Chapter 685:

Chapter 685:

Side Story 14

[The invitees of American First arrive in Korea.]

[Diego Masied spotted at the airport.]

[Japan announces there's no one named 'Ito Shizuru' among BattleNet officials, instead sending 10 people with the same name.]

[Sword King Ito Ryuhei refuses to come to Korea.]

The people Seong Jihan called started gathering in Korea one by one as time passed.

-What's with sending people with the same name as Ito Shizuru? lol

-Well, she's not a well-known person... but isn't this a loophole?

-I was hoping to see the woman who seduced the Sword King, what a shame...

-We can't be sure that Ito Shizuru is that woman yet, right?

Unlike other countries, Japan was reluctant to send people.

Especially...

-Shizuru aside, why isn't the Sword King coming?

-Is he scared?

-Even though Seong Jihan is strong, I don't think he'd start a sword fight right there...

-You never know, he seems pretty unpredictable lol

-But isn't the dungeon portal problem serious in Japan too?

-Nah, they're still fine. They're ranked 1st in Northeast Asia this season.

-But other continents are really struggling... Isn't this too much???

When the Sword King announced he wouldn't attend, criticism began to arise not only in Korea but worldwide.

The dungeon portal problem was humanity's greatest threat.

That was why even though the people Seong Jihan called were all influential in their own countries,

They all chose to come to Korea, putting aside everything else.

But living in a neighboring country just 1-2 hours away by plane and refusing to come to Korea,

It was impossible not to receive criticism.

Meanwhile, at the BattleNet Center...

"...We emphasized safety guarantees to the Japanese BattleNet management office multiple times, but in the end, the Sword King notified us that he won't attend. I'm sorry."

Manager Park Yoonsik was reporting this to Seong Jihan.

"And Japan is sending 10 Ito Shizuru’s?"

"Yes... We suspect they're not the person you want, Seong Jihan-nim."

"Other countries are desperate, but Japan seems quite relaxed."

"Well... Instead, they're sending Takeda Kazuo, the recruitment team leader for the New Self-Defense Forces."

They sent all the useless ones while keeping the core people away.

Seong Jihan smiled slightly, remembering the bald team leader who used to flatter him.

'I shouldn't have mentioned Ito Shizuru's name.'

She came to Korea in disguise to try and charm him,

But now that he called her out by name, she seemed wary and unwilling to come.

Well, he had shown overwhelming power while destroying dungeons,

So it wasn't unreasonable for her to be cautious.

"So... may I ask how you plan to proceed with the meeting?"

The list of over 30 people Seong Jihan called.

Cases like Lee Hayeon or Ito Shizuru were special.

Most were players who were influential in their own countries.

Having invited such distinguished guests, if the dungeon destruction method wasn't revealed because of the Sword King,

The backlash would be no joke.

"Tell the Japanese management office. They need to donate 100 billion GP for each absentee."

"100... 100 billion GP?"

"Yes. And tell them that the Ito Shizuru I want to see is the Sword King's woman. Bringing people with the same name is useless."

"Then in the end..."

"If neither of them comes, they'll have to pay 200 billion GP."

200 billion GP.

During the BattleNet tutorial era, 1 GP was linked to 1 dollar, but

After entering the Space League and humanity's BattleNet ranking plummeted, the value of GP kept soaring.

Moreover, as Korea's national ranking fell, the won's value decreased,

So currently, 1 GP was worth almost 5,000 won.

Therefore...

"That... converted to won, it's over 100 trillion won..."

"And?"

"Even for Japan, paying this would require intervention at the national level..."

"If they don't like it, they can just come, right?"

Seong Jihan held up two fingers.

"Tell them to choose: pay 200 billion GP or have the Sword King come."

-Well, Yoon Seah is currently ranked 1st; even if she went warrior instead of archer, she'd probably have that much talent

Seong Jihan, who had been transmitting the martial arts technique through sound to prevent it from leaking outside, was secretly impressed by Yoon Seah's progress.

While the Primordial Unity One Qi Technique organized by Kang Seol-young was easy to learn, and Yoon Seah's talent played a part,

'Eternity is really good.'

The Eternity 1 stat given to Yoon Seah.

This ability was continuously manifesting the energy of great nature within her body.

It was almost like skipping the process of accumulating nature's energy in the body.

The Internal Energy stat emerged as if it had been waiting for this moment.

'If Internal Energy has developed, it means she's taken her first steps in the Primordial Unity One Qi Technique.'

Recalling Kang Seol-young's notes, Seong Jihan said to Yoon Seah,

"Then go try an Internal Energy test on BattleNet."

"Yes!"

After moving from the semi-basement room to the BattleNet Center,

Yoon Seah was assigned to Gangnam 1 Area and started leveling up in earnest.

Her level had risen quickly in just a few days, already reaching 10.

'With Late Bloomer and the Eternity stat combined, her growth is indeed fast.'

If she perfectly mastered the Primordial Unity One Qi Technique on top of this,

It seemed she would level up even faster than when Seong Jihan had regressed and started leveling up.

After all, the ability to do BattleNet twice a day was inherently unfair.

-But can't we see Yoon Seah playing the game here?

-She needs to turn on BattleTube to show it, but she's not doing it because of the haters, I guess?

-Didn't all the Sword King family's people disappear?

-No, they only cower when she's next to Seong Jihan-nim. If Yoon Seah streams BattleTube alone, they'll probably creep back out

-Well, there's no need to turn it on if she has to deal with that...

-But doesn't Seong Jihan-nim need to do BattleNet here?

With some time to spare, Seong Jihan skimmed through the chat and answered the question.

"These past few days were the league entry period, so I thought about trying it, but I couldn't even get assigned. My level is just 120."

-OMG, 120?

-Well, he's been sweeping through dungeons, so of course he'd level up lol

-He's one-shotting nearby monsters too, so it makes sense he'd level up like that

-But didn't you have to go from Bronze League to Silver League to level up more? He went up to 120 instead of stopping at 25;

-He's not in Bronze now, he didn't get assigned lol

-Ah, so there's no level limit then, wow

To play BattleNet games, you first need to belong to a league.

But Seong Jihan couldn't enter any area.

It seemed impossible to enter another game within the mission world.

'Well, there's no need to enter another game here anyway.'

While sweeping through dungeon portals, Seong Jihan's body, which was level 1, had already reached close to level 120.

But leveling up didn't give him any remaining points,

And his Blue stat remained at 2.

So now, clearing sub-quests was important, while level was a completely meaningless indicator for him.

As he was checking his current status,

Ding dong. Ding dong.

A bell sound came from outside the BattleNet Center's guest room.

[Seong Jihan-nim! We've received a response from Japan...!]

Beep.

As he opened the door, Manager Park Yoonsik rushed in urgently.

"What did they say?"

To Seong Jihan's question,

He continued speaking while catching his breath.

"Both the Sword King and Ito Shizuru say they're coming! And they said they'll depart right away today...!"

"Is that so?"

Even for Shizuru, was 200 billion GP too burdensome?

"Yes. We emphasized, and re-emphasized safety guarantees!"

Emphasizing safety, Park Yoonsik watched Seong Jihan's reaction.

It was as if he was asking,

'You'll keep them safe, right?'

"Safety guarantees..."

Seong Jihan didn't give a definite answer to this.

"Then let's see them tomorrow."

He just smiled enigmatically.