Chapter 386

'If the invitation has arrived… it's already been 700 days.'

700 days, almost equal to two years.

Seong Jihan let out a bitter laugh.

'Dongbang Sak's Heaven's Chaotic Flow, I thought I'd break through it quickly when I entered the training grounds…'

He had spent far more time than he had anticipated.

Still, the gains from breaking through the skill were significant.

[Martial Soul increased by 3.]

As Seong Jihan dismantled the Heaven's Chaotic Flow, his Martial Soul, which rarely grew with regular martial arts training, had reached 450.

Ordinarily, his Martial Soul barely rose through typical martial arts practice.

However, dismantling the Heaven's Chaotic Flow proved to be a sufficiently challenging training task to foster the growth of his Martial Soul.

'The increase in Martial Soul is welcome, but the Void has risen too much.'

The upgraded Void Training Room.

The ability to adjust the time ratio to 100 times was beneficial, but the Void's energy seeped out regardless of the summoned map, gradually being absorbed by Seong Jihan.

'It's a relief that it didn't go beyond 200…'

Once it hit 200, the Void Training Room' energy no longer entered Seong Jihan's body.

Thus, he could stay for 700 days without issue, but there was concern about future increases in Void energy.

'I need to get out for now.'

He decided to think about future problems later.

Seong Jihan left the Void Training Room where he had stayed for 700 days.

Returning to Earth,

'The air feels different after so long.'

He took a deep breath in his room before stepping outside.

There, he found,

"Jihan! You're back!"

"Huh. Uncle…! Are you back already?"

Yoon Seah and Sophia, who had been chatting on the sofa, stood up to greet him.

"Yeah. I stayed a bit longer because the training wasn't going well."

"I saw that 100x speed video during the streaming…"

"Yeah. It could only be adjusted after it was posted as a video."

"Oh, that's because there's a 100x time difference between the Void Training Room and here."

Crunch.

Seong Jihan casually explained as he ate a snack from the table.

The two quickly grasped the meaning and were astonished.

"Wait, so you were there for a week… which means… you stayed for 700 days?"

"700 days? How could you stay in that place for so long?"

"Didn't realize it had been 700 days. The training wasn't progressing, so time just flew by."

"Wow… Uncle, you haven't aged a bit. You look exactly the same."

"What would change in just two years?"

Seong Jihan chuckled and turned to Sophia.

"Sophia, have you heard anything from your constellation?"

"Ah, about my constellation…"

Sophia's face darkened as she continued.

"Jeanne d'Arc suddenly terminated her sponsorship and took back more than half of her Sacred Flame."

"The Sacred Flame too?"

"Yes… Apologizing for reclaiming her power, she enhanced my divine power instead. Because of that, the Sacred Flame buff's effect is largely diminished."

"Hmm…"

Of the Martial God's followers, Pythia had been the most cooperative towards Seong Jihan.

Beginning with the unusual behavior at the coronation ceremony and continuing after the game,

Her subsequent actions had been suspicious.

'Still, she was quite helpful up until then.'

Providing insider intelligence about Tuseong and locating the Nine Palaces Eight Trigrams Formation on the west coast—these accomplishments were thanks to her.

However, since Ashoka's appearance, her actions had become suspicious.

Reflecting on this, Seong Jihan turned to Sophia.

"If you have some of the Sacred Flame left, may I see it again?"

"Ah, yes. I'll show you."

Fwoosh!

A white flame flared in Sophia's hand.

It was much weaker compared to what she had previously wielded.

"Just a moment."

Sssss…

Seong Jihan placed a finger into the flame to examine it.

'Wondered if the Sacred Flame was related to the red stat, but it doesn't seem so.'

The Sacred Flame was a blend of divine power and fire energy.

Despite its unique feeling, there was no obvious connection to the Red stat.

Yet, the reason behind its recall remained unclear.

After a while,

"Ah, I can't maintain it any longer…"

Fzzzz…

The Sacred Flame in Sophia's hand extinguished on its own.

"With the Sacred Flame so weakened, the buff's effect has significantly decreased. I even lost a match yesterday because the buff's performance was so poor compared to usual."

"As the Sacred Flame's buff was originally quite strong… it'll take some time to adjust."

"Yes, about that."

Sophia looked up at Seong Jihan.

"There's an open sponsoring constellation slot. Will you be my constellation?"

"I can't provide the Sacred Flame."

"That's fine! I was so regretful when I couldn't receive your support during humanity's evolution mission… Lately, those receiving your support are boasting about their enhanced abilities!"

"Their abilities have improved? Ah."

He remembered the coronation ceremony.

Seong Jihan recalled the increase in his Dominion level, which he had forgotten amidst his training.

'Although I've risen by 2 levels, with my constellation traits turned off, the tangible benefits to players should be minimal…'

Checking the constellation menu for any new features,

He found none.

"Despite my increased ability, since I'm not an official constellation, the benefits to ordinary players should be negligible. Yet still, you wish for my support?"

"Of course! Benefits or not, I absolutely want to follow Constellation Seong Jihan!"

"Sophia would want your support even if her stats decreased…"

"Absolutely!"

Seeing Sophia's resolute desire for his backing, Seong Jihan nodded.

"Alright, let's do it here and now. Support."

Thus, the transfer of constellation support proceeded smoothly.

"Wow! It's really done!"

Sophia rejoiced seeing Seong Jihan's name under her supporting constellation on her status screen.

"You don't feel much difference, right? Even with me as your constellation."

"No! It feels great! I think I can rekindle the Sacred Flame!"

Opening her palm again, Sophia concentrated.

Fzzzz…

But only a wisp of white smoke rose from her hand.

"There's no need to strain yourself."

"No, just a moment!"

Channeling her full power, Sophia's hand trembled.

After a while,

Crackle. Crackle.

Sparks flew from her hand.

Fwoosh…

The flames began to burn once more.

"Oh. It worked! Although the color is slightly red…"

Though once purely white, now the Sacred Flame in Sophia's hand carried a strong red hue.

Seong Jihan scrutinized it.

'…This time, I can sense some of the red's energy.'

With Seong Jihan as her constellation, Sophia's flame faintly held the red's energy.

However, the flame also contained a blend of various powers.

As Seong Jihan tried to analyze further,

[A special arena is about to begin.]

[Please open the invitation and respond to the summon.]

A message indicating the start of the arena appeared before him.

'I'll have to continue examining the Sacred Flame later.'

Was the red's energy present because the constellation changed, or had it always been hidden?

He decided to investigate after the arena.

Opening his inventory, Seong Jihan took out the Arena invitation.

"What's that golden ticket?"

"An Arena invitation."

"Arena?"

"Yes, I'll be back."

Before the words were fully out,

Flash!

Light enveloped the invitation, and Seong Jihan's form vanished.

"Really? He could've rested a bit before going again…!"

Seeing him dive into the Arena immediately after returning home, Yoon Seah looked worriedly at the spot where Seong Jihan had vanished.

Sometimes, it seemed her uncle lived a life constantly on the run.

"Ugh…"

She sighed and turned on the TV.

"He'll probably stream the Arena match on BattleTube, Sophia, want to watch?"

"Sure."

As they predicted,

Seong Jihan's channel promptly started broadcasting.

* * *

[Welcome, players, to the Space Arena.]

Having been summoned to the Arena, Seong Jihan first surveyed his surroundings.

'Only the seating area is at the back.'

Ahead and to the sides were open wastelands, with spectator seats only at the back—a peculiar map setup.

In front of the seating area, three large crystals floated in mid-air.

[Special Arena, 'Boss Rush,' is about to begin.]

[Prevent the enemies from reaching the crystals by defeating them.]

[The side that defeats more bosses wins.]

Flash! Flash!

As the system message ended, a large screen appeared in the air, divided into twenty sections, each showing an identical arena to Seong Jihan's.

The only difference was the player standing before the spectator seats.

'Competing against 20 players huh?'

It resembled a defense mode in its setup.

Watching the segments, Seong Jihan deduced as much.

Defeating the bosses while protecting the crystals.

'The concept is straightforward.'

With his extensive BattleNet experience, Seong Jihan quickly grasped the game's mechanics.

Yet he suspected the "special" tag indicated potential variables.

'Let's see.'

Opening the extraterrestrial chat,

– This Boss Rush Arena, it's been a while since we've seen it.

– Isn't this for constellation participants? How is a constellation candidate here?

– Given that Seong Jihan held the coronation with a Ruling Constellation, he should qualify to participate.

– So should we bet GP on this?

– Betting on a candidate instead of a constellation…?

– Even with admin interest, that's an overestimation;

– Lots of folks here lost money underestimating him.

Boss Rush, supposedly a game for constellation-level participants, permitted unrestricted betting, drawing viewers' focus on where to place their GP.

Bet on Seong Jihan, given his past favor with administrators?

Or stick with the safer choice of constellations?

While the debate initially raged,

– Did you forget he's from a lower-tier species?

– How useful could his summoned players be?

– Despite losing bets underestimating Seong Jihan, this game is different…

– Constellations summon their subordinates to clear this map.

Soon, as Boss Rush's gameplay was clarified, consensus shifted to avoiding bets on Seong Jihan.

'Constellations summon subordinates in this game?'

An unfavorable situation indeed.

The strongest among Seong Jihan's sponsored players, Yoon Sejin, had just entered the Master League.

[Constellations can summon their sponsored players here.]

Seeing the system message, Seong Jihan considered his options.

'Even if I summon them, few would be much help besides my brother-in-law.'

Though his sponsored players were notable on Earth, they were inadequate for this constellation-level map.

'Better not to summon anyone and risk dragging them down.'

Evaluating his sponsored players cautiously,

Ding!

A new system message appeared.

[General Quest]

– Summon 5 or fewer sponsored players and reach Stage 3 of Boss Rush.

Reward – 2 levels increase

A quest to summon no more than five and reach Stage 3.

And following this, successive general quests appeared:

[General Quest]

– Summon 5 or fewer sponsored players and reach Stage 10 of Boss Rush.

The quests paused at Stage 10.

Cumulative rewards for consecutive completion.

'Two levels per quest, totaling sixteen levels by Stage 10.'

So, this is why the Arena was described as a level-up haven?

Given the limited viable players to summon, this worked to his advantage.

As Seong Jihan decided to summon no more than five,

[Epic Quest]

– Clear Boss Rush alone.

An Epic Quest appeared beneath the general quests.