Chapter 155

[Reach the Divine Throne and meet the Thunder God.]

[The game ends when either 5 players are left or a player reaches the Divine Throne.]

WHOOM—!

A bright, golden light descended from the sky, and the spotlights on the players converged in the center of the map to reveal a golden throne.

Tsss-

The Divine Throne's presence completely overwhelmed what JiHan felt from the dragons and giants, and blue sparks flickered around it.

'I think I understand why the constellations backed out with their secondary characters.'

Looking at it from afar, it seemed like blue sparks were swirling around the throne. If they were to get closer, though, they'd see that each 'spark' was bigger than the average adult. Each individual 'spark' was so powerful that they could obliterate almost anything.

"Head," Kallein said, "this will be tough. The Thunder God is really strong."

[Ah, this is our last chance to back out…]

[The Thunder God… As formidable as always.]

[I'd rather give up.]

Some of the other 15 players left began to give up, and most were larger beings who believed they wouldn't be able to dodge the sparks of lightning.

"Huh, there are only 10 left?"

After the player count decreased to 10, the atmosphere subtly changed.

"Hehe, should I just stay?" Kallein asked. "I think I can outlast five of these other guys." He didn't even consider going for the Divine Throne. "Okay, Head, if you stay, I'll stay!"

"Just go," JiHan said.

"No, no! I must protect you!" Kallein pointed to his darkness-enshrouded face. "If you feel that you're about to die, come to me at any time, and we can merge!"

'I'd rather get struck by lightning and die,' JiHan thought. He took a look around, and the first person to catch his eye was the elf holding a wooden sword. She looked almost exactly like the elf from the Experimental Zone, but her hair was colored slightly differently.

She looked back at him, and he saw a single streak of green color along the elf's blonde bangs.

[Green hair… That's a high elf from the World Tree Alliance.]

'A high elf?'

[Yes. They are powerful Warriors directly under the World Tree's control. The more intense the green color in their hair, the stronger the individual. Those with completely green hair are as strong as a constellation.]

JiHan recalled the incident in the Experimental Zone. The 'Green Administrator' seemed to have quite an amount of influence over Battle Net. Did that mean the World Tree was above the level of a constellation and was closer to a Battle Net administrator?

'How troublesome… Why were we placed in the same league as them?' JiHan clicked his tongue and looked at the high elf's wooden sword.

If his memory was correct, then the wooden sword was made from the branches of the World Tree. It would be useful against the Sword King if he could seize it there, but…

'Survival comes first.' He decided not to take any risks.

The high elf continued to look at him and finally spoke. "I sense Life Energy within you. It looks like your little experiment paid off. I'll help you." Everything she said was automatically translated because the dialogue was happening in-game.

'What…?' JiHan wondered what she was talking about until he gave it some more thought. 'Is it related to the Seed of Life that the Green Administrator gave me?'

The SSS-rank item, Seed of Life, had increased his stats by 10 but tried to take over his body with a strange energy. The attempt had failed due to his Martial Soul, of course, and he'd gotten rid of more than 90% of it while keeping some for research purposes.

It looked like the high elf was misunderstanding things and believed he was under the Green Administrator's control.

'I'll take any help I can get.' If she was going to misunderstand things, then he'd try taking advantage of the opportunity to snatch the wooden sword from her.

She saluted him as he approached.

"Why's she doing that?" Kallein asked.

"It's a long story," JiHan replied.

"Head! The World Tree is a no-go! They're worse than me! If they catch you, you'll be dissected and kept eternally alive for their sick experiments!"

"So you're aware of your wickedness, huh?"

"Hehe. We're going to be together forever anyway! Let's go around and behead kings together!"

JiHan frowned at him and wondered just how long the guy was going to stick around.

Flash! Flash—!

A burst of strong light shot from the Divine Throne, and an electrical current surged along the dark ground.

"Ah, it started. Head, remember, if it feels like you're about to die, call me! I'll come running toward you!" After that, Kallein waved goodbye and vanished.

BZZT-!

The surging lighting formed a path from the Divine Throne to the last 10 players.

[Follow the path to the Divine Throne.]

The game's objective was extremely simple: follow the path to the Divine Throne. Unfortunately, it wasn't that easy.

[Extracting the concept of the 'Thunder God' from the player's world.]

[Rank Evaluation: High.]

[To NO.4212, 'Humanity', lightning is an intense natural phenomenon that cannot be defied. In the past, they feared and worshiped lightning as the wrath of the gods. Naturally, the Thunder God was believed to be the 'King of the Gods'.]

[Selecting the Thunder God's representative… Zeus, Thor, and Indra are the primary candidates.]

'What?' All of them were major gods known to have handled lightning. JiHan watched the message with growing unease.

[The King of Olympus, 'Zeus', has been selected as the gatekeeper.]

[Zeus blocks the way.]

An absurd entity materialized in the path.

Since the game had to do with the Space League, almost everyone on Earth was watching the stream. It was the first time the Space League had ever revealed itself to Earth, after all.

= Christoph, I heard you came rushing here from Hawaii again!

= Yes. This also happened last month. Mr. Sung always makes me cancel my vacations!

= Wow, the viewer count is ridiculous. It's even higher than the final of the Battle Net Champions League! Do you think we'll ever see a view count like this again?

= Logically, it seems impossible, but who knows? JiHan might break his own record!

= Hahaha. It's an honor to be a caster for such a game!

= I don't think I'll be able to fulfill my role as a commentator today, so I'll join you as a caster!

Christoph couldn't comment on something he knew so little about, so he gave an easygoing laugh and said he'd be a caster as well. The atmosphere was cheerful and warm at first, but then…

= Uh… The penalty is death…?

= What kind of game kills people?!

= Mr. Sung! You don't need to play a game like this! You have to get out quickly!

The casters were shocked when they saw the penalty.

'What? A Battle Net game that kills people?'

- Wow, are they out of their minds?

- What kind of penalty is that?

- So if we go to the Space League, would we also be risking our lives?

The viewers' reactions were also intense. How could the game penalty be 'death'? Most wanted him to quit, but when Kallein mentioned the reward…

- Woah, there's such a reward?

- Can we believe that crazy guy? Hahaha.

- He's directly related to a constellation, though.

- What's a constellation?

- I don't know. They're talking about things only they understand.

Some were skeptical, and then the system reward appeared on the screen when the game properly started.

[Completed Star Fragment]

Rank: EX

- A fragment of a star that has passed every 'test'.

- Lowers the difficulty level of Battle Net games for the entire planet.

- Players with Gifts will appear more frequently on the planet.

- Will be applied immediately upon acquisition.

= An EX-rank item…!

= It lowers the difficulty for the entire planet?! That's unbelievable!

It was an item anyone would covet.

= But he doesn't get anything out of that! Is a difficulty downgrade necessary for him?

= Right…? Is it worth risking your life for that? Leaving seems to be the wiser choice for him…

- Ah, Mr. Sung, just leave the game ㅠㅠ. If you die, it's all over! ㅠㅠ

- Why would he care about difficulty? He just smashes everything by himself!

- Exactly! Who cares if more Gifts pop out or not? JiHan is what matters.

- I applaud JiHan's heroic decision. It's a sacrifice for the sake of the world.

- JiHan, please survive the game. Let me awaken, too.

- Ah, these foreign guys are annoying. They don't care because he isn't from their country, huh?

- Isn't it fine as long as he doesn't die? Why don't the Koreans believe in him?

Korea depended on him, so his safety was the most important thing on their minds, but most foreigners hoped he would participate.

Then…

= Ah. He's going to proceed with the game!

= Huh… Given the situation, he has to stay in the top five! What does it mean by 'extracting the concept of the Thunder God'…?

= Zeus, Thor, Indra… Why are they being mentioned?!

= Who's the weakest?

= I'm not sure. Ah. Z-Zeus is coming out!

BZZT…!

A path of lightning stretched toward JiHan, and electricity rose to form a giant of about four or five meters in height with a lion head and a white beard. Below the head, his body was made entirely of electricity.

It was the gatekeeper, Zeus, the king of Olympus. The god gave JiHan a wary look.

"Hmm…" he said as he stroked his beard. "You aren't a woman."

"What?"

'That's the first thing he says?'

Swoosh-

Zeus tilted his head and examined JiHan's face before frowning. "Nor you are a pretty boy.'

"So…?"

"I can't believe they'd call me out for a guy who isn't even pretty. How displeasing. I'll end this in an instant." Zeus, true to his instincts, expressed his displeasure and raised his hands to the sky.

Flash! Flash—!

An intense light sparked in the clouds above.

'I shouldn't just wait for him.' JiHan took out the Phoenix Flag and made the first move before Zeus could finish his attack.

Nameless Divine Arts Heavenly Lightning Phoenix Flames Technique: Red Lightning Cannon.

A surge of red electricity, much more intense than when he'd been suppressed in the 108th Form, rose from his spear and shot toward Zeus at the speed of light.

"Huh, you dare shoot lightning at me?" Zeus snorted and didn't even think of blocking it, but as soon as it pierced through him, flames burst from his body.

"What…?!" Zeus noticeably panicked. "Y-you bastard… What is this…!?" He looked down at the crack in his abdomen as the flames rapidly spread over his body. No matter how hard he tried to extinguish it, the fire continued to burn.

"Agghh!" The god hurriedly severed his upper half with his hand and rose into the sky.

"You…! There won't even be bones left behind when I'm done with you!" Maybe he was humiliated by being so damaged by lightning. Zeus reached up into the air.

"Astrape!" he cried out, and a hole opened in the dark sky. White light erupted over the area, and JiHan's eyes widened in surprise. He was already familiar with what was going to happen next.

'Is this… Heavenly God's Judgment?' It was one of the Heavenly Lightning Technique's advanced moves, and what Zeus was doing seemed strikingly similar.

'Then what comes next is…!'

WHOOM—!

Sure enough, a giant spear of light shot down from the sky and struck JiHan.