Chapter 471

"Nothing seems to work for a temporary Administrator."

Seong Jihan frowned upon hearing that upgrading Blue was impossible.

He thought there would be significant changes upon becoming a temporary Administrator, but there were just too many restrictions.

[The stat 'Blue' is a new ability without existing data.]

[Once the temporary Administrator grasps Blue, it will then be possible to upgrade it.]

A message appeared to answer Seong Jihan's thoughts.

Since Blue was a new ability that had never existed before, it implied that Seong Jihan needed to understand this ability first before upgrading it would be possible.

However.

'I have no more information than that it's hostile to Red.'

Since the original creator of the stat was Ashoka, Seong Jihan didn't have detailed information about it.

Considering the color was blue, he experimented with various attributes, thinking it might be related to water, but found no significant connections.

All he knew was that Blue was hostile to Red and effectively eliminated it.

'There's no need to open this management item anymore.'

Since it was impossible to upgrade Blue before acquiring more information, Seong Jihan closed the management item for the stat 'Blue.'

The only management item he hadn't opened yet was.

'Humanity.'

He had already checked 'Seong Jihan' and 'Blue.'

Only 'Humanity' remained.

'I suppose editing Humanity might also be restricted for a temporary Administrator.'

Considering there was hardly anything he could do with the other two management items he had already checked, Seong Jihan didn't have high expectations for the Humanity item either.

However,

[Humanity]

Evaluation Level – Low

For Humanity, designated as a low-level species,

[Basic Species Information]

[BattleNet Player Basic Stats]

[Stat Weighting]

[Hidden Abilities]

Starting with BattleNet-related stats, an enormous amount of data was included.

'Moreover, I can edit this information…'

Seong Jihan's eyes glowed upon seeing the edit button next to each item.

At last, he felt like an Administrator.

After reviewing several items, he decided to test something.

"How much authority would it take to increase physical strength?"

[Would you like to increase Stamina by 1 point?]

[This species is drawing the attention of all Administrators.]

[Modifying it will consume a lot more Administrator authority.]

[Administrator authority consumption: 100,000]

A hundred thousand.

'Giving up Red would allow me to add 1 point to Stamina every 1000 days.'

Stamina +1.

This stat was important in BattleNet but even more crucial for humans living in reality.

If he could enhance this once every 1000 days, he'd practically be seen as a god.

'But I can't waste authority on things like this.'

Seong Jihan decided to save the humanity Stamina boost for later and continued examining other entries.

After opening several items for a while,

[Hidden Abilities]

Red Factor

??

He found something related to the Red factor in the hidden abilities section.

'So the species Humanity inherently contains the Red factor.'

No wonder people continued to regenerate Red even after erasing it.

Seong Jihan pondered after seeing Humanity's information window.

Even though he became the Blue Administrator, he still lacked substantial authority.

And Humanity remained vulnerable to becoming kindling for the Red Administrator at any time.

'And Seah could end up being the spark that ignites that kindling…'

Seeing this, it was clear that the first task was to remove the Red factor from Humanity.

Seong Jihan attempted to modify the Red factor from the hidden abilities section.

However,

[Would you like to remove the Red factor?]

[This species is under the scrutiny of all Administrators.]

[Modification will consume a lot more Administrator authority.]

[Administrator authority consumption: 1,000,000,000,000]

The modification required a trillion authority.

'…Are you serious? How many zeros is that?'

He barely has 12,000 authority right now, and it suddenly demands a trillion?

While Seong Jihan stared in disbelief at the system message,

Ding.

[Fellow junior.]

A message window with a green background appeared before Seong Jihan's eyes.

If someone refers to him as a junior…

[Yggdrasil?]

[Correct. How is it being an Administrator?]

[As a temporary one, there isn't much I can do.]

[But you should be able to edit species. Can't you remove the traces of the Red Administrator from Humanity?]

As expected from Yggdrasil, who had been encouraging Seong Jihan to become a temporary Administrator since his days as a Constellation Candidate.

He immediately brought up the topic related to the Red factor.

[Yes, there is a modification button for the Red factor.]

[See? But I guess your authority isn't enough.]

[That's right. Did you predict this?]

[Heh, the 'Red Administrator' implanted the Red factors into Humanity. It's not easy to remove them with temporary Administrator authority.]

Saying that it could be easily solved once he became a temporary Administrator, only to now say he lacks authority…

'This seems to have some ulterior motive.'

As Seong Jihan was thinking that,

Words appeared again in the green message window.

[But don't worry. I'll lend you the authority.]

[Lend me… Is that even possible?]

[Yes, formal Administrators can do it. I'll only charge 1% annual interest. But if you can't repay it, you'll have to join the World Tree Alliance.]

[Joining the World Tree Alliance… So this was your plan all along.]

'You said it could be easily solved if I became a temporary Administrator.'

'Now you tell me I lack the authority and expect me to become your subordinate by lending me authority.'

[Heh, you can't fail to repay 1% interest in a year, right?]

[No, I can't repay it. 1% of a trillion is a hundred billion.]

[Sorry, what did you just say? A trillion…?]

After hearing Seong Jihan's reply,

Yggdrasil's message paused for a moment.

* * *

[Uh, wait… Is that true?]

[Yes, removing it costs a trillion.]

[It's hard to believe. Can you send me a screenshot of that message?]

[For free?]

[Alright.]

Next to Seong Jihan, another message window popped up.

[The Green Administrator 'Yggdrasil' grants you 10,000 Administrator authority.]

10,000 just for taking a screenshot?

'Really generous.'

After receiving the authority, Seong Jihan passed the message to Yggdrasil.

[Red Administrator… This is insane.]

[So, can you lend me a trillion?]

[Let's just extinguish humanity. How about that?]

[Get lost.]

Even the Green Administrator doesn't seem to have a trillion in authority.

Seong Jihan closed Yggdrasil's message window, dismissing the suggestion to eliminate humanity.

Then,

Buzzzzzz…

[Wait, listen. The cost being a trillion might be due to Humanity's large population. How large is the human population?]

[7 billion?]

[That many? Let's just kill everyone and leave about a thousand people. Can't they repopulate?]

Typical thinking for the Green Administrator.

[No, just leave.]

[Come on… Fine. If you leave only a thousand people, I'll support you for free. No interest, just pure authority transfer. How about that?]

Even after refusing, he persisted.

Seong Jihan realized that telling Yggdrasil to get lost wouldn't work.

Even if he closed the message window, he'll keep sending messages.

'And blocking him might prompt him to invade Earth.'

He was genuinely serious about countering the Red Administrator.

He needed to provide a reasonable answer that she could accept.

[I have a solution of my own.]

[A solution?]

[Yes, so I'll call when I need authority.]

Seong Jihan answered and then,

Beep.

Closed the message window with Yggdrasil.

'Red factor… Maybe Ashoka's method was right.'

He recalled when he acquired the stat Blue.

[Acquiring the FFF-grade ability, 'Blue'.]

[When the stat Blue increases by 1, Red factor disappears.]

[When Red factors are entirely removed from Humanity, the species' evolution limit is reset to 'mid-upper species.']

The system message at that time definitely said increasing the Blue stat by 1 would eliminate the Red factor.

'It's impossible to modify Red factors through Administrator System. But what about granting the Blue stat?'

Yggdrasil's method was blocked, but.

Granting the entire humanity the FFF-grade stat Blue could be different.

Seong Jihan went to the Humanity basic stats window and opened Administrator System.

When he attempted to add the Blue stat,

[Would you like to grant the Blue stat as a basic ability to all humanity?]

[For Humanity, the Blue stat will be FFF-grade and cannot be upgraded by the Administrator.]

[Administrator authority consumption: 1,000,000]

It asked for a million authority.

'A million… Surprisingly not that expensive. Maybe because of the low grade.'

Considering adding a new ability to all humanity, and it's an Administrator's ability at that, it's not a hefty sum.

This low grade might work in his favor.

Even so, there's no way to prepare a million authority immediately.

'This, I'll need to borrow.'

Seong Jihan sent a message to Yggdrasil.

[I've found a viable method.]

[Already?]

[Yes, but I need a million authority. Lend it.]

[…Do you think I'm a charity?]

[You want to capture the Red Administrator the most, right?]

[That goes for you too, doesn't it?]

[Not quite. After experiencing being a temporary Administrator, I'm considering just becoming a full-fledged Red Administrator…]

[Stop with the nonsense… Show me some proof about needing a million.]

Upon Yggdrasil's request, Seong Jihan sent over the earlier message.

[Granting the Blue stat to all humanity… That's a feasible method.]

[Right?]

[…Alright. I'll invest a million then. Just make sure you get it done.]

He agreed to invest right away.

Well, compared to a trillion, a million is nothing.

As Seong Jihan awaited the transfer,

[The Green Administrator 'Yggdrasil' grants you 1,000,000 Administrator authority.]

'Oh… he just gave it.'

The Green Administrator's authority came in as a grant, not a loan.

[To just give away a million… You are generous, senior.]

[Heh, it's tough to hear that from you. Now get it done and show me.]

[Of course.]

Seong Jihan, who for the first time addressed the Green Administrator respectfully and treated him as a senior,

Began the process of granting the Blue stat to humanity.

And then,

Ding.

[The species 'Humanity' has no knowledge of the Blue stat.]

[If the species 'Humanity' gains awareness of the Blue stat, the cost of authority consumption can be reduced by up to 50%.]

A system message that caught Seong Jihan's attention appeared.

'If humanity learns about Blue, the authority consumption reduces by half?'

This… If he informed everyone about Blue, he could save half of the million granted by Yggdrasil?

'I can't resist a half-price discount.'

Right there and then, Seong Jihan opened BattleTube.

"Hello everyone. This is my first broadcast since becoming an Administrator."

-Oh…

-The Administrator has started a stream..

-Going live so soon after becoming an Administrator… This guy is really something.

-This guy? Are you referring to the Blue Administrator like that?

-Right. The Administrator has transcended species limits already…!

The moment he started the broadcast,

Alien viewers swarmed in faster than human ones.

After watching the escalating viewer reactions for a moment,

'Now, let's begin.'

Seeing that an adequate number of human viewers had gathered, Seong Jihan began to speak.

"Today, I have an important announcement regarding humanity."