Chapter 243

"That old man took action himself. There definitely was an issue with this world."

Click! Click!

The black skull rattled its teeth as the masked elf vanished into thin air. Observing the disappearance, the skull turned its head towards Seong Jihan.

"Are you alright, my leader?"

"Who's that guy?"

The half-masked elf.

He looked different from the stereotypical elves seen before. The elves human race had witnessed, though appearing in various forms, were actually all with the same female elf face, due to a disguise spell.

Yet, the elf seen earlier seemed truly undisguised and distinctly male – different from any elf encountered before.

'He didn't have green hair like a High Elf but silver instead.'

An odd creature indeed.

Seeing Seong Jihan's curiosity, Karlein clicked its teeth and said,

"That masked elf from before? An ancient elf."

"Ancient elf?"

"Yeah, an old elf. Supposedly a member of the elder council from the time the World Tree Alliance was formed… I've only seen him a few times with business, so I don't know much. I just know that each of them is individually strong enough to be a constellation.

"As strong as a constellation?"

"Yeah. And quite a powerful high-ranking one at that."

Karlein glanced at the seed Seong Jihan was holding.

"If you give that to the BattleNet, he might really come after you. Why not just absorb it all?"

"Hmm, worried?"

"Of course. You're going to be my Leader, Those old elves are petty and dangerous. You don't want to be targeted by them; it'll be a hassle."

If Karlein was saying so, then the masked elf was definitely no easy adversary.

But Seong Jihan decided,

"I'll have to hand it over regardless."

"…Really?"

"Yeah. The misery of elves is my happiness."

Epic quest reward aside,

If it caused trouble for the World Tree Alliance, Seong Jihan was willing to take the risk.

"Alright then… If it gets dangerous, call me anytime. I'll come to save you!"

"That won't be necessary."

"I'll keep the constellation channel open at all times! See you next time!"

With a wave, the black skull disappeared, and the undead legion summoned to block the masked elf vanished along with it.

-Why is the skull so obsessed with Seong Jihan?

-It wants to make him its Leader; definitely no good intentions there.

-But why does the black skull want a Leader? What is it going to do with the Leader?

-Exactly. But opening a constellation channel… Is that kid a constellation? LOL.

-All the fantasies about the constellation are shattered now -_-

Karlein was drastically different from the typical image of a constellation, and viewers debated over this peculiarity.

Then,

Ssssh…

The vanished Karlein reappeared.

"Ah. I said goodbye, yet here I am, coming back like this."

"Why did you return?"

"For the first-place award ceremony, of course!"

"First place?"

"Yes. You've made the greatest contribution to annihilating the Blue Blood Demons across both factions."

The black skull chuckled ominously before widening its mouth.

Suddenly, from within, a massive diamond popped out.

"The first-place reward… is this stat diamond that increases your remaining stats by ten points!"

"Thanks for the reward, but why am I first place?"

Seong Jihan tilted his head questioningly.

He had been battling players from the Solar Faction right up until the game ended.

What did that have to do with contributing to the annihilation?

"According to BattleNet's own evaluation scores, you're overwhelmingly dominant. Probably because you completely trampled the hopes of the Blue Blood Demons?"

"Ah, by preventing the possession, huh."

"Yeah, possession switching! Since you blocked it at the source, your merit is much greater than just destroying the city below. Here."

Ssssh…

With a whoosh, the massive diamond flew towards Seong Jihan, who observed it quietly.

'Is this the reward for annihilating an entire race…?'

Ten remaining stats + 10. While it was a top-tier reward in the game, the complex emotions of having ended a race for it crossed his mind.

If humanity were to face extinction, and players were to join the fray, would they slaughter humanity for a stat boost of +10?

"What are you doing? Aren't you going to accept it?"

"…No. I'll accept what's given."

That's right.

Comparing the current situation of the Blue Blood Demons with humanity was a meaningless speculation.

Seong Jihan stopped pondering and gripped the diamond.

['Essence of the Race' has been absorbed.]

[Your remaining stats increase by +10.]

As the Essence of the Race granted the boost and then vanished,

"Farewell for real this time, Leader~"

Whirl.

The black skull spun in place and vanished.

['You have cleared the Special Map, 'Race Annihilation Battle' in the first place.']

[Your level increases by 10.]

[You gain 10 billion GP.]

Beyond the Essence of the Race,

Substantial experience and GP rewards also came as first-place prizes.

'10 levels at once… Am I going to hit rank 1 now?'

Each level up was a significant factor in the rankings, and a 10-level jump would cause a massive shift in rankings.

Seong Jihan thought he might achieve first place, but…

[A.DaVVies has donated 100,000 GP.]

[Wow. Seong Jihan, 2nd place!! Congratulations!! You won't have to worry about the next match!]

Seeing Coach Davies' message, he realized he didn't secure first place.

-Oh… Seong Jihan got 2nd place?

-Thankfully, he didn't get 1st place LOL.

-Phew… He won't be targeted until the next Space League…

-But seriously, isn't Oliver amazing? How does he keep holding onto 1st place while Seong Jihan keeps climbing?

-Yeah, he's holding up well LOL.

Oliver, who had held the top spot in the world rankings for several years. It was already a given that Seong Jihan would take first place from him, but Oliver had managed to hold on as much as possible.

'I should reclaim 1st place after the next Space League.'

Thinking so, Seong Jihan logged out of the game.

* * *

"Ugh. Ah! Aaah… What's this? My hair!"

As soon as he logged out, Ariel, who came out of Seong Jihan's arm, screamed.

"I-I've turned into a High Elf!"

The grayish-black hair of Ariel had turned green like a High Elf in some strands.

"Is it because of the life force?"

"Ah… With this change, I am no longer a shadow elf…"

"Think of it as evolution."

"What kind of evolution is this! It's a mess!"

"Still, you seem stronger than last time?"

"R-Really? Hmm…"

As Seong-Jihan spoke, Ariel, who looked at him with trembling eyes, began to check her condition in earnest.

She cast shadows around the house and split them into dozens or hundreds from one form.

She nodded hesitantly to Seong Jihan.

"…It's true. I've become noticeably stronger."

"Right? So let's keep at it."

"…Sigh."

Although she didn't want to receive the life force, she couldn't refuse the situation when the results were so clear. Ariel sighed deeply and returned to Seong Jihan's arms.

"Maybe I should rest for a bit…"

"Before that, do you know anything about that masked elf? Just share that and then you can rest."

"The Masked Elf? Was there such a being? I couldn't see it earlier because I was too distracted by this life force."

"Constellation of the dead star said he's an ancient elf."

"An ancient elf…"

In response to Seong Jihan's words, Ariel's tone became serious all of a sudden.

"Do you have any footage of the Masked Elf from earlier?"

"Sure."

She rewound the recently ended BattleTube and sighed.

"Huh… A High Elf. I've only heard stories. Each member of the Council of the World Tree, who created the World Tree Alliance, is as powerful as a constellation. If this being reveals itself, it must be reported to the Queen immediately… Can I have a moment to report?"

"Ancient elves from the World Tree Alliance… Anything else you know about them?"

"That's all I know. I'll ask the Queen for more information."

"Got it."

"Uh, before we hear more about this ancient elf, wouldn't it be better to leave the seed alone? If that being really comes into this world, it could be threatening."

"Hmm."

"I'll go report this now."

As Ariel disappeared to report to the Shadow Queen, Seong Jihan looked at the seed he held in his right hand.

'Both Karlein and Ariel advised me to leave it alone.'

He had grasped the extent of the ancient elf's strength when he effortlessly disposed of the tentacle, but their displayed caution still seemed excessive.

'What's the big deal with this thing?'

As Seong Jihan fiddled with the shrunken modified seed,

A system message appeared before him.

[Would you like to return the 'Modified Seed of Life' to BattleNet?]

[If more life force is lost from the seed, it won't be accepted as 'evidence material,' and no reward will be given.]

BattleNet warned him not to absorb more life force from the seed.

Seong Jihan sighed,

Thinking he would drain all the force and then return the seed, but now he had to put that on hold.

'Maybe I'll wait until I hear what the queen has to say.'

Returning the seed was certain,

But he might as well listen to the ancient elf story as Ariel suggested.

Ssssh…

Suddenly, green smoke began to waft from the modified seed.

['The Modified Seed of Life' is rapidly losing force.]

[If the force is further depleted, it will not be accepted as 'evidence material,' and no reward can be given.]

[Do you wish to return the 'Modified Seed of Life'?]

With a sense of urgency, the messages kept popping up.

Seong Jihan, who hadn't done anything, found both the seed and system in an inexplicable frenzy.

'What's going on with this thing?'

Uncertain of the sudden changes,

"I'll return it now."

Not wanting to miss out on the epic quest reward, Seong Jihan promptly handed over the modified seed of life to the system.

As if waiting for his decision, the seed promptly vanished.

[You have cleared the Epic Quest.]

[The Void stat limit increases by +30.]

[You have obtained the title, 'Void Enforcer'.]

The quest-clear message and rewards were granted.

'Good. I didn't have a suitable title to equip.'

Seong Jihan, eager to inspect his new title earned as an epic quest reward,

Ssssh…

Noticed the green smoke that had billowed from the seed didn't dissipate.

Instead, it intensified and flew outside through the window.

'I need to deal with that first.'

The life force-filled smoke.

Left to its own devices, it could unknowably impact Earth and humanity.

Seong Jihan decided to sort out the smoke's issue before checking out the title,

Ssssh…

He reached out effortlessly to absorb it,

But the smoke resisted and broke through the window, flying out.

Observing the green mist move as freely as if the window wasn't there,

'That's some serious resistance.'

Seong Jihan stood up and opened the window, stepping outside.

Stepping into thin air, he reached out for the smoke.

Ssssh!

Transforming briefly into a tree-like form, the smoke then…

Ssssh…

Morphed into unique symbols.

'What's this…?'

Although Seong Jihan had no prior knowledge of these symbols, he could somehow read them.

[This world has already undergone the experiment.]