Tap. Tap.
I have pondered for a long time.
Siddhartha approached Seong Jihan as he spoke.
On what must be done to free humanity from the enemy.
Did you think about this while the Martial God repeated his infinite regressions?
Yes.
The regressions of the Martial God.
During the era of Ashoka, Siddhartha had undertaken it.
While regressing, he accumulated power and,
simultaneously thought of ways to eliminate humanitys enemies.
Truly a superhuman.
As Seong Jihan was marveling at him.
Swish.
Siddhartha brought his hand to the floating red eye.
And, yet again, I must apologize. I tested you with this.
What this was a test too?
Yes. I am already a dead man. This red administrator emerged from within you.
So that red eye that came out of Siddhartha knew the circumstances regarding Seong Jihan because it was actually inside his body.
As Siddhartha touched the eye,
[You who realized for the sixth time. You have kept your word. What you did was not turning away, but true defiance]
The eye lost its color and disappeared.
At the same time, the red energy was reabsorbed into Seong Jihans body.
He could now roughly understand the situation.
The red administrator showed me an illusion. He wanted to see if I would succumb to it.
The ecstasy when becoming the red administrator was indeed significant.
Especially when he crushed Tuseong underhandedly.
Ah, no wonder anyone would desire to become a permanent administrator.
Of course, his thrill quickly diminished when he returned to Earth and transformed Yoon Seah and Seong Jiah into beings of the red lineage.
Without witnessing that, I might have briefly considered it.
Recalling the grotesque Yoon Seah who turned into a monster with eyes, Seong Jihan furrowed his brow.
How many tests do I have to go through?
I apologize. It was important to me.
What if I had failed this test? Your true form has already self-destructed with the Martial God. The infinite regressions would have come to an end. Youd have no body left.
Swoosh.
At Seong Jihans words, Siddhartha quietly looked at him.
But you do have a body, dont you?
Are you saying its mine?
Yes. If you succumbed to the reds temptation, I intended to use your body in your stead and then return it.
With those words, Siddhartha smiled.
But seeing how firm your will is, it seems I wouldnt need to do that.
He had even prepared to hijack his body in case he fell for the administrators temptation.
When he told Seong Jihan to burn him with the sacred flame, he had everything planned.
Seong Jihans expression showed he was overwhelmed.
No wonder the Martial God was so wary of this person.
The reason he turned into a snake head and tried so desperately to eliminate him became clear.
Now that Ive passed all the tests, tell me what solution youve come up with.
Its quite simple. I created an ability to counter the red.
An ability is it a stat?
At Seong Jihans question, Siddhartha nodded.
As you can see, the realized ones can escape from the red. But realization its not something that can be bestowed upon all of humanity. Humans are beings who find it hard enough just to sustain life. Few pursue self-realization.
Well, of course.
If every dog and cow could realize, Red would have been eradicated long ago.
So, I isolated part of that realization. Solely to create a means of fighting the red.
Is that even possible?
I had plenty of time.
In this regard, infinite regressions served a useful purpose.
As Seong Jihan nodded, recalling what the Green Administrator once said, he inquired.
The Green Administrator once told me that becoming an administrator would enable me to erase the red inherent in humanity. Wouldnt it be better to just delete it?
If that method works, that would be excellent. But the Green Administrator is not a reliable entity, is he?
True.
You couldnt fully trust Yggdrasils words.
Having multiple methods to eliminate the red definitely wasnt a bad thing.
As Seong Jihan consented,
Then I shall pass the ability to you.
Hummm
A golden light began to seep out of Siddharthas body.
And soon,
A message appeared before Seong Jihans eyes.
[You have obtained the FFF grade ability, Azure.]
[When the Azure stat increases by 1, the reds factor disappears.]
[When the reds factor disappears from humanity, the evolution limit of the human race is reset based on the Mid-Grade Species.]
Azure.
It seemed it was meant to contrast with the red.
The ability, derived from a portion of Siddharthas realization and dedicated solely to eliminating the red,
allowed one to eradicate the reds factor with just a single stat point increment.
However.
FFF grade, huh.
From the systems perspective, could there be a more useless ability than this? It blocks the reds factor, which could evolve into a permanent administrator, and limits humanitys potential to a mid-grade species.
True. It does make sense to see it that way from a BattleNet system stance rather than a human one.
The Azure ability, which sealed the potential to ascend to an absolute being, hence its poor evaluation by the system, was understandable.
Seong Jihan opened his status window to check if Azure was properly settled,
Huh what is this?
and his eyes widened.
The abilities displayed on his status window were entirely different from what he expected.
* * *
Seong Jihan blinked, looking at the stat side of his status window again.
Level: 650
Martial Soul: 700
Void: 695
Red: 50 (Sealed)
Eternity (Incomplete): 30
Azure: 0
Martial Soul and Void have advanced significantly
His level, which had stalled at 635, now stood at 650, perhaps due to devouring the weapons of the relics in Tuseong.
Martial Soul and Void had also improved considerably compared to before.
In addition, Eternity had decreased by 10, likely from dying so many times to the Martial God.
This was all understandable given the recent battles.
However,
The Red already sealed?
The stat Red, which was close to 500, should have been around 700, similar to Martial Soul and Void after one more power surge in Tuseong.
But in his status window, it was displayed as only 50, with Sealed written next to it.
Was this unusable?
Even with the Azure stat still at 0, the Red is sealed?
Thats not because of Azure, but because of your hand.
Oh, right, because of that.
The administrators hand was supposed to control him and switch to a new heart.
That had already materialized in his stats?
Try increasing Azure.
Seong Jihan nodded and increased the Azure stat by one point.
With the FFF grade, it only cost one residual point.
Then the Red stat changed to 100, and the Sealed note disappeared.
The seal is lifted, but the Red doesnt fully return to 700.
That is because.
Before Siddhartha could finish his sentence,
Sssss
An eyeball popped out from Seong Jihans right hand.
[Seong Jihan, what have you done? Youve freed yourself from my control.]
Youre not calling me the main body anymore.
[Youre unworthy of being the main body. By the administrators decree, youll be disposed of. A new body will replace you.]
Is the new body Yoon Seah?
[Correct. She seems suitable for a new settlement.]
The administrators hand openly declared its intention to switch to Yoon Seah.
Seong Jihan grimaced.
This creature had to be dealt with here.
Now that the administrators hand opposes you, all the abilities you gained through it have transferred over.
So, of the 700 points, 600 belong to that thing?
Thats correct.
At those words, Seong Jihan recalled when he had transplanted the administrators hand.
Back then, just having the hand increased his stats by 300.
Considering that, the 600 being there makes sense
Fighting a hand with a stat power of 600?
This would be no easy feat.
As Seong Jihan glared at the administrators hand parasitizing his body,
I will take care of it.
Siddhartha reached out towards the hand engulfed in red flames.
Then,
Swoosh
The hand transferred all its power back to Siddhartha.
[W-what is this? Youre not supposed to be here. And you dont even have a body what is this?]
Though the administrators hand tried desperately to escape while burning Siddhartha,
Swoosh
As Siddharthas corporeal form gradually vanished, a golden wheel appeared within, absorbing the fire.
[You intended to eliminate me from the start]
The administrators hands voice grew weaker.
The Golden Wheel kept spinning until the last of the flame disappeared.
And as soon as the red energy faded,
Im back
Seong Jihan found himself in the place where he first ignited the sacred flame on the Golden Wheel.
The situation was so identical that he doubted his sanity.
But then,
My status window confirms it wasnt an illusion.
The stat Red now at 100 and Azure at only 1,
These two abilities proved that the previous events were not a hallucination.
The stat decreased to 100, but having experienced being an administrator seems to help maintain similar output.
Even with a 1/7 stat reduction, the experience of handling the Red as an administrator helped balance the deficit.
As Seong Jihan was checking himself,
Swoosh
the Golden Wheel moved, getting absorbed into his body.
[The skill Return Of The Light has transformed into Golden Wheel.]
[By spinning the Golden Wheel, the user can revert their physical state to the previous day. This includes location information.]
[The Golden Wheel can be used a total of three times.]
So it changed from Return Of The Light to Golden Wheel.
Reverting to the physical state of the previous day was excellent,
But also reverting location was exceptionally useful.
If I attack Tuseong, I could return to Earth before a day passes.
This wasnt limited to Tuseong but could be used for other places too.
For example,
When attacking the Dragon Lords lair, this would help return when the way back is unclear.
Just perfect for the current situation.
As Seong Jihan felt grateful for Ashokas foresight,
Rumble
The ground trembled greatly.
The portals light weakened.
Its time to leave.
Having gained everything necessary, it was time to return to Earth.
As Seong Jihan stepped into the portal,
A golden shimmer rose from the Golden Wheels position.
[Seong Jihan, I have done all I can. But there is one concern.]
A concern? What is it?
[Dongbang Sak.]
What about him?
[To hide his true intentions from the Martial God, he imprisoned himself in the Taiji Sword.]
Imprisoned himself in the Taiji Sword?
What exactly does that mean?
[You will have to draw out the essence of the Taiji Sword from Dongbang Sak. Then he can aid you.]
Ah.
Dongbang Sak would remain a loyal servant until he unsheathes the Taiji Sword.
To pull out that ultimate move from him would mean gaining Dongbang Saks aid.
Though hes indeed a monster.
Seong Jihan thought of his Martial Soul ability.
A stat that reached 700.
A power enough to pressure most beings.
Well, I should manage. After all, Ive grown a lot too.
[You must. If not, you and humanity will all perish by his hand.]
In the shimmers, Ashokas voice faded.
[Make sure to succeed.]