Leveling with the Gods
chapter-460

C460

The story unfolds in a small town on floor 99.

A girl, playing and jumping with candies in hand, suddenly stopped and looked up.

The girl's eyes blinked several times, and her pupils shone beautifully.

In the girl's eyes, a clear sky was reflected. As the girl continued to gaze at the sky, her mother approached.

"Why are you like this?"

"Look at that!"

In response to the girl's excited exclamation, people around her looked to where she was pointing.

The sky didn't seem any different from usual. However, amidst that vast sky, some areas with different colors were visible.

"Eh?"

"There, look, there."

In the sky, a purple aurora appeared. The purple aurora against the clear blue sky looked beautiful.

"Wow!"

"Beautiful..."

It was at that moment...

Under the sky they were looking at, a dot appeared.

Boom!

"Eh?"

The man, blinking without understanding the situation, slowly lowered his head and looked at his chest.

Something pierced him. When he realized he had been pierced by a purple tentacle, he felt all his strength draining away, and pain engulfed him.

"Gluhk!"

"Aaaah!"

The tentacles pouring from the purple aurora pierced through people's bodies.

The village instantly turned into hell. The girl who had discovered the sky stood motionless.

"Let's go! Let's get out of here!"

"Mom..."

The girl reached out to her parents calling her, trembling from head to toe.

Naturally, instead of running with her shaky legs, the tentacles falling randomly were much faster.

Shi-eek-.

Boom!

The girl tightly closed her eyes. She thought she was going to be like the others who died in front of her.

But it was only for a moment.

Without feeling anything as she expected, the girl slowly opened her eyes bravely.

What entered her small eyes was the back of someone.

A man grabbing the tentacles approaching the girl's head with his hand. He raised his head to look into the purple aurora.

Kwang-clang-, kurrung-!

A Golden Lightning Bolt sprang from the man's hand.

"Are you okay?"

The man's eyes and the girl's met as he turned his head.

They were eyes and an expression so calm and reassuring that didn't fit the horrifying situation. Slowly, tears entered the eyes of the girl, who seemed like she would cry at any moment.

"Close your eyes again. There's nothing good to see."

Chik-.

The man who said that moved a foot, shielding the girl from what was about to happen.

Just after that...

Flash!

The spear in the man's hand flew into the sky.

Boom!

The tentacles falling down were consumed in black. The man who threw the spear observed the situation before stepping aside.

The revealed sight.

The girl's eyes, looking up, widened, and her black irises shone in gold.

"Wow!"

The beautiful golden waves devouring the purple and coloring the sky.

Thus ended the brief massacre on floor 99.

"We survived..."

"It's fortunate that there's a High-Ranker nearby."

"Indeed. In such a remote village."

Some Rankers who sensed the commotion and ran were already there, but the situation was already under control.

They fixed their gaze on the Golden Lightning Bolt that appeared in the sky.

"Is it a Ranker from Olympus?"

Rankers symbolizing Lightning are mainly from Olympus.

Zeus, who has the strongest Lightning.

Given that many Rankers handling Lightning magic aspire to enter Olympus, it's understandable that there are many of them.

However, thinking about it, aside from Zeus, it didn't seem like any other Olympus Rankers could unleash such a powerful Lightning Bolt.

"Who is it, exactly?"

"Maybe..."

"Maybe?"

"Kim Yu..."

"Ah, it can't be. He disappeared for over a year."

"Has it already been a year? Or not yet?"

"What does time matter? The important thing is that that guy isn't..."

Silence filled the air as YuWon turned to look at a group of Rankers whispering among themselves.

The Rankers avoided his gaze, closing their mouths and turning away. Though it was just caution, the idea of "What if...?" persisted in their minds.

From a considerable distance, YuWon heard their conversations with an ironic smile.

He didn't intend to eavesdrop, but with so many words, they simply reached his ears.

"It seems to be him, right?"

"Isn't it just a coincidence?"

"Having black hair automatically means it's Kim YuWon?"

"Someone should go and ask. At least verify his face properly."

"Are you crazy? What if it's real? What does it matter?"

Everyone avoided YuWon's gaze, but their mouths still didn't stop.

Listening to fragments of the conversation, it seemed like they viewed him as an evil spirit who killed people by just talking to them.

'Well, so what?'

YuWon diverted his attention from them and looked up.

The sky cleared once again.

Reclaiming that sky wasn't too difficult. The sky barely changed, just a little, and a single Lightning Bolt was enough to cleanse it.

But...

"Has it already begun?"

It had been a year.

Originally, it would have taken more time to move with more caution, but that was no longer possible.

The situation on the other side was advancing much faster than he had thought.

"I thought they would hurry, but still, it's too early."

The sky gleamed in YuWon's eyes.

The sky had turned partially purple. Just because it was a very small rift, it was not something to be ignored.

After a brief thought, YuWon nodded.

"No problem."

The faster they rushed, the lower their Points would inevitably be. Especially after the recent events, Foolish Chaos had consumed a considerable amount of Points.

The small rift in size proved it.

Kurur, kurung-

Kukung-!

The sky resonated loudly.

The few clouds turned into black storm clouds.

The appearance was quite thunderous as well.

"The Monkey that called me isn't coming."

Kwarung-!

A Lightning Bolt fell in front of YuWon's nose.

A column of golden light rising high. It must have been blinding, but YuWon stared at it directly.

"But two interesting guys have come."

Kurung, kururur-

The world momentarily turned golden.

Two people emerged from the golden column with lightning.

Step, step-

There were only two.

But in no way were they people who would appear somewhere in such a remote village.

A handsome man with golden hair and golden armor.

And a robust old man with silver hair and silver armor.

The Rankers murmuring when they saw YuWon were left speechless at the sight of these two.

"I-Is that Zeus, right?"

"And next to him..."

"Oh... Odin?"

"So, after all..."

Rankers who understood the situation began to retreat one by one.

It was because they feared being crushed like ants by the steps of those giants.

"Don't be afraid. We won't eat you."

Odin said this after noticing the Rankers' fear.

But just as the Rankers felt they could be relieved...

"Disappear."

Zeus's sharp voice cut through the crowd.

"Yes, understood!"

"We're very sorry!"

The Rankers hastily retreated with a word from Zeus.

Other residents also stepped back upon noticing the situation.

Watching them, Odin frowned and shook his head disdainfully.

"Why do they apologize so much...?"

"It seems the Rankers these days are quite cowardly."

Zeus and Odin, shaking their heads as if it were pathetic.

Approaching them, YuWon opened his mouth as if it were completely understandable.

"Appearing so suddenly and noisily, it's normal for them to be scared."

What was wrong with these guys? If normal Rankers weren't afraid of them, that would be stranger.

"Is that what matters now?"

Odin, meeting YuWon again, sighed deeply from the beginning.

"No contact, no news. What the hell were you doing?"

"Nothing happened."

"I suppose you kept using the Player Kit. If you could hear the news, then that means you heard it."

Odin spat out a resentful response to YuWon's reply.

In the past year, no one could find his whereabouts, to the point where there were rumors that "Kim YuWon was just a fictional person."

However, even amidst that disappearance, YuWon was aware of what was happening in the world through the Kit.

That meant he was also ignoring other contacts trying to find him.

"I've been busy. Quite, in fact."

"So, did you achieve something satisfactory?"

"...Maybe. More or less."

A vague answer.

Perhaps it was a bit uncomfortable to give details, YuWon changed the topic by throwing a question.

"What about you? Did you achieve something too?"

For a moment, YuWon and Odin's gazes met. Although the intention of the question was obvious, as if passing by again, Odin sighed softly and answered.

"Where else if not me? Since it was revealed that there is a floor above floor 100 that even the Rankers haven't reached, everything has turned into chaos."

"And you crossed it."

"If I can't, who else could?"

"Really? Well, you're right."

It was an accurate statement.

If Odin couldn't cross it, who else would have the qualification to obtain Divinity in this Tower?

At first, YuWon said that to change the subject, but now he was genuinely impressed.

'It seems he has become quite similar to how I knew him.'

Odin had already obtained Divinity when he first met YuWon. From start to finish, he was always a grandiose existence and never showed a weak appearance even once.

Even if it was Shub-Niggurath, it was the same.

Perhaps he couldn't defeat Shub-Niggurath, but he had the ability to give his companions time to escape.

A year later.

As the Tower changed rapidly, the companions inside were changing rapidly as well.

That was probably true.

"What about Hercules? Is he okay?"

Facing YuWon's question, Zeus lowered his head. It wasn't that he wasn't okay, but he didn't know.

"Try contacting him yourself. Anyway, it's not like you're really interested in how he's doing."

He felt exposed.

Indeed, Zeus had a resemblance to YuWon in more than one sense. He was aware that YuWon was interested in Hercules' growth, not his well-being.

"I will."

"Stop talking nonsense and come with me."

YuWon frowned at Odin's insistence.

It seemed he had a reason for urgently coming to see him.

"Where to?"

"There are things that can't be known through the Kit. You'll know if you follow me."

Odin didn't explain anything and simply dragged YuWon.

The Asgard ship floating in the sky.

"...Come to think of it, it's strange."

Zeus followed them on board.

Why? For a while now, YuWon felt like something was missing.

"Where is that kid you always had with you?"

KO-FI