บท 352: Chapter 352
Fwoosh!
Upon deciding to receive the reward,
[The 'Constellation of the Dead Star' acknowledges the player's efforts and bestows a valuable gift.]
Alongside the message about a gift, three objects materialized before his eyes.
[Essence of Death]
-Grade: SS
-An essence concentrated with the power of Undead-related Constellations.
-Consumption increases residual stat points by 5.
The very first item simply increased residual stats by 5.
'An increase in remaining stats is always the right choice.'
The black liquid contained in a glass bottle appeared poisonous at a glance, but Seong Jihan uncapped and consumed it right away.
As the liquid, which momentarily resonated with the void within his body, was quickly absorbed,
[Residual stat points increase by 5.]
The stat points increased by +5.
'And the next is… a book?'
After absorbing the Essence of Death, Seong Jihan shifted his attention to the next item.
[Skill Book – Blessing of Undeath]
-Grade: SS+
-Through "Blessing of Undeath", you bestow the state of 'Undead' upon the target.
-Allies immediately become Undead with their consent, whereas enemies may turn Undead based on a probability related to necromancy stats.
-Targets turned Undead obey the user's commands and survive even fatal injuries.
-Performance in the Undead state improves depending on necromancy stat levels.
-The Blessing of Undeath can be withdrawn, releasing the target from the Undead state.
'This can be used on both allies and enemies?'
The blessing turns the target into Undead.
Though the skill's grade is quite high at SS+, its detailed performance remained uncertain.
'The Blessing of Undeath keeps mentioning stats related to necromancy… Does it include Void?'
If it includes Void, it's worth learning; if not, there's no need to bother with this skill book.
Seeking to resolve his query, Seong Jihan sent a message to the giver of the gift.
[Of course. Void encompasses even the energy of death. Did you think I'd give you a useless book?]
"What situations should I use this skill in?"
[You humans die at the slightest thing, don't you? Use Blessing of Undeath on your allies, and they won't die even if parts of their bodies fly off. Ah, but for you, it's probably fine even if your allies die. You'll just kill everything on your own anyways.]
"No, that's fine."
Seong Jihan recalled the previous fourth game.
The game where he tried to push Yoon Sejin as MVP ended with Sejin disappearing, and he himself ended up as MVP.
Had he used this skill at that time, perhaps Sejin could have held on.
'I should use it on my sponsored players to help them win MVP.'
It's not like they become Undead forever, just temporarily for the game.
It'd be okay to use it during BattleNet matches.
Thinking thus, Seong Jihan used the skill book.
[Do you wish to gain 'Skill Book – Blessing of Undeath'?]
[Necromancy-related stats are required.]
[Void stat detected. Acquiring Blessing of Undeath.]
Sizzzzzzz…
The skill book, burning in black flames, turned to ashes and vanished.
With that, Seong Jihan obtained the skill Blessing of Undeath.
[Turn your opponents into Undead and enjoy dominating them. Remember, if you were my head, you could do this as much as you wanted~]
Still not giving up on wanting to be his head.
Seong Jihan chuckled and looked at the last item.
[Sun Core Fragment Devoid of Light]
-Grade: SS
-A fragment of the Sun Core endowed with the authority of the Great Constellation, the Sun King.
-Requires charging.
A red gem, the size of a fingertip.
Just as the item description mentioned needing charging, it contained no discernible energy.
'It seems like the energy from the Sun Core fragment I absorbed in the arena has been drained away.'
The 'Crimson Sun Core Fragment' that he upgraded to the Sun Throne and absorbed into his body.
While this item looked similar, it held no energy within.
[This is the Sun Core that was at the center of Mecan's planet. There were three, and I kept two to track the Sun King.]
"What exactly is this used for?"
[I don't know precisely. It's presumed to be an energy source for the Sun King.]
"Hm…"
[A practical reward is the first two, consider this as merely a token of defeating Mecan.]
A token.
Considering this, Seong Jihan examined the Sun Core Fragment and asked,
"Is Mecan destroyed?"
[Not annihilated. I just destroyed traces of the Sun King… Heh. Your league's 20th place will be Mecan.]
Extracting the Sun Core from the planet's center must have caused significant damage.
Unintentionally, it turned into a hit-and-run tactic.
'I did well to give him the Solar Terminal.'
One F-grade item was exchanged for several times its worth in return.
Seong Jihan smiled.
"Thank you. I'll make good use of it."
[Right. I'm off to track that guy!]
Beep.
With that, communication with the Constellation of the Dead Star ended.
'If it's charged, it might be possible to absorb it stat-wise.'
Seong Jihan thoroughly examined the Sun Core Fragment.
'When I had fought the Little Sun, the Sun Core Fragment absorbed solar heat from the sky…'
Recalling the past, he even went outside the penthouse to try absorbing from the sky.
'Or should I try igniting a fire myself?'
He attempted to apply heat directly to the Sun Core Fragment using his stats, but the red gem showed no change.
Despite various methods, the Sun Core Fragment remained unaffected.
'Hmm… I'll have to put it aside for now.'
Failing to find a way to utilize the Sun Core, Seong Jihan decided to store it in his inventory for the time being.
Whisk.
Returning home, Seong Jihan entered the living room.
Yoon Seah, who was eating ice cream on the sofa, looked up at him with familiar eyes as he entered through the window.
"Oh, uncle. You're back. Did you finish your work?"
"For now."
Seong Jihan glanced around at Yoon Seah.
The 'Blessing of Undeath' skill, usable on both allies and enemies.
He had easily mastered it thanks to Void, but hadn't tested it yet…
'…Even so, a skill that turns someone into an Undead, it's a bit much to use in reality. It'd be best to test it in the game.'
Although withdrawing the Blessing of Undeath would cancel the Undead transformation.
Testing the skill required caution, given it turned targets into Undead.
"Eh? Why are you looking at me like that?"
"…No, it's nothing."
Unaware of how close she came close to the crisis of becoming an Undead,
She just blinked, then suddenly seemed to remember something and spoke up,
"Oh, Sophia will be here in a bit. She said she has something important to discuss with you."
"Really? What is it?"
"She just said it was very important."
An important discussion.
What could it be?
While Seong Jihan was pondering this,
Ding dong.
The doorbell rang.
"Sophia's here. I'll go see~"
Beep.
Opening the door, Sophia entered slowly.
Unlike her usual confident steps, her approach seemed cautious this time.
Entering the living room, she scanned the surroundings briefly, then gestured towards Seong Jihan's room with a slight motion of her hand.
"Jihan, can we talk in private for a moment? I have something important to tell you."
"Alright, I'll be training!"
Quickly making herself scarce, Yoon Seah left.
Seong Jihan nodded and entered the room with Sophia.
"What's the important thing?"
"Well, My Majesty… wants to descend upon me. She said she has an urgent matter to discuss."
The only person Sophia would refer to as 'Majesty' is Pythia.
'If it's urgent, couldn't she just send a message? Why descend?'
Puzzled but accommodating, Seong Jihan responded,
"Alright. Tell her to descend."
Then,
Ssssshhhh…
A chill emanated from Sophia's eyes.
"It's been a while since I've seen you directly, Seong Jihan."
Pythia descended into Sophia's body almost immediately after his consent.
Then, Pythia, having greeted Seong Jihan lightly, her eyes flashed as if a camera flash had gone off.
That was a phenomenon that occurred when Pythia triggered her 'prophecy'.
"A prophecy right away?"
As Seong Jihan commented,
"Prophecy… I thought so too."
Pythia made a bitter face and shook her head.
"But it turns out, my eyes weren't for reading the future."
* * *
"…Not for reading the future? Didn't you used to be known as Nostradamus?"
Pythia, who had lived for eons, had claimed to have been many kinds of seers throughout history.
Yet now, she was denying everything she had ever said.
"All this time, I thought so too. But the strangeness I felt came from my power."
"Ice Sword Rain of the Frozen Heaven?"
"Yes. I was utterly convinced it was about bringing about the end. But isn't it strange? To have a power predicting everything yet unaware of my own powers?"
As Pythia began to denigrate herself for being unfit as a seer,
Seong Jihan silently nodded in agreement.
"That does seem odd."
"Thank you for understanding. After realizing the power of the Ice Sword Rain of the Frozen Heaven, I've spent a long time wondering what my true strength is. But I haven't made much progress… What have I been doing for thousands of years…?"
Then, as Pythia began to lament about her situation, Seong Ji-han frowned.
"Let's move on from old stories. Just tell me the main point."
"You're so cold. Thousands of years of my life were in vain, can't you listen for a bit?"
"Sorry, I'm quite busy. Surely, descending into Sophia's body for a chat isn't to discuss this, right?"
"Sigh. Fine, I get it."
Begrudgingly acknowledging Seong Jihan's preemptive dismissal, Pythia got to the point,
"Just now, I saw a part of your future."
"My future? Didn't you say you couldn't see it last time?"
"Yes. But this time, it appeared. You being divided by the Taiji Swordsmanship."
Seong Jihan divided by the Taiji Swordsmanship.
That's talking about the owner of the Abyss, 'Taiji's Lost Soul,' right?
According to Pythia's prophecy, does that mean the current Seong Jihan is also destined to be divided by Taiji?
'She doesn't know about the Abyss's owner, but to mention the Taiji Swordsmanship here… Am I fated to die at the hands of Dongbang Sak, not even the Marital God?'
While Seong Jihan was pondering this,
Pythia's expression became grave.
"But that prophecy scene… It was strange. As you died, Longinus followed Dongbang Sak."
"Longinus did?"
"Yes. Longinus, who was completely annihilated by you. He, who had absolutely no chance of surviving in the future."
"…What does that mean?"
Seong Jihan's counter-question was met with,
"What I see isn't the future unfolding in this world but…"
Flash! Flash!
Pythia's eyes sparkled again, invoking another prophecy.
"This time you died even weaker to Dongbang Sak."
"In this future, you were defeated before even drawing the Taiji Swordsmanship."
"Dying without properly awakening… Such a different, debilitated state compared to now."
Muttering under her breath,
Pythia commented on each vision of Seong Jihan's death she witnessed.
Hearing about his various futures of demise, Seong Jihan furrowed his brow.
"What are you looking at?"
"Having used this power on you, now I'm certain. My prophecy isn't about seeing the future but…"
"Then what?"
"Reading data from worlds that have already ended."
"Hmm…"
Worlds that have ended.
Similar vibe to his previous life?
As Seong Jihan was deep in thought,
"It became clear when you undertook the mission to ascend to Space 2."
"Is that so?"
"Yes. Until then, it was just a faint guess. But as you proceeded with the mission and met the Abyss's owner, I suddenly realized. So anyway, I was wondering…"
Pythia cautiously broached the main topic.
"Did you see anything there?"
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