Chapter 645:

Chapter 645:

As Seong Jihan was organizing his thoughts about the President, Id looked at him enviously.

"I'm truly envious. To have an ability comparable to him… Let me correct my earlier statement. If you were a normal person, you wouldn't have become a high-ranking official, but the highest-ranking official."

"What does it matter if it's high-ranking or highest-ranking? All the normal people are fused with transcendent beings now anyway."

"W-well, that's true… Ahem. So what are you going to do now?"

Seong Jihan talked about the passages he had seen earlier.

The attack routes divided into south and north,

And the risks to be dealt with when choosing a path.

Listening to his words, Id frowned at the mention of golden clocks spread on the southern route.

"Hmm… If there are that many golden clocks, the power of protection alone won't be enough to break through. It might look like I'm just using a shield to you, but this requires complex control."

"Is that so? Then we should rule out the option of carefully advancing.""That would be better."

Seong Jihan nodded at those words.

Then whether south or north, the only option is to force our way through.

'I should discuss this with Dongbang Sak too.'

And to summon him, going to Yggdrasil's domain was essential.

Seong Jihan pointed to the door.

"Let's move."

"C-can't we eat before we go? My body has gotten weaker…"

Id looked towards the server access device with lingering regret, but.

"Who wasted their energy on useless things when I gave them time? You can eat after we finish talking."

Seong Jihan said there was no time for that and took the lead.

"Tch. Useless, he says… That's the reason for living…"

Though Id grumbled, he quietly followed behind Seong Jihan.

Having made the round trip once before and now possessing the authority of observation, Seong Jihan was able to arrive at the western area where Yggdrasil was located with skilled steps.

And while moving, Id, who had blocked the golden clocks with the authority of protection, told Seong Jihan definitively.

"…These golden clocks definitely have a limit to how long they can be blocked. Slowly advancing is impossible."

"Got it. I'll keep that in mind."

So in the end, forcing their way through was the best option to reach the central area.

Seong Jihan nodded and entered the western area.

'Hmm… Before summoning the Tower, I should see if I can use the Overseer's authority here too.'

Considering how Noah had messed around as the authority holder of Yggdrasil last time, there must be ways to use it here too.

Thinking this, Seong Jihan approached Yggdrasil with the power of observation manifested.

Then,

Zing…

[Recognizing the authority of 'Ark- Overseer'.]

[Retrieving permissions allowed for the 'Overseer'.]

As a new message window appeared on the surface of the steel tree Yggdrasil,

The items the Overseer could perform appeared.

[Modify 'Yggdrasil's Register']

[Update Server Change Data]

[Create Light Body Organs]

[Observe Inside the Ark]

'What? The only addition is observation.'

Well, for 'Yggdrasil', Noah was a lower authority holder than himself.

That's why he had revoked her authority and finished her off.

Of course, Id was the one who actually killed her in the end.

Seong Jihan recalled the previous incident and, just in case, pressed on Ark internal observation.

Then,

Zing…

The same map he had seen in the server access device appeared.

"Oh…! Is this perhaps a map? What a windfall. Overseer… To think you could peek inside the Ark like this. Was I being monitored like this too?"

Id, who had been peeking at what Seong Jihan was doing from behind, made a fuss upon seeing this, but.

"Didn't I say earlier that I figured it out with the authority of observation? This is that function."

"Ah… Is that so? Then you've already seen this. But, couldn't you see where Urd is with this?"

"All I can see is light."

Beep.

As Seong Jihan said this and pressed on the central part of the map,

The screen changed to show a space filled only with light.

"Uh… Hmm…"

And seeing that, Id's eyes glazed over,

Whoosh!

He tried to push past Seong Jihan to get closer to the screen.

Of course,

"What are you doing?"

Thud!

Unable to break through Seong Jihan's domain, he fell back in place.

"Ugh. Ugh…"

Even while sitting, he desperately wriggled, trying somehow to get closer to the light on the screen.

Tap.

Seong Jihan tapped on a different map instead of the central area.

"Huh…?"

Only then did Id, whose eyes had been rolling, slowly start to come to his senses.

"W-what was that…"

"You lost your mind when you saw the light in the central area. Why?"

"Ah. Light…"

At Seong Jihan's question, Id recalled the moment just now with a dazed expression.

"Just now, it felt like I was in heaven… A sensation incomparable to when using VR dominated me. Is this the ascension that normal people talk about?"

"Ascension?"

"Yes. Ascension to light… Normal people connected to the light body system mocked Isolators for pursuing only base desires. Yes. If you experience this… It makes sense…"

Did light make you lose your mind to this extent?

Seong Jihan left Id, who was sitting and muttering to himself, and turned his eyes to Yggdrasil's screen.

'I should raise my white light to the limit.'

White light that rises by 30 per day on the server.

This was actually quite a fast growth rate, but drawing light body organs from Yggdrasil like getting a drink from a vending machine was the fastest way to grow white light.

As he pressed on light body organ creation and proceeded as before,

Thud. Thud. Thud.

More than dozens of light spheres began to fall to the ground.

'Since there was no problem on the server, I should be able to absorb them right away here.'

Swoosh.

As Seong Jihan absorbed the light like that,

[The organs in your body are evolving.]

[Stat 'White Light' reaches 3000.]

[Light body formation is progressing slowly and cannot contain all the power of light.]

[Please expand your light authority.]

Messages about the white light stat rising kept appearing,

Then the growth of white light stopped at 3000.

Last time it stopped growing at 1500, did the white light limit increase this much because he gained the 'Time Reversal' authority?

'Man, it's so easy to raise abilities.'

White light, which was the 0th order stat in BattleNet.

This ability, which should be the rarest just by order, domehow turned out to be the easiest to obtain among all the abilities he's gotten so far.

As Seong Jihan was thinking this, looking at his white light that had risen in an instant,

Whoosh…!

Intense light manifested from his body, trying to break through the blue barrier he had set up in advance.

'Hmm… The ability score jumped too much at once.'

If blue failed to block the light here, he would immediately be judged as a 'normal person' and join the transcendent being.

Seong Jihan concentrated blue to control the light from leaking out.

Swish…

As the blue membrane enveloping his body deepened,

The light raging inside was quickly suppressed.

However,

[White light has greatly exceeded the standard. Please expand your light authority.]

[If authority is not expanded within 5 minutes, the system will forcibly proceed with authority expansion.]

[The most probable authority will be developed first.]

After controlling this, messages appeared urging him to use the overflowing white light quickly.

* * *

'Well, I guess I'll just strengthen Manifestation.'

Opening the authority expansion slot, Manifestation still had a 0% success rate.

If he invested white light in this authority, it would strengthen existing authorities like before.

Thinking this, Seong Jihan invested all his white light into Manifestation.

Then,

[Authority expansion failed. Existing authority, 'Time Reversal' is strengthened.]

Starting with Time Reversal being strengthened, all his existing authorities began to rise evenly.

And after the authority of observation was strengthened several times,

Flash…!

Intense light burst from Seong Jihan's right eye.

Along with that,

[The authority of observation has been strengthened.]

[Through the authority of observation, you can see the past and future of the target.]

[Future predictions show up to three items starting with the most likely to be realized, and there is always uncertainty.]

From now on, through the authority of observation, a voice was heard saying he could see not only the present, but also the past and future.

'Seeing the past and future… It was worth strengthening.'

Of course, it added a caveat that there was uncertainty in the future.

Well, thinking back to old memories, the prophecies Pythia made through the divine eye, didn't Seong Jihan himself make them all go awry?

This kind of future could happen, so be careful.

Future predictions should be taken this way.

'Well then, shall we try it out right away?'

The thing to look at right now would be the future, of course.

Southern route or northern route?

At this crossroads of choice,

It wouldn't be bad to take a look before going.

'Let's see my future.'

Thinking this, Seong Jihan used the authority of observation.

Then,

[Observing the target's future.]

With that voice, a vision began to appear over his pupils.

The first scene that appeared was,

Slash!

The image of Seong Jihan himself cutting off Urd's neck. Seong Jihan, who had completely annihilated the entire neck, the area where time reversal was implemented,

-…She's definitely dead.

Was looking down at Urd's neck lying on the ground, sighing in relief.

'This is the most likely future?'

For the successful conquest of Urd to come up first, it meant there was a high chance of success in this Ark entry.

As Seong Jihan was inwardly satisfied with the first future shown,

Zing…!

The pure white space of light where Urd had been standing, briefly turned blue.

Then,

Swish…

The blue that had blossomed on Seong Jihan's body spread in all directions, and all the light authority manifestation sites he had been trying to block began to shine.

Then,

Flash!

Seong Jihan's body turned to light,

And soon, completely disappeared.

'…Did I fuse with the transcendent being?'

Cutting off Urd's neck was good, but did the blue energy get removed by the transcendent being and then absorbed?

No, if this happened, it was not really a success even if it succeeded.

As the vision disappeared, Seong Jihan frowned and thought to himself,

'What's the second one?'

To this, a new vision arose.

In it,

-…Ha. Haha. What? Is the server really the weakness?

Urd, with a maniacal laugh,

Tap. Tap.

Was threatening Seong Jihan while tapping on a screen.

-An entity that came up to the Ark, showing attachment to the server… I thought no way, but hehe. Hehehe… How did such a stupid person come this far?

-…Stop it.

-Stop? You should speak properly.

Saying this, Urd raised the corners of her mouth.

-Master. Please stop. I beg you. Like that.

-…

-Say it right now. Hm? Ah, right. Kneel down. And bow your head too.

Seong Jihan gritted his teeth and slowly bent his body at those words.

With this, the answer to the second future prediction was already out.

'Yeah. Enough. Turn it off.'

Click.

The second vision disappeared.

The first one he defeated Urd but ended up with the transcendent being, and the second one he submits to her?

'Both are the worst.'

Would there be some hope in the third one?

Seong Jihan, with sunken eyes, played the next prediction.

Then, in the newly arising vision, the northern area that he had just seen on the map appeared.

At that place where the Infinite Sword had been stuck on top of a huge rock,

Dongbang Sak was holding the sword handle, looking down at Seong Jihan.

-So… Do you want our help?

'Our?'

No.

Isn't "our" what an emperor uses to refer to himself?

Considering it, Dongbang Sak's face looks somewhat more arrogant than usual.

As Seong Jihan was watching Dongbang Sak's actions on top of the rock, he stroked his beard and opened his mouth.

-Then become a member of the Qi royal family.

-What do you mean by that…

-I have a promising daughter. Swear to be betrothed to that child.

-…What?

-Then I'll give you the imperial surname, Jiang.

-Ha. Jiang, is it…

-Yes. Consider it an honor.

Dongbang Sak was pleased by himself.

He seemed to firmly believe that Seong Jihan would be betrothed to his daughter.

'…No, why is everything I see like this?'

-But why is there no answer?

-No. Shouldn't I have time to think?

-Time to think? Huh. You dare to! Are you rejecting my 1001st daughter of the imperial family?

Seong Jihan closed his eyes for a moment, watching Dongbang Sak in the vision get angry because the answer was late.

At this point, it's not future prediction,

'…It feels like I'm only seeing bad endings?'