Leveling with the Gods

Kwadeuk, Kwadeuk-.

Now I knew what those teeth were, chewing through the Exterior.

Predator.

An ability that belonged to Danpung and now belonged to YuWon.

But still, YuWon couldn't understand that.

'It's like they're fighting each other.'.

That's what the first egg form was like.

Purple pattern.

And a familiar color that emerged as the hatching rate increased.

That led YuWon to believe that an Outsider would emerge from within.

Of course, the result was unexpected.

Who would have thought that a tiny child, barely the size of the palm of a hand, would emerge.

The Zeus Outer fought back furiously.

It was a very different reaction from the corpse of Yamata no Orochi, who was already dead, or Lancelot and Pandora, who were dying.

But...

No matter how much they fought, in the end, the position of Predator and prey would not change.

Kwazik-!

His head was being bitten off, and he was gradually becoming helpless.

Watching that scene, YuWon got goosebumps.

Could those teeth one day be directed against him?

If so, he would not allow it.

He had plenty of opponents to fight without the need for that, and he didn't want to have to face someone like that.

Dak, dak, dak, dak, dak.

Teeth paused for a moment as he engulfed the Outsider.

After a while, he turned his teeth in YuWon's direction.

I wonder if he's looking for another meal.

Or maybe.......

'Is he asking me to praise him for a job well done?'

Somehow, it felt different than before.

The strange alien creature seemed a little nicer at this point.

It wasn't hard to figure out why.

"Abba!"

Then, he climbed onto his shoulder, patted his belly and spoke excitedly.

This was him.

[The level of 'Danpung' has increased]

[The level of 'Danpung' has increased]

[The level of...]

[The Divine Power of 'Danpung' has increased by 15.]

[The growth rate has increased by 12.57%.]

[The Arcane Power has increased by 5.]

[You have defeated "The Dream-Devouring Despair".]

[You have acquired 300,000 points.]

Your first meal after hatching.

Satisfied, he quickly fell asleep. Hugging Danpung, who was swaying precariously and threatening to fall over, YuWon was lost in thought.

Five stat points.

That wasn't little, indeed, it was a lot.

So much that he wondered if it would be possible to get them so easily.

But at this moment, YuWon couldn't see anything like the five stat points.

'Divine Power...'

He wondered what that was for.

Only one stat was high.

First of all, Danpung didn't seem to fight in person. He used Predator to fight the Outsider, but that was only one of his skills.

Divine Power (神力).

Literally, the Power of the Gods.

Is this the power of the Outer Gods? We don't know much about that yet.

'I'll have to find out.'

After all, I had a lot of time to spend with this creature. What abilities it might possess, what divine powers it might have.

What it would look like when it finished growing.

These were all things only time would tell.

'Well, thanks to this...'

Grr-.

The curtain was lifted on the world that had turned purple.

'The biggest challenge was easily solved.'

The Outsider Zeus had.

His name was Dream-Devouring Despair.

It was so big and strong that even a High Ranked player would have difficulty facing it.

Therefore, it was unclear whether the current YuWon would be able to handle him, no matter how much experience he had in fighting Outsiders.

Normally, he would have joined Hercules and fought alongside him.

But thanks to an unexpected power, he had an easier way to fight the Outsiders.

Of course, the Outers he had faced so far were far inferior....

'But the test was a success.'

Now that he had confirmed it, he was relieved.

This power could certainly become a weapon that would help him greatly in the future.

And just like that, he came back to reality.

Thrrrr-.

Zeus' eyes met his.

The world that was changed by those eyes returned to its original form.

And then...

The figure of Zeus, with black water flowing from one eye, entered YuWon's field of vision.

"You had it too."

Zeus' voice was calm, with no ups and downs.

But his yellow hair had turned white, as if bleached, and his face was pale as well.

- The Power of the Peak.

A voice echoed inside him.

YuWon shook his head, realizing where Zeus was referring to.

"......?"

An expression of doubt crossed Zeus' face.

Surely he saw the Predator with YuWon, as a larger Outsider ate a smaller Outsider, and Zeus had seen it better than anyone else.

And yet YuWon denied it.

'Not from the Top...'

YuWon moistened his lips and replied.

'From outside.

"Outside...?"

Apparently, Zeus had thought that the power he possessed came from the Top.

A piece of the Outside, given to him by Chaos Fool.

The higher power Zeus so craved was the power that would lead them to destruction in the distant future.

"Well, whatever, after all..."

Crunch-.

Zeus' hair crumbled helplessly as if it were drying.

"It's over."

All eyes turned to Zeus.

Poseidon, Hades, Pandora.

And Hercules.

Meeting their gazes one by one, Zeus lifted the corners of his mouth.

"Do they hate me?"

Tak-.

Hercules ground his teeth at that question.

Poseidon wielded his trident, and Pandora shook her head.

Each had come here for different reasons. Zeus knew that, but one thing was certain.

They were all his enemies.

"Then come at once."

Kwareung-!

A flash of lightning shot out of Zeus' hand.

Now that the Lightning and the power of the Outsider were gone.

All that was left of him was his naked body.

And at that moment...

Quang!

Hercules slammed his fist into Zeus, who was now completely naked.

* * *

The fight that followed was more of a battle between Zeus and Hercules.

Hercules, rolling his eyes, looked no further.

First of all, he was here to avenge his mother, Alcmene, rather than for any particular purpose.

Kwajik-!

Even if he didn't have the Thunderbolt, Zeus was Zeus.

Having lost both eyes, he fought none other than Hercules with only his naked body.

No.

Perhaps if his body had been fully intact, he would have been as good as Hercules in his own right.

'It's amazing again.'

YuWon looked at Zeus, who stumbled in front of Hercules.

The ground crumbled. The ground had cracked and the city was already gone.

Zeus, standing in the middle, closed his eyes and still maintained the dignity of a king.

"You wanted revenge, didn't you?"

He was clearly defeated.

As far as YuWon knew, there were no more hands left for Zeus.

He was already fighting a losing battle.

"Then there is no time to rest, my son."

"Are you really my father?"

"Your strength came from me."

Even up to this point, Zeus was proud of himself.

Of his power, to be precise.

His genes.

"That alone is reason enough for you to be grateful to me."

"That alone is enough to make you my father?"

"There are many people who would even give their lives for that. That's all, it's a pity."

He wasn't wrong.

Thoroughbred was not just a term used to describe a select group of players from an exceptional world.

They inherited the talent.

The talent to be great Players, to be great Rankers.

And in terms of talent alone, Hercules was at the top of the Tower.

It was a precious commodity that no amount of gold treasure could buy.

But...

"I see."

It was a short conversation, but the words hardened Hercules' heart.

"You are not worthy to be my father, to be a father in general."

That his relationship with Zeus was not one of father and son.

Boo-boo-.

Boom!

Hercules' fist slammed into Zeus' side. With a crunching sound, Zeus' body floated upward.

In this battle, Hercules had also been beaten to a pulp. But now, Zeus was in worse shape.

Kak-.

Squeezing his eyes shut, Zeus could barely hold his flying body.

It was the last dignity he had left as king.

A posture that would never be broken.

Right now, Zeus was struggling as he accepted death.

'My fight is over.'

YuWon turned away.

There was no place for him in this fight from now on.

There was no need or reason for it.

The Lightning he wanted was taken. The remnants of the Outsider that he considered troublesome had been devoured by the Predator.

Now all that remained was a battle between Hercules and Zeus, two father and son, and two enemies.

"Wait."

Just as he was about to turn around to leave....

"Don't you think you're leaving too fast? We have a lot to talk about."

An insidious voice was heard among the streams of water rising here and there.

YuWon sighed.

It wasn't that he hadn't expected it, but he hoped to avoid the annoyance if possible.

'I thought it was half and half...'

YuWon turned his head towards the person with the tousled blue hair.

Over six feet tall, with a handsome face that resembled the fighting Zeus over there.

He looked up to see blue eyes staring at him.

"Was there something we needed to talk about?".

Poseidon.

He, the Ruler of the Sea and one of the Three Gods of Olympus, was looking at him.

"I've never seen you before today."

If possible, he did not want to meet him (Poseidon) in this place.

As injured as he was, he was facing one of the Three Gods.

A top 100 player.

He wasn't ready to face him yet.

"Yes, I see you for the first time too."

Poseidon's eyes were filled with complex emotions.

Greed and resentment. Curiosity and fear.

All of it, directed at YuWon.

"Still, you have something of mine, so it's not like we're strangers."

"You mean the Sea Stone?"

"Yes. That."

It didn't take long, but Poseidon experienced the power of the Divine Sea Crystal.

The power was fascinating, and in fact, the Sea Stone was much more suitable for Poseidon than YuWon.

The value of an object depends on the person who uses it.

The reason why the Divine Sea Crystal fell into Poseidon's hands early on was for that good reason.

"Better yet, give me the Lightning."

YuWon sighed at Poseidon's tone.

It didn't matter.

He had a reputation for being the toughest of the three, and there was no way he was going to settle for just a Sea Stone.

Maybe he thought he no longer needed it now that the fight was over.

Of course...

"If you need it that badly...."

YuWon had no intention of giving it away so easily.

Pajik-.

An object that glowed with golden light and unleashed its own electricity....

Kuk-.

Gripping it tightly in his hand, YuWon glared at Poseidon.

"Take it from me."