"How many days has it been now? Has the Space League match started by any chance?"
"No, it's in two days!"
"Fortunately, I made it in time."
It wasn't easy to grasp the flow of time inside the void training room.
'I was worried I might have missed the match schedule, but it seems that's not the case.'
Seong Jihan thought it was fortunate and asked the staff.
"What happened to the people trapped in the connectors?"
"Ah, about that…"
"They're still trapped in the same state."
"Is that so?"
"Yes. And the situation is the same for the US national team. So…"
Coach Noh Youngjun glanced at Seong Jihan with a troubled look and brought up the topic.
"There's a growing opinion that we should return the primordial treasure to the king."
"Really? But I already absorbed it."
"Y-You did?"
"Ah…"
People sighed at Seong Jihan's words.
They thought they could somehow persuade him and wake up the players, but it all turned out to be in vain.
"However, thanks to absorbing it, I think I've found a way to deal with it."
"Y-You have a way to deal with it?"
People were startled by Seong Jihan's words and looked at him.
The King of Humans who had captivated the world's top rankers in the game, Seong Jihan has a way to deal with him?
"Yes, it's not certain yet, but it's worth a try. Are the players' connectors still in that room?"
"Y-Yes, they are."
"Then let's go."
Seong Jihan took the lead with light steps.
Coach Noh Youngjun and the coaching staff looked at each other with unbelievable faces and followed him.
And then,
'Now I understand. I can feel traces of life force.'
Seong Jihan felt the energy rising from the connectors and raised the corners of his mouth.
The trick of Gilgamesh, who had treated the players like his subjects, claiming it was the authority of the King of Humans.
Now that he had obtained the Eternity stat, he could vaguely see through it.
Swoosh!
Chains burst out from behind Seong Jihan.
Swish!
They all flew towards the BattleNet connectors.
"J-Jihan, if they break…"
Coach Noh Youngjun hurriedly shouted at the fiercely flying chains, but…
Clank! Clank!
The chains wrapped around the connectors just like that and extracted the life force within them.
Swoosh…!
The complex patterns drawn inside disappeared along with the life force.
Seong Jihan saw this and thought,
'Gilgamesh, you haven't been able to fully make everyone yours yet.'
They were top rankers of humanity.
Brainwashing them wasn't an easy task, even for Gilgamesh.
Maybe in the game map 'Tuseong', But in the real world, turning someone who doesn't receive constellation sponsorship completely to your side requires a complex process.
'That's why the players were still trapped in the connectors even after entering and exiting the training room.'
If he had made them loyal like he did in Tuseong, there would be no need for the players to be trapped in the connectors.
Rather, if they had come out and instigated Seong Jihan to hand over the primordial treasure, saying they wouldn't participate in BattleNet otherwise, it might have had a bigger impact.
Seong Jihan dismantled Gilgamesh's technique that had clumsily imitated the domination code inside the connectors.
Then,
Bzzt…!
Electric current rose from the BattleNet connectors.
Creak…
One by one, the doors began to open.
"Oh, oh…!"
"No way!?"
The staff, who had been worried when Seong Jihan took out the chains, looked there with surprised eyes.
"Ugh… Ugh…"
The players came out one by one from there.
Although they staggered as if dizzy, their bodies themselves didn't seem to have any major issues.
"The players have come out!"
And then,
"Please check their condition!"
The medical team that had been on standby in advance was dispatched.
Seong Jihan continued to liberate the remaining connectors.
"Ugh… My head."
"Uh, I remember becoming Gilgamesh's chain… But what happened after that?"
"King? King… I forgot…"
Most of the players were liberated like that, and there were two connectors left.
"Who's left?"
"Only players Yoon Sejin and Ha Yeonjoo are left!
"Among the trapped players, the two with the highest levels are taking longer… Could Ha Yeonjoo's sponsoring constellation also be the King of Humans?"
"I heard that's not the case…"
Although Korea had won the Champions League finals, Among the national team players, there were only a few who could be called world-class.
Except for the incomparable player Seong Jihan,
The currently trapped Yoon Sejin and Ha Yeonjoo, and the previously released Yoon Seah and Sophia.
The rest weren't even at the level to be selected for the Space League national team.
'Are they holding onto the powerful players longer?'
As Coach Noh Youngjun was thinking that.
Creak…!
Another connector opened, and Ha Yeonjoo came out with a tired face.
"King, king… It was really tiresome. What king in this day and age."
"Player Ha Yeonjoo, are you alright?!"
"Yes, ah… It was Jihan who freed me right? Thanks to you, I survived."
She glanced at Seong Jihan, who was focusing on Yoon Sejin's connector with the remaining chains.
She bowed her head towards him and came out with the support of the medical team.
And so, there was only one player left.
As Seong Jihan's Heavenly Tree Descending Spirit gathered entirely on Yoon Sejin's connector.
Flash…!
A golden light flickered there.
* * *
"Ugh, ugh… G-Gold…"
"E-Everyone, don't look!"
"Avert your gaze!"
The players who now had seizures just by seeing the golden light.
The coaching staff and medical team also sat down and averted their gaze upon seeing it.
And then,
Gilgamesh's voice flowed out from there.
[You even wrote the destruction code, and my avatar… Did you defeat it too?]
"It was nothing."
[You wasted one precious root.]
As the golden light shone more intensely,
[This person is one who receives sponsorship from me. Unlike the others, you won't be able to easily remove his loyalty.]
Indeed, as Gilgamesh said, Unlike other players, extracting life force doesn't solve the issue for Yoon Sejin.
'Is it because my brother-in-law's sponsoring constellation is Gilgamesh? It's tricky.'
But there's still a way.
Seong Jihan extended the Heavenly Tree Descending Spirit to the Eternity inside.
[The seal on the stat 'Eternity' has been temporarily released.]
The seal was released.
Based on the life force flooding in, Seong Jihan wrote the domination code on the connector.
When he used it on Gilgamesh's avatar before, he lacked the power and couldn't even complete the word 'Domination'.
'This time, I can at least write 'Domi'.'
While he was at it, he tried to write the following letters as well, but…
From the letter corresponding to 'na', no matter how much life force he used, it was impossible to write.
Still, writing up to 'Domi' seemed to have a big effect.
The technique binding Yoon Sejin inside the connector began to disappear.
And then,
[No, you're even using this code…!]
The intensely flickering golden light also began to be slowly sucked into this pattern.
[For now, I'll have to retreat.]
Like his clone, Gilgamesh showed a weak side to the domination code.
The golden light was disappearing quickly as if running away.
And then,
Creak…!
Yoon Sejin's connector opened at last.
From there, Yoon Sejin revealed himself, staggering with a haggard face.
"Dad, dad!"
Yoon Seah, who had urgently come to the Sword Palace after receiving the news that Seong Jihan had returned, saw that and quickly ran over.
However,
Before she could support Yoon Sejin.
"M-Master!"
He knelt down to Seong Jihan, staggering.
"…D-Dad?"
"From now on, I will be loyal to you, Master…!"
Seong Jihan frowned as he saw Yoon Sejin trying to even bow to him.
'Is it because of the domination code?'
The domination code with only one letter written.
But its effect was remarkable.
"Why are you calling Uncle master?!"
Yoon Seah quickly rushed over and grabbed his body, but…
[The constellation 'Witch of the Void' says to just leave him in that state.]
['Witch of the Void' rebukes that the guy keeps getting brainwashed everywhere he goes anyway, so it's better for Seong Jihan to take charge of him.]
['Witch of the Void' emphasizes two or three times to make sure to convey her words to Seong Jihan.]
The constellation messages of the Witch of the Void, who had lost her cool, popped up in front of her eyes.
Following Shizuru, he got brainwashed by even Gilgamesh too.
Not just once, but twice.
She must have been so frustrated that she said to just leave him in that state.
"Ah, but we still can't do that! Uncle, can't you undo this state for Dad? You can, right?"
"…Yeah, I should undo it."
Seong Jihan, who had been silent for a moment, raised his finger again.
Like his sister Seong Jiah, he also had similar thoughts for a moment, but…
'Still, I can't treat my brother-in-law like a servant.'
Seong Jihan had no desire to play king like Gilgamesh.
As he released the domination code,
Yoon Sejin, who had been trying to bow somehow, abruptly stopped.
Thud!
He sat down on the spot and let out a deep sigh.
"Ugh… I have no shame, Brother-in-law, I keep being indebted to you."
"How are you? How's your condition right now?"
"My body is fine… and Gilgamesh has left my sponsoring constellation… He ran away. That code you used seems to be his weakness."
"He canceled the sponsorship?"
"Yeah… This won't happen again."
To the point of abandoning as the sponsoring constellation and leaving, Gilgamesh must really be weak to the domination code.
Seong Jihan nodded and looked towards Coach Noh Youngjun.
"Coach. Please contact the US. We need to liberate their players too."
"Ah, got it!"
With the match against the World Tree Alliance in 2 days, Humanity desperately needed the power of the US national team players.
And then,
"They say they already have a plane on standby at the US military base."
"Is that so? They're well-prepared."
The US, upon hearing the news that Seong Jihan had liberated the national team players, was already ready to depart.
"They say to come as soon as possible since only the bodies need to come… The US limousine is already here too."
"Won't it be late if we take the limousine? Let's just run."
"Run…"
"Yes."
The coach, who asked back with a blank face at Seong Jihan's words, but…
'Ah, last time when catching Shizuru, he ran around Japan too…'
Seong Jihan had become much stronger than then.
It seemed like using light movement would be much faster than actually taking a car.
"Then. If we go to the US military base in Pyeongtaek…"
[Note: Pyeongtaek is a city in Gyeonggi Province, South Korea.]
"Got it. I'll go ahead."
Whoosh!
Seong Jihan disappeared as soon as he said that.
Everyone present looked at the spot where he disappeared with dumbfounded expressions.
* * *
Two days later, at the BattleNet Center in New York.
"E-Everyone has been liberated…!"
"Thank goodness. Thank goodness! We can participate in the Space League now !"
As Seong Jihan liberated the US players from the BattleNet connectors, the US staff cheered.
"My master!"
Meanwhile,
Seong Jihan frowned as he saw Barren kneeling before him after coming out of the connector.
How many times have I heard the word 'master' now?
Unlike the Korean national team, the US had many players with the King of Humans as their sponsoring constellation.
As such, he had to write more domination codes to release them.
'This guy Gilgamesh… He definitely put a lot of effort into the US national team.'
Compared to the Korean national team, the US national team had superior average skills.
Perhaps because there were more talented individuals on this side, Gilgamesh's clutches were also more widespread here.
Seong Jihan wrote and erased the domination code for each of them one by one.
"Ugh, ugh. Thank you… Seong Jihan, forget what I said earlier."
"Thanks to you, I was saved from being dominated."
Seong Jihan also released the loyalty he received from the US players.
"N-Now there are only 3 hours left until the Space League match!"
"After the medical team checks their condition, we'll have to enter the match right away…"
"Will it be possible?"
Having to enter again right after escaping from the connector.
Some of the US national team players seemed to have trauma from being in there, so they were reluctant, but.
"We'll go."
"This is what we have to do. Of course."
Most of them readily said they would enter the connector again.
The US coaching staff began preparations by moving busily.
And there, the coach of the Earth representative team, Davis, approached Seong Jihan.
"Player Seong Jihan. It seems too late for you to return to Korea… Would it be possible to participate from here?"
"At the US center?"
"Yes, we will provide you with the best convenience on our side."
"Got it. Since there's no time, let's do that."
The match against the World Tree Elves is in just 3 hours.
It was impossible to go back to Korea and play the game.
Seong Jihan decided to play the game at the New York BattleNet Center, where he had stayed for a long time in his previous life.
And so, in the Space League match that Seong Jihan participated in from the US.
"People of humanity, our goal is only one."
The representative of the World Tree Elves declared with a stiff face.
"We will definitely execute your Number 1 today."
Seong Jihan's actions upon arriving in the US drew a lot of attention from many people.
Especially the broadcast team that had come to the New York BattleNet Center early for the Space League match against the World Tree Elves.
In the pre-game broadcast before the start of the Space League game, they live-streamed the US national team players coming out of the center's medical room after receiving treatment.
=Oh… The national team players are coming out after receiving treatment from the medical staff!
=According to the coaching staff, they will be participating in the Space League right away!
=It is said that player Seong Jihan, after Korea, has also freed all the US players.
=That's really fortunate. The timing was tight!
=It's not because I'm American, but the US national team accounts for a significant portion of the Space League representative team's power! We have a match against the league's No. 1 World Tree Elves 200 coming up, so they were freed at a good time!
The World Tree Elves 200, who were leading the Space League.
Humanity's power to face them had been greatly shaken because of Gilgamesh.
Although Seong Jihan had resolved this just before,
"Ah… I don't know if we can properly play the Space League match."
"My physical condition has recovered, but the mental fatigue hasn't been relieved."
The US players, who had been pretending to be fine until entering the Space League,
showed tired expressions as soon as they entered the game and the humanity representative team's waiting room.
The Korean national team players at least had 2 days to rest, but the US players had to participate in the match right after being freed.
Moreover,
"Ugh… The stat bonuses from the King of Humans's sponsorship have all disappeared since it was cut off."
"Do you want to receive that bastard's sponsorship? I still have trauma from being left with just a head back then."
"No, I'm just saying…"
"The bonuses are regrettable though. The effects were considerable."
The constellation bonuses given by the King of Humans were famous for having the highest benefits among the various known constellations.
The players whose constellation sponsorship was cut off lamented this.
Still,
"Player Seong Jihan. Could you perhaps free me too…?"
"I accepted it because they said the King of Humans was such a good constellation, but I was shocked after seeing the final match."
"The bonuses may be good, but I don't want to be brainwashed for that."
Among the players from other countries, excluding the Korean and US players, those who received Gilgamesh's sponsorship were horrified after watching the finals match and approached Seong Jihan, who had a solution for this.
The number totaled 25.
"Got it. Besides these people, are there any more?"
"…"
When Seong Jihan glanced at the other players, excluding the 25, a few of them avoided his gaze.
Then, Sophia, who had been watching this from behind, approached Seong Jihan's side.
"Uh, Jihan. It's strange. That player over there, Martinez, definitely bragged about it on SNS, right? Later, he criticized Jihan, saying we should follow the king's orders."
"Really? Come out."
"Ugh. Urk. I-I'm fine! I will continue to serve the king!"
Then, Martinez tried to run away from Seong Jihan.
It seemed that he had served the constellation King of Humans for a long time, so loyalty to the king was already deeply imprinted in him.
'This won't do.'
Martinez wasn't the only one hiding like that.
On this occasion, I should eliminate the remnants of Gilgamesh hiding among the Space League representative team players.
"Everyone, excuse me for a moment."
Then, Seong Jihan began writing the domination code.
He wrote on each of the 25 gathered before him, erasing it when Gilgamesh retreated.
"L-Loyalty…! Ah. Thank you for freeing me."
"Ah. The constellation…disappeared!"
"The stats have been greatly reduced…"
After resolving the 25, he went to each of the remaining players and wrote and erased the domination code.
"Ah. I-I'm fine, you know?!"
"Ugh. Urk…! Please. Don't! Leave me to be loyal to the king!"
Most of the players here didn't have the King of Humans as their constellation, but Seong Jihan didn't care and completely uprooted those related to the King of Humans.
"…Uncle, isn't that tiring?"
Yoon Seah asked Seong Jihan, who was writing and erasing the domination code for each player one by one, with a worried face, but,
"It's fine."
Seong Jihan finished the work on all the players in the waiting room with a body that wasn't tired at all.
The amount of life force used to write the code was enormous, but the power of the stat 'Eternity' fully compensated for it.
'The name Eternity really suits this stat.'
Although the maximum amount of power supply he could receive was only equivalent to stat points 2, as long as he bound Eternity with Heavenly Tree Descending Spirit, it kept coming in.
If the Eternity stat rose to 3, he would be able to use the life force corresponding to 3 infinitely within his body.
'Still, it's not possible to put the life force from Eternity back in to develop it.'
The power from Eternity could only be consumed.
Storing it back into Eternity to accumulate and develop the World Tree form wasn't feasible.
If that were possible, the Eternity stat would have already self-developed continuously.
'Is that why it's an incomplete stat?'
Thinking so, Seong Jihan released the chains of Heavenly Tree Descending Spirit inside his body.
"Are you done with the work?"
"Yes, it's done."
"That's a relief. The power has inevitably weakened, but there won't be much difference in front of the World Tree Elves."
Coach Davis, who approached Seong Jihan, looked around at the players.
"I have something to tell you all."
"What is it…?"
"As a result of the coaching staff meeting, humanity will not ban or select this time. And…"
* * *
The Space League match began.
On the broadcast screen watched by all of humanity, the representative of the World Tree Elves 200, who had the same appearance as the previous World Tree Elves 71,
The Elf High Priest made a declaration first.
"We will definitely execute your No. 1 today."
The public opinion was in an uproar at the elves' death sentence.
-Ha, those bastards are trying to pull something again…
-But if they used the ban card, they can't change the game options, right?
-They didn't select. I think they'll mess with the map at the end.
-No, what kind of game has a map that does whatever it wants 😶
However, when the opponent leading the league undefeated said that, they couldn't help but worry.
-Looking at the ban card they used, it seems like a strategy to definitely win the 1st and 2nd matches.
-If Seong Jihan gets banned, our chances of winning are slim.
-Then, after losing the 1st and 2nd matches, will they lose the 3rd and 4th matches and bring out another bizarre map in the 5th match?
-But if the game options don't change, how will they execute?
-Who knows. Maybe an instant death map will appear…
-I'm afraid that might really happen;
Like the 'Tuseong' map they saw in the recent Champions League finals, viewers were afraid of what strange map might pop out again.
But,
"We won't just take it lying down."
Coach Davis smiled as if he had already anticipated this and didn't take out the ban and select cards given to him.
The Elf High Priest's eyebrows twitched at that.
"You're not using the cards."
"We can't fall for your strategy again. It seems you'll summon a specific map, so we'll save the cards and do the same."
=Oh! Coach Davis. He looks confident!
=What's the meaning of saving the cards like this?
=Ah… I think he plans to designate a map in the 5th match by saving the select cards like the opponent! If both teams designate a map, one of the two will be randomly selected!
=Ah! Then it will be determined by a 50 percent chance whether humanity's map or the World Tree Elves' map will be selected!
=This is good. It's an excellent countermeasure!
Coach Davis's counter-strategy prepared for the match against the World Tree Elves.
This was one of the scenarios humanity had thought of in advance.
'If the World Tree Elves hadn't banned player Seong Jihan, we would have easily won the game.'
The World Tree Elves, who had shown a powerful appearance in the previous match.
But Seong Jihan was a monster surpassing them.
If the World Tree Elves didn't use the ban card and select card like last time, saying they would execute 20 percent of the players, humanity could put Seong Jihan at the forefront and crush the World Tree Elves just like that.
However,
'They're not fools either, so they must have thought they couldn't beat player Seong Jihan. Then, the card they would use is banning the No. 1 ranker. The choices diverge from here.'
Will they tie up Seong Jihan and do their best to win the game?
Or will they mess around with the select card again?
The staff of the Space League representative team considered both possibilities and devised a strategy.
If they use both the ban and select cards, we'll do the same.
If it seems like they'll mess around with the select card,
'We'll also save them and reduce the probability of selecting a special map to 50 percent.'
No matter what map they pull out with the select card, humanity can't beat the World Tree Elves without Seong Jihan anyway.
So, the strategy analysis team of the humanity representative team agreed to block their special map selection as well.
Meanwhile, Seong Jihan watched the situation on the screen and thought,
'It ended up like this in my previous life too.'
The races that suffered the World Tree Elves' executions countered like this from the next match, not using their cards either.
In fact, this strategy didn't completely block the World Tree Elves' strategy, so they ended up being executed with a 50 percent probability,
but it was still better than 100 percent.
However, there was a problem with this too.
'When the cards were sealed, the elves couldn't be beaten at all.'
The World Tree Elves were already powerful.
When the strategically important ban and select cards were also sealed against them, the possibility of winning in battle was 0 percent.
And then,
=The match begins!
This applied to the current humanity as well.
=It's the Lone Bridge map. The Sword King is blocking the enemy at the front, but…
=Ah… The Elf High Priest! When she reaches out her hand to the sky, meteors fall in large numbers!
=Still, they are somehow enduring it by putting up a protective barrier, but…
The two races clashed on a single bridge.
The power of the World Tree Elves was overwhelming.
Although humanity had developed a lot compared to the first match of the Space League,
-Ah. We're being pushed back…
-The elves sure are strong
-Ah, look at that arm getting cut off and growing back right away;
-What kind of crazy race are we matched with? Where the hell is balance, really.
-Ugh, the barrier is breaking… The meteors are piercing right through;
-Wow, but look at the bridge being fine even after the meteors fall, haha. How did Seong Jihan get rid of the bridge last time?
-That was Dragon Breath, haha.
-Ah, the Sword King's head flew off from a wooden sword…
-It's over.
The 1st match ended quickly.
Afterward, in the coach's room shown on the screen,
"Are you going to keep not using the cards? Then it will be the same as the 1st match."
The Elf High Priest said that with a smirk, but,
"It's the same even if we use them. Humanity still can't beat a monstrous race like you."
"Heh… At least you know your place."
Coach Davis didn't waver.
No matter how many of those monstrous elves they banned, it wouldn't change the game anyway.
'Still, we endured a bit longer than before.'
Coach Davis considered that a gain and saved the cards in the 2nd match as well.
Then, the elves took out the No. 1 ranker ban card again.
=We lost the 2nd match too…!
=The wall of the World Tree Elves is too high.
=Coach Davis's judgment seems to be correct. They are not opponents we can beat even if we ban them!
=That's right!
With the World Tree Elves leading 2:0 like that, the Space League match entered the 3rd match.
The Elf High Priest withdrew the Seong Jihan ban card and smiled,
"Let that monster come out now."
"You must be thinking of losing from now on."
"Who knows?"
The Elf High Priest smiled at Coach Davis.
She deliberately released Seong Jihan, and she seemed determined to go all the way to the 5th match.
Seeing that, Davis also smiled back.
"Let's wait and see."
And so, the 3rd match began.
=Uh… The lineup is a bit strange.
=Player Seong Jihan's ban was definitely lifted, but,
=He's not participating?
=Moreover, the main players aren't coming out, and they are all second-string level…
The commentators were surprised to see the players representing humanity.
The players who appeared this time were low-level among the national team players. They were not players who could be selected as starters by any means. The situation was surprising enough just from the lineup, but this was only the beginning.
"Inventory."
The players who participated like that took out daggers with a red glow from their inventory and then,
"…Let's go!"
"Yes!"
Poof!
They all stabbed their own chests at once.
Flash!
Then, the players logged out one by one.
=Ah, no…!
=The humanity representative team players… they are committing suicide!!
The commentators screamed upon seeing this.
'They really did it.'
Seong Jihan, who couldn't participate in the 3rd match, watched this and recalled the coach's words from a little while ago.
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