Martial God Regressed to Level 2

[Translator - Asura]

[Proofreader - Gun]

Chapter 615

Divine Eye.

It was an ability with various functions, such as seeing the future to a limited extent, exploring the world, or seeing things others couldn't see.

Sophia had obtained it from Pythia, whom she had previously served as a constellation.

Seong Jiah, Seong Jihan's sister, also possessed this and was chosen as the Witch of the Void.

'The one remaining with Sophia wasn't as prominent as when Pythia was alive...'

It seems the one who actively utilized the Divine Eye was Pythia, the servant of the Martial God.

For Sophia, only traces of it remained.

It had activated once when Seong Jihan was wearing Kim Jihun's shell, but had been quiet since then.

Now that White Light had exceeded 100, when he saw Sophia, suddenly that eye of light had appeared.

Especially, while the usual Divine Eye was in the form of condensed light, this time it clearly took the shape of an eye.

'And it's exactly the same form as what I saw in Dongbang Sak's mental image...'

Could the Divine Eye be related to Urd too?

Was there anything this woman couldn't do?

As Seong Jihan furrowed his brow, recalling the hundreds of eyes of light that had searched for Dongbang Sak,

"Um... Jihan? Did, did I do something wrong?"

Sophia looked at Seong Jihan with a confused face.

She had come running happily, but it was understandable for her to react this way when the other person was frowning.

"Ah. Sophia. Are you activating your Divine Eye right now?"

"Divine Eye? Um... No?"

Sophia just blinked, touching her forehead.

"Oh. This, it activated on its own. Did light come out without me knowing?"

She didn't seem to know that the Divine Eye was activated, or that it was in the shape of an eye.

"Hmm. Can I touch your forehead for a moment?"

"Of course."

Swish.

As Sophia immediately presented her forehead,

Seong Jihan slowly brought his hand to it.

Then,

Flash...!

Light burst out from there,

And a scene appeared in Seong Jihan's mind.

In a dark space, a person's hand suddenly popped out.

That hand, shimmering with pure white light, was imbued with immense power of light.

'Is this... a vision? Mediated by the Divine Eye.'

As Seong Jihan was thinking this while watching,

[Obey me, newcomer.]

As the voice of the hand's owner was heard, strength temporarily left his body.

Even if this was a vision shown through the Divine Eye,

'It feels like I'm actually being restricted... I shouldn't just stand still.'

Feeling uneasy, Seong Jihan quickly operated Stat Blue.

Swish...

Then, Seong Jihan broke free from the voice's constraint and regained his freedom, but the vision shown by the Divine Eye continued.

[Yes. Newcomer. Have you submitted to me?]

[...Yes. I will obey you.]

While Seong Jihan watching the Divine Eye was fine,

The one in the vision seemed different, saying he would follow the other party.

Then,

Grab!

The hand of light grasped Seong Jihan's neck,

And soon after, a person revealed themselves from the darkness.

[Kuh. Kuhuh... The avatar has done well.]

A skinny, bald man, was examining Seong Jihan's every detail with a crazed face.

[Good... Tell me how you came here.]

[The reason I came here is...]

Seong Jihan obediently explained that he tried to become part of the light clan to learn about Urd's circumstances.

Hearing this, the man's eyes flashed.

[Urd covets your ability that much? Good. I should use this one as a bargaining chip... I'll be freed from this long hunger...]

The middle-aged man was gleeful at the thought of trading Seong Jihan.

With his eerie smile at the end,

Beep!

The vision shown by the Divine Eye ended.

And at the last,

[Id, be careful.]

An unfamiliar woman's voice remained in his mind.

'...Huh. Id, it says.'

Id was certainly the name used to refer to the White Administrator, but could that skinny bald man really be the White Administrator?

'Hmm. But seeing how he talked about an avatar and probed my situation... Is the White Administrator active here now a clone? And is he the original?'

And it seemed information wasn't being transmitted from the clone.

Judging by the questions he asked, he only asked things that the White Administrator should know.

'Of course, this speculation is only possible assuming the Divine Eye's vision isn't false...'

Thinking this, Seong Jihan recalled the last voice.

It certainly wasn't Urd's voice.

'Of course, we can't rule out the possibility that it's her trap...'

In Dongbang Sak's mental image, it was clearly Urd who operated the eyes of light.

Assuming the worst, one could speculate that the being who showed this vision was her.

But,

'...Somehow, it doesn't seem like the voice's owner is Urd.'

It didn't seem like she would set up such a complicated trap, and if it was neither Urd nor Id...

'Could it be a third party?'

What Seong Jihan was doing now was working to become part of the 'light clan'.

Given the name 'light clan', it wouldn't be strange if there was a third party.

While considering various scenarios,

'For now, I should be more cautious when meeting the White Administrator.'

He decided to remember the content he saw in the Divine Eye for now.

Meanwhile,

"...Jihan? Are you okay? Your expression doesn't look good."

Sophia, who had let him touch her forehead, blinked as she saw Seong Jihan's serious expression.

"Ah. I'm fine. It's over now."

"Yes... But I still haven't activated my Divine Eye... What did you see in your eyes?"

Sophia touched her own forehead as Seong Jihan removed his hand.

"Hmm... Didn't you feel the Divine Eye activate earlier? Light should have leaked out too."

"No! I didn't feel anything."

"I didn't see it either. No light or anything."

Following Sophia, Yoon Seah who was watching from the side,

Both gave the same answer.

'Hmm... Could I see it because White Light exceeded 100?'

Seong Jihan thought this as he saw the eye shape disappear from Sophia's forehead, then,

'I should ask Dongbang Sak, who directly saw that eye, too.'

For now, he decided to return for closed-door training.

"I see. Then, I'll be going now."

"Ah. Jihan. You're leaving already? Is it... because of this?"

As Seong Jihan made a serious expression and said he was leaving, Sophia pointed to her forehead and asked, but,

"No. I originally had closed-door training to do, so I just came to say hello."

"Ah..."

"Thanks to Sophia today, I gained unexpected information. I'll definitely repay this favor next time."

Seong Jihan said goodbye like this, then opened a portal and entered it.

Sophia quickly turned her head towards Yoon Seah, watching him leave like that.

"...Seah. What did I do? It seems like Jihan just touched my forehead and left."

"Well... It looks like Uncle saw something in the Divine Eye? I should ask Mom about it later too."

"Yeah yeah. But, what's closed-door training? Jihan said he was going to do it earlier."

She had been studying Korean hard because of Uncle, but she still didn't know terms like this.

Yoon Seah grinned and explained the word to Sophia.

"Closed-door training? Hmm... It means locking the door so you can't go outside, and focusing on training."

"Ah. Then is Jihan training for about a week?"

[Translator - Asura]

[Proofreader - Gun]

"Hmm... Well, he said he wouldn't come out for a while. So it might take longer than that? Maybe 2 or 3 weeks?"

"I see."

Yoon Seah and Sophia thought he would come out within a few weeks at most, but,

"...Uncle. He's training for a long time this time."

He didn't show his face at home for over a month.

* * *

At the top floor of the Tower.

Seong Jihan and Dongbang Sak, each holding their swords,

Were facing each other in confrontation.

"Huff..."

Unlike Seong Jihan, who was recovering his battered body while sighing softly,

"This one wasn't bad."

Dongbang Sak, with only one sleeve slightly singed, was looking at this with pleased eyes.

'When he said closed-door training, I thought he might teach some divine technique, but...'

The training method Dongbang Sak chose for Seong Jihan was none other than endless combat.

-To be able to fight as much as you want even if you die. It's an environment no different from a blessing for a martial artist.

Saying this, Dongbang Sak started a mock battle with Seong Jihan and,

[Is this... training? Isn't it torture?]

To the extent that it made the Red Administrator say such things, he cut and cut Seong Jihan repeatedly.

Stats were equal due to the Tower's adjustment.

On top of this, Dongbang Sak, who had regained his memories as the emperor of the Murim Empire, was an overwhelmingly out-of-spec monster.

Even Seong Jihan, who had been easily subduing challengers until now, couldn't survive his sword.

At least,

-Oh my, too many challengers have piled up on the top floor...

-I'll go clean up a bit.

When too many players caught in the Tower map rose to the top floor, Dongbang Sak would go out to clean them up, allowing for a brief rest.

But,

-Hmm... Isn't the Tower's difficulty too low? At this rate, you'll have no time for training.

Concerned that training time was getting shorter due to cleaning up challengers, Dongbang Sak suggested,

-How about putting the 'Snake' on the floor below me?

-...You mean the former Martial God?

-Yes. Last time I served him, but in the Tower, I want to be on the upper floor.

He proposed placing the former Martial God on the floor right below the top.

Dongbang Sak's tight training method that didn't even allow time to catch a breath.

'Right... It's not a situation leisurely enough to ensure rest time. Let's go to the extreme.'

Seong Jihan followed Dongbang Sak's suggestion and placed the former Martial God, 'Snake', on the floor below.

-No... What's with this strong enemy popping up on a floor that's not even the top ㅡㅡ;

-Uh... This guy, isn't he the former Martial God?

-Ah... Tuseong?

-Wasn't he the subordinate of the old man on the top floor?

-Why is the Martial God on a lower floor than his servant? Isn't this a failure in difficulty adjustment?

-But he seems easier to deal with than that old man...?

Seeing the former Martial God placed on the second-highest floor, the Tower's challengers complained about the terrible balance adjustment, but,

'...That Snake guy. He's doing his job too well.'

In fact, Seong Jihan was having the hardest time.

Because the former Martial God NPC was crushing all challengers and not letting them come up, Seong Jihan ended up having endless battles with Dongbang Sak as well.

Still,

'As hard as it is, there's something to gain...'

Seong Jihan felt inwardly proud as he looked at Dongbang Sak's singed sleeve.

Just a month ago, he was an opponent who didn't allow even a single hit.

Now, he could at least burn a bit of his clothes.

Moreover,

'The efficiency of Stat Blue has greatly increased.'

Stat Blue, which was fused with Martial Soul.

As martial talent developed through Dongbang Sak's training, changes occurred in Blue, which had stagnated after reaching SSS rank.

Although not enough to reach EX rank yet,

The unique ability was gradually finding its clues.

If he continued training like this, he could aim for further development, but,

"...It's time now."

"Has White Light already reached 200?"

"It's 199 now."

The time to end the closed-door training was approaching.

"Hmm. That's a shame. It was good to see your progress. I'd like to train you a bit more..."

Seeing Seong Jihan's achievements, Dongbang Sak stroked his beard regretfully, but,

[Do the torture disguised as training later when there's time. Becoming part of the light clan comes first now.]

"Right... We should handle the important matters first."

At the Red Administrator's point, letting go of his lingering attachment,

Swish...

He raised a Taiji and pulled out the Taiji Sword from within.

"Here. Take the power of light."

"Understood."

Blue flame ignited faintly from Blue and Red.

Sizzle...!

This slightly singed only the surface of the Taiji Sword, allowing the power of light to leak out.

'If I absorb this, it'll be 200...'

The endless slicing by swords for a month ends today.

Seong Jihan absorbed the light, feeling bittersweet emotions.

[White Light increases by 1.]

[Stat 'White Light' reaches 200.]

[You can expand the authority of light one step further.]

And as White Light reached the target,

A message window appeared saying he could expand authority, just like at 100.

'Expanding authority... This could be done again?'

Seong Jihan's eyes showed a strange light, but,

For now, he left that alone and took out the tester from his inventory.

Press.

And as he immediately pressed the button,

[Hmm...? This signal is. Ah, no... Already?]

From there, the White Administrator's surprised voice flowed out.

[Translator - Asura]

[Proofreader - Gun]