Chapter 505
The final 5 weeks of Seong Jihan's training.
That period translated to one week in the real world.
And during this week, human society was greatly stirred up.
[Seong Jihan mentions halting evolution]
[Pharmaceutical company stocks hit the upper limit across the board]
[Which 'neighboring country' did Seong Jihan refer to?]
[Coach Davis apologizes for blaming Yoon Seah for the previous match's loss]
[Who is XX-su, the ID 'Blancheshu'?]
The issue of halting evolution that Seong Jihan directly mentioned,
It clearly showed who was the superior and who was the subordinate between Seong Jihan and humanity.
-We don't have that many neighboring countries anyway, right? lol
-I heard the Chinese and Japanese governments issued official statements and started large-scale crackdowns lol. Telling people not to mess with the Administrator.
-If they become the only lowest-grade species, unlike other humans, they'd really cry tears of blood.
-But even if they leave some hate comments because they keep losing in international competitions, why are people in our country cursing Seong Jihan??
-So who is this XX-su?
-My name is Kim Chulsu and I've already been asked a hundred times if I'm Blancheshu ㅡㅡ
-You've been asked a hundred times because you're a man. Women whose names end with 'su' are probably suffering ten times more.
-Did someone call me... I really want to quit my job...
-Demongod is just as annoying as that luckyeshu or whoever ngl, both messing with Gun the great admin.
The 'neighboring countries' Seong Jihan mentioned were cracking down at the government level, afraid it might be them,
And people with names ending in 'su', regardless of age or gender, were suffering from questions about whether it was them.
And,
"Ha. Crazy... shit. Is this really happening? How could he access battletube information...!"
The person in question, Kim Heesu, was biting her nails while holed up in her room.
After being thoroughly punished by Seong Jihan over the Yoon Seah incident and becoming almost an outcast in her family,
She blamed Seong Jihan for the reason she was driven to this point.
So she just left some small curses and hate comments on the battletube, that's all.
How could that guy openly reveal her status window on his broadcast?
'With just my ID... he doesn't know it's me, right? There wasn't much on the status window.'
It was good that she hadn't been living as a player and remained at level 1.
If she had been living as a player, people would surely have tracked her more persistently.
"If I'm found out, I'll really die..."
Kim Heesu recalled her grandfather's recent birthday.
Because of Seong Jihan, even the Daehan Ilbo had suffered from a boycott once.
Although the chairman usually had negative feelings towards him,
His attitude had completely changed 180 degrees at this gathering.
-I was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer and thought I was going to die... but they say the survival rate has dramatically increased due to the species evolution effect. The fact that I'm alive like this is all thanks to Seong Jihan-nim.
Her grandfather, who used to call him 'that Seong Jihan bastard', was now consistently adding 'nim' to his name.
Terminal cancer that would have meant certain death before,
Had become a treatable disease after the species evolved two levels.
Her grandfather, who had come back from the brink of death, had become a fervent believer in Seong Jihan.
'I cursed because I was so annoyed seeing that... and I got caught just like that!'
If Seong Jihan had removed his palm completely there...
Kim Heesu's face turned pale at the thought.
Then,
Knock knock.
There was a knocking sound, and a middle-aged woman entered her room.
"...Heesu. Why are you like this these days? Not eating, not coming out of your room."
"M-Mom. I haven't been feeling well lately."
"...Is that so? So much that you can't even go to university?"
"Y-Yeah! So just leave me alone!"
Seeing her daughter shouting, her mother's face turned serious.
She looked around her daughter's room.
The monitor screen showing only news related to Seong Jihan.
Come to think of it, her daughter had started acting strange since Seong Jihan's battletube broadcast.
"You... I'm just asking in case, but surely not... right?"
"N-No! Why would I do anything to Seong Jihan-nim!"
Kim Heesu trembled violently, startled.
Her behavior was suspicious to anyone watching.
Given that her daughter had a history of trouble with Seong Jihan, her reaction made it clear.
Kim Heesu's mother quickly caught on.
"...Heesu. If you're going to do something, do it properly."
"W-What?"
"You know people are out looking for the culprit, right? If you react like this, you'll ruin not just yourself but our whole family."
"Mom...! Are you really suspecting me?"
"Looking at your reaction now, I can tell. Do you look innocent?"
Kim Heesu's mother glared at her with her arms crossed.
"So if you're going to act, please do it properly. Don't bring harm to your family. If you get caught, we'll step forward to cut ties with you."
"...Is that something to say to your daughter? Are you really my mom?"
"Are you the one who's crazy? Is there really no one else to curse at? Why did you have to touch the one person in this world you absolutely shouldn't?"
"Uh, that's..."
"...This won't do."
Seeing her daughter's state, her mother decided on drastic measures.
"You just stay at home. Don't go out."
"M-Mom!"
"I can't trust your acting skills. Just don't do any outside activities until public opinion calms down."
"..."
"When the housekeepers are here, absolutely don't come out of your room. And clean your own room."
"No, Mom! How can I clean my own room!"
Clean her own room too?
When Kim Heesu got angry at those words,
"Haa, you crazy girl. That's what you're angry about? Our family is about to be ruined because of you!"
Bang!
With those final words, the door closed.
Kim Heesu buried her head on her desk with a gloomy face.
'I'm not the only Korean troll, but I got unluckily caught. What is this?'
As she was lamenting her bad luck,
Changes were occurring on the monitor displaying Seong Jihan's battle tube.
Seong Jihan, who had been quietly running simulations in the training room,
"It's over now."
He ended the broadcast.
'Over... Does that mean he's coming out of the training room? What's going to happen now?'
Kim Heesu's heart raced with anxiety.
Until now, Seong Jihan hadn't taken the next step because he was training,
But now that he was coming out, wasn't he going to really draw his sword?
'...Ah, please.'
In reality, the other party didn't even care about her,
But Kim Heesu stared at the turned-off battletube screen with anxious eyes.
It seemed like it would be hard to fall asleep again today.
* * *
The unification of Blue and Martial Soul.
This task, which would have been difficult even after many years of dedication with Seong Jihan's original talent,
Was completed faster than expected thanks to the White Administrator's help with the Star Buff.
'Now my ability itself is a bit stronger than when I fought Dongbang Sak.'
As Martial Soul, which had been bound by Devil's Intrusion, merged with Blue,
Seong Jihan's power was now stronger than before.
Additionally,
'It's become natural to mix Blue into all martial arts.'
Swish...
The blue haze rising around Seong Jihan.
It was the power of Blue that naturally activated along with deploying Martial Soul's domain.
Now, he could naturally imbue martial arts with Blue's severance ability, doubling their power.
'The restoration ability has also been strengthened compared to before.'
Seong Jihan touched his face.
When using the Star Buff, the void was also strengthened, threatening to quickly consume his body,
But Blue helped maintain his body by turning back time and repairing the cracks each time.
'It's just a shame that the ability stopped at 999.'
Seong Jihan looked at his stats in the status window.
Blue: 999 (When raised to SSS-grade, +231)
The Blue stat stopped at 999.
The additional clause seemed to mean that 231 will be added when Blue's grade rises to SSS.
'The stat grade rose to SS when unifying with Martial Soul... so I need to raise it one more level to fully absorb that.'
If they were going to give it, they should just give it all.
They were really picky about everything.
Seong Jihan frowned, thinking about Blue's stat grade.
Blue, which started at the lowest grade but reached SS after rapid growth.
To upgrade one more level from here.
'I need to develop the restoration ability further.'
The restoration ability of Blue, which he learned to utilize by observing Ashoka's power.
The method of restoration by turning back time was not yet an area Seong Jihan fully understood.
Even now, he was using it mostly by intuition.
Perhaps when he figured out how to utilize restoration, Blue would reach SSS.
'To do that, I should stay in the training room longer, but...'
He didn't have the luxury to just keep training like that.
Especially unlike the unification of Blue and Martial Soul, which Dongbang Sak had pioneered a lot,
This time, even with the Star Buff's help, there was no guarantee when it would be completed.
"Uncle, is your training finished now?"
"There's one thing left... but I'm going to catch the Martial God first."
The Martial God who had settled in Tuseong, and the Red Administrator who was presumed to be helping him.
Seong Jihan thought he shouldn't give these two, especially the Red Administrator, much time.
'Especially now that Devil's Intrusion is gone, it's hard to track what the opponent is doing.'
Seong Jihan, who had indirectly guessed what was happening in Tuseong through changes in Devil's Intrusion and the red's distortion level.
But now that Devil's Intrusion, one axis of information, had been absorbed into Blue, he could no longer grasp it in administrator mode.
The 'Red' stat, which had fluctuated wildly at first, had been steadily staying at 50 lately.
'Let's quickly strike when I can use Dongbang Sak's Taiji Sword.'
Thinking this, Seong Jihan looked above Yoon Seah's head.
He had been thinking he would smash that hat once he combined Blue and Martial Soul.
He had planned to deal with this before invading Tuseong.
But,
"...Did something happen to you?"
"Why?"
"The power of the hat has gotten stronger?"
Somehow, the presence of the fedora had become much stronger than when he entered the training room.
"Really? I don't feel any different. I haven't done much besides absorbing your void."
"My void, you say..."
"Yeah."
Seong Jihan had a realization at those words.
'The void strengthened by the Star Buff. Seah processed a lot of it.'
Over the past 5 weeks.
He had amplified the void to the extreme for training, then,
Called Yoon Seah to absorb it when it became unbearable, dozens of times.
Having absorbed such amplified void bit by bit, did that fedora also grow stronger?
'Well, this gives me one more reason why I absolutely must destroy that thing.'
The strengthening of the Arena Owner's hat was partly due to Seong Jihan's void as well.
He had to deal with it with a sense of responsibility for creating the situation.
However,
'Let's subdue the Martial God first before dealing with it.'
The void contained in the fedora had become quite strong, so even for Seong Jihan, destroying it would consume a considerable amount of energy.
For now, he had to deal with the most urgent problem, the Martial God and the Red Administrator.
"Seah. I'm sorry, but it looks like I need to catch the Martial God first."
"Then you'll destroy the hat after that?"
"Yeah."
"Okay. This isn't urgent, right? We should finish the Martial God first."
"Right. Just be patient a little longer. I'll catch the Martial God quickly and come back."
"Ah, should I help? I have some void too, you know."
"You'd be a hostage if you came, dummy."
Seong Jihan patted Yoon Seah's head and went out through the living room window.
Seong Jihan disappeared like an arrow.
The place he was heading to would be the seabed of the West Sea where the Taiji Sword was stuck.
Yoon Seah looked out the window where Seong Jihan had left and slowly opened her mouth.
"...Am I still just a hostage with this level of power?"
Swish...
Then, a fedora slowly materialized above her head.
The black hat had now become so real that it was clearly visible reflected in the living room's glass window.
"I've gained quite a lot of void, you know."
Yoon Seah lifted the hat.
In the center of the fedora's inside, a massive amount of void was swirling.
Even with this much power, she was still just a hindrance to Uncle.
"I guess I need to train harder."
Tap.
She put the hat back on and
Smiled while looking at her reflection in the mirror.