The Martial God who Regressed Back to Level 2

Chapter 672: [Side Story Start]

Side Story (1)

'How peaceful.'

It had been three months since returning to Earth from the Ark.

Seong Jihan was taking a break, seemingly returning to his unemployed days before the regression.

Leaning on the sofa, he recalled what had happened.

'Kang Seol-young coming to Earth was unexpected...'

Kang Seol-young, Jiang Shang's most beloved daughter.

She had suddenly attacked him with a sword upon his return, but after being subdued by Seong Jihan and hearing the whole story...

-Ah... So Father acted ahead...

-Still, a defeat is a defeat. I'll stay until you acknowledge me, my lord.

Claiming Seong Jihan was the only man to have defeated her,

She stayed on Earth and began participating as a mercenary for humanity.

-??? What, there are mercenaries too?

-Yeah, they're often used in Gold league. But her race is human?

-Hmm. She looks pretty but doesn't seem very strong... Isn't it a waste of humanity's team slot?

At first, human viewers were skeptical about Kang Seol-young's participation, but...

-Wow, the mercenary carried again. lol

-This person doesn't seem to be at Gold league level...

-That's why it's even better. lol

-This feels a bit like when Seong Jihan used to participate. lol

Seeing her completely dominate the opposing Space League teams, they were now in a state of excitement.

Of course,

-But is it true that Kang Seol-young came as a mercenary because of Seong Jihan?

-Really? Why?

-They say she came for marriage?

-Can she naturalize as human if they marry? Then I approve.

-What approval, you crazy bastards --

-We can't hand over Seong Jihan to alien humanity;

There was controversy after it became known that Kang Seol-young's goal was Seong Jihan, but,

Unlike the initial worries, humanity was cruising through the Space League.

Meanwhile,

"..."

=4th match, victory!

=Oh, this match's MVP is player Yoon Seah!

=Although player Kang Seol-young's defense was strong, player Yoon Seah had a higher kill count!

=In fact, it wouldn't have been strange for either of them to receive MVP!

=With today's victory, humanity is on a 4-game winning streak!

Sitting on the sofa, Seong Jihan was staring blankly at the commentators' shouting on TV.

Today's opponent for humanity was a top-tier race running second in the Gold League.

Beating such an opponent 3:1 should be cause for joy, but...

'I don't feel any excitement at all.'

Humanity's victory, or Yoon Seah's MVP.

In the past, these would have been news to make him happy inside, but,

For him now, they provided no stimulation at all.

No.

It wasn't just this.

'All sensations fail to stimulate me at all.'

Swish.

Seong Jihan stretched his hand towards the kitchen.

Then,

Floating...

An apple quickly flew towards him.

He rolled the apple for a moment, then took a big bite, but,

'I can taste it, but it doesn't stimulate me.'

It was not that his sense of taste has disappeared.

He could clearly taste the sweetness in his mouth.

But it didn't feel like it was satisfying human desire.

A state where all desires seem to have vanished.

Seong Jihan slightly furrowed his brow as he examined his body.

'Mitra... Did you have a reason to be so confident?'

Seong Jihan, who had experienced creation through the authority of light, White Light.

He had cleanly given up the authority of creation and returned, but,

That experience was still greatly affecting him.

'If this state continues, I might unconsciously try to regain White Light.'

In a way, the current situation was similar to a drug addict who can't feel stimulation without drugs.

Seong Jihan frowned.

It was bearable now, but,

If such a long time passes, could he really endure it?

'...'

As Seong Jihan's expression deeply sank,

"Wow... It's been so long since I got MVP!"

Tap!

Yoon Seah walked into the living room with an excited face.

"Oh, uncle, you watched my game? How was it? I think I definitely beat Seol-young this time?"

"Looking at the performance, it seems Seol-young's blocking of the front line was more crucial."

"Ugh... That's true, but. My damage output was also quite effective."

"I'll acknowledge that."

As Seong Jihan nodded with an expressionless face,

Yoon Seah, who had been excited, looked at him with a worried expression.

"Um... Uncle. Are you still like that?"

"Like what?"

"The insensitive state, I mean."

"Well, it's the same."

Although he hadn't told everything about Mitra and the Ark,

His family knew to some extent about his current state.

"Ugh. Actually, at first, I thought you were saying that to reject confessions..."

"Hey. Who would give such a reason to reject confessions?"

"W-well, that's true, but. They say you're the only administrator in BattleNet now, right? It's practically the same as conquering BattleNet, but suddenly you say you're in an insensitive state..."

In the current world where both Black and White Administrators had disappeared,

Seong Jihan, who remained as the only administrator, had fallen into such lethargy due to his insensitive state.

Honestly, it must have been hard to believe.

"Uncle. If you keep living like this, won't your condition get worse? Don't you need some kind of refresh?"

"Refresh..."

In the current state, would anything serve as a refreshment?

As Seong Jihan showed an unsatisfactory reaction,

Clap!

Yoon Seah clapped her hands.

"Ah. Right. How about this?"

As she said this, she touched the air here and there.

Ziiing...

A screen appeared in front of Seong Jihan's eyes.

"What's this?"

To his question, Yoon Seah pointed at the screen that had appeared.

"This? It's 'Save Yoon Seah'."

* * *

"...Save you?"

Humanity's rank 1.

Seong Jihan questioned incredulously, looking at Yoon Seah who was more energetic than anyone.

"There's a stage that's been a hot topic in the Tower of Martial Gods lately."

Yoon Seah pointed at the screen.

[...Patient, deceased.]

There, a scene of a doctor pronouncing death was playing.

Swish.

And the face of the deceased that the doctor uncovered,

Although it was in a terrible state with knife marks and a haggard appearance,

It was clearly Yoon Seah.

'...This is Seah's final moment from the previous life.'

The last image of Yoon Seah that was branded in Seong Jihan's memory.

Hadn't he vowed never to repeat this?

Yet this was being replayed in the Tower of Martial Gods...?

Seong Jihan's eyebrows twitched.

"This scene is a hot topic? So other players are playing this stage too?"

"Yes. The higher the floor, the higher the chance of this appearing. And..."

Yoon Seah, who had paused the screen playback, touched it again.

-No. What's this? Why am I here as a corpse? Ah... Is this the 'Yoon Seah' map? Wow. It really is me.

-Is there a strategy for this? What? The game ends in 1 minute? Why?

-Saying 'Yoon Seah has died'... and then ending the game. Seah, wake up!

On the screen, Yoon Seah, participating as a player, was moving and shaking her own corpse.

But her efforts were short-lived.

[Yoon Seah has died.]

[Mission failed.]

[Game over.]

[You cannot challenge the Tower of Martial Gods for 1 day.]

Such messages appeared in succession as the screen darkened.

-Ah... What? Are you kidding? It really ends like this?

Only Yoon Seah spoke incredulously on the darkened screen,

But the game had already ended.

"It's really absurd, isn't it? Ending just like that?"

"...Can you tell me more about this stage in detail?"

"Oh. You're showing interest?"

Seeing Seong Jihan, who had been lying around expressionlessly since his return, show an active response for the first time,

Yoon Seah began speaking eagerly.

"It's commonly called the 'Save Yoon Seah' stage. As you saw, uncle, it's a trap stage that automatically ends in game over 1 minute after checking the corpse. They say it randomly appears from the 200th floor of the Tower of Martial Gods, and the frequency increases as the challenge floor goes up."

"Hmm..."

"Because of this, it's become a hot topic even among aliens, wondering who Yoon Seah is."

As she said this, Yoon Seah brought up the BattleTube screen.

There, Yoon Seah was proudly listed as the latest trending keyword.

After all, using the Tower of Martial Gods to enhance abilities was the same for alien beings too.

'Rather, alien players would have reached the higher floors of the Tower first, so they would have encountered this stage earlier.'

[Collection of alien player reactions to the Save Yoon Seah stage]

Even such BattleTube videos were visible.

Seong Jihan silently looked at the list of BattleTube videos, then his eyes lit up.

"But, the videos dealing with this stage... they only go back to three months ago at most."

"Yes. It seems they started appearing after you returned, uncle."

"You're saying it didn't exist before I returned..."

Before his return would be when he was in the midst of fighting Mitra.

Seong Jihan looked at the screen and recalled the past events.

-You tried to forget the scene you saw when entering the Prison of Time. But forgetting wasn't easy, and in your heart, a desire to change that past arose.

-That planet is the stage to fulfill such a desire of yours. Achieve what you want there to your heart's content.

Along with Jiang Shang's Murim Empire,

The world before regression that was resurrected with the authority of manifestation.

'I definitely left Jiang Shang's planet, but re-sealed the world before regression...'

Could it be that the re-sealed first iteration world has been put into the Tower of Martial Gods?

And it had turned into a stage, being treated as a trap game by players climbing the tower?

'I need to check this directly.'

Swish.

As Seong Jihan, who had been one with the sofa, slowly got up,

Yoon Seah's eyes widened.

"Oh uncle... You're getting up for the first time in two weeks!"

"You were counting that?"

"Of course! I should have shown you this earlier. Hehe."

"Save Yoon Seah... This does bother me a bit. I'll go check it out."

"Oh. If possible, it would be good if you could remove it. I've been getting cursed at by aliens lately."

That was understandable.

If that stage appeared, it meant losing a day of Tower climbing.

Was the corpse Yoon Seah getting cursed at too?

Seong Jihan smiled slightly and nodded.

"Alright. I'll sort it out quickly and come back."

Tap. Tap tap.

As Seong Jihan tapped the air a few times,

Flash...!

His body was immediately enveloped in blue light and disappeared.

'Since uncle has stepped in, it should be fixed soon, right?'

Seong Jihan, who had become the only administrator in the world now.

There was no problem that couldn't be solved when this absolute being took action.

Yoon Seah was optimistic that this problem would be solved in the blink of an eye too.

"Then while waiting, I'll watch some BattleTube... Huh?"

Yoon Seah, who was about to play a compilation of aliens cursing at her,

[Blue Administrator 'Seong Jihan' starts BattleTube.]

Seeing the notification that Seong Jihan had started broadcasting, her eyes widened.

'Huh? Why did uncle suddenly start BattleTube?'

Wasn't he supposed to go modify the stage?

Thinking this, Yoon Seah opened BattleTube and,

[...Patient, deceased.]

She could see the start scene of the 'Save Yoon Seah' stage appearing on the screen.

And then,

"...Huh?"

Seong Jihan, who had been standing still for 1 minute,

[Mission failed.]

[Game over.]

[You cannot challenge the Tower of Martial Gods for 1 day.]

The stage ending with mission failure was played out.