Martial God Regressed to Level 2

[Translator - Asura]

[Proofreader - Gun]

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Side Story 18

So even the Sword King assumed he was Dongbang Sak, since he was called the Martial God.

Martial God = Dongbang Sak seemed to be common knowledge in this world.

"I am not Dongbang Sak."

"You're the Martial God, but not Dongbang Sak?"

"Huh? If you're the Martial God, shouldn't you be Dongbang Sak...?"

Seong Jihan's answer took aback the Sword King and Takeda.

And it wasn't just them who heard this.

"Martial God... he was certainly strong."

"But why does he say he's not Dongbang Sak?"

"Right?"

Including the reporters, and even those watching the live broadcast.

He was perceived as someone who claimed to be the Martial God but denied being Dongbang Sak.

Doubts about Seong Jihan began to spread.

"But come to think of it, there could be multiple Martial Gods..."

"Why did we only think of Dongbang Sak as the Martial God?"

"Exactly?"

People started questioning why they had only considered Dongbang Sak as the Martial God until now.

And soon.

Ziiiiing…….

[More than 10% of humanity questions the existence of the Martial God.]

[Belief in 'Martial God Dongbang Sak' is partially shaken.]

A message window appeared before Seong Jihan's eyes.

'Already 10%?'

From destroying the dungeon portal to the battle with the Sword King.

Perhaps because of the continuous major issues that captured the world's attention.

Even though it hadn't been long since he mentioned the Martial God, already 10% of humanity was questioning Dongbang Sak.

And.

['Martial God Dongbang Sak' recognizes you.]

As soon as the next message appeared.

Sssss…….

A small taiji symbol appeared before Seong Jihan's eyes.

It was only about the size of a palm.

'This is….'

As the taiji symbol began to rotate in reverse, Seong Jihan's expression hardened.

A reverse-rotating taiji.

Wasn't this the precursor to the appearance of Dongbang Sak's Taiji Sword?

As he watched it closely.

"Ah…"

"This is…?"

The Sword King and Takeda, who were looking at the taiji, started reacting strangely.

Unlike their previous vividness, which was almost indistinguishable from reality.

They looked dazed, as if something was broken inside them.

Seeing their expressions and behavior, Seong Jihan recalled the time he had subdued Jin Yuhwa.

-S, Space League match?

-Wh, what. The elf... why does it look like that...

When Seong Jihan showed her the Space League match.

At first, she wondered why he was showing it to her, but then her eyes lost focus.

Eventually, she lost consciousness, her soul seemingly leaving her body, turning her into a doll.

The reaction shown by the Sword King and Takeda was slower than that.

But if they kept staring at the taiji, they seemed like they would also lose their minds.

'Well, it doesn't matter if these two go crazy...'

He couldn't let it affect Yoon Seah, who was standing behind them.

Swoosh.

As Seong Jihan, manifesting a blue energy, reached out towards the taiji.

Shoooo…….

The reverse rotation of the taiji gradually slowed down.

'It's not hard to control since it's small.'

Perhaps because his Blue stat had increased while breaking the Sword King's dual swords.

Stopping the reverse-rotating taiji wasn't as difficult as he thought.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

Seong Jihan completely stopped the taiji.

Thwack……!

He crushed it with his fist.

Then.

[You have prevented the summoning of the 'Taiji Sword'.]

[The advent of 'Martial God Dongbang Sak' is delayed by 10 days.]

A message appeared, stating that Dongbang Sak's advent was delayed.

Did this mean he could stay here for 10 more days?

Seong Jihan's eyes gleamed as he saw this.

"Ugh…!"

"Hu. Huff…! What was that? Just now?"

The Sword King and Takeda snapped out of their dazed state and regained their senses.

At least they didn't end up like Jin Yuhwa.

Seong Jihan turned his gaze away from them and looked at Yoon Seah.

"Are you okay?"

"Ah… Yes. Just now, when I looked at the taiji, I felt really strange… but I'm fine now."

"What kind of strange feeling was it?"

"Hmm, how should I put it… I felt a bit dazed, like I was losing touch with reality?"

A feeling of losing touch with reality.

Still, it seemed like she was less affected than the Sword King or Takeda, who had seen the taiji up close.

"W, we'll be going then…"

Meanwhile, Takeda, having regained his senses.

Looked at Seong Jihan with fearful eyes and tugged at the Sword King's clothes.

Although it wasn't Seong Jihan who created the taiji.

After experiencing nearly losing his soul, he seemed eager to escape this place.

And.

"…Alright. Let's go."

The Sword King, apparently feeling the same way.

Readily followed Takeda and left the scene.

Leaving behind the broken blades of Ganjang and Makya, the two departed like defeated soldiers.

Click. Click…….

The reporters captured the scene, continuously taking photos.

'Come to think of it, did they not see the taiji?'

If they were broadcasting this live, many people should have recognized the taiji.

The Sword King and Takeda were on the verge of losing their minds, but those far away seemed perfectly fine.

Was it simply because of the distance?

'Hmm….'

While Seong Jihan was lost in thought.

['Martial God Dongbang Sak' acknowledges you as a challenger.]

[Main Quest, 'The Martial God's Invitation', is updated. You can now activate the Main Quest window.]

[Sub-quests are updated.]

Quest-related messages began to appear before Seong Jihan's eyes.

* * *

The next day.

[Gift 'Exploration', its value skyrockets! Love calls from major guilds begin.]

[The Sword King, miserably defeated, leaves the broken blades behind.]

[The Martial God is not Dongbang Sak, but Seong Jihan?]

[Barren's bald head surprisingly well-received.]

The world's leading media outlets dedicated all their pages to covering the major events of the previous day.

-Yesterday was really something...

-From the method of destroying dungeon portals to the world's 1st and 3rd rankers getting thrashed. lolol

-Martial God Seong Jihan, not Dongbang Sak... it feels a bit awkward.

-Isn't Seong Jihan just a body possessed by the Martial God? He must have an original name.

The most important thing for humanity from yesterday's events was the method of destroying dungeon portals.

But the most talked-about topic was, of course, Martial God Seong Jihan.

Overwhelming the 1st and 3rd rankers with his power.

And shaking people's perception of 'Martial God = Dongbang Sak'.

-I still remember Shizuru the most. She's definitely worth being charmed by...

-That's fake; inside is Akari.

-But still, she looks like that, right? I can understand the Sword King saying he loves her.

-But even after getting beaten like that, he didn't waver... honestly, I wanted him dead.

-Sigh it's annoying, but she's on our team in the Space League... ㅡㅡ and it could become an international issue.

-Still, our Northeast Asia League is about to collapse because of her...

[Translator - Asura]

[Proofreader - Gun]

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And in Korea and Japan.

The relationship between Ito Shizuru and the Sword King was under the spotlight.

Most people in Japan didn't even know why the Sword King came to Japan.

But as Shizuru's identity was somewhat revealed, Korea, which hated her, and.

-So the Sword King came because of the goddess. lol

-Thanks to the daughter for saving him from almost dying in Joseon.

-Blood ties can't be cut. Seah-nim, why don't you come along too?

Japan's reactions were polar opposites.

"Sigh... did I make a mistake by intervening?"

Yoon Seah sighed deeply as she read people's reactions.

"Are you still thinking about that?"

Seong Jihan smiled faintly and patted her head.

"If you hadn't intervened, the Sword King would be dead. Is that what you want?"

"That's... no. I don't want him dead, just to live as strangers."

"Then that's fine. Your peace of mind comes first."

Then Seong Jihan added casually.

"And if you want to kill him later, you can just go to Japan."

"Huh? To Japan...?"

"Yes. And while you're there, you can get rid of that woman too. So don't worry too much."

His Blue stat had already reached 4.

With this ability, raiding the opponent's base across the sea was possible.

'Not that I need to do it now.'

Seong Jihan thought, recalling the updated quests.

First, the newly added Main Quest, [The Martial God's Invitation].

It stated.

[Martial God Dongbang Sak invites you, the challenger, to the northern Abyss.]

[If you enter the Abyss before Dongbang Sak descends to the surface, you can weaken his power.]

It revealed that Dongbang Sak was in the northern Abyss.

'The Abyss….'

The North Korean Abyss, which he had explored to save his sister, Seong Jiah.

The owner of the Abyss, the 'Taiji's Lost Soul', turned out to be a collection of numerous fragments of Seong Jihan defeated by Dongbang Sak.

'But Dongbang Sak is in that Abyss... it's a strange feeling.'

Could this really be a coincidence?

'No. There must be a reason.'

He didn't know exactly why, but Martial God Dongbang Sak wouldn't be there for no reason.

Seong Jihan thought as he looked at the bottom of the Main Quest window.

There, the remaining time until the Martial God's advent and the predicted win rate were displayed in real-time.

'Current win rate is 0.01%.'

A win rate that had grown by a tiny fraction thanks to the Blue stat reaching 4.

But without further increasing Blue, defeat was certain.

To defeat Dongbang Sak, he needed to grow Blue further.

'And conveniently, the sub-quests have been updated.'

Seong Jihan looked at the newly updated sub-quest list.

[Sub-quests]

Yoon Seah reaching Diamond League

Destroy the portals around the Abyss (0/4)

Find The Witch of The Void

The quest for Yoon Seah to reach Diamond League remained.

Only the completed 2nd and 3rd quests had been replaced with new ones.

'The portals around the Abyss... must be those large dungeon portals.'

The massive dungeon portals that needed to be cleared to attack the Abyss.

Since he had to destroy them to enter the Abyss anyway.

This was a sub-quest that would naturally be completed while progressing with the Main Quest.

'And The Witch of The Void... must be referring to my sister.'

The Witch of The Void Seong Jiah.

She had been active on the side of the Void before returning to being human after many twists and turns.

In this world where her father had cut ties with her, Yoon Seah needed her blood relative more than ever.

But.

'If she's in her Void Witch state, she'll be recognized as an alien being... will Seah lose her mind if she sees her?'

Like Jin Yuhwa did.

And like the Sword King and Takeda did when they saw the reverse rotation of the taiji.

He worried that Yoon Seah might also fall into that state if she saw The Witch of The Void.

'It seems like people react that way when they see alien beings...'

The mission world where alien beings weren't properly implemented.

Jin Yuhwa was the one who lost her mind after observing an alien being here.

'But other people are fine, right?'

As he was deducing the mechanism behind losing one's mind.

Tap. Tap tap.

Yoon Seah, who had been listening to Seong Jihan and was lost in thought.

Opened a BattleTube screen on her computer.

Then.

"Ah. What... it's happening again?"

She tilted her head and turned to Seong Jihan.

"Um, Martial God-nim... do you also see the elves strangely?"

"…Are you okay?"

As Seong Jihan quickly turned Yoon Seah's head away from the monitor.

She answered with a puzzled expression.

"Yes... I'm a bit dazed, but. Strangely, it seems to be broken only when I'm with you, Martial God-nim. So I was wondering if you see it that way too."

"Only when you're with me?"

"Yes…"

Seong Jihan thought for a moment, and then something flashed in his mind.

'Ah... could it be because of that?'

He narrowed down the widely spread Blue area to just his body.

Then he had her look at the monitor again.

"Oh... now it looks normal?"

Yoon Seah looked at the screen with a curious expression.

'The Blue area was making her see the distortions properly.'

When she was within Seong Jihan's area, the alien beings that weren't properly implemented.

But when the effect of Blue disappeared, Yoon Seah could also see the distorted forms.

'Then... she won't lose consciousness even if she meets my sister, as long as I withdraw Blue.'

Then he could complete The Witch of The Void search quest together with her.

Seong Jihan made this decision as he watched Yoon Seah, who was clicking on BattleTube videos with curious eyes.

[Translator - Asura]

[Proofreader - Gun]

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