Chapter 534
Inside the BattleNet connector at the Daegi Guild.
[The game has ended.]
[Level has increased by 7.]
[You have acquired 100,000 GP.]
Seong Jihan looked at the messages appearing before him and checked his status window.
'I thought I might reach level 25 in one go, but I didn't quite make it.'
He entered at level 2, and when the game ended, he had reached level 13.
He gained 8 levels just from killing the human player, but after that, he didn't get much reward for subduing the Chimeras.
If the map had been a regular survival with many humans instead of this 'Junkyard',
He might have risen enough to be promoted to Silver rank in one go.
'By the way, the Shadow Queen. Did the World Tree Alliance capture her?'
Seong Jihan recalled the recent situation inside the connector.
What was eliminating the falling Chimeras in the Junkyard was definitely shadow energy mixed with void.
And the voice heard from there was certainly the Shadow Queen's.
'She was caught by the World Tree Alliance before and tasked with void processing... I guess she was captured again when Earth became a colony.'
The Shadow Queen, who hadn't fully recovered her power even when she was on Earth.
She had tried various things on BattleTube to earn GP and make a comeback, but,
It must have been impossible to regain her former strength in just a few years.
So she was caught by the Alliance again and was now playing the role of an incinerator in the Junkyard?
'But she said the male half-elf was still recyclable trash...'
Unlike the other Chimeras that she just eliminated,
She swallowed Kim Jihun and then spat him out again.
It was trash, but it still had some useful value.
Well, male half-elves will become materials to complete the blue sword.
He guessed she wouldn't swallow them before that.
'The Junkyard map probably exists somewhere in reality... If I find it, I might be able to rescue the Shadow Queen.'
After all, she was once a being that existed as a sword in his left hand, in perfect unity.
If he has the chance, he should get her out of there.
'Of course, I can't overdo it.'
He couldn't let the other side know that Seong Jihan had returned while searching for the Shadow Queen's location.
To him, his family was the only beings worth risking everything to save.
'I should ask my sister later about what happened to the Queen.'
Seong Jihan organized his thoughts like this and exited the BattleNet connector.
Then,
Lee Hayeon was waiting around with a worried face.
"Mr. Kim Jihun, are you alright?"
"Yes, since it was my first game, I was just gathering myself after it ended."
"Ah, right... Was this really your first game? You played so skillfully, you seemed like quite an experienced player."
"It's because this body is good."
Tap. Tap.
As Seong Jihan said this while pointing at his own body,
Hiss...
Someone appeared behind Lee Hayeon.
"So that's why you pushed yourself so hard? Player Kim Jihun."
A blonde elf with a cold expression looked at Seong Jihan.
However, unlike other elves, she had distinct green hair mixed in with her blonde hair.
At that level, she must be quite high-ranking among the High Elves.
Seong Jihan could roughly guess who she was.
'A high-ranking priestess who was inside the Colonial Government's office?'
A High Elf Priestess who gave orders to the elf priests like a superior.
As Kim Jihun, he had never directly met her before.
So he bowed his head in greeting and slightly trailed off his words.
"Yes... Um..."
"I am Deputy Governor Tria."
When the High Elf Priestess introduced herself as the Deputy Governor,
The people around were startled.
"De-Deputy Governor?"
"Wow, there really was a Deputy Governor..."
"I've never seen her on TV..."
Not many elves from the World Tree Alliance's Colonial Government's office had been publicly revealed.
The Colonial Government's office mostly just issued directives to each country's government, rarely appearing in human media.
Especially the top-tier positions like Governor or Deputy Governor,
They had never publicly revealed themselves even once.
But now, for the Deputy Governor to come meet Kim Jihun...
People all showed interest in her, but,
"Quiet."
When Deputy Governor Tria raised her hand,
Silence fell over the connector room that had been noisy just moments ago.
More precisely,
All human movements had frozen stiffly as if time had stopped.
The only ones who could move here were Seong Jihan and,
"Ah..."
A few female half-elves belonging to the guild. V/\IssịT n0(v)eL/b(i)(n).𝘤𝑜/𝓂 for the b/est novel reading experi/en/ce
"Player Kim Jihun, I was going to invite you to the 'Hall of Swords' after giving you a week to recover, but that seems unnecessary now."
"The Hall of Swords...?"
"You'll know when you fall asleep."
As she said this, Tria extended her finger towards Seong Jihan.
Then,
Flash...!
A green World Tree emblem appeared on his chest and flashed intensely.
[The Colonial Government's seal activates.]
[You will now be summoned to the 'Hall of Swords'.]
A system message popped up.
The Hall of Swords.
From Tria's words, it seemed to be a place summoned to when sleeping.
'I heard male half-elves level up just by sleeping. Was this the reason?'
Come to think of it, other male half-elves were said to level up just by sleeping,
But Kim Jihun wasn't doing that.
He guessed it was all related to this place.
As Seong Jihan was thinking this while looking at the light on his chest,
"By the way, to choose this guild..."
Swish.
Tria looked around the Daegi Guild once,
Then fixed her gaze on the stiffly frozen Lee Hayeon.
"What was your intention in selecting this place?"
"I, I chose it because the growth buff was exceptionally good..."
"Is that so?"
Listening to Kim Jihun's answer, Tria,
Snap!
Snapped her fingers once.
Then,
"Oh, oh..."
"I, I can move."
"I, I can speak."
The stiffly frozen people's bodies became free to move again.
While they were in confusion,
"I look forward to your growth. Come to the Hall of Swords as soon as possible."
Tria left those words and disappeared.
"The Deputy Governor left..."
"I've never seen a High Elf Priestess with that much green hair before."
"But it seems he really is a special management target? For the Deputy Governor to come in person..."
"That's right."
As people were talking about Tria who had suddenly appeared and disappeared,
"Guild Master, there's no schedule ahead, right?"
"Ah, yes. We originally planned to hold a party to celebrate Mr. Kim Jihun joining the guild, but..."
Lee Hayeon glanced at the spot where Tria had disappeared.
"Since the Deputy Governor told you to come to the Hall of Swords... we'll postpone the party."
"Yes, I think I should go to sleep."
Now that the Deputy Governor had personally come, there was no time to leisurely have a party.
Moreover, Seong Jihan was also very curious about the Hall of Swords.
'Even the name sounds like a stage for the blue sword.'
Going there, he should be able to learn more details about this sword.
"Then I'll head up first."
He said this and went home first to sleep.
And a few minutes after lying on the bed and closing his eyes,
[You are being summoned to the Hall of Swords...]
In the dark vision of his closed eyes,
Such a message suddenly appeared, and Kim Jihun's consciousness was gradually sucked somewhere.
* * *
[This is your first visit to the Hall of Swords.]
[The intro will begin.]
Intro?
While Seong Jihan was puzzled by this message,
Flash...!
The dark world transformed.
And the place revealed was...
'...A movie theater?'
A huge movie theater with seats and a large screen beyond them.
Several times larger than a regular movie theater.
Kim Jihun was sitting in the center of the audience seats.
There were no people around him, but,
In the front rows, quite a few seats were filled with male half-elves similar to him.
"The center seat is finally filled..."
"That person, does he have over 20% compatibility?"
"Is the intro starting now?"
"Looks like it. The screen in front changed. It's glowing."
Half-elves speaking in English, perhaps foreigners.
It seemed the intro didn't even start until the center seat was filled.
'So they were waiting here all this time until I arrived.'
If your compatibility was low, you didn't get good treatment, huh.
As he thought this and turned his gaze to the screen,
Flash...!
Light gradually spread from the previously dark screen.
The screen that at first illuminated the audience seats in pure white,
Soon flickered in brilliant colors and showed a single form.
'That's...'
A tree emitting rainbow light on its own.
It was the form of Yggdrasil, the cosmic tree Seong Jihan had seen before.
And when this appeared,
"Ah..."
The male half-elves who had been chatting just moments ago stopped talking.
They stared at that rainbow-colored tree with dazed expressions.
Seeing this, Seong Jihan recalled a past event.
'They said those who possess eternity worship Yggdrasil when they encounter her.'
When he was trying to extract the Shadow Queen before,
The High Elf who blocked Seong Jihan was certain he would submit to Yggdrasil when shown her image.
Of course, Seong Jihan just thought the tree looked pretty, not feeling fascinated at all, but,
That was Seong Jihan's case.
It seemed natural for other beings to be entranced like these male half-elves.
'But in Kim Jihun's stat window itself, eternity is gone, combined with Blue... I guess it still has an effect though.'
For male half-elves, the eternity stat disappeared, combined with Blue.
But it seems they still worshipped Yggdrasil in the same way.
Thinking this, Seong Jihan waited for that tree image to disappear.
After about 10 minutes had passed,
'Finally, it's gone.'
The image of the cosmic tree vanished, and the screen changed.
And what appeared there was...
'...Why am I showing up?'
It was Seong Jihan, filling the large screen.
[Long ago, the cosmic tree had a gardener of human origin.]
And an elf's narration flowed.
They were referring to Seong Jihan as the cosmic tree's 'gardener'.
'Who decided I'm a gardener? These crazy ones.'
He wondered what kind of intro they would show,
But they were calling him a gardener right from the start.
[The gardener was to be her partner. Soon to become one with her, but...]
As the narration continued,
Seong Jihan momentarily wanted to throw it all away and split the screen in half, but,
'...Well, let's see what nonsense they spout.'
Suppressing that urge with effort, he continued to watch the intro.
Seong Jihan managed the garden with the brightest expression ever.
Though he had never watered a plant himself, the Seong Jihan on-screen skillfully pruned branches.
'Is this also included in deepfake videos?'
As Seong Jihan was thinking about this and waiting for the garden management to end,
Whoosh...!
The garden Seong Jihan was managing suddenly began to burn.
[The 'Red Administrator' was revived and began threatening the World Tree's garden and humanity.]
And a giant eye of fire appeared.
The screen transitioned from peaceful scenes,
To scenes of Seong Jihan and the Red Administrator engaged in a fierce battle.
'Thanks to the Blue stat, I don't think I ever fought Red with blood splattering like that.'
When he actually fought, Red was overwhelmingly pushed back.
But the fake video depicted the battle quite dramatically.
After showing several such desperate fights, the screen,
Suddenly showed the portal in Washington.
[The gardener entered the Red Administrator's base to seal him. And... he didn't come out.]
The Washington portal that disappeared as Seong Jihan entered.
The screen showed the devastated landscape of Washington city.
[Thanks to his sacrifice, the damage was limited, but.]
Zing...
The screen changed.
A red eye appeared.
[The Red Administrator will eventually revive there.]
The narration confidently stated that the final victor in the seal would be the Red Administrator.
[What's needed to seal him again is the gardener's power.]
[All of you selected this time possess the potential worthy of becoming gardeners.]
Then, on the screen,
A blue sword appeared.
Similar to Dongbangsak's Taiji Sword, but a blue-colored sword.
[Become the second gardener, become the sword of the cosmic tree.]
[That is what you must achieve in this Hall of Swords.]
As the narration ended,
Flash. Flash...!
Starting from the half-elves in the front seats, their bodies began to glow,
One by one, they started transforming into swords.
Similar in form to the blue sword on the screen,
But noticeably weaker, faint swords of the half-elves.
Seeing this change gradually spreading to the back seats, Seong Jihan thought,
'So becoming the cosmic tree's sword literally meant becoming a sword.'
And when it was Kim Jihun's turn,
[Finding the sword form.]
Flash...!
As his physical body collapsed, a blue sword revealed itself from within.
And when he finally transformed entirely into a sword,
[Entering the Hall of Swords.]
The swords in the audience seats,
All flashed and disappeared at once.