***

***

A week later.

Ding-dong. Ding-dong.

Sitting on the living room sofa sipping coffee, Yoon Sejin heard the ringing from the wall pad and looked at Yoon Seah.

Is it Sophia?

Yeah, Dad. Ill go check.

Yoon Seah, now accustomed to these visits, walked to the entrance and opened the door.

There stood Sophia, dolled up with her makeup on point.

Hi, Seah~

Yeah, Ive been seeing you a lot lately, huh.

A week after moving into Sword Palace, Sophia had been visiting the penthouse every day around 3 PM.

Is Jihan perhaps here?

Uncles not here.

Not here? Again?

Yeah. Hes training.

Really? Should I come before 3 PM? But Jeanne Darcs transfer of the Holy Flame doesnt end until then

Sophia had been visiting the penthouse every day for a week, mainly to see Seong Jihan, but she had been missing him every time.

And that was because

No. It wouldnt matter what time you come Uncle just doesnt come out of the training room.

Not for a whole week? What about food?

Food? Hes not eating.

Eeeek?! What if he faints?

For uncle, we dont need to worry. Plus

Yoon Seah shook her head, looking towards the direction of the training room.

It seems like hes not there either. No sign of him at all.

Where did he go?

I heard he got access to a training space where time flows differently. When I asked to go with him, he said only he can enter.

Wow such a place exists?

Yeah. So Ill let you know when he comes back.

Tch. I was expecting to see Jihan a lot Okay!

Sophia left after another day of futility.

When Yoon Seah returned to the living room, Yoon Sejin, who had been drinking coffee, remarked.

That girl really never gives up, huh.

Youre not the one to talk, Dad.

It reminds me of when I followed your mother around.

But wasnt Mom underage then?

Cough maybe I need to go level up a bit.

Startled by the mention of underage, Yoon Sejin rose from the sofa.

Yoon Seah smiled mischievously, then looked back at the training room.

But really, when is uncle coming out?

Since Seong Jihan acquired the training hall of the void, he had become a recluse in his training room.

Lately, Seong Jihans viewers were even flocking to Yoon Seahs BattleTube channel asking when hell stream again.

Though it helped increase my subscribers now they fight amongst themselves.

Since Seong Jihan had overwhelmingly more fans, each time Yoon Seah streamed games, the chat would be flooded with questions about When will Mr. Seong Jihan come?

Those against searching for Seong Jihan on her channel were clashing fiercely with those just looking for updates.

Yoon Seah eventually gave up moderating the chaotic chatroom.

Todays game stream Ill probably have to deal with uncles fans again Maybe I should turn off the chat.

Yoon Seah mused this with a wry smile when,

Someone is looking for me? Who?

Behind her, without any prior indication, Seong Jihan appeared.

Ah, uncle! Youre finally out?

Yes. How long has it been?

A week. Did your training go well?

Seong Jihan shook his head at Yoon Seahs question.

Not really.

The fifth Annihilation technique, Descend of the Heavenly Tree.

Armed only with the clue that its a martial art of the Wood attribute related to Gilgamesh, Seong Jihan gave it a shot in the void training hall. Despite spending a significant amount of time, he made no progress.

There seems to be some connection between Heavenly Tree and the Martial Arts of the Wood Attribute

Heavenly Tree, Initially, Seong Jihan thought it functioned as some kind of buff.

Usually, descent implies gods bestowing their strength upon the user for a certain period, enhancing them.

But the last martial art of Annihilation technique to be a buff type? That doesnt seem right

While not backed by hard evidence, Seong Jihans instincts told him that the Descend of Heavenly Tree was not merely that type of power.

Having explored other directions but always failing, he stepped out of the void training hall for a breather.

Whats this chat about from earlier?

Oh. Nothing much. Just that your fans have been coming to my channel looking for you.

Really? Well, Ive been doing fewer streams lately.

Ever since becoming the hidden boss, Seong Jihan had stopped regular gaming.

Because not only was the hidden boss garnering a lot of experience, but if he joined the race to level up, He would quickly become world number one.

He would then be the focus of concentrated bans during the Space League, so he was regulating his pace.

Do they not somewhat know the situation?

But they are curious about what youre doing.

Ive said Ive been training.

And Ive said it over a hundred times too.

Sorry if it caused any trouble.

No, its fine. Thanks to that, many of the viewers who came ended up subscribing to my channel

Thriving from her recent victories in BattleTube, Yoon Seah was gaining subscribers amongst Seong Jihans fans, enjoying the spillover benefits.

Yet, she seemed somewhat hassled by the chat.

Noticing her dim expression, Seong Jihan patted her on the head.

You wont be bothered by the chat today.

Huh? Why?

Because Im going to play today.

Oh but I thought you couldnt level up? If you become number one in the Space League, that wouldnt be good, right?

I was going to do that, but this special maps rewards are quite unique.

Oh, whats it?

Ill show you in the game.

Seong Jihan said with a grin and entered BattleNet.

***

Hello, everyone.

Upon accessing BattleNet, Seong Jihan immediately turned on BattleTube.

-What? Seriously, its Seong Jihan?

-Oh the notification popped out of nowhere, and its actually him?!

-Ah, finally you logged in to BattleTube Did you finish your training?

Immediately as Seong Jihan launched the game, the chatroom brimmed with welcoming messages.

Amid the flurry of fleeting comments, Seong Jihan began to speak.

Training is an ongoing process, but Space 4 has assigned me to another special map.

-Another special map?

-Its special every time

-Doesnt surprise me anymore that its Seong Jihan lol

-So does that mean another hidden boss appearance?

Viewers were no longer impressed by the assignment to a special map.

Instead, it was almost expected, to the point where itd seem strange to see him in an ordinary game.

Meanwhile

[A.DaVVies has donated 100000 GP.]

[Uh, Mr. Seong Jihan, we are really sorry, but you know the Space League isnt far away.. could you somehow perhaps stay at the 2nd place this time?]

-The human coach donated lol

-Donating while asking to keep a check on leveling up lol

-He did enjoy the recent 1st-place fake stunt.

-Really, if only Seong Jihan could stay forever below 2nd for the Space League

-Isnt Seong Jihan now ranked 7th because of the hidden boss?

-Even without playing the main game, hes at that level? He must have earned a lot of experience points.

Davis, who had greatly deceived Orcs, thinking Seong Jihan would naturally be first, appealed to him to somehow use similar tactics in the next game, even sponsoring him.

I have no plans to become world number one right now. Im trying to hold back on leveling up as much as I can. Its just that this special map has quite a unique reward. I have to participate.

People showed interest in Seong Jihans response.

-If Seong Jihan says the reward is good

-Was it as good as when the hidden boss popped up last time?

-What exactly are the rewards?

Just that

As Seong Jihan was about to reply,

[Oh. Welcome back, our esteemed customer. Long time no see.]

Flash!

A giant robot appeared beside him and started speaking.

Artemus?

There stood Artemus, the greatest blacksmith in the universe, in its combined form.

[Yes.]

His body glowed, then split into hundreds of dwarves who lined up neatly on the ground.

[Are you also participating because of your membership, customer?]

Yeah.

[So am I. Cant miss out on a 6-month extension.]

The basic reward of the special map was a Space League Premier Membership extension voucher.

An item inherently equipped with a function of 100 percent boost in experience and GP gain.

In fact, it was often chosen not only for that but for a 30 percent chance of evading the opponents ban list and for particular functions like Spotlight or Hideout.

[Are you planning to extend the hideout this time too?]

Thats the plan.

[If someone as talented as you used the Spotlight, you would have received universal attention. With GP sponsorship flooding in, and many constellations calling for your love, youd be overwhelmed.]

Are you planning to use the Spotlight?

[Of course. I need to gather GP to modify my race.]

-Spotlight? Hideout?

-What are they talking about?

Seong Jihan explained briefly to the viewers who were not familiar with the Space League membership card.

-Oh, so thats why they couldnt see Seong Jihans face.

-I thought the aliens were talking nonsense lol

-And it seems he wasnt banned due to that too.

-It seems worth joining .

Although viewers took the explanation about the membership card quite casually.

[A.DaVVies has donated 100000 GP.]

[Sir, Mr. Seong Jihan, does the membership card reduce the chance of being banned?! But it seems like it hasnt been applied even once during the national games]

Coach Davis from humanitys representative team excitedly made another donation with his query.

Seong Jihan, sharing the same doubts about the 30 percent ban evasion, asked Artemus who was standing beside him.

But Artemus, this 30 percent ban evasion thing is it effective? I dont recall it ever working for me.

[Really? Ive made quite a profit off it. When was it you faced trouble?]

In national competitions. Im always under concentrated bans.

[National competitions? Does your planet, which your race rules, have several countries?]

Yeah.

[Huh. Of course, that doesnt work then. Is that a real game, competing against your own race? Thats just part of training. But What did you even do? You should declare immediate world unification and become a dictator.]

Hundreds of dwarves, sounding incredulous, simultaneously shrugged and stared at Seong Jihan.

A dictator, what nonsense are you on about?

[Youre the one talking nonsense. To join Space 4 as a lowest-tier race, youve got to have celestial genes. You must not stop there; its your duty to evolve your race. Unify the world and spread your superior genes to all prolific women!]

-The guys lost it

-Whats this world unification joke? lol

-But seriously, if Seong Jihan tried to unify the world, would anyone be able to stop him? lol

-Cant they just bomb him?

-Seong Jihan could probably dodge a nuke

-His spatial control ability is brokenly overpowered, isnt it?

As the chat began to seriously debate whether world unification by Seong Jihan was feasible, Seong Jihan immediately waved his hands.

Dont worry. I have no thoughts of world unification.

[Tsk. One should dedicate themselves to ones race What a waste of ability.]

Why bother with such tedious affairs?

As Seong Jihan flatly denied it, Artemus kept nagging aside,

[Player has been assigned to special invade map, Race Annihilation Battle.]

The system message appeared and the chit chat stopped as focus shifted to it.

[The designated race is the Blue Blood Demons demoted from the Silver League.]

[Divided between Void and Solar factions, the process of clearing the demotion planet begins.]

[Will you participate in the Race Annihilation Battle?]

Race Annihilation Battle.

Seong Jihan, having only thought of it as a special invade map before participating in the game, furrowed his brow at the revealed name of the map.

***

***