Chapter 400

[That's impossible. That can't be!]

The administrator message showed an intense reaction.

[In the first place… Yes! If it was a fake code, isn't it strange that you're alive? If it was fake, there must have been a trap!]

[There was a trap. As the World Tree burned, the world was covered in destruction codes.]

[What… But you survived that?]

[Yeah, Ashoka turned back time for me.]

Using Yoon Seah's ID, Seong Jihan roughly informed him of what had happened.

[…You're not deceiving me, are you?]

[Instead of suspecting me, check the contract properly again, you stupid bastard.]

[W-Wait! I'll see.]

Saying that, Gilgamesh fell into silence for a while.

Yoon Seah, who had transmitted Seong Jihan's words to her own phone, finally asked Seong Jihan,

"What in the world happened?"

"I went through something quite big."

"No… But it sounds ominous. Talking about World Tree, destruction, Martial God…"

"As expected, Jihan… There was a reason you left during the match against China."

"Ah, that's because they were too easy to beat."

They were now too mismatched to participate in the national team match, so he had only won up to the 2nd match and left.

Meanwhile, Sophia, who had been peeking at the messages on Yoon Seah's phone, had her eyes sparkling.

"Jihan, did you find the World Tree? Is it related to that World Tree Alliance?"

"It's a bit difficult to explain the details."

"Hmm… A hero's secret… Is that it?"

"If Uncle won't tell us, it doesn't seem like an ordinary serious problem, does it?"

"Yeah."

Seong Jihan thought about the situation he was in now.

The Martial God in an infinite regression state.

He was originally strong, and on top of that, he could tremendously amplify his power through the Constellations' Artifacts scattered like stars in the sky.

In contrast, he was the strongest among humanity, but he couldn't guarantee victory against the Abyss Owner in North Korean territory.

The Taiji Sword had reached the level of drawing out a dagger, but the power gap was still like the difference between heaven and earth.

No, it was more than that.

And if he were defeated,

'This world will be destroyed, and the Martial God will leisurely return to the past again…'

This much wasn't just an ordinarily serious problem,

"It's a problem on which the fate of humanity depends."

At those words, Yoon Seah, who was holding chopsticks, was startled and dropped her food.

"Ack! The scale is that big? The fate of humanity depends on that problem?"

"Yeah."

"No… If Jihan fails to solve the problem he's currently facing, will we all perish together?"

"Yes."

"…Will we be demoted from the Bronze League or something?"

"Even if that happens, we'll perish, but we'll also perish if we can't solve this problem."

If the Martial God turns back time, everything will be reset from the beginning anyway.

It's no different from all the people living in this current world disappearing.

"No… Then it's not just a serious problem?? It's not the time for an after-party?"

"That's right. It's not time for a party, is it?"

"Jihan… Is there any way I can help?"

As the three of them were talking in a serious tone,

Beep. Beep.

"Seah~ Congratulations on the MVP~!"

"Hello."

Lee Hayeon and her bodyguard Lim Gayeong entered with a bunch of alcohol.

The two, who had been smiling and trying to join the after-party celebrating the victory against China,

"…What's with this atmosphere?"

"Didn't you win today?"

They tilted their heads upon seeing the people looking at Seong Jihan with a serious atmosphere.

* * *

"…No way, the fate of humanity depends on the boss? Is there such a serious problem? People say these days are the best time to live."

Humanity, which had greatly benefited from the effects of racial evolution after entering the BattleNet.

To the point where everyone said they could never go back to the past,

The quality of life had greatly improved.

"It is the golden age now! Although there's the side effect of ears sticking out."

Yoon Seah said that while touching her ears.

Although there were quite a few people whose appearance had changed, such as ears or jaws sticking out like her,

Even those people were mostly satisfied with their current evolved state compared to before evolution.

Because the tangible effects were that significant in terms of living.

In this era, which could be called the golden age of humanity from a third-party perspective,

When Seong Jihan, who had brought about this, mentioned fate, they couldn't help but be surprised.

'I mentioned it thoughtlessly and made the atmosphere serious again.'

Seong Jihan smiled bitterly as everyone stared at him intently.

Maybe he should have been more careful with his words.

However,

'But if I lose, everything ends anyway… There's no need to hide it, right?'

In order to face the powerful enemies ahead, he had to use all the power he could utilize.

And among such powers, the most useful one was the star buff.

'Then, whether fighting the Martial God or the Abyss Owner, I'll have to reveal it publicly anyway…'

If he was going to broadcast it all through Battle Tube anyway,

It would be better to resolve their curiosity to some extent now.

As Seong Jihan was contemplating what to do,

Buzz buzz buzz…!

Yoon Seah's phone vibrated.

[Aaaargh! That damn snake bastard Martial God…!]

The message from Gilgamesh, the administrator of the half-elf community,

Was filled with curses towards the snake.

[I was deceived. I was deceived. The snake toyed with me…!]

[How were you deceived?]

[…I can't reveal all of a father's faults to his son.]

Seong Jihan frowned upon seeing the message.

This guy, why is he talking about his son in this situation?

[I don't have a father like you, so cut the crap and speak quickly.]

[Absolutely, absolutely cannot say…! Aaaack…!! I was crazy…!! #$**#$# percent!#]

Gilgamesh seemed to have had a mental breakdown over how he was scammed.

"…Is this guy really that Constellation? The one who was boasting about being the King of Humans?"

"Maybe we're being deceived by someone pretending to be Gilgamesh?"

"It might really be an impersonation. There are so many weird people these days."

While the people looking at Yoon Seah's phone were speculating if it was fake,

[…Son. It's no use. Let's fuse. That's the only way we can oppose the Martial God.]

[If you call me son one more time, I'll kill you first.]

[Urk… This is too much out of the plan…]

Gilgamesh seemed to be in a panic, talking nonsense.

[At this rate, it's destruction. Humanity will only become food for the snake…]

[Not only me, but my children and descendants will all enter his stomach!]

[What should I do? What should I do to solve this…]

He was boasting about being the King of Humans, but why is he so broken down now?

'He's so different from the two I saw in the sealed area.'

Dongbang Sak, who had sealed the Blood Race across the world and guarded the World Tree for hundreds of years to prevent ghosts from coming out,

Or Ashoka, who ultimately stopped the Martial God's plan to engulf the world in conflagration when things didn't go well.

Compared to those two, Gilgamesh seemed to be getting lighter in weight the more he looked at him.

Seong Jihan coldly looked at his messages lamenting his situation, and then,

[Stop whining. How's the situation in Tuseong?]

[Whining…How dare you!]

[Read the messages you sent later and judge for yourself.]

At Seong Jihan's words, he seemed to be really reading the messages he had sent, as there was no reply for a while, and then,

[…Tuseong is no different. Even when I try to meet the awakened Ashoka, the Martial God is blocking contact.]

He changed the topic to the Tuseong.

[What about Dongbang Sak?]

[He's the same as always.]

[Really?]

Seong Jihan tilted his head.

Since the seal was released, hadn't he regained his memories?

'…Don't tell me, I have to destroy the core to find them?'

Why did he seal the memories in the deepest part?

Even now, with the Martial God remaining beyond the Abyss Owner,

Dongbang Sak had to be either recruited as an ally or at least not made into an enemy.

To do that, it was essential to make him regain his past memories.

[Hmm, the Martial God has summoned his disciples…]

[Occasionally, send me news about Tuseong like this. It's even better if you send it directly to me as a Constellation message.]

[That's difficult. The Martial God is quite wary of you.]

[Me?]

[Yes… Sending messages through this community rather than through BattleNet will be less likely to be detected by him.]

[The half-elf community has better security than BattleNet?]

[The Martial God doesn't censor sites like this.]

[Then, are you saying the Martial God can censor BattleNet messages?]

[…I'm just being careful in case. I'll send future news this way.]

Gilgamesh then cut off contact.

'Then, has the spy in Tuseong changed from Pythia to Gilgamesh?'

Seong Jihan smiled and took his hands off Yoon Seah's phone.

If he wanted to receive news later, he shouldn't keep contacting through this.

"Seah. Can you tell me the ID of this site?"

"Should I log in on Uncle's phone?"

"Yeah. The cautious owner of Tuseong wants it that way."

"Owner? He's just a disciple, isn't he?"

Saying that, Yoon Seah set up auto-login for the half-elf community on Seong Jihan's phone.

Then she carefully asked him,

"The story related to the fate of humanity… It's still a secret, right?"

"Not really. I'll have to livestream it all on BattleTube later anyway."

"R-Really?"

"Yeah, I have to reveal it to the world through BattleTube to receive buffs anyway. But,"

Seong Jihan then looked around.

"I'll organize the story related to this and tell you."

"Jihan, if it's a difficult story, you don't have to tell us. I don't want to burden you."

"No. You all should know why you'll die if I'm defeated."

"…I-Is that so?"

"Or would it be better to just die without knowing?"

At Seong Jihan's question,

"…No."

"We should know the reason."

Everyone shook their heads.

* * *

The center of Tuseong.

There, where a huge divine throne was placed,

The wandering Martial God was sitting and had summoned all his disciples.

[The administrators' interference is more persistent than I thought…]

Looking around at his disciples, the Martial God opened his mouth,

[Gilgamesh.]

"…What."

[I already ordered Pythia. Follow her guidance and face the enemy.]

"Enemy… Who are you talking about?"

[You will face the underling of the White Administrator.]

"Why should I do such a thing…"

[You haven't forgotten our contract, have you?]

Mentioning the fraudulent contract, Gilgamesh glared at the Martial God,

"…Understood."

But he suppressed his anger and followed the Martial God's order for now.

Flash!

Gilgamesh disappeared through the portal Pythia opened.

After watching the two disciples leave for a moment, the Martial God said,

[Dongbang Sak.]

"Yes. My Lord."

[Grant the Taiji to the Abyss Owner.]

"The Abyss Owner…"

Ding.

At Dongbang Sak's question, the Martial God displayed North Korean territory.

Seeing this, Dongbang Sak bowed his head.

"Understood. I will go right away."

Swish…

Dongbang Sak's form slowly disappeared.

Soon, the only remaining servant of the Martial God was Ashoka.

[…]

The Martial God silently looked down at him, and Ashoka stood with a smiling face.

[You, prepare to turn the Golden Wheel as ordered.]

"…I will do so."

[Then, I'll go again.]

Swish!

The Martial God's form vanished, and

'…If Dongbang Sak grants the Taiji, this round will also be a failure.'

As Ashoka was judging the situation with cold eyes,

[Ashoka. Are you… still keeping the Forbidden Enlightenment?]

The voice of Dongbang Sak, who had clearly disappeared, was heard by him.