Leveling with the Gods

C307

Step-.

Small footsteps could be heard approaching.

Despair, lying prostrate on the ground, lifted its head.

And then...

Woosh-.

A small child, barely the size of a palm, appeared before its eyes.

Despair's face was already deformed and its body partially faded. It barely held onto life, and it wouldn't be strange if it died at any moment.

Danpung approached that Despair.

Tac, tac, tac-.

Danpung, who had walked slowly, met the gaze of Despair.

Could this be the final farewell before death?

Despair extended its hand forward, never averting its gaze from Danpung.

A gesture that was unknown whether it was a threat or a plea to be saved.

Danpung responded to that gesture.

Zzzk-, plip-.

Around Despair, hundreds of black teeth emerged amidst a dark landscape.

The movement of Despair, which had extended its hand, came to a halt. In an instant, light entered Despair's pupils as it looked at Danpung.

-You, are you...?

In appearance, Danpung was no different from the Dwarf Race, a small and weak race.

However, upon seeing the original form revealed by Danpung, it felt a sense of familiarity similar to the existence Despair knew.

-Why are you here...?

It couldn't understand.

Why that thing was here and why it had that appearance.

Several questions intertwined one after another.

But...

Woosh-.

Before those questions could be answered, the Predator's fangs started to chew and devour Despair.

"Abba-."

[Danpung's level has increased]

[Danpung's level has increased]

[Danpung's level...]

[Danpung's Divine Power has increased by 6 points]

[Growth rate has increased by 32.44%]

[Arcane Power has increased by 5 points]

[You have eliminated 'Despair That Falls to The Earth']

[You have obtained 500,000 points]

The messages resonated.

Thanks to that, the long silence was broken. YuWon, who had been facing Foolish Chaos, finally had certainty.

"Did he really awaken?"

Danpung opened his eyes.

Despair That Falls to The Earth was one of the most powerful cards among the enemies Foolish Chaos was handling.

YuWon thought that Danpung wouldn't let that type escape. After all, Danpung was always hungry.

And as expected, Danpung devoured it.

The growth rate increased, the level and Divine Power rose.

And with that, his own statistics increased.

Five stat points.

Arcane Power, which barely increased after surpassing 100 points, was invaluable in terms of value compared to statistics. Although level increase was slow, the five stat points were numerically valuable beyond comparison with Points.

Kim YuWon knew better than anyone how much value a difference of just one in this level and stats had.

Especially now, when he keenly felt the lack of stats compared to skills and items.

These five stat points would be a great stepping stone for YuWon.

No.

'In fact, this is just the beginning.'

YuWon read Foolish Chaos's intentions as he silently observed him.

Within his reaction submerged in silence, YuWon perceived numerous thoughts.

The death of the Outer Gods had been a severe blow to Foolish Chaos.

There was no mistake in his calculations.

The Three Gods didn't have the power to bring down Despair That Falls to The Earth and Despair That Reaches The Skies.

That's what should have happened originally.

However, Zeus became much stronger than originally planned. The Three Gods with established positions showed a strength surpassing what they had demonstrated in individual battles.

And above all, Son OhGong and Kim YuWon.

The existence of these two people completely ruined Foolish Chaos's calculations.

Foolish Chaos was fully aware of and accepted this fact.

"It's you."

After a long time, Foolish Chaos spoke those words.

Behind him, Son OhGong was watching his movements while holding the Ru Yi Bang.

Although Son OhGong posed a much greater threat, Foolish Chaos no longer paid attention to him.

It wasn't Zeus or Son OhGong.

The person who now captured his interest was none other than YuWon.

"You always stayed ahead of me with higher numbers." (“계속 나보다 높은 수를 두던 게.”)

The first time he had noticed something strange was when the Gigantomachy was canceled.

The Olympus that he had worked so hard to build had fallen, and Zeus had turned from friend to enemy.

The same thing happened with the Ragnarok.

Foolish Chaos thought everything was in the palm of his hand.

But it wasn't so.

On the contrary.

The picture he had created was crumbling.

At first, he thought it might be Odin or Zeus, but...

"It's not that there was no harvest."

Now he knew for sure.

Who was the person who had been outpacing him.

"It seems rankings can't be trusted."

Until now, Foolish Chaos evaluated the Rankers and used them as chess pieces based on their rankings.

To use Zeus as the knight that would provoke the Gigantomachy, or to select Jade Emperor as the knight that would provoke the Great Celestial War.

In response to Odin, he planned the Ragnarok using Surt.

All these foundations were based on the Rankings.

On the other hand, YuWon wasn't in the Rankings until recently, and furthermore, his current position in the Rankings was significantly lower compared to Zeus or Odin.

That was why Foolish Chaos hadn't paid much attention to YuWon until now.

However...

"From now on, it will be different."

Foolish Chaos would only believe what he had seen with his own eyes, rather than the position determined by statistics.

Suddenly, something like pride burned in Foolish Chaos's chest.

And if it was about pride, YuWon wasn't far behind.

"From the moment you mentioned 'from now on', it's already too late."

"Too late for you."

"Well, let's see what happens."

In the face of YuWon's mockery, a faint purple energy flowed from Foolish Chaos.

"All I'm doing is turning a 99 percent probability into 100 percent. Nothing is changing in the first place."

"So, you're saying I'll win in the end, in a fight where the odds are against me."

"You're being arrogant."

"We'll see if it's arrogance or not."

YuWon showed a relaxed attitude as he shrugged.

The winners and losers were clearly divided. Foolish Chaos briefly glanced at YuWon before slowly concealing his appearance.

The robe became blurry.

"Where do you think you're going...?"

"Stop."

When Son OhGong was about to intervene, YuWon stopped him.

A brief moment of hesitation.

And that brief moment was long enough for Foolish Chaos, who completely disappeared while Son OhGong stood still.

Son OhGong's gaze was filled with confusion.

He looked at YuWon wondering why he had stopped him.

Then...

"We don't have to go all the way."

Unlike a moment ago, YuWon responded with a voice lacking confidence.

It was a surprising answer for OhGong, who hadn't found it strange that they could fight again at any moment.

"Is that your answer after provoking so much?"

"Even if I provoke, I know you won't come over." (“아무리 도발해도 넘어오지 않을 걸 아니까.”)

"Then were you just testing the waters?"

"That's right."

In any case, there was no fight.

Ultimately, this fight unfolded as YuWon desired.

However...

"From now on, it probably won't be as easy as before."

From now on, YuWon would be involved in all of Foolish Chaos's thoughts and actions.

Until now, YuWon had followed the plans and decisions that had been made with everyone, before returning using the Clock Movement.

Although YuWon was the one who completed the plan, since the events were already established and hadn't changed drastically, it wasn't difficult to make decisions in each situation.

But now it was different.

Foolish Chaos started to become aware of YuWon.

That meant that even in the same event, the content could change at any moment.

He had to adapt more flexibly to each situation.

The situation would become even more challenging.

Of course, all was not lost.

"Still, thanks to this, we've gained time."

Foolish Chaos, who lost two cards, lost a lot of time.

On the other hand, YuWon had gained quite a bit of time with this incident.

"Well, anyway...".

YuWon sat in his place after confirming that Foolish Chaos had completely disappeared.

"At least we've gotten rid of a big problem."

Step, step-.

Small steps moved cheerfully.

A shadow fell on Danpung's body, which moved while humming an incomprehensible buzz.

"Abaat-?"

Danpung lifted its head and saw YuWon's face.

When YuWon extended his hand, Danpung quickly jumped and climbed onto his palm.

"Did you like it?"

"Baat-."

Danpung smiled widely, apparently satisfied.

It had been a long time since Danpung had seen him awake. The little one who used to sleep for a long time suddenly opened his eyes wide and stood up, as if he knew there was food.

He was now big enough to go out on his own, eat, and come back.

"Is that him?"

Son OhGong, who had heard something about this from YuWon, looked at Danpung with curious eyes.

A little child who devours the Outer Gods.

He simply couldn't imagine it. No one, including Son OhGong and his companions, had any information about Danpung.

YuWon nodded in response and checked Danpung's growth rate.

[Name: Kim Danpung]

[Level: 37]

[Strength: 1]

[Agility: 1]

[Endurance: 1]

[Sense: 1]

[Divine Power: 136]

[Abilities]

[Predator, ?]

[Growth Rate: 64.24%]

The Divine Power had increased significantly, and the growth rate had reached 64% in the blink of an eye.

Although they had spent a long time raising him and waiting for him to do his part, his growth was faster than expected.

YuWon raised his arm and looked at Danpung, who was sitting on his shoulder.

"Contrary to the numbers, there's still no visible difference.

He took a closer look, wondering if he had grown a little, but he was still small. It seemed that growth was not gradual with an increase in the growth rate, but rather occurred when all the values were fulfilled.

"There's no need to rush. We have plenty of time."

YuWon took Danpung back to the lodging.

Fortunately, the lodging was far from where the fight took place, so the surroundings of the lodging were in good condition.

When they entered the lodging, Zeus and the Three Gods were gathered.

The atmosphere seemed serious, as if they had had an important discussion.

Even Hargan, who used to talk a lot, kept his mouth shut due to the heavy atmosphere.

"You're back."

Hargan looked at YuWon with a joyful face.

He looked exhausted. For Hargan, surviving this battle was a miracle.

The fight against the Outer Gods was so dangerous.

YuWon stood up from his seat and asked Hargan quietly, who approached first.

"What happened?"

"Nothing happened."

"Nothing at all?"

"Yes, nothing really happened."

"...?"

"I thought I was going to die from discomfort. I can't go crazy trying to liven up the atmosphere here..."

It wasn't a serious atmosphere.

There simply was nothing to say.

They were twin brothers, born at the same time.

And yet, they had nothing to say to each other.

Under different circumstances, Hargan would have tried to liven up the atmosphere in some way, but he couldn't do it in front of Zeus and the other gods.

"Come and sit down."

When YuWon returned to the lodging, Hades was the first to speak up.

YuWon and Son OhGong found an empty spot at the wide table and sat down following his gesture.

He was absorbed in his thoughts, and after alternating his gaze between YuWon and Zeus, Hades asked.

"Don't you have anything to tell us?"

Hades didn't directly ask the question out of curiosity.

Instead, he let YuWon speak first.

It was evident what he was interested in.

The existences outside the Tower.

Aside from Zeus, Hades and Poseidon knew nothing about them.

What should he answer?

He thought for a moment, but he had nothing to say.

YuWon didn't know much about them either.

So...

"Well, uh..."

Instead, YuWon decided to give a different response.

After all, it was a conversation they would have to have soon.

"The 100th floor, which is said to be the top of this Tower."

At that moment, Zeus, who had been quiet all along, showed interest.

"There's a way to reach the next World, the 101st floor."