Martial God Regressed to Level 2

[Translator - Asura]

[Proofreader - Gun]

Side Story 11

'If it can't be done legally, then personal retaliation.'

He didn't know which group was sending those chat messages, but in any case, they were saying they would dirty their hands on Seong Jihan's behalf.

After showcasing the destruction of dungeon portals using a government helicopter, it seemed he had instilled confidence in those who had been skeptical.

'Now that dungeon portals are the greatest threat, killing one person is no big deal.'

Seong Jihan had become the only person capable of destroying dungeon portals.

For his sake, killing someone was naturally something they might consider.

Moreover, since the target wasn't a powerful player but just an ordinary person, there was little risk involved.

"If the perpetrator doesn't surrender within two days, I might just receive their head as a gift."

"Th-their head...?"

"Yes."

"Is that really necessary...?"

"Do you not remember that you almost died?"

As Yoon Seah waved her hands in protest, Seong Jihan responded calmly.

"Right now, it's a penalty. But it'll become a bonus if the perpetrator isn't in jail after two days."

He had told them not to kill the perpetrator before the deadline he had set.

But by saying he'd give bonus points after that...

-Are you kidding me right now?

-Is... isn't this incitement to murder? We should arrest him first!!!

-Who's arresting whom, damn it, haha. Don't you get the situation?

-Didn't you see the dungeon getting destroyed? Are you blind?

-It's fake!!!

-What's fake? We saw the pillar of light from here too, haha.

-The few remaining members of the "Sword King's Family" in the chat started causing a ruckus.

However,

"After two days, I'll assign value to the heads of the 'Sword King's Family' as well. For each head, I'll destroy one dungeon. No matter which country I go to, the deal will stand."

Looking at the "Sword King's Family" causing a disturbance in Yoon Seah's chat window, Seong Jihan added a comment.

-One dungeon per head... Ah, would that be sufficient compensation?

-Thank you for your mercy. We'll begin tracking immediately.

-Ha! How are you going to find us with just a BattleTube ID, hahaha.

-Well... Unless you don't leave any traces offline, you won't get caught, but there are fewer people like that than you think. You've revealed yourselves plenty on social media.

-Ah, these crazy bastards... What did we even do wrong...

Because of Seong Jihan's declaration, the "Sword King's Family" viewers had noticeably lost their fervor.

-Come to think of it, I heard a dungeon portal appeared near Mecca... Could our Middle Eastern brothers be mobilizing?

-Even mafias these days are relocating because of dungeon portals; capturing one person to reclaim land? Cheap deal, haha.

-At this rate, won't the person who stabbed Yoon Seah surrender?

-If it were me, I'd seriously ask to be sent to a safe prison... In this situation, if someone gets kidnapped by a foreign organization and ends up beheaded after two days, it wouldn't be surprising.

-Maybe they've already been caught? Wow.

People began to speculate even further, suggesting conspiracy theories that a foreign organization might have already captured the person who stabbed Yoon Seah.

At that, Kim Changyong hurriedly picked up his phone and made a call somewhere.

"Um... The perpetrator is already under protective custody by the Administration Bureau."

Receiving the answer, Kim Changyong reported to Seong Jihan with a relieved expression.

"Is that so? Encourage them to surrender. If they get a suspended sentence or something, I'll put 50 dungeons on their head."

"F-Fifty?"

"Yes."

Eliminating 50 dungeon portals.

Offering a reward that would make any nation turn its eyes, Seong Jihan gave a faint smile.

"Ah, but don't have the Administration Bureau kill them. Korea is a country ruled by law, as you said."

"..."

"Well, they'll have to decide for themselves. I'm fine with whatever they choose."

"Understood..."

Surrender for attempted murder, or die.

As Kim Changyong felt a chill at Seong Jihan's ultimatum, Yoon Seah swallowed hard and began to speak.

"Th-that... Ma—No, Uncle. Isn't that a bit too much...?"

"No. It's not too much. I'm being as lenient as possible to the perpetrator."

As he said that, Seong Jihan cast a cold gaze at the chat window.

"What does your father meeting a new woman and emigrating have to do with his daughter? Is that Seah's fault? They just vented your frustration over a drop in league rankings onto an innocent person. There must be a price to pay for a witch hunt."

"..."

"I could have put your families and relatives on the execution block as well. Don't you think I've shown enough mercy?"

He was stopping here, considering that people in the real world might suffer because of events in this mission world.

If not for that, he might have taken more extreme measures.

-Mercy, you say... But isn't that a bit extreme?

-We did badmouth Yoon Seah a bit, but... Is that worth dying over?

-No matter what, that's going too far.

There were quite a few objections to Seong Jihan's statement, but...

"Even if the perpetrator goes to prison, do you think I'd be moved and not emigrate?"

-Huh?

-What is he saying? Even if the stabber goes to jail, he might still emigrate?

-No, that's a bit...

"Everything depends on my will. I'd like you to clearly recognize who holds the power here."

As Seong Jihan reaffirmed that he was the one in control, the opposing opinions rapidly dwindled.

"Ah, um... Martial God-nim..."

"Seah. Don't concern yourself too deeply with this matter. This is, after all, Seong Jihan's will."

"Uncle's?"

"Yes."

As she was about to dissuade the Martial God once more, upon hearing his answer, Yoon Seah looked at him with confused eyes.

"...All right."

She slowly nodded.

-The dungeon portals are getting smashed so cleanly...

-Looking at this, it seems travel time takes longer.

-Is this already the last dungeon?

-From how he's doing it, it seems like he could destroy more than five in a day.

As the helicopter carrying Seong Jihan moved toward the fifth and final dungeon, someone from the Administration Bureau joined them.

"Ah. Hello! I'm Park Yoonsik from the Hamyang Park clan!"

A man with a flushed face gave a 90-degree bow to Seong Jihan.

As he looked at the somewhat familiar face,

[You have partially cleared a sub-quest.]

[The mission "Meet more than 10 acquaintances" has been updated to (2/10).]

A message appeared indicating that one more person had been counted toward the mission of meeting 10 acquaintances.

'Good thing I called him.'

Indeed, knowing the family lineage made clearing the mission easier.

Looking at the brisk and energetic Park Yoonsik, Seong Jihan gave a slight smile.

"You can go now."

"Pardon?"

"My purpose has been achieved, so you may return."

Meeting an acquaintance was sufficient.

There was no need to keep him around unnecessarily.

Seong Jihan said this out of consideration for Park Yoonsik, but...

"No... I'm so sorry! If I've been discourteous...!"

The other man bowed even deeper, almost as if he was about to kneel.

"But... I'm truly sorry to ask, but could you please give me another chance somehow?"

[Translator - Asura]

[Proofreader - Gun]

"No. My business is finished."

"Since he says so, wouldn't it be best for you to return?"

Chimed in Kim Changyong from the side.

But Park Yoonsik glared at him and bowed his head again.

"Please! Just give me one more chance!"

"Hmm? Wouldn't being around someone like me cause you a lot of stress? Won't it be tiring?"

"Oh, no! Not at all. It would be an honor!"

What kind of rivalry was going on between these two for them to act like this?

Watching the intense exchange of glances between the two Administration Bureau officials, Seong Jihan chuckled.

"Well, if you insist on following me, you can both assist."

"Ah... You mean together?"

"Shall I dismiss one of you, then?"

"No! We'll cooperate!"

Delighted, Park Yoonsik joined the helicopter and immediately reported to Seong Jihan.

"Um... The perpetrator you were concerned about, Mr. Seong, just surrendered a short while ago."

"Already?"

It hadn't been long since they destroyed the first dungeon portal and moved to the fifth one.

Did their mind change so quickly?

"Surrendering in just a few hours... It's hard to believe."

"Well... Actually, the perpetrator almost got kidnapped starting from yesterday. Though we kept her safe with the Administration Bureau's protection, we informed her that we couldn't protect her indefinitely."

"Since yesterday?"

Even though Seong Jihan hadn't said anything about allowing personal retaliation.

Had organizations already started taking action?

"Yes. So after watching today's broadcast, she surrendered. I heard she was greatly distressed, fearing her family might be harmed."

"Distressed... If she intended to kill someone, she should have been prepared to die herself."

Seong Jihan gave a cold smile.

"Still, since she surrendered, I suppose I should stay a bit longer."

With a slight movement, he gestured with his finger, destroying the dungeon portal on the ground.

As Seong Jihan, merely by moving his finger from the helicopter, obliterated five dungeon portals,

-Is it really that easy?

-Travel time really seems to be the issue...

-Honestly, looking at him, it seems like he could destroy more than five.

-Um, would you consider destroying more dungeon portals for humanity in distress?

People, thinking that Seong Jihan could destroy more than five dungeon portals in a day, began to plead with him to eliminate more portals.

"I don't want to."

But Seong Jihan refused without batting an eye.

How many dungeon portals were scattered across the world?

When would he ever finish destroying them all?

'Besides, what I need to do right now is to raise my stat 'Blue'.'

This mission's ultimate goal was to prevent Dongbang Sak's descent.

He couldn't afford to spend more time eliminating dungeon portals.

"Instead, I'll teach you how to fish."

"Teach us... how to fish?"

"Yes. The method to eliminate dungeon portals."

-?????

-You're going to reveal how to destroy dungeon portals?

-I thought he was a heartless person, but I guess not.

-Isn't this practically a national secret? He's just going to reveal it?

-At Seong Jihan's unexpected announcement, the chat window became chaotic.

"Not for free, of course. There are conditions."

Then, he suddenly began to call out people's names.

"In Korea, Lee Hayeon, Lim Gayeong..."

Starting with key members of the 'Daegi' guild, he named about ten Koreans.

-I know Lim Gayeong, but who's Lee Hayeon?

-The rest seem to be national team players.

-Some of them have even emigrated... Geez.

-Apart from Lee Hayeon, most of the names called were players affiliated with the Korean national team.

Once he finished naming Koreans,

"In the U.S., Sophia, Barren, Commentator Christophor..."

Then, he began naming not only famous Americans but also people from other countries.

-He's even calling Diego.

-There's a mix of promising rookies and already established players...

-What's the criteria?

-Why is he calling a commentator? And a fired coach?

-I have no idea.

-No, there must be a reason...

-People, not expecting that Seong Jihan was calling upon 'acquaintances,' began to speculate whether there was any commonality among the names he mentioned.

And then,

"Lastly, from Japan."

Seong Jihan's lips curled up slightly as he mentioned the final country.

"I'll invite Ito Ryuhei, Takeda Kazuo, and... Ito Shizuru."

-What? He's inviting the Sword King???

-Takeda Kazuo is... the head of recruitment for the New Self-Defense Forces.

-Who's Ito Shizuru? She has the same surname as the Sword King...

-Could she be...?

-Come on, Ito is a super common surname, haha.

Though the public didn't know about the woman connected to the Sword King, 'Ito Shizuru,' Seong Jihan mentioned her as well.

"If they come to Korea, I'll reveal 'how to fish' then."

He dangled bait they couldn't possibly resist.

[Translator - Asura]

[Proofreader - Gun]