-Oh, the VIP effect kicked in right away lol

-Guess we can watch the first game comfortably hehe

-Just need that 50 percent chance to activate two more times.

-Hey, even if it happens just once more, we only need one win in the remaining 3 games.

-A win without Seong Jihan… is that possible?

With the immediate activation of the VIP card, viewers felt more at ease watching the game, considering a victory in the first game a foregone conclusion.

=The first game is starting!

=This game is a Defense mission called ‘Battleship Defense.’

=50 players gather on a warship at sea, tasked with defending this vessel.

=It’s a map that has appeared a few times in international matches. The key here is to fend off sea monsters…

The first game, set on the ‘Battleship Defense’ map.

Although the commentators were explaining the defense strategy for this map to viewers unfamiliar with international matches,

“Battleship defense, huh… Why bother holding off monsters when the ship sinking means we lose anyway?”

“Right… lose?”

“Be right back.”

Seong Jihan waved to Yoon Seah and leaped into the sky.

There was no need to waste time fighting monsters pointlessly.

Swoosh.

Scanning the surroundings from above, Seong Jihan noted,

‘Is it over there?’

Whoosh!

Having spotted the Mecan race’s warship, he threw the Phoenix Flag.

Fundamental Divine Arts,

Heavenly Dragon Thunder Fire:

Dragon Thunder

A rift opened in the sky, and a gigantic stream of fire poured down directly.

The robots on the warship all glanced upwards, then,

[Defense probability 0 percent. Attack cannot be resisted.]

[We forfeit the first game.]

They readily lowered their arms.

Woosh!

Instantly, the Mecan’s warship burst into flames.

It didn’t take long for a system message to appear.

[The enemy’s battleship has sunk.]

[The first game ends.]

[The human representative team wins.]

The game ended in a flash.

Commentators putting up a special explanation of the Battleship Defense were left chuckling awkwardly.

=Ha, haha. The monsters hadn’t even appeared yet…

=The first game ends just like that!

=As expected of player Seong Jihan. As soon as he enters, the game becomes too easy!

The first game ended without any significant resistance from the opponents.

-The way to win a defense map is just to destroy the opponent’s base.

-Lol why even bother defending? Just go and destroy it.

-What, it’s over already? I was just warming up yesterday’s chicken…

-Whenever Seong Jihan plays, you can’t go anywhere. It always ends in a flash lol

-Ah, I wanted to see a fierce battle. Feels so anticlimactic…

-Anticlimactic what? Be thankful for the easy win lol

-For real, the fate of humanity is on the line. The easier, the better.

While some expressed disappointment over the quick conclusion, most viewers celebrated Seong Jihan’s effortless victory, hoping for similarly easy wins in the following games.

Meanwhile,

‘Seems like levels don’t go up anymore.’

Having obliterated the Mecan in the first game, Seong Jihan noted the lack of system messages indicating a level increase.

Perhaps at level 430 now, wiping out an enemy in one game wasn’t enough to raise his level.

‘Well, it’s the Mecan race’s first time in the Bronze League, so their player levels wouldn’t be high.’

Looks like expecting significant rewards from Space League matches would be difficult from now on.

Just as Seong Jihan was lamenting the slim pickings today, in the Space League’s coaching rooms called the coaches back.

Following the effortless win in the first game, Coach Davis, wearing a relaxed expression, looked at the robot and remarked,

“You lost to our second-best.”

[I have already heard from the World Tree Alliance. Humanity’s number one has a 50 percent chance to avoid being banned.]

“Those guys really, spilling every detail. Anything else they mentioned?”

[Aside from number one, the human race is considerably weak.]

“…Not exactly.”

-Look at Davis’ delayed response lol

-And those World Tree Elves, after getting beaten by us, disclosed all our weaknesses to other races _ _’

-Even so, is it not overly dismissive of humanity? Thinking we can’t win without Seong Jihan being banned?

-Yeah, can’t win…

-Remember the Zojin Tribe incident??

The jolt from losing to the least ranked had viewers doubting the human representative team’s skill, even if they trusted Seong Jihan.

Hence, they merely hoped future games would see Seong Jihan escaping bans.

[‘Seong Jihan’ has been banned.]

But luck didn’t follow them continuously.

-Ah… it’s lost.

-Will we be trampled by robots in the second game?

-Those Mecan folks not resisting in the first game makes it hard to gauge their strength.

-Even if they had resisted, they’d have been swept away by the dragon breath… wouldn’t make a difference in understanding their strength.

Mecan, whose capabilities remained unseen due to Seong Jihan ending the first game swiftly, left people anxious about what strength these steel robots could unleash.

Meanwhile, in the human team’s locker room,

“Brother-in-law, please look after the second game.”

“Of course. Oh… but I’ve got a question. Your constellation support, sometimes it boosts my power significantly… when will that happen again?”

“Really? When does that happen?”

“Well, um… it mostly happens when you are playing the game.”

Seong Jihan, hearing Yoon Sejin’s words, realized when his power had amplified.

‘When I activated the Constellation traits.’

Turning on the Constellation traits allowed him to wield the power of a constellation at the expense of a lower level cap.

It seemed that whenever Seong Jihan activated the Constellation traits in the presence of formidable foes, Yoon Sejin, among others, benefitted from its effects too.

“I understand what you’re saying. I can somewhat control it, but it reduces the growth limit. I plan to use it cautiously.”

“The growth limit is reduced?”

“Yes.”

“Ah, then don’t use it at all. We’ll show them we can win without your constellation support. Even if… we’re about to lose, don’t use it. A slight dip in the league ranking can be tolerated.”

Concerned by the mention of a reduced growth limit, Yoon Sejin urged not to use that feature.

“Understood.”

“And this conversation… don’t mention it to anyone. If the coaching staff knows, they might ask you to activate it just once in a crucial moment. Granting it once quickly becomes two, then three.”

Seong Jihan nodded.

While Space League games were important to humanity,

‘My level cap is more crucial.’

Preserving the rank, only to face humanity’s extinction.

Right now, more than the league’s ranking, it was crucial for Seong Jihan to grow stronger to stand against entities like the owner of the Abyss or Dongbang Sak.

There was no need to waste future potential just for the league.

“Well then, I’ll come back with a victory, Mr. Constellation.”

Tap.

Smiling slyly and offering a quick salute, Yoon Sejin stepped into the second game.

However,

=Ah…

=What’s with these robots! They wield laser swords!

=That robot clashing with the Sword King… its arms keep extending!

=Even with arms and legs severed, magical circles appear from Mecan’s chest.

=The corpses of enemy player robots gather to reassemble into a new robot…!

Facing the Mecan race for the first time, humanity found them to be a formidable challenge.

Even if reduced to an inoperative state, robot debris would clump together, forming new robots.

The robot dueling with the Sword King initially seemed to be at a disadvantage but,

[Data collection complete. Movements, understood.]

Suddenly, it began to overwhelm him with its swordsmanship.

Initially, the human team fought equally, but gradually began to fall behind due to Mecan’s superior endurance.

Eventually,

[The second game ends.]

[The human representative team loses.]

The second game concluded with a victory for the Mecan race.

* * *

In the Space League coaching room.

[The World Tree Alliance’s information was accurate.]

The robotic coach, facing a sour-faced Coach Davis, commented.

-Already expected that once Seong Jihan got banned…

-But shouldn’t we at least win the first one?

-Why don’t these robots shoot guns instead of fighting with laser swords? Aren’t heavy weapons allowed?

-For real, with that technology, wouldn’t they just win using advanced weaponry? lol

-There must be BattleNet restrictions.

-That’s somewhat lucky for humanity.

Viewers, witnessing the representative team’s defeat, weren’t particularly dismayed anymore.

Though there was a respectable fight at the beginning, ultimately they were overpowered by Mecan in terms of endurance.

Seasoned BattleNet participants could predict the outcome.

-So, it all boils down to Seong Jihan surviving, huh?

-Why do we always have to rely on our Seong Jihan; I feel sorry for him.

-Truth is, humanity still lacks the skills to stand on its own. Honestly, our race ranks at the bottom.

-Ah lol, wish Seong Jihan would just upgrade our race rank lol

-For real lol, and give us a 200-year lifespan with ageless bodies while he’s at it lol

-Looking after humanity’s ranking, upgrading its grade, preventing extinction… Seong Jihan’s gonna work himself to death, you guys ㅡㅡ;

-lol If I were him, I’d have fled to outer space already, agreed?

-Agreed.

Viewers hoped for Seong Jihan to survive the bans and return to save the day.

Meanwhile, having finished the game, Yoon Sejin looked dejected before Seong Jihan.

“…Sorry, Jihan.”

“What’s there to be sorry for? Winning and losing are parts of the game.”

“Winning and losing… feels like we always end up losing.”

“When will the representative team manage a win without Uncle?”

“Well…”

That’s a challenging question.

Seong Jihan chuckled bitterly.

‘In my previous life, humanity secured its first victory against the weakened Orcs after their chieftain was executed by the elves.’

World Tree Elves, saving their ban and select cards to execute a player from the opposing race, weakened the Orcs sufficiently for humanity to stand a chance.

Despite vigorous fights against a few other races for the spot of the lowest rank.

In the end, humanity was truly the weakest.

‘It’s surprising that super-strong beings like Dongbang Sak could emerge from such a weak race.’

Seong Jihan pondered while awaiting the ban result for the third game.

It’d be great if VIP kicked in again.

[‘Seong Jihan’ has been banned.]

That 50 percent chance seemed reluctant to trigger.

“Ah…”

“Oh no…”

Players sighed upon hearing the ban results, disheartened by the direct experience of being overpowered by Mecan in the second game.

“Looks like bans will continue into the 4th and 5th games.”

Coach Davis tried to smile, but

[That’s a variable.]

“What…”

[Regardless of previous probabilities, the 4th game will still have a 50 percent chance applied.]

“I, I know that.”

[You spoke as if you were unaware just moments ago.]

“…Annoying machine. Nitpicking everything.”

As Davis scowled, the Mecan coach made a proposal.

[Rather than relying on such chances, there is a more certain method.]

“What are you suggesting?”

[Humanity’s ranking number one. Give us his blood and flesh. In return, we will concede this series. Furthermore, we will ensure a consistent defeat against humanity in this Bronze League.]

“What…”

Davis’ eyes widened at the request.

They wanted Seong Jihan’s blood and flesh.

What kind of proposal were these robots making?

[We will lift the ban on number one for the 4th game. Please consider it positively.]

“I haven’t agreed to anything yet…”

[Consider the exchange of inevitable victories for humanity, a weak race, for the blood and flesh of number one, which can regenerate indefinitely. Shall I explain how crucial these guaranteed wins are for a race as frail as humanity?]

Bzzt.

As he spoke, the Mecan coach eagerly displayed several hologram screens.

[According to the data from the 2nd game, the power of humanity players, excluding rank number one, is at the league’s lowest.]

Bzzt.

Armed with the 2nd game’s data, neatly presented analyses displayed plainly.

[This is ‘The Reality of Humanity’ as analyzed by Mecan.]

Coach Davis was subjected to a 10-minute lecture by the opposing team coach on how weak the human representative team is without their number one.

-These robot folks, better analysts than humanity’s BattleNet squad…

-Beaten by data, these mechanical beings…

-To maintain a high league ranking, should we not miss such opportunities…

-But why do they want blood and flesh?

-Are they planning to create a clone of Seong Jihan? ㅡㅡ

-Definitely not. Better to lose than give in!

Humanity’s representative team, unclear in data terms but too suspicious to hand over Seong Jihan’s blood and flesh.

Davis finally responded.

“…I refuse.”

[Calm down, and reconsider before the next game.]

Beep.

Turning off the hologram screens, the Mecan coach said nonchalantly.

[I await your wise decision.]