Chapter 183

The Chaos Sealing Stone turned golden, revealing the Fragment of a Dead Star. It appeared as a rugged, rigid metallic mass, rather ordinary in its external appearance to be called a fragment of a star. Seong Jihan felt a sense of doubt about whether this was indeed the real Fragment of the Dead Star.

[Epic Quest has been cleared.]

[Rewards will be granted.]

[1,000,000 achievement points have been obtained.]

[Maximum level limit increased by 50.]

'Right.'

Seong Jihan sighed in relief as the quest completion notification appeared.

'Putting the team together took a while, but it was easy once I went down.'

Reflecting on the process of breaking the seal at the bottom of the Chaos Rift, Seong Jihan considered it a relatively quick task. However, no other player had been able to clear it as easily. The powerful death energy emanating from the Chaos Rift made survival virtually impossible for any player within.

'But I remember there was another reward…'

Despite the additional achievement points and the level limit increase, Seong Jihan felt a sense of disappointment. While contemplating, he received another message.

[A fragment relegated from the Bronze League.]

[NO.4212 'Humanity' has over 50% sync rate with the dead race. You may absorb the Fragment of a Dead Star.]

[Would you like to absorb the Fragment of the Dead Star?]

Warning*** Unforeseen side effects may occur

A star of a race relegated from Bronze, with over 50% sync rate with humanity.

'So, they were the lowest-tier race, huh?'

Thinking that, Seong Jihan pressed yes.

He decided to take the risk of side effects since the gains so far felt lacking.

Suddenly…

Whoosh…!

The small metal piece, the Fragment of the Dead Star, was instantly sucked into Seong Jihan's body.

[Here is…!]

[It's warm.]

[This form, it's similar to our race!]

Voices of intense souls began to echo.

Unlike the souls fused into Chimeras while wailing, Each soul exhibited a powerful presence.

[Let's steal this body!]

[Right… I can't remain trapped in that cold prison forever!]

[Hehe, hehehe… I'll be the first to use it for a year!]

[No way, me first!]

The alien energy that entered Seong Jihan's body tried to spread into four directions instantly, attempting to take control of him. For a typical player, this would result in an immediate and intense possession by the powerful souls. However, for Seong Jihan, who gained complete control over his body after acquiring Martial Soul, such an attempt had no effect.

'Are they insane?'

With the energy emanating from the seed of life provided by the elves, Seong Jihan effortlessly controlled the situation. Attempts by the souls to rebel were easily thwarted.

[Wait a moment…]

[Why isn't he moving…]

[H-hey, it's just a joke. Just a moment. Hey, don't take it seriously. Thanks for saving me!!]

[Yes, yes! We won't eat you. Give us another body instead! We'll give you information! How our star perished…! We'll show you the end of the world!]

"Enough."

Hadn't Seong Jihan already witnessed the end of the world himself? He couldn't risk releasing these dangerous beings to obtain information from another human. Seong Jihan simply dispelled the foreign energy within him.

[How… from there… how did you…!]

[For me, a constellation candidate…!!]

With these parting words, the soul group disappeared.

Seong Jihan quickly suppressed the rebellion and gazed at the shattered Chaos Sealing Stone with a dissatisfied expression.

'Absorbing this won't bring any substantial gains.'

I should just quickly clear the Chaos Battlefield map.

While he was making this judgment, a message appeared.

[The star's ability strengthens Martial Soul by obtaining the Fragment of a Dead Star.]

[Martial Soul's growth rate increases.]

[You have indirectly experienced the profound enlightenment held until the end by the 'constellation candidate' of the dead race.]

[You can invest 10 points into Martial soul.]

"What…?"

Seong Jihan's eyes widened.

Achieving a million achievement points and an increased level limit seemed trivial compared to the true reward that was presented.

* * *

December 15th.

The atmosphere of the rehearsal expedition team that vigorously set out was gradually dampening.

-Oh, another failure??

-Please stop dragging Brother Jihan down

-Sigh… Every time the sky and ground flip, its game is over.

-Didn't they add mages with flight magic and prepare items?

-The warriors keep complaining that they are not familiar with the map….

-And adding mages weakened our defenses…

Even on the first day, it seemed like they would clear the game within a week, but after two weeks of continuous play, there was no sign of clearing. The main problem was still how to deal with the reversal of sky and ground. Whether using flight magic or preparing shield bindings facing the ground to withstand the impact of free fall, the hands and feet weren't cooperating well, resulting in many casualties. To make matters worse, at this crucial timing, a surprise attack was carried out by the flying race.

Once the main base was destroyed by more than half.

Ultimately, before reaching 10,000 points, the main base couldn't hold on.

To resolve this, numerous methods were devised, and among them was the suggestion to seek Seong Jihan's help during the time sky flips.

-If I protect the main base, my power will be exhausted. I can't use my strength unlimitedly.

Seong Jihan expressed his reluctance. In fact, what he was doing now was equivalent to the work of 500 people. To ask for more in this situation was too much, even if they were bus passengers.

So, The World BattleNet Association could not ask any more of Seong Jihan and busied themselves finding the cause instead.

-I've analyzed it, and it seems that the Asian player was the first to fall. We need to adjust the player ratio by region, focusing on those with better control.

-There's a lot of talk about these Asian guys who are riding the bus with Seong Jihan

-But the Chinese warriors seem to die quickly…

-That's racism!

-What racism? I'm Asian too;.

Cleverly orchestrated trolling by the People's guild

Their actions had not yet been clearly revealed, but in the upper echelons of the People's guild, they were pondering how to handle this issue.

However,

The People's Guild leadership was worrying about how to handle this issue.

"The movement of global public opinion is unusual. If it becomes known that we ruined the game, we'll face a strong backlash."

For 15 days, the Chaos Battlefield had been live-streamed worldwide.

During these 2 weeks, the spotlight was focused solely on Seong Jihan.

As the world's strongest player responsible for humanity's expedition.

However, he was ultimately a pitiful warrior whose allies kept dying and failing the game.

-…Sigh.

In the past week, every time the message "Team survivors are below 10%, team will be expelled from the map in 15 minutes" appeared, Seong Jihan would gaze into the air with a vacant expression, and the short sighs became a big topic.

-ㅠㅠㅠㅠ He sighed again ㅠㅠㅠㅠ

– Sorry Jihan…

– But somehow… it's kind of different and cool to see him sweep through enemies as usual and then see him like this, don't you think? ㅎㅎ...

-Well, even his basic face is a scam

Constantly showing the image of humanity's last warrior surviving until the end caused his fans to explode worldwide regardless of gender or age.

Seong Jihan's channel already had many subscribers, thought to have reached its limit, but grew explosively once again through this opportunity.

"If our actions are ever revealed in this situation, we may face severe condemnation worldwide."

"Shouldn't we stop the suicides now…?"

"I haven't been sleeping well lately from fear of our deeds being exposed here…"

The moderate faction of the People's guild suggested covering up at this point, but…

"Ah, should we bow down to such criticism?"

"Did we even make any unreasonable demands to the Daegi guild in the first place? Didn't they unjustly accuse Zhang Shuzhong of sexual harassment with preposterous lies?"

"Zhang Shuzhong was in the wrong! He did what he used to do in the country, but in a foreign land…"

"How dare you! Watch your words! Do you plan to insult your fellow countryman believing their lies?!"

The hardliners comprising the People's guild majority were stubborn.

"Let's send someone back to the Daegi guild! Say we'll strongly support them in-game if they add Wang Lin to the team, no intentional deaths."

"…Are you serious? Are we going to expose ourselves as the culprits to them?"

"Who said we should say it like that! We can talk indirectly about different support going on now. Mention that we'll provide more Fight Magic Scrolls. Let's be subtle."

"Alright. Without our People's guild power, they won't be able to clear the mission either. It's a matter of mutual benefit. Let's play along."

"That's right…"

Facing the majority opinion of the hardline faction, the moderate faction couldn't oppose it.

They just said.

"Then, we'll send our negotiation representative. We shouldn't cause trouble like last time."

"Hehe… Zhang Shuzhong said he wants to be the representative…."

"No, are you trying to cause problems again?!"

"Alright, I get it. You handle it!"

And so the negotiation team sent to the Daegi guild,

It was more courteous than the previously sent Zhang Shuzhong.

"So, in short… If I add Wang Lin in the team, you'll provide significant support to the expedition, correct?"

"Yes, that's correct. We'll also include an apology for the past incident."

"Hmm…"

Upon hearing the rather attractive proposal from the female official of the People's guild, Lee Hayeon conveyed it to Seong Jihan.

[Boss, how should I respond?]

Unaware of the People's guild trolling since their suicide attempts were perfectly covert, Lee Hayeon found their offer itself quite attractive.

[The proposal itself is not bad…]

She found the conditions they presented quite appealing.

However,

'I can't just let it pass like this.'

Seong Jihan had no intention of accepting whatever conditions they offered.

'Time to wrap this up soon.'

He had collected 6 fragments so far.

The level limit can no longer be increased here.

Most importantly, he could invest additional points into Martial Soul.

Martial Soul's stats already almost reached 200.

'The experience of alien races was quite enlightening.'

The profound enlightenment held by the dead race's constellation candidates.

Though the enlightenment from indirectly experiencing them was, in truth, too short.

Only about a minute after annihilating the souls.

He could briefly feel their most powerful exertion of might.

However, as there was only one warrior among them who used their power like Seong Jihan, much remained incomprehensible to him.

Mages, supporters, and archers were predominant, making certain aspects elusive.

However,

'Controlling the bodies of different races did broaden my horizons..'

The three-armed race, the four-eyed race, and the winged race—all of their experiences were drastically different from what humanity could feel. Though their profound insights had briefly touched Seong Jihan, the very sensation of using the bodies of different races expanded the potential paths for the Martial Soul's growth.

And so, He used the additional points and raised it to exactly 200.

[The star's abilities can no longer be strengthened through 'Fragments of Dead Stars'.]

Since Seong Jihan had received this message yesterday, he had firmly decided to end the game on the chaotic battlefield.

Before concluding the game, he planned to show the People's guild a somewhat bitter taste of his attempt. "Battle Market," he opened the market and purchased the item he had been contemplating.

[First-person perspective sensory sharing ticket]

-An item that shares the user's perspective and senses through video, allowing it to be broadcast on BattleTube.

-A one-time use item, and the limit for each ticket is 30 minutes.

A ticket that can share everything the user sees and hears. To fully capture the sound of the People's guild chattering among themselves, the existing BattleNet broadcasting system was insufficient. It had to encapsulate Seong Jihan's full sensory experience.

'Thanks, People's Guild.'

Thanks to them, the game didn't end too soon, and he could fully absorb the star's power from the Fragment of the Dead star. So, it was time to reciprocate.

Smirking, Seong Jihan looked at the ticket.