At the top of the Tower of Martial Gods.

Seong Jihan turned on BattleTube in the desolate, empty space.

"Hello everyone. Today, we'll be adjusting the tower's difficulty."

As soon as he started broadcasting, he got straight to the point.

-??? Difficulty adjustment?

-Why so suddenly...?

-Well, it's been hell from the 2nd floor anyway.

-For real, if you get unlucky with the phantom draw, monster constellations pop out. lol

-These days it's become a luck-based climbing game, depending on whether you get the 500 life prisoners or constellations...

 

The viewers were initially surprised but quickly agreed on the need for difficulty adjustment.

 

"Up to the 10th floor, instead of being completely random like now, it will be modified so that manageable opponents appear. The floors above will have their difficulty gradually adjusted."

-So leveling up might be possible up to the 10th floor then haha.

-It's been too tough lately with only super strong enemies, so this is good.

-For real, now that we've joined the Gold League, leveling up should be easier...

While human viewers welcomed Seong Jihan's measures,

-Difficulty adjustment... at this timing?

-Well, at least climbing to the 10th floor will be easier.

-What's the point when hellish random phantoms will pop out from the 11th floor again.

-Even if you struggle to reach the 40th floor, won't you just get crushed instantly by the Martial God.

-Doesn't stat reset not apply to the tower owner? Why is he so strong alone?

-Humans don't get level downs, but we're taking too many losses here...

Alien players seemed dissatisfied despite easier climbing.

Not only was it hard to reach the top floor, but even if they somehow made it, they would explode as soon as they were summoned to face Seong Jihan.

'I see why the queue is shrinking.'

Alien players served as experience fodder for Seong Jihan and humanity.

Until now they participated for the sake of new content and experience, but now there was clearly a need to dangle a carrot.

"I understand your concerns well. Since you probably can't beat me anyway... I'm thinking of giving a new reward to players who reach the top floor."

-Oh, a reward!

-Wow, he's so sure we can't win... Doesn't that hurt our pride?

-What pride lol Just try to survive one hit from the Martial God and take the reward.

-For real, everyone's complaining after exploding.

-But no matter what reward he gives, how good could it be...

The viewers didn't have high expectations at first as they waited for the Martial God's reward announcement, but

"If you reach the top floor, I'll give you 1 point of the 'Red' stat."

When Seong Jihan mentioned giving Red,

-???

-What?

-The Red stat?

-Isn't that... the Red Administrator's ability?

-Whoa, he's crazy;;

-For real? He's really giving Red?

The chat went wild.

"You don't have to beat me. It's fine if you can't block a single attack. Just reaching the top floor will earn you Red. However."

Seong Jihan slightly raised the corner of his mouth.

"The Tower of Martial Gods needs to reach 50 floors for me to give this reward. There's no reward system in place before that."

-50 floors...!

-Lately it's been going up about 1 floor every day or two, won't it reach 50 floors soon?

-Yeah, 3 weeks at most?

-Wow, gotta prepare quickly.

-The queue is exploding. lol

-Who spread the rumor already? Viewers are pouring in.

-Isn't this fraud...? What if we become hosts after getting Red?

-What host with just 1 stat... Well, good riddance, one less competitor haha.

As soon as he announced giving Red for reaching the top floor, alien viewers flooded in.

The rate of increase seemed like it would soon break the record from when the Tower of Martial Gods first opened.

And not long after,

[Stat 'White Light' increases by 1.]

A message appeared saying White Light had increased.

'Is it because participation skyrocketed?'

It was worth offering the Red stat as a reward.

Seong Jihan watched the alien players' reactions and made his final announcement.

"So today, we'll temporarily suspend operations for difficulty adjustment."

-Oh no...

-We need to grow the tower quickly...!

-My Red stat!

-Did you leave it with them, you crazy fools. lol

-Hoping for a quick reopening.

-Does this reset the queue too? I'll keep clicking the tower...

The recently worsening public opinion had completely reversed.

Alien players were now more eager than humans for the tower to reopen.

"I'll announce again when it reopens."

With those final words, Seong Jihan ended the broadcast.

'Offering an administrator ability as a prize really changed everyone's reaction.'

Seong Jihan was satisfied seeing the reversal in public opinion, but,

[This level of reaction is lukewarm. The interest is too low for offering my ability.]

'White Light already went up by 1 though?'

[It should rise faster when Red is on the line.]

The Red Administrator wasn't satisfied at all.

'You're quite the perfectionist.'

[You're too laid-back. Urd may be quiet now, but who knows what she's planning behind the scenes. We need to attract more alien players, even if it means giving out more Red.]

'Give out even more from here?'

[Yes. Make a pledge. If the queue gets longer and alien viewers increase above a certain number... say you'll give Red not just on the 50th floor, but the 49th too.]

And if it increased more, 48th, 47th...

The Red Administrator was the one proposing to give out his ability on lower floors too.

'Isn't that too much, even with Hell?'

[I really need to find out about this Update-Hephaestus.]

'Well... if that's what you want.'

There was no need to stop him if he wanted to give out his own ability.

Plus, Seong Jihan himself felt a pang of guilt at being called "laid-back" by the Red Administrator.

'I guess I let my guard down after Urd's defeat last time, since she's been so quiet...'

Urd had appeared hastily at the Tower of Martial Gods and was defeated without even being able to make her clock due to stat adjustment, but,

Thinking about it the other way, this proved the enormous stat difference between the current Seong Jihan and Urd.

'I shouldn't relax just because she's quiet.'

He needed to grow quickly, even if it meant giving out more Red as the Red Administrator suggested.

'Alright. Let's set aside administrator pride for now and promote giving out Red.'

[Right. Pride isn't important right now.]

As Seong Jihan turned on BattleTube again to promote offering the Red stat,

Humanity was facing its first Space League match after joining the Gold League.

* * *

Space League 1st match.

Humanity's opponent was the Silver Dragon Clan.

[Humanity... the race under the Blue Administrator's command.]

"How did you know that...?"

[There's been no one as famous as the Blue Administrator on BattleTube lately.]

It seemed alien BattleTube viewing was possible at the Gold League level.

The Silver Dragon Clan representative knew well about humanity and the Blue Administrator.

[To join after receiving 3 wins despite being favored by an administrator... I can guess your skill level.]

While looking down on humanity, the Silver Dragon didn't hesitate to use their ban card.

Both races chose the commonly used 1-10 3-person ban, and,

=The Silver Dragon Clan's 1st, 3rd, and 5th ranks have been banned!

=In contrast, humanity's 5th, 7th, and 10th ranks were banned. It seems the goddess of fortune is smiling on humanity!

=That's right. It's a good start!

When the ban card results turned out best, people held out hope.

However,

=Ah...!

=Th-the Silver Dragon's ice breath...

=The representative team is wiped out!

The Silver Dragon Clan that had risen to the Gold League was overwhelming.

The human representative team was swept away by the breath of just one of the seven Silver Dragons.

Yoon Seah was the only survivor left.

[...It's not over yet!]

Yoon Seah desperately resisted against the seven Silver Dragons, drawing upon the void, but,

=Ah... Even Yoon Seah, the last survivor, falls in the end!

=Player Yoon Seah. She managed to take down 2 Silver Dragons alone, but couldn't overcome the numerical disadvantage.

=The dragon clan in the Bronze League was strong, but it's incomparable to this Silver Dragon Clan...

There was a limit to Yoon Seah's power without the Great Vessel of Void.

After losing the first match like this,

[Only the first rank is worth anything.]

The Silver Dragon Clan immediately grasped humanity's strength and changed their strategy.

=Ah...

=The Silver Dragon Clan immediately bans only Yoon Seah!

=With this, there's no player who can survive that ice breath from earlier...

=The first match must have been because our defenses weren't fully prepared! Now that we know the opponent's attack, if we prepare before the second match...!

The commentators tried to put a positive spin on it, saying the first match was lost due to lack of preparation.

They claimed they could block the breath attack from the second match onward.

But,

Fwoosh...!

As soon as the Silver Dragon's ice breath poured out,

=...It's a total wipeout.

The second match,

=Ah. They couldn't block it this time either...!

And the third match all ended in an instant.

[Truly pathetic. Blue Administrator, how about abandoning these and becoming our master instead?]

With those final words from the Silver Dragon Clan representative, the Space League game ended.

3:0.

Moreover, the second and third matches ended in less than a minute.

Seeing the representative team's situation, viewers let out sighs.

-I mean... I knew we'd lose, but this is too much?

-How are we supposed to eat popcorn if it ends before it even arrives... - -;

-We got crushed in Silver too, how are we supposed to survive in Gold.

-Is relegation inevitable?

-Can't we just go back to our home, Bronze...?

-Wasn't it annihilation, not relegation, for us in Silver... Wonder if Gold is different.

-For real, this isn't our level...

The skill gap should be reasonable, not this extreme.

With Yoon Seah banned, the game ended before cup ramen could even finish cooking. What could they do?

People lost their fighting spirit and wondered what penalty there would be for relegation from Gold.

Based on today's game results, humanity's relegation seemed all but certain.

Meanwhile,

"What... It's over already?"

Seong Jihan, who had just returned from the Tower of Martial Gods, let out a hollow laugh seeing the Space League match had already ended.

He had just gone to face a challenger who made it to the top floor after a long time.

Who knew the second and third matches would end in that short time he was gone.

"Let's see..."

Seong Jihan watched the replay and frowned seriously at humanity's level, with everyone except Yoon Seah being trash tier.

'Maybe I should just confirm relegation and try to avoid the extinction penalty.'

Even if there was a skill gap, this was too much.

No matter how much growth the Tower of Martial Gods provided, narrowing the gap with the other Gold League races seemed impossible.

It might be better to make a clear choice and focus here.

'...Still, maybe I should judge after returning the former male rankers to their original state.'

As Seong Jihan was lost in thought while rewatching the match between humanity and the Silver Dragon Clan,

Beep. Beep beep.

"Uncle... I'm home."

Yoon Seah entered the house with a dejected face.

"The match just ended, how are you back already?"

"We were supposed to have a team dinner after the game, but since we lost so badly... Everyone just dispersed in a gloomy mood."

Well, it was not really the atmosphere for a team dinner.

"By the way, I met a friend on the representative team and was thinking of having a small gathering at home... Is it okay to invite them?"

"Why are you asking permission? You're the homeowner."

"Oh. Right? Then I'll tell them to come over now."

Yoon Seah smiled slightly and picked up her phone.

Soon after, the elevator went down and came back up.

The guest she mentioned.

"Um... It's been a while, Jihan."

Sophia entered the house.