Chapter 87

"Seong Jihan… you're broadcasting on BattleTube."

Joo Eunji furrowed her brows.

Now it's certain.

Seong Jihan had only pretended to be enchanted, but in reality, he was not affected at all.

'I can't drag this on for too long.'

The Korean government isn't foolish.

In a situation where a live broadcast is clearly being aired, they surely wouldn't just watch Seong Jihan getting kidnapped in the middle of Gangnam.

If they waste time here, it will be problematic for them.

They needed to handle the situation quickly.

"Mr. Seong Jihan, you are quite a headache."

Joo Eunji stood up from her seat.

Her supporting gift.

There were two ways to use 'Edit.'

The first was physical contact.

By touching the skin, one could edit the other person's status without speaking.

She had tried this method on Seong Jihan multiple times.

And when the other person is on guard like now,

Instead of physical contact, there was another method.

"Player Seong Jihan, I will 'Edit' you."

Wooong!

The center of the table and the ceiling trembled, flashing in gold.

Different from what Takeda had, there were two hidden Akashic pages.

Using them, Joo Eunji's 'Edit' was applied to Seong Jihan.

[Ito Shizuru's avatar has added the 'Enchantment' status to the user. The target of the enchantment is Ito Shizuru.]

[Ito Shizuru's avatar has added the 'Submission' status to the user. The target of submission is Ito Shizuru.]

Messages popped up in the system window.

This, all the viewers sharing Seong Jihan's perspective could see.

– Enchantment… Submission?

– Ito Shizuru??

– Ito? Oh shit, no way?

– What? Why does she look so pretty all of a sudden?

– Wow… Damn…

– He… Huhhhh…?!!

From Seong Jihan's perspective, affected by Enchantment and Submission, Joo Eunji looked like a goddess without equal.

'Stronger than the last time.'

If last time she used a single Akashic page to induce Enchantment, Submission, and Blind Devotion.

This time she focused on just Enchantment and Submission with two pages, so the pressure on Seong Jihan was much greater than before.

'But, knowing this would happen, it's pointless.'

Nameless Divine Arts, Heart Method – Mind Creates All

Even with the beautifully transformed Joo Eunji in front of him, Seong Jihan remained unmoved and used his Heart Method.

No matter how much Joo Eunji used her Akashic Pages to try to enchant him, her powers were nothing compared to the Succubus Queen.

Since he had been wary of her beforehand, he could overcome this.

– Huhhh… Huh???

– Where did the beauty go?!

– Give her back!!

– I was watching on my knees, lol. What's this now?

– How can someone look like that?

– Stop resisting, Seong Jihan!!

Despite the viewers' cries flooding the chat window, Seong Jihan steadfastly used Mind Creates All.

Then, Joo Eunji's appearance reverted from a goddess to her regular face.

'Edit… Is this Ito Shizuru's power?'

Out of all the supporting gifts he experienced, this is the most overpowered one.

While Seong Jihan was thinking this, Joo Eunji's eyes widened.

She had thought he would be somewhat affected, but it had no effect at all.

'Last time, he was at least a bit affected…'

She hadn't calculated this.

With such a power, even Sword King Yoon Sejin would have been helpless!

"You… What did you do?"

"I see no reason to tell you that."

Seong Jihan reached out.

To the ceiling and the table.

Hidden in two places, the Akashic Pages that hadn't been completely obliterated were sucked into Seong Jihan's grasp.

Just these two alone were worth tens of billions.

Since he had come to confront Joo Eunji at the cafe, Seong Jihan decided to take them as trophies.

From Joo Eunji's perspective, they were too precious to be taken away.

"I need to subdue Seong Jihan first!"

She calmly assessed the situation.

It's fine to buy more Akashic Pages later.

But if Seong Jihan isn't captured now, it would be tough to get him out of Korea.

Even if it means giving up those Fragments of Akasha, she must somehow seize his new recruit.

[Akari, don't worry about the Akashic Pages. Focus on subduing Seong Jihan first!]

[I understand.]

Whoosh!

Akari, who was near Takeda, bridged the space in an instant and lunged at Seong Jihan.

Akari's infiltration was stealthy and swift.

The gap between Seong Jihan and Akari was vast, with at least a difference of over 100 levels.

[Master, he's on the left.]

Seong Jihan, with the gift of the 'Shadow of the Sun', could easily discern the movements of Akari, an assassin with shadow-related skills.

Add to that his unique stat 'Force', which lets him use all his power even in the real world, and the ability to control space.

"Oh, you're fast, aren't you?"

Seong Jihan easily dodged Akari's dagger and used Force to pull the Akashic Page Akari held.

[You…!]

– LOL, so damn cool!

– Did you see that? We must report it now!

– Isn't Seong Jihan getting kidnapped? I saw that female. She's Akari, a ninja from Japan!

– Wow, I saw it too. Akari chose a worthless profession as an assassin? She's a top-ranked Diamond player.

– Is this a real situation? Report it quickly!

[Akari, ignore the Akashic Pages! Just focus on securing the target!]

[Understood!]

Whoosh! Whoosh!

Akari, as if to show the difference between a Diamond and Silver Rank, swiftly attacked Seong Jihan.

Multiple daggers danced in the air menacingly, and her shadow tried to ensnare Seong Jihan from every direction.

Clang! Clang!

If Seong Jihan hadn't hastily summoned a black sword from his left hand to deflect them all, he would've been sliced apart.

– Wow… she's insanely fast.

– Did assassins always rock this much?

– She's supposedly the best for espionage in reality.

– But Seong Jihan is holding his own against such a top-ranked player!

– Hey, I got his autograph just now! Near the Sword Palace building, address Gangnam District 134…

– Someone needs to help! He's about to be kidnapped!

When it was revealed that the opponent was Akari, a top-ranked Diamond assassin, the chat went wild.

However, the actual battle situation wasn't that dire.

"Bless. Strengthen. Haste."

Having activated a set of three self-buffs, Seong Jihan confidently clashed swords with Akari.

'Tsk…'

Clang! Clang!

Sparks flew as Seong Jihan's dark blade, Eclipse, collided with Akari's daggers.

Akari undoubtedly had the upper hand in terms of stats.

Whether it was the speed of their blades or the power felt when their weapons clashed, Akari had a clear advantage.

However,

'…This doesn't make sense.'

From a third person's perspective outside,

Akari, as a participant, could clearly feel it.

She was being blocked.

All her attacks were not just being blocked but also being read completely by her opponent.

Am I slower than him?

No.

I'm much faster.

Is my power weaker?

That's not the case either.

I can push him back.

But… why?

Clang!

Even though I definitely mixed several faint attacks and launched a proper blow.

I'm being pushed back.

Even though I can push, I'm being pushed.

It was as if two contradictory statements were coming true at the same time.

However, when I swing my weapon, I realize.

With every blow, I was already within my opponent's calculation.

'How can this be…!'

In terms of the game's rank, even though it's diamond and silver.

In the art of handling weapons, there's already a clear difference.

Yes.

That was the gap in skill being compensated by the user's technique.

'If this is how it's going to be, I'll go in with the intent to kill!'

Akari pressed Seong Jihan even more threateningly.

At first, she consciously avoided the vitals, but now she attacked regardless.

She actively carried out ambushes using shadows.

But.

Clang- Cl-clang-!

"It's all the same anyway."

Even with genuine attacks, everything was blocked.

His movements, as if reading into my mind, rendered all my actions useless.

'It… can't be…'

Unknowingly, Akari's strength was drained.

"It's laughable for an assassin to engage in a head-on battle."

As Seong Jihan jeered, Akari's eyebrows twitched in anger.

She didn't fully understand what the Korean man was saying.

But it was clear he was taunting.

She can't lose like this.

By any means, she would overpower him.

She used her most confident skill.

Ninjutsu: Illusion Shuriken.

Whish!

Black throwing knives flew towards Seong Jihan from all directions.

Some were real, and others weren't.

An assassin's skill, the Illusion Shuriken, is a perfect mix of illusion and reality.

However, Seong Jihan had an easy way to counter it.

"Ariel."

[Only the last two are real.]

"You can handle it, right?"

[Of course.]

Ariel, who boasts unparalleled abilities with shadow powers.

She discerned all of Akari's illusions and blocked all attacks flying from behind Seong Jihan.

Whoosh!

From the Dark Sword Eclipse, the shadow flew out to block the throwing knives.

Clang!

With a black sword strike, he pushed Akari back.

[Ugh…!]

– Woah. This is insane. He's facing a Diamond Rank player?

– I even called 112 and 119, petitioned the Blue House asking to save Seong Jihan… was it all in vain?

– No, you did good. That's normal. It's just that Seong Jihan is crazy.

– You can't insult Seong Jihan!

– Dude, that was a compliment.

– Feels like they're going even harder than the Sword King's fans, right? Lol.

Seong Jihan's fans, who couldn't even tolerate minor insults, became even more agitated.

How could a Silver Rank overpower a Diamond Rank?

Clearly, the enemy's stats are stronger and faster.

But Seong Jihan is pushing her back with his unique movements.

[Akari…! I'll boost you. Win this round!]

Joo Eunji shouted at Akari, who was slowly being pushed back.

Initially, she was watching out of respect for Akari, a Diamond Rank, but the situation changed.

Because Akari was gradually losing her 1:1 duel with Seong Jihan.

'I can't believe this.'

Joo Eunji's eyes were filled with surprise.

But they also gleamed with excitement.

'Seong Jihan. You… I must have you.'

He broke all predictions.

He even overcame the supporting gift 'Edit' enhanced by the Akashic page.

He was even turning the attack from the Diamond Rank Akari to his advantage.

This player is an anomaly.

If he's not captured now, there will be regrets later.

Joo Eunji used her last resort.

[Player Kato Akari. I'll 'Edit' you and lift the tutorial's restriction.]

This time, what she edited was not Seong Jihan.

It was Akari, who was restricted by the tutorial phase and couldn't fully utilize her BattleNet capabilities.