Chapter 39

<Chapter 39: The Godless Man Who Regressed to Level 2>

* * *

A beef restaurant in Gangnam.

In the private room of this famous restaurant, Seong Jihan shook hands with a man.

"Nice to see you again, Seong Jihan."

It was Diego Machado, with whom he had formed a bond in a defense game.

Seong Jihan had long wanted to meet and deepen his friendship with Diego, who possessed an SSS-grade gift, but due to his busy schedule, he could only arrange a meeting on this public holiday.

'Originally, I planned to watch a match with Seo Ah.'

This meeting was possible because Yoon Seo Ah, who had a gift, commuted to the academy.

"I'm sorry I'm a bit late. Living expenses in Korea are expensive, and I had to work part-time because teaching at a soccer school doesn't pay enough."

"Have you been working at a soccer school?"

"Yeah. It's run by Mr. Cha, one of my sponsors. There used to be many students, but with the decline in soccer's popularity, there are fewer now."

"......"

Seong Jihan felt a sense of nostalgia.

'Diego Machado, who was once destined to become a legend in soccer... now he's just a soccer school instructor in Korea.'

Diego Machado was one of the most affected by the disappearance of professional sports after the advent of BattleNet.

He was on the path to becoming a living legend, coming from one of the most prestigious clubs in the world, but now he had fallen to the point of worrying about his daily living.

"How long has it been since I had beef?"

Sizzle—

As soon as the ordered meat arrived, Machado immediately placed it on the grill.

He glanced at Seong Jihan and asked, "Can I have some drinks?"

"Of course."

"Ooh!"

With permission, Machado shouted in a loud voice.

"Auntie! Soju! Beer! Please!"

* * *

Sizzle— Thud! Splash—

Diego Machado skillfully mixed soju and beer.

1:2.

A true drinker's soju and beer mix, with a strong ratio of soju.

After carefully preparing the mix, he passed it to Seong Jihan.

"Cheers?"

"Cheers."

Cheers!

They naturally clinked their beer glasses together.

"Ugh... This is the best thing about being in Korea."

Machado looked happy while drinking the soju and beer mix.

He gazed wistfully at the empty beer glass and started mixing another drink.

"Let's have another round."

"Sure."

"Speak more casually. I prefer informal speech to formal."

"Alright."

Cheers! Cheers! Cheers!

The two men drank four straight glasses in silence.

Machado, with a slightly flushed face, looked at the empty beer glasses.

"So, how much do you know about me?"

"You know I was once a living legend, right?"

"Legend... It's an old story."

Machado, with a wistful look, mixed another drink.

Swallow— Swallow—

"Ugh... Auntie! Two bottles of soju, four bottles of beer, please."

Then, Machado fell silent again.

Seong Jihan recalled the information he had searched before meeting him.

Diego Machado, who was once a rising legend in a prestigious Spanish club.

His rise to the top of soccer was thwarted by the sudden appearance of BattleNet.

'FIFA was dissolved in 2013.'

The international soccer federation, FIFA.

Even this large organization was dissolved within three years of BattleNet's arrival.

This was the last professional sports federation to be dissolved.

After the collapse of FIFA, professional sports in the world only existed in the form of BattleNet.

"Ugh...!"

By now, Machado had finished one bottle of soju and two bottles of beer.

He looked at Seong Jihan with a red face.

"So... Seong Jihan. Can we now enter Bolon?"

"What's Bolon? Take it easy with the drinks."

"Bol. Lon. Bol! Lon! Korean is hard. And... drinks should be mixed when! You get them."

Machado, with his slurred speech, asked Seong Jihan.

"Tell me. Why... does my... gift suit a mage?"

Boom. Boom.

As he spoke, Machado kicked the soccer ball at his feet.

Even while sitting at the table, he juggled the ball as if it were part of his body, looking like a man completely obsessed with soccer.

He had even entered the restaurant without taking the ball off his foot.

-What is this? Is he crazy?

-When did he get a soccer ball?

Despite the disapproving looks from the people around him, Machado did not take the ball off his foot.

No matter how much he was a legend in soccer and how much he missed his past glory, his behavior seemed overly obsessive.

But there was a reason for this.

'It's because of his gift.'

The gift that Machado revealed to the media to gain sponsorship, 'The God of Soccer,' had the following abilities:

[Gift - The God of Soccer (Grade SSS)]

- All abilities significantly increase when a soccer ball is at your feet.

- Extracts over 300% efficiency from the power contained in 'soccer ball-shaped' equipment.

- The increase in abilities grows as the time spent handling 'soccer ball-shaped' equipment increases.

A gift that always involved a soccer ball.

Especially due to the last condition, Machado had to always have a soccer ball with him, whether in the game or in reality.

He had to keep the ball with him to increase the power of his gift.

"My abilities... Ugh. They don't suit a mage."

"Are you talking about your initial stats?"

"Yeah. Strength, agility, and stamina were 10, but... magic power was 5."

The initial stats in BattleNet were seen as indicators of what profession one should pursue.

Given that Machado had excellent physical abilities but a poor magic power stat, his statement that he didn't suit a mage had some credibility.

Therefore, Machado only considered adapting to warrior or archer classes and never even considered the option of being a mage with a magic power of 5.

"I lived as a warrior for three years. I reached silver, but fighting with a soccer ball was too inconvenient. So, I gave up on that class."

Splash—

Machado, with a hazy look, continued to fill his beer glass.

"To give up, I regressed to level 2. I kept dying and finishing last... and fell into the abyss... I then reclassed as an archer. But being an archer was also difficult. No matter how much my abilities increased, I couldn't penetrate enemies with a soccer ball."

"Right. A ball is just a ball. It's not suitable as a weapon."

"So, I tried shooting arrows with the ball at my feet. It didn't have much effect. I tried various things. During this time, I was scammed by many people. Ugh... The wealth I accumulated through soccer gradually disappeared, and I slowly fell into the gutter."

By now, he hadn't even touched the meat.

Machado was drinking like a madman.

He opened a new bottle and continued talking.

"Unable to bear it, my wife left me. She took our son and returned to Argentina. I gave her most of the remaining wealth... and promised to return successfully. To use this gift... to fully utilize it at the SSS grade. It's been five years since I made that promise..."

With completely unfocused eyes and a slurred tongue, Machado's voice was filled with resignation.

There was no hope to be found in him, who had fallen from the top of the sports world to a foreign laborer in the East, only deep despair.

Seong Jihan nodded slightly.

He could fully empathize with the depth of his sorrow.

'...But I know best how brilliantly he will change in the future.'

Machado eventually found his own path.

That's why he became a hero and the greatest mage in Argentina.

'And if it's going to happen anyway...'

He needed to help Machado escape from his pit of sorrow as soon as possible.

To make the excellent mage, Diego Machado, fulfill his role as quickly as possible.

For the sake of the Earth.

And for his own sake.

"Machado."

"......"

"Look at this."

Seong Jihan held up his smartphone.

The screen showed the Battle Market page.

"This is...?"

"It's the search page for 'Orbs.'"

Orbs.

Spherical magical equipment primarily used to enhance a mage's magic power by being inserted into the additional slots of a mage's staff.

"Is this... Could you be suggesting I use it like a soccer ball?"

Diego Machado, who had completely lost focus, concentrated on the smartphone screen.

Then, he let out a bitter laugh.

"My gift recognizes 'soccer ball-shaped' objects. They really have to be... the size of a soccer ball. Orbs are too small. I can't use them."

"Right. Orbs available on Earth are like that."

"Then why show me this...?"

"But what if we do this?"

Seong Jihan changed the search term.

To 'Alien Artifacts - Orbs.'

Then, unlike the items that appeared on the Battle Market earlier, orbs of various sizes were displayed.

"This is...?"

"Alien artifacts require a separate check to be searched on the market."

The alien artifacts that Seong Jihan had effectively used were of various sizes, as they were items used by alien life forms.

Some were as small as a fingernail, while others were incredibly large.

"I didn't know such things existed. But the 'soccer ball-shaped' condition isn't just about size."

"Right. The material has to be similar, and the item has to be used with the 'foot.'"

"How... How did you know that?"

Now is not the time to drink!

"Wait... a moment!"

Bang!

Diego Machado hastily put down his glass and slapped himself.

It was an extreme measure to regain his composure.

"Ugh... Keep going."

Seeing Machado ready to listen, Seong Jihan added a search term to the Battle Market.

"Let's add the word 'Arachne' to the search results for alien artifacts."

Arachne.

A term referring to a giant spider species among alien life forms.

Adding this to the search term, the Battle Market updated to show Arachne orbs.

"This is...?"

"The orbs used by the spider species, Arachne, are surrounded by spider webs. They... look like soccer balls."

Machado couldn't take his eyes off the smartphone screen.

The Arachne orb, surrounded by white threads and shaped like a ball, with a red glow in the center, resembled a soccer ball as Seong Jihan described.

"The usage of the item is also not a problem. The spider species, Arachne, naturally use orbs with their feet."

"How... How did you...?"

To specify orbs among alien artifacts and to find items that meet the conditions of Arachne, how did Seong Jihan know?

Machado naturally had this question, but Seong Jihan had a prepared answer.

"I was searching for artifacts and stumbled upon this by chance."

"Right... Come to think of it, you used strange weapons."

Machado nodded.

Thinking about it, Seong Jihan used all sorts of peculiar equipment, from kitchen knives and clubs to the scimitar used by Urk.

Machado, having resolved his curiosity, looked at the most important part—the price of the item.

There were only three listings for Arachne orbs.

The B-grade items started at 500,000 GP.

"Hmm. 500,000 GP...!"

Machado swallowed hard.

500 million won.

If he had discovered this ten