The Martial God who Regressed Back to Level 2 Novel

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A Korean beef restaurant in Gangnam.

In the private room of this famous restaurant, Sung JiHan shook hands with a man.

"Nice to meet you again. Sung JiHan."

It was Diego Masid, whom Sung JiHan had formed a connection with in a defense game.

Sung JiHan had been wanting to meet him earlier to strengthen their friendship, but they were both so busy that they could only schedule a meeting on today, a public holiday.

"I originally planned to watch the SeA vs. Japan match."

Even this meeting was made possible because Yoon SeA commuted to the academy because of the gift.

"I'm sorry for being late today. Living expenses in Korea are expensive, so I had to work part-time at a soccer school."

"You were working at a soccer school?"

"Yes. It's run by Mr. Cha, my sponsor. It used to have a lot of students, but now there aren't many due to the decline in popularity of soccer."

"......"

Sung JiHan felt a sense of crisis.

"Diego Masid, who was once a legendary player in the soccer world... is now working as a soccer school instructor in Korea."

After the disappearance of professional sports due to the BattleNet, Diego Masid was one of the individuals who suffered the most.

In the soccer world, which was once the most popular sport in the world, he was walking the path of a living legend from a prestigious club...

Now, he was in a state of decline to the point of worrying about his livelihood.

"How long has it been since I had beef?"

Chiiing-

As soon as the ordered meat arrived, Masid immediately put it on the grill.

He glanced at Sung JiHan and said, "Can I drink alcohol?"

"Of course."

"Oh!"

When permission was granted, Masid shouted loudly.

"Auntie! Soju! Beer! Please!"

Whish whish whish- Thak! Quak quak quak-

Diego Masid poured soju and beer with familiar hand movements.

1:2.

It was a somaek, a combination of soju and beer, with a strong ratio of soju, a true drinker's somaek.

After carefully pouring the somaek for Sung JiHan, he handed it over.

"Cheers?"

"Cheers."

Cheers!

They naturally clinked their beer glasses together.

"Ah... This is the best thing about coming to Korea."

Masid looked happy as he drank somaek.

With a nostalgic look in his eyes, as if regretting the empty beer glass that he emptied in one gulp, he started pouring more alcohol.

"Let's have another drink."

"Let's do it."

"Speak comfortably. It's easier to listen to banmal than jondaemal."

"Sure."

Cheers! Cheers! Cheers!

The two men drank four glasses in a row without saying a word.

With slightly flushed faces, Masid looked at the empty beer glass he had emptied in one go.

"Yeah. How much do you know about me?"

"I know that you were once a living legend."

"...a legend. It's an old story."

Masid, with a nostalgic look in his eyes, poured himself another drink.

Gulp, gulp.

"Ah... Auntie! Two bottles of soju and four bottles of beer, please."

Then Masid fell silent again.

Sung JiHan recalled the information he had searched before meeting him.

Diego Masid, who had risen as a living legend in a prestigious club in Spain.

What had frustrated him from becoming the best in the football world was the sudden appearance of the BattleNet from outer space.

"FIFA was disbanded in 2013."

The international football federation, FIFA.

That massive organization was dismantled less than three years after the BattleNet came into existence.

Even among professional sports federations, it was the last one to be disbanded.

With the dissolution of FIFA, professional sports in the world now only existed in the form of BattleNet.

"Ah...!"

In no time, Masid finished another round of drinks, emptying one bottle of soju and two bottles of beer.

He looked at Sung JiHan with a flushed face.

"Alright... Sung JiHan. Are you ready to enter Bolon now?"

"What's Bolon? Can't we just take our time with the drinks?"

"Bol. Lon. Bolon! Korean is difficult. And when you give someone a drink, you have to drink it too."

With a twisted pronunciation, Masid asked Sung JiHan.

"Tell me. Why... why does my gift... go well with mages?"

Thump. Thump.

With those words, Masid kicked the soccer ball at his feet.

Even though he was sitting at a drinking table, he was almost completely absorbed in juggling the ball, as if he were completely obsessed with football.

Wasn't he the one who came into the restaurant without taking the soccer ball off his foot?

"What's wrong with him? Is he crazy?"

"When did he bring a soccer ball?"

Despite the disapproving glances from the people around him, Masid didn't let go of the ball.

No matter how much of a legend he was in the football world, his excessive obsession seemed to be a symptom of an obsessive-compulsive disorder.

But there was a reason for this behavior.

"It's because of the gift."

The gift that Masid had revealed to the media in order to gain sponsorship, the ability of the "God of Football," was like this.

[Gift - God of Football (SSS grade)]

- When the soccer ball is on the foot, all abilities are greatly increased.

- Harnesses the power of the "soccer ball form" equipment with over 300% efficiency.

- The longer the time spent handling the soccer ball form equipment, the greater the increase in abilities.

The gift that constantly revolved around the topic of soccer balls.

Especially because of the last condition, Masid always had to carry a soccer ball with him.

Whether in games or in reality.

He had to keep the soccer ball with him in order to increase the rate of increase in his gift's abilities.

"My abilities... hmph. They don't match with mages."

"Are you talking about the initial stats?"

"Yeah. My strength, agility, and stamina were all 10... but my magic power was only 5."

The initial stat abilities in BattleNet were considered indicators of what kind of profession one should pursue in the future.

And while Masid had the best physical abilities, his magic power was lacking, so his statement that being a mage didn't suit him had some credibility.

That's why Masid only considered adapting to warrior or archer classes, and he didn't even think about being a mage with a magic power of 5.

"I lived as a warrior for three years. I even made it to silver. But fighting with a soccer ball was too uncomfortable. So I gave up on that class."

Gulp, gulp.

Masid continued to fill his beer glass with a hazy look in his eyes.

"To give up, I lowered my level to level 2. I kept dying, coming in last place... I fell into a downward spiral... and then I changed jobs to become an Archer class. But being an Archer was also difficult. No matter how much my stats increased, I couldn't penetrate the enemies with a soccer ball."

"Yeah. A ball is just a ball. It's not suitable to be used as a weapon."

"So, I tried attaching a ball to my foot and shooting arrows. It didn't have much effect. I tried various attempts. In the process, I was scammed by fraudsters. My wealth that I gathered through soccer gradually disappeared. I gradually fell into despair."

Before he knew it, he couldn't even touch meat.

Masid, who drank alcohol like crazy.

He opened a new bottle of alcohol and continued speaking.

"My worthless wife divorced me. She took our son and returned to Argentina. I gave most of my remaining wealth to her... and promised to come back successful. I promised to make the most of this gift... to utilize it as an SSS-grade. It's been 5 years since I said those words..."

Masid's eyes were completely bloodshot, and his tongue was dry.

His voice was filled with resignation.

From being the top sports player to falling to the bottom as a foreign worker in the East, he couldn't find any hope and could only feel deep depression.

Sung JiHan nodded slightly.

He could fully empathize with how deep his feelings of despair were.

"...But I know better than anyone how brilliantly he will change in the future."

Masid eventually found his own path alone.

That's how he became a hero and the greatest magician in Argentina.

"And if that's how it's going to be anyway."

He had to help him get out of the abyss of sadness as soon as possible.

He had to make Diego Masid, the outstanding magician, fulfill his role faster.

For the sake of the Earth.

And for his own sake.

"Masid."

"..."

"Look at this."

Sung JiHan held up his smartphone.

On the screen was the Battle Market page.

"This is..."

"It's a page I searched for 'Orb'."

Orb.

A supplementary equipment for magicians that has a shape similar to a bead.

It is mainly used to enhance magical power by being inserted into an additional slot in the staff used by magicians.

"Why... Does this mean I should use it like a soccer ball?"

Diego Masid, whose eyes were completely bloodshot, focused on the smartphone screen.

Pfft.

He let out a bitter laugh.

"The object that my gift recognizes as a 'soccer ball shape'. It really... has to be the exact size of a soccer ball. Orbs are small in size. I can't use that."

"Yeah. The orbs available on Earth are probably like that."

"Then why did you show me this..."

"But what if we do this?"

Sung JiHan changed the search term.

"To the Artifact of the Otherworld - Orb."

Then, unlike the items that appeared on the Battle Market a while ago...

Various orbs of different sizes were revealed.

"This is...?"

"The Artifact of the Otherworld needs to be separately checked in the market to be searched."

The Artifact of the Otherworld, which Sung JiHan had skillfully utilized, had various sizes of equipment, just like the items used by extraterrestrial beings.

There were even ones as small as a fingernail and ones so huge that they were unimaginable.

"...I didn't know there would be things like this. But, the condition of 'soccer ball shape' doesn't just refer to the size."

"Yeah. The material should be similar too. The object should be used with the 'foot'."

"H-How do you know that?"

Now is not the time to drink alcohol!

"Wait a moment!"

Snap!

Diego Masid hurriedly put down his glass and slapped himself.

It was a drastic prescription to sober up.

"Ugh... continue."

Seeing Masid in a listening posture, Sung JiHan added a search term to the battle market.

"Shall we add the word 'Arachne' to the search for the discovered extraterrestrial relic?"

Arachne.

It referred to a race of giant spider-like extraterrestrial beings.

When this was added to the search term, Arachne's orb was updated in the battle market.

"This is..."

"Arachne, the spider-like race. Their orbs are wrapped in spider silk. Yes... like a soccer ball."

Masid couldn't take his eyes off the smartphone screen.

Encased in pure white silk, the orb of Arachne formed a sphere like a ball, with only the center part shining red.

Its appearance and size were similar to a soccer ball, just as Sung JiHan had described.

"And there's no problem with the use of the item. Arachne, being a spider-like race, naturally uses the orb with their feet."

"H-how... did you...?"

Identifying the orb from the extraterrestrial relic.

An item that only appears in the search when Arachne is entered as a condition.

How did Sung JiHan figure this out?

Masid naturally had that question, but Sung JiHan had a prepared answer.

"I had to search for a relic, and while looking into various things, I happened to come across it."

"I see... Y-you used some strange weapons, didn't you? You..."

Masid nodded his head.

Come to think of it, Sung JiHan's equipment, such as the combination of a kitchen knife and a club, and the Charmar used by Urk, were all peculiar.

Having resolved the rising question, Masid looked at the price of the most important item.

Only three Arachne orbs were available.

Starting from grade B, the lowest price started at 500,000 GP.

"Hmm. 500,000 GP...!"

Masid swallowed his saliva.

In Korean won, that would be 500 million.

If he had discovered this ten years ago, it wouldn't have been such a burden.

But for Masid, who was currently living as a foreign worker, it was an amount he couldn't even imagine.

"Even if extraterrestrial relics are said to be cheap. Maybe because it's grade B, the price is not insignificant."

"..."

"Masid. Now, I will get to the point."

Thump. Thump.

Sung JiHan put the 500 million Arachne orb into the shopping cart in front of Masid.

"I will buy this for you."

"You...?"

To readily offer to buy something worth 500 million.

Gulp.

Masid swallowed his saliva.

"What... do you want from me?"

"One year."

Sung JiHan extended his index finger.

"Let's make a contract for one year with me."