***
***
‘The procedure to clear a demoted… A race annihtion battle, no less.’
A race annihtion was something Seong Jihan encountered before his regression.
At that time, his physical body was swallowed by the rising darkness, and all of humanity disappeared. Seong Jihan alone survived, able to return by the vote of certain beings.
With a vote of 3 to 1, he narrowly received a chance for a retry.
‘But now it’s saying yers have to enforce it?’
Humanity was undoubtedly consumed by darkness. The ‘Blue Blood Demons,’ the target of this annihtion event, were facing invasion by the Void and Sr factions for some reason.
[Hmm. A race annihtion battle, huh. It’s rare for the fate of a demoted race to be put in the hands of a yer. It’s unusual.]
Artemus too seemed to have noticed the system message. Hundreds of dwarves, with their arms crossed, concurrently tilted their heads in unison.
-A race annihtion battle?
-So if you’re demoted, you get annihted…?
-Wow; Isn’t the penalty crazy?
-But… the annihtion… is done by the yers?
Viewers of Seong Jihan’s channel were shocked upon hearing his and Artemus’s conversation. There had been various rumors about what happens upon demotion in BattleNet’s league, but this mission provided a definitive answer today.
“But the Blue Blood Demons look like they’re in the Silver League, right?… Shouldn’t they go to Bronze if they’re demoted? Why are they getting annihted instead?”
“Bronze is a league only for beginners. Once you’ve reached Silver, you cannot fall back to the beginners’ league.”
“Hmm… those elves didn’t look like beginners at all.”
“Well, that’s because they have powerful backers.”
As Seong Jihan conversed with the dwarves, they collectively pointed upwards with a finger.
“I’ll have to choose the Sr faction then. What about you?”
“You n to participate in the annihtion battle?”
“Of course. It’s a special mission.”
With that, the dwarves all revealed their intentions,ughing.
“Plus, if there are any good spoils, I must gather them. It’s the end of a race that reached Silver League. Surely there will be something of value.”
Artemus seemed to have no qualms about exterminating other races.
-Those dwarves are ruthless;
-Even if they’re from a different race, isn’t participating in an annihtion battle a bit much?
-This is like seriously not just a game anymore;
-Hey, why are those guys talking like moral textbooks? It’s not a game anymore, so like Artemus, you should gain loot and get stronger.
-That’s right. Where’s the space to worry about another’s well-being when Earth could end up in the same state?
While there was apprehension among viewers towards Artemus’s enjoyment of the annihtion, the overriding sentiment was a harsh realism.
And Seong Jihan also settled his heart, looking at Artemus’s attitude.
‘After all, that’s what BattleNet has always been about.’
A game wherepeting with other races for ranking and the lower ranks face destruction.
Why worry about the demise of races from others when even your own kind fight against each other? Artemus’s approach, looking to benefit his own kind, is probably the most sensible attitude.
“I…”
As Seong Jihan pondered which side to choose,
[If you choose the Void faction, an epic quest will appear.]
Another system message popped up.
An epic quest that isn’t offered to the Sr faction.
With that, the choice was obvious.
“I’ll go with the Void.”
“Got it. You’ll probably earn a lot of GP in the Void.”
Upon Seong Jihan’s decision, the dwarves waved as light shone from the sky and whisked them upwards.
ncing at the ascended Artemus, Seong Jihan chose the Void faction, and then…
Thend started to drench in purple shade, and darkness surrounded him swiftly.
In this shrouded world, a system message rose.
[By selecting the Void faction, an epic quest appears.]
[Epic Quest]
-Find the origin of the Blue Blood Demons and bring an end to them.
Reward – Increase the capacity limit of Void stats by +30
– Acquire the title ‘Void Executor’
Seong Jihan’s eyes gleamed as he saw the reward for the epic quest.
‘This is exactly the reward I need.’
Compared even with the ability of the Wandering Martial God, Martial Soul, the performance of the Void stats was not far behind.
However, this ability had a fatal penalty: the closer the stats get to 100, the shorter the lifespan bes.
Relief from this penaltyes with an increased capacity limit of the Void stats.
‘With the ‘Summon the throne’, I’ve only managed to get a +5 limit each month… +30 is basically buying half a year’s time.’
The EX-grade skill obtained from the Brahma, Summon the throne.
This skill could give the power to surpass the limits of one’s race and also raise the capacity limit of Void stats.
The reward from the epic quest was akin to front-loading six months’ worth of effects, so it was imperative to Seong Jihan.
‘And I can’t ignore Pythia’s prophecy either.’
He remembered Pythia’s prediction concerning the Witch of Void.
[You’ll fight a terrifying being, attempt to save her, but due to the recoil of overusing the power of void, you’ll almost get pulled in. The Witch of Void, finally free, sacrifices herself for you.]
While prophecy did not affect Seong Jihan himself, it did work on people around him as told, suggesting thest moments of Seong Jiah.
The prophecy said Seong Jihan nearly got dragged into the void.
Increasing the capacity limit of the Void stats was imperative not just to prevent such an event but as a necessary move.
‘The problem now is finding the source of the Blue Blood Demons…’
There had never been an easy epic quest before, but none as daunting as this one.
How could he locate the source of the Blue Blood Demons?
Perhaps by leveraging the fourth Annihtion Technique, Ice Heaven Sword Rain he had recently gained…
‘But to recklessly use the Annihtion Technique, the range is far too vast.’
While Seong Jihan pondered possible approaches,
“Whoa! Look who it is if not the leader himself!”
Ssssh!
Amidst the purple-hued world, a ck skull revealed itself, its face protruding from the darkness.
* * *
“Already participating in a race annihtion battle… You really are extraordinary, Leader.”
ck! ck!
The ck skull clicked its teeth, making a fuss.
Seong Jihan frowned at the skull circling around him.
The Constetion of the Dead Star, Karlein.
He didn’t expect the being, who was also his supporting constetion, to participate here.
“You’re also participating… Is this your avatar?”
“No avatar I’d say! This time, as a constetion, I’ve been dispatched as one of the invasionmanders for the Void faction.”
“Really? Then you would have some information on the Blue Blood Demons?”
At Seong Jihan’s words, the ck skull nodded.
“Of course, I do!”
Ziiiiing!
Karlein’s eyes emitted a purple glow, projecting a vast screen.
It showed creatures with blue skin, four arms, and two heads.
“The Blue Blood Demons… They’re not very powerful. At best a mid-to-low tier? No wonder they were demoted from Silver.”
“Is that enough to get demoted?”
“There are some who hang in there, but most are demoted. You need to be at least mid-tier to hold onto Silver League. Unless there’s an irregr yer like you.”
-Humanity is the lowest grade; how will we survive? lol
-But why is that skull being so chummy with Seong Jihan?
-Why did it call him ‘Leader’?
-There were times when his BattleTube stream suddenly went off… Did they meet during that?
Viewers unfamiliar with Karlein wondered why the skull was acting buddy-buddy with Seong Jihan.
But they were more focused on the words it spoke.
After being assigned to the special invasion map, race annihtion battle, sophisticated information about the fate of BattleNet’s worlds flowed forth.
“So, when demoted, other yersunch an invasion to annihte the race?”
“Nah~ Originally, they just summon the Apostles of the End and eventually incinerate them in the Void. Oh, by the way, leader… Is BattleTube on?”
“Yeah.”
nk! nk!
Then, the ck skull clicked its teeth and gave a chilling smile.
“Ladies and gentlemen of humanity~ If you can’t maintain your ranking, I’ll execute you on the spot~ Ah! But if our dear leader joins my rank, maybe I’ll make an exception?”
“Stop the nonsense.”
“Woof woof!”
“……”
Seeing Karlein transform from a human skull to a dog’s head and start barking, Seong Jihan was momentarily speechless.
-Wow…
-It’s really insane, isn’t it? Haha!
-Why is it madness everywhere today?
-Fr, one demands global unification and suggests spreading seeds, and the other’s asking to be a leader of something haha
-And we’re supposed to be annihted by such beings if we didn’t maintain our ranking…
The viewers, who responded energetically to the dog-headed being, saw it then.
Ssssh!
It shifted back to its original skull form and spoke as if nothing odd had urred.
“Anyway, back to the main topic! There’s a specific reason why yers participate in this annihtion battle.”
“What is it?”
“The Blue Blood Demons have a special ability to possess others.”
sh! sh!
A shimmer of red light shed in the eye sockets of the skull.
“Like so, the Blue Blood Demons sh their blue eyes at times. If you see that, there’s a chance of possession. But it’spletely random. It might not work even on the lowest-tier species, while even Dragonkin can fall victim to it.”
“Possession…”
“The higher-ups in BattleNet want more data on this possession ability. That’s why yers were allowed to participate in this annihtion.”
“So yers are meant to get possessed?”
“Right! There’s no need for yers to be involved in wiping out a mid-to-low-tier race.”
Seong Jihan nodded.
Things seemed a little different from the annihtion he’d known in his previous life, so there was some hidden reasoning behind it.
“I’m a bit anxious about the possibility of being possessed too… But you. Will you still participate?”
“Of course.”
“Alright. Then, as themander, I’ll assign you an easy route! There’s a civilian residential area among the attack routes. Those folks aren’t yers and haven’t awakened their possession abilities, so you can easily sweep through there!”
Karlein, exercising hismander privileges, offered Seong Jihan an easy route, but Seong Jihan immediately declined.
“No. Give me the ce with the strongest resistance.”
“Why? Because they’re civilians?”
Sigh!
Karlein’sughter turned bitter at Seong Jihan’s refusal.
“Head, if that’s the case, it’s disappointing… To survive in BattleNet, one must be utterly ruthless. If you harbor such tender-hearted sentiments, you’ll be used by someone eventually.”
“Are you not the one who wants to exploit me the most?”
“Hehe. Yeah. I’m just telling you because I don’t want someone else to take you away.”
At Karlein’s words, Seong Jihan let out a chuckle.
“If I was going to be swayed by that, I wouldn’t have participated in the race annihtion battle to begin with.”
“Then why?”
“To find the origin of the Blue Blood Demons.”
“The origin…”
Clink! Clink!
As the word ‘origin’ hung in the air, Karlein’s eyes zed with intensity.
“The origin of the Blue Blood Demons… What an interesting thing to say. The origin… and the Blue Blood Demons’ unique possession might be rted.”
“So, will you send me to the ce with the strongest resistance?”
“… Well, Okay.”
Zing!
Purple light erupted from the skull’s eyes.
Eventually, a massive portal was formed.
“If you think you’re going to get possessed, call me anytime. I’ll drop everything and rush over!”
“That won’t happen.”
Immediately dismissing Karlein’s offer, Seong Jihan stepped into the portal.
And then,
“Intruder…!”
“Capture him!”
As soon as he entered the world beyond the portal, hundreds of blue eyes stared at him, shing with light.
***
***