[Yes, I am the third one.]
The figure who had set Dongbang Sak’s beard aflame admitted plainly that he was indeed the third disciple.
“You were supposed to be restrained by the Martial God…”
[With the evolution of the human species, a brief respite was afforded.]
“The evolution of a species?”
That the evolution of the human species could provide respite perplexed Dongbang Sak.
“One would think not, considering each individual human, it shouldn’t have a significant impact on a constellation…”
Indeed, Dongbang Sak himself, having become a Constellation, was not much affected by the evolution of humanity.
Gilgamesh was the only exception among the Constellations who showed apparent progress, and that was due to his unique status as the King of Humans.
“What does the evolution of humanity have to do with this… Are you also a king then? You mentioned being King Asoka of India, right?”
[King Asoka, yes… that’s also correct.]
“That too? Is there something more?”
The response was not very satisfying.
As Dongbang Sak furrowed his brow, a calm voice from the third disciple reached him again.
[There’s more indeed. You also hesitate to be called by ‘Kang Sang’, don’t you? I’m similar in that way. I hope you understand.]
“Hmm…”
The voice was gentle, yet it carried a weight of significance.
Dongbang Sak pondered deeply upon the mention of ‘Kang Sang,’ refraining from pressing further.
“I see. For now, I won’t ask more. But… why insist on not dismantling this formation?”
[If you open it, everything will be destroyed.]
“…If I open it?”
[Yes. I have seen what happens when you open the Nine Palaces and Eight Trigrams Formation.]
Seen it?
Dongbang Sak shifted his consciousness to the spirit he had dispatched to the bottom of the West Sea.
The Nine Palaces and Eight Trigrams Formation there appeared intact from the outside.
“When did I supposedly open it? And how do you know about it? Are you a prophet by chance?”
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64ce79d606107d003c23ea27", id: "pf-5140-1"})[Not quite. I merely read the past that has transpired.]
“…”
Could his words be trusted?
Dongbang Sak found himself in a dilemma over his spirit.
Then, the third disciple spoke again.
[How did you come to know of this place?]
“That is…”
[If your memory was completely sealed, you wouldn’t have known this location. Perhaps with the partial collapse of the formation, some sealed memories resurfaced.]
“…I surmise the same.”
And likely, it was Seong Jihan who demolished the formation.
Dongbang Sak recalled how Seong Jihan completed the domination code in less than a week.
[Let him who broke the seal continue with that task.]
“Are you suggesting Seong Jihan should dissolve the Nine Palaces and Eight Trigrams Formation?”
[That’s right. If you intervene, everything ends. But if he dismantles the formation,]
[It seems unlikely he can manage.]
Dongbang Sak observed the Nine Palaces and Eight Trigrams Formation carefully.
Only the outer perimeter was compromised.
The defenses from the middle to the inner sections were incredibly solid.
Dongbang Sak could attempt dismantlement in his spirit form as the master of the formation. If not for this situation, he would have had to be here in person.
However,
[If he cannot handle even this, then this world too shall end as the Martial God intends…]
“What do you mean?”
[I implore you earnestly. Allow him to break it. If you merely decide, this formation could be destroyed in a day, couldn’t it?]
“Hmm…”
Dongbang Sak’s gaze deepened.
The third disciple.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64cc9e79c7059f003e4ad4b0", id: "pf-5109-1"})Ultimately, he neither revealed his identity nor provided a detailed reason for not tampering with the formation, instead seeking his understanding.
Normally, Dongbang Sak would have dismissed such a proposal without a second thought.
‘Strangely, I feel compelled to listen.’
Only the voice of the third disciple was audible.
Yet, it was infused with a compelling force that even Dongbang Sak felt should naturally be heeded.
However, he suppressed such thoughts.
“Your request alone isn’t enough to persuade me. Explain so that I can understand.”
[You really won’t just let it go, will you? I prepared something, just in case you would ask for proof.]
“Something I’ve shown?”
Why does he keep mentioning things I don’t remember?
Dongbang Sak expressed his perplexity, but,
Whoosh!
A small flame appeared before him.
And as horns emerged from the flame, Dongbang Sak narrowed his eyes.
Written on the red horns in Dongbang Sak’s own script was,
Rescue the World, Aid the People.
[We are comrades with a shared purpose… this was the token you gave me.]
* * *
Four days after the influx of alien viewers on Seong Jihan’s channel.
-Isn’t it over just like that again?
-He always ends everything with one strike? This is getting boring.
-I don’t understand why this is a recommended channel.
-I rather watch the old videos, this is just disappointing.
-I’m unsubscribing.
Seong Jihan’s channel was suffering under harsh criticism from the newly arrived alien viewers.
‘The reaction from humans is entirely different.’
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "663633fa8ebf7442f0652b33", id: "pf-8817-1"})To humanity, Seong Jihan was an unparalleled benefactor. His actions had propelled their race through evolution and ensured their prosperous journey through BattleNet.
However, unlike human viewers who were bound to him, alien viewers held no such ties and freely criticized the content on BattleTube.
‘It’s been a few days without any content.’
The games held over the last four days were all standard games.
Even the most formidable opponents encountered there were no match for Seong Jihan.
‘Nor can I resort to bizarre content like other aliens…’
Seong Jihan recalled videos from other channels that had also made it to the trending page.
There, one could find drastic content like alien dissection, quite a frown-worthy affair.
‘After watching such spicy videos, coming here would indeed seem dull.’
As Seong Jihan was reading through the alien chat, his thoughts were interrupted.
“Boss! I’ve come to report this month’s figures! Oh… but, what are you looking at?”
Guild Master Lee Hayeon entered the penthouse and peeked towards Seong Jihan.
“Was reading some alien bad reviews.”
“Aliens? Oh…”
Swoosh.
Lee Hayeon quickly scanned through the alien chats and frowned.
“Gee, they’re just jealous because you’re too strong! If they send opponents that get beaten in one go, isn’t that just good manners? What kind of content do they want then? Don’t look at this stuff, and see what people are saying! All of humanity supports you!”
Aliens might find it uninteresting.
But for allies like the humans, seeing Seong Jihan obliterate enemies in one go was thrilling television.
Lee Hayeon mentioned this to comfort Seong Jihan, but his concern lay elsewhere.
“But I need more aliens to watch to strengthen my buffs.”
“Ah… is that so?”
“Yes. When it’s a hot topic, need to draw in more viewers.”
To enhance the Star Buff, even content that could engage these indifferent alien viewers was necessary.
“Ummm… not easy to cater to alien tastes.”
“There’s a wild variety out there for sure.”
“At best, what they seem most interested in is GP betting. Oh, and it turns out tormenting elves is quite popular too.”
“Tormenting elves?”
“Yes… well, not torment in the human sense. It was more of a dissection party.”
Just recalling it seemed to make her uneasy.
Lee Hayeon grimaced as she recalled the macabre scene.
“It seems there are quite a few species that hold a grudge against the World Tree elves. The viewing numbers for High Elf executions were surprisingly high.”
“They wouldn’t have done those things just to us.”
The World Tree elves had deliberately avoided using ban and select cards in matches, choosing to suffer defeats initially, then using all their cards at the last moment to execute players from other teams. They likely hadn’t limited such actions to just this context.
Therefore, species that had been victimized by the elves were abundant throughout the universe.
That explained why videos depicting the demise of elves were perennially popular on BattleTube.
“So, when you first debuted on the alien channels, I had edited a video of a High Elf dying…”
“You had that? Why didn’t you release it?”
“Oh, at that time, the Arena was drawing in the crowds and… it seemed to clash with your honorable image, so I just kept it.”
“…Honorable? Me?”
“Of course!”
Seong Jihan chuckled and waved his hand dismissively.
“Send me that edited video. I’d like to see it now.”
“Ah… You’re going to play that video?”
Lee Hayeon looked concerned.
It was a video where a High Elf had been executed in a particularly gruesome manner. She worried whether uploading such content could tarnish Seong Jihan’s channel image.
However,
“There’s no room for being squeamish in the cutthroat world of BattleTube.”
To attract subscribers, rivals on BattleTube resorted to all kinds of gimmicks. To capture the attention of the usually stoic alien viewers, such dramatic content was necessary.
“Yes. Play it, and conduct an item description session too.”
“An item description session?”
“This one.”
Swoosh.
Seong Jihan pulled out an artifact from his inventory, the mask of a High Elf, and smiled at its edges.
* * *
The video of the High Elf’s violent demise.
Despite being an old edit, it quickly grabbed the attention of aliens.
-Oh… that mask, wasn’t it from a Constellation-grade monster?
-Never thought it would die like that.
-Indeed, this channel’s old videos are more intriguing.
-I like this round. Got more of elves getting crushed? Those creeps executed my brother.
-Aren’t we all indebted to screwing over those elves…?
-No race is without debts, haha.
-In that case. Those freaks conduct executions in the Bronze League and run a loan service when promoted!
The World Tree elves were quite the public enemy across the universe. Yet, due to their formidable coalition and dabbling even in usury, hardly any species dared oppose them.
Instead, the victims could only find vicarious satisfaction by watching videos of elves being decimated.
In this context, Seong Jihan’s newly uploaded video about the violent end of a High Elf was a rare sight indeed.
-Aliens always complain about dull content, but they seem to love this haha.
-If elves dying is content, Seong Jihan’s got a mountain of it lol.
-Should post videos where World Tree elves get executed, they’d love that.
-Oh, that’s content for half a year, easy.
Observing these reactions, Seong Jihan gleaned ideas.
“Oh. Counter-executions seem good too.”
As the playback of the High Elf’s demise ended,
Thump.
Seong Jihan placed the half-mask of the Ancient Elf on the table.
“This mask of the Ancient Elf broke, but I was able to obtain another one.”
-The Ancient Elf’s mask…
-You got that? How?
-Is it fake?
-C’mon; wasn’t it destroyed just now?
Recalling the moment when the Ancient Elf and Brahma erupted into pieces, emitting void, Seong Jihan watched the lively chat reactions and smiled subtly.
“I’ll explain how I obtained this in the next video.”
Whirl.
Seong Jihan spun the mask on the table.
“If more viewers from space come in, I plan to reveal detailed information about this item.”
The information concerning the ‘Void Processing Facility’ of the Ancient Elf was a closely guarded secret known to few.
But for Seong Jihan, whether secret or not, upgrading the Star Buff was paramount, and he contemplated utilizing anything related to the World Tree elves to bridge content gaps.
-Information about the mask…
-Are you gathering more viewers with that?
-Hah, being cheap for a lower-tier, for real lol… just this one time?
And as Seong Jihan finished speaking, the viewers began to flood in.
Initially, they were regular aliens.
-Oh… what’s this.
-Elves are really pouring in now?
Suddenly, a surge of World Tree elves stormed into the channel.
Then, soon.
-Release the block on the World Tree Yggdrasil.
-Release the block on the World Tree Yggdrasil.
-Release the block on the World Tree Yggdrasil.
Elves flooded the chat demanding the unblocking of Yggdrasil.
‘These guys always spamming.’
Let’s see what they have to say.
Seong Jihan lifted the block he had previously set on Yggdrasil.
Then,
[The World Tree Yggdrasil proposes to break the chains of your enemies.]
[In return, it seeks the clanization of player.]
‘Chains of the enemy…’
An unfamiliar proposal emerged.
