Leveling with the Gods

Son OhGong muttered to himself as the giants approached.

"They never give me a break."

Even as he muttered that, he pulled out his Ru Yi Bang.

YuWon did the same and drew his sword.

And then...

"Hey."

Son OhGong blocked YuWon's path.

"You're too busy to fight here, aren't you?"

OhGong had a rough idea of what YuWon was about to do next.

Even if he didn't know the order or the details, he was sure that YuWon had to be quite occupied with that 'more or less.'

And that wasn't all.

"Stay still."

"...?"

"I'll handle the fighting."

Thump-.

The giants' footsteps drew nearer.

The footsteps of the gathered giants from all sides impatiently pressed on YuWon...

And then...

YuWon realized why OhGong had said this.

"You really don't need my help."

He was the Great Sage, Heaven's Equal.

One of the top ten High Ranks in this Tower.

His power was beyond imagination. No matter how much YuWon's rank increased, he still wasn't someone who could fight side by side with OhGong.

'...I'm still far away.'

Suddenly, YuWon could feel the distance between them.

The distance between him and OhGong.

YuWon measured the distance.

'There's a long way to go.'

When would he catch up?

He had to admit that he was far behind, and if he couldn't admit it, he would remain stuck in place.

So YuWon turned around.

"Then we'll leave out the useless ones."

YuWon shook his head.

"I'll go ahead."

The giants rushed forward.

OhGong smiled satisfactorily as he blocked their path.

"Grow-."

Kak-.

He pointed his Ru Yi Bang at the giants.

"Ru Yi."

Boom!

Tung, tung, tung.

The giants fell like bowling pins, and some bounced into the sky.

YuWon walked in their direction and asked.

"Will you be able to keep up with me soon?"

"Sure (????)."

(Note: "????" is a Korean expression that translates to "Of course" or "It's obvious" in English. It is used to indicate that something is evident or a logical and natural conclusion. For example, if someone asks, "Do you want to go to the movies?" the other person might respond "????," which means "Of course" or "It's obvious that yes." It's a colloquial expression and quite common in everyday language in South Korea.)

"I told you not to use that word."

YuWon smiled satisfactorily.

It was funny every time he heard that word.

"It's too old-fashioned."

It was a word that YuWon had once spat out, a long time ago, and OhGong laughed at it and imitated him.

Every time that happened, YuWon hated it and said it was too old-fashioned, but Son OhGong didn't care.

Puf, puff, puff, puff-!

OhGong's alter egos appeared.

More than ten alter egos.

They stood next to YuWon, looking at the path he had made.

"Make sure to take care of this person. He's still an inexperienced friend, so we have to protect him."

He gestured for them to leave.

YuWon looked at him for a moment and then turned around to leave.

And with that, along with nearly a dozen more clones, YuWon left the place.

Then...

"Well, let's have some fun."

Son OhGong spun his shrunken staff and revealed his Golden Cinder Eyes to the giants.

"The Ragnarok will begin with me."

The seas of Muspelheim were made of lava.

Unstable, eternally burning, it was the symbol of Muspelheim.

And in the midst of that sea of lava was an island.

In the center of the island, there was a giant bathing in lava.

"Great Sage, Heaven's Equal..."

He looked towards the red sky upon hearing the news brought by the little giant.

"It seems the troublesome guy has started to move."

At the murmur of the giant, the giant who brought the news bowed his head.

"I don't think Surt-nim should worry too much about him."

Surt.

The pinnacle of giants and demons.

It was only recently that he heard a name that was offensive to his ears, someone known for controlling all the flames in the world.

"How foolish you are to talk about a matter you have yet to understand."

"Well... Surman has made his move, so they'll catch him soon."

"If they can't catch him, find out what he wants first. I can't stand to see their incompetence anymore."

"I will keep that in mind."

"Leave."

With his body submerged in lava, Surt closed his eyes, and the giant who brought the news left the place.

And right at that moment...

The footprints of a much smaller man appeared, even smaller than the giant who had just disappeared.

"I see you're not happy about this."

The familiar voice made Surt open his closed eyes again.

An invisible face.

The man, whose face and head were hidden by a hood, had come to him many times before.

"Is it because the opponent is the Great Sage, Heaven's Equal?"

"Have you ever seen him?"

"I haven't seen him, but I've seen the old Jade Emperor a few times."

Surt's lava-soaked eyes gleamed.

"I never thought I would die by such a brat."

Jade Emperor.

A top 10-ranked player, he had lived in the same era as Odin and Surt.

He knew the power of the Jade Emperor, but he also held a high opinion of OhGong's strength to defeat him.

"If that's the case, why don't you make the move yourself?"

"I can't."

Boom-.

Flames erupted from the lava.

For who knows how long.

The hooded figure asked when Surt hadn't come out for a long time.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm making a fire."

"A fire?"

The hooded figure scratched his head as if he didn't know what that meant.

But then...

He quickly gave up on the incomprehensible and spoke again.

"Anyway, if we don't catch that monkey quickly, the Ragnarok will be ruined."

Tak-.

Surt's gaze turned towards the hooded figure.

A tiny ant compared to his size.

A palm, large enough to cover the sky, reached out towards the hooded figure.

"Are you trying to scare me?"

He felt like he could crush him to death if he wanted to.

In fact, he thought so at their first meeting.

But the hooded figure didn't die.

And that was natural.

"It's not his real body."

It was just an alter ego (clone), not the real one.

"I'll tell you a fact."

"What fact?"

"The Great Sage, Heaven's Equal, he...".

"Is he immortal?"

Boggle, boggle-.

As Surt's mood changed, the lava began to boil.

The already hot weather became even hotter. The corners of Surt's lips twitched at the thought of the Great Sage, Heaven's Equal.

"Anyway, I'm curious. Even if he burns in this fire, will that guy really not die?"

The lava from Muspelheim wrapped around his body.

Enveloped in flames and lava, Surt ignited his long-suppressed fighting spirit.

"We'll have to wait and see. It's probably just a warm-up before the fight with Odin."

Ten days had passed since news of OhGong had been heard.

Could he have lost his player's kit in battle?

YuWon was worried, but he tried to push that thought out of his mind.

"He won't die."

There was no way OhGong would die, unless Foolish Chaos moved directly.

Son OhGong was immortal.

There was no need to worry about Foolish Chaos just yet.

It wasn't in the Ragnarok when Foolish Chaos began to move. It was when that wall collapsed and the Outer Gods started entering the tower that Foolish Chaos revealed himself.

It was also the reason why YuWon had left OhGong there alone.

"I'm sorry, but Son OhGong will never die."

Ten days.

Perhaps the past ten days had been the busiest for YuWon since he returned to the past.

And so, ten days later, YuWon was back in Asgard.

"Do you... want to meet that guy?"

YuWon nodded in response to Odin's question while watering Yggdrasil.

"I need your permission to do so."

"It's not that difficult to give you permission. Just..."

Odin turned his head to look at YuWon.

"Could it be dangerous if I release him?"

"I know."

"And yet you still want to meet him?"

"For now."

After hesitating for a moment at YuWon's answer, Odin raised his hand in the air.

Kik-.

A golden light emanated from Odin's hand. The coalescing light soon turned into a small key.

"The key is here. With this, it won't be difficult for you to let him out."

However, Odin did not immediately hand over the key.

"Still, I would like to know your reasoning, why do you want to see him?"

"Because I believe he can help us."

"You think he can help us?"

"I'm still not sure."

"What are the chances?"

"At first, I thought less than 10%, but..."

YuWon nodded.

"I changed my mind a while ago. Now it's 50%."

Only half the chances.

After thinking for a moment, Odin handed the key to YuWon.

"Take it."

YuWon took the key and left the room.

As he walked through the golden castle, he observed the eyes of the Rankers. Their eyes, which not long ago seemed so peaceful and busy playing and eating, had changed.

"Asgard is preparing for battle."

Tap~.

YuWon headed to the basement of the golden castle.

After presenting the pass to Odin, the soldiers blocking the entrance stepped aside.

A damp and dark staircase appeared, unlike the dazzling golden castle.

"We must turn the tide."

Over the past ten days...

YuWon had been moving to reverse the tide.

And this step was an extension of that.

Originally, he hadn't thought of it. Just like Odin hesitated to give him the key, YuWon had hesitated to make this choice.

And the same went for his other companions.

"No matter how urgent it is, this is a bit..."

"Even if Ragnarok is an uphill battle, dragging him into it might be a handshake."

"It's not impossible, but it's unlikely..."

"We could end up making Ragnarok harder than necessary."

Negative thoughts.

But only one.

There was one person who voted in favor, not against.

"Maybe he'll help."

It was the most unexpected person.

"No. I'm sure he'll help."

Hercules.

With everyone against it, he offered a different opinion.

But his idea was quickly dismissed.

It wasn't well-founded.

When asked why everyone thought that way, Hercules responded,

"It's a hunch, since we share the same blood..."

Tap.

A long staircase.

The staircase was as deep as the Celestial Realm's Prison. In reality, the basement of the Golden Castle was used as a prison to hold and monitor Asgard's criminals.

With Odin, the Valkyries, and countless Rankers residing in the basement of the Golden Castle, it was the most secure prison in the world.

Tap-.

The sound of footsteps descending the stairs echoed in their ears.

The few prisons were empty.

Only a few cells were occupied.

The prisoners in those few cells were Rankers, men of such notoriety that the Tower trembled when they emerged.

And one of them...

"An unwanted guest has arrived."

The familiar voice came from where YuWon had come to a halt.

Inside a dark cell.

YuWon extended a golden, shiny key and opened his mouth.

"I have brought the key."

Tak-.

Two pairs of golden eyes emerged from the black cage.

Their eyes couldn't be more beautiful, and those eyes fixed their gaze on the key that YuWon held in his hand.

"What do you want?"

The person with the beautiful eyes asked.

His eyes, accustomed to darkness, reflected a man in prison with his back against the wall.

In the face of the direct question, YuWon responded with equal clarity.

"Join our side."

The color of his eyes and hair was as beautiful as his gaze.

The Sinner of Asgard, the only man everyone was against, but only one was in favor of him.

"Zeus."

YuWon extended his hand.

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