Side Story (8)
- ??? Dongbang Sak? Who's that?
- Isn't he the Constellation who wielded the sword that reversed the Taiji symbol?
- Oh, the one who fought with Seong Jihan over the West Sea a long ti ago?
When Yoon Seah ntioned 'Dongbang Sak' as the na of the Martial God, the viewers began to buzz about who he was.
To them, Dongbang Sak was a Constellation from before the Tree World Union's colonial era.
His battle with Seong Jihan had left such a strong impression that they quickly recalled who he was.
- But why is Dongbang Sak considered the Martial God?
- Isn't there info on IF Wiki?
- Let's see... Oh, there is information.
The IF Wiki, a site frequently updated with BattleNet-related content like this world's players and national situations, surprisingly had data about the Martial God.
Perhaps because this was a world created within the Tower of the Martial God, those accessing it had gathered so information.
- In this world, instead of Guan Yu, Dongbang Sak is revered as the Martial God.
- There are Guan Yu shrines, but Dongbang Sak seems to be more famous as the Martial God.
- So, basically, modern-day Guan Yu has been replaced by Dongbang Sak?
- He's even more popular than Guan Yu. It seems like Dongbang Sak has absorbed all other images of the Martial God.
According to the information the viewers were posting in the chat,
It appeared that in this world, the concept of 'Martial God = Dongbang Sak' was widely accepted.
‘This is... certainly different from the world before my regression.’
The fact that the presence of alien beings or the BattleMarket didn't function here could be attributed to the level of data implentation.
However, the perception of Dongbang Sak as the Martial God was a definite divergence from his original world.
If anything, this might be the only notable difference discovered so far.
‘...So, Dongbang Sak is the Martial God here.’
Seong Jihan's eyes deepened in contemplation.
Dongbang Sak, a being with the most exceptional martial talent among all.
But few knew just how imnse his talent truly was.
Even the viewers considered Dongbang Sak to be strong but ultimately 'a Constellation who was defeated by Seong Jihan.'
‘And Jiang Shang is pursuing the Void right now, so he's not widely known…’
Currently, the famous figure among humankind was Jiang Shang's daughter, Kang Seol-young, who was active as a rcenary.
Few knew about her father.
Ultimately, the only ones who truly understood Dongbang Sak's true nature were,
‘... or perhaps Mitra.’
Seong Jihan recalled the ti he raised his 'Blue' stat to 2 and shattered this world.
The ssage that had appeared at the end was:
[Follow your true heart.]
At the ti, he hadn't fully grasped the aning of that ssage.
‘A world where Dongbang Sak is considered the Martial God... This might be connected to my true feelings. I've always felt that I lagged behind him in the realm of martial arts.’
Even when he suppressed Mitra,
He had never managed to fully manifest "infinity", which Jiang Shang had achieved.
Despite years of training, he had only reached 'Nothingness' the stage before 'Infinity.'
Perhaps that was why.
Since then—or perhaps even before—Seong Jihan had secretly thought that the title of 'Martial God' didn't suit him.
Because there was soone else more deserving of being called the true God of Martial Arts.
‘Is this world... sothing I created after all?’
A world where the pre-regression Yoon Seah was revived, and Dongbang Sak existed as the Martial God.
There was no one else but 'Seong Jihan' who could create such a world.
He doubted himself.
However,
‘...It's too early to make a definitive judgnt. The appearance of the Void when Seah disappeared, and other suspicious elents remain.’
He lacked sufficient information about this world.
He decided he needed to investigate further.
With that thought, he turned to Yoon Seah and spoke firmly.
“I am not Dongbang Sak.”
“Oh... I see. I thought that if you were the Martial God, you must be Dongbang Sak.”
A hint of confusion flickered in her eyes.
“Well, there's no rule that a Constellation has to be connected to human mythology... But why did I assu you were Dongbang Sak? Is it common knowledge among humanity that the Martial God is Dongbang Sak?”
“Yes... Hmm, you're right. When it cos to other gods, various beings co to mind, but for so reason, only Dongbang Sak cos up for the Martial God.”
Nurous deities like Zeus ca to mind even for the God of Thunder.
But when it ca to the concept of 'Martial God,' only Dongbang Sak seed to occupy that space.
“Then... Um, how should I address you, Martial God?”
“In front of others, call Uncle. When we're alone, you can address as 'Martial God.'”
“Oh... Understood, Martial God.”
As Yoon Seah nodded,
Bzzzz...
A ssage window appeared before Seong Jihan's eyes.
[You have identified the true nature of the Martial God.]
[The mission clear conditions have been revealed.]
‘Mission clear conditions?’
So, by completing this, he could end the world created within the Tower of the Martial God?
He focused on the ssage that would appear next.
[Prevent the descent of the Martial God, Dongbang Sak.]
[Your current stat 'Blue' is at 1. Your chance of victory is 0%.]
Along with the mission objective, his win rate was displayed.
‘Prevent the descent of the Martial God…’
He had a feeling sothing was coming when it ntioned identifying the true nature of the Martial God.
So, the ultimate goal of this mission was to stop Dongbang Sak's descent?
‘A 0% chance of victory ans... that with my current abilities, I can't stop Dongbang Sak if he descends.’
Given that the ssage referred to his 'Blue' stat being at 1 and calculated his win rate, it seed tied to the value of 'Blue.'
‘Even though the 'Blue' stat has exceptional abilities, having it at 1 has its limits.’
With 'Blue' at 1, he could erase a second-string national player in an instant.
But the battle might have unfolded differently if he were to fight a stronger player.
And if his opponent was the Martial God Dongbang Sak rather than just any player, it was certainly impossible with 'Blue' at 1.
‘Hmmm... But I can't raise 'Blue' any further.’
The mission world had shattered when he had previously increased his stat from 1 to 2.
How was he supposed to stop Dongbang Sak without being able to increase his abilities?
Was he supposed to ti it just right and raise 'Blue' when Dongbang Sak descended, to destroy the world?
‘Sohow, I feel that would result in mission failure…’
As he was thinking that wasn't the solution,
Bzzzz...
[You have discovered the mission clear conditions.]
[You have cleared a Sub-Quest.]
[You can raise your 'Blue' stat by 1.]
Just then, a ssage appeared before his eyes, offering exactly what he needed.
‘Clearing Sub-Quests allows to raise my 'Blue' stat…’
He hadn't even known there were Sub-Quests.
Watching the slew of ssages that appeared after recognizing Dongbang Sak as the Martial God, he eyed them suspiciously.
‘Well, let's try increasing it.’
Following the ssage, he decided to raise his ability.
Sssss...
As a blue aura emanated from his body,
“Um... Even if you're not Dongbang Sak, I believe you're the Martial God. You don't need to show again...”
Yoon Seah, mistaking his actions as an attempt to distort the world like before, hurriedly spoke up.
But,
Whoosh...
The blue aura intensified briefly before being reabsorbed into his body.
“Oh. It went back in...?”
She scratched her cheek with a finger.
He didn't seem intent on proving himself as the Martial God again.
Perhaps she had jumped to conclusions.
As he glanced at her slightly embarrassed expression,
[Your 'Blue' stat has increased by 1.]
He shifted his gaze to the ssage window.
Even with 'Blue' now at 2, the world remained intact, unlike before.
‘At first, I thought this world was incomplete and easily shattered if 'Blue' was increased... But that wasn't the case. Instead, the system was precisely limiting the increase of 'Blue.'’
Certainly, this wasn't a world that could simply be dismissed as a 'bug.'
With that thought, he tried to gauge the extent of his increased ability.
‘At this level, I can easily suppress first-string national players.’
He could defeat national players without difficulty.
He might be slightly at a disadvantage against top-tier players like the Sword King.
If 'Blue' at 2 was this strong, then at 3, he'd be able to overpower the Sword King decisively.
Of course,
‘But the problem now isn't the Sword King.’
He had already settled his grievances with the Sword King in reality.
In this world, all that mattered was clearing the mission.
Whether the Sword King continued to be enthralled by Shizuru in Japan or not, Seong Jihan didn't really care.
“As long as I support this world's Seah to beco independent, that's enough.”
This perspective extended to humanity in the current world.
Whether Korea beca the lowest in Northeast Asia and fell into ruin due to dungeon portals,
Or whether humanity ranked last in the Space League, it was outside his concern.
All that mattered for mission clearance was raising his 'Blue' stat.
Whatever happened to the world wasn't his business.
However,
[Your 'Blue' stat has reached 2.]
[A new function has been unlocked.]
[A Sub-Quest window has been created.]
[The 'Temporary Logout' function has been activated.]
The situation changed after raising 'Blue' to 2 and creating the Sub-Quest window.
‘Sub-Quests?’
Beep.
When he tapped on the flashing 'Sub-Quests' in the ssage window,
Bzzzz...
A new window appeared beside him.
[Sub-Quests]
Help Yoon Seah reach the Diamond League.
et with at least 10 acquaintances (1/10).
Subdue the Sword King, Yoon Sejin.
A total of three Sub-Quest items.
As he reviewed each one, he thought:
‘Well, they don't seem too difficult.’
With 'Late Bloor,' Yoon Seah would grow well given ti.
Considering the acquaintance count was already at 1, he'd just need to et nine more people to clear it.
As for subduing the Sword King, even if it was challenging with his current abilities,
‘It'll be easy once I clear just one of these.’
If he could raise 'Blue' to 3 by clearing a Sub-Quest, he could definitely suppress the Sword King.
As expected of Sub-Quests, they weren't overly challenging.
[Ti until the descent of the Martial God: 100 days.]
‘100 days?’
But upon seeing that there were only 100 days left until Dongbang Sak's descent, he frowned.
No matter how quickly Yoon Seah leveled up, reaching the Diamond League in 100 days was impossible.
“You... What's your current level?”
Just in case, he asked about her level.
“? I'm level 1. I haven't even entered the Bronze League.”
She casually stated that she was level 1.
‘Then clearing the first Sub-Quest is impossible for now…’
Subduing the Sword King wouldn't be easy with 'Blue' at 2.
In the end, the only Sub-Quest he could tackle imdiately was the second one.
But,
‘eting 10 acquaintances... Now that I think about it, I don't have many people I could call acquaintances.’
He had never been particularly social, and recently he'd been busy navigating crises on an interstellar scale.
At most, he had family, guild mbers, a few governnt officials, and so mbers of the human representative team.
‘Many of them would be hard to et in my current position.’
In reality, Seong Jihan was an irreplaceable figure in humanity.
But here, he was nothing more than an unemployed man you could find anywhere.
To et his 'acquaintances,' he'd need a different social standing.
“I wonder which would draw more attention: achieving 100 consecutive wins in BattleNet or clearing dungeon portals.”
“Pardon? Is it possible for dungeon portals to disappear?”
Dungeon portals had spread like a plague in this world after the initial phase of entering the Space League.
While achieving 100 consecutive wins in BattleNet would certainly draw attention, perhaps resolving dungeon portals would be more significant here.
In that case, prioritizing dungeon portal removal seed best.
“Have you ever fild for BattleTube?”
He asked, intending to live-stream the process of clearing dungeon portals.
Her expression darkened imdiately.
“BattleTube... I've fild before, but my account isn't useful. I'm a target of the Sword King's family...”
“Still, viewers will flock quickly.”
“Well... I suppose?”
“Then that's fine.”
He smirked, his eyes cold.
“Once this broadcast is over, people's attitudes will change 180 degrees.”
He was confident.
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