Chapter 72

Akashic Page.

This item could be made by combining 25 'Fragments of Akasha', which can be probabilistically obtained in BattleNet.

Until 2014, the use of Akasha's fragments, which appeared probabilistically from the Platinum League, was unknown, and it was neglected.

Since these fragments were special items and could only be traded within Earth, not on the BattleNet Market, some players even discarded them, saying they just took up inventory space.

However, the situation took a turn when South Korea's LK Guild discovered how to use this item.

Driven by Divergent Group, LK Electronics, which had always been second place, suddenly made tremendous technological advancements from 2015.

Despite significantly less investment in research and development compared to other leading companies, LK caught up with the technology of the top companies, and later even led the technological advancements.

'It was later revealed that this technological advancement was due to the Akashic Page.'

Using the Akashic Page showed significant results in research and development, especially in IT and electronics. As a result, leading global IT companies were eager to buy Akasha's fragments.

'Although I didn't know how to use it…'

This was mainly because during the time the Akashic Page was widely used, it was the tutorial phase. Companies tried to hide its usage, and after the tutorial, Akasha's fragments became rarer, naturally leading to its obscurity. However, Ariel seemed to know something about this Akashic Page.

[I can't believe it.]

Swoosh!

Seong Jihan's left arm darkened, and from that darkness, Ariel emerged.

– Oh, it's Seong Jihan's summon.

– Uh… She looks a bit different from the last game, right?

– Her eyes are prettier. They seem more vibrant.

– I liked her black eyes better last time. They looked ghostly… haha.

– Are you a pervert? LOL

There was a clear difference in Ariel before and after recognizing Seong Jihan as her master. She now expressed a wider range of emotions.

[Lowest-class creature.]

"…Are you referring to me?"

Speaking fluently like a native Korean, Ariel called Hayeon the lowest-class creature. Lee Hayeon pointed to herself with a 'Could it be?' expression.

[Yes, you.]

"…Why am I of the lowest class?"

[Because of your race.]

"Then why is our race the lowest…"

[Because it's weak.]

– LOL she's suddenly so blunt.

– Isn't she also Seong Jihan's summon?

– Isn't she saying Seong Jihan is also of the lowest class? LOL

The semi-transparent guild channel chat in front of Lee Hayeon displayed the messages. Ariel, seemingly able to read Korean, quickly read the chat and said, [He's different. He transcends his race, around a mid-class.]

"Didn't you say he's low class last time? He's mid-class now?"

[Yes. He's not quite top-class yet.]

"How about Dark Elves?"

[Dark Elves? I am a Shadow Elf. Shadow Elves are… probably mid-high class.]

With that, Ariel reached out toward the smartphone.

Swoosh!

The darkness stretched towards Lee Hayeon's smartphone, the 'Space 23', and it was swiftly pulled out. [There's a reason you're the lowest class. Why on earth would you use three Akashic Pages on such a thing?]

"To make the display more flexible. Do you see how much smoother it folds compared to the previous foldable phones?"

[Ha… Just because of that?]

With disdain, Ariel alternated her gaze between the smartphone and Lee Hayeon.

[You don't even know the true value of the Akashic Page… tsk.]

– ??

– She knows something about Akashic Page?

– Is there another use for the Akashic Page?

– Will she impart wisdom to the lowest-class creatures?

Ariel, looking at the chat, chuckled and said,

[Yes, the Akashic Page is… ——.]

– Huh?

– Why is there a beeping sound?

Not just the viewers, but the beep sound was heard by everyone, including Seong Jihan and Lee Hayeon. It was similar to how broadcasts censor profanity or offensive words.

[So, the tutorial's prohibition is in effect. Even if I want to tell you, I can't.]

Swoosh!

Then Ariel transformed back into black smoke and was sucked into Seong Jihan's arm. Before she completely disappeared, she handed the smartphone she was holding to Seong Jihan's left hand.

– Ah, what was that?

– Is this a joke?

– It felt like being interrupted while doing number two.

– She teased the low-level race and left, LOL.

The viewers criticized Ariel, who disappeared, leaving only curiosity. But the messages did not reach Ariel, who had already vanished.

"Well then, shall we go shoot the 'Space 23' advertisement, where the lowest-race like me, unknowingly invested 3 Akashic pages per phone, Owner?"

Lee Hayeon said, wearing a bright smile but making a comment that was hard to laugh at.

– The high elf is angry, LOL.

– A dark elf appeared out of nowhere, dealt massive damage, and disappeared, LOL.

– It's a shadow elf, a mid-level race, right?~

– I meant low-level… haha… sorry!

It was understandable since she was being mocked for spending 3 pages just to fold a phone, without knowing the real value of the Akashic pages.

"Let's go."

As Seong Jihan stood up and started to walk, he heard Ariel's voice from his left arm, [Master, the sound earlier was made by me. It was just a small trick.]

'…What?'

Ariel made that beeping sound?

Although Seong Jihan was surprised, [You can't release such high-level information on a broadcast, right?]

When Ariel said this, he quickly understood.

The potential of the Akashic pages she knew was unique information that no one on Earth knew. Revealing it to the public would be a foolish or dangerous move.

[…I'll tell you after the broadcast.]

Seong Jihan nodded in agreement, wanting to hear more about the Akashic pages and feeling the urgency to finish the advertisement shoot quickly.

* * *

At the advertisement shooting site…

"Cut! Well done!"

As the sign for the end of the commercial filming was given by the director,

– What~~~ It's already over?

– Really?

The viewers watching the broadcast expressed their disappointment because the advertisement shoot ended much quicker than expected.

– Why were there no mistakes?!

– What can we do if he's good?

– What can't our Jihan do… 🙁

– Wish he had some difficulty and took longer… When will we see him again now? 🙁

The chat, which had a higher proportion of female viewers than usual, was filled with disappointment.

"Wow, Mr. Jihan, why are you so good at this?"

"It's thanks to the director guiding me well."

"No~~ It's not. You shot so well even though you're a player."

BattleNet players, with the world's attention on BattleNet, have risen as the star among stars. They were the hottest entities in the CF (Commercial Films) industry. However, acting was a different matter.

Shooting with players was much harder than with regular actors.

'But shooting with Mr. Seong Jihan was quite easy.'

The director recalled the recent shoot.

Excluding the few NGs (No Good, a term used to refer to outtakes or mistakes) at the beginning, Seong Jihan showed exactly what the director wanted. On top of that,

"Could you possibly use telekinesis to levitate the phone?"

"I can."

"Can you fold and unfold it?"

"Of course."

The advertisement shoot ended quickly, so the director tried a new shooting concept, and Seong Jihan accepted without hesitation.

'I thought he was a temperamental person because of the noise with the BattleNet Administration and Korea Daily… But he's very polite.'

Up until now, among the players who have shot CFs, many used informal language as a basic mannerism and had an option for being violent or weird.

Compared to them, Sung Jihan was an angel.

"Thank you for your hard work, Director."

"Ah, yes. Thank you!"

Sung Jihan greeted the CF director and thought, 'It's easier compared to shooting in the U.S.'

In his previous life, Sung Jihan was quite popular in the U.S. Although he wasn't as popular as Barren, the face of America First, or the Priestess Sophia, he was immensely talented as a warrior, so it was inevitable that he'd be popular. Leveraging that popularity, he had done countless CF shoots. So, this short shoot was something he could easily handle.

"Owner, the shooting finished faster than I thought. Since we have some time left… Can I report about the guild?"

Lee Hayeon approached with a smile and glanced towards the camera.

"Ah, everyone~ The shooting finished earlier than expected, so… would you all like to join us?"

– ???????

– Are they moving the guild to another country?

– What? They're leaving Korea already?

– It was a short and happy time…

The chat was in chaos with talk about changing the country due to the mention of a guild report. Seeing this, Lee Hayeon waved her hand dismissively.

"Hey, we're not leaving the country. Then, what would happen to this commercial we just shot, right, Owner?"

– Right, that makes sense.ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

– If they move, then there's no point in shooting the commercial.

"Well, you never know. There are many who don't like me," said Sung Jihan cryptically, causing the chat to go wild again.

– Bro… you're joking, right?

– Who hates you? ㅠㅠㅠㅠ

– Is it the Director ? Or the Korea News?

– Didn't they apologize already?

– They didn't do it officially.

– Who dares to hate our Ji-Han…!!

– We can't let this slide… We need to get them in The First dimension!!

– So the elders have been watching all this time?

– The elders seem angry ㄷㄷㄷ

– This feels like the old days of the Sword King. ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

The chat was full of messages from both young and old. Sung Jihan smiled slyly and spoke, "Everyone, don't worry. I'm not going anywhere for now. Let's check out the new video that will be uploaded. Shall we, Guild Master?"

"Yes. We'll go to the guild office and start the live broadcast. See you soon~!"

Lee Hayeon waved, but the chat was still intense, ready to confront anyone who dared harm Sung Jihan.

Looking at the chat, Lee Hayeon asked, "Owner… Are you really thinking of moving?"

"No, I haven't thought about it."

"Then why…"

Sung Jihan looked around and whispered in Lee Hayeon's ear, "This will attract more viewers to our next video, right?"

"Wow."

'So that was his plan.'

"You didn't have to do that…"

"But it's true they didn't apologize officially, right?" As Sung Jihan smirked, Lee Hayeon felt a shiver down her spine.

'He's killing two birds with one stone.' Indeed, he is someone not to be taken lightly.

With that thought, she headed to the guild office with Sung Jihan.

"Hello, everyone~~ Today, we have an important announcement related to our guild, so we're filming this video~!"

The outcome of Sung Jihan's successful aggro was evident in the comments.

Suddenly, the situation might become the opposite of what was intended.

"Ah, the owner isn't leaving! The important report isn't related to that issue. Right, Owner?"

"Yes, that's correct."

Lee Hayeon quickly defused the situation and went straight to the point.

"Now shall we take a look at the status windows of our three guild members that we revealed?"

The status windows of Yoon Seah, Diego Maseid, and Lim Gayeong were revealed with both Before and After comparisons.

Most noticeably was Yoon Seah's status window.

– Wait, Yoon Seah's health is 13?

– At level 5, she left +3 status points unused…

– She started with 11, so she gained 2 stat points?

– It hasn't even been a week since the league started, right?

– She increased her health by 2 in just a week? Is this for real?

After increasing her health by +1, in the next 5 days, Yoon Seah managed to raise her health by 1 more. She wasn't the only one to show such impressive growth.