Leveling with the Gods

Levels.

There was only one instance where a level was given to a non-player, at least as far as YuWon knew.

'Undead Chimera.'

An undead capable of leveling up.

Due to its existence, the rank of the Chimera Maker, Childe, later rose much higher than it had at first.

After leveling up, he quickly became a High Rank Player, only to be slaughtered once again by the Great Sage, Equal to Heaven, ending his days in the tower.

As such, it was not uncommon for beings other than players to level up.

But.

'I've never heard of a god leveling up.'

A message beyond common sense.

YuWon gazed at the slowly extinguishing light and saw the body of the Egg lying inside.

Inside it...

Gop-

"...a baby?"

There sat a palm-sized child, blinking at YuWon silently.

Black hair and pupils. Small and round, like a fairy.

"Abba?"

I wonder if he means daddy.

"Abba, baba?"

The words that followed suggested otherwise.

He was just a child who hasn't learned the language, blurting out whatever comes out of his mouth.

'I really didn't expect this.'

It was confusing and complicated.

I was expecting a little monster with tentacles or something, because I could feel the energy of the Outsiders.

But no, it was a little kid.

'I feel like a babysitter.'

He didn't like it.

Depending on the player's inclination, the creatures hatched from the eggs were usually used to fight on the front of the battlefield at the will of their owners.

YuWon was also planning to use the hatchling in that way.

But, be that as it may, the thought of throwing such a small creature against the enemy pricked his conscience.

In addition....

"We can't communicate either-".

"Abba?"

The voice that came right next to his ear made YuWon turn his head in surprise.

The boy was standing over his shoulder.

Yu Won didn't know what he was talking about, so he tilted his head, it seemed like it would be hard to communicate properly.

'How did you get up here?'

He knew at least that he wasn't just a boy the size of the palm of his hand.

But to be able to move so imperceptibly?

'Abba, baba-baba-.'

[Please give a name to '????']

A message came with the child's cry.

The name.

He had never named anything before, but it seemed that this message would keep coming to him unless he named it.

'What should I...'

A moment's thought.

Soon, a familiar character was superimposed on the boy's face.

'He looks like a character from the game Autumn Leaves.'

It was one of YuWon's favorite games from Earth, long ago.

It looked like a character with a 1:1 head to body ratio, and he named it.

"Danpung*." (Literally means 'Autumn Leaves'.)

[Do you want to call him "Danpung?"]

"No."

YuWon shook his head.

The boy was puzzled.

If there was a first name, there had to be a last name.

"Kim Danpung. That's your name."

At those words, Pandora, who was standing next to him, turned her head and looked at Yuwon.

His face was still expressionless.

No, with a slight frown.

YuWon, who looked into her eyes, asked.

"Is something wrong?"

"What a strange name."

Pandora's gaze then shifted to the little boy they had named Kim Danpung.

"And that, scary."

She was frightened, as all the Outer Power in her body had vanished, and with it all her emotions.

'This little guy?'

Did Pandora see something she couldn't see?

Probably not. As high as Pandora's rank was, as capable as she was, she didn't have the same abilities as YuWon, namely the Ash Eyes.

There was only one way to explain it.

"Instinct."

The Power of the Outsider, a power that had been in her for a long time. This little one fed on that power all this time, growing, to finally come out of the Egg and come into the World.

As much as it was the power that had been tormenting it all along, Pandora's instinct rejected it.

It was then that YuWon looked at Pandora....

['????' received a name]

['?????' likes the name]

[The contract has been completed]

[Later, some of the statistics of 'Kim Danpung' will be shared].

[The statistic is invalid]

[Some of the stats are replaced with 'Arcane Power'].

[Arcane Power has increased by 3].

A sudden burst of messages.

Followed by.

Pang~

YuWon's vision flipped as he felt his body defy gravity and float away.

The view from inside the barracks, and Pandora standing next to him. They all disappeared, leaving him alone in an empty world.

No.

"Abababa."

Danpung riding on his shoulders was still there.

"You did this?"

"Abba!"

"You keep saying daddy."

In any case, at a glance, it seemed to mean he was right.

YuWon turned his head and looked ahead. Something was appearing in this black, empty space where no gravity could be felt either.

'Teeth?'

jjeook-

It looked familiar.

The mouth that had appeared every time the Egg ate the Outsiders.

That guy opened his big mouth and approached YuWon.

His breath was cut off.

It was the first time they had tried to sink their teeth into him.

Even when the Egg had first eaten Yamata no Orochi's corpse, the strange, alien sensation had been repulsive to him, but not as oppressive as it was now.

What on earth is that?

An Exterior?

If so, it was certainly a higher level of Outsider.

"Is it targeting me this time?"

The mouth was getting closer and closer.

I couldn't see anything through its gaping maw.

Being eaten...

Although he could feel it so clearly, but YuWon strangely wasn't scared.

'It's not dangerous.

This was something created by Danpung on his shoulder.

No, maybe it was this guy himself.

'There's no danger.

With that assurance, YuWon stepped into the creature's mouth.

At that moment...

Kwajik-!

[Skill: Predator (捕食者) has been acquired.]

A message appeared and Yu-Won entered.

Huh-ah!

His vision returned.

The weightless state disappeared, and the scenery inside the barracks was reflected in his eyes again.

YuWon blinked rapidly, remembering the message from earlier.

'Predator?'

Hatching the egg resulted in three stat points, all of them Arcane Power, quite decent.

He was immediately overcome with a sense of fulfillment, the likes of which he had never felt before.

It was quite an accomplishment, and he had even gained an additional skill.

YuWon quickly checked his abilities.

[Predator (捕食者)]

# Rating: ???

# Mastery/Competence: 0.98%.

# Summons monsters that feed on unknown, nameless beings.

# Increases stats based on the size of the target.

It was a skill that fit the name perfectly.

By unknown beings, he probably meant "Outsiders".

This power was transformed into an ability and put to sleep in YuWon.

'In the message it said that some stats can be shared? I wonder if this ability is part of that...'

That mouth he saw earlier.

It was the Predator, and it had definitely entered his mind.

Predator.

An ability that devoured Outsiders and absorbed their power.

'You mean I can eat them and become stronger...'

In an instant, YuWon recalled the horde of Outer Gods stretched out in front of him.

At the time, they had seemed like a tidal wave to him, a huge mess. But now that he had this ability, he felt a sense of irony as he recalled that incident.

"Almost a feast."

Eating them and getting stronger?

He was imagining it.

Then a shiver ran down his spine.

"How crazy..."

This was more than a powerful ability.

This was a power that would completely change everything YuWon had planned.

YuWon would have to meet the Outsiders in the future, either inside or outside of this Tower.

-What are the odds?

Half a year ago...

Was the question posed to him by Son OhGong's twelfth alter ego.

-Well. I'd say it's about 1% at this point.

-That's it?

- The point is, there is a possibility. Like I said, we've just plugged the broken hole.

Plug the broken hole.

At the time, it was very appropriate.

Because all he had done up to that point was prevent Hephaestus from joining Olympus and discovering Lancelot's connection to Olympus, which was the beginning of Ragnarok.

Even now that he had succeeded in luring Hercules, he thought the likelihood would not change.

However...

'10%'

With this power, it would be a different story.

The odds increased dramatically.

There was hope for a fight he had thought impossible.

The Egg he had obtained out of nowhere was simply a blessing from the heavens.

Now, the next step was to increase his level.

YuWon looked at Danpung.

Feeling more at peace than he had in a long time, he sketched the biggest smile he'd had since his return.

"Danpung."

"Abba?"

"You're my lucky charm."

"Abba, Ababa!"

Perhaps delighted by the compliment, Danpung laughed, raising his little arms in the air.

Apparently, he was in a very good mood.

Although YuWon didn't expect this in the first place, this surprise was much better.

[Name: Kim Danpung]

[Level 1]

[Strength: 1]

[Agility: 1]

[Stamina: 1]

[Perception: 1]

[Divine Power: 100]

[Skills possessed]

[Predator, ????]

[Growth rate: 0%]

[When the growth rate reaches 100%, it will grow to the next level regardless of your/its level.]

[Special Point 1: It recognizes you as an owner].

[Special Point 2: Still a bit bossy/selfish].

A divine beast with levels and stats.

Such a thing did not exist in this Tower.

Unless you were created as a chimera, having a level meant you were chosen by the System.

Also.

Danpung is not a god or a divine creature, but a player.

'His basic stats are terrible. The only stat that is significantly higher is Divine Power...'

Apparently this stat is the equivalent of Arcane Power for normal Players.

'Right now I can't think of how to get it into combat.

The stats are terrible, and no skills other than Predator were revealed.

It looks like YuWon would have to figure out the skills one by one later.

Most of all, I wondered how I could make this little guy fight.

'This is enough for now.

The Egg hatched into Danpung, and the contract with the creature granted YuWon an ability more valuable than any other he could have wished for.

He didn't know how great Danpung was, but he had gotten more than he expected, and it was enough for now.

For now, she would just think of him as a cute and pretty little thing.

She even gave him her last name and called him Kim Danpung, so she felt like she had a son.

"Pung-ah*." (Note: -ah is to speak more informally, out of confidence).

"Abba?"

The creature that had slithered from YuWon's shoulder and crawled through the barracks turned its head.

Round eyes.

YuWon met those eyes and smiled.

"Let's do well in the future."