Leveling with the Gods

Side Story 5

In a bustling cafe,

Varuna's vision narrowed.

What he could see and hear was confined to a small space.

Varuna wasn't sure whether to admit he remembered YuWon or not.

He had been sitting, pondering since the morning.

Why don't others remember Kim YuWon?

Did he perhaps erase himself?

Or am I hallucinating? Memory manipulation?

Yes, that's the most likely possibility.

No chance, damn it. I already checked if I was affected by an ability or not.

Varuna's mind tangled, and for a moment, he felt the urge to pull out his hair.

But that was only for a moment.

He knew he couldn't deceive the person in front of him, and if he were to pretend not to know him, he wouldn't have returned.

"...yes."

A concise response.

Puff!

With that response, a veil of magic spread around YuWon and Varuna.

An invisible but clearly present veil.

Judging by the amount that could be felt, even the strongest Rankers would have difficulty noticing its existence.

'He can block sound with that much magic.'

Magic so inconspicuous that even Varuna, a High-Ranker, wouldn't have noticed if he hadn't been inside.

Immediately after admiring YuWon's technique to block sound, Varuna apologized to YuWon.

"...I was reckless, I apologize."

But he didn't bow too much.

This was a public place, and since they had blocked the sound, he probably didn't want to attract attention.

"You've got a good eye."

YuWon set down his coffee again and looked at Varuna with crossed arms.

Even though he had returned to the first floor, Varuna hadn't gone to look for Pandora.

Instead, he had sat in a café on the first floor.

Judging by his look, it seemed like his memories had also cback more or less.

'It seems the responsibility falls on me.'

If his memories returned, he should have naturally felt that something was amiss.

Kim YuWon, ranked number 4.

Registered on the ranking before reaching Floor 100, the discoverer of conditions for obtaining Divinity.

Anyone who didn't know YuWon clearly shouldn't be in this Tower.

"What do you mean by being reckless?"

"Um... Kim YuWon... I failed to recognize you and dared to..."

Varuna couldn't say he had been courting YuWon's wife, so he left the sentence hanging and lowered his head.

As much as he liked women, his life was the most important.

"It doesn't matter that you didn't recognize me. There were reasons for that."

"Yes, thank you."

"So, in any case, from now on, pretend you don't know anything."

"Really?"

"Don't go around proclaiming that you know me. At least for a while."

At YuWon's words, Varuna's eyes widened in surprise.

In Varuna's eyes, looking at YuWon from the other side, reverence and respect suddenly appeared.

'Did he really do it intentionally?'

Everyone in the Tower had forgotten YuWon.

As the saying goes, "a true master withdraws and disappears," YuWon had erased not only his trail but also people's memories to live a quiet married life.

It was truly an astonishing skill.

'This is an opportunity.'

Only he and Pandora remember YuWon's face and nin this tower.

'I will now make a good impression on my older brother.'

In Varuna's mind, the relationship between him and YuWon was already like brothers.

If he could now befriend YuWon before anyone else.

If he becbrothers with the one who is the greatest and most powerful in this Tower, on par with Vishnu, what could be safer than that?

If that happened, it was natural that his position within Deva would also increase.

'I don't know how long it will take, but...'

Moreover, YuWon clearly said "for the tbeing."

That means that someday, when the tcomes, he will reveal his existence in this Tower again.

'Life is originally a waiting game.'

While imagining becoming the power behind the throne of Deva with Kim YuWon at his back.

Varuna couldn't hide his excited voice and opened his mouth, unlike before.

"If you say it's for the tbeing, how long will it be?"

Varuna's bright eyes made YuWon's gaze furrow.

What's with that uncomfortable look?

Until a moment ago, he was somewhat restless and scared, but now he had an expectant expression.

"Until I allow it."

"Understood. Trust only me!"

Varuna, pounding his chest, made YuWon sigh.

Until a moment ago, at least he acted cautiously, but now no more.

"Don't overdo it."

"Yes!"

Laughing cheerfully, Varuna began eating the cake that cwith the coffee.

YuWon looked at him as if he were a strange creature.

He knew he had always been a cheerful and sociable person, but he didn't know his attitude would change so suddenly.

"But why isn't it possible now?"

Varuna's question was natural.

Indeed, YuWon hadn't thought about keeping this a secret until recently.

"Did I hear they're holding a meeting?"

"With me?"

"Not you. They say the Great Guilds are gathering at the Round Table."

"How do you know?"

"I just know."

Varuna didn't ask further; they were still in the stage of becoming friends, and he couldn't bother him with more questions.

"Yes. For sreason, the sides of Olympus and Asgard have called for a general meeting of all the Great Guilds. Scale-wise, it's impossible for it to be a secret, but apparently, it's still being conducted covertly."

"That's why."

"That?"

An interrogation mark appeared over Varuna's head.

"So does 'that' have something to do with that meeting?"

Deva hadn't been informed about the meeting's subject.

Even Varuna, a High-Ranker of Deva, and Vishnu, who personally attended the meeting, didn't know what it was about.

But the man in front of him knew.

"Probably."

"Probably?"

"There's one thing that worries me..."

YuWon recalled something for a moment and then shook his head.

"For now, let's hope it's not the case."

It was still just a speculation.

Until confirmed, it's better not to reveal oneself.

YuWon thought the conversation had ended and tried to get up from his seat.

But then...

"Is something wrong?"

Varuna's gaze was not normal.

His eyes shone as if they contained the Milky Way.

His gaze followed YuWon, who was getting up from his seat, and slowly rose upwards.

"Uh, perhaps...?"

"What? Is there something else you want to say?"

"Yes, I have a request."

Varuna nodded with a determined expression. With eyes shining like stars and a voice that sounded as if he were determined, he spoke.

"Can I call you brother...?"

"I'm out."

After the meeting, Vishnu, who had returned to Deva, had been busy for several days.

A wooden chair and a desk. A paper on top.

"...It's frustrating."

He had many things to ponder.

According to the meeting's topic, it wouldn't be surprising if a disaster occurred in the Tower at any moment.

The news brought by Zeus was concise and clear.

"The Administrators have started to move."

The Administrators.

Absolutes that exist one per floor, with power and authority rivaling the top High-Rankers.

That they had started moving definitively was not something normal.

'That's why they didn't show up during the war against the Outers.'

There were many opinions that that was also strange.

Why didn't they show themselves, who more than anyone sought the order and safety of the Tower?

In fact, Vishnu tried to meet with the Administrators after that, but they hadn't appeared in ten years.

But then...

"I ask them."

The question Zeus asked was like a bomb for the Rankers in the meeting room.

"Are the Administrators friends or enemies?"

"It's only been ten years."

The peace was short-lived.

The Tower, which had ended the war, was barely entering a phase of stability.

Disputes between Guilds had disappeared, and conflicts between races were gradually resolving.

Vishnu wanted nothing more.

He just wanted the Tower to stay that way.

But then, the Administrators began to move like a variable.

"I guess I should see them."

For several days, he pondered whether he should meet with the Administrators and talk to them.

But, of course, nothing changed by just sitting still.

"And..."

"Yes?"

Yama waited for Vishnu's next word, who had dropped the end.

Then...

"No. It's nothing."

"..."

Inappropriately, Vishnu changed his words.

Vishnu seemed about to say something.

Yama was curious but didn't ask.

If he didn't say it, there was a reason for that.

'Kim YuWon, Kim YuWon...'

What Vishnu wanted to ask was whether he knew Kim YuWon.

However, on the other hand, he thought that Yama wouldn't know a nthat he didn't even know.

'It was clear that The Great Sage, Heaven's Equal knew something.'

The image of Son OhGong awkwardly whistling.

It was strange that, unless you were an idiot, you wouldn't notice.

Moreover, Vishnu discovered one more person showing a different reaction from others.

'Hercules also seems to know him...'

Maybe he shouldn't worry so much.

After checking the rankings, Kim YuWon's ndidn't appear within the High-Rankers or after that.

So...

'Why am I so worried?'

It wasn't just because he was friends with Son OhGong and Hercules.

In the first place, Vishnu wasn't the type to be interested in others.

'...Kim YuWon.'

He couldn't recall any familiar nor face when thinking about him, no matter how hard he tried.

But why?

It felt like he had a big nail stuck in his throat that he couldn't remove.

While repeating the snin his head several times,

"This is the list of survivors and casualties from the Reconciliation Day meeting."

After the war...

While Vishnu was reviewing the fight against the Outers from the previous day, Surya brought him news.

The record of the day of the fight against Shub-Niggurath.

'...Yes.'

Upon remembering that record, Vishnu could finally recall a clue about the n'Kim YuWon.'

'He was there.'