The Martial God who Regressed Back to Level 2 Novel

"Discard... you say?"

Sung JiHan asked Ariel if he had misheard.

Shadow Elves, a race he had never seen in his previous life.

Their existence was something he had learned for the first time while undertaking a quest related to the Shadow Queen.

But discard?

Among fellow elves?

"You must be the same. Even if you go through a perfect process, if there is a defect in the item, don't you just discard it?"

"So, if it doesn't turn out like that, does it mean there is a defect?"

"Yes. That's how the great Creator, the World Tree, thinks."

Ariel twisted his lips and spoke in a cynical voice.

"The World Tree is the Creator?"

"Yes. Elves are originally born from the fruit of the World Tree."

"...Born from fruit?"

"Yes. Originally, those forms don't even have reproductive organs. They are neither male nor female."

Forms.

He said forms.

Ariel summoned the elf figure he had conjured and continued speaking.

"But I don't know why the great World Tree makes such mistakes... The probability of a normal form coming out from the fruit is less than 10 percent. The rest have different skin colors like me, or they have unnecessary reproductive organs as elves. Or... they don't have white skin or reproductive organs, but they just don't turn out like that."

"So, are they all discarded?"

"Yes. To be precise, they are disposed of. To be used as fertilizer for the great World Tree. I was also like that."

Ariel reminisced with a nostalgic face.

"When I grew up inside the fruit, I acquired basic knowledge, so I had intelligence... But until I was disposed of, I never had any thoughts of rebellion. The World Tree was an absolute existence to me at that time."

"I see."

"The one who led me back to my senses when I died like that was the shadow."

"A shadow?"

"Yes... The remaining 90 percent who were not chosen by the great World Tree and were disposed of. Their souls gathered and became shadows."

"So, Shadow Elves are..."

"Yes. Our race is a collective of souls that couldn't become elves. We further developed in a spiritual state and restored our physical bodies."

Ariel raised his arm.

Then, unlike usual, his body became transparent.

"I can return to this spiritual form anytime."

"Is the true form of Shadow Elves a ghost?"

"Yes. More precisely, we belong to the shadow of the Shadow Queen."

"You said that even if only the neck remains, they can survive?"

"That's right. If the head of the spiritual form is destroyed, even Shadow Elves will disappear."

With that, Ariel returned his body to its original state.

"Since the original topic was about elves, let's go back to that... Elves who come out with a normal form like this are strong and have strong vitality. Even if only a small piece of flesh remains instead of the head, they can regenerate."

"To that extent?"

Sung JiHan pretended to be surprised with his mouth, but in his mind, he recalled the incredible vitality that the elf race he had met in the Space League had boasted.

"Yes. Their level... from my perspective, they are a superior race."

"Shadow Elves are considered intermediate to high level. Are elves stronger?"

"We have only one piece of flesh left, so we can't regenerate into our original form."

"..."

"And they belong to the World Tree Union and are trained as combat machines."

The World Tree Union.

They were opponents that Sung JiHan remembered very well.

When Earth joined the Space League last time, the elf planets here took first to fifth place.

"Maybe you'll meet them after your tutorial is over. Your planet is, well, a place that the World Tree Alliance would be interested in exploring."

"You mean Earth?"

"Yes. Among the habitable planets, there aren't many of this size."

"But if I just listen to you, the elves seem quite powerful... Isn't it a mismatch with us? You said humans are the lowest race. Should we meet them already after the tutorial?"

Sung JiHan pretended not to know, even though he knew that future Earth belonged to the five elf planets and the Space League.

This had been a question that had been on his mind for a long time.

Having humans and elves in the same league felt similar to how Bronze, Platinum, and Diamond formed a league.

"That's why the World Tree Alliance is so fierce."

Ariel gave a bitter smile in response to Sung JiHan's question.

"They exploit the system of the BattleNet in order to participate in the Space League as newcomers. Well... to put it simply, you can think of it as creating 'alt characters' here."

Alt characters.

A term that refers to newly created accounts and characters, in addition to the original account.

Why was that term mentioned here?

"They establish new planets in order to participate in the Space League."

"...To that extent? Is that even possible in the first place?"

"I don't know the exact method, but planting the World Tree is the key. If we compare it to your universe... yes. Planting the World Tree in a place like the moon, making it possible for life to exist temporarily."

Sung JiHan was speechless.

Why were the members of the World Tree Alliance going to such lengths to participate in the Space League?

And...

"If they do that, won't they face sanctions from BattleNet?"

"All systems have their vulnerabilities. The World Tree Alliance knows this well."

"Huh."

It was like a veteran bringing an alt character to a game board where newbies were playing and dominating them.

So that's why the rankings of the previous life's Space League were like that.

"So, Sung JiHan. Your martial art name is important."

"What does that have to do with anything all of a sudden?"

"In order for the Shadow Queen to strengthen her ultimate power, she needs to find clues. Clues on how the Shadow Elves, who hunt wandering gods... how they modified the Shadow Queen's power."

"The Shadow Queen will provide the means to restrain them?"

"Yes. The Queen and the World Tree Alliance are archenemies. Originally, the separate planet that became the Shadow Elves' territory was one of the planets ruled by the World Tree Alliance. The Queen led a revolution, burned down the World Tree, and turned it into the Shadow Elves' star."

An enemy's enemy is a friend.

Ariel's eyes sparkled.

"We don't care how you obtained that martial art. We're only interested in how a wandering god... a Shadow Queen who hunts the Shadow Queen... how she modified the Shadow Queen's power."

"Hmm..."

"Even though you can't unfold it yet, just knowing the name is enough for the Queen to deduce. It's a clue to further develop her power."

She was eagerly anticipating Sung JiHan's final martial art name.

Through the name, she would search for clues to enhance the Shadow Queen's ultimate power.

However...

"It's called the Shadow Divine Sword."

"...What?"

"The Shadow Divine Sword. That's the name of the ultimate martial art."

Upon hearing the name, Ariel's face twisted.

"Really? A sword?"

"Yeah."

"Is this a joke?"

"Would I joke about something like this?"

"Haah..."

With a disappointed expression, she let out a deep sigh.

"The Shadow Sword, huh? In the end, isn't it just like the Shadow Sword Eclipse?"

"Well, I don't really know the details."

"...I see. But I still want to see it for myself, just in case."

"Sure. I'll show you the Shadow Sword when I grow stronger."

"Hmm... I wonder when that will be."

Ssshhhh...

Disappointed, Arielle was once again sucked into Sung JiHan's arm and disappeared.

Sung JiHan smiled bitterly.

"Well, I do know more than that."

He didn't have no information about the Shadow Sword.

He had actually used it in his previous life.

"But I can't tell her about it at this level."

As someone who was just a Silver, Sung JiHan still had a lot to learn from Arielle about the differences between the Shadow Sword and the Eclipse.

"Since there's still time until the Shadow Queen is defeated...."

He thought that he would tell her when he grew stronger and opened his inventory.

***

[Curtain of Emptiness]

- Grade: S

- A curtain that is cast upon the Void Apostle.

- When the curtain is completely reversed, it temporarily becomes intangible and can hide.

- If it moves even a little, the hiding effect disappears.

- It can avoid attacks below SS grade, but if it hides for too long, it can be buried in emptiness.

"It becomes intangible to the world?"

Just the item description wasn't enough, so Sung JiHan decided to try it out himself.

He took out the Curtain of Emptiness from his inventory and held it in his hand.

The texture felt like thick cloth, but it was completely transparent and couldn't be seen with the naked eye.

"Hmm... Is it like an invisible cloak?"

I should try experimenting with it.

Sung JiHan took the Curtain of Emptiness and went to find Yoon Se-ah.

In the room next to the training room, where the BattleNet connector was installed.

"Se-ah, what are you doing?"

"Uncle~~! I'm already level 20. Isn't it amazing?"

She was still sitting at the BattleNet connector, unable to calm down her excitement.

"Level 20?"

"Yeah. I leveled up 14 times today!"

No matter how much she rode Sung JiHan's bus.

It was an unbelievably crazy growth.

As expected, the hunting of the Naseed Viscount played a big role in this result.

"I'm level 49 too, you know."

Thanks to this game, Sung JiHan had leveled up rapidly, and now he was only one level away from the promotion match.

"Hehe. I'm currently searching for what equipment to buy."

Giving up on buying real estate with the money he received from the Sword King, Yoon Se-ah was now fully focused on getting the right equipment.

She was deeply immersed in the fun of shopping.

"I have a new item to use. Do you want to see it?"

"Huh? What is it, what is it?"

"Here."

Ssshhhh...

Sung JiHan flipped the Curtain of Emptiness over his head.

Then, I felt a sensation of thick cloth wrapping around my body.

"Uncle, where are you? Where are you?"

Yoon Sae-ah's voice started to sound incredibly fast.

But Sung JiHan didn't feel like he was wearing a flipped tent, he just stood straight as usual.

Yoon Sae-ah had no idea that Sung JiHan was there at all.

"Is time flowing differently?"

Yoon Sae-ah was moving incredibly fast in front of Sung JiHan's eyes.

It felt like watching a video played at more than twice the speed.

"Where did they say it would unravel if I moved?"

When Sung JiHan moved slightly, Yoon Sae-ah opened her eyes wide.

"Huh?"

"Do you see?"

"Yeah. Uncle suddenly popped out of thin air."

"Hmm."

Is this... worth using?

Sung JiHan looked at the void tent with a skeptical look in his eyes.

"It's an item specialized in complete survival and concealment."

It was completely opposite to the style of a warrior who had to fight enemies at the front of the team.

Of course, it might be useful as a means to save his life when in danger.

"But I don't think I'll be in any danger."

When he fought with Viscount Naseed, Sung JiHan didn't even get hit once.

There were no threats that he knew of for the time being.

"Should I give it to Sae-ah?"

Sung JiHan considered giving the seemingly useless void tent to Yoon Sae-ah, but...

"For now, I need to verify the content of being buried in that void."

The last part of the item's description was a bit unclear.

After fully analyzing the void tent, Sung JiHan made up his mind to give it to Yoon Sae-ah.

"If I keep using it, they said the void will bury me."

* * *

Two days later.

"[Achieved 1st place in the Silver League.]"

"[Obtained the title 'Ruler of Silver.']"

"[Qualified to participate in the Top 100 Promotion Matches.]"

While reaching level 50.

"...What? Why am I not being buried?"

Despite flipping the void tent all day long in both reality and the game, Sung JiHan couldn't feel any side effects.

"Ah, this is a bit awkward to give to Sae-ah."

He needed to know about the side effects before giving the item to Yoon Sae-ah.

He thought he should keep it for a while.

"The player's level far surpasses the Silver League."

"[Qualified to participate in the Gangnam 1 Gold League Promotion Matches.]"

"Which promotion match would you like to choose?"

A system message popped up additionally.

Perhaps because Sung JiHan showed overwhelming power, despite being in the Silver League, he was asked if he wanted to participate in the promotion matches like Gold.

"[Caution: If you choose the Top 100 Promotion Matches, you will receive penalties to maintain balance with other players.]"

Sung JiHan laughed as if it was ridiculous to see that.

If they were going to maintain balance that well, they should just stop the World Union guys.

"If I have to choose between the two promotion matches... of course."

Sung JiHan didn't hesitate for long and chose one.