Chapter 43

<Chapter 43: The God of Martial Arts Regresses to Level 2>

‘Is that the elf?’

A dark elf with black eyes.

The eyes, entirely devoid of whites, were so pitch-black that they sent shivers down one’s spine.

‘Indeed… he doesn’t look ordinary.’

However, in terms of appearance, he was quite ordinary. At least by elf standards.

He was just as beautiful as the other elves sitting in the audience.

“Let’s see…”

Cheng Jihan aimed the Phoenix Arrow at the barrier.

A massive barrier that completely blocked the stadium and the audience.

Although he was only Bronze now, Cheng Jihan, who had been the strongest in his previous life, knew how solid this barrier was.

‘This is as strong as a Platinum… no, a Diamond supporter’s barrier.’

Diamond.

That was the highest tier league where the supporters who participated in today’s national match belonged.

No matter how much Cheng Jihan had dominated the Bronze League, showing unparalleled power.

The difference between leagues wasn’t just a level or two, but four levels, making the Diamond tier a world of a much higher level.

However,

‘That’s why it’s worth challenging.’

Despite facing such a formidable obstacle, Cheng Jihan smiled with delight.

The inner energy from his lower dantian surged up,

and the power from his middle and upper dantian gathered at the Phoenix Arrow.

Whoosh!

Then, a white flame bloomed at the tip of the arrow.

Just like when the Conqueror’s statue drew the bowstring,

the Phoenix Arrow, receiving Cheng Jihan’s energy, emitted a tremendous firepower.

‘If I shoot this, it will definitely pierce the barrier.’

The Phoenix Arrow, which had a limit of five shots.

Given this condition, the power of the arrow when shot was unparalleled.

No matter how strong the barrier was, boasting Diamond-level defense, the flame of the Phoenix Arrow would surely pierce it.

However,

‘I’ll use it as a spear for now.’

Unnamed Divine Skill

Three Talents Supreme Martial Art

Immortal’s Guidance

The ultimate thrust, Immortal’s Guidance.

Although the Three Talents technique originally started as a sword technique, the supreme Three Talents Supreme Martial Art could be freely used with any weapon.

The same applied to the Phoenix Arrow that Cheng Jihan held.

Originally meant to be an arrow, its size allowed it to be used as a spear.

Bang!

The flame-imbued Phoenix Arrow collided with the barrier.

Sssss-

From the tip aimed at a single point, an aura like smoke rose, starting a power struggle.

The white flame was exerting all its might to push back the blue protective shield.

However, it was still difficult to pierce a Diamond-level barrier.

- Haha, as expected, it’s not working.

- Damn it!!! If this breaks through, it’ll be a huge deal.

- Yeah~ It’s already over the line.

- Still, breaking the barrier is too much, isn’t it?

- Yeah, even in a poorly made game, it’s too much.

The viewers, seeing Cheng Jihan’s spear being blocked by the barrier, thought that Battle.net had at least some decency.

Even though Cheng Jihan had cut a Flash Golem in one stroke and received the Conqueror’s statue’s recognition,

it was still just about defeating a boss-level monster within the game.

This barrier, however, was a system-enforced element to make them kill each other. How could it be broken?

The viewers thought that the survival map was too boring, and that Cheng Jihan was giving them a unique challenge.

- What, it didn’t break through? Haha

- Is it getting boring?

Therefore, they thought Cheng Jihan would soon give up, but…

Cheng Jihan didn’t.

‘It might be possible.’

Cheng Jihan retracted the Phoenix Arrow and used Immortal’s Guidance again.

Sssss!

The flame bloomed on the barrier once more.

The target was the same as before.

The barrier was slightly indented compared to before.

‘It’s working.’

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

Immortal’s Guidance was used in succession.

Repeated thrusts.

The inner energy from his lower dantian rapidly disappeared,

and the power from his upper and middle dantian quickly drained, but…

Cheng Jihan’s consecutive attacks were getting faster.

- ????????????

- What? How many times did he thrust? Why is it getting faster?

- Bang, bang, bang, bang... 10 times...?!

- You’re counting that too?

- 13 times! So fast, insane;

And the 14th Immortal’s Guidance.

‘This is my last inner energy.’

With all the power from his dantians gathered in one thrust,

Pierce!

The barrier, unable to hold any longer, was pierced by the Phoenix Arrow.

Of course, breaking through didn’t mean the entire barrier shattered.

Just a single point.

A small hole appeared only where the Phoenix Arrow had repeatedly struck.

However,

it was enough to shock the viewers.

- Wow...

- Really broke it? This thing?

- If he can do this, he should quickly reach Silver, even nationally.

- Silver? Haha, he could go straight to Gold, right?

How could a Bronze player break a system-enforced barrier?

The viewers were shocked but also a bit disappointed.

- Still, the hole is pretty small.

- Can’t meet the elf even if the barrier is broken.

- Haha, if that happened, he’d get a ton of subscribers, right?

Breaking the barrier was impressive, but it wasn’t big enough for a person to pass through.

If the hole had been bigger, he could have approached the elf in the audience.

The viewers were disappointed that such a scene didn’t unfold.

Meanwhile,

Cheng Jihan smiled bitterly at the elves in the audience, who showed no particular interest despite the barrier being pierced.

‘This isn’t even provoking them.’

Especially the dark elf with black eyes, who continued to look at him with the same ominous gaze as before.

‘Hmm…’

Cheng Jihan looked at the hole in the barrier where his spear was embedded.

With that size, he could meet the dark elf’s gaze without the barrier’s blocking effect.

Since he had exhausted all his inner energy, he couldn’t do anything else.

Cheng Jihan decided to look directly at the dark elf through the hole.

Swish-

As he pulled out the Phoenix Arrow, the barrier began to regenerate instantly.

But before it could be filled, Cheng Jihan saw through the hole to the other side of the audience.

And,

‘This is…!’

For the first time since regressing, Cheng Jihan felt a chill down his spine.

Beyond the pierced barrier was darkness.

Like the black eyes of the dark elf, a sinister darkness, devoid of any light, swirled within.

‘Is this… the reality beyond the barrier?’

Swoosh-

As the barrier quickly recovered, the scene beyond it returned to the same audience.

Elves were being served by the dark elf, and the dark elf at the back was looking at Cheng Jihan with black eyes.

However, Cheng Jihan, watching the dark elf, felt cold sweat run down his spine.

‘…This power is unexpected.’

The darkness beyond the barrier, even by the standards of his previous life, was overwhelmingly powerful.

Is this the level required to be a Throne?

* * *

- Why is he suddenly like that?

- I’ve never seen Cheng Jihan surprised like this. Haha

- What? What did he see?!!!!

- He peeked through the barrier at the elf, but there was only...

- Shh!

The viewers watching Cheng Jihan’s stream were puzzled.

They only saw Cheng Jihan’s surprised expression as he looked through the hole, but they didn’t perceive the darkness.

Only Cheng Jihan had observed that unprecedented power.

[There are 50 survivors.]

[The survival game has ended.]

Cheng Jihan’s eyes were deeply sunken as he read the message.

‘I’ll test the other directions, but…’

South and North.

He would try the same with the directions where the two elf queens were, but Cheng Jihan was already half-convinced.

The dark elf with black eyes and the darkness he saw earlier were related to the Throne, the ‘Shadow Queen.’

[You have ranked 1st in the survival game.]

[Your level has increased by 1.]

[As a 1st place reward, your experience and GP gain will increase by 50%.]

[You have obtained 1,500 GP.]

Cheng Jihan dismissed the now familiar system messages.

‘Level up after three games.’

Now that he was in his 20s, the level-up speed had slowed down.

‘This isn’t enough.’

Cheng Jihan, who had increased his physical stats, clenched and unclenched his fist, sighing.

He was dissatisfied with his growth speed for the first time.

To oppose that intense darkness, to provoke the Shadow Queen, he needed more power.

Therefore, Cheng Jihan decided to finally use the achievement points he had accumulated.

‘I have 75,200 achievement points so far.’

Although he had already completed all the major achievement quests in the game,

[The channel has over 50,000 subscribers.]

[You have completed the general achievement, ‘Recruit Subscribers (2).’]

[You have obtained 3,000 achievement points as a reward.]

While progressing from level 16 to 22, he had completed the subscriber quest and other minor quests, allowing him to accumulate more achievement points.

‘Now is the time to use them.’

Cheng Jihan opened the achievement shop and upgraded it by spending 50,000 points.

[The achievement shop has reached level 5.]

[The limit for lower upgrade items is now level 2.]

[The ‘Add Throne Slot’ item has been added.]

Cheng Jihan nodded as he read the system messages.

Add Throne Slot.

‘I knew it would come eventually, but it’s sooner than expected.’

An additional system message appeared.

[Currently, Earth is in the tutorial season. Even if you purchase the ‘Add Throne Slot’ item, it will not be visible on your status screen.]

‘Well, the concept of a Throne doesn’t exist yet.’

Cheng Jihan opened the upgraded shop.

[Achievement Shop Level 5]

- Upgrade Achievement Shop - 100,000P

- Expand Status Screen Level 1 - 10,000P

- Add Class Slot Level 2 - 50,000P

- Expand Inventory Level 1 - 10,000P

- Add Title Slot Level 1 - 10,000P

- Emergency Recovery (Item) - 10,000P

- Add Throne Slot Level 1 - 50,000P

The prices made his brows furrow.

‘Expensive…’

With the shop at level 5, the cost of achievement points had significantly increased.

Adding a Class Slot Level 2 cost 50,000 points, and adding a Throne Slot also cost 50,000 points, unlike the other items.

‘The shop’s effects are so outstanding, so paying this much is reasonable, I guess.’

Indeed.

The achievement shop had effects that could distort the very foundation of the system, making it incredibly powerful.

Cheng Jihan, convinced of this, thought about the problem at hand: the power needed to oppose the Shadow Queen.

‘Adding a class is out of the question for now.’

He currently had 25,200 achievement points.

Adding another class would cost 50,000 points, and based on experience, it didn’t seem like he could gather the remaining points until the next promotion.

‘Expanding the inventory or status screen is also useless.’

Both would be nice to have, but they wouldn’t immediately boost his combat power.

Among the items he could upgrade, the one that could help the most was…

‘Titles.’

Cheng Jihan checked the title he was currently wearing.

[Master of the Tutorial - Bronze]

- A title given to players who rank 1st in the tutorial.

- In the Bronze League, all stats increase by +1, and experience gain increases by 20%.

It was a basic title, but it was quite useful.

‘And now that I’m level 25… I can get another title.’

Level 25.

The end of what could be achieved in Bronze and the level at which promotion was possible.

However, just reaching the Bronze limit didn’t automatically grant a title.

‘But I’m different. I have Physical 30.’

Physical 30.

This was the ‘condition’ needed to obtain the Unnamed Divine Skill.

If he successfully obtained the Unnamed Divine Skill here…

‘I will get [Heir of the God of Martial Arts].’

The title [Heir of the God of Martial Arts].

It was an incredibly powerful title that Cheng Jihan had used until the end of his previous life.

Wearing it would greatly boost his combat power.

Cheng Jihan decided to add a title slot.

[You have purchased Add Title Slot Level 1.]

[10,000 achievement points have been deducted.]

After spending the achievement points once,

Knock knock!

A knock on the door was heard.