Leveling with the Gods

C358

['Danpung's level has increased.]

['Danpung's level has increased.]

['Danpung's level...']

['Danpung's Divine Power has increased by 13.]

[Growth rate has increased by 14.22%.]

[Arcane Power has increased by 4.]

[You have defeated 'Chaos Shard.']

[You have obtained 1,000,000 points.]

Messages appearing one after another.

Clearly, Foolish Chaos was of a different quality compared to other Outer Gods. Danpung's growth rate increased by over 14% in the blink of an eye, and his level increased by 6 levels.

YuWon's Arcane Power also underwent a similar change.

His Arcane Power increased by 4 levels. The Arcane Power that was previously near the bottom now felt as full as before, and he imagined that the vessel containing Arcane Power would now be much larger than before.

'Chaos Shard, huh?'

He had expected it, but that's what it truly was.

The System didn't call it "Foolish Chaos," but "Chaos Shard."

It was as if it were some kind of projection rather than the true entity.

'If it were the original, it wouldn't have ended so easily.'

It was still difficult for Foolish Chaos to enter the Tower.

If he had tried to enter, he would have had to open a door several times larger than the one that opened in the sky a moment ago.

'He shouldn't aim so high.'

No matter how much Foolish Chaos desired Danpung, he wouldn't dare to make such a bold move. Besides, YuWon didn't want that to happen either.

'If that happened, not even Zeus would be able to stop it.'

YuWon had confirmed that Zeus was strong.

Since he had a considerable amount of accumulated Myths, it was natural for him to become much stronger than before, but this exceeded his expectations.

However, the opponent was still Foolish Chaos.

If it had been the true body, the fight would have ended with the defeat of both.

'I'm satisfied with everything except one thing.'

[Growth Rate: 99.99%]

The second objective YuWon wanted in this battle.

Danpung's growth.

The growth rate, which wasn't much before, didn't leave much now. That's why he thought that maybe he could reach 100% in this battle, and in the end, he succeeded in capturing Foolish Chaos.

However...

0.01 percent. He was only missing an extremely small amount.

'It can't be just a simple coincidence, right?'

It was a very small difference to attribute to chance.

Perhaps he just needed a small opportunity to reach that 0.01 percent.

Or maybe...

'He would have to capture a much larger enemy.'

It had ended in broad strokes.

YuWon leaned against the tree left after the Predator passed by.

He felt relieved to release all the tension. His body, which had been so tense, finally relaxed.

"That guy... is he dead?"

Squelch-.

Zeus approached YuWon.

Foolish Chaos, who was devoured by the Predator, had disappeared without a trace.

At this moment, there wasn't even a corpse to verify.

He could only ask YuWon if he was alive or dead.

"Still..."

"Still, huh?"

Zeus's eyebrows twitched.

He thought he might decisively get rid of him this time, but he was still alive.

"Where did he go?"

"He's not here."

"Then..."

"Over there."

YuWon lifted his head and looked upward.

The colorful twilight light filled the sky.

As he looked at the sky with Zeus, he whispered:

"The Outside, right?"

The word "Outside" caused YuWon's pupils to widen slightly before returning to normal.

It seemed that Zeus had vaguely noticed something.

Through this incident, he had glimpsed a small part of that other world.

"Are you going to keep fighting until you capture that guy?"

YuWon asked Zeus about his intention.

Zeus's goal was to capture Foolish Chaos. And through this incident, he had already achieved a certain degree of success.

But, anyhow, Foolish Chaos turned out to be some kind of projection connected to the Tower.

YuWon asked him how far he was willing to go.

"It's a given question."

Zeus replied without hesitation.

All this time, Zeus had been looking at the sky that had already closed completely.

YuWon waited for Zeus, who seemed lost in his thoughts for a moment.

Zeus, as a being of this world, everything that had happened now was not something he could fully understand, accept, and comprehend.

That was what YuWon thought.

"I saw something strange while I was fighting him," Zeus suddenly said, uttering words out of place. His golden eyes slowly sank beneath the surface, like gems sinking into water.

A gaze no one could understand. Faced with Zeus's unfamiliar expression, YuWon asked:

"Did you see something strange?"

"A person who looked like me."

"Looked like you..."

"He had the same face as mine but with black hair."

An identical face with black hair.

Suddenly, the colors of Zeus's hair and beard on YuWon's face changed.

Zeus with black hair.

YuWon's eyes widened.

"There were many more wrinkles. As if he had aged more than me. Was there a mole on his cheek? I don't remember well."

As the explanation continued, YuWon's pupils trembled more and more.

Wrinkles on the face.

Mole on the cheek.

And black hair.

Zeus's face, after gradually changing a bit, seemed to overlap with someone else's face.

"Do you know that person?"

It was a question he had thrown out to see YuWon's reaction from the start.

Zeus stared at him, as if knowing that he would wait for it.

"Who is it? Exactly?"

It was obvious that he was concerned, as it was someone who resembled him.

After thinking for a moment, YuWon responded.

"It's Chronos."

"Chronos?"

Zeus paused for a moment.

An unnatural reaction. If someone had mentioned an unknown name on YuWon's lips, he might have had doubts, but it wasn't so.

Instead, he simply smiled in an unexpected manner and nodded.

"I don't know that name."

No more questions.

Even though YuWon had expectations for a moment, it was the same as always.

'This time is the same too.'

In this world, no one remembered Chronos. Disappearing due to the Clock Movement was a different kind of problem from the vanishing of an entire history.

In this world, no one knew about Chronos and no one attempted to know.

Even if YuWon mentioned Chronos, it would be the same.

People knew nothing about Chronos and were not curious to know.

So, he gave up hope.

'No.'

YuWon noticed a slight fluctuation in Zeus's gaze.

'Maybe it's a bit different.'

It was the first time he had seen someone react like this upon hearing the name Chronos.

'Zeus met Chronos.'

Zeus continued to gaze at the sky, lost in his thoughts.

It was obvious that someone who had the same face as him, like Chronos, was troubling him.

"The inspiration..."

Chronos.

The one responsible for creating the Clock Movement alongside Odin, sacrificing himself to use it.

That man now appeared before Zeus.

'What could have happened?'

Just when he thought a great problem had ended, a small feeling of unease sprouted in YuWon's heart, like a small spark that could grow into a wildfire.

Hades was supposed to be dead, but he returned to Olympus.

Some of the Olympus Players who followed him greeted him with cheers.

"Our King, who was thought to be dead, has returned."

"Our King rules over death."

"Eternal glory to the King of Death!"

"Glory..."

"Stop making so much noise. My head hurts."

After completing his Resurrection, Hades had to wrap his swaying head with his hands due to the commotion that erupted right after his return.

Some of the Rankers doubted the authenticity of Hades, but it wasn't difficult to convince them.

Hades had a unique ability that only he possessed in this Tower, and it wasn't a problem to display it to prove his authenticity.

Thus, with Hades's return, Olympus gradually returned to normalcy.

And around that time...

After the end of Ragnarok, Asgard had been silent all the while.

The Royal Palace of Asgard.

At its peak was a small room.

A man lay on a luxurious bed of gold, covered with a blanket made of phoenix feathers, and woke up from his slumber.

"Have you awakened?"

Tok-.

Beside him, Odin sat, and with his small glasses on, he stopped reading a book and asked.

A narrow, skeletal body.

A wrinkled face.

The elder, who had been sleeping for a long time, opened his mouth upon seeing the sunlight entering the room.

"It's been a long time."

The moment he looked out the window, he realized how much time had passed.

Although the eyes that blinked open and shut belonged to someone who had been sleeping, it wasn't such a long time for Odin, who had lived eternally.

Anyway, once again, a hundred years passed. Exactly.

"The curse of knowledge is truly terrible. Simply being awake is painful."

A hundred years.

It was the time in which the elder, Mimir, had been sleeping.

He slept for a hundred years and woke up for a year. And once more than a year passed, he had to go back to sleep.

Odin's oldest friend.

Mimir.

He struggled to get up from the bed, swaying.

"Be careful. Your body hasn't moved in a hundred years, so you'll need time to adapt."

"What brings you here?"

"Just concerned about my friend."

"Concerned about me... or concerned about something?"

It wasn't something that happened once or twice.

Mimir muttered quietly in the end.

The hundred-year time wasn't much for Odin, who had lived eternally.

Anyway, he knew it would repeat in the future.

Mimir found Odin's action of waiting for him a bit unusual.

But...

"The Clock Movement is complete."

Zas.

Odin, who had been tending to Mimir, hadn't done it just because he wanted to see his old friend awaken.

Odin, who placed the closed book on the bed, stood up.

He met the bright light in front of the window.

"I need your Sight."

Pap~.

Mimir covered his blinking eyes with his hands.

His pupils began to emit power as he regained consciousness.

Mimir's eyes contained a mysterious power. It was said that those eyes could see and predict everything, even the future.

The curse of knowledge.

It was the side effect of everything Mimir had seen and learned with those eyes until now.

In exchange for these eyes, Mimir had to pay a hundred years of his time for every year.

"It seems you're... concerned about something, since you only ask for my help at times like this."

"It's a serious matter."

"It seems someone has returned from the Clock Movement."

Odin briefly showed a surprised expression but then nodded as if it were something expected.

After all, the interlocutor was Mimir. Perhaps he could read others' thoughts even without saying a word.

"One of them must be the Great Sage, Heaven's Equal. And the other is..."

"A guy named Kim YuWon."

"A stranger."

"Because not even a century has passed since he entered the Tower."

The story about YuWon wasn't dragged on.

Time for Mimir was more precious than gold. One of his days equaled a hundred days for others.

Without wasting time on unnecessary talks, Odin went straight to the point.

"Anyway, if two people have returned here, it means two people have been sacrificed. And it's likely one of them is you."

"Probably."

"Then..."

Just as he was about to ask who the other one was.

"Chronos, my friend."

Mimir, covering his pulsating eyes with one hand, murmured.

"What the hell has happened?"