Leveling with the Gods

Agamemnon sat down next to YuWon, smiling widely. It was kind of uncomfortable watching someone with a rough face like him forcefully smiling. 

“Hargaan is kin to the Ruler of the Skies…”

YuWon stared at the coffee that Agamemnon ordered for him.

“Shouldn’t you have at least greeted him?”

Agamemnon shrugged in response, “I couldn’t due to my objective.”

“Your objective?”

“I came here to meet you.”

“You didn’t have to spell that part out for me. So tell me, what do you want?”

YuWon’s straightforward question made Agamemnon pause before answering. 

Agamemnon’s words tipped YuWon off that he had looked into him. 

Ranking first place inevitably attracted attention because players that rank the highest in the Tutorial were most likely to become Rankers. And this Tutorial was special among all the Tutorials because it had completely overturned previous records. That’s why there were so many guilds going after the pool of talented people from this Tutorial. 

“Also… Sir Hargaan was only second place.”

Zeus’s direct kin, Hargaan, had participated in this Tutorial. He had the potential to not only become a Ranker, but a High Ranker. Yet, he failed to clear the Tutorial in first place, all thanks to YuWon.

“From what I heard, it seems that there was a dominating lead between first and second place. Everyone’s saying right now that a monster entered the Tower.”

“What an honest compliment. Thanks for the kind words.”

“You’re quite laid back.”

Agamemnon took a sip of his coffee.

“Sir Hargaan mentioned how you two are like friends.”

“Like friends?”

“Isn’t that a strange thing to say?”

“A bit.”

YuWon did find it odd. You were either friends or not friends. 

‘ ‘Like friends,’ he says.’ 

It wasn’t all that hard to figure out if you thought about it. YuWon and Hargaan weren’t friends yet. But Hargaan said he and YuWon were ‘like’ friends. That meant only one thing.

‘So he wants to be friends.’

YuWon didn’t know if he should like it or not. He presumed that, at least at first, Hargaan only wanted him to join his team because of his skills, which was likely the right assumption. And Hargaan probably saw him more amicably over time thanks to their rivalry. Now Hargaan looked at YuWon favorably. This wasn’t a bad thing for YuWon. 

Agamemnon continued speaking, “And it seems that you haven’t formed a team yet.”

“I don’t particularly like being associated anywhere.”

“That was a smart call. Connections you form during the Tutorial don’t last since most players don’t become Rankers. In fact, over half the players don’t even attempt to climb the Tower.”

Agamemnon looked at YuWon with a soft smile.

“However, you’re different. You have the potential to ascend beyond a Ranker and become a High Ranker. So, don’t you think you should climb the Tower with people fit to accompany you?”

His voice was filled with pride. 

YuWon got the gist of what he was saying. Actually, YuWon knew what business Agamemnon had with him the moment he showed up. 

“Join Olympus. Come under the graces of Lord Ares. We can prepare anything you want.”

YuWon guessed right. Agamemnon’s goal was to recruit him into the guild. 

Olympus was, among the large guilds, the one that put the most effort into recruiting new players. 

YuWon smiled faintly. It was an interesting offer.

“Anything I want?”

“Yes. Lord Ares is different from a lowly being like Hargaan, who doesn’t even know his own mother. He is the son of Lady Hera and Lord Zeus, a great being that has already become a High Ranker.”

Agamemnon reached his hand out to YuWon. 

“If you grab this hand, you will become one of Olympus and Lord Ares’s men. It will be far better than joining hands with a mutt like—”

“Stop.”

YuWon finally reached for his coffee.

Gulp, gulp—

He gulped the lukewarm coffee, chugging it in one go.

Clatter—

Drag—

“Thanks for the drink. I’ll be going then.”

“What?”

Agamemnon was shocked by what YuWon said as he got up from his chair. 

“Are you refusing an offer from Olympus?”

“Yeah, that’s right.”

A snide smile and contempt filled Agamemnon’s face as he stared at YuWon.

“What? ‘Fit to accompany me’? ‘Doesn’t know his own mother’? ‘Lowly being’? And ‘mutt’?”

“Are you taking sides because he’s your friend? How could you refuse an offer from Olympus based on a flimsy relationship you formed during the Tutorial…”

“I even rejected the personal offer from Hargaan, Zeus’s son, because I don’t have any plans of being associated anywhere.”

YuWon asked Agamemon with a bit of a laugh, watching him stay in his seat, “What about you, though? Zeus and Hera are Ares’s parents, not yours.”

Agamemnon’s face filled with rage, dripping with killing intent. If it weren’t for the penalty of attacking a lower floor player, he might have already attacked YuWon.

But YuWon was completely unphased by Agamemnon’s reaction.

“I only have one answer.”

As if he was finished, YuWon started walking away.

“I can’t be seen with deviant lowlifes like you guys.”

* * *

After YuWon had left, one by one, the customers left until the restaurant was silent. To be more precise, the customers had fled from the anger and killing intent exuding from Agamemnon. 

At the center of the restaurant, he remained alone, stewing in his anger. 

A moment later…

“Are you okay, sir?”

Agamemnon’s subordinates came to the restaurant looking for him.

Agamemnon, who had been seated in place, trying to control his anger, slowly collected himself. 

“… How many Jackals are we able to call on right now?”

“The Jackals, sir?”

“That’s right. The Jackals.”

“But they are…”

The subordinate shut up, unable to finish his sentence. It was because he noticed the look in Agamemon’s eyes. He knew because he had been serving him for a long time. If he ended up saying the wrong thing here, it could be his head.

“We will need a few days.”

“How many?”

“Currently, the Jackals are doing collections. They’ll have to be finished with that before we’re able to gather a significant number of them.”

“Do we really need that much preparation in order to kill a single new player?”

“Please think rationally about this, sir. He’s set a historic record for the Tutorial. Do you really think a moderate number of Jackals will do it?”

After hearing his subordinate’s question, Agamemnon got lost in thought for a moment, nodding his head. 

Not just new players, but most players in the early floors would have a hard time dealing with Hargaan. And YuWon was someone that had finished the Tutorial with a higher ranking, garnering the attention of many Rankers. 

Agamemnon could understand his subordinate’s hesitation. However…

“Then prepare about a hundred men.” 

His mind had been made up.

Grit—

Agamemnon ground his teeth, staring at the place YuWon had been sitting.

“When collections are over, kill Kim YuWon.”

* * *

“So how are you planning on exterminating the Jackals?”

Two days later, Hargaan met up with YuWon again at night. It wasn’t difficult to meet now that they had exchanged their player numbers. 

“There’s a guy I have to meet.”

“A guy you have to meet?”

“It took me a while to find where he lived.”

Step, step—

YuWon walked down the dark streets of the city. 

It was quiet. Everyone was either closing shop or had already gone home for the day. 

“Why are we in the marketplace?”

“Just follow me.”

YuWon’s eyes darted around the place as he walked.

Hargaan, who was walking beside YuWon, saw his eyes, recognizing that they had changed. 

‘Those eyes again,’ thought Hargaan. 

They were crimson-colored, the same eyes YuWon had while fighting against Childe, the Chimera Creator.

“Scoundrel, are you a kin of that Monkey?” 

That was Childe’s reaction when he saw YuWon’s eyes. Though he said ‘Monkey’ in a degrading manner, Hargaan immediately knew who that ‘Monkey’ was.

‘Son OhGong, ‘The Great Sage, Heaven’s Equal,’ ’ thought Hargaan. 

He was someone that had become a High Ranker after less than hundred years since starting his ascent of the Tower. He was famous among the players as the most talented fighter in the history of Rankers. Having raised his rankings on what seemed like a daily basis, he ultimately became part of the rulers of the Tower, one of the top High Rankers. 

But also…

‘Not only ‘The Great Sage, Heaven’s Equal,’ but he also has the same skill as hyung-nim.’ 

Many questions arose in Hargaan’s mind. What exactly was YuWon’s ability? Who was he really? And was he associated somewhere? 

‘Is the reason why he won’t join Olympus because…?’

Hargaan’s steps came to a halt while watching YuWon walk ahead of him. He remembered one of the skills YuWon had used. 

‘Gigantification.’

It was a skill that blessed you with the power of the Giants. And it was a skill that only Hercules, the “Giant Slayer,” held within Olympus. However, it was a skill that all the Giants possessed. If YuWon was a Giant… And if that was the reason why he wasn’t joining Olympus…

As Hargaan’s train of thought continued…

“Huh?”

YuWon suddenly stopped in front of a shop.

It was a general store that sold all sorts of goods. 

“Make sure you respond properly.”

“Respond?”

“We’re going in.”

Hargaan followed YuWon into the store that had most of its lights off, as if it was preparing to close for the day.

“Hey, owner.”

Someone came outside from YuWon’s call. It was a young man with a gentle face, wearing white clothes, his hair tied back.

“Oh, I’m sorry. We’re closed for the day.”

The baby-faced young man approached them with a warm response. 

“But if there is something you’re looking for, please leave me your name and number, and I’ll contact you tomorrow.”

The young man pulled out a pen and notepad from his pocket. 

The inside of the store was silent for a moment, before YuWon spoke.

“Mu WoonCheon,” YuWon said while narrowing his eyes. “I’m looking for a guy named Mu WoonCheon.”

The young man’s expression was shaken.

“… Fuck.”

Dash—

The young man turned around and quickly ran for the back door.

Fwoosh—

“Where do you think you’re going?”

YuWon grabbed the back of the young man’s, Mu WoonCheon’s, neck.

While getting pulled back, WoonCheon swung his hand. 

The small knife that was in his hand grazed YuWon’s cheek. 

Ssk—

Crash—

“Kugh!”

WoonCheon’s body was slammed into the floor, denting the ground and shaking the whole store. 

“Damn—it…!”

WoonCheon wiggled around, trying to escape YuWon’s grasp. But the only thing he could do was struggle. There was no way to escape YuWon’s hold. 

‘H-How is he so strong…?!’

He was being pushed down with excessive force. However, what terrified him the most was that if YuWon squeezed just a bit harder, his bones could be crushed.

This all happened in an instant. 

Hargaan was confused about what was going on, so he asked YuWon, “What are you doing?”

“This is the guy.”

“What?”

“Alias Cheon NamWoon. His real name is Mu WoonCheon. He’s a player from the martial realm that gave up on climbing the Tower,” YuWon said while looking down at WoonCheon. “This guy’s the King of the Jackals.”