Leveling with the Gods
chapter-523

C523

"We won!"

Son OhGong's shout echoed in the sky.

That shout was the signal.

"Aaah!"

"We won! Aaah!"

"I'm alive, I'm alive!"

The joy of victory. The joy of having survived.

Rankers, intoxicated by victory, screamed. As they shouted until the earth trembled, Son OhGong, who shouted first, collapsed backward.

Plop.

No more enemies approached.

All tension faded away, and there was nothing left to do.

Still, it felt good, and a triumphant smile escaped.

"Good job."

"You fought well, Monkey."

"We did it, in the end."

Son OhGong's comrades approached him.

While Son OhGong smiled widely, he saw the figures of his comrades gradually fading away.

"Are they leaving already?"

At Son OhGong's question, Odin nodded.

"The time is up. The path is gone, so we have no choice but to return."

"Ugh. I'm fine."

Unlike his fading comrades, Son OhGong was fine.

Unlike his comrades who had forcefully opened the door, Son OhGong was completely subservient to the timeline of this place.

Son OhGong clicked his tongue in disappointment. On the other hand, he was also worried.

"What will you do with the other side?"

Although the battle in this place had been won, it was different on the other side.

Yog-Sothoth was still there, and on the other hand, there was no way to cross from here.

"Mimir said that if we solve this side, everything will be fine."

It was an incomprehensible statement.

After studying the Clock Movement together with Odin, and since Zeus came to the future, Odin thought that the two worlds were completely separate.

But would everything be fine when they returned?

"I thought they weren't connected and were parallel worlds... Isn't that right? Or maybe that guy has another trick up his sleeve, but we'll know when we go back."

Despite that, Odin believed in Mimir's words.

Odin and his comrades' trust in Mimir was almost absolute. So far, there was nothing that had not been true of what he had done and said.

"Yes. If that guy says so..."

Son OhGong nodded and got up with difficulty.

He couldn't bid farewell to his comrades lying on his back.

"Goodbye, friends."

Whoosh~

The comrades scattered on the battlefield disappeared. Son OhGong looked at them with melancholic eyes as they faded away with a faint halo of light.

Now everything was over.

Really...

At that moment...

"And YuWon?"

Pandora, who had been looking around for someone since the battle ended, approached Son OhGong and asked.

"Where is he?"

Clearly, he had appeared on this battlefield. Pandora was sure she hadn't seen things.

But YuWon's figure was nowhere to be seen.

"Eh?"

A bewildered and silly face, as if asking what was that. Normally, Pandora thought that face was amusing, but at that moment, that expression seemed creepy to her.

Son OhGong didn't remember YuWon.

The war had ended.

The Tower had experienced a period of turmoil for quite some time. The power shift among the Great Guilds due to Odin's death and the war led the Tower to a different kind of chaos.

Fortunately, the one who resolved that turmoil was Zeus, who had returned to life.

"From now on, Olympus will form an alliance with Asgard."

The alliance between Asgard and Olympus.

Despite Odin's death, Asgard's strength remained the same.

To that was added Olympus and Zeus.

A force with power that no one would dare to challenge.

Moreover, in Olympus, not only Zeus was present.

"Conflict to expand power is prohibited. Do it with words, only with words."

Also Hercules, now called Hero not only for the Gigantomachy but for the entire Tower.

"I'm fine with that, but..."

"If you want to fight, I'll face you. So help me a bit."

Son OhGong, feeling bored due to the lack of an opponent, also became a mercenary for Olympus through Zeus's trick.

A Guild with overwhelming power was enough to suppress fights with its mere existence.

Thus, Olympus began to play the role of a brake to conflicts in the Tower, just like the ancient Asgard did.

Years passed this way.

Crunch~

Pandora ate well-baked bread while soaking in the sun.

She lived in a building owned by Olympus. That spacious palace, costing millions of points, became Pandora's property.

Zeus spared no expense in his support. Of course, even after more than thirty years had passed, she still hated Zeus.

While Pandora ate bread and stew in her home, Hercules and Son OhGong came to visit.

"What's that?"

"A gift."

When they opened the door, Son OhGong waved his arms in greeting, and Hercules brought out a gift bag he had in his hand.

It was about to be the umpteenth time.

The two visited her once every few years. Hercules always brought gifts, such as clothes or desserts she liked, every time he visited.

Recently, it was said that he lived as a carpenter. He earned points, but had nothing to do with them, and used most of the points he earned to donate or give gifts like this.

"Bring Kim YuWon."

"...?"

"...?"

The two made the same expression.

This time was the same reaction.

Seeing the two who didn't remember YuWon, Pandora closed the door.

"If you don't know, leave."

Clang!

The door closed with a loud noise.

Seeing the closed door in front of him, Hercules muttered with a embarrassed expression.

"That's why the door always squeaks."

Criii!

At that moment, the door opened again.

Pandora reached out. Her hand went for the gift bag that Hercules had brought.

Pass~

Pandora grabbed the bag and closed the door again.

Claas!

It seemed like she wanted to receive the gift, but seeing that they were not allowed to enter, it was clear that she was still very angry.

Since her anger had not dissipated in over thirty years.

"Who are you looking for like that?"

"I don't know."

Son OhGong shrugged at Hercules' question.

However, the two didn't specifically try to search for the name "Kim YuWon."

Even though, somewhere, his traces would surely remain.

Even though it was he who had ended that war thirty years ago.

No one wanted to remember his name.

"Idiots!"

Pandora grunted as she unpacked the gift package that Hercules had brought.

Hercules' gifts included cakes, chocolates, and other desserts.

Sweet desserts were Pandora's only pastime, as she didn't leave her mansion. After she told them she liked sweets, the two always brought her such things.

Would those two wonder why they came to this place?

Probably not. Despite not being very close, they still took care of her, even if it meant being rejected at the door.

There was a reason.

It was probably because of their relationship with YuWon.

In particular, Hercules had protected Pandora for YuWon in that war, so it made sense that he took care of her.

Since the day Pandora declared she would marry YuWon, Hercules called her "sister-in-law" with a mix of seriousness and jest.

However...

"They are true idiots."

So they took care of her, but they didn't remember YuWon's name.

In the end, these senseless acts led to the two abandoning their thoughts when they heard the name YuWon.

As soon as they heard the name "Kim YuWon," they turned back no matter how much effort they had put into getting there.

Truly, the word "idiots" suited them well.

Pandora took a bite of cake and chewed it.

"Why don't they remember?"

Suddenly, her hands began to shake.

It had been more than twenty years since she awaited him, but he still hadn't returned.

"Why... did you leave?"

The woman eating the cake couldn't help but sob. She wanted not to cry, but she couldn't. So she started eating the cake again to avoid having to move her hands nervously.

Meanwhile, Pandora repeated over and over in her mind, preparing for that moment that might come.

Kim YuWon.

Even if everyone had forgotten, she would never forget.

And she would wait.

She would wait for the one who entered through that door not to be Hercules or Son OhGong but the one she was waiting for.

Chiki-chiki-cha-cha-cha-choco-choco-cho!

Chiki-chiki-cha-cha-cha-choco-choco-cho!

Clack!

Turning off the alarm, YuWon got up with half-closed eyes.

He had been told not to set a song he liked as an alarm. Although it was an anime song he had liked since forever, it was too noisy to listen to in the morning.

"Ugh!"

Stretching his arms, YuWon looked at the smartphone in his hand.

[AM - 7:30]

It was quite early for a normal day.

He wanted to sleep a bit more, but he couldn't.

He couldn't be late on the first day of classes. Quickly, YuWon got out of bed and headed to the bathroom next to his small apartment.

Ssh-!

After taking a warm shower and drying his hair, he came out.

The school was not far. He had found an apartment close to the school, so he could go to class without spending money on transportation.

However, the rent was higher than that of other apartments.

"YuWon!"

While climbing the hill towards the school's main entrance, he heard a voice calling him from behind.

He turned around and saw his classmate, Han DaEun, running towards him.

"Is your leg not hurting?"

"I called you from far away, but you ignored me," said DaEun.

From her reaction, DaEun, she, seemed to have been calling for a while.

But YuWon couldn't hear her from afar because he had headphones on.

"Again with that song?"

"Yes."

"Why do you always listen to the same thing? Is it a concept?"

Not only once a day but every day.

YuWon listened to the same song over and over again, even if it wasn't from his generation.

Some people looked at him strangely, but well.

Even if a person is strange, if they're handsome, they'll always have friends. Plus, YuWon had a good character, except for his habit of listening to a strange song over and over again.

"For Son OhGong."

"Why Son OhGong?"

"I don't know, I just feel familiar with him."

"If that's the case, why don't you listen to Dr4gon B4ll too?"

"It's not the same, I don't know."

After answering like that, YuWon took the earphone from Han DaEun's ear.

The same song played again in his ears. Even though he had heard it thousands of times, YuWon kept listening to it.

No matter what Han DaEun said next to him.

YuWon focused more on the song.

"Son OhGong, Son OhGong..."

While listening to the song, YuWon kept thinking.

Son OhGong.

He was just a character from an old anime, and he only appeared in the mythology of "Journey to the West."

However, for some reason, YuWon didn't feel that Son OhGong was a fictional character from a mythology or a cartoon.

'...I know it's strange.'

Nevertheless, YuWon began to obsessively listen to this song at some point.

He felt that if he kept listening to this song, he might remember something.