***

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‘Eternity?’

Calling it an incomplete ability, yet naming it Eternity.

How ironic.

Seong Jihan thought so and tried to acquire this stat.

Whether it was an incomplete stat or not, he always welcomed new stats.

When he pressed yes,

[The stat ‘Void’ interferes with the acquisition of the incomplete stat ‘Eternity’.]

The void in his body went wild and prevented the life force from gathering in one place.

Although it couldn’t eliminate the life force Seong Jihan possessed and the power that entered from the World Tree’s roots, it didn’t allow them to gather in one place to form the stat ‘Eternity’.

As a result, the life force that was checked couldn’t gather properly and,

[The stat ‘Eternity’ has been sealed at 1.]

The stat was sealed at 1 point.

‘For the void to interfere here…’

Seong Jihan frowned.

The modified World Tree root was said to be a prohibited item of the Green Administrator.

He didn’t know the void’s force could also keep Eternity in check like this.

Because the stat was at 1, the life force was very weakly gathered in a specific shape at the center of his body.

But it seemed impossible to make use of it.

The life force far from the center was blocked by the void and couldn’t reach the center.

‘Hmm… Should I try actively gathering it myself?’

Seong Jihan tried moving the various forces in his body together.

First, he extracted the void blocking the life force through Martial Soul. Through that gap, he sent the life force to the center.

Although the void’s energy strongly resisted, when the enemy’s power also joined forces to clear the void’s encirclement, a lot of life force flowed to the ‘Eternity’ at the center.

Then,

[The seal on the stat ‘Eternity’ has been temporarily released.]

[The stat ‘Eternity’ increases to 2.]

Half of the life force Seong Jihan had gathered so far disappeared and the Eternity stat rose by 1 again.

The amount of life force Seong Jihan had collected so far by stripping the elves was considerable.

Even after half of that disappeared, the Eternity stat only rose by 1 point.

However,

‘Even though it only rose by 1, it seems to be taking shape.’

When it was 1, the life force was just gathered in Eternity.

When it became 2, it wasn’t just energy gathered in one place but was forming a shape.

‘This… is a tree, right?’

The shape created by Eternity at stat 2 was a single tree.

The life force gathered there and wriggled slightly and the void’s energy had already rushed over and surrounded that tree without any gaps.

Seong Jihan instinctively realized that if he put more life force in here, the void and Eternity would intensely collide inside.

‘Then the one that will explode is my body.’

Before making Eternity 3, he had to understand this first.

Thinking so, Seong Jihan left the void to surround it for now.

[The stat ‘Eternity’ has been sealed at 2.]

Then a message popped up.

Eternity, sealed by the void, didn’t show any noticeable activity.

‘Hmm…’

Seong Jihan stopped the experiment for now and looked around.

The inside of the void training room had darkened as if it were night.

‘The map I pulled up earlier has disappeared.’

Should I pull up a new map and try handling Eternity again?

While Seong Jihan was thinking that,

[Are you done organizing your power?]

From the darkened sky above, light flashed anda bright white moon and two stars appeared.

The crescent moon is positioned like a mouth and the two stars positioned like eyes.

The three lights existing in the pitch-black night sky gradually grew and became huge eyes and a mouth.

“…Who are you?”

[We met before in the arena. May I intrude on your training ground for a moment?]

At the mention of meeting in the arena, Seong Jihan figured out the other party’s identity.

A being from the void, the owner of the arena.

He was a cosmic entity with immeasurable power, capable of leaving even remnants of incarnations in the arena.

“You’re already intruding, it seems.”

[Before causing greater inconvenience, I wanted to get permission to enter. I have an important matter regarding the item you recently obtained.]

“And what if I refuse?”

[Then I’ll have no choice but to descend to Earth… Will that be alright with you?]

The stars and moon grew even larger as he said that.

The light emitted by the two became so intense that the background was no longer night but bright like day.

If such a cosmic being descended to Earth, it would cause even bigger problems.

“Come in.”

[Thank you.]

Swoosh!

The owner of the arena, who politely replied, immediately appeared before Seong Jihan’s eyes.

* * *

‘He looks exactly the same as last time I saw him.’

The human-sized opponent wearing a neat suit and a black fedora hat.

However, his face took the form of the space, and this time, the moon and two stars in the center were emitting a bright light.

A being from the void with immeasurable power.

He politely bowed his head to Seong Jihan.

“Thank you for inviting me in.”

“So, what’s the matter?”

“You obtained the traces of the traitor Gilgamesh this time.”

“You mean the modified World Tree root strand?”

“Yes. Please provide that to us. Then, with my authority, I will release the Witch of the Void for you.”

“What?”

Wait, he’ll release my sister just for the root strand?

Before, he told me to deal with Gilgamesh, but the hurdle has drastically lowered.

“Ha, you should have come a bit earlier.”

Seong Jihan frowned and spoke, and the owner of the arena asked urgently.

“Don’t tell me you already handed it over to the World Tree side?”

“No, it’s in my body.”

“Inside your body… May I take a look?”

“Will you release my sister if you see it?”

“If I can extract the World Tree’s root, yes.”

Seong Jihan immediately nodded.

Although it was a waste to lose the value of the Eternity stat, it was nothing compared to his sister’s release.

Swoosh!

Then, the owner of the arena reached out his hand to Seong Jihan.

A subtle void energy spewed out from his hand.

“Hmm… The root has completely settled as the World Tree.”

“Is this the World Tree? It came out as the Eternity stat though.”

“Yes, that’s right. The symbol and goal of the World Tree Alliance is ‘Eternity’. But since it’s been modified, it’s a bit different from what I’ve seen…”

The starlight eyes of the arena’s owner twinkled, and he proposed to Seong Jihan.

“By any chance, are you willing to undergo extraction surgery? There’s a 99% chance you will die, but I will revive you. I’ll also release the Witch of the Void.”

In exchange for giving up Eternity, he would release his sister and resurrect him.

It wasn’t a bad exchange, but…

“What makes you think I trust you?”

In the Space League where scammers were rampant, he couldn’t readily accept a deal that put his life on the line.

At Seong Jihan’s refusal, the owner of the arena took a step back as if he had expected it.

He stared at Seong Jihan, his stars twinkling.

“…I see. That’s a pity. If you had crossed the line a bit more, I could have intervened without any agreement.”

“What’s the criteria for crossing the line?”

“If you get devoured by Eternity and become the World Tree… That would be the tipping point.”

“Become the World Tree?”

“Yes.”

The owner of the arena opened his palm.

Then, a small green tree appeared translucently above his hand.

And around it, Seong Jihan’s figure was drawn translucently.

“The Eternity currently inside you is about this much, but…”

Tap!

When he flicked his finger, the green tree grew rapidly.

It eventually collapsed Seong Jihan’s figure and grew enormously.

“When this grows, it will devour the host, take root on the planet, and become the World Tree. All those who approached Eternity met such an end.”

“Hmm…”

“If this happens to you on Earth as well, I will personally step in. Then, I can easily resolve things by also disposing of humanity, the base race of the traitor Gilgamesh.”

The owner of the arena said that if Seong Jihan was eaten by the World Tree on Earth, he would dispose of all of humanity along with it.

If someone else said that, it would sound like an empty threat.

But this being seemed to possess the power to keep his word.

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

“Then, before you become the World Tree, come visit the arena from time to time.”

“Am I confirmed to become the World Tree?”

“Yes. Exceptions have been extremely rare until now. The only case in the recent 10,000 years is Gilgamesh.”

“Gilgamesh is the only one…”

“Yes. And if you happen to obtain one more root strand, please return it to us. Then we will release the Witch of the Void…”

Swoosh…

With those final words, the owner of the arena disappeared.

‘I missed the chance to release my sister by using Heavenly Tree Descending Spirit on the root for nothing.’

Seong Jihan clicked his tongue regretfully.

The price for obtaining the stat ‘Eternity’ was this high.

And the Eternity he barely obtained was a bomb that could become the World Tree inside him if he wasn’t careful.

‘But how did Gilgamesh control this?’

The only survivor case in the recent 10,000 years was Gilgamesh.

There must be a reason why he alone was so exceptional.

What variables did he possess?

‘Is it because he survived the experiment through humanity?’

Is it due to the innate difference of being able to accept the root’s sap?

Or…

‘Come to think of it, the chains of Heavenly Tree Descending Spirit… The owner of the arena also used something similar.’

So far, there were two things that showed a power similar to the chains of Heavenly Tree Descending Spirit.

The first was the ‘Roots of Yggdrasil’ used by the ancient Elf.

This technique, named after the cosmic tree Yggdrasil, transformed into crimson chains and tried to absorb everything including Seong Jihan’s life force.

And the second was the Void’s Restraint mentioned by the owner of the arena.

This authority, which he said he directly taught Gilgamesh, possessed the power of the void in the form of purple chains.

‘But… Comparing the two, the Void’s Restraint seems to have a deeper connection to Heavenly Tree Descending Spirit…’

For now, should I try it out?

Seong Jihan used the Heavenly Tree Descending Spirit.

Clank! Clank!

The steel chains extending out from Seong Jihan’s body,

Zzzing…

soon turned purple and became formless, penetrating Seong Jihan’s interior.

‘It’s moving on its own.’

It swiftly passed the void surrounding Eternity and bound the tree-shaped ‘Eternity’ from all directions.

Then, the tree bound by the chains was flipped upside down.

The roots were on top and the branches and leaves were on the bottom.

[The seal on the stat ‘Eternity’ has been temporarily released.]

With that message, life force began to be supplied to Seong Jihan’s body through the chains.

The life force that he could only recover slowly by using it or had to steal from the elves’ side until now was being continuously supplied just by binding the stat Eternity, which was only at 2, with Heavenly Tree Descending Spirit.

And unlike a moment ago,

The void’s energy wasn’t stopping it at all.

The stat ‘Eternity’ that continuously supplied life force while avoiding regulation by using the chains.

Feeling this, Seong Jihan’s eyes flashed.

‘Could this be… the true significance of Heavenly Tree Descending Spirit?’

He handled it several more times and,

‘This… is quite useful.’

logged out of the training room with a smile on his lips.

* * *

Korea’s BattleNet Center.

The place where a feast should have taken place for winning the Champions League for the first time had an atmosphere no different from a mourning hall.

“The players are still trapped…”

“The Space League match is in two days, this is serious.”

“Not only our national team players are struck up like this, but I’m also worried about the US national team’s situation.”

“Right. We can’t play without them…”

The Space League representative team, which was no different from Earth’s defense force.

Although Seong Jihan accounted for the biggest power,

In terms of player pool, the US national team players had the highest proportion, befitting the world’s No. 1 team.

But the next game was scheduled to be against the World Tree Alliance, and such key players were all trapped in the BattleNet connectors.

“The public opinion to return the primordial treasure is rising further.”

“Yeah… I’m also getting emails from Americans. Telling me to quickly persuade Seong Jihan. They even carefully translated it into Korean.”

“You too, Coach?”

“Did you also receive them?”

“Yes, I closed my SNS. In the first place, even if we want to give our opinion, Seong Jihan isn’t here, so what can we do…”

The coaching staff sighed deeply.

No, even if they contacted the coach or coaching staff, there was no way for them to persuade Seong Jihan anyway.

Perhaps because they were grasping at straws, the bomb of contacts pouring in was hard to handle.

At that moment,

Flash!

“Oh, P-Player Seong Jihan…”

Seong Jihan, who logged out of the training room, appeared at the BattleNet Center.

***

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