Chapter 533

Even if the opponent was Silver rank, gaining 8 levels just from killing one person seemed excessive.

'Even with the growth buff, this is way too rapid growth.'

Seong Jihan thought as he pulled his sword out of the warrior player logging out and disappearing.

Then.

Whiiing...

The blue sword, whose light had been fading, now shone brightly again, just like when it was first summoned.

'The sword has returned to its original state.'

Currently, Kim Jihun's Blue stat was 11.

With stats this low, the blue sword should have been gradually weakening by now.

But after executing the human player, the sword had temporarily recovered.

Furthermore.

Wing. Wing...!

The light manifested even more strongly, further empowering the sword.

-Oh, the sword recovered.

-Does that happen when you execute someone?

-Yeah, it temporarily gets stronger.

-That guy from earlier died, well, haha.

The viewers watched the sword's enhancement as if it were a common occurrence.

Seong Jihan stared blankly at the sword.

'Did it absorb Blue from the human player? A sword that not only executes but also steals Blue.'

Yggdrasil.

She messed around with this sword, didn't she?

'I'll have to use Kim Jihun to get closer to their core.'

Thinking this, Seong Jihan opened his status window.

With the 8-level increase, 8 points were added to the remaining stat points.

He could raise general stats like Strength, Agility, Vitality, and Magic, but...

'Blue still can't be raised, as expected.'

Blue was a stat that couldn't be increased with remaining points.

'I'll raise everything by +2 for now.'

After evenly raising the 4 stats, Seong Jihan looked around for his next target.

-Shouldn't he end it now that he's got 1 kill?

-Can he only log out when the sword disappears?

-Thanks to that player dying earlier, he'll probably stay longer.

-It'd be better to escape safely before encountering a Chimera...

-But from the looks of it, he seems to want to fight lol

Most viewers suggested it would be better to log out before Chimeras appeared since he already had 1 kill, but...

'I should at least see one Chimera.'

Seong Jihan had no such intention.

As he was moving forward,

Ziiing...!

Suddenly, green portals began opening in the sky one by one.

And then.

Creatures started falling from them.

Thud! Thud!

Since they were falling from quite a height, the sound of bodies being crushed could be heard, but...

"Ugh... urgh..."

These beings quickly recovered from the impact of the fall.

They were slowly getting to their feet.

'Are these the Chimeras?'

Their sizes varied greatly.

Some were unbelievably large, comparable to giants.

Others were so small they were barely visible from a distance.

But there was one thing all of them had in common.

'They're all mixed. Every one of them.'

Whether large or small.

All the Chimeras that fell from the portals were a mix of various species.

The one that looked strongest among them was...

"Kaaaah!"

The upper body of a Red Dragon.

Lower body made of bipedal machinery.

When this being opened its mouth, U//ppTodat𝒆d fr/𝒐/m nô/v/e/lb(i)n.c(o)\/m

Whoosh...!

Flames instantly began to rise around it.

-Wow, what's that Chimera? Machine legs but dragon upper body.

-It looks super strong, lol. At that level, wouldn't it need Diamond rank players to raid?

-No, how could they send a Level 2 to a map like this...

-They should run while those things fight each other.

-Yeah, luckily there's some distance. Need to run now.

The Dragon Chimera rampaged with an overwhelming presence while others resisted it.

No matter how strong a male half-elf was, he was still too weak to join that hell.

People thought Kim Jihun would obviously run away, but...

'I should be able to get some scraps at least.'

Seong Jihan stood still, watching the Chimeras' battle.

"Grrrr...!"

Only when the Dragon Chimera flapped its wings, blowing away nearby Chimeras, did he move.

His target was one of the Chimeras blown away by that monster.

Thud!

As a Chimera that the dragon's wings had flung was struggling,

Seong Jihan approached it and...

Stab!

Thrust the blue sword into its neck.

'Nice sword.'

Though it seemed to have quite tough skin,

It was pierced without much resistance by the blue sword, showing SS-rank performance.

"Kuh... Kruk..."

The opponent, an Orc base mixed with various monster bodies,

Fell and shuddered from the fatal wound, but...

'It would probably regenerate soon if left alone.'

Kim Jihun's sword didn't leave the incapacitated opponent alone.

It sliced the opponent into dozens of pieces.

Twitch. Twitch...

On the ground, now covered in blood, the Chimera's body parts tried to reconnect somehow, but...

'This isn't even a last struggle. This is...'

Seong Jihan didn't pay much attention to it.

He knew the opponent was already finished.

And when the opponent's twitching stopped,

[Level increases by 1.]

A level-up message appeared.

It was slower growth compared to when he executed a human.

'Actually, this is more normal.'

In BattleNet, more experience was usually given during post-game calculations.

Gaining 8 levels just from killing one human was an abnormal growth rate.

Moreover,

'The blue sword isn't regenerating either.'

Unlike humans, Chimeras don't possess Blue, so,

Even after ultimately killing the opponent, the blue sword wasn't replenished like before and was gradually weakening.

'For male half-elves, the best prey is ultimately humans, huh...'

Even though this was a Chimera that had fallen from the Dragon Chimera's wingbeat,

The opponent was much stronger than the Silver rank warrior from earlier.

Yet humans give more experience, and even strengthen the blue sword.

'For now, let's kill a few more. I need to see how much the rewards differ from humans.'

Seong Jihan looked at the blue sword whose light was fading.

At this rate, he should be able to use it for a few more minutes.

Thud! Thud!

He carefully observed the falling Chimeras.

'I'll take that one next.'

With sunken eyes, he locked onto his next target.

* * *

10 minutes later.

-Uh...

-That's the 5th one already ;(

-How is he landing the final blows so well?

-His dissection skills are insane, he's slicing them up so well with that sword lol

-Is this really his first time playing the game?

Viewers were amazed as they watched Kim Jihun finish off his 5th Chimera.

The half-elf never approached the Dragon Chimera.

Instead, he went for the weakest ones among those it had flung away, aiming to finish them off.

As they watched him mercilessly slice opponents into dozens of pieces with the blue sword,

People felt this half-elf was different from the ones they'd seen before.

-His target selection among the falling Chimera groups is incredible.

-For real, his positioning is so good. How does he always find isolated ones wherever he goes?

-But it's the first time I've seen a male half-elf hunt mobs so enthusiastically.

-Yeah, he could have just waited to log out after killing that Silver rank earlier...

-Kim Jihun would have succeeded even if he just played as a human warrior.

Compared to most male half-elves who barely play the game,

Or, at most, just kill humans waiting to be executed before ending,

Kim Jihun's play was so desperate that observers wondered why he was trying so hard.

As viewers were enjoying this rare sight,

Hisss...

The blue sword Kim Jihun was holding began to fade in color,

Starting to disappear from the tip.

-Ah... the blue sword is disappearing.

-Is it over already?

-Yeah, without a weapon, he'll have to log out.

-I hope Kim Jihun plays again next time...

-It's rare to see a male half-elf try this hard, for real.

As viewers were expressing disappointment at this,

'I can conclude now. For half-elves, humans are the best prey.'

Seong Jihan looked at his right hand, which had been holding the sword until now, and drew his conclusion.

The greatest reward for male half-elves comes from humans.

From Orc hybrid Chimeras to those mixed with even more powerful monsters, he had taken them down,

But the level increase was at most 1.

Sometimes there wasn't even a message.

'Originally, my bestowing of Blue upon humanity was Ashoka's idea...'

Ashoka, who had told Seong Jihan how to save humanity from the red administrator.

Through the bestowal of Blue, humanity was finally able to escape from the red's influence.

An ability that was used to save an entire race like that,

Was this how Yggdrasil was modifying it?

'I'll have to take it all back no matter what.'

Seong Jihan reaffirmed his resolve as he looked at the vanished blue sword.

'Kim Jihun' would cooperate in completing the blue sword while living as a male half-elf,

And when it reached the completion stage, he would seize it.

'For that, I'll need to stand out among male half-elves.'

When they were managing him as a special subject like this,

He should show them a clear growth.

Having reached this conclusion, Seong Jihan looked around.

'It's about time I logged out.'

A moment ago, another portal had opened in the sky,

And more Chimeras had poured down.

Now that his weapon was gone, 'Kim Jihun' had no more means to endure,

So it was right to withdraw from here.

As he was about to log out,

Hisssss...

In the wasteland full of Chimeras,

Black smoke began to rise.

'...Hm?'

This mist was clearly different from the smoke the Dragon Chimera's flames produced.

The Chimeras enveloped by this smoke rising from the ground,

"Guh... rrr..."

"Ugh, uugh..."

At first they seemed to resist fiercely, but,

Thud. Thud...

Soon, they stopped moving and collapsed one by one.

-Oh, it's poison gas.

-Looks like they're disinfecting the junkyard.

-Log out, go go go!

-You really need to run now.

-It's over if that reaches you.

Seeing this, urgent messages flooded the chat.

They were all telling Kim Jihun to log out.

Indeed.

"Kah... Kaaaack!"

Even the Dragon Chimera that had shown an overwhelming presence until now,

After trying to endure somehow, finally collapsed.

Its huge body was instantly buried in black smoke, no longer visible.

However,

'What is that...'

Rather than logging out, Seong Jihan stopped what he was doing when he saw that smoke.

'Isn't that shadow energy? Mixed with void energy too.'

The shadow energy used by the Shadow Queen.

That black smoke was clearing out the Chimeras with a mix of that power and void energy.

'Come to think of it, I haven't heard news of the Shadow Queen...'

The Shadow Queen was most antagonistic with the World Tree Alliance.

When Seong Jihan was around, she had stayed on Earth, dreaming of recovering her power.

She had aggressively operated her BattleTube channel, nearly going bankrupt several times but surviving in that short period.

'I thought she would have fled to find a way to survive after humanity fell to become the Alliance's colony.'

This, somehow.

As that shadow energy rising from there approached, it felt familiar.

'Let's take a look.'

As Seong Jihan left Kim Jihun's body still,

-Why did he suddenly freeze??

-You need to log out, what are you doing

-Is there something in that smoke?

-It should be fine as long as it doesn't touch him...

While messages kept coming in the chat asking why he wasn't running,

He ignored them and made contact with the approaching black smoke.

Then,

The black mist seemed to grab Kim Jihun, and then,

[...Still recyclable trash.]

Leaving those words flung him far into the sky unlike the other Chimeras.

Whoosh!

Kim Jihun's body, shot high into the air,

Soon fell to the ground.

Thud!

[Player 'Kim Jihun' has died.]

Kim Jihun died from the black smoke despite having the chance to log out.

Seong Jihan looked at the death message that appeared before him and thought,

'...Why is she there?'

The voice that called Kim Jihun "recyclable trash".

It was definitely that of the Shadow Queen.