Leveling with the Gods

The 32nd floor was a rich world.

The land was fertile and there was always enough rain to grow grain and fruit in abundance.

These were fed to livestock, which provided abundant meat, and the inhabitants of the 32nd Floor never had to worry about eating.

They even exported to the other worlds.

Therefore, the word that symbolized the world of the 32nd floor was "peace".

But then...

Quang!

The world was now the scene of a great war.

Thud-!

Kneeling in front of Hercules, a Ranker collapsed with his back split in half.

He was a large, imposing man of four meters, a renowned Ranker who answered to the name Orion.

"You're using this guy as a chess horse?"

Hercules looked up, and wiped away the sweat.

There were still dark clouds in the sky.

How many people had he killed so far?

Slowly, he was beginning to feel nauseous.

He had even split someone while fighting.

"Why don't you come out yourself?"

A growling voice.

Boom-.

Kwaang-!

A club swung through the air, and the clouds parted.

"Don't send them for nothing."

Kihihihihihing-!

A group of Sun Chariots descended from the parted cloud.

The carriages were driven by white horses. Inside were several players and Rankers.

"Tsk."

Hercules raised his fist.

Boom-.

A fist pounding the air.

Boom, boom, boom-!

Quack, quack, quack-!

The impact of his fist shattered dozens of Sun Chariots.

A sorrow flowed through Hercules' body. It was for attacking the players who didn't become Rankers riding the Sun Chariot.

'As expected, he's just trying to tire me out.'

Zeus was a cautious character.

He rarely moved directly as he did now, he was often behind the scenes, manipulating the various Rankers within Olympus as if they were his hands and feet.

He was like that even now.

"Zeus probably won't try to deal with you directly."

"How do you know that?"

"Because your father is that kind of person."

"Do you really know him that well, and even if you do, aren't you being a little presumptuous?"

"You'll see when you get there."

At this point, he could only wonder.

How on earth did it all fit together so well?

He always thought Zeus was the best when it came to drawing the big picture, but in this case, it seemed like YuWon was on top of it all.

'Besides...'

"Just buy yourself some time. It doesn't have to be long."

He had anticipated all of this and even told her how to deal with it next.

'What the hell are you thinking?'

She couldn't understand what he meant.

In fact, when he'd first heard it, he'd been skeptical.

But now he had to believe it.

'Right.

Pudeuk-.

A part of him wanted to run to Zeus in the sky right now.

But...

'You want to avenge your mother, don't you?'

YuWon's advice stuck in his throat and he couldn't let it out.

"Then make sure you do it. Don't rush it just because you're angry."

'Since we've already come to this, I can only continue.'

Boom!

Boom-!

* * *

A battle carpeted in red, with countless Rankers gathered around.

"So much for Olympus."

"A civil war between Hercules and Zeus. This is worth seeing."

The room was buzzing.

The topic was the recent situation on Olympus.

The news was that Olympus, which had been the talk of late, had started a civil war.

But the uproar didn't last long.

Pang, pang, pang~

Right next to the throne. It was the sound of a man's hammer.

The hall was silent in an instant. Countless Rankers closed their mouths, and only then did the one-eyed man sitting on the throne open his eyes again.

"Olympus is Olympus, and we do our work. Nothing good can come from taking too much interest in the affairs of the neighborhood."

After Hades' visit...

Asgard's biggest concern was the civil war on Olympus.

Olympus was one of the few Guilds comparable to Asgard.

Naturally, there were many within Asgard who wished for the downfall of Olympus, and it was natural for them to talk about it.

Especially now that war was a certainty.

"We listened."

Hundreds gathered in the hall bowed their heads in response.

And at their reaction, Odin, the King of Asgard who sat on the throne, nodded.

"Well, I'll just tell them to mind their own business in their own neighborhood and....."

Without Hades, Olympus and Asgard were no longer connected.

There were more important matters to attend to.

"Let's talk about Surt, as we have already arranged. If I see one of you looking for fun snooping around for no reason, I will throw you out of the castle without mercy."

"Understood!"

"Understood!"

A thunderous response.

Odin nodded, seemingly satisfied.

With that, the conversation changed direction.

Soon, one by one, they began to talk about Surt and the other Giants.

He had to concentrate on the meeting, though.

Oddly, Odin had one thing on his mind.

'Kim YuWon...'

The player who had brought Olympus to this point, and he wasn't even a Ranker player yet.

It was strange, to say the least.

No matter how much talent you have, it's impossible.

I was intrigued.

It had been a long time since he had been interested in anything outside of the long battle against the Giants.

That was true even in the past, at the Round Table.

But.......

'I'd like to take a look.'

For some reason, he was interested.

He thought it had been a long time since he had had a glimpse of the future of everything in the world.

'I'll have to meet him when he comes up.'

Of course.

"Only if he can survive that bastard Zeus."

"......?"

Odin's muttering brought the meeting room to silence for a moment.

Apparently those last words had been strong.

'I thought he said we weren't supposed to talk about that.'

What did he just say about Zeus?

'Really...'

A flurry of looks.

"Mm?"

Odin, who was sitting with his chin resting on his hand, raised his head at those stares.

"Get on with the story. Pay no attention to other things."

* * *

A light flashed in the sky.

Thwack!

A line of lightning struck.

Pajik, Pajik-.

A deep pit formed in the ground, and intense sparks flew around it.

Hercules raised his arms to protect his head. Every inch of his body tingled from the lightning that had struck him.

"Are you finally going to move?"

Hercules looked up and felt Zeus' gaze on him.

He had made enough sacrifices.

Nearly a hundred Player Rankers had already been sacrificed, and many more were dying.

Hercules' body also had small wounds all over it.

"For Olympus."

"For Olympus!"

After that lightning struck....

Another group of troops approached.

"Those fanatics..."

There was only one meaning of the arrival of Rankers other than Zeus.

It meant that he wasn't going to go out to the front yet.

'Are you going to support them from afar?'

The range of Zeus' attacks was practically everything under the sky.

It wasn't hard to find his position while launching his Thunderbolts, but it wasn't going to be easy if he insisted on bringing in other Rankers like this.

Besides...

"It's been a while, Hercules."

Familiar faces mingled among them.

"Dionysus..."

Dionysus and Demeter, High Ranker members of Olympus.

It seemed to be past the stage of buying time and reducing their resistance.

They're going to try to catch Hercules, and they're going to try to catch him with the right Rankers.

'It doesn't matter how many of those guys there are.

The problem isn't them, it's Zeus behind them.

He had been hit by Thunderbolts before, and was fully aware of his power.

No.

Maybe even he had adjusted his power a bit to account for the influence of his allies around him.

'Still, at this point.......'

Kuk-.

Hercules tensed the club in his hand.

Then, ignoring Dionysus' salute, he raised his head and looked up at the clouds.

The corners of Hercules' mouth turned up.

Finally.

"It is about to begin.

The beginning of a great battle in which the very existence of Olympus was at stake was about to begin.

* * *

Pajijik-.

A burst of lightning flashed through the blackened clouds.

Zeus stood in the sky and looked down. His golden eyes reflected everything on earth, and he had been watching Hercules for quite some time.

His son was going mad on the battlefield.

Despite the misery of the situation, Zeus' eyes did not reflect bitterness or sadness, only regret.

"He's a pretty hard-working guy..."

Pajijik-.

Another Lightning Bolt was placed in Zeus' hand.

"I don't know if I can ever create someone like him again."

The gesture was light.

Zeus immediately followed Hercules' movements and rolled his golden eyes.

For a moment, the allies withdrew as if they had made a promise.

At that moment...

Zeus' Thunderbolt fell.

Kwareung-!

A deafening roar and a blinding flash of light streaked across the sky.

Hercules raised his arms again and blocked the lightning with his whole body. Without any special skills or maneuvers, he had no way to avoid Zeus' lightning bolt.

'How many more shots will it take to stop him...'

Pajijik-!

Zeus formed another Lightning Bolt in his hand.

'I'm curious.'

His greatest masterpiece.

Having done it once, there was no way it was impossible to do it twice. That's why he wanted to check the following.

Hercules, the Giant Slayer.

How far he had come on his own.

That's when Zeus was about to cast his next Thunderbolt....

"I see you still have that face.

Ssshhhh~

A pitch black darkness suddenly spread around Zeus.

Zeus raised his head and looked in the direction of the voice.

"Isn't it the same for each other?"

An absolute stealth that assimilated with the darkness.

A High Rank who, despite his appearance, was one of the most skilled assassins in the tower.

"Brother."

Hades stepped out of the darkness.

"I see you've started a war."

"What's the problem with a war, let's keep it a family squabble."

"Sure. You must have a big family."

It was a horse with bones*. (Note: Korean phrase meaning that words have more depth than they appear).

Zeus changed the direction of the Thunderbolt in his hand.

"And it looks like it's going to be a sibling rivalry from now on."

"A fight between siblings... that's good too."

He hoped so.

Hades had come a long way to get here, and he intended to fight.

"You know that, don't you?"

However...

"You've never beaten me before."

The fight had been settled long ago.

Though united by the name of the Three Gods, Zeus' ascension to the throne of Olympus was not by lot.

"Yes. I know."

And Hades, who could not be unaware of that fact....

"By the way...".

So he played another hand he had been holding back.

"Isn't there a person missing in the war between brothers?"

"......."

Zeus' eyes narrowed.

It was a rare moment of tension.

Suuuuu-.

In the dense darkness created by Hades.

A man with beautiful blue hair emerged from it, contrasting with Hades' jet black hair.

"I have only waited for today, Zeus."

One of the Three Gods of Olympus.

Also known as the God of the Sea, the Lord of the Seas.

"How dare you imprison me?"

Poseidon snarled at Zeus.