’
He was skeptical even about Sword King Yoon Sejin’s chances of winning the first or second rounds.
Perhaps he’d fare better than the magicians.
‘Seems like a waste of money, but since it’s funded through donations, no need to worry about it.’
With that thought, Seong Jihan asked Yoon Seah about the recent evolution bonus.
“How’s the attribute enhancements? Can you feel it?”
“Totally! It feels like I’ve become 10~20% stronger. Now, I think I won’t be afraid to match against alien races. If we get more evolution bonuses and move to a lower rank, we might even gain an upper hand in competition against alien races…”
“Escaping the lowest rank seems harder than expected.”
“Exactly. Even after receiving the all attributes +1 option, humanity is still the lowest rank.”
“Well, that’s actually good. It means we have a lot more room for improvement.”
Despite humanity’s weak abilities, Seong Jihan chose to look on the bright side.
After all, he too was from the weakest race of humanity, feeling a significant boost each time they received a race bonus.
‘If we move up to the lower and mid-tiers, I’ll become even stronger.’
Thinking about actively participating in any game that offers race bonuses, he recalled the Constellation Construction Kit he received last time.
‘Should’ve received a racial bonus instead of this Legendary thing…’
Instead of a race evolution, he ended up with an item worth 3 trillion GP.
In fact, by choosing this item instead of the 5 trillion, he technically incurred a 2 trillion loss.
‘Might as well upgrade the throne.’
The EX-skill Summon Throne, whose usefulness was dubious.
If upgraded with the Constellation Construction Kit, could it become more useful?
“Summon Throne.”
Seong Jihan summoned the throne then and there.
“Oh, is the massage chair going to appear?”
Yoon Seah’s eyes sparkled at Seong Jihan’s action.
For her, the throne was perceived more as a flashy massage chair than a seat for Constellations.
“Yeah. Going to upgrade it.”
Flash!
As the summoned throne sparkled with white light, Seong Jihan approached it with the Constellation Construction Kit in hand.
The construction kit, shaped like a hammer.
Initially, he wondered if he had to hit the chair with it but,
[You already possess a throne.]
[Would you like to consume the Constellation Construction Kit to upgrade your throne?]
A message popped up even before he could proceed.
“I choose to upgrade.”
Following Seong Jihan’s response, another message appeared.
[Your throne is already of high grade.]
[Upgrading with the Constellation Construction Kit alone is impossible. Special materials are required for an upgrade to the next tier.]
‘Was this supposed to be a high grade?’
Seong Jihan recalled the now-deceased Brahma.
That guy.
Perhaps, what he gave wasn’t so bad after all.
The ambiguity in the throne’s performance was, perhaps, because it wasn’t fully upgraded.
“What special material is needed?”
[Your inventory already contains a special material, the ‘Crimson Sun Core Fragment’.]
When Seong Jihan asked, the system message unexpectedly responded.
[Would you like to use the ‘Crimson Sun Core Fragment’ from your inventory?]
Moving forward, it even asked if he intended to use it.
* * *
At the Void Training Room.
“Hmm…”
Having brought the summoned throne to the training grounds, Seong Jihan took out the Crimson Sun Core Fragment.
The finger-sized red gemstone,
Glowed fiercely, boasting a powerful heat that seemed to have charged somewhat since it was first stored in the inventory.
‘It’s good I took this out in the training grounds.’
Had he accidentally taken it out at home, his penthouse might have burned down.
With that thought, Seong Jihan eyed the upcoming system messages.
[You possess the stat Red. Absorption is possible.]
[Would you like to absorb the ‘Crimson Sun Core Fragment’?]
The system message seemed to urge him to quickly consume it, implying that doing so might even elevate the stat Red by a few points.
‘Then I could somehow recover the 6 I lost.’
The 6 points of the Red stat, all previously invested to increase, had been lost.
The Sun Core fragment had to be used for recovery.
‘But using this for the throne upgrade…’
Using the Constellation Construction Kit worth 3 trillion GP for the upgrade was one thing,
But the Sun Core fragment was another matter entirely.
Is upgrading really worth giving up the recovery of the stat Red?
“Hmm…”
Faced with a difficult decision, holding the Sun Core fragment, Seong Jihan delved into deep thought.
Observing him, the Shadow Queen commented.
[What are you doing with that stone?]
“Do you know anything about the throne?”
[Throne? Are you talking about the seats gods use? I’ve heard they’re necessary for maintaining a god’s permanence.]
“Permanence?”
[Yes. The Void does not recognize eternity, but it makes exceptions for entities acknowledged as gods. As long as they perform their role as gods, sitting on the throne prevents them from becoming targets of the Void.]
“The Void Max limit does increase when sitting on the throne.”
[Yeah… you said you received it from Brahma? If it’s from him, being one of the stronger gods, it must have had good functionality.]
“Not really. It came with a lot of restrictions.”
[Then, it must have been an under-upgraded throne he gave you. Thrones are often secretly traded among constellations, as the most bothersome thing for them is overcoming the limitation of lifespan imposed by the Void.]
“Can the Constellations also become targets of the Void?”
[Of course. The criteria loosen a bit compared to before they became constellations, but they aren’t allowed an immortal life.]
So, escaping the Void isn’t easy even for constellations.
Hearing the Shadow Queen’s story, Seong Jihan thought to himself,
‘If I upgrade now, the Void limit offered by the throne will most likely increase… Ignoring the stat Red for upgrading the throne might be better in the long run.’
Since not only he but also his family benefitted from it,
Considering the benefits it brings to Yoon Seah, who deals with the Void, Seong Jihan decided to proceed with the final upgrade to the throne.
“Inventory.”
As he approached the throne with the hammer, the system window with the identical message popped up.
“I’ll use the Sun Core.”
Upon Seong Jihan’s reply to use the Sun Core,
Flash!
The throne, hammer, and the Sun Core glowed simultaneously.
Then, the three objects began merging into one.
Fwoosh…!
The throne blazed with fire.
The chair, which had been offering comfort once a month as a sort of luxurious massage chair, flared up.
Light and flames began to envelop it.
‘But if the chair becomes engulfed in flames, won’t Seah and my brother-in-law be unable to use it?’
As Seong Jihan pondered the transformation of the throne,
Shhh…
The fire went out, and the throne transformed into a large disc.
Glowing yellow, holding the warmth of fire.
[‘Summon Throne’ has been upgraded to ‘Throne of the Sun’.]
Along with this, a message appeared signaling the completion of the upgrade.
[Is that considered an upgrade? It does seem the fiery essence has intensified compared to the original throne.]
“Hmm, a comfortable chair has turned into a cushion.”
[A bit large for a cushion though…]
Swoosh!
Seong Jihan sat atop the floating, expansive Throne of the Sun.
The Throne of the Sun, large enough to accommodate dozens of people at once.
Being seated there,
Whoooosh!
Flames erupted from the throne, enveloping Seong Jihan.
[You have been seated on a throne recognized by the BattleNet system.]
[Level cap increases by 30.]
[Void stat max limit increases by 10.]
‘The Void max limit has increased by 5 more than before.’
Previously, the limit of Void would increase by 5 once a month.
Now, it’s doubled, but this alone wasn’t a very satisfying outcome.
However,
[You receive the power of the sun.]
[Stats related to fire increase.]
Whoooosh…
As flames endowed his chest’s red emblem with fire power,
Seong Jihan, initially indifferent, sparkled with excitement.
‘Stats related to fire increase. Does Red too…?’
Though he felt the fire power increasing,
He didn’t get a message confirming an increase in the stat Red.
‘Hmm… Even if it’s a throne, it doesn’t increase by 1 monthly.’
As Seong Jihan expressed his disappointment,
[You possess the ‘Red’ stat.]
[You can absorb ‘Throne of the Sun’ into your body.]
[If ‘Throne of the Sun’ is absorbed, the skill Summon Throne will disappear.]
A system message with a red background appeared before Seong Jihan.
When related to the stat Red, the system typically presented it with a red background.
Seong Jihan, reading through the message, steeled his gaze.
Stat Red.
It seems it devours anything related to fire.
Nonetheless,
“I’ll absorb it.”
The Throne of the Sun, having become a flame-throwing chair.
It had become a bit awkward for Yoon Seah and Yoon Sejin to benefit together from it.
In this case,
It would be better for him to absorb it and make effective use himself.
Upon his decision to absorb,
Whoooosh…!
The Throne of the Sun quickly shrank to a pinprick and touched his chest.
“Ugh…”
As his chest burned,
Even to him, accustomed to pain, an intense agony forced out a groan.
Simultaneously, the red emblem grew.
Behind the sun mark, the originally crescent-like red emblem expanded to a semi-circle, growing to the size of a half-moon.
Then, a red-background message appeared.
[The ‘Red’ stat increases by 10.]
[The abilities of ‘Red’ are enhanced.]
[The efficiency of investing leftover points increases.]
[Void max limit increases by 100.]
[The Void max limit will increase by 10 monthly.]
Not only did the stat Red significantly increase, but the original functionality of the throne was also added.
“Phew…”
Sweating profusely from the intense pain, Seong Jihan smiled upon seeing the message.
‘The upgrade is completely successful.’
If there was a downside, it would be that it’s no longer shareable with the family.
However, looking solely at Seong Jihan himself, it was the best outcome.
‘Efficiency in leftover points increased…’
Initially, 20 points were needed for a single increment in Red.
Seong Jihan decided to invest points obtained from leveling up in the arena into Red.
‘It increases by 1 for every 10 now.’
Though it still consumed a significant amount of leftover points,
Compared to before, the investment efficiency in Red had doubled.
And thanks to leveling up a lot in the arena, he, having plenty of leftover points, focused them into Red.
Reaching a Red stat tally of 25.
‘Just a while ago at 11, it was quite distressing, but it’s more than doubled now.’
Seong Jihan smiled, enjoying this moment.
He even felt a desire to show the aliens who teased him about choosing poorly.
‘But revealing Red is not an option, so I must hold back.’
Seong Jihan decided to cherish this joy privately.
‘Now what’s left is the Grand Master promotion match, huh?’
Having spent July in the arena, he didn’t have much time until the regular promotion match on the 25th.
Fortunately, his level had also increased a lot in the arena, leaving not far to 400.
‘I should focus on leveling up to participate in the July promotion match.’
Seong Jihan decided to prioritize game participation over training, leaving the training room of the Void.
And until the promotion exam approached, he diligently played the game every day.
In his spare time, he went to the dungeons in North Korea to exterminate monsters in the portal, focusing on leveling up to achieve 400 within July.
[You have reached level 400.]
[You can now participate in the Grand Master promotion match.]
And on July 23.
Upon finally reaching level 400,
[Great Constellation ‘Dragon Lord’ sends you a message.]
A message arrived from the Great Constellation, who had been quiet until now.
