Leveling with the Gods

"We have to accelerate Ragnarok."

YuWon suddenly spoke while preparing food.

At those words, Son OhGong's hand, which was preparing the fire, stopped.

"As much as possible."

"What the hell are you talking about?"

OhGong, who had learned the word "hell" from YuWon, scratched his head in confusion.

Accelerate Ragnarok?

Isn't he talking about stopping it, but accelerating it?

"What is Ragnarok?"

Thud.

The Bull Demon King, who had arrived just in time, dropped the huge boar he was carrying on his shoulders.

"I've lived a long time, but I've never heard of it."

The Bull Demon King.

He was the only one who knew the great secret between YuWon and OhGong.

But since he wasn't intrinsically involved, YuWon and OhGong spoke without much consideration for the Bull Demon King.

After thinking for a moment, YuWon nodded.

"Of course you don't know, it hasn't happened yet."

Ragnarok.

Undoubtedly, it was an unfamiliar word in this era.

But in the distant future.

It would become a great event that everyone living in this Tower would know about.

"It's a war that left half of the Tower dead."

"...Are you joking?"

"It's true, big brother."

When the Bull Demon King began to suspect the unreality of the story, OhGong reinforced YuWon's words.

The Bull Demon King looked at OhGong again, still incredulous.

But in the face of that expression, the Bull Demon King nodded.

"It's true."

"And why are you freely telling me such a thing?"

"We can't lie to you anymore, can we?"

"...I don't think it means anything good."

Chi-Ik-.

The Bull Demon King peeled the skin off the boar he had carried and placed it in a barrel over the fire.

Sitting down, the Bull Demon King asked with a more serious expression than he had a moment ago.

"So, why do you think we should accelerate this Ragnarok? Wouldn't it be better to block it?"

"That's right."

OhGong agreed with the Bull Demon King as his mouth watered.

The meat was browning.

It seemed like it would take quite a while to finish.

"Do you remember what we talked about back then?"

YuWon stared at OhGong and asked.

OhGong shook his head.

"No."

"No?"

"With everything we've talked about, how the hell do you expect me to focus all the time?"

"...Ah, I forgot you fell asleep, didn't you?"

Internally, YuWon was glad that he was the first one to return.

What if a person could go back, and that person was Son OhGong?

He probably would have forgotten most of the story and acted recklessly.

"Oh, no. I guess not."

His voice trembled.

There he was.

He was a guy who couldn't lie.

"It doesn't matter. Anyway, I remember everything."

YuWon sighed and shook his head.

"We can't stop Ragnarok. Or rather, it cannot be stopped."

"Say something I can understand."

"Foolish Chaos will accelerate the plans. Somewhat hastily."

"Why?"

"Because Olympus and the Celestial Realm have fallen."

At YuWon's words, OhGong scratched his head, not fully understanding.

Technically, the two major guilds hadn't completely fallen.

They were still large enough to be considered major guilds.

But the reason why many of the Tower's Rankers spoke of their downfall was the absence of Zeus and the Jade Emperor, the heart and soul of those guilds.

"He lost the hand that could hold and shake the tower. The Gigantomachy and the Great Celestial Demon War have practically crumbled."

"So, Ragnarok is next?"

"That's right."

"So, can't Ragnarok be stopped either?"

YuWon shook his head.

"Do you remember what triggers Ragnarok?"

"The death of Baldur. How could I forget? I've never seen Odin so angry."

Baldur.

Son of Odin, one of the High Ranks who, along with Odin, represented Asgard.

A Ranker ranked 35th in the rankings.

His death sparked the wrath of Odin, as well as the Asgard Rankers.

And that was the trigger for Ragnarok.

-"Prevent the death of my son. If we do that, we can stop Ragnarok."

The killer glint in Odin's eyes as he uttered those words was palpable.

This was Odin, who rarely lost his temper, sometimes mischievous, sometimes like an old man.

The most he lost his temper in front of everyone was when he mentioned Baldur's death.

YuWon remembered his conversation with Odin.

-"Ragnarok happened because of me."

It was strange.

Even though he was still unconvinced, Odin continued, looking at YuWon.

-"So when you go back, you must stop me."

YuWon's response was simple.

-"Why don't you go back yourself?"

Go back yourself.

If he did that, Odin's recklessness wouldn't lead to Ragnarok.

A really simple answer.

And Ragnarok was an event significant enough in the long history of the Tower to rethink the decision of who would go back.

But...

-"......No."

Even with that simple answer, Odin shook his head.

-"Even if I go back, I wouldn't be able to stop myself."

When asked why, Odin weakly smiled.

-"Because I can't bear it."

Bear it...

He wanted to say that if Baldur were to die again, he would make the same decision.

At that time, everyone thought that way.

Except for one person.

"The death of Baldur was the beginning of Ragnarok. The death of the High Ranker Baldur was a big problem at the time, but no one thought it would turn into a great war like Ragnarok."

And that one person was YuWon.

"Do you really think that's the only reason?"

Ta-da, ta-da-.

The meat began to char.

After a long moment of silence and thought, OhGong spoke.

"Wasn't Ragnarok caused by Baldur's death?"

"That's right."

YuWon nodded and looked at the smoke rising to the sky.

"Anyway, we can't stop it. Even if Odin doesn't move."

"Ugh..."

OhGong's forehead tendons twitched as if his head was about to explode.

After preventing his head from rolling, OhGong rephrased his question.

"Okay, but what does that have to do with accelerating Ragnarok?"

"Ragnarok started as a result of a racial conflict."

YuWon recounted the beginning of Ragnarok as he remembered it.

"The giants and the humans. It was a long-standing conflict that finally exploded. Baldur's death was just the trigger for the fierce conflict to explode..."

Something that would have happened at some point even if it hadn't been Baldur's death in the first place.

In any case, the longer the conflict dragged on, the greater Ragnarok would be.

"Giants and humans. Unless that conflict is resolved, Ragnarok cannot be stopped."

"And how do we stop it?"

"There is no way."

"No way?"

"There is no way we can undo the past. That's something only guys like Chronos, Odin, and Mimir can do..."

YuWon and Son OhGong were different from them.

What they could do was different.

Unless they could recreate a Clock Movement, they had to find something they could do here and now.

"Our job is to provoke Ragnarok. No..."

That's why YuWon couldn't let this Ragnarok pass by.

"It is to use Ragnarok."

After that, YuWon's story continued for a long time.

Every time he told it, OhGong remembered Odin's forgotten story and marveled at it.

"If I had come alone, I would have been in trouble."

Frowning, OhGong scratched his head.

If it were just him, maybe all he would do is find Baldur and stay by his side.

If he could just do that, he thought, Ragnarok would never happen.

But no.

"There are many cases. We'll have to see Odin to get more details."

"Odin is the king of Asgard."

Said the Bull Demon King, tearing off a piece of golden roasted meat and giving a piece to OhGong.

"He's probably in Valhalla. It won't be easy to find him."

"It's not like there's no way."

YuWon searched the inventory and took out the Golden Castle Token.

"It's a kind of pass to enter Valhalla."

"Where did you get that?"

"Thor gave it to me."

"Thor..."

The Bull Demon King smiled satisfactorily and grabbed a handful of meat.

"That child has done something great."

For the Bull Demon King, who had been in the Tower since ancient times, Thor was just a child.

However, he had earned the right to enter Valhalla.

"As soon as we finish eating, we should set off."

YuWon tightly grasped the token in his hand and began to eat.

Ziik-.

"To Asgard."

Asgard.

It was not made up of a single layer but several layers.

Technically, Asgard was the name of a single world, but the world ruled by the Asgard Guild had a total of five floors.

Alfheim, home to small dwarves who worked as artisans, as well as Rankers and players.

Jotunheim, home to the giants.

And Midgard, the world situated in the middle.

Asgard, the world home to the Asgard Guild, the core of the world.

And above all, Valhalla, the home of the golden castle that only the greatest warriors from all of Asgard can enter.

Ruling over the five floors, Asgard was the largest and most land-rich guild in the Tower.

"From the 60th floor to the 65th floor."

Ten floors ahead.

There were fifteen floors left until Valhalla, where Odin resided.

The battle with the Celestial Realm had ended, and so had the brief rest.

From now on, it was a race against time.

"Then..."

YuWon looked at himself and then at the players in the distance.

"Thank goodness there's a trial."

The players surrounded YuWon.

They looked at each other suspiciously.

[A crystal ball will appear every 30 minutes.]

[Obtain the crystal ball.]

The trial was to acquire an item and keep it.

There were a limited number of items, and only one crystal ball would appear.

Jaj.

Everyone waited to see who would take the first step.

YuWon was the first to step towards the crystal ball.

And then...

"Crystal Ball acquired."

The first crystal ball was in YuWon's hand.

"There's nothing to gain by fighting against him."

"It doesn't matter, there will be more crystal balls over time."

"I just need to get one."

Everyone thought the same.

Time passed, and a second crystal ball appeared.

And then...

"Sorry."

YuWon held the crystal ball in his hand and opened his mouth for everyone to hear.

"What's left is all mine."

"What, what?"

"Crazy, where's the fairness in that!"

"Damn it. I knew this would happen!"

The atmosphere quickly turned hostile at YuWon's words.

The players joined forces and fought against YuWon.

The result was disastrous.

No matter how many they were, no whale would fall to the attack of a swarm of shrimps.

"...that's why."

And then there was one person watching the scene.

"That's why I said we should classify it. That guy is a monster."

The Director of the 50th Floor Classification Agency bit his lip in disbelief.

And that day...

For the first time in the Tower's long history, the ranking of a non-Ranker Player was revealed.