Leveling with the Gods

YuWon sat down on top of the Mother Worm’s corpse. He was surrounded by a mountain of Earthworm corpses. It was the result of fighting against them for a whole hour. 

“> Wow, you actually managed to slaughter all of them.”

He heard a voice. It was the Lackey.

YuWon rubbed on the ointment he had in his pocket and tossed it aside. 

“It was a bit of a struggle.”

Hundreds and hundreds of Earthworms. Even though they could only crawl on the ground, they were still the ones that guarded the Mother Worm. Even YuWon couldn’t help getting a bit wounded while hunting them all.

“> Would you like for me to heal you?” 

“Will that count as one of the rewards?”

“> Of course.”

“I’ll have to refuse. A tiny injury like this can be healed just by raising my Constitution.” 

The Lackey seemed disappointed by YuWon’s response. It was probably scheming to reduce YuWon’s rewards, even if it was just a small bit, by using this as an excuse.

‘That took a while.’

After the carnage was over, YuWon had waited in that spot for over 30 minutes. 

During that time, YuWon treated himself, restoring his health and stamina. He thought the Lackey would have visited him sooner, but it took quite a bit longer before it appeared. 

‘That should mean there was a long discourse between the Lackeys.’

“> First, let me applaud you. How could a normal human being get to this point in just the 2nd Tutorial…?”

The Lackeys’ job was managing the Tutorial. In that role, they had to adequately reward or penalize beings that acted outside of the Tutorial’s design. 

YuWon hunted the 2nd Tutorial’s boss, the Mother Worm. It was the matriarch of the Earthworms and the monster that preserved the ecosystem of the 2nd Tutorial.

However, YuWon killed that Mother Worm. He fully cleared the 2nd Tutorial, going against the design of the level. 

“And the reward is…?”

There was no preset reward in the Tutorial’s system for hunting the Mother Worm. It was only natural. She wasn’t a creature that should have been possible to hunt in the 2nd Tutorial. It was possible to defeat an Earthworm if one was lucky, but the Mother Worm was a class of monster that required being in at least the 5th Tutorial to even encounter. 

“> It seems to me that you already understand this world.”

“Somewhat. After all I’ve done, it would be weirder for me to not realize that special actions get rewarded.”

“> Is that so? Most people never actually figure that out. Though, I guess you do seem a bit special.”

The conversation started dragging on. 

YuWon asked the Lackey in an annoyed tone, “So, what’s my reward?”

“> You may pick between three things.”

“What are they?”

“> The first option is the right to skip to the 5th Tutorial. Of course, this option will include the information and rewards for the 3rd and 4th Tutorials.” 

It was a useless reward. YuWon had no intention to skip through the Tutorials. And the 3rd Tutorial was especially critical in his plans. It might be a good proposition for others, but YuWon had no interest in it.

‘They must think they’re being clever.’

The Lackeys probably thought that the 3rd and 4th Tutorial would be of little value to YuWon. It wasn’t rocket science. If he could achieve this much in just the 2nd Tutorial, he should be able to breeze through the 3rd and 4th Tutorial. Because of that, the Lackeys were eager to send him to a later Tutorial. 

YuWon silently waited for the Lackey to explain the next reward.

“> The second reward is points. No matter the world, isn’t money the best? And in this world, points are money.”

The Lackey made a circle with his index finger and thumb.

TL/N: In Korea, the circle hand gesture means ‘money’ as well as ‘OK.’

Points equated to money and power. This wasn’t a bad reward. 

“And the last option?”

“> The final one is connecting you with Olympus.” 

YuWon narrowed his eyes. 

This was completely unexpected.

“… Olympus?”

For Olympus to be mentioned by the mid-level management of the Tutorial… 

“> You wouldn’t know this, but the Tutorial is merely the starting point. In the grand Tower, there are huge organizations as well as countless beings with god-like powers.”

This was something he never expected in a million years. This was forbidden knowledge for participants of the Tutorial. 

Yet, for a Lackey of all people to reveal this information… 

“> I will recommend you to Olympus. Olympus is one of the organizations that rule the Tower. If you are sponsored by them, you should be safe in the Tower, once you’ve completed the Tutorial.”

YuWon let out a small laugh. Instead of a Lackey, it was acting more like a recruiter for Olympus. 

“Olympus you say…”

Chronos, the one who sent YuWon to the past, was a Ranker that belonged to Olympus. And as the Lackey described, Olympus was one of the major factions that ruled the Tower. If YuWon could borrow their power, he’d be able to climb the Tower even faster and safer, but…

“I’ll go with the second option.”

YuWon did not select the third reward.

[Distributing reward.]

[You have obtained 10000 points.]

It was a simple but enormous reward. Ten thousand points. It was an unimaginable amount to earn in the Tutorial. 

YuWon was satisfied with his reward, but he was the only one who was happy. 

“> Are you being serious right now?”

The Lackey was clearly displeased by YuWon’s decision, making an extremely sour face. However, YuWon had no intention to change his decision. 

“I am.”

“> Please rethink this. Since you haven’t used your points yet, I’ll give you a mulligan. I’m sure you made this decision because you don’t really know Olympus very well, but you shouldn’t regret it later, and—”

“Hey, Lackey.”

“> ?”

“Can you just do your job right as the Administrator’s gopher? Are you not worried what might happen if the Administrator catches you working for Oympus?”

The Lackey’s eyes widened from YuWon’s statement. 

It was because the word “Administrator” came out of YuWon’s mouth.

“This right now, the other Lackeys didn’t agree to it, right? And it most definitely wouldn’t have been approved by the Administrator.”

“> How do you…?”

“Have the other Lackeys also received a similar deal? I wonder if they’re all bought out by the same place? Or maybe some are with the Heavenly Realm? Deva perhaps? Lemegeton even?”

“> You—What in the world are you?”

The Lackey’s voice was shaking. 

It was something that had never happened before. At least within the Tutorial, a Lackey held absolute power and authority. Such a powerful Lackey was now shaking in front of a mere participant. 

YuWon looked a bit bitter as he spoke. “Thanks, Lackey.”

It didn’t matter which faction bought out the Lackeys. The Tutorial was a place that needed to be separate from the Tower. Yet out of everyone, Olympus being connected to the Tutorial was a problem he could not overlook. 

“Thanks to you flapping your mouth, I’ve found one more thing I have to do here.”

* * *

You could do anything in this world as long as you had the points. Among the methods of using points in the Tower, this was one of them.

[Requesting a meeting with the Administrator.]

[Paying 1000 points.]

Guoooooh—

Rumble, rumble—

The subway station shook violently. 

It felt like the whole world was falling apart. Trembling, the Lackey looked at YuWon.

“> Y-You! What did you just…”

“I requested a meeting with the Administrator.” 

YuWon stared at the spatial disruption. 

[The Administrator approved your request.]

“… He should arrive soon.” 

YuWon was a participant that outshined the others in this Tutorial. The Administrator would be at least a little interested in him, which is why his request was approved. And now… 

“▷ A request for a meeting in the Tutorial…”

A presence so powerful that it made one’s body feel like it being pressed down revealed himself in the subway station. 

“▷ For a mere thousand points. Hahaha!”

Amused, the Administrator let out a comical laugh. Of course he found it hilarious.

In the Tower, not even tens of thousands of points were enough to meet the Administrator, but in the Tutorial, for just a thousand points, it was a possibility.

Even though the value of points in the Tutorial and Tower differed, it was still a funny situation for the Administrator. 

‘The Tutorial’s Administrator, A.K.A. the Tower’s bottom floor Administrator.’

The Tutorial was a trail of sorts. And the Tutorial’s Administrator was a being that weeded out people fit to enter the Tower. That’s why some also called him “the bottom floor Admin.” 

An Administrator was a being that ruled over a floor. No one knew their true nature, but they held powers that rivaled the top Rankers. 

“> Ad-Administrator…”

The Lackey’s voice trembled at the appearance of the Administrator. 

Yet, the Administrator looked shabby in comparison to his intimidating presence and deep voice. He looked like a very tall beggar with a long beard. That was all that could be said to describe the Administrator’s appearance. 

Ignoring the Lackey, the Administrator took long strides and stood in front of YuWon.

“▷ So, you wanted a meeting? With me?”

The Administrator suppressed his presence. If he hadn’t held back his presence, YuWon would have had a hard time even breathing in front of him.

“My name is Kim YuWon. I am a participant of the Tutorial.

“▷ Hehehe. I’ve heard. So, you killed over 1,000 undead in the 1st Tutorial?”

“Yes.”

“▷ When my underlings verified the result, they said they didn’t discover any cheating or abnormalities. They weren’t wrong, which is what really surprised me.”

It wasn’t just the Lackey that had taken an interest in YuWon. The ruler of the floor, the Administrator, also couldn’t help being interested in YuWon.

“▷ How did you know of my existence? And how did you figure out how to request a meeting?” 

The Administrator had many questions. 

How did YuWon know about the existence of the Administrator and even how to request a meeting? Neither pieces of information should have been available in the 2nd Tutorial. Also, why did YuWon request a meeting with him? 

“I know about the law of the Tutorial.” 

“▷ The law? What would that be?”

“The law that all information regarding the Tutorial must be obtained by the participant’s own abilities and not be given by the Administrator or the Tower.”

YuWon continued speaking while staring up at the giant figure that exceeded two meters in height. “A law that you decided.”

That was YuWon’s answer. He was stating that all the information he knew was obtained with his own abilities. 

The Administrator looked into YuWon’s eyes.

There were no beings that could lie to the Administrator in the Tutorial. He had the power to discern truth or lies from all spoken words, at least in the Tutorial that he managed. 

“▷ … Is that so.”

The Administrator retracted his doubts. It didn’t matter how he found out about this information. As long as no one had assisted YuWon, there weren’t any issues. 

YuWon shifted the Administrator’s attention.

“Instead, I think the Tower’s interference exists over here.” 

“▷ Here?”

“I’m talking about the Lackey.”

The Lackey, who was biding their time, smiled faintly at the Administrator, letting out nervous laughter. 

It tried to silently communicate to YuWon to please keep it a secret. It was no use though.

“Olympus made contact with the Lackeys.”

“▷ Olympus?”

“Yes. It talked about rewarding me with a sponsorship from Olympus.”

The Administrator’s face became red with anger. 

He looked over at the Lackey to confirm the truth. And as soon as their eyes locked with each other… 

Whoosh—

Crush—!

The Administrator swung his arm, demolishing the Lackey’s body in an instant. 

Drip—

The Lackey with the appearance of a pierrot got torn apart, dripping blood. 

The Administrator mumbled as he shook the blood off his hand.

“▷ Those fucking Olympus bastards… On top of everything else, they dare spread their influence here?”

The Administrator’s eyes turned red.

The interference by Olympus must have really displeased him. 

After grinding his teeth for a moment, staring down at the spot where the Lackey’s corpse laid, the Administrator looked back at YuWon. 

“▷Thank you. Thanks to you, I can now cut away the rotten parts.”

He wasn’t an idiot. The Administrator knew that it wasn’t happenstance for there to be a Lackey connected to Olympus. There were probably other Lackeys in the same boat.

YuWon couldn’t hold back his joy at receiving the Administrator’s thanks.

“The second law of the Tutorial.”

“▷ …?”

“‘During the Tutorial, all achievements by a participant must be compensated by a reward of equal merit.’” 

YuWon looked over at the Lackey that the Administrator killed. 

“Fair and square, I paid my points to call you over, and through you, I ‘hunted’ a Lackey.”

YuWon looked the Administrator in the eyes.

“What do you think about that?”