Leveling with the Gods

C405

"Thump!"

The sky reflected in the eyes of Son OhGong as he lay on the ground.

"Aaaaahh-!"

A frustrated scream.

His entire body had become numb after riding the Flying Nimbus for several consecutive days.

How many places had he visited in that time?

He had reached the point of circumnavigating the world in his search for the Celestial Floor.

"Where the hell is it?"

The Tower was so vast that there was no way to completely track it. As fast as the Flying Nimbus was, the Tower was large and had limits even for an individual.

And more importantly, there were no traces or clues.

Finally, after wandering aimlessly for so long, Son OhGong could do nothing but lie down.

As he gazed at the sky...

"Tremble!"

The long Golden Headband on Son OhGong's forehead began to tremble.

"Hm?"

Son OhGong suddenly got up from where he was lying.

Thanks to looking at the sky, he could tell.

"It's rising."

Although he couldn't see it, he could feel it. YuWon had started writing his next myth.

Once he passed the Trial and gained status, how much would change this time?

His motivation surged once again.

But...

"Where the hell am I supposed to go?"

The result of simply moving aimlessly was this.

He didn't even feel close to the Celestial Floor; he had simply climbed useless mountains.

When he began to feel hopeless, a soft sound appeared behind Son OhGong.

"Is it only now that you come up with that idea?"

"Eh?"

Son OhGong turned to recognize the familiar voice and smiled.

"Hyung-nim."

"How have you been?"

Jumping from where he was sitting, Son OhGong ran toward the Bull Demon King. He moved so fast he could have been stretched like a string of elastic, and then he hit the Bull Demon King with all his might.

Buuuuuuum!

Son OhGong's fist was caught by the Bull Demon King's hand. When Son OhGong's fist was grabbed, their gazes met evenly.

"Your habit of acting without thinking is still intact."

"Fortunately, you're still alive, Hyung-nim."

"Your disrespectful way of speaking is also the same."

Swish~

When he let go of the fist he was holding, Son OhGong put his feet back on the ground.

Son OhGong shook his sore fist a few times before approaching the Bull Demon King.

"But how did you get here?"

"My younger brother told me. He said you were looking for the Celestial Floor, so I came to help."

"Younger brother?"

Son OhGong furrowed his brow for a moment.

And then...

"Phew..."

Son OhGong couldn't contain his laughter.

"Haha, hahaha..."

The Bull Demon King looked at Son OhGong as if it were something familiar.

He had heard that the two were quite close friends in the future. This reaction was also expected.

How long did he laugh that way?

After laughing heartily for a while, Son OhGong, who was holding his stomach, asked as he wiped away the tears that had escaped due to his excessive laughter.

"So, is he willing to admit it after talking like that?"

"It seems so, at least once."

"Once is enough, yes, that's right."

A statement based on experience.

While laughing heartily for a while, Son OhGong suddenly looked at the Bull Demon King with a surprised expression.

"Do you know about the Celestial Floor, right?"

"That's right."

"How will you help me?"

In response to his question, the Bull Demon King turned to Son OhGong.

Without hesitation, he took a step in a specific direction and pointed.

"Follow me."

The world turned as white as YuWon's consciousness, changing from white along with him.

All the views merged and dispersed. It felt as if his body floated and was thrown somewhere in the world.

The sensation in his body also became blurry.

So time passed without YuWon knowing how it flowed, as if he were dead.

How much time had passed?

Swoosh...

As if he had awakened from a long dream, his eyes opened without him noticing.

To his dismay, the sky he saw for the first time was still purple.

"Hah~"

A sigh that came out earlier than expected.

A familiar voice resonated next to YuWon.

"Don't you feel uncomfortable no matter how many times you see it?"

A loud and smooth tone of voice.

Tap, tap...

Hercules was starting a fire and roasting meat as he spoke, with a calm voice.

The smell of meat from an unknown animal, probably well-cooked on the inside but completely burnt on the outside, wafted through the air.

YuWon, who had risen as if he had woken from a long sleep, asked while looking at Hercules.

"The primitive methods remain the same."

"Skillfully cooked meat has no taste. The aroma of the wood must infuse it to truly be a meal."

"True."

Although he spoke as if it were no big deal, YuWon knew that the Hercules in front of him was not the real one.

The purple sky above was proof of that.

'It has begun, hasn't it?'

The Trial had already started.

From now on, he would be told what they were testing.

[Find the traitor and restore the failed mission to its original state.]

Mission? Traitor?

The moment he heard the message, YuWon could remember this moment.

The halfway point where he was with Hercules.

And the mission that would come soon.

YuWon's gaze turned to Hercules's left arm.

"Can we find Ubbo-Sathla?"

"Who knows? We'll only find out if we try."

In response to the reply, YuWon closed his eyes.

He knew.

The mission that the message mentioned was this.

'Ubbo-Sathla. A mission to catch that guy.'

One of the Outer Gods.

Not as strategic as Foolish Chaos but known as "The Unbegotten Source," he was one of the most active Outer Gods.

Therefore, after Foolish Chaos, it was a target that had to be eliminated without fail.

And at that time, the mission...

'It failed.'

It failed badly.

They lost many Rankers, and Hercules lost an arm in that mission. And Asura, who had three heads, lost one of them, one of his brothers.

'There was a traitor...'

YuWon recalled the situation at that time.

When they set out in search of Ubbo-Sathla's nest.

Inside that nest, Ubbo-Sathla was not alone.

As if they knew they would appear here, Ubbo-Sathla had set a trap inside the nest and was waiting.

Could there have been a leak of the mission at that time?

At that time, it was simply a problem that remained in suspicion.

The Outer Gods were such inscrutable beings.

He didn't think it was strange that it was a coincidence or that they were aware of their plans in advance.

But then...

"...So that's how it was."

"What did you say?"

At Hercules's question, who was tearing the meat, YuWon shook his head.

"Nothing at all."

"If it's something useless, eat your meat in silence. It will be difficult to have a proper meal for a while."

"Even this doesn't seem to be a proper meal."

"In this world, this is a luxury feast."

Crackle...

Watching Hercules grab the meat with one hand and tear it apart, YuWon nodded.

He's right.

In a world like this, getting decent food was not an easy task.

That's why they had to do their best to prevent this world from becoming a reality.

'Ubbo-Sathla...'

It was a more challenging Trial than he had imagined.

If the mission were limited to finding the traitor, it would be fine. But if it also included eliminating Ubbo-Sathla, the story would be different.

Unlike Shub-Niggurath, the fight with Ubbo-Sathla would take place in its territory.

Crackle...

While thinking about the fight with Ubbo-Sathla, YuWon bit into the burnt meat.

It seemed he had to fill his stomach solidly.

After traveling with Hercules, they reached the end of an arid terrain.

They weren't far from a wall marking the world's limit, a place near the end.

There, as agreed, the other group members were waiting for their arrival.

"The protagonists have arrived."

A middle-aged man with dark brown hair approached with a wide smile, extending his arms to greet YuWon and Hercules.

Originally, the architect of this operation was Icarus's father, Dédalo (Daedalus).

"Protagonists? What does that mean?"

And the person who refuted Dédalo's words was...

Clang...

A Ranker with four sword sheaths on his back and a sharp sword in his hand, Asura.

Three Heads and Six Arms. Or rather, Asura, who now had only two heads and four arms, as he had lost one of the heads he used to have.

And on the opposite side of Asura...

"These two are the strongest, you know? Why? Are you envious of something?"

A woman with pale skin and beauty similar to that of Dark Elves, Kali.

"Do you want to die?"

Asura looked at her with a severe expression.

"Don't confront her."

Another head of Asura restrained him.

Asura's personality was like fire; once he drew his weapons and started to fight, he wouldn't stop until an appropriate level of combat was reached.

For a brief moment, as Asura glared threateningly at Kali, Hercules, who was observing to intervene in case of a fight, asked.

"Is this the number of members?"

"It's not much, to be honest."

Dédalo complained, and YuWon nodded.

Indeed.

There weren't many members in the plan to capture Ubbo-Sathla.

Asura, Kali, the Lion King of the Zodiac Guild, the Dragon Slayer War Hero, Sigfrido, the architect of the plan, Dédalo, and Hercules and YuWon.

A total of seven people in the plan.

"But each member is valuable."

Sigfrido, who was sitting in silent meditation with his eyes closed, spoke these words.

"Hercules, Kim YuWon, Asura, Kali... Each one is a key asset."

"Hey, what about me?"

A team member who had expressed concern from the beginning.

A Ranker who once led the mighty Zodiac Guild, the Lion King.

"Are you excluding me?"

"We're not underestimating you. It's just that..."

"Just what?"

"I think it's something that will only happen here."

Shrugging, Sigfrido's gaze turned to Hercules.

That was when the Lion King shuddered.

Hercules, who had been conversing and inquiring about Dédalo's well-being for a long time, coincidentally locked eyes with the Lion King.

The Lion King's gaze shifted downward. He had been humiliated in a fight with Hercules in the past.

As he observed the team members, YuWon thought.

"Is one of them the traitor?"

One by one, YuWon examined the team members.

First, Dédalo.

"The probability is the highest."

He was the architect of this plan. He knew the Tower better than anyone and played a crucial role in setting traps and planning the operation.

Since he knew this plan better than anyone and had personally designed it, he had the highest probability of being the traitor.

"Then there's the Lion King."

He had a hostile relationship with Hercules. Although they had temporarily allied against a greater enemy, it was well known that the Lion King and his guild, Zodiac, had been hounding Hercules.

Of course.

"Even so, I can't help but suspect the others."

YuWon had experienced situations where he had to suspect everyone present to save his comrades. Unless it was Hercules or Asura, who had sacrificed their arms to save their comrades in a small-scale plan, he had no choice but to consider everyone present as potential traitors.

"It's not Hercules. Of course, it's not me either."

The plan was small-scale.

YuWon's gaze went through each member of the team.

"Well, who will it be?"