Chapter 289

Space Arena round 5.

The fate of the players matched in the round was the same as before.

[Such a lowly race…]

"I'm already tired of hearing that."

Before the giant race could finish complaining about a lowly race making it to the 5th round.

Seong Jihan ignited a fire on his fingertips.

Swoosh!

Players incinerated in an instant.

[You bastard!]

[Is this Dragon Flame? I can withstand this…!]

Of course, they were skilled enough to have made it up to the 5th round, and they lasted longer than the previous opponents.

"Not bad, huh!"

Just as Seong Jihan's fingertips sparked another flame, A colossal inferno engulfed the stadium once more.

Thanks to continuously absorbing the Incarnation's remnants up to the 5th round, his stat 'Red' had reached 8.

While the number itself was not huge, its firepower was overwhelming.

-The 5th round isn't a big deal.

-No no, if it were a regular human player, they would've been eliminated in the 1st round.

-You can't judge according to Seong Jihan's standards anymore, lol.

-For real, he only lost to the Giant race two days ago.

As viewers discussed not to belittle the opponent while watching Seong Jihan eliminate players in less than a minute each time,

[You have cleared the 5th round in the shortest time.]

Bang! Bang!

Above, massive fireworks to celebrate the end of Seong Jihan's round erupted incessantly.

And then,

[Special Achievement, 'Space Arena – 1st Gateway Conquest' has been cleared.]

[You have received 2,000,000 Achievement Points.]

[You've drawn attention as a promising new talent in the Space Arena.]

[Some Community features previously locked for the race 'Humanity', which belongs to the Bronze League, are now unlocked.]

[Do you wish to end the promotion battle?]

[If you do not end it, a Hidden Existence will appear.]

'Community features?'

This should be checked later.

Reading through the messages, Seong Jihan thought as he declined to end the promotion match.

Then, the announcement came:

[Matching you with a suitable opponent among the Hidden Existences…]

[You've proven yourself with the power of Incarnation.]

['A Being that was once a Fire God' is summoned.]

Rumble…!

The ground of the stadium began to shake.

The central ground upheaved, starting to break through the stadium.

Bang! Bang!

Lava spouts erupted from various points.

They soon converged into a single giant of fire.

[Haha! I've truly succeeded! To be able to participate with this body…!]

"Is that your true form?"

[Yes. You did well indeed!]

The Incarnation's true form manipulated its body here and there.

Soon, its massive palm rose toward the sky.

Rumble…!

A huge pillar of fire shot into the sky.

Fire spread out in all directions.

The massive fire threatened the very end of the stadium, reaching the spectator seats.

But then it fizzled out…

Unable to cross the spectator seats, the fire put itself out.

[As expected, it won't work.]

As if anticipating this, the fiery giant grasped its hand again.

"Are you going to tell me now?"

[About the owner of the Arena, you mean.]

"Yeah."

[Alright. A promise is a promise, so I'll keep it. However…]

The fiery giant stretched out its arms.

Its entire body glowed yellow, and flames engulfed the giant.

[Let me enter within you and I'll explain!]

Whoosh…

The fire of the giant focused on one point, then lunged at Seong Jihan.

This was by far the strongest blow among all the fire powers Seong Jihan had seen and experienced.

Clearly, it was an attempt to engulf Seong Jihan.

"I thought it was strange how you reacted when I told you I wasn't a constellation."

[You called yourself prey, so naturally, I must devour you!]

"So if one isn't a Constellation, they're prey?"

[Yes. Lesser beings must submit to the gods.]

"Hmm…"

The yellow fire loomed right before his eyes.

Seong Jihan reached out to absorb it.

Just like in the previous round, the fire was about to be gathered into the Red pattern through his hand.

[You think this trick will work every time!]

Whoosh!

Perhaps anticipating this after being previously absorbed, the fire avoided envelopment and burned Seong Jihan's whole body.

This situation was not as easily tractable as before.

'Indeed, this one has some merit.'

Acknowledging that it was different from the remnants, Seong Jihan continued to wield the power of the Red.

Even if he couldn't include it in the last stage, the Red pattern.

He could control the flames seeking to burn his body.

Thus the Fire Incarnation and Seong Jihan entered a standoff, each trying to engulf the other.

Then,

[You stubborn thing…! Are you truly the administrator's successor!]

The Incarnation began to grow anxious for the first time.

[Good. I'll shift my form to that of a successor… I'll put everything into it!]

The flames of the Fire Incarnation faded, and the power of the Incarnation reaching out to Seong Jihan intensified.

As the Being that was once the Incarnation risked its own body to catch and consume Seong Jihan.

Whoosh!

The power from the Red began to be overpowered as Seong Jihan's body erupted in flames.

An attack that would be fatal for a normal player.

'I can't engulf it with Red alone.'

Originally, he had planned to consume the creature entirely with Red.

However, such was not feasible against a being that was once a god.

It was time to use a different power.

In the midst of the standoff, Seong Jihan executed a martial technique.

Fundamental Divine Art, Annihilation God's Secret – Heavenly Tree Descending Spirit

His burned flesh regenerated in an instant.

The chains of his martial technique burst forth from within Seong Jihan.

[No, wait. Could that be…?]

As the Incarnation hesitated momentarily upon seeing Seong Jihan's chain,.

Swiftly, the purple chains wound around the fire, restraining it.

[You, how did you… Weren't you the Red administrator's successor? How can you use the binding chains of the void?]

"This is from Void?"

[Yes, you… Are you mocking me? Why would you ask me that?]

"No. I truly didn't know."

Heavenly Tree Descending Spirit, A power that could regenerate the body like an elf and emit chains. This power, which could even create the steel Giant Enkidu, was still not fully understood by Seong Jihan.

It operated through the life force, so he thought it was related power to the elves, but…

'It's interesting to learn about Heavenly Tree Descending Spirit unexpectedly.'

With that thought, he tightened the chains with more force.

Creak!

In reality, flames would never be bound by chains.

But the Heavenly Tree Descending Spirit's chains were not mere metal in appearance; they could restrain anything.

'One who was once a Fire God' became fully entangled in the chains, thrashing as if losing composure.

[Having caught me with this in the Arena…! Yes, you. You must be the owner of the Arena. Or maybe his lackey. You trapped me here, and now you're testing for betrayal!]

"Oh? Does the owner of the Arena use chains too?"

[How much longer will you pretend…!]

The Incarnation, convinced that Seong Jihan was linked to the Arena's owner,

'The revolt has subsided.'

Seong Jihan's eyes gleamed.

The 'One who was once a Fire God', who mistakenly believed himself to be dealing with the Arena's owner, lost his will to fight and quickly weakened.

Then the fiery energy became more easily dominated by Seong Jihan's manipulation, It was sucked into the Red pattern.

[You have absorbed the Fire God's energy.]

[Stat 'Red' increases by 1.]

Watching the energy of the Incarnation get absorbed much faster than before, happier now that the stat at 1 had increased.

Seong Jihan slightly raised the corner of his lips and spoke.

"You're quick on the uptake, Fire God."

* * *

[So it was you… The owner of the Arena?]

"That couldn't be."

[Then you must be his subordinate. To think a subordinate is this powerful. How did you even realize the language of the Red?]

"Heh. Who knows."

[…You won't tell me even that much.]

Incarnation, 'One who was once a Fire God', appeared resigned as Seong Jihan kept deflecting with non-committal responses.

[You have absorbed the Fire God's energy.]

[Stat 'Red' increases by 1.]

'He's succumbed to his own assumptions, making absorption easier.'

Stat 'Red' had now risen to 2, reaching 10.

As it entered into double digits, wielding the fire became inherently smoother.

As the Incarnation was absorbed much faster, The fumes, regaining a bit of clarity, violently thrashed.

[I am indeed being consumed in earnest…! Owner of the Arena, You aim to become the Red administrator too! Swallowing the power of Incarnation to enter the competition for the position…!]

"Heh. So you've realized it now…."

Seong Jihan took advantage of the misunderstanding.

He continued to deflect while thoroughly absorbing the Fire Incarnation.

[Huh. The Void Faction aspires to the administrator's position too. Forsaking the given duty, the role of a cleaner…!]

"I am simply following the will of the master."

[Cough… To end up like this! Why did I not perceive the trap…?]

As the chains of Heavenly Tree Descending Spirit entangled the Incarnation, it lost its fighting spirit almost immediately and was totally absorbed into Seong Jihan's Red pattern.

[You have fully absorbed the Fire God's energy.]

[Stat 'Red' increases by 2.]

'The real reward of the promotion battle was the stat increase.'

Having drained the Incarnation from remnants to the very core, Seong Jihan had effectively skimmed off its power.

Initially at 5 when he entered, his Red stat was now at 12.

One could say it was a slight gain for consuming such a mighty being.

'But that was an imperfect god. Just a fragment of a Fire God. I should be satisfied with this much.'

Seong Jihan decided to be content with that for now.

Then before him,

Seong Jihan, without sensing any presence.

A being suddenly emerged.

It had a humanoid form, at eye level with Seong Jihan, dressed in a neat suit and black fedora.

However,

'Its face… is it space?'

While it had a perfectly normal body,

Below the hat, the face had the appearance of a star-filled universe.

Clap! Clap! Clap!

The being looked at Seong Jihan and clapped loudly three times.

Then,

Swoosh!

The brightly lit stadium was shrouded in darkness.

In this space, only Seong Jihan and the being with the universe as its face remained.

"How surprising. I'm your master?"

"Are you the owner of the Arena?"

"That's right. I was considering who to select as the 'Rookie of the Space Arena' for the next season… and here you are, a major prospect."

"I owe you one. Borrowed your name for a bit."

"Heh. That's fine. Ruffling your opponent with mere words is a talent needed by a rookie. The Fire God was a moron, wasn't he?"

The Arena's owner looked where the Incarnation had been, then turned back to Seong Jihan.

"Well then, shall we check the basic personal details for selecting our rookie?"

A light beamed from a blue star among the universe backdrop on its face.

Zzzing…

That light scanned Seong Jihan's body from top to bottom.

"NO.4212. From the 'humanity' race… the betrayer Gilgamesh. So, you belong to his race."

"Betrayer?"

"Yes."

Swoosh!

The Arena's owner swept his hand over his face.

The universe backdrop shifted into Gilgamesh's visage.

"He is a renegade who abandoned the Void's duty. His original sin must be atoned for by all of humanity, NO.4212."

"What exactly did he betray about the Void?"

"After completing his mission, he was supposed to enjoy the given lifespan and then die. However…"

Crack!

Gilgamesh's face crumbled, revealing the universe once more.

"He did not die. That's betrayal."

"And that's considered betrayal…?"

"I shouldn't say any more. It seems."

Swoosh!

The Arena's owner spread his hand.

[You have met the owner of the Space Arena.]

[You have cleared the Epic Quest.]

[You have been selected as the Rookie of the Space Arena.]

[Your Constellation Candidate period is shortened by 100 days.]

With the message that the Epic Quest was cleared, the rewards came flowing in.

'There isn't an actual increase in strength.'

The reward from the Epic Quest seemed trivial compared to the stat gain of Red 7 from swallowing the Fire Incarnation.

As Seong Jihan was checking the messages,

"What do you think of BattleNet, our Rookie?"

The Arena's owner asked him.

"I need to break free."

"For NO.4212?"

"Yes. Humanity isn't suited for BattleNet. Things are only going smoothly because of me."

To a third party, it might have sounded incredibly arrogant. But in reality, Seong Jihan's words were true about the state of humanity.

"Haha. You have a good grasp of reality."

"…"

"As long as Gilgamesh is alive, invitations to the BattleNet will continue to come. If you want to escape the BattleNet…"

Swoosh!

The Arena Owner's face transformed back into Gilgamesh's, completely golden, then shattered with a resounding crack.

"Kill Gilgamesh."