In the Guild Master's office of the Daegi Guild.

"Wow, does constellation sponsorship have such an effect...?"

Lee Hayeon's eyes widened as she listened to Seong Jihan's explanation.

"Yes. So, I plan to select and nurture two people from the warrior class. One spot should probably go to Yoon Sejin."

"Yes. He's the only warrior with an SSS-grade gift as the Sword King."

"Really? There are no more SSS-grades?"

"No. Limited to the warrior class, only the Sword King has SSS-grade."

Humanity had quite a few SSS-grade gifts, but

The warrior class still only had one Sword King?

 

"Then we should allocate one spot to a warrior with an SS-grade gift. Who's doing well these days?"

 

"The SS-grade gift warriors are all pretty similar, but... Ah. Do you remember Shinsong Il-ryong from before?"

"Shinsong Il-ryong... Was he the warrior who used the 108 Arhats technique?"

He was definitely a player with the Shaolin Abbot gift.

He was quite a troublesome existence when we were facing off against the Chinese national team.

"Yes. He failed to become a male half-elf before, so his level is still preserved high. Of course, if you're bothered by the past conflicts, we can pick another player..."

As Seong Jihan nodded at Lee Hayeon's words,

"By the way, speaking of Il-ryong... Wasn't there also Wang Lin the Heavenly Demon in China? What's that player up to?"

Recalling Wang Lin, who had been active as an SSS-grade warrior during the China matches, he asked her.

Come to think of it, he didn't seem to appear in the national team matches either.

Did this person also have their level reset after becoming a male half-elf?

Lee Hayeon answered Seong Jihan's question with a gloomy face.

"Ah... Boss. The World Tree Alliance took away that person."

"What?"

Taken away by the Alliance?

As Seong Jihan looked bewildered, she elaborated.

"They said the Heavenly Demon Body was a special gift that only applied to humans. They took Wang Lin away, saying he was a talent meant to be active in the World Tree Alliance's homeland, not the colony. At that time, people all over the world envied him..."

"...Because he went up from the colony to the homeland?"

"Yes. Now, China and the global BattleNet Association want to find him, but there's no way to do so..."

So that was why he wasn't appearing in matches.

There was such a behind-the-scenes story.

Seong Jihan nodded.

"Can't be helped then. Let's sponsor Il-ryong. The 108 Arhats technique could be useful for tying down opponents if nurtured well."

"Yes, yes. Then I'll contact the People's Association right away."

Following Seong Jihan's instructions, Lee Hayeon picked up her phone.

She was about to call the People's Association that Il-ryong belonged to, but paused for a moment.

"By the way... Will the sponsorship slot be empty until Il-ryong accepts the offer?"

"One will be empty. Yoon Sejin will occupy one slot."

Since he had withdrawn sponsorship from Yoon Seah and Sophia,

There were two slots available.

After meeting with Yoon Sejin and giving him constellation sponsorship, one slot would remain until Il-ryong accepted the offer.

At Seong Jihan's explanation, Lee Hayeon cautiously spoke up.

"Then... Could you sponsor me in the meantime?"

"You, Hayeon?"

"Yes. I'm curious if it might have an effect on my nurturing gift..."

"Hmm. That's worth testing."

Seong Jihan nodded and immediately sent a constellation sponsorship offer to Lee Hayeon.

As she accepted the constellation offer,

Zing...

A system message appeared before Lee Hayeon's eyes.

"Um... It says the growth efficiency of nurturing has increased by 20% due to the sponsoring constellation."

"20%... That's ambiguous."

That was a shame.

Of course, that 20% applied to all members of the Daegi Guild, so it was useful, but using one of only two sponsorship slots for this seemed a waste.

"I guess we should focus your sponsorship on warriors after all, Boss."

"That would be better. Still, I'll keep sponsoring you until Il-ryong accepts the offer."

"Yes. Then I'll contact the People's Association..."

Just as Lee Hayeon was about to contact Il-ryong,

Knock. Knock.

There was a knocking sound from the Guild Master's office door.

"Ah. The Sword King is here. I'll open it."

Lim Gayeong, who was behind Lee Hayeon, opened the door.

Yoon Sejin entered the Guild Master's office with a tense face.

Then, seeing Seong Jihan inside,

"You're here, Jihan-nim."

He bowed politely at a 90-degree angle.

"...Why are you suddenly like this again, Sejin."

"No. I've committed sins, yet you're offering sponsorship again, so I don't know how to face you..."

"That's enough, just act normal."

"Hmm. This is... I'm so ashamed."

"If you keep this up, I won't sponsor you."

"Ah. Alright."

Returning to his normal posture, Yoon Sejin scratched his cheek.

"You've heard about the sponsorship from Seah to some extent, right?"

"Uh... She said the effect is really good when receiving your sponsorship?"

"Yes. It has the effect of raising martial talent, so it will suit warriors best. How many Tower of Martial Gods floors have you cleared currently?"

"Hmm... My best record is the 18th floor."

Even though the difficulty had been lowered, the Tower of Martial Gods was still challenging from the 10th floor up.

Breaking through to the 18th floor meant he had the best talent among humanity.

"As expected, Sejin needs to return to the human representative team quickly."

As Seong Jihan offered constellation sponsorship,

"...I'm always indebted to you."

Yoon Sejin accepted it with an apologetic face, then,

"No...?!"

Suddenly his eyes widened.

"Th-this is...!"

"What's wrong?"

"J-just a moment... May I draw my sword?"

As Seong Jihan nodded,

Shing...!

Yoon Sejin took out his twin swords, Ganjang and Makya, from his inventory.

And then,

Whoosh! Whoosh!

After swinging his swords in the air several times,

"Ah...!"

He suddenly let out an exclamation, closed his eyes, and,

"So... This was it... The direction has been completely wrong all along...!"

Tears began to stream down his face.

'...Why is he suddenly crying?'

Did something go wrong with the sponsorship?

Swoosh...

As Yoon Sejin put one of his twin swords back in his inventory and swung just one sword in the air,

'Oho.'

Seong Jihan's gaze, which had been looking at him like he was crazy, changed.

'His movements have definitely improved.'

The gift "Twin Sword Mastery" was a gift that only activated when wielding two swords.

Normally, with just one sword like now, the SSS-grade gift shouldn't activate.

But Yoon Sejin's sword was better than when the gift was activated.

Was this the effect of the Blue stat being applied?

'Even with just a tiny bit of Dongbang Sak's Martial Arts... He's quite talented.'

Well.

At that level, it would be considered a bug-like ability in BattleNet.

As Seong Jihan was satisfied watching Yoon Sejin improve immediately after receiving sponsorship,

"Um... Sword King?"

Lee Hayeon cautiously spoke up.

"My office is spacious, but continuously swinging your sword like that is a bit..."

"Ah. S-sorry. Receiving the sponsorship instantly cleared up my past delusions..."

Yoon Sejin, coming to his senses, apologized to Lee Hayeon with a bow, then quickly said to Seong Jihan.

"S-sorry, but may I challenge the tower right now? I want to swing my sword as soon as possible."

"Of course. I look forward to your new record."

"I'll definitely live up to the constellation's words."

With a beaming face, Yoon Sejin left to challenge the Tower of Martial Gods.

"...Unlike me, the sponsorship effect seems amazing for the Sword King."

"My sponsorship contains martial arts, so he probably resolved some blockage."

"Ah I see..."

As Lee Hayeon nodded,

Lim Gayeong, who had been quietly watching from behind, sparkled her eyes.

"Um... Is there any way I could get a little bit too?"

"Gayeong, why you too?"

"The Plum Blossom Sword Technique is so difficult..."

"No. How can you ask the Boss for such a thing? It must be troublesome."

Lee Hayeon admonished Lim Gayeong's request, but,

"It's fine. It's not difficult at all."

Seong Jihan withdrew the sponsorship from Lee Hayeon and passed it to Lim Gayeong.

"Thank you!"

As Lim Gayeong bowed her head to Seong Jihan in gratitude,

"Ah..."

Drip drip.

Suddenly, tears flowed from her eyes.

'...Again?'

Yoon Seah and Sophia didn't react like this.

The warriors kept crying when they received sponsorship.

"...Why are you crying now?"

Lee Hayeon, looking dumbfounded, chided Lim Gayeong, but,

"The Plum Blossom Sword was this easy all along...!"

She wasn't even listening to Lee Hayeon's words.

She was taking out her sword from her inventory.

As the Guild Master's office was about to turn into a training ground again,

Lee Hayeon shouted.

"Hey. Go outside to do that!"

"Ah, s-sorry. May I challenge the Tower of Martial Gods too...?"

"Go ahead."

"Thank you!"

Flash!

With Seong Jihan's permission, Lim Gayeong immediately disappeared into the Tower of Martial Gods.

"Geez. They say it's good..."

Lee Hayeon clicked her tongue looking at where Lim Gayeong had disappeared, but,

"Boss. Can I contact the People's Association in an hour...?"

"An hour?"

"Yes. Gayeong will be kicked out of the tower within an hour anyway..."

She was still considering Lim Gayeong.

"What can she do in an hour? Contact the People's Association tomorrow."

"T-tomorrow?"

"Yes. By then, she should grasp the Plum Blossom Sword technique."

Seong Jihan said this and then,

"I'll come back tomorrow then."

He waved to Lee Hayeon and disappeared.

"...Really."

Lee Hayeon looked at where Seong Jihan had disappeared with fond eyes for a moment, then,

"Well, let's see how far our Gayeong can climb."

She sat back down and turned on Lim Gayeong's BattleTube.

* * *

The next day.

[Seong Jihan begins constellation sponsorship.]

[The sponsored players are Sword King Yoon Sejin and Shinsong Il-ryong.]

-Wow, Seong Jihan-nim is supporting Il-ryong...

-It really feels like times have changed considering the China matches.

-Now's not the time to care about nationality; our warriors are too weak.

-Isn't it beneficial if he can tie down enemies like dragons with the 108 Arhats technique?

-But can't he sponsor more than 2 people...? haha

-The Daegi Guild said 2 is the maximum.

Public attention focused on Seong Jihan starting constellation sponsorship.

While there had been many players receiving constellation sponsorship before,

This was the first administrator-level sponsorship since Yggdrasil's rule.

People were interested to see what effects it would have.

And a few days later,

-The sponsorship effect is insane lol.

-No way, the Sword King broke through the 30th floor too...

Viewers were indirectly experiencing the administrator's sponsorship effect through their screens.

Yoon Sejin, whose best record was the 18th floor, was now breaking through to the 30th floor in an unstoppable momentum.

-But the enemy on the 31st floor looks pretty strong.

-Ah, what a shame...

-Sadly eliminated on the 31st floor?

-Wow, still set a new record for humanity.

-There's definitely a different dimension after receiving Seong Jihan-nim's sponsorship.

Although he was unfortunately eliminated on the 31st floor,

Flash...!

Yoon Sejin re-entered the Tower of Martial Gods without even resting after defeat.

-Wow, how many days has the Sword King gone without sleep?

-He's been climbing the Tower of Martial Gods for 4 days straight.

-He's not even playing regular games?

-They say tower climbing gives more experience than that.

He seemed intent on making the most of Seong Jihan's sponsorship while he had it.

He kept challenging the tower without even sleeping.

Perhaps because of this,

-Il-ryong is also on an endless challenge spree lol

-I heard he asked the Sword King if he was going to keep challenging? Seems like he'd go to sleep if the Sword King rested.

The other player sponsored by Seong Jihan,

Shinsong Il-ryong was also continuing to challenge without sleeping.

-Wasn't his best record the 17th floor? What rest?

-Still, the Sword King's gift is so broken, Il-ryong is just SS-grade.

-Aren't there any more SSS-grade warriors? Feels like a waste to push Il-ryong.

-For real... I get they're nurturing warriors because they're weak, but his talent is lacking.

Perhaps because he lacked the Sword King's broken gift,

Despite receiving Seong Jihan's sponsorship, Il-ryong couldn't break past the 20th floor.

"Il-ryong should rest now. His eyes are unfocused."

Meanwhile, in the data analysis room located inside the Daegi Guild,

Seong Jihan was watching screens displaying Yoon Sejin and Il-ryong's personal BattleTubes with his arms crossed.

"Yes. Should I notify him that we're withdrawing sponsorship right away?"

"Please do. He needs to rest when it's time, so we'll give another warrior a chance."

Following Seong Jihan's instructions, Lee Hayeon immediately sent a sponsorship message to Il-ryong's BattleTube.

Il-ryong, who was about to enter combat,

[Ah... I understand. If Seong Jihan-nim sees it that way, it must be right.]

Immediately agreed to the message about withdrawing constellation sponsorship.

-He doesn't seem very regretful about Seong Jihan-nim withdrawing sponsorship. lol

-Il-ryong has died over 100 times trying the Tower of Martial Gods for 4 days and nights... He might actually welcome that notification?

-Does this mean sponsorship moves to the next warrior?

-Are they not nurturing classes other than warriors yet?

-They say they're focusing on warriors first since they're too weak.

In the human representative team, the most vulnerable class was indeed the warriors.

Additionally, "Dongbang Sak's Martial Arts" which was slightly applied through Seong Jihan's sponsorship,

Was most effective for warriors, so Seong Jihan's sponsorship was planned to be applied to warriors for the time being.

"Besides Il-ryong, who's next among the warriors?"

"Ah. Here's a list of warriors with SS-grade gifts. The Space League representative team coach hoped these players would be intensively nurtured."

Seong Jihan briefly scanned the player list handed over by Lee Hayeon.

The coach's picks focused on players with defensive-related gifts among the SS-grades.

Considering the reality of the human representative team's weak frontline, it was an unavoidable choice, but,

'It feels a bit disappointing.'

With Dongbang Sak's Martial Arts and Blue stat buff applied through sponsorship,

It felt like a waste to nurture defensive-type warriors instead of well-rounded ones like Yoon Sejin.

'But it's not like we have talented warriors like Sejin... Let's nurture the coach's picks for now.'

He had no choice with the lack of talent.

As Seong Jihan was deciding to rotate sponsorship among the available resources,

Zing...

[Hey head! How have you been?]

The Dead Star Constellation sent him a message.