Leveling with the Gods

C383

Son OhGong looked at the sharp jaws behind him with a puzzled expression.

They were ready to pierce his neck at any moment.

If Son OhGong hadn't noticed and had brought the egg to his mouth, he probably would have been devoured whole by the Predator.

"First, remove that from your hand."

"Oh, right."

Son OhGong stared at the Egg near his mouth. He should have originally put it away immediately, but his playful spirit led him to smile sideways.

"...?"

Seeing Son OhGong's expression, YuWon looked at him in surprise.

He slid the Egg slightly out of his mouth and then put it back in place.

The Predator behind Son OhGong began to move its jaws slightly as it waited for Son OhGong to make a move on the egg, but Son OhGong didn't release it, keeping it in place.

Son OhGong kept bringing the Egg closer to and farther from his mouth repeatedly.

The Predator didn't know what to do. It continued to watch Son OhGong play with it.

"Stop now."

"Isn't it fun?"

Despite the request to stop, Son OhGong didn't stop.

Well, if Son OhGong had been a bit smarter and paid attention to what people told him, he probably would have climbed up at least one or two levels in the rankings.

"Don't overdo it. He also doesn't seem to know what to do. Besides, this could become dangerous."

"If we get hurt, we'll stay with that old man for a while, right?"

"Haven't you seen him? How he dealt with Shub-Niggurath?"

"Shub-Niggurath...".

The image of the Predator tearing Shub-Niggurath's throat came to his mind.

When he turned his head to look, the Predator still had its mouth open behind him.

Despite its slightly comical behavior, the Predator was clearly a dangerous entity.

Finally, Son OhGong carefully placed the Egg back on the table. The Predator watched his action for a moment and then withdrew quietly.

A little hiccup. However, at least he could understand one thing.

'As long as I don't touch the Egg, it doesn't seem that threatening.'

Son OhGong touched the Egg, and as he accidentally tried to eat it, the Predator watched him cautiously without attacking Son OhGong until the last moment, all thanks to being YuWon's companion.

'Is it friendly for now?'

When he initially obtained the Egg, YuWon had pointed his sword threateningly at it since he had to stop the Egg from hatching in case it posed a threat.

But fortunately, the Egg seemed to favor YuWon. The same had happened with Danpung.

And the same happened with the new Egg, which was even larger than the original.

"For now..."

YuWon looked at the Egg.

Suddenly, he remembered the day they stopped Shub-Niggurath.

The Black Woods.

Danpung approached Shub-Niggurath, who was looking up.

Step by step, he moved stealthily. As silently as ever.

However, this time, YuWon didn't dare to follow him.

Kaaaah!

What made YuWon unable to follow was the immense pressure he felt from Danpung as he approached the being.

Gwuuuuuh!

YuWon could barely see Shub-Niggurath's figure behind the familiar roundness of Danpung.

Curse...

Although Shub-Niggurath's figure wasn't visible, the tremendous strength emanating from him was undeniable.

Grrr...

It was at that moment that the Predator, enveloping Shub-Niggurath's body, appeared.

YuWon had already seen the Predator many times before.

Its existence didn't surprise him in the least.

However...

"What the hell is that?"

Wooosh...

When the mass of the Predator that was engulfing Shub-Niggurath appeared, it was a shock.

The size of the Predator that was swallowing Shub-Niggurath was completely different from what YuWon had imagined so far.

Even if Shub-Niggurath were to resist, the size difference between him and the Predator was astonishing.

The Predator not only ate Shub-Niggurath but also swallowed the entire Black Woods.

Even though Shub-Niggurath could have resisted, he acted as if everything happening at that moment was completely natural.

Grrrr...

The Predator devouring the Black Woods.

While looking at Danpung, who was handling the Predator, Shub-Niggurath spoke.

-"A shapeless entity (無定形) that endlessly repeats destruction and creation."

-"Now, it will take a form (形) before us..."

-"Please, we hope you will withdraw your teeth from us."

All-Mother, the Black Goat of the Woods, closed her purple-glowing eyes.

Thus, within the Black Woods that were being swept away by Shub-Niggurath...

Zwit!

YuWon finally understood Danpung's true form.

'A shapeless entity (無定形) that endlessly repeats destruction and creation, and has taken a form...'

For the Outer Gods, they all had an alias instead of their true names. In reality, these were false names created by Tower Players. Names created to avoid dealing with the real names of the Outer Gods due to their incomprehensibility.

But what Shub-Niggurath said seemed to describe one of the Outer Gods in particular.

"It seems you've found something tremendous."

YuWon looked up at Son OhGong's comment.

"Rather than finding, it would be more appropriate to say that I've raised it."

"Are you its father or something?"

"I'm raising it with similar feelings."

"You don't fit at all."

"Umm..."

A groan was heard during their conversation.

Both YuWon and Son OhGong turned their heads at the same time.

A closed door.

YuWon got up and opened the door.

Creak...

When the door opened, they saw Chronos slowly waking up in a bed on one side of the wall.

His eyes, which had been dull, gradually began to focus, and his mind returned slowly.

"Ahjussi."

"Hey, old man (영감). Are you awake?"

The title was different.

But Chronos responded to both names.

"Where are we... what year is it?"

"Suddenly asking the year? You've become senile, old man."

"Year 2120 of the Tower."

Upon YuWon's answer, Son OhGong looked at him.

There was no doubt in YuWon's response.

And in response to that answer, Chronos repeated the same words over and over with murmurs.

"2120... 2120..."

He had repeated those same words about ten times.

YuWon spoke.

"If you have something to say, tell us. Anything will be better than listening to the years in a loop."

Chronos stopped briefly.

Then he uttered a different word.

"Time travel."

Time travel.

It didn't simply refer to Regression using the Clock Movement. YuWon saw through his eyes many different familiar faces.

"I've met countless 'me.' They lived different lives in different worlds."

This wasn't the same Chronos that existed a few days ago. Through the Clock Movement, he had become an amalgamation of countless Chronos, converging into one.

From multiple futures and pasts to the present.

Chronos had experienced himself at multiple moments and found a common denominator.

His eyelids moved slowly as if he were drowsy. His eyes, which moved with difficulty, focused on YuWon and Son OhGong, and his voice, hoarse and broken, emerged with effort.

"They were in my future."

YuWon and Son OhGong.

Chronos saw and experienced the two of them and many other colleagues over various time periods.

"Everyone except me fought against the Outer Gods. All of them."

"Why only here?"

In response to Son OhGong's question, YuWon answered.

"Probably because of us."

Us.

Both of them had returned to the past using the Clock Movement.

Chronos's banishment from the Tower, along with everyone's forgetfulness, had been a consequence, a retribution for breaking the Tower's laws.

"No, to be precise, it's probably because of me. I came here in exchange for Mimir's eyes."

"No matter who's responsible. What I'm saying is that I didn't know myself."

The Second Sacrifice

Chronos's eyes, which had barely opened, began to take on an earthy hue. He had long exceeded his life expectancy. He continued to function solely due to his High-Ranker body and mind that he had trained for a long time.

Kim YuWon bit his expressionless lip. He clenched his fist so tightly that his nails dug into his palm.

Chronos spoke in response to YuWon's reaction.

"This was my choice and the consequences that followed. So don't regret it."

"Actually, I knew."

Chronos's time was limited.

He knew he would reach this point if he used up all his time.

Although he had hoped it wouldn't be this way, he thought he had no other choice.

"...Anyway, the worst part was that he would go through it."

What would have happened if Shub-Niggurath had crossed?

Not only YuWon but also Son OhGong, Odin, Chronos, and possibly dozens, hundreds, perhaps even thousands of Players could have died.

Shub-Niggurath was such an entity.

An Outer God with power that surpassed any imaginable calamity for humans.

YuWon only thought about how to stop it somehow.

There was no other option.

If Shub-Niggurath crossed the wall, it would be a point of no return even for Chronos's power.

"That's why I left it to you, Ahjussi. I knew it would be like this..."

"You've always been like that, asking me to save time. Saying it's more valuable than gold."

YuWon's eyes trembled. He was sure he had said those words many times. Even more than a dozen times.

But at least not in this timeline.

In a very distant future.

So, that was after the battle with the Outers had begun.

"Save time, Ahjussi. Otherwise, you'll really become a grandpa."

"How many times have I heard that?"

"I remember you saying it more than ten times. Should I rewind time and see how many times you said it?"

"It hasn't even been a minute since I mentioned that."

Words he always said like a scolding.

Still, words that were not enough.

Chronos was mentioning those words right now.

"I know you'll apologize. It wasn't just for your convenience, I want you to know that."

Suddenly, the door that had closed opened again.

Son OhGong, whom they hadn't heard from before, came out. When a scream that sounded like a piercing scream was heard, Chronos smiled slightly.

"It seems he's quite angry too."

Chronos's face dried up and wrinkled like a raisin. With his eyes unblinking, almost like two black holes, Chronos continued to speak.

"Do you remember the day you first used the Clock Movement?"

A hoarse voice came out of his extremely dry mouth.

Although his voice began to break gradually, Chronos's words did not slow down at all; it was quite the opposite.

YuWon didn't respond.

Even that brief moment of response was now more valuable to him than gold.

"That day, I planned to face them by throwing my life away. But anyway, I didn't end up dying. So nothing has changed."

He wanted to die but didn't.

Although he could have chosen to live again if he had been resurrected, Chronos chose to die again.

That was his choice.

"This is simply an extension of that day."