Chapter 559
Chapter 559
[Translator - Asura]
[Proofreader - Gun]
Chapter 559
'Yggdrasil's blessing, huh.'
Seong Jihan closely examined Kim Jihun's body.
Despite receiving the blessing, no significant physical changes were detected.
'Still, since it forcibly awakened people worldwide and made them receive Constellation sponsorship, there must be something.'
Thinking this, Seong Jihan opened the status window.
Then,
'The Cross-Species Affinity Gift... its rank has increased.'
The Cross-Species Affinity Gift, which was B-rank, had jumped to SS-rank.
And at the bottom of the status window, a new section for Yggdrasil's blessing had appeared. When he pressed it,
[Administrator's Blessing. Promotes the integration of elves and humans.]
Such an explanation popped up.
'Integration, huh. I guess it's related to the upgrade of the Cross-Species Affinity Gift.'
In this era where becoming a half-elf was determined through aptitude tests,
Cross-Species Affinity was an essential gift that increased the chances of becoming a half-elf.
Seeing that Kim Jihun's B-rank Cross-Species Affinity had risen to SS-rank,
It seemed there would be quite a change for ordinary people without the gift, or those with low-rank gifts.
Thinking this, Seong Jihan opened his smartphone and found it was indeed chaotic.
-Wow, got the blessing and Cross-Species Affinity appeared, B-rank hehe
-Whoa, mine's A-rank lolol
-Does this mean we can try for half-elf at the next aptitude test?
-But what about those who've already taken the aptitude test? Isn't it a bust for them?
-?? I heard they're going to do it monthly now regardless of level or previous tests?
-Wow, the chance to become a half-elf has suddenly increased a lot.
-Yggdrasil is raising our species from human to elf...
Even those without gifts now had at least B-rank Cross-Species Affinity,
And the aptitude test, which was conducted instead of a tutorial, now gave humans a chance to test monthly.
This was clearly a policy to encourage humans to become half-elves.
People who had been disappointed about not becoming half-elves were welcoming this with open arms.
'So they're bestowing this blessing to mass-produce Blue Swords. The policy itself isn't bad for me.'
The more Blue Swords there were, the more Stat Blue they would collect.
Yggdrasil's blessing was something Seong Jihan could welcome as well.
Of course, there would be the side effect of more male half-elves resembling him appearing, but that couldn't be helped.
'But the conditions are too good... Even for an Administrator, is such a one-sided buff possible?'
It was not like the human population was just one or two people.
Was it possible to distribute gift rank upgrades to 7 billion people?
Having once handled Administrator privileges, Seong Jihan knew well how large-scale this was.
Of course, Seong Jihan was a temporary Administrator.
The Green Administrator, having reigned for quite a long time as an also temporary Administrator, would have different available privileges, but...
'Still, even for them, giving such a buff must be quite burdensome...'
As Seong Jihan was pondering this,
The Red Administrator spoke to him.
[Try a detailed scan on that blessing.]
'A detailed scan?'
[Yes. Even for the Green Administrator, granting and upgrading gifts for all of humanity isn't an easy task. There might be hidden items not visible on the surface.]
Seong Jihan, following the Red Administrator's words, performed a detailed scan on Kim Jihun's status window.
Ziiing...
As the red light touched the explanation window he brought up,
Sssssss...
[Administrator's Blessing. Promotes the integration of elves and humans.]
Below this explanation message,
[After 1 year, the blessing will be reclaimed by the Administrator, converted into life force.]
Hidden text was revealed.
'Reclaimed after 1 year... and converted into life force at that.'
[This would kill most of humanity.]
'...Is that really the case?'
[Yes. A blessing of this magnitude is far more valuable than the life force of individual humans. From Yggdrasil's perspective, reclaiming it like this would still be a big loss. Some exceptional individuals might survive having their life force taken... but I'm not sure how many that would be.]
Seong Jihan furrowed his brow.
He had a feeling such a blessing wouldn't be given for free, and this proved it.
This essentially turned all of humanity into people with only one year left to live.
[Still, it's impressive. Even though it's reclaimed after a year, to decide on such an investment... It seems the damage you inflicted on her was that significant.]
'We'll have to finish this before the year is up.'
[With this gift bestowal, if Blue Swords are mass-produced, the absorption of Blue will accelerate accordingly. Before a year passes, the situation will be concluded.]
Seong Jihan nodded at these words.
The reason they set a one-year time limit on their side must be because they thought all of humanity's Blue will be absorbed by then.
[By the way, invading Alliance planets will become more inconvenient now.]
'Indeed. There will be many more Blue Swords than before. The enemy forces operating them will increase too.'
[For lower-rank planets, it might be better to go around before the aptitude tests are implemented.]
'That's right.'
With the Cross-Species Affinity gift distributed to all of humanity,
And starting from at least B-rank, it was clear as day that male half-elves who could become Blue Swords would be mass-produced.
Then the number of Blue Knights wielding these swords would increase, so the Red Administrator's invasions might become more difficult from next month.
Before that, he should raid the places he could.
Seong Jihan was about to clear out all the B-ranks today with this mindset, but...
"Mr. Kim Jihun."
The elf guard, who had been quiet until now, spoke up.
"Orders have come down for all male half-elves designated as special management targets to sleep."
"Now?"
"Yes, please lie down on the bed."
The elf guard was preparing to use sleep magic, likely due to an emergency order from the Colonial Government.
'Hmm, I could ignore this and go out since she's under the influence of Illusion Flame, but...'
Even if he avoided the sleep magic, the elf guard would perceive it as sleeping.
However, Seong Jihan decided to follow the elf's words this time obediently.
With Yggdrasil making such a big move today, there must be some changes in the Hall of Swords he went to when sleeping.
Rather than indirectly leaving this change for Ariel to experience, it would be better to see it with his own eyes.
'Alright. Let's do that.'
Seong Jihan obediently moved Kim Jihun's body to lie on the bed.
Then,
"Sleep."
The sleep magic was immediately applied, and Kim Jihun's body went limp.
And soon,
His body, transformed into a sword, was summoned to the Hall of Swords.
* * *
Hall of Swords.
In this place located on Namsan, where the Colonial Government was situated,
The Alliance's Governor was bowing at a 90-degree angle, facing an elf.
"O Yggdrasil. These are the swords we specially manage."
The elf the Governor was addressing was Yggdrasil, with hair completely dyed green.
She had bestowed blessings upon all of humanity and had personally come to Earth to inspect the Hall of Swords.
'Yggdrasil coming to Earth in person...'
[Translator - Asura]
[Proofreader - Gun]
Having suffered a major blow from the Red Administrator, was she here to personally take care of the Blue Swords to counter him?
Seong Jihan observed her closely from within the Blue Sword.
Whether it was an avatar rather than her main body, he didn't sense much life force from her.
She probably couldn't detect Seong Jihan inside Kim Jihun's Blue Sword at that level.
'Still, I should be careful not to get caught.'
Seong Jihan concealed his presence with the void mixed in the Blue Sword.
And not long after,
"I see. There aren't many. But where's the sword you say is growing?"
"It's here."
Step. Step.
Yggdrasil walked towards Kim Jihun's Blue Sword.
She drew the sword and,
Swoosh.
Stroked it a few times with her hand.
"Hmm... Its performance is decent."
"Yes. Despite its high compatibility, it continues to grow, so it's the sword the Colonial Government is most focused on. I've personally examined it as well."
"The Governor personally?"
"Yes. I was curious as to why only this sword was growing, so I observed it. Although watching it closely revealed no particular anomalies..."
"Is that so? Let me take a look."
Tap.
As Yggdrasil tapped the Blue Sword with her finger,
Kim Jihun's Blue Sword flashed, revealing his physical form.
Yggdrasil looked him over and,
Smirked.
"I can see why the Governor thought that way. He looks even more like Blue. Hey."
"That was also one of the reasons I examined him personally."
"I'm sure the Governor examined him thoroughly... but I should take a look too."
Saying this, she
Lightly tapped Kim Jihun's body with her finger.
Then,
Fwooosh...!
Kim Jihun's body suddenly scattered in all directions.
His body fragmented, floating in mid-air.
Starting from the skin splitting, flesh and organs, bones were all decomposed and floating.
The 'decomposition' she applied wasn't just physical, it seemed.
Even the Stat Blue Kim Jihun possessed was clustered in blue light, floating up.
The void also revealed itself as small purple spots.
Having said she'd examine Kim Jihun, the Green Administrator who had completely fragmented him, didn't stop there but was closely inspecting each fragment.
"The void... Is this what the Arena Owner bestowed?"
"Yes, that's correct."
"I see."
Perhaps because the origin of the void was clear, she moved on.
'If I hadn't hidden myself in the void, I might have been caught.'
Thinking this, Seong Jihan watched as Kim Jihun's fragments underwent a detailed inspection.
After thoroughly examining everything in the body, Yggdrasil slowly opened her mouth.
"There's nothing unusual."
Snap.
With one finger snap, Kim Jihun was reassembled to his original state.
Hard to believe he had been shattered to pieces, his body returned completely to normal.
Then he transformed back into a sword, inserted into the Hall of Swords.
Yggdrasil tapped the sword a few times and said to the Governor,
"This one, if it keeps growing, I'll use it as my sword. The name... Right. Following Blue's name, let's call it 'Seong Jihan'."
"Understood. Shall we rename it now?"
"No. It's not number one yet, right? I'll give it when it becomes number one."
'Why is she deciding whether to give my name or not.'
While the person in question was dumbfounded,
Yggdrasil looked around.
"We'll need more space to accommodate the swords now."
"Yes. The current pattern can't accommodate all the new Blue Swords."
"Good. Let's expand it in advance."
Tap. Tap.
As she stomped the floor a few times with her foot,
Ziiing...!
Light burst from the pattern drawn on the floor, and it started to expand greatly.
"And this time, a large number of low-compatibility Blue Swords will be mass-produced. We'll distribute all of those to the defense forces."
"Yes, understood."
"We've withdrawn from the frontier planets, so we should be able to defend all the rest..."
"I've heard the Red Administrator avoids Blue Knights who resemble the Arena Owner. I think we can block him sufficiently."
It seemed that they planned to deploy Blue Knights resembling Yoon Seah on all planets through the mass production of Blue Swords.
Following the abandonment of all C and D-rank frontier planets,
Given that they had distributed gifts to all of humanity, it seemed like a plausible scenario.
'I need to raid as much as I can before the Blue Knights are deployed.'
As Seong Jihan was thinking this,
"Then, please continue handling things until I descend in person."
"Yes, understood!"
Yggdrasil left those words with the Governor and disappeared.
'She plans to descend to Earth in person...'
Humanity, had become more important as the conflict with the Red Administrator intensified.
It seemed Yggdrasil intended to pour all her efforts into this.
Sssss...
After confirming that Yggdrasil's avatar had disappeared, Seong Jihan emerged from the sword.
'The World Tree pattern... It's spread widely to the city.'
Below Namsan.
The World Tree pattern that had spread all the way to downtown Seoul.
This pattern, expanded tens of times larger than before, was nothing short of an indicator of how much Yggdrasil had invested here.
'And then, Blue Sword Seong Jihan, huh.'
The Green Administrator, not knowing Kim Jihun's true identity, intended to give that name directly.
Recalling what just happened, Seong Jihan raised one corner of his mouth.
'This works out well. I'll behead you with the name Seong Jihan.'
To receive that name, he needed to be ranked first in compatibility.
'I should start raising the compatibility now.'
Seong Jihan decided to grow Kim Jihun's Blue Sword.
[Translator - Asura]
[Proofreader - Gun]