Chapter 120

"Who are you, exactly?"

Bijang stared at Seong Jihan with disbelief.

"You effortlessly took down the monster horde, against which even I had to be prepared for death. And you used the power of darkness to do so."

Seong Jihan was contemplating how to respond to Bijang's accusation when his mouth opened involuntarily.

A forced event had been activated.

"I can only tell you that I am affiliated with the secret division of the Royal Ascendancy, and nothing more."

"The secret division… I see. I thought they would fail, but they managed to cultivate an exceptional talent like you. So, the experiment was a success?"

"Yes."

Nodding as if convinced, Bijang pulled out the great spear from his back.

"Then I have my duty to fulfill."

"What duty?"

"I will request assistance from the neutral giants. If they know Chojyo has resurrected, they will help. Meanwhile, guard this bridge with this."

Zzzzzz!

From the great spear, white lightning emerged, coalescing into a sphere.

"This is the essence of the Thundercloud Spear. I'll temporarily graft it onto your spear."

Tssssss~

The essence of Thundercloud Spear interlocked with the Phoenix Flag, and it naturally absorbed into the Phoenix Flag as if they had always been one.

"Tsk… Thundercloud, leaving without looking back."

Bijang briefly looked resentful at the Thundercloud that was readily absorbed into the Phoenix Flag and turned away.

"Then, I entrust the bridge to you."

And with that, the giant Bijang started walking away. As Seong Jihan watched his back, system messages began to flood in.

[You have fully cleared the Defense Map, 'Lone Bridge'.]

[For ranking 1st, your experience and GP acquisition rate increases by 50%.]

[For a complete clear, you gain double the experience and GP.]

[You are a player who dominates the league. For appropriate league placement, additional experience is given.]

[Your level has increased by 4.]

[You've acquired 200,000 GP.]

[You've cleared the Epic Quest.]

[You've acquired 50,000 achievement points as a reward.]

[You've acquired the Thundercloud Spear as a reward.]

With that message, the logout of all players, including Seong Jihan, began.

"Wow. Insane."

"It's over just like that?"

"The rewards are crazy… how much GP is that?"

The participating players grinned from ear to ear as they looked at the reward message appearing before logout.

Thanks to getting carried by Seong Jihan, they also received an insane amount of rewards.

For a Gold player, playing one good game doesn't usually lead to a level-up.

Despite doing almost nothing in this battle, they all gained at least 1 level, with some gaining 2 levels for free.

'So this is the famous Seong Jihan's hard carry.'

'I hope we're on the same team next time.'

As everyone joyfully logged out, Sophia turned to Yoon Seah, her face bright with happiness.

"Wow… our levels just shot up. Right, Seah?"

The two silvers, unlike the gold players, had risen more levels, both leveling up by 4, just like Seong Jihan.

"Yeah. Even though I didn't really do anything…"

Yoon Seah snapped her bowstring and spoke with a hint of disappointment.

Given that it was a defense map, she thought she might have a chance to shoot some arrows, but her uncle finished it all by himself.

"Aren't I taking too much advantage of uncle?"

"What does it matter? Seah, you can play one more game. Just show your skills there."

"Sophia, are you okay?"

"Me? I feel great. I even contributed enough to be ranked second this time. I gave Jihan a buff."

Sophia chuckled.

Since Seong Jihan nearly finished the game by himself, it was only natural for Sophia, who had supported him by providing buffs, to rank second in contribution.

"As a supporter, Jihan is someone who truly makes buffing worthwhile."

The way Sophia looked at Seong Jihan seemed even more intense than before.

She already had a fondness for the warrior class, but today's one-man show by him left an even deeper impression on her.

After logging out, Seong Jihan checked his main reward, the Thundercloud Spear.

[Thundercloud Spear (Grade: SS)]

[This formless spear was created by the first emperor of the Cloud Empire by harnessing lightning.

When fused with other equipment, it can demonstrate its full potential.

Enhances the equipment it's fused with and bestows the property of lightning.

To fuse with equipment, the target equipment must be at least grade SS.

Upon full recognition as the master of the Thundercloud, you will acquire the skill 'Thunderstorm Summon'.

Currently fused with the Phoenix Flag.]

The Thundercloud Spear, which Bijing had handed him, was designed to show

its real value when combined with other equipment.

'The Phoenix Flag as a weapon is around grade SS, but with Thundercloud, it might be usable as an SSS grade.'

From the description, it seemed there was no strict requirement to fuse it with a spear.

"Ariel, can we fuse it with the Eclipse?"

[Thundercloud? You mean the lightning spear? Eclipse's current grade is SS, so they might

counteract each other's effects if combined.]

"What if it's upgraded to SSS?"

[…Hmm. They wouldn't interfere with each other, but I wouldn't expect any synergy either.]

"Then, I should just keep it with the Phoenix Spear."

Having settled his feelings about Thundercloud, Seong Jihan then checked the achievement points he had earned.

'I have 630,000.'

When he last ranked up in the Top100 and dealt damage to the Constellation of the Dead Star, he had earned a whopping 300,000 achievement points.

Today's points were a significant addition to that.

'It's about time to use them.'

First on his list was an upgrade to the store.

After adding an Additional Constellation Slot and an Additional Gift Slot, Seong Jihan proceeded with the store upgrade.

While 350,000 achievement points were swiftly deducted, he still had a lot left, so he wasn't

too worried.

'I wonder what's added.'

Despite the deduction of 350,000 achievement points, he still had a substantial amount

remaining, so he wasn't stressed about it.

[The Achievement Store has been upgraded to LV.7.]

[A 'Donation' item has been added.]

[Donating achievement points to the system might bring unexpected luck!]

[Donate 10,000 points once a month!]

"…What?"

Seong Jihan, who had high expectations for the new item, let out a chuckle at the sight of the 'Donation'.

Donation? Are they joking?

[The level cap for each item has been increased.]

[Unlocking the cap will require achievement points.]

The system messages that followed seemed more noteworthy.

He felt extremely let down that after spending so many achievement points, the item he obtained was merely a 'Donation'.

"Why would I do it?!"

Why would domineering entities like the BattleNet system need to receive achievement points as donations?

Until that moment, he had vowed never to donate.

[To upgrade the Achievement Store, all the lower upgrade items must be level 3 or above.]

[To upgrade the Achievement Store, you must make 5 or more donations.]

Seeing that one of the requirements for the next shop upgrade was 5 donations, he furrowed his brow deeply.

The rich getting richer, he thought, it's exactly like this.

"I should think of it as nonexistent points and just click it."

With a trembling finger, he clicked on the donation button.

[You have donated 10,000 points to the system!]

[Energy envelops you. For a month, you accumulate less fatigue.]

He did feel a momentary lightness with that message, but his body was the epitome of health.

A slight increase in vitality made no noticeable change.

Moreover,

"…Was there a limit of one donation per month?"

Moreover,

He would've preferred to complete all 5 donations at once if possible, but the system, despite seemingly willing to accept, wouldn't allow it.

It felt like a tactic to curb the player's growth.

"No choice, then."

Trying to suppress his growing frustration, he decided to invest his remaining achievement points in other items.

After all, to upgrade, growth in other items was also required.

Among the long list of items,he looked at an item that changed to "All for One" instead of the class item.

[All for One LV.1]

[Would you like to unlock the limit to LV.2?]

[You need 250,000 achievement points.]

The All for One grade upgrade seemed more valuable than expanding the status window or inventory.

He prioritized it and invested the achievement points.

[The limit for All for One has increased to LV.2.]

"Another 250,000 needed for a level up?"

When he had 630,000 points, he thought he could buy anything, but with just a few clicks, 610,000 points vanished.

All he got was a strange donation item and the qualification for an All for One upgrade.

"Ah… There's also the useless Gift Slot and Constellation Slot."

Looking at the mere 20,000 remaining achievement points, he felt a momentary sense of loss.

"Forget it. No regrets."

Wasn't the achievement point something almost worthless in his past life?

It's an achievement to use them this productively, he decided to think positively.

"This month's random box has an increased item appearance rate…"

The monthly changing item in the random box.

For October, the item was [Item].

Thinking he might try drawing from it later, he closed the Achievement Store.

"More importantly."

He opened his status window to check his remaining points.

His level had increased by 4 from this game.

There was a reason he could grow so quickly despite being Gold Rank.

"There was an added system message."

[You are a player who dominates the league. To reposition you to a league that matches your level, additional experience is given.]

Even if it meant giving more experience, it was the system's way of urging him to climb up quickly.

He seemed to have been given a bonus for wreaking havoc on the game balance so much.

'If I invest all the remaining points, my Martial Power will reach 97…'

For the unification of the three Dantians, he believed he needed a power level of 100.

Now, he's very close to his goal.

'This time, I'll succeed.'

* * * * *

Meanwhile, on the same day, October 1st, the Northeast Asia BattleNet League match took place.

The match between Korea and Taiwan unfolded.

– Ah…! The South Korean national team has lost again…!

– How many losses in a row now? Especially with a loss to Taiwan, we're almost confirmed to be at the bottom of the league!

– Ah, when will they ever get their first win…

The Korean commentators relayed the national team's defeat with a voice filled with sorrow.

The South Korean national team still hasn't filled the void left by the departure of the Sword King.

Especially after suffering a brutal defeat to Taiwan, who used to be considered the weakest.

"Did they lose again?"

"They even got crushed by Taiwan…"

"They can't even compete at the bottom?"

"This is a real problem…"

The citizens who watched this started to worry about the national team's future more than criticizing them.

"If we continue to be overwhelmingly last, won't our world ranking plummet?"

"Right. Even if you look at other leagues, it's rare to find countries with 0 wins like us. Our current national team's performance is almost self-destructive."

"Oh my, are we going to end up like North Korea?"

"Even if dungeons appear, they said we can close them with the Exploration Gift."

"That's still in testing. And if a dungeon does appear, our economy is doomed."

"That's true…"

Although it was said that the Exploration Gift could locate dungeon cores, it wasn't yet conclusively proven.

And just the existence of a dungeon is detrimental to the country.

"Sooner or later, Seong Jihan has to step up!"

"Exactly! Why can't they just add Seong Jihan to the national team now?"

"Hey, he's just in the Gold tier. You need to be at least in Diamond to be on the national team."

"But these days, no one else has his performance. Someone suggested it before and got cursed out, being called a The First fanatic."

To be qualified for the national team, one needed to be at least in the Diamond League.

But suggesting Gold-ranked Seong Jihan was a wild idea.

"No, did you watch Seong Jihan's game today? He defeated Hojo, and overwhelmingly so."

"Hojo? Do you mean the one from the Phoenix Corps? That giant?"

"Yes, that Hojo."

But when Seong Jihan defeated Hojo in today's game, those who were familiar with BattleNet games were genuinely surprised.

"Man… even Diamond players would avoid him, right?"

"That's what I'm saying! He's stronger than a Diamond!"

"No, I saw it. It seemed like Hojo didn't know his own weakness. He was dominated too easily."

"It's not that. It's just that Seong Jihan is damn strong!"

"This guy, are you a The First fanatic? I watched the game too. Hojo was confused about why he was taking so much damage."

"Yeah, I joined the fan club! At this rate, the national team is hopeless. Why not just try him out? How much longer will they be last?"

With the news that Seong Jihan also defeated Hojo, one of The First's new members suggested trying him out while drinking.

"It's not our decision…"

"We can. Let's start a national petition! Already gathered 100,000 signatures!"

"…100,000?"

"Yes, let's do it now! Sending the link!"

"Fine, whatever. I'll sign it, but it's not gonna happen."

Friends began participating in the petition after being convinced by one of their friends' passionate pleas.

And so, on the day South Korea suffered a crushing defeat against Taiwan, ironically, the number of citizens petitioning for Seong Jihan's inclusion in the national team began to skyrocket.

"…What's this?"

And that was, even to the point of shocking the officials at the BattleNet Administration Office.