‘Dragon Lord… Why would he suddenly send a message after saying we’d meet if I became a constellation?’
Dragon Lord had shown interest in Seong Jihan, supporting him as a Great Constellation.
However, after learning that Seong Jihan couldn’t be summoned, he had handed over the Dragon Heart and then gone completely silent.
He was just someone occupying a sponsor position, after all.
‘Hmm. Did he watch the arena match?’
Seong Jihan decided to check the message that had arrived.
[Dragon Lord conveys his will to you.]
As the message appeared, the screen changed, the text within the system window disappearing to reveal a gigantic eye.
A bright red eye emitting light from the center against a yellowish background.
A voice resonated from it.
[I saw you acquire a fragment of the Sun Core. Hand it over to me, and I will bestow upon you the Lord’s blessing.]
Just as Seong Jihan had speculated, Dragon Lord, having watched the arena match, was asking for the Crimson Sun Core Fragment.
“It’s no longer with me.”
[Not with you… Have you already handed it over to someone? The Sun King? Or… a member of Red’s tribe?]
“What’s Red’s tribe?”
[They look like this.]
Swoosh.
The screen transitioned from the eye shape once more.
Inside, the figures of gigantic beings played, their appearances varied, but all shared the distinctive red eyes—a horde of giants.
Seeing them, Seong Jihan felt as if he had seen them somewhere before.
‘Ah, these giants… they felt similar to the ones in the video I saw during Longinus’s annihilation.’
Giants pierced and hanging from crucifixes,
-Traitor. The Administrator will judge you!
One of the giants had shouted this to Gilgamesh’s shadow before dying.
‘After hearing that, Gilgamesh, with a smirk, told his shadow, an incarnation of a divine being, that the Administrator was on their side…’
The birth of ‘humanity’ with no growth limit in BattleNet.
Until now, it was believed that the World Tree Elves were the most involved.
The experiment from the World Tree Elves occurred on Earth.
And the fact that the director of the experiment fused with the World Tree and then lost contact was already revealed in their data.
‘But considering the story of the administrator and the fact that Dragon Lord referred to them as Red’s tribe, maybe the betrayer from the World Tree Elves wasn’t the only one who settled on Earth…’
With the information so fragmented, Seong Jihan couldn’t derive any concrete conclusions yet.
He considered asking Dragon Lord about Red’s tribe in more detail but decided,
‘No… It might be better to pretend I don’t know about Red’s tribe.’
Seong Jihan recalled how the Sun King’s little sun caused a commotion last time.
It had detected Red’s presence within him and planned to report to the Sun King, lighting itself up.
Thankfully, time reversed, preventing that incident.
Otherwise, to investigate ‘Red’, the Great Constellation Sun King might have descended on Earth himself.
‘Considering Dragon Lord is also eyeing the position of the Red administrator, it’s better not to show any knowledge.’
Seong Jihan was content with just the hint that these giants were ‘Red’s tribe’ and replied to Dragon Lord.
“I didn’t hand it over to anyone; I absorbed it.”
[You absorbed it…]
“Yes, it significantly increased my powers related to fire.”
[Can you swear on your name that you have absorbed it?]
“I swear.”
As Seong Jihan answered without hesitation, the great eye in the screen slowly closed.
[It’s not a lie then. That’s unfortunate…]
“What’s the Lord’s blessing?”
[A blessing that would have enabled you to become a dragon. You would have been able to shed your lowest rank flesh, but it seems you’ll regret it.]
A blessing to transform into a dragon?
For a moment, he was tempted, wondering if a dragon’s body would be more capable of fighting a Constellation than a human body.
“How long would it take?”
[With your talent, you would achieve it within 500 years.]
“That’s too long.”
[That’s a mere moment from a dragon’s perspective. Well… if you ever acquire one again, don’t absorb it but bring it to me. I’ll ensure the reward surpasses your imagination.]
Beep!
Regretting his loss over the Crimson Sun Core Fragment, Dragon Lord ended the communication.
‘In the end, I didn’t get anything from the Lord.’
Coming to talk about his own business and then just leaving like that.
For someone who has become a Great Constellation, he sure doesn’t know how to offer much.
‘Still, gaining the information that those giants are Red’s tribe…’
The Red administrator, reportedly vanished from BattleNet,
Yet, peculiarly, traces of his presence were seen on Earth.
Including the members of Red’s tribe executed at the execution site.
And mentions from Gilgamesh.
‘It’s possible the constellation might’ve been a member of Red’s tribe.’
The giants had labeled the betrayal, not as Gilgamesh but as his shadow, the constellation.
And even before that,
-Dare you mock us?!
-An unfinished product dares!
-Rebellion to the end…!
They referred to him as an ‘inferior product’.
‘Could the consumption of the stat Red when using Return of the Light be related to the Red administrator?’
Return of the Light, the ability to rewind time in the universe by one minute.
Even if it consumed the stat Red, such a powerful ability seemed too grand to belong to a Constellation’s incarnation.
Right.
Only someone at the peak of BattleNet, like the Red administrator, could possess such an ability.
‘Then… the bearer of the Return of the Light’s power must be related to the Red administrator or closely connected to him.’
Assuming the level of the Red administrator,
Why would such a being avoid detection by someone like the Sun King, ranked below him?
“Anything you know about the Red administrator?”
Seong Jihan posed the question to the Shadow Queen.
[The Red administrator?]
“Yeah.”
[He is an administrator who vanished just before the end of his term, along with his direct guard, Red’s tribe.]
“Term? There’s a term for administrators?”
Seong Jihan widened his eyes in surprise.
It seemed like administrators, even higher ranked than gods, had their terms.
[Yes. Only the red and green administrators have terms.]
“The green one too?”
[Indeed. Though the green administrator tries every trick to extend his term… The Red administrator, fated with fire, couldn’t do the same. Fire is destined to extinguish at some point.]
“Hmm…”
Was the reason behind the World Tree Elf causing havoc across the universe inclusive of this ‘term’?
Nodding, the Shadow Queen continued,
[It’s what I’ve heard, so can’t be absolutely sure… Regardless of his disappearance, neither Dragon Lord nor the Sun King, prime candidates for the next Red administrator, showed much interest. Eventually, the powers of an administrator are revoked upon term completion, passing on to the elected Great Constellations from the candidates.]
“Really?”
[Yes. But oddly, the powers held by the Red administrator weren’t returned to the BattleNet system.]
“Didn’t get returned?”
[Right. So, the two candidates were enraged. They argued that the vanished Red administrator must be keeping his powers through some means. The Sun King is personally searching for the Red administrator, and Dragon Lord is mobilizing dragons to look for any traces.]
Good thing I didn’t mention to Dragon Lord that I remembered Red’s tribe from my memory.
Otherwise, he might have led all dragons straight to Earth.
“So that’s why they made such a fuss. But what were the Red administrator’s powers?”
[I don’t know either. Probably something related to fire? Given administrator-level powers, perhaps even creating suns.]
“Creating suns, huh…”
Indeed, the scale is different for administrators.
Seong Jihan chuckled, touching the center of his chest.
‘This can’t be discovered at any cost. The BattleNet system itself registers the power of Red but doesn’t seem to find any issue with it.’
Even though the Red administrator absconded with his powers.
So, having the stat ‘Red’ isn’t considered a problem by the system?
‘Either way, I better be especially careful around those two.’
Seong Jihan decided not to reveal this to dragons or the Sun King.
If discovered, they might descend on Earth searching for the Red administrator.
As he was organizing his thoughts,
Buzz… buzz…
His phone vibrated.
* * *
-Boss, we’ve received responses from the players you contacted for the Constellation sponsor.
The call was from Guild Master Lee Hayeon.
Seong Jihan responded,
“Ah, you called? How was their reaction?”
-Three of the players we contacted agreed to receive the sponsor.
“Three players? Then, one is…”
Lee Hayeon paused briefly before carefully starting,
-Um… if it’s not too much trouble, could I possibly join them?
“You, Hayeon?”
Upon Seong Jihan’s query, Lee Hayeon explained at length,
-Yes, that… As a player with supporting gifts. Although receiving additional effects through constellation sponsor might not be useful, who knows? If I receive the sponsor, my development ability might improve further… That could greatly benefit the development of the Daegi guild…
“Let’s do that.”
-You… are you sure?
“I’ll sponsor it.”
Lee Hayeon had been of so much help that it was only right to offer a slot for her.
-Really…?
“Of course.”
Saying so, Seong Jihan added Lee Hayeon to the sponsorship list on the spot.
Resultantly,
[Your Constellation fame increases by 1 due to the sponsor.]
‘Uh?’
Unlike when he sponsored Yoon Sejin,
The system window began to tick increment by increment in Constellation reputation.
-Ah, to have it settled so quickly… Thank you so much, Boss!
“With how much you’ve helped me, Lee Hayeon, it’s only natural.”
-Haha… then, I’ll immediately contact the three players for sponsorship!
“Ah. Could you postpone it by about an hour? That thing.”
-One hour? Okay, got it.
“Yes. I’ll contact you in a bit.”
Beep.
After ending the call, Seong Jihan stared intently at the system message window.
[Your Constellation fame increases by 2 due to the sponsor.]
After an hour passed, this time 2 points of Constellation fame accrued.
‘My brother-in-law seemed to earn about 10~100 Constellation fame whenever he was active in the game…’
Seong Jihan recalled the Constellation fame Yoon Sejin had earned.
Usually unable to gain Constellation fame during regular gameplay but earning a significant amount when accomplishing something impressive.
In Seong Jihan’s case, akin to earning achievement points.
This was infrequent, so he hadn’t seen it as notably impactful.
But could someone with a supporting gift like Lee Hayeon operate differently?
“Queen. Does sponsoring someone with supporting gifts affect constellations differently?”
[Why would you sponsor a player with supporting gifts? Waste of a spot.]
“It earns about 1 to 2 fame per hour.”
[1 to 2 per hour… Then, can we expect about 1000 a month? Not bad. I’ve tried before too but didn’t gain much fame, so I canceled the sponsorship…]
“Lee Hayeon’s development gift is high-grade. SSS rated.”
[SSS? That is high. But we had individuals of that grade too.]
The Shadow Queen wasn’t particularly impressed by Lee Hayeon’s grade.
Even if battle-related gifts weren’t highly rated among the Shadow Elves,
Supporting gifts were given at least a B rating.
She had experience sponsoring players with high-grade supporting gifts as well.
[From my recollection… it was about 1 or 2 per day at best. So compared to players who battle, they didn’t earn much fame, leading me to give up on them.]
“Really?”
[Yeah. Maybe it works differently for you humans?]
Perhaps a test is needed.
Seong Jihan reminisced about the Constellation shop.
The store where points had accumulated quite a bit.
Yet, to ascend higher, a smoother inflow of Constellation fame was needed.
‘I can’t make it on my own.’
Even with a victory in the arena, only 5000 Constellation fame had been accumulated.
It was impossible to meet the required fame just by himself; he must somehow earn fame from sponsored players.
‘Maybe I should test it a bit.’
While looking through the items in the Constellation shop, Seong Jihan’s eyes sparkled.
