Chapter 520

Earth became a World Tree Alliance colony.

Under the rule of the elves, humanity's society...

"...Seems more peaceful than I thought."

It was running smoothly, much like before.

The busy streets of Gangnam in Seoul.

To understand how the world had changed, Seong Jihan came here.

Observing the passersby,

'The racial evolution is maintained at a mid-low level.'

Humanity, who had risen from the lowest to mid-low level in racial evolution, remained the same as before.

"Man, compared to the old days, I hardly ever get drunk now, even after three rounds, I still feel sober."

"Hey, you wanna go back to the days you used to puke?"

"Are you crazy? How did the World Tree evolve us to this point... Just drink stronger stuff then!"

People, looking perfectly fine, were searching for the next bar.

Hearing praises for the World Tree everywhere, Seong Jihan's eyebrow twitched.

The credit for lifting humanity from the lowest status was all taken by the Green Administrator.

'She was so cooperative as the administrator... How should I deal with this?'

Truthfully, he had enough power.

Though his level had dropped to 2, his abilities were intact.

In fact, not only did dealing with HeavenNet advance his power in Blue, but he also augmented Red's strength.

Regardless of the Green Administrator's power, it was a fight worth taking on.

However,

'I need to assess the situation first.'

He had returned from HeavenNet just one day ago,

There was no need to rush.

Finding out the enemy's intentions first and then moving accordingly was wiser.

'The Green Administrator must have had a reason to make this place a colony.'

The World Tree elves Seong Jihan knew were a brutal race.

Under Yggdrasil's control, they wiped out native life forms on planets and transformed them into World Tree elf planets.

Making a place a colony inconvenient for ruling was not their usual approach.

'But actually, making it a colony, on the surface, it appears peaceful like five years ago...'

Surely, there must be a motive behind this.

Until this was revealed, he should conserve Blue and Red for now.

While contemplating this about the tree pattern that appeared and disappeared repetitively on the moon,

Screeeech!

A limousine stopped in the middle of the road.

"What, what's happening? A limousine here?"

"Ah... There's a club here, remember? Maybe it's because of that?"

"Who could it be?"

As people watched with curiosity as the long limousine stopped in front of the club,

Squeak.

The club's security personally opened the car door.

Then, a woman was the first to reveal herself.

'...What is that appearance?'

With mixed black and blonde hair, slightly pointed ears,

A woman with extraordinarily pale skin near the ears,

Her appearance was distinctly different from ordinary people.

Her slightly twisted features,

'Hmm... Is this the energy of life?'

Compared to others, a much denser vitality energy was emanating from her.

While Seong Jihan was attentively observing her,

"Oh... A half-elf? I've only seen them on BattleTube, but seeing one in real life today!"

"Wow, I envy... That's like winning the lottery, right?"

"Hey, winning the lottery? Half-elf, that's more like a month's earnings!"

"Cool ears..."

People's murmurs mentioning 'half-elf' surrounded her.

'A half-elf, huh.'

No wonder it seemed too peaceful for a colony.

The World Tree Alliance, they were not idle after all.

'Should I start with her?'

As the woman half-elf was walking towards the club,

Swoosh...

Another person emerged from the limousine.

'Who's this character?'

Immediately, Seong Jihan's expression turned grim.

Swoosh.

The man scanned his surroundings with a confident look.

"Wow, a male half-elf...!"

"Wow! I've never seen one before!"

The response from the people was much more enthusiastic compared to when the woman half-elf appeared.

* * *

'That man... He oddly resembles me.'

A male half-elf, distinctly different from the woman.

Though not an exact match, his resemblance to Seong Jihan was quite striking.

The difference was the pointed ears.

'What's with his hair?'

Certain parts of his hair were dyed sky-blue.

"Wow, it's been a while, right?"

"Isn't it almost three months since a man was selected here in our country?"

"Right... I need to take a picture."

Click. Click.

People took photos more fervently than with the female half-elf.

"Please, no photos!"

The club's security crowded around the male half-elf, leading him inside.

"Aw... Wanted to take more shots."

"His sky-blue hair is fascinating... About 10%? With that much dyeing, isn't he a pretty outstanding half-elf?"

"Probably? They say the power differs by the extent of dyeing."

As people chattered regretfully about the vanishing male half-elf,

Tap. Tap.

Someone tapped Seong Jihan from the side.

"...?"

He turned his head.

"Oh wow, looks just like...!"

A man with a flushed face, swaying as he examined Seong Jihan closely.

"Hey! Where did you get your plastic surgery?"

"What are you talking about?"

"Admit it, you got plastic surgery to look like the male half-elf! This looks better than the place I went to."

He got plastic surgery to look like the male half-elf?

Seong Jihan furrowed his brows.

Listening to him under the influence, indeed, the man's altered face somewhat resembled his own.

'Yggdrasil... What are you up to?'

Although all his records were erased,

Why create a male half-elf resembling him?

While Seong Jihan withheld answering, staring down at the man,

"Sorry. He's a lightweight with alcohol..."

"Hey, it's amazing! He looks exactly like the male half-elf! That's the standard to pass the 'test'!"

"You nuts? Enough with the drinking. He doesn't look like him at all!"

"Are your eyes blind? Look closely!"

"Hey! This way!"

The man's friends hastily dragged him away.

As they left, Seong Jihan tilted his head.

'Now that I think about it, it's strange.'

Despite roaming Gangnam's streets for quite a while,

The drunken man was the first to mention he looked like the male half-elf.

Others just passed him by without a second glance.

'Is this the effect of the record erasure?'

A sober person couldn't see, but a drunk could see his face more clearly?

Something felt off.

'I need to investigate this male half-elf further.'

He had sky-blue hair and looked quite like him.

The Green Administrator making Earth a colony was likely tied to this.

'Now that I have something to investigate, let's head back.'

Seong Jihan turned around.

To the Sword Palace, a bit away from downtown Gangnam.

But at his current level,

Swoosh...!

A single step teleported him back.

As he entered through the penthouse window,

"Uncle, why are you so late? What were you looking at?"

Yoon Seah rose from the sofa.

Glancing at the clock, it was already 2 AM.

Seong Jihan, with a bemused expression, asked her,

"Did you wait for me?"

"Of course. It's been so long since I found you! I was so unsure if this was a dream or reality? I stayed here to not miss you."

"Then you could've contacted... Ah, no way to contact me."

Without a phone and erased from BattleNet,

Yoon Seah had no means of contacting him.

"Guess I need to buy a phone first. Has phone technology improved over five years?"

"Well... Probably? I was wandering around Washington looking for you, so not quite sure."

"Washington?"

"Yeah. Oh, you wouldn't know? The U.S. capital was moved to New York."

"...Really?"

"Washington became a wasteland."

Was it due to HeavenNet?

As Seong Jihan's face grew stern, Yoon Seah quickly continued.

"But the domain's expansion was slow, so everyone evacuated. The U.S. President shed tears watching the White House get swallowed though..."

"Is that so? Well, at least no one died."

"Yeah. They planned to call the presidential residence in New York 'Blue House' to honor you who saved America."

"But Blue House is just Cheong Wa Dae's English name."

Seong Jihan chuckled in disbelief.

"Yeah. But now it's changed to Green House... Credit for saving America went to the Green Administrator."

Yoon Seah replied with a grim face.

From White to Blue, and then Green.

The U.S. presidential residence's name changed quite turbulently.

"Well, that aside. I saw something interesting earlier."

"Interesting?"

"Yeah, a male and female half-elf in front of a club. The woman looked like the elves I saw before, but the man resembled me?"

"What? A half-elf resembling you?"

"Yeah, don't you know?"

At Seong Jihan's question, Yoon Seah shook her head, looking surprised.

"No... I was searching for you in Washington after Earth became a colony. Gathering all the power of Void. So, I don't know much except the early changes of the colony."

"How long did you search in Washington?"

"Hmm, about 2 years? Went through every nook and cranny..."

An investigation tougher than finding a needle in a haystack, searching for a clue in Washington.

She spent 2 years combing through it.

"You must've had a hard time."

"You had it harder, Uncle."

"Well, nothing much for me. Just worked the Red Administrator."

"Worked him...."

"Yeah. That guy sacrificed himself in Hell while giving me all authority."

The Red Administrator, utterly devoted to perfecting HeavenNet.

In the end, he made himself the fuel to maintain the new system.

By making Seong Jihan, HeavenNet's arch-nemesis, the system's master,

He eliminated his weaknesses.

'The lure of Red stats was indeed strong....'

Dropping level from 9999 to 2, he had to raise Red reluctantly.

Each time he leveled up Red, the sense of unity with HeavenNet was intensely profound.

Without his desperate self-protection through Blue, he would've become HeavenNet's master.

"After sealing it completely, I didn't expect BattleNet to expel me."

"Expel... Uncle, you got expelled?"

"Yeah. They identified me as an excluded administrator."

"That's just cruel. Why didn't you just become HeavenNet's master?"

Seong Jihan chuckled, shaking his head.

"That wouldn't work. It would've made me and the Red Administrator one and the same. That was his intention."

"Ah, I see..."

"What did the Black Administrator do all this time? Did he just watch while the White Administrator acted?"

Given that the White Administrator intervened, the Black Administrator should have responded.

But it seemed like no change was perceptible,

Considering humanity became a Green colony.

At Seong Jihan's query, Yoon Seah answered with a dark expression.

"I don't really know. The messenger informed me that the Black Administrator personally intervened to solve this situation... but there was no contact afterward."

"Really?"

"Yeah, later only received a message saying 'well resolved'. Can't feel any differences though."

"Hmm..."

Despite being designated as the top-tier in Void, 'Arena's Owner',

The information she could gather was limited.

'Looks like I'll have to handle Yggdrasil to find out what happened.'

The Black and White Administrators.

Not understanding their situation, moving overtly was inadvisable.

If incredibly unlucky, Void and the White Administrator might have resumed their cooperation.

'Of course, if Void took their side, there would've been immediate response upon contacting Seah... that's unlikely.'

As the situation remained unclear, it was best to conceal his power for now.

Thinking this, Seong Jihan's left eye,

"Uncle, your eye..."

began to turn red.