Mom is alive? Really?

Yoon Seah asked with an unbelieving expression.

Seong Jiah using sacrifice then turning to stone, consumed by darkness, was still vivid in her mind.

So, when Yoon Sejin mentioned going to explore North Korea, Her expectations werent that high but

No, its too early to conclude. The ring reacted slightly, thats all.

How did it react?

When clearing the fourth dungeon, the ring itself vibrated strongly.

Saying that, Yoon Saejin took out the necklace with the ring hanging on it.

It wasnt the vibration felt when clearing dungeons. It was a movement originating from the ring itself.

Oh the color of that ring changed a bit.

Right I couldnt tell since I cant see

Previously shining pure white, the ring now had traces of blackish purple.

May I see it for a moment?

Go ahead.

Seong Jihan received the ring and carefully observed traces of light.

The aura was similar to dark magic power but felt slightly different somehow.

Ariel. Do you know anything about this energy?

[Hmm I cant tell with just this much either. Doesnt seem like shadow energy.]

Hmm

Perhaps because the remaining magic power on the ring was too little, even Ariel the shadow elf didnt know.

It seems different from the death aura I saw on the chaos battlefield

As Seong Jihan was unable to discern the energy, Yoon Seah who had been observing intently next to him swiftly snatched the ring.

Oh, this seems related to the Void?

Void?

Yeah, Im a Void Archer. Im familiar with the power of the Void.

Saying so, Yoon Seah drew her bow and released a Void Arrow. The purple light flickered for a moment, then the arrow disappeared, becoming transparent.

Come out now.

As Yoon Seah swung her bow, the disappearing arrow reappeared.

It really is huh?

Indeed, the power felt from her arrow was similar to the rings energy.

Now certain this energy was void,

Flash!

The light from the ring and the Void Arrow resonated.

A brief sound emanated from the ring.

=Yoon

Just saying Yoon, the voice was cut off.

With just that, it was possible to identify whose voice it was.

Huh!? This Mom!?

Yes. It sounds like my sisters voice.

Is my sister really somewhere in North Korean territory?

After hearing the voice, Seong Jihan couldnt stay still.

Brother-in-law, Ill help with dungeon clearing too.

No its okay for now. We need to clear the dungeon with the ring, and its not a lack of force in clearing. We actually need more support for other things.

Is that so? Is there a shortage of Exploration Gift players in the Alliance Investigation team?

The support from the investigation team is fine, but the problem is the players with the Exploration supporting gift. Its not as easy to find dungeon cores as I thought. Moreover, the exploration abilities of the players sent to Korea are at B to C levels.

On top of that, after finding one, it took time to organize dungeon-related information and upload it to the alliance.

Even when the Sword King personally swept away dungeon monsters, the progress didnt seem to advance smoothly, and there was a reason for this.

If you have a player with exploration should I give it a try?

Is this voice the guild master?

Yes, thats right.

Perhaps because it was Christmas, Lee Hayeon came dressed more powerfully than usual. Listening quietly to the conversation, she decided to join in on the current topic.

I heard that Divergent Guild, which used to secure a lot of exploration abilities, is now making fun of them because they have nowhere to use them. Ill borrow someone from there.

Wouldnt the Divergent guild pester you for that? Saying you should return to the guild and all.

Its okay, Boss. If they bother us, we can contact other top guilds. Divergent guild is not the only guild that has secured people with exploration gifts.

Lee Hayeon answered with a relaxed face. Being the guild master of a top guild and having dealt with world-class figures, she wasnt particularly worried about Korean top guilds now.

Then, please do. Ah, and we will scout excellent exploration players from this side. You can use as much GP as you want.

Yes, Boss. In Korea, B-rank is the highest, but

B-rank is the highest? Didnt the supporting gift grade increase last time? The difficulty was lowered.

Yes, thats why B-rank is the highest now. Ill try to focus on scouting A-rank by turning our attention to overseas, as there may be more talented individuals there.

Since his sister Seong Jiahs voice came out,

Seong Jihan decided to organize an investigation team directly from the guild rather than just rely on the Association support team.

There was a pile of GP that had accumulated because there was no place to use it at the moment, so it was time to use it.

Moreover,

Ill also provide Akashic Pages to A-rank ability holders. That should be enticing enough.

Oh, Akashic Pages? The price of those has been skyrocketing lately

I happen to have some.

Seong Jihan decided to utilize the Akashic Pages obtained from Shizuru.

Uncle, if youll use Akashic Pages can I ask someone I know to join too?

Who?

Sofias brother. I heard he raised his exploration ability to A-rank due to the difficulty reduction.

If it was Sofias brother, it was Christoph, who frequently appeared as a commentator during international BattleNet matches. He held a firm position in the BattleNet industry globally, so whether he would accept the proposal was unknown.

Sure. Lets ask.

Yeah. With Akashic Pages as bait, he might be interested.

Thank you for the support.

Its my sisters issue, of course.

Are you really sure I cant go?

Yes. Sweeping through the inside of the dungeon is easy for me.

If theres anything you need help with, feel free to contact me anytime.

At Seong Jihans words, Yoon Saejin slowly nodded.

Of course. I hope the opening match ends quickly.

Ah, the opening match! I completely forgot because of moms issue. Ariel, do you know what games will unfold?

Yoon Seah asked Ariel who was well-versed in the BattleNet.

Despite the constraints of the tutorial, Ariel had tried to provide as much information as possible within her knowledge.

[Opening match? Thats up to you guys to decide. Just think of it as a game where you fight and kill, like usual in BattleNet. True to the essence of BattleNet. However]

However?

[Now, you can really die.]

Really die? In the game?

At Ariels words, Yoon Seahs face stiffened.

Do you mean like when Boss cleared the promotion match? Death as a penalty?

[Yes. To decisively lower the rank of the opponents race below yours, killing the enemys core player is the best way.]

Well thats true but

Dying in a game Its hard to believe.

Perhaps due to having been immersed in BattleNet as a game for ten years, despite Ariels words, those who heard them couldnt truly grasp the reality. Except for Seong Jihan.

Countless players died during the opening match

To those who couldnt believe it.

The incident that truly made them realize that real players could die was the disaster of the Space League opening match.

With traps set up from the first game, the World Tree Alliance was waiting. Humanity, caught off guard, faced great confusion from the beginning.

Its time to return the favor this time.

With not much time left until the opening match.

He intentionally remained in Platinum this year to grow for this day.

Seong Jihans eyes sank coldly as he thought about the opening match game.

* * *

[Sword King joins the Daegi guild!]

[Daegi Guild is recruiting people with exploration gifts. The basic salary is 5-10 times the existing salary. Akashic Pages for A-ranks?]

After the Christmas meeting, the Daegi Guild immediately began searching for exploration abilities. With a generous investment using the money they had saved up until now, they offered extraordinary conditions, attracting a flood of people to the guild.

-Wow, these conditions are insane?

-Theyre giving an Akashic Page? Wow, I heard its worth more than 500 billion these days.

-Yeah, nowadays, with the popularity of nurturing gifts, each guild is calling it a bargain to create a second team.

-Giving that to exploration abilities Isnt there a significant reward for clearing dungeons?

-Yeah, there might be something. The Sword King has been exploring dungeons a lot lately, so maybe thats why theyre investing like this

People wondered what he saw in his dungeon explorations to make such an investment.

However,

-But what about the opening match lineup??

-The list of 2,000 people was released.

-What kind of game are they playing with so many people?

-When is it coming next year?

The hottest issue still remained the Space League opening match drawing near.

After a decade-long tutorial, Earth is finally entering the main game.

Humanity is more optimistic than worried about the world after the tutorial.

They couldnt wait to watch the opening match.

Meanwhile,

[Jihan! I heard from Seah!]

Seong Jihan was on a video call from Sophia.

Ah, about the exploration issue?

[Yep~ Brother refused saying he would never do exploration work until now But when I talked about the Akashic Page, he showed interest! Brother, come talk to Jihan!]

[Player Seong, nice to meet you. Im Christopher.]

As if waiting, commentator Christopher popped his face into the video call.

He looked at Seong Jihan with twinkling eyes.

[As a fan, its an honor to meet you! My little sister said something about my exploration gift, and until now, youve kept the secret well. Thank you.]

[You talk too much. You can tell Jihan anything! Were going to be family soon anway.]

[He has a girlfriend, Player Seong sigh My sister is too young. Im sorry.]

[No, thats! I cant say that.]

[Anyway, Player Seong. I heard from Sophie but still cant believe it, so let me confirm. Do you really plan to provide Akashic Pages?]

Thats right.

Seong Jihan nodded.

But its not for selling them off. It has to be used to strengthen your abilities.

[Of course! I didnt want to use my exploration ability until now because it looked dangerous. but using it under Sword Kings protection should be fine. Ill have to take a break from commentary for a while.]

Although firmly established as a commentator in BattleNet circles,

It seemed Christopher didnt want his support gift going to waste, showing a positive attitude.

Will you come immediately then?

[Ah I still want to finish commentary for this opening match. Its something I really wanted to do as a commentator. Since the Sword King is also participating in the opening match, shouldnt the schedule be fine even if I come after finishing?]

Yes, theres sufficient time.

[But its really a shame! If Player Seong had become a Diamond, you could have participated in all the matches]

As the Space League opening match approached, information about the opening match began to be gradually released through the system.

One noticeable thing was participation requirements for matches 1 to 5.

[Only Diamonds or higher can participate in the Space League.]

Among them, the noticeable condition was the participation requirement for matches 1 to 5.

-Ah damn, Platinum couldnt participate huh.

-Seong Jihan cant participate in the opening match!

-This is like a boomerang for not leveling up because of Shizuru.

-What about not properly leveling up because of the Peoples guild?

-Anyway, It cant be helped

One of the most powerful players on Earth, Seong Jihan, couldnt participate, and people expressed their regrets.

[But there are still 100 Platinum players on the reserve lineup. Maybe theres a chance?]

Sophia, standing beside him, also spoke with a disappointed expression. Seong Jihan smiled slightly.

I have a good feeling.

[A feeling?]

Yes. I feel like Ill be the MVP of this opening match.

Wait, you cant be MVP without participating in the game. You have to play to get MVP.

Christopher looked puzzled, but Seong Jihan spoke confidently.

Ill give you a present when you come to Korea, so bet on me for MVP.

Seong Jihan spoke with a face full of confidence.

[But you need to be able to participate to receive MVP]

Is it really ok going to Korea believing this guy?

Christopher became anxious whether he made the right choice.

And a few days later, on Channel 0.

=Everyone! The day has finally arrived!

The day of the opening match has arrived.

*****

*****