The Martial God who Regressed Back to Level 2 Novel

Chapter 129

Survival map, 'Experimental Zone'.

This map is widely used from Gold League matches level 75 and above to Diamond League, and it is a map where luck plays a significant role.

100 players are placed in three zones: Red Zone, Yellow Zone, and Green Zone, and the goal for players is to survive until there are 50 survivors.

In a way, it's a map that perfectly matches the name 'Survival'.

-Oh. It's the Experimental Zone? Finally, the survival map has changed, haha.

-I thought I would get this map sooner, lol.

-Yeah, last time you said you transcended the league, but you were stuck on one bridge. It was expected that you would get stuck on this map too, but it finally happened at level 75.

"It was a bit unexpected."

Before the game starts.

Sung JiHan thought as he looked at the chat.

In the past, they matched beyond the level limit of the map.

But now, even though the gap has widened much more than before, the system still placed the map according to the level.

"Is it because of the TOP 100 match last time?"

Just because they changed the map, they had a hard time because the Dead Star's Seat invaded.

They received experience points, but it felt like they were taking a step back in terms of map allocation.

It wasn't something that Sung JiHan, who wanted rapid growth, was particularly happy about.

"Well, if I follow the textbook, I won't reach Diamond until December."

They decided to think positively until 2020.

The opening match of the Space League in 2021.

To prepare for that match, they had to remain in Platinum until December this year.

-So, which zone were you placed in?

-Oh, Red.

-Ah... You got unlucky and got placed in Red ㅠㅠ What do we do ㅠㅠ

The viewers knew better than Sung JiHan, who was playing the game.

Even though they knew Sung JiHan's strength well, they expressed their concerns.

-So, you won't be first place anymore?

-Haha, it's Sung JiHan, right? How can he not be first place?

-Red Zone can't last long ㅠㅠ

Sung JiHan looked around.

The Red Zone of the Experimental Zone.

This place was the decisive factor where luck played a significant role in the Experimental Zone map.

"Hmm...."

The surroundings were nothing special.

A wide open space.

Sung JiHan and the 14 players summoned with him looked around anxiously.

Around the players, walls made of red light surrounded them tightly.

It was a perfect place to be called the Red Zone.

"Ah... Damn it. How unlucky. How did I end up here?"

"I lost... Is it a level downgrade...?"

At first, the players cursed because they were placed in this location.

"Oh, Seong JiHan is here!"

"Seong JiHan! Please lead us!"

When they saw Sung JiHan, they became like people who had met a savior.

-Haha, do they know this is a survival game?

-Yeah, for real. Why do they like him? If Sung JiHan is there, he'll be the first to get killed, right?

-It could be because they rely on Sung JiHan's mercy!

-Well... I don't have mercy. Especially not for Sung JiHan.

-That's not true! Sung JiHan is such a righteous person!

Sung JiHan chuckled as he looked at the fans in the chat who were giving him extreme support.

Righteous person, huh.

That's a million miles away from me.

[The game is starting.]

As soon as the game start message appeared, Sung JiHan summoned the Shadow Sword Eclipse.

Whoosh!

Nameless Divine Technique

Three Ultimate Martial Arts

Sweeping Through Thousands of Soldiers

The players, all 14 of them, cut through the horizontal line simultaneously.

Among them,

"Damn... this is too much..."

"I asked for help..."

There were also those who asked Sung JiHan to lead them.

- Gongmyeongjeongdae...?

- Gongmyeongjeongdaehasijo! You brought death to everyone! How equal is that!

-Ha... this is what it means to be in first place!

After achieving 14 kills in one go, Sung JiHan calmly opened his mouth.

"Why would they ask for leadership in a survival map?"

Survival map.

A game of survival where only 50 percent of the survivors remain.

He couldn't understand why someone would seek help from others in such a situation.

"I don't remember this map, so there's no need for me to lead."

Experimental zone.

This survival map was only available during the tutorial, so he had no memory of the strategy.

He faithfully slaughtered the surrounding players in the survival mode.

- Ah. But in this map, each person is supposed to survive in their own zone...

- There's no point in the red zone, lol.

- Yeah, it's actually better to quickly eliminate the people in the red zone to get first place, right?

- But if there are too many survivors in the red zone, it becomes a problem...

Before the viewers could finish their words,

Flash! Flash!

Only one player remained, and a glow began to emanate from the red wall of the red zone.

[Subject, anomaly detected.]

[Elimination of the irregular will commence.]

With that sound, a mass of light quickly approached Sung JiHan.

The pressure from the red light was quite threatening even to Sung JiHan, who had obtained a soul.

If it were the old Sung JiHan, it would have been a dangerous level where the probability of death was higher.

"The viewers must have said I won't be able to get first place because of the red zone."

Sung JiHan hesitated for a moment, considering whether to confront the approaching red light.

"But there's no need to exert myself so early."

For now, he found a way out.

"There's a space over there."

Among the light mass that was pressing on him at a constant speed, he saw a slightly open space.

For an ordinary player, it would have been a subtle space that was difficult to notice.

Even for the old Sung JiHan, it was a gap that was difficult to penetrate.

But now, he was an absolute being with a soul.

Even a small crack, as long as there was space, he could break through it.

Mumyongsin-gong (Nameless Divine Technique).

Bobup-bobop (Walking Technique).

Seomcheonnoebo (Flash Thunder Step).

He used the same techniques as before.

But now, he could teleport like never before, escaping through the gap.

Creak...!

As soon as he escaped,

The place where he had been standing was completely sealed by the red light.

"It's strong."

The intense destructive light.

The ground where Sung JiHan and the other 14 people had stood completely melted away.

At the bottom, only the black steel remained, giving off an alien feeling.

[Elimination of the irregular failed.]

[Entering complete incineration...]

And as Sung JiHan completely avoided the red light, another voice echoed.

"Complete incineration..."

Sung JiHan looked around.

The red light that had been the wall gathered in the center, creating an open space in all directions.

There was practically no escape route for Sung JiHan to leave from any direction.

Just as Sung JiHan was contemplating which direction to go.

[Master. It's that way.]

Ariel, who had transformed into the Shadow Sword Eclipse, conveyed her decision.

Ariel pointed to the north, even from the center.

"There?"

[Yes. The other spaces are fake.]

"How do you know that?"

[If this space is the real 'that place'... then that place is the escape route. Go there once to prove my hypothesis. It's just a game, so even if you die, it's fine.]

"But if I die here, I'll miss out on first place."

[That's right. Just trust me a little.]

Ariel's voice was filled with more conviction than usual.

"Alright."

Sung JiHan decided to listen to her plea.

He made the decision because he had the confidence that he could survive well enough even if that path wasn't the correct answer.

Whoosh!

Sung JiHan quickly broke through to the north.

[Complete incineration, commencing.]

Whoosh...!

Except for the part where Sung JiHan escaped, green flames rose from all directions, more powerful than the previous red haze.

[Green flame, no doubt.]

Seeing this, Ariel spoke with a voice full of certainty.

"This place is the Elf Experiment Zone."

* * *

Experiment Zone.

This map was truly unique to Sung JiHan.

"I only saw this place during the tutorial."

The countless maps he had passed through until now.

Whether it was the Colosseum or a single bridge.

In these games, there were often cases where the branches changed and the maps reappeared after the tutorial ended.

Although the detailed settings of the map changed slightly, there was still some relevance to the previous experience that could be helpful.

But the Experiment Zone was a map that had never been opened since it appeared in the tutorial.

"But the ones operating this place were the Elves?"

With the disappearance of the green flame that had emitted light a while ago, the space quickly darkened.

No matter how much he looked around, it was a place that didn't match the typical image of the Elves at all.

Is this place really related to them?

"The Elves made this?"

[Yes. The structure is the same as the Experiment Zone I saw. It was on a destroyed planet.]

"A destroyed planet..."

[There were places like this on the planets that the World Tree Union passed through. Especially in the central area, there were walls made of red light and green flames. Among the Shadow Elves who investigated this space, there were more than one or two who lost their lives to those green flames.]

"To have the power to annihilate Shadow Elves..."

[When we discovered it, it was empty, but the flames of destruction were still there.]

Then Ariel asked Sung JiHan with a subtle voice.

"How about taking a look inside? I'm curious about what the actual operation of this area is. Aren't you curious about what the Master is doing here?"

"Let's go out first."

Sung JiHan escaped from the Red Zone like that.

And then.

[Normal achievement, 'Red Zone Escape' has been successful.]

[Obtained 5,000 achievement points as a reward.]

[Hidden quest, 'Red Zone Solo Escape' has been successful.]

[Obtained 30,000 achievement points as a reward.]

"Was it that difficult?"

To obtain 35,000 achievement points with just one play.

It was proof that escaping from the Red Zone was by no means easy.

Sung JiHan easily broke through, thanks to his spirit and Ariel.

"As expected, new maps are good."

While smiling at the achievement rewards he hadn't seen much of lately, Sung JiHan.

[Hidden quest cleared.]

[Epic quest unlocked.]

[Epic quest]

- Discover the entity that created the experimental zone and uncover the purpose of the experiment.

-Reward: Achievement points 100,000 / ??

An epic quest appeared.

The usual reward of 50,000 points has increased to 100,000 points.

And an unknown reward has been added as well.

"I must clear this."

I was already running low on achievement points, so I wondered how I could earn more.

But now, with 100,000 points, I had to clear it no matter what.

To discover the entity in the quest...

"Is the elf in the experimental zone?"

Sung JiHan looked around.

After leaving the Red Zone, the completely empty space was pitch black without a single speck of light.

"So there's nothing here now?"

"Well, wouldn't we need someone who escaped to know?"

"Has no one ever escaped before?"

"Yeah, if it's a diamond-level quest, we can somehow team up to break through the red walls, but we couldn't handle the green flames that were shooting out earlier."

"Isn't it just a death sentence if you step into the Red Zone? lol"

"Is that why it's so empty? Did BattleNet not expect it to go outside?"

"Does BattleNet look that careless? lol"

It seemed like BattleNet didn't create any content for the empty Red Zone.

Even though Sung JiHan could see his surroundings as if it were broad daylight even in the darkness.

"There's really nothing here."

No matter how much he looked, he couldn't find any trace, let alone the elf.

"Ariel, do you know anything?"

"Hmm. This space... is actually inside a giant seed shell."

"A seed?"

How big must the seed be to fill up this huge space?

"Yeah. We called it the Seed of the World Tree. When we entered, we broke through the shell wall from the outside... and it looked exactly like this. There was a Red Zone in the center, and the rest was empty."

"Hmm... If it's inside a seed, we should be able to see a shell wall here. But there's nothing like that."

"A wall? Come to think of it, our investigation team saw it when we entered, but now it's not visible."

Ariel's information was useful until they escaped the scorching heat, but from now on, even she didn't know much.

"Let's go all the way to the end."

At least Sung JiHan knew that they were inside a seed.

So Sung JiHan decided to just run straight ahead.

He hoped that if he went all the way to the end, he would see something.

And just as he was about to use the Thunderous Leap again...

Flash! Flash!

From the area where the Red Zone used to be, a bright white light burst out.

And within it, a huge green portal was created.

"Aaaah!"

"What, what is it? Why so soon?"

And through that portal, people fell to the ground.

They were players who were playing the survival map along with Sung JiHan.

"Oh, the Red Zone has already been rearranged lol. It's an unprecedented quick respawn, right?"

"Because Sung JiHan cleared it so quickly, the Red Zone became empty instantly, so they're filling it up again."

When all the players in the Red Zone die, 15 survivors are randomly selected and placed back there.

Because Sung JiHan escaped too quickly, the players became sacrifices to the Red Zone without even trying anything.

Sung JiHan looked at the falling portal.

"I should go there once."

Instead of searching for the invisible wall and going all the way to the end, Sung JiHan decided to challenge the portal.

Using his divine power, he jumped into the sky.

Although the portal was quite far from the ground, he easily jumped over the space thanks to his incorporeal body.

"...Huh?"

Beyond the portal, he saw the elf.