Leveling with the Gods - Chapter 404
Chapter 404
The caretaker followed YuWon’s finger with his gaze.
All he saw was the low roof of the rental station.
“The roof…?”
Although it was high, most Rankers could jump to that height without much effort. It would be complete madness to rent a Sun Chariot just to go up to this height alone. Moreover, if his memory was correct, the person in front of him was one of the recently emerging High-Rankers.
“Climbing to the sky now?”
What could there be in that vast empty sky?
The caretaker looked up and had a moment of doubt. In Yuwon’s eyes, it seemed like there was a question mark floating over the caretaker’s head.
‘Well, it doesn’t matter if he finds out now.’
He didn’t care much if they discovered him.
Instead, what was more urgent was the Sun Chariot.
“Could you please hurry?”
“Oh, yes, of course!”
The caretaker started moving quickly at YuWon’s urgency.
Since the destination wasn’t clear, the appropriate fare wasn’t calculated. How high they would go into the sky and how long they would use the Sun Chariot depended on YuWon’s decision.
“Everything’s ready here. The fee is 1,000 points for now; I calculated it as the maximum fare. Then, we can adjust it based on the distance…”
“It’s fine here.”
[You’ve spent 3,000,000 points]
“…?”
The caretaker’s eyes widened.
3 million points.
That was more than enough to buy a brand-new replica Sun Chariot and still have some money left over.
“Why are you giving so much money?”
“I added a little extra.”
YuWon said as he patted the caretaker’s shoulders.
“Then, you buy a new one for yourself instead of this. Not a second-hand one.”
“Eh…?”
Plop.
YuWon boarded the prepared Sun Chariot.
The chariot started to rev up, emitting intense heat.
Finally, the chariot exited through the gate, and the caretaker still wore a perplexed expression; it seemed like he was thinking that this wasn’t right, but at the same time, 3 million points weren’t a small amount.
‘Well, with this, it should be enough to buy a new one.’
Although it seemed brazen, YuWon also knew it was a bit rude. With 3 million points, he could easily buy a brand-new replica Sun Chariot in Olympus without any issues. Adding the fare, it was enough.
And the reason he spent this amount of money was simple.
Chiiiiing.
The Sun Chariot’s wheels started to squeak under the load.
“…Ah, it has begun.”
In YuWon’s eyes, the city below the Sun Chariot looked tiny, like a toy.
The chariot was approaching the sun. Despite emitting blazing flames as it soared into the sky, in the end, this Sun Chariot was merely an item created by Rankers, including Hephaestus.
Chiiiiing.
The wheels began to melt gradually and catch fire.
It was the beginning of the Portal/Gate.
“The discovery of the ‘Portal’ was a stroke of luck.”
Everyone knew that at that time.
Initially, it was the Ranker named Icarus, who wasn’t very famous, who found the Portal leading to the next floor.
“My father and I were conquering the 100th-floor dungeon when we got trapped in a labyrinth. It was a maze where we couldn’t tell where the exit was or if it even had one.”
To escape the labyrinth, Icarus made wings. He didn’t have any special flying abilities, so that was the best option for him. Furthermore, the labyrinth he was trapped in extended high up into the sky.
“I made wings and flew to escape the labyrinth. It was the first time I flew so high.”
Normally, Rankers didn’t head upward. It was natural, as there was nothing more “up,” and all that remained was an infinite sky.
But Icarus, while flying to the sky to escape the labyrinth, discovered something floating in the sky.
“There was a Portal there.”
A Portal. It wasn’t something that should normally be in the sky. Naturally, it was just a symbolic name.
“I continued climbing as if I were possessed. I almost burned to death. If I had given up at that moment, maybe you all…”
“Why is this guy talking so much? Did you give him too much alcohol?”
“Hey, he looks like he’s drunk. How much alcohol did you give him?”
Anyway, the point was…
“It means he’s above everything.”
Chiiiiing.
The Sun Chariot continued to burn. Like Icarus’ wings made of wax, the chariot was melting due to the heat.
To withstand this level of heat, it would have been necessary to bring the real Sun Chariot instead of a fake replica.
But…
“Arturo.”
YuWon had a way to neutralize the heat.
“Freeze.”
-Understood.
Shooosh.
A freezing cold enveloped the solar chariot. Arturo’s ice not only cooled the burning chariot but also made the interior even colder.
That’s how they went up and up.
‘The final thrust…’
Fwoosh.
The flames gathered in YuWon’s hand.
[The ‘Heart of Fire’ responds to the ‘Holy Fire.’]
Flames began to sprout from the heart.
From the outstretched palm towards the back of the Sun Chariot, intense flames were released.
Hwaah!
The Sun Chariot, which had stopped for a moment, soared even higher.
The cold created by Arturo protected the Sun Chariot from the scorching heat while YuWon lifted it upward.
Of course, even with Arturo’s cold, it couldn’t fully protect the Sun Chariot.
Magic of opposite properties.
YuWon’s flames expelled Arturo’s magic.
If he tried to prevent Arturo’s ice from melting, the thrust power would decrease.
As the flames burned, the Sun Chariot went up faster and faster.
How high had they gone now?
When the world felt so small that not even the city was clearly visible.
“It appeared.”
In the sky above.
A small bright blue mist began to appear.
YuWon left the Sun Chariot and leaped high toward it.
[‘Sky Steps’ is activated]
[Movement speed increases by 100% for 5 seconds]
[You can tread on the sky for 5 seconds]
An ability built into the Hermes Shoes.
Using the effects of that ability, YuWon walked on the sky for 5 seconds. And very quickly.
“I’ll catch it.”
YuWon reached out his hand.
The true sky of this Tower. The only ‘Portal’ to the top of the world.
Called the “Needle Hole to Become a God” among Rankers.
Oooong~
YuWon’s fingertips touched that bright mist.
[Verifying ‘Divine Will’]
Immediately, YuWon’s body passed through the mist and arrived in a white world.
[The requirements of ‘Divine Will’ are met]
The “Divine Will.”
Despite its grandiose name, it wasn’t so difficult to meet these requirements.
To overcome all the tests from the 1st floor to the 99th floor and reach the 100th floor, in other words, to obtain the Ranker qualification.
That was the requirement for “Divine Will.”
[Verifying ‘Divine Myth’.]
The “Divine Myth.”
Literally, it was the story of a God.
That was what really mattered.
From the 1st floor to the 100th floor. Ascending the Tower as a player, passing the tests, and living life.
What stories did you write?
Swoosh-.
In the white world surrounding YuWon, images began to take shape.
His life, as he had lived it up until now, appeared before him one after another.
The first color that emerged was…
Purple.
An overwhelming purple.
The sky was painted purple. Undoubtedly, to YuWon, this purple sky felt more familiar than the blue sky.
After all, he had lived in that purple sky for a long time.
With a sound like a brush sliding on paper, the images unveiled before YuWon’s eyes.
The next image that appeared was a giant column.
A tall column that connected the sky and the earth. And on that column were the Outsiders crushed.
Beside them were Ru Yi Bang and Son OhGong.
And in front of Son OhGong, there was the figure of YuWon.
“It’s quite annoying, really.”
He remembered.
He couldn’t forget it.
As usual, while he fought with Son OhGong.
The sky turned purple, and the Outsiders appeared. YuWon and Son OhGong, who had stopped their fight, began to battle against the newly arrived Outsiders.
Then, the next scene appeared.
“In the end, we’ve all gathered here.”
“There are many.”
“That’s right. But in the end, only the survivors are left.”
Thousands of Rankers.
Gathered in the scene.
YuWon lay on a rock, indifferently gazing at the purple sky still tinted that color.
‘That’s it.’
The battle against the Outsiders had begun a hundred years ago.
The number of Rankers who survived was only a handful of thousands.
And since then…
“I have an idea.”
The Rankers, including Odin and Mimir, began planning the Clock Movement.
The story began with the idea that this life was doomed to failure anyway.
And the corresponding results followed.
“Can you endure it?”
The image of himself being punched by Kim MyungHoon.
It was something that had happened quite some time ago. It was the moment he returned using the Clock Movement for the first time.
“Was it yesterday or today?”
“What?”
The scene quickly passed before him.
Kim MyungHoon and the Tutorial that had taken place. And the Egg he had obtained at the end of the Tutorial. The Danpung that had hatched from the Egg, the shattered Olympus, the Ragnarok, the Great Heaven Demon War.
And then…
“Now that I think about it, there was one more person.”
The image of Foolish Chaos, looking at himself, was reflected in this world.
“Kim YuWon.”
The reunion with Foolish Chaos.
YuWon couldn’t forget that moment. Although in the future, he would be the one to kill that guy, for a brief instant, YuWon felt his hand sweating nervously.
He knew more about Foolish Chaos than anyone else.
Furthermore…
-Beeeeeh…
A bleat that sent chills down the spine, no matter how you heard it.
A huge goat appeared before YuWon, its purple eyes gleaming as it looked at him.
‘Shub-Niggurath.’
After Foolish Chaos came the fight with Shub-Niggurath.
So far, everything that YuWon had experienced unfolded before him in this world.
At this point, YuWon had a fairly clear idea of what he had written so far.
He didn’t think that his story would have been recorded in this world before or after his return with the Clock Movement, but fortunately, whether it was before or after the regression, there was a common point in YuWon’s life.
“All my moments are related to those guys.”
Long ago.
The story of YuWon’s life was called “Wanderer.”
Why? Perhaps because he had wandered without belonging anywhere, fighting and living in solitude.
Back then, the myth YuWon wrote was cold from the beginning, starting with the name.
But…
“Still, I quite like this.”
As he watched his own story unfold before his eyes, YuWon smiled.
[Divinity (神格) – ‘The Failed Opponent From Another World’ begins.]
The Failed Opponent From Another World.
Outside of this Tower. The other world.
And the Gods from that world who came here.
Outer Gods.
The story of the opponent who fought against them and failed.
At the current moment, it was a story that couldn’t be written at all. However, through the Clock Movement, the world knew the story of YuWon who had returned, even in this world.
Whaah!
In an instant, all the scenes that had appeared before YuWon as a draft turned white again.
[The Trial Begins]
The “Needle Hole to Become a God” had begun.
