Chapter 9

<Chapter 9: The Godly Warrior Who Regressed to Level 2>

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-Back in the day, the price of holy relics was really cheap.

The Saintess reminisced about the old days.

-The items labeled as holy relics had high item grades, but their stats weren't that great.

-Really?

-Yes. Even so, when the Earth tutorial first started in 2010, people thought there must be some secret, so the prices were high...

The Saintess spread her hands and said,

-But after ten years, when the secrets of the holy relics remained unsolved, the prices hit rock bottom.

-So? Get to the point.

-You're so impatient. I was going to tell you about the history of holy relic collection.

She pouted and then got to the main point that Seong Jihan wanted to hear.

-Among the holy relics, there are extraterrestrial relics.

-I know.

-If you hold one and pray while focusing divine power, you can gain divine power with the message, 'Understood the extraterrestrial god.'

-...Is that it?

-Yes. It has to be an extraterrestrial relic, and you have to hold it for quite a long time.

-It seems like an easy condition, but I don't understand why it wasn't widely known.

-From the supporter's perspective, there's no need to use extraterrestrial relics. Holy relics from Earth's religions, like Christianity or Buddhism, give direct divine power bonuses to supporters. Extraterrestrial relics don't have that.

The Saintess tilted her head slightly.

-But thinking about it now, I didn't think I was the only one who knew this method. There was someone who consistently bought extraterrestrial relics.

-Really?

-Yes. But they disappeared after 2019.

At the time, she didn't think much of it.

However, while searching his brother-in-law's penthouse, Seong Jihan figured out who the other buyer was.

'It was my sister.'

Seong Jihan's sister, Seong Ji-a.

She was also at the pinnacle of the supporter class in Korea.

'A Saintess.'

And she sacrificed herself to prevent a massive 'incident' in Korea in 2019.

The disappearance of purchases after 2019, as mentioned by the American Saintess, matched the timeline.

'And... a large number of extraterrestrial relics were found in my sister's room storage.'

While exploring his brother-in-law's penthouse, Seong Jihan discovered a pile of extraterrestrial relics in the storage area his sister used.

And most of the items were labeled:

[Extraterrestrial Relic (F-Rank)]

-It was an extraterrestrial relic, but the divine power has disappeared, making it useless.

The item descriptions were written like this.

However, a few items were not F-Rank.

'For example, this one.' *Crack! Crack!*

Seong Jihan smashed a zombie's head with a bar while recalling the description of this item.

[Extraterrestrial Relic - Bar (E-Rank)]

-A weapon with high durability.

-Extraterrestrial priests strengthen their faith by smashing the heads of heretics.

Perhaps because it required smashing the heads of heretics to strengthen faith, this item remained in his sister's storage without its divine power being absorbed.

And every time Seong Jihan smashed a zombie's head,

[Understanding of extraterrestrial faith deepens.]

[Divine power slightly increases.]

These messages kept appearing.

Especially when dealing with powerful Blood Zombies,

[The relic is pleased to meet a terrible heretic.]

[Divine power arises on its own, fitting its original purpose.]

It was teaching Seong Jihan, who had low divine power, how to use it.

'Some aspects are similar to raising qi.'

Of course, raising qi and using divine power had different starting points.

If qi starts from the lower dantian, divine power extends from the head to the hands.

In any case, both are a form of energy.

After receiving guidance from divine power once, Seong Jihan naturally began to manifest divine power as a weapon.

*Crack!*

Another Blood Zombie's head exploded and burned with white holy fire.

His overwhelming martial prowess was far beyond that of a Level 6 Bronze player.

After killing over a hundred zombies and smashing the heads of ten Blood Zombies,

[Complete understanding of extraterrestrial faith.]

[Divine power increases by 1.]

[The rank of 'Extraterrestrial Relic - Bar' drops to F-Rank.]

The divine power of the bar was absorbed, and its rank dropped.

Even though it was F-Rank, it was still usable.

The divine power in the relic was gone, but the bar's durability remained.

'Now, I'll conserve divine power as much as possible during battles.'

Despite the heads of many comrades exploding, the zombies continued to charge without hesitation.

*Crack! Crack! Crack!*

He didn't use divine power on regular zombies and smashed their heads.

*Screech!*

When smoke rose among the zombies, he raised divine power in the bar to prepare for Blood Zombies.

Through perfect power distribution, Seong Jihan didn't retreat a single step and killed all the zombies.

"Wow. He's insane..."

The archer stared at his back in amazement.

Was this the power of a Jangpanpa's equipment?

The movement of the bar.

It hit the zombies' heads with bone-chilling accuracy, as if he could perceive all their movements.

Meanwhile, Im Gayoung was even more amazed by Seong Jihan's strength from a warrior's perspective.

'...His power control is perfect.'

He didn't manifest divine power on regular zombies.

Only when facing Blood Zombies, he used divine power just before smashing their heads, conserving his strength.

Im Gayoung was also Bronze, but thanks to her exceptional gift, she could handle sword qi.

She knew how difficult that was.

'...As the lady said, it was lucky I didn't meet him in the Colosseum.'

Seong Jihan.

His martial prowess was unparalleled.

The bar that shattered zombie heads like watermelons.

'Could I have dodged that?'

Im Gayoung was unsure.

After Seong Jihan had been fighting alone for dozens of minutes,

The game changed.

"Oh. Another tower has already been eliminated! We're not last! We're not last!"

The archer checked the scoreboard and rejoiced.

They had 430 kills, placing them 10th, while the last place tower had 478 kills.

"Let's help that person! We need to increase our kill count!"

The archer, who had been acting differently from when she criticized Seong Jihan, readied her arrow.

If five towers were eliminated, the next ranking would be based on kill count, so they needed to kill as many zombies as possible.

"Can I join?"

When Im Gayoung asked for permission, Seong Jihan looked at the scoreboard.

'478... It's impossible to clear 1,000 kills.'

The linked quest to eliminate 1,000 zombies.

Despite continuously smashing zombies, it was impossible to clear it in time.

'When I level up, I'll face stronger opponents, so I'll have more time.'

But in the new game, the situation would be different from when he was fighting zombies alone due to trolls.

'Should I go down and complete this achievement?'

Seong Jihan looked down at the tower while smashing zombies.

The number of zombies on the ground was incomparable to those climbing the tower.

Even with the support of martial stats, it was impossible now.

'I'll have to challenge it after growing more.'

Seong Jihan postponed the linked quest and answered Im Gayoung.

"Do it."

"Yes!"

*Swish*-

With Seong Jihan's permission, Im Gayoung drew her sword with determination.

It looked more like a Chinese sword than a Western one.

When she drew her sword, a plum blossom fragrance filled the air.

Seong Jihan, upon smelling the fragrance, recalled who she was.

'Im Gayoung. I remember... the Plum Sword.'

Plum Sword Im Gayoung.

After Sword King Yun Sejin left Korea, she was a promising candidate to represent the next generation of warriors in Korea.

When Seong Jihan awakened his gift late and rapidly grew with the Unknown God Technique,

She was already one of the top players in Korea.

'...But she didn't have a good ending.'

In the final match of the Northeast Asia League, which led to Korea's downfall, she participated as a representative and died.

At the hands of Sword King Yun Sejin, who had become a top player in Japan.

'This time, she won't die, so she should be grateful to me.'

Seong Jihan, thinking he would naturally become the representative of Korea, was displaying strength befitting that role.

"Oh...! Two more towers have been eliminated. We're third! Only 10 zombies behind first place!"

The archer, who was more of a commentator than a player, shouted excitedly while keeping the scoreboard up.

Seong Jihan, hearing this, decided it was time to make his move.

"10 zombies, and it's almost over. Let's push it a bit."

"...?"

"Please stay in position."

How can we push it further here?

Im Gayoung was puzzled but nodded.

Then,

"I'm going."

*Flash*!

A blinding white light bloomed at the end of the bar.

Seong Jihan, in that state, fell down from the tower.

"Huh, hah... 12 kills. The gap is widening. Just a bit more... Uh...! Where are you going?!"

The archer, who had been enthusiastically commentating, was shocked when Seong Jihan fell from the tower.

"Wh...? The kill count...! It's catching up instantly! Now second place! Just 3 more kills!"

She couldn't hide her smile as the kill count rapidly increased.

The mountain of zombies at the base of the tower

was being burned by the bar enveloped in divine power.

'Anyway, it's almost over. Time to use all the divine power.'

*Whoosh*!

The divine power, like a comet, easily tore through the zombie horde, burning his entire body with holy fire.

The fire quickly spread to the surrounding zombies.

*Screech*!

It didn't take long for the mountain of zombies that had climbed to the top of the tower to be covered in white flames.

"1st place!!! We're 1st place! 1st place! Wow, this is... real? A supporter?"

The archer, who thought they would be last, danced in disbelief.

1st place with 561 kills!

Of which, 550 were done by Seong Jihan.

'Is this really the same person I did the tutorial with?'

Im Gayoung, watching the scene below the tower, felt a sense of futility.

The game, BattleNet.

Even though it was known for its poor balance, how could a player in their second game show such a performance?

'Should I quit the game?'

Im Gayoung was experiencing a wall she had never felt before.

[5 towers have been eliminated.]

[Defense game - 10 towers have ended.]

*Flash*.

As the game ended, Seong Jihan, who had fallen to the bottom of the tower, was summoned back up.

Though his clothes were covered in zombie blood, his body was unharmed.

"Wow... Great job! Thanks to you, we got 1st place! Finally, level 10!"

The archer, excited about getting 1st place in a game she thought was doomed, shouted happily and logged out.

"Hey, Mr. Seong Jihan."

As the archer disappeared, Im Gayoung quickly approached Seong Jihan.

Forgetting her earlier disappointment, she spoke with determination.

Seong Jihan, about to log out, looked at her.

"Do you know me?"

"I... "

Her lips moved.

I'm Im Gayoung from the Reason Guild. I want to contact you about recruitment. Can you give me your phone number?

She had prepared to say this, but...

"Can you give me your number?"

Perhaps due to her impatience, she blurted out the main point without an introduction.

"..."

"Ah. I mean, I'm from the Reason Guild... for recruitment..."

"I'm sorry, but I can't remember my number."

"..."

"I'll give it to you if we meet again."

Not knowing his own phone number?

'What a ridiculous...!'

Im Gayoung watched Seong Jihan's back as he logged out, dumbfounded.

'Did I just get rejected?'