Two days later, in the training room…
[The three elixir field integration has failed.]
The attempt to integrate the three elixir fields failed.
'I lack strength and experience.'
Integrating the three elixir fields couldn't be achieved solely through will.
Although he had Martial Power, that wasn't enough.
His previous life's experience was rich only regarding the lower elixir field, the source of Ki. He still lacked knowledge regarding the middle and upper fields.
'However…'
Despite having failed, JiHan had a bright expression on his face because there was something he'd obtained.
[Divine Power and Magic Power have been integrated and replaced by the unique stat 'Force'.]
[You've cleared the achievement 'Unique Stat Acquisition'.]
[You've earned 10,000 achievement points.]
He'd obtained his original goal, the unique stat 'Force'.
[The connection between the three elixir fields has been weakly maintained.]
[The stats 'Martial Power' and 'Force' interact, sharing stat points.]
The relatively low Force stat had increased to match Martial Power.
Name: Sung JiHan
Level: 10
Affiliation: Bronze League - Gangnam Area 1
Martial Power - 12
Force:12
Class: Support
Class: Mage
Gift: Wanderer's Eye (Rank F)
Title: The One Who Conquered the Tutorial - Bronze
Achievement Points: 51,200
Unused Stat Points: 2
'I should allocate my points.'
JiHan cautiously raised his Martial Power by two points, and as his Martial Power increased to 14, Force also increased to 14.
He clenched his fists.
'This… is as if I gained the effects of Baron's Gift, 'Two Status Windows'.'
He could solve most things through the Achievement Shop, but obtaining two unused stat points at once was out of the question.
Thanks to the maintenance of the three elixir fields, Martial Power and Force were linked, so it was like he obtained two unused stat points with every point.
If he used one stat point, two stats would increase.
'This is a great result.'
Of course, the best outcome would have been the successful integration of the three elixir fields, but based on his experience of having attempted to do so for the past two days, JiHan knew it was impossible at the moment.
'My proficiency in the upper and middle fields is too low. I need to increase my understanding of both while using Force.'
More than anything, he needed to increase his stats.
'They should be 100 at least.'
He believed he would be able to do it successfully once Martial Power and Force reached 100.
'I have a goal.'
JiHan ended his three-day reclusion and came out of the training room with a smile.
"Uncle! Is the training over? Are you okay?"
Sae-ah, who was outside of the training room, came running toward him.
Since he hadn't come out for the past three days, she'd been debating whether to go in or not, worrying something might have happened.
"As you can see, I'm fine."
"You're right. You seem to be in good condition."
"Yes, I had good results."
"Aren't you sleepy or anything?"
"No. I'm fine. Why?"
Sae-ah, who was examining JiHan's complexion, spoke cautiously. "Do you remember Mr. Park, who came to our house recently…?"
Manager Park Yoon-sik had relayed the government's position of asking them to stay in the Sword Palace's penthouse for a bit longer, and JiHan had asked him to organize an auction of the Sword King's items.
"Why? Did he talk about the auction?"
"Yes. He said the higher-ups had accepted and asked if we could host the auction tomorrow, and I said yes."
"Tomorrow? That's very short notice."
"Ah, he came two days ago."
"Understood. Well done."
"And for the items… I've been picking some…"
JiHan nodded while looking at the list of items that would be up for auction.
Sae-ah chose items that weren't personal belongings of the Sword King—his Battle Net connector and the storage device containing data, and there was also opponent information and his analysis data, among other Battle Net play-related data.
'Auctioning off other personal belongings could backfire.'
The reason for hosting the auction was to get as much money as possible from the Sword King, who'd left for Japan. It wasn't to sell useless things to fans who couldn't let go of him.
'She must have handled it alone because she didn't want to disturb my training.'
They wouldn't need to add more with how much they already had.
"You've picked well. If you'd added brother-in-law's personal belongings, there's a chance we might have been cursed."
"Uncle, there's no way I'd auction off such things. Even as his daughter, I feel weird seeing Dad's belongings…" Sae-ah made an uncomfortable expression, then quickly changed it.
It seemed like she didn't want to reveal the emotions she was feeling from looking at the things her father had left behind.
"Anyway… Uncle! I found a good Battle Tube channel." Her voice sounded brighter than before.
"Really? What kind?" JiHan asked naturally, pretending not to notice her change.
"You mentioned the Shadow Queen before, remember?"
"Yes, I remember."
He'd told her about it without expecting anything since he thought it would be good if she had something to do.
"Don't tell me… You got a lead?"
"Fufu. Uncle, you know that there are all sorts of people in the world, right?"
Sae-ah told JiHan to follow her, and she walked to the home theater room located in a corner of the penthouse, where a screen was lit up on the wall of the dimly lit room.
"This…"
JiHan's eyes widened.
The elves of the Colosseum were magnified there.
"There are Battle Tubers that post footage of races from other worlds."
"They post… footage of other races?"
"Yes. They're mostly Archers with scope-type Gifts. Among them, some people specialize in filming other world's races."
Scope Gifts allow you to enlarge your field of view. It might've been useless in the early stages, but it became really handy as you moved up to the upper Leagues.
'To think they'd use such a good Gift for things like this.' JiHan couldn't believe it.
Regardless of his thoughts, the Battle Tuber was admiring each of the elves.
[Oh, wow~ As expected, elves are the best. They have flawless skin… Haa… Ms. Elf, couldn't you appear in person just once?]
Sae-ah frowned at the audio and turned off the sound.
"There's no need to hear it, right? It's disgusting."
"Sure."
"It seems like the number of elves is about a thousand. It's similar for the dark elves, but there's a bit more. Some elves are being served by two dark elves, but there are also some dark elves watching the games alone."
"Hmm…"
Could the Shadow Queen be an elf served by two dark elves, or was one of the dark elves that was alone the Shadow Queen?
Either option was possible.
"Uncle, I'm also looking for foreign videos, so I'll edit them and show you later."
"You can edit videos too? I didn't know you had such talents."
"Well… You see… That's because in the past…" Sae-ah stood up while her words faded away. "Anyways! I'll make sure to reduce the possibilities and show you."
"Alright. Thanks."
"Also, Uncle, you've been training for three days, so you should take a break today instead of playing."
"Haha, okay."
Sae-ah left the home theater room after that.
'My body's okay, but…'
He couldn't refuse his niece's request.
JiHan smirked and looked at the screen on the wall.
'She didn't turn off the screen.'
If he were going to take a day off, he might as well read some news. JiHan grabbed the remote control, but he couldn't understand how to use it well since it was an old one.
"Huh?"
It seemed like he'd pressed something wrong. The black screen changed, and the home theater's storage appeared.
JiHan saw numerous folders, but there was one among them that caught his attention.
[Dad's POTG Collection ♡♥]
POTG—Play of the Game, or one of the most important plays done in an international game.
Most of the POTGs that Korea got in International Competitions were chosen from plays by the Sword King, and besides those…
[♥Sword King FC♥-Related Videos]
[Dad's Speech Collection]
The home theater's storage was full of videos related to Sword King Yoon Sae-jin.
Seeing that, JiHan realized something. 'So this is what she was talking about.'
Sae-ah was proficient in video editing because of Sword King Yoon Sae-jin.
'It makes sense… Sae-ah used to admire her father a lot.'
After all, he was world ranking 3rd and the top Warrior.
No one didn't know Sword King Yoon Sae-jin.
On top of that, he had a gentle and pleasant personality, and he also cherished his only daughter a lot.
He was a father that any child would love and admire.
'She's pretending to be calm.'
It probably wasn't easy since the dad she loved and admired so much had abandoned her.
There's no way she'd be able to easily forget that.
Beep.
JiHan turned off the screen and walked out of the room.
'It's going to be Sae-ah's birthday soon.'
Even though he'd forgotten the phone number he used in Korea, he hadn't forgotten his niece's birthday—August 22nd.
And it was also her death anniversary…
'This is the birthday when Sae-ah will receive her Gift.'
People worldwide eagerly awaited their 18th birthdays because, among the few players that awakened Gifts, they all received them on their 18th birthdays.
'I remember that Sae-ah's Gift drew a lot of attention.'
Sword King Yoon Sae-Jin and Saintess Sung Ji-ah's daughter…
Gifts and genetics had nothing to do with each other, but it was human nature to expect the child of two Gifted people to have an exceptional Gift.
'The same went for the country.'
Even the government was hoping for Yoon Sae-ah to receive an excellent Gift so that she could succeed the Sword King.
Before her birthday, despite the public criticism, they protected Sae-ah.
However, when her birthday came… the Gift Yoon Sae-ah received was shocking.
'It was F-rank.'
A Gift of that rank was like not having one at all.
That birthday, JiHan saw despair on Sae-ah's face for the first time. She'd even managed to remain calm when Sword King Yoon Sae-jin had left for Japan, but after receiving an F-rank Gift on her birthday, she couldn't maintain her façade.
'That Gift was Sae-ah's last hope, after all…'
At that time, when she was being insulted by the entire nation for being Yoon Sae-jin's daughter, receiving an exceptional Gift was the only thing that could reverse the situation.
Then she'd ended up with an F-rank Gift.
The public began making fun of her and saying that her father had abandoned her for that reason.
'People didn't know the true value of that Gift back then.'
Nobody knew that an F-rank Gift had the potential to surpass an SSS-rank one.
When it was revealed that the world's ranked 2nd, from China, had the same Gift as her, it was already too late… By that time, Yoon Sae-ah had already left the world.
'This time, things will be different. 'I'll make sure the public who blamed you for your dad's betrayal and criticized you beg for forgiveness and ask you to remain in Korea.'
'Definitely…'
JiHan's eyes shone coldly.