<Chapter 84: The God of Martial Arts Regressed to Level 2>
* * *
Akashic Page.
In modern times, it is used for technological development, but according to Ariel, it is an artifact that enhances supporting gifts.
This item was so valuable that companies were desperate to obtain it, making its price astronomical.
'I've heard that a completed Akashic Page is worth trillions.'
The Akashic Page required 25 pieces of Akasha, which could be obtained probabilistically from the Platinum League.
With a minimum price of 100 billion, it was treated by players as something even more valuable than a lottery.
To think that a mere video editor could possess such an expensive item?
'Suspicious.'
Until now, Jueunji had seemed like an ordinary woman, nothing more, nothing less.
There was static when signing and attaching the microphone, but I thought it was just a coincidence.
'Could it be... she knows how to use the Akashic Page?'
I thought only Ariel, an extraterrestrial being, knew about it, but is there someone on Earth who knows as well?
If so, then Jueunji in front of me is not an ordinary person but a player with a supporting gift.
[Master. Should I subdue her? Or shall we observe?]
[Let's observe for a while.]
Although there is some risk in not knowing what she will do, Seong Jihan was confident he could handle it now that he knew she was suspicious.
[Understood. If anything happens, I'll burn that diary. The Akashic Page is already being used and is disappearing, but burning the traces will weaken the power amplification.]
Seong Jihan nodded slightly in response to Ariel's advice.
Swoosh—
After briefly opening and closing the diary, Jueunji approached Seong Jihan with a flustered look.
"Ah! Owner, I think we need to reset the microphone settings..."
She kept trying to get close.
Does she need contact to use her supporting gift?
"Yes. I understand."
Although he appeared calm on the surface, Seong Jihan was closely watching what method Jueunji would use.
Thump. Thump.
As Jueunji approached and reached out to Seong Jihan's clothes,
Zap—
[Detected a movement attempting to secretly access the user's system...]
[Player 'Ito Shizuru' is attempting to edit the user's system.]
A system message appeared in Seong Jihan's eyes.
'Ito... Shizuru?'
Ito.
If you asked Koreans what name comes to mind when they hear this surname,
a year ago, most people would have thought of Ito Hirobumi.
But now, it's different.
Ito Ryuhai, the King of Swords, who changed his name.
When you hear Ito, more people think of the King of Swords.
But now,
Ito's name coming from Jueunji.
'Could it be...?'
[Ito Shizuru's avatar adds the status effect 'Enchantment' to the user. The target of the enchantment is Ito Shizuru.]
[Ito Shizuru's avatar adds the status effect 'Obedience' to the user. The target of the obedience is Ito Shizuru.]
[Ito Shizuru's avatar adds the status effect 'Fanaticism' to the user. The target of the fanaticism is Ito Shizuru.]
Unlike before when they made contact,
Seong Jihan was now affected by the status effects of Enchantment, Obedience, and Fanaticism.
"You..."
"Yes?"
Jueunji, who was attaching the microphone, blinked.
To others, it was a normal response,
but Seong Jihan felt a shiver run through his body as soon as he heard her voice.
How can such a beautiful sound come from a human mouth?
And her appearance, which seemed ordinary just a moment ago, now looked like...
"..."
"Mr. Seong Jihan? Is something wrong...?"
Seong Jihan stared intently at Jueunji's face.
In his eyes, she looked like a goddess of beauty,
but it was also a face he knew from his past life.
'The Apostle of the End, Succubus Queen.'
* * *
Just before humanity's extinction,
when Earth entered the relegation match in the Space League,
as a penalty, 20 different Apostles of the End appeared in the 20 surviving countries.
Among the 20 Apostles of the End, the one that appeared in the United States, where Seong Jihan was, was the Succubus Queen.
She completely brought Los Angeles under her control,
casting a wide-area Enchantment on countless players, the worst monster.
The U.S. government finally suppressed her by dropping nuclear bombs on LA to eliminate her followers, and after the American First team mobilized, they managed to subdue her.
But now, seeing the Succubus Queen in Jueunji,
Seong Jihan recalled the name Ito Shizuru from the status window, thinking of the King of Swords.
The King of Swords, who lived a life without envy in Korea,
who enjoyed life by meeting many women in this country, suddenly fell for a Japanese woman, changed his name to Ito, and moved to Japan.
Now, it seemed he could finally see the reason.
'Ito Shizuru. Was she the beauty of Japan? No wonder Yoon Sejin... '
If there hadn't been a warning about the Akashic Page,
if he hadn't mentally prepared himself, he would have been greatly deceived by Ito Shizuru's schemes.
'And the fact that I didn't succumb last time but did this time... '
It must be due to the Akashic Page, which amplifies the power of the supporting gift.
If I burn that diary, I can immediately escape these status effects.
And if I go further and eliminate Jueunji, I won't have to worry about future troubles...
But there was something bothering him.
'The system message clearly said it was an avatar.'
If I burn the Akashic Page and kill Jueunji, but the main body remains, it would be meaningless.
The main body might use this failure as a lesson and employ different tactics.
Then...
'I'll pretend to be deceived, gather more information about Ito Shizuru, and then eliminate the main body.'
Seong Jihan made this decision and calmed his mind.
To pretend to be deceived, he couldn't maintain his current mindset.
Status effects: Enchantment, Obedience, Fanaticism.
Enchantment might be tolerable, but Obedience and Fanaticism were too harmful to leave.
Seong Jihan circulated the energy in his dantian.
Unnamed Divine Art
Mental Technique
Mind-Only Creation
Mind-Only Creation.
It means everything is created by the mind.
In the Unnamed Divine Art, it acts as a mental technique to overcome illusions and mental pollution.
'I will remove Obedience and Fanaticism.'
These two are too harmful to leave.
Seong Jihan used the mental technique to remove the two status effects that had entered his body.
It wasn't difficult to remove them once he knew they were there.
'I'll leave a little bit of Enchantment.'
If I remove Enchantment as well,
it would be hard to pretend to be deceived.
Seong Jihan reduced the effect of Enchantment by half.
'If I hadn't had the experience of dealing with the Succubus Queen in LA... this would have been difficult.'
Among the boss monsters that appeared just before humanity's extinction, the Succubus Queen was the most troublesome.
In some ways, she was even more difficult than the Behemoth, the end-of-the-world monster.
Whether it was Baron, the world's top-ranked player, or Sophia, the third-ranked player, they were all enchanted by the Succubus Queen and turned against Seong Jihan.
'If I hadn't been able to withstand it with the Unnamed Divine Art, I would have become her servant.'
If Seong Jihan hadn't had the Unnamed Divine Art, the United States might have been destroyed by the Succubus Queen before the Behemoth.
'I need to draw on my past experience.'
Seong Jihan recalled the time when he pretended to be enchanted, deceived the Succubus Queen, and stabbed her in the heart.
'By the way... she looks so much like the Succubus Queen.'
Jueunji's face now.
After removing Obedience and Fanaticism and leaving only half of Enchantment, her beauty, which had seemed like a goddess, quickly returned to its original state.
But perhaps due to the effect of Enchantment, which shows one's ideal type,
the goddess-like Jueunji he had briefly seen earlier looked exactly like the Succubus Queen.
'Is this really a coincidence?'
Meanwhile, Jueunji was looking at Seong Jihan with a suspicious gaze.
"Owner?"
Her expression was innocent,
but inside, she was making a cold judgment.
If the three status effects—Enchantment, Obedience, and Fanaticism—had properly taken hold, he should have already been courting her.
But,
"…No. Let's proceed for now."
Seong Jihan didn't show that level of reaction.
Instead, he subtly avoided Jueunji's gaze.
Pretending to be confused, he tilted his head.
His cheeks were slightly flushed.
Compared to when he showed no particular emotion towards her before, this was quite a different reaction.
There was definitely a change, but it wasn't satisfactory for Jueunji.
'...Even with the Akashic Page, it didn't fully take?'
No matter how much the avatar's power was enhanced,
using the Akashic Page and still only achieving this effect...
'Should I be satisfied that it took to some extent...?'
Still, it seemed that Enchantment had taken hold to some degree.
Because of the cameras, Seong Jihan didn't show much, but
Jueunji, who had used Enchantment many times, could clearly notice the change in him.
'Why am I doing this?'
Seong Jihan, who couldn't understand his own actions, kept glancing at Jueunji.
Holding the camera with a strange heat, unlike before, was a clear sign that the Enchantment had taken effect.
'There. It's in there.'
Even when he was dealing with the King of Swords, it wasn't easy to get started.
It took various forms of contact before he could cast Enchantment.
But once he was enchanted, the King of Swords couldn't escape Ito Shizuru's grasp.
'Seong Jihan. You will be the same soon.'
Although he was disappointed that the effect wasn't as strong as the investment,
it was still something.
Especially since Seong Jihan, who was only a Silver, could withstand it to this extent, it proved that he was a valuable player.
After the filming ended,
while tidying up, Seong Jihan approached Jueunji.
"Your name is Jueunji, right?"
"Yes, Owner."
"I need to contact you regarding editing. Could you give me your contact information