Chapter 459: Chapter 459
Tap. Tap.
"I have pondered for a long time."
Siddhartha approached Seong Jihan as he spoke.
"On what must be done to free humanity from the enemy."
"Did you think about this while the Martial God repeated his infinite regressions?"
"Yes."
The regressions of the Martial God.
During the era of Ashoka, Siddhartha had undertaken it.
While regressing, he accumulated power and,
simultaneously thought of ways to eliminate humanity's enemies.
'Truly a superhuman.'
As Seong Jihan was marveling at him.
Swish.
Siddhartha brought his hand to the floating red eye.
"And, yet again, I must apologize. I tested you with this."
"What… this was a test too?"
"Yes. I am already a dead man. This red administrator emerged from within you."
So that red eye that came out of Siddhartha knew the circumstances regarding Seong Jihan because it was actually inside his body.
As Siddhartha touched the eye,
[You who realized for the sixth time. You have kept your word. What you did was not turning away, but true defiance…]
The eye lost its color and disappeared.
At the same time, the red energy was reabsorbed into Seong Jihan's body.
He could now roughly understand the situation.
'The red administrator showed me an illusion. He wanted to see if I would succumb to it.'
The ecstasy when becoming the red administrator was indeed significant.
Especially when he crushed Tuseong underhandedly.
Ah, no wonder anyone would desire to become a permanent administrator.
Of course, his thrill quickly diminished when he returned to Earth and transformed Yoon Seah and Seong Jiah into beings of the red lineage.
'Without witnessing that, I might have briefly considered it.'
Recalling the grotesque Yoon Seah who turned into a monster with eyes, Seong Jihan furrowed his brow.
"How many tests do I have to go through?"
"I apologize. It was important to me."
"What if I had failed this test? Your true form has already self-destructed with the Martial God. The infinite regressions would have come to an end. You'd have no body left."
Swoosh.
At Seong Jihan's words, Siddhartha quietly looked at him.
"But you do have a body, don't you?"
"…Are you saying it's mine?"
"Yes. If you succumbed to the red's temptation, I intended to use your body in your stead and then return it."
With those words, Siddhartha smiled.
"But seeing how firm your will is, it seems I wouldn't need to do that."
He had even prepared to hijack his body in case he fell for the administrator's temptation.
When he told Seong Jihan to burn him with the sacred flame, he had everything planned.
Seong Jihan's expression showed he was overwhelmed.
'No wonder the Martial God was so wary of this person.'
The reason he turned into a snake head and tried so desperately to eliminate him became clear.
"Now that I've passed all the tests, tell me what solution you've come up with."
"It's quite simple. I created an ability to counter the red."
"An ability… is it a stat?"
At Seong Jihan's question, Siddhartha nodded.
"As you can see, the realized ones can escape from the red. But realization… it's not something that can be bestowed upon all of humanity. Humans are beings who find it hard enough just to sustain life. Few pursue self-realization."
"Well, of course."
If every dog and cow could realize, Red would have been eradicated long ago.
"So, I isolated part of that realization. Solely to create a means of fighting the red."
"…Is that even possible?"
"I had plenty of time."
In this regard, infinite regressions served a useful purpose.
As Seong Jihan nodded, recalling what the Green Administrator once said, he inquired.
"The Green Administrator once told me that becoming an administrator would enable me to erase the red inherent in humanity. Wouldn't it be better to just delete it?"
"If that method works, that would be excellent. But the Green Administrator is not a reliable entity, is he?"
"True."
You couldn't fully trust Yggdrasil's words.
Having multiple methods to eliminate the red definitely wasn't a bad thing.
As Seong Jihan consented,
"Then I shall pass the ability to you."
Hummm…
A golden light began to seep out of Siddhartha's body.
And soon,
A message appeared before Seong Jihan's eyes.
[You have obtained the FFF grade ability, 'Azure'.]
[When the Azure stat increases by 1, the red's factor disappears.]
[When the red's factor disappears from humanity, the evolution limit of the human race is reset based on the "Mid-Grade Species".]
Azure.
It seemed it was meant to contrast with the red.
The ability, derived from a portion of Siddhartha's realization and dedicated solely to eliminating the red,
allowed one to eradicate the red's factor with just a single stat point increment.
However.
"FFF grade, huh."
"From the system's perspective, could there be a more useless ability than this? It blocks the red's factor, which could evolve into a permanent administrator, and limits humanity's potential to a mid-grade species."
"True. It does make sense to see it that way from a BattleNet system stance rather than a human one."
The Azure ability, which sealed the potential to ascend to an absolute being, hence its poor evaluation by the system, was understandable.
Seong Jihan opened his status window to check if Azure was properly settled,
"Huh… what is this?"
and his eyes widened.
The abilities displayed on his status window were entirely different from what he expected.
* * *
Seong Jihan blinked, looking at the stat side of his status window again.
Level: 650
Martial Soul: 700
Void: 695
Red: 50 (Sealed)
Eternity (Incomplete): 30
Azure: 0
'Martial Soul and Void have advanced significantly…'
His level, which had stalled at 635, now stood at 650, perhaps due to devouring the weapons of the relics in Tuseong.
Martial Soul and Void had also improved considerably compared to before.
In addition, Eternity had decreased by 10, likely from dying so many times to the Martial God.
This was all understandable given the recent battles.
However,
'The Red… already sealed?'
The stat Red, which was close to 500, should have been around 700, similar to Martial Soul and Void after one more power surge in Tuseong.
But in his status window, it was displayed as only 50, with "Sealed" written next to it.
Was this unusable?
"Even with the Azure stat still at 0, the Red is sealed?"
"That's not because of Azure, but because of your hand."
"Oh, right, because of that."
The administrator's hand was supposed to control him and switch to a new heart.
That had already materialized in his stats?
"Try increasing Azure."
Seong Jihan nodded and increased the Azure stat by one point.
With the FFF grade, it only cost one residual point.
Then the Red stat changed to 100, and the "Sealed" note disappeared.
"The seal is lifted, but the Red doesn't fully return to 700."
"That is because."
Before Siddhartha could finish his sentence,
Sssss…
An eyeball popped out from Seong Jihan's right hand.
[Seong Jihan, what have you done? You've freed yourself from my control.]
"You're not calling me the main body anymore."
[You're unworthy of being the main body. By the administrator's decree, you'll be disposed of. A new body will replace you.]
"Is the new body Yoon Seah?"
[Correct. She seems suitable for a new settlement.]
The administrator's hand openly declared its intention to switch to Yoon Seah.
Seong Jihan grimaced.
This creature had to be dealt with here.
"Now that the administrator's hand opposes you, all the abilities you gained through it have transferred over."
"So, of the 700 points, 600 belong to that thing?"
"That's correct."
At those words, Seong Jihan recalled when he had transplanted the administrator's hand.
Back then, just having the hand increased his stats by 300.
'Considering that, the 600 being there makes sense…'
Fighting a hand with a stat power of 600?
This would be no easy feat.
As Seong Jihan glared at the administrator's hand parasitizing his body,
"I will take care of it."
Siddhartha reached out towards the hand engulfed in red flames.
Then,
Swoosh…
The hand transferred all its power back to Siddhartha.
[W-what is this? You're not supposed to be here. And you don't even have a body… what is this?]
Though the administrator's hand tried desperately to escape while burning Siddhartha,
Swoosh…
As Siddhartha's corporeal form gradually vanished, a golden wheel appeared within, absorbing the fire.
[You intended to eliminate me from the start…]
The administrator's hand's voice grew weaker.
The Golden Wheel kept spinning until the last of the flame disappeared.
And as soon as the red energy faded,
'I'm back…'
Seong Jihan found himself in the place where he first ignited the sacred flame on the Golden Wheel.
The situation was so identical that he doubted his sanity.
But then,
'My status window confirms it wasn't an illusion.'
The stat Red now at 100 and Azure at only 1,
These two abilities proved that the previous events were not a hallucination.
'The stat decreased to 100, but having experienced being an administrator seems to help maintain similar output.'
Even with a 1/7 stat reduction, the experience of handling the Red as an administrator helped balance the deficit.
As Seong Jihan was checking himself,
Swoosh…
the Golden Wheel moved, getting absorbed into his body.
[The skill 'Return Of The Light' has transformed into 'Golden Wheel'.]
[By spinning the Golden Wheel, the user can revert their physical state to the previous day. This includes location information.]
[The Golden Wheel can be used a total of three times.]
'So it changed from Return Of The Light to Golden Wheel.'
Reverting to the physical state of the previous day was excellent,
But also reverting location was exceptionally useful.
'If I attack Tuseong, I could return to Earth before a day passes.'
This wasn't limited to Tuseong but could be used for other places too.
For example,
'When attacking the Dragon Lord's lair, this would help return when the way back is unclear.'
Just perfect for the current situation.
As Seong Jihan felt grateful for Ashoka's foresight,
Rumble…
The ground trembled greatly.
The portal's light weakened.
'It's time to leave.'
Having gained everything necessary, it was time to return to Earth.
As Seong Jihan stepped into the portal,
A golden shimmer rose from the Golden Wheel's position.
[Seong Jihan, I have done all I can. But there is one concern.]
"A concern? What is it?"
[Dongbang Sak.]
"What about him?"
[To hide his true intentions from the Martial God, he imprisoned himself in the Taiji Sword.]
Imprisoned himself in the Taiji Sword?
"What exactly does that mean?"
[You will have to draw out the essence of the Taiji Sword from Dongbang Sak. Then he can aid you.]
Ah.
Dongbang Sak would remain a loyal servant until he unsheathes the Taiji Sword.
To pull out that ultimate move from him would mean gaining Dongbang Sak's aid.
'Though he's indeed a monster.'
Seong Jihan thought of his Martial Soul ability.
A stat that reached 700.
A power enough to pressure most beings.
"Well, I should manage. After all, I've grown a lot too."
[You must. If not, you and humanity will all perish by his hand.]
In the shimmers, Ashoka's voice faded.
[Make sure to succeed.]
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