Leveling with the Gods

YuWon's eyes wavered.

"Long time no see?"

That was an impossible greeting.

Clearly, the Son OhGong in front of him didn't recognize him.

"What's wrong with your face? It's not like you."

"You... how...?"

"As you can see."

Son OhGong shrugged, hands on his waist.

"I am the Great Sage, Heaven's Equal. The Victorious Fighting Buddha. The Immortal Son OhGong."

It was a playful tone, but YuWon couldn't take this situation lightly.

"That's not like him."

This made it clear.

The Son OhGong in front of him knew him.

No.

Not only did he know him...

"You..."

Studying his face carefully, YuWon had no choice but to accept it.

"How did you come back?"

"It's a long story..."

Son OhGong looked at the Bull Demon King and Lee Rangjin, who were fighting on the side, and said.

"Why don't we clear that side first and then talk?"

Lee Rangjin opened his eyes and felt a weight pressing on him.

For a brief moment, he felt his mind drifting away and then coming back.

"Ugh...."

He tried to raise his arms but it wasn't easy.

It was due to the force of a giant sitting on his body, overwhelming him.

"Just lie down."

The Bull Demon King.

He sat on his back.

His legs were tightly bound. It seemed the Demon Subduing Chain that Ne Zha had discarded had been used.

His weapon, the Unbreakable Sword, was in the hands of the Bull Demon King.

In this state, he couldn't move his arms, nor free himself and escape.

"It's over."

At the last moment, Son OhGong had intervened in the fight.

He tried to resist but couldn't do anything.

"Now that I think about it, the Great Sage, Heaven's Equal, he..."

He looked up and saw OhGong standing in the distance.

And in front of him was YuWon.

"How annoying."

Chii-ii-.

The Bull Demon King sat on Lee Rangjin and started lighting a cigarette he had found in his chest.

"It's not the youngest one I've been waiting for over a thousand years, but someone else."

Lee Rangjin's eyes widened in disbelief.

"The Great Sage, Heaven's Equal isn't someone the Great Sage, Who Pacifies Heaven, was waiting for?"

The love of the Great Sage, Heaven's Equal for his older brother was famous in the Celestial Realm.

It was he who ventured alone into the Celestial Realm and fought recklessly to save his brother.

So this was hard to believe for Lee Rangjin, who had actually been in the midst of that fight and blocked Son OhGong.

Huh-.

After spitting out a long stream of smoke from his cigarette, the Bull Demon King's gaze turned to YuWon.

"Still, I'm curious too, so I have to be patient."

After savoring the taste of tobacco after a long time, the Bull Demon King opened his mouth.

"How does that guy know the youngest one? And how does the youngest one know that guy? And why did he go so far to save the youngest one..."

His words were interrupted.

Naturally, Lee Rangjin's gaze also turned to YuWon and Son OhGong.

"Shouldn't you at least know that?"

"Now that no one is listening. The older brother is surely disappointed, but well, I can't help it."

Using his magic to block the sounds around them, OhGong sat on one of the scattered piles of rocks.

Soon, YuWon noticed that his gaze was directed at the Bull Demon King and asked.

"Are you alright?"

"What?"

"You've missed him a lot, haven't you? Your Older Brother."

"......."

Son OhGong didn't answer.

YuWon looked back and forth between the silent OhGong and the Bull Demon King, who was sitting on the ground in the distance.

If the Son OhGong in front of him was the one he knew.

Not only had he been waiting for a thousand years, but he had longed for the Bull Demon King for many more.

"I'm just prioritizing."

OhGong's eyes curved into a half-moon shape, as if he was amused.

"You first. Then the Older Brother."

"Is what you're going to say really important?"

"Of course."

OhGong shrugged.

"If we don't take care of the urgent matters first, we're all going to die anyway."

"...That's true."

The Son OhGong in front of him was the Son OhGong he knew.

Not the Son OhGong of this timeline, but the Son OhGong who lived at the same time and in the same world as him.

"So, are you surprised?"

"What happened?"

Clearly, only one person could use the Clock Movement to go back.

So they debated who to send back.

Odin, Chronos, Asura, Vishnu, and many other rulers gathered to discuss the candidates, narrowing down the field to three.

And it was he who was sent back.

However...

"That's how it happened."

Son OhGong scratched his head and answered with a smug look on his face.

YuWon's expression hardened at that response.

"Who else was sacrificed?"

OhGong paused.

It was difficult for him to answer.

"Tell me. Who?"

"Mimir."

"Mimir?"

"Not a complete sacrifice, due to his past accomplishments, but he said he would lose an eye."

"An eye...?"

"It was Mimir's choice. No one forced him."

This was supposed to be reassuring, but it wasn't.

For Mimir, his eyes were everything. Without them, he would be drastically weakened and would have lost most of his strength.

Furthermore, Odin still stood by his side.

"Odin... allowed that?"

Odin.

Mimir's best friend, the one who cared for him more than anyone else.

If he had known, he would never have stood still.

Perhaps there would have been internal struggles before the fight against the Outer Gods ended.

And yet...

"He allowed it."

An incredible answer came from OhGong's mouth.

"...How?"

"Mimir persuaded him."

"Just persuading wouldn't be enough, right?"

"If it were just Mimir, that would be the case."

"Did someone else persuade him? Who? And how?"

"You."

"Me...?"

"Yes."

OhGong replied, scratching his head with one hand, as if his long untouched head was itching.

"You came back alone. It seemed to bother everyone, and the same went for Odin."

"And what does that have to do with you being here?"

"Because if it wasn't you that Mimir wanted to help, Odin wouldn't have allowed it, and that's what everyone thinks."

"Odin? Me?"

He couldn't quite grasp it.

Odin, the same Odin who allowed Mimir to sacrifice his eye to help him.

YuWon remained silent for a moment, then spoke.

"And... how is it there?"

It was something he had always wondered.

What happened to the original world, not the one he lived in now.

His comrades, those he fought alongside.

If they were still alive.

But what he thought he would never know, he could hear now.

"Still messed up. A few more dead. Oh, and you're asking me a lot, but I won't tell you who died and who lived. There's nothing we can do if I say it anyway, and it'll just distract you."

Sensing that he wasn't going to answer his question, Son OhGong immediately covered his ears with both hands.

But YuWon hadn't wanted to ask in the first place.

Who died, who lived.

More important than that...

"Are you saying they're still alive?"

Whoever it was, someone was still alive.

"Eh? Who?"

OhGong asked, opening his previously closed ears.

"Anyone."

"Ah-."

He smiled with satisfaction, removing his hand from his ears.

"In my case, I have lived for a long time. More than you think. It shows in the fact that I'm here."

Son OhGong delved into the past.

Even with Mimir sacrificing his eye, they had been sent here.

To help YuWon.

"We've been fighting ever since. So many times."

As he spoke, OhGong's eyes focused on Yuyuan's heart.

"We've been fighting too. Just like you."

YuWon's heart beat strongly.

After using the Clock Movement to go back in time.

He repeated to himself that he was going to go back and fight alone. He was the only one who knew about the Outer Gods, and he felt like he had to bear this heavy burden alone.

But it turned out it wasn't like that.

It was actually a shared burden.

"Don't you get bored? You know everyone, but none of them know you."

Son OhGong rested his head on both hands and turned to look at the Bull Demon King.

"Come to think of it, if I'm the only one who remembers you, you must be very lonely."

The Bull Demon King didn't remember Son OhGong.

No.

To be precise, he wasn't from the same world as Son OhGong.

Therefore, the Son OhGong he remembered was only the Son OhGong from the distant past.

Son OhGong didn't realize this fact until he was freed from the Five Elements Mountain.

"It can't be helped. It was everyone's choice for me to come back, but it was also my choice, so I'll accept it."

Saying this, YuWon made eye contact with OhGong and burst into laughter.

Despite the words, it was still refreshing to see him again.

"Still, I'm glad you're here."

It was as if OhGong was the only color in a black-and-white world. He wondered if it would be like seeing people on a deserted island for the first time.

"They're all fighting..."

Not alone, but together.

Thinking that way, it felt like he was in a group again.

His shoulders felt a little lighter. It was incredible how much things could change just by knowing that someone, somewhere, was fighting the same battle as you.

Only then did YuWon sit comfortably, just like Son OhGong.

"What are the others doing? Odin never leaves his post, but what about the Dragon King, Gandharva, Hercules, and the others?"

It wasn't a story worth discussing at a time when the first battle with the Celestial Realm had just ended.

But there were so many stories he wanted to hear. He felt like his heart would be relieved after hearing a little.

"Much has changed. Gandharva hasn't spoken much since Asura's death..."

After the battle to capture Foolish Chaos.

Much had changed, as many had died in the battles to come.

The Outer Gods were also more cautious than before.

Perhaps the death of Foolish Chaos had a great effect.

Son OhGong continued reporting the news of his comrades.

And then...

"It seems Hercules has approached Zeus. After fighting together to the death, maybe they're finally getting closer."

"Hercules with Zeus... what?"

Even if he had his ears pressed to the ground while listening to this, YuWon felt that this was suspicious.

"Are you kidding me?"

"Why, is the story of Hercules opening up to Zeus so unbelievable?"

"No, it's just that..."

Son OhGong blinked and looked at YuWon as if asking what the problem was.

It had been a long time, but OhGong was not good at lying. And, of course, there was no way he could pull off such a performance.

So...

'In this guy's time, Zeus is alive.'

That too while he stood by his side, fighting against the Outer Gods.

And it was a completely different future from what YuWon remembered.

'Where I was, Zeus should have died at the hands of Hercules, right?'