Leveling with the Gods

Side Story 94

Step, step~

Resonating steps echoed through the mountain.

The Tutorial Administrator ascended to the summit with an expression full of irritation.

"Well, well, well. It really is quite far."

Floor 100.

A world too distant for the Tutorial Administrator, located at the lowest point of the Tower.

And this mountain was situated at the highest point even within that world of the 100th floor.

Far.

Too far, even so.

In this way, the Tutorial Administrator climbed to the top of the 100th floor and extended his hand forward.

Zap!

The mountain's peak opened up, revealing a purple interior.

The 100th Floor Administrator.

One who dreamed of a grand dream, always distanced from reality.

Step by step~

The Administrator entered the world where he was.

Between reality and fantasy. The place where dreamers gathered.

Towards the world of the grand dream.

His furious steps suddenly came to a halt.

In the purple space with no distinction of up and down, he opened his mouth addressing the dreamer.

"The Players are gathering."

It wasn't that he ignored the affairs of the world from below.

After the Administrators' intervention in the Great Guilds, there was a concentration of Players centered on Olympus and Asgard.

Although it had been delayed a bit due to Ananta's awakening from the seal, it was something that would happen sooner or later.

Unlike the first time, the Tutorial Administrator couldn't predict who would be the winner of this battle.

"Don't you feel it too? That something has changed."

More than ten Administrators had already died.

Of those, four had been devoured by Ananta.

In comparison to the sacrifice made, the outcome was bleak.

"The Name of the Black Woods has appeared."

A year ago.

The Administrators were thrown into confusion due to the appearances of the goats during the battle against the Monster King Ananta.

Why?

The Name of her, who was believed to be missing, had resurfaced in this place.

"We made a mistake. We thought they had all disappeared. But didn't you check? The Black Woods Queen…"

-It's not just her.

Spoke the Great Dream.

-There was one with more Names.

"More Names?"

The Tutorial Administrator arched his eyebrows, not understanding what was being referred to.

It was already surprising with just the Black Woods, and now there were other Names.

-Among them, one possessed the name of Chaos.

"Nyarlathotep?"

-No. It was superior to him.

"Superior…?"

The Administrator's eyes widened.

There were only two names of Chaos.

And excluding Nyarlathotep, who carried the name Foolish Chaos, there was only one owner of Chaos.

"That's impossible!"

Unable to contain it, he shouted in surprise.

It was something that should not happen under any circumstances.

"If that's the case, we must stop him at all costs. At all costs!"

He possessed the Name, but he wasn't Azathoth. Just as Nyarlathotep didn't turn into Azathoth for having a name of Chaos.

"Still…."

-It's already too late to stop him now. Even if he has truly returned.

They had waited too long.

Azathoth. Yog-Sothoth. Shub-Niggurath. Nyarlathotep...

The Great Dream cowered in fear of them.

And so, the time they had waited surpassed ten thousand years.

Instead of continuing to wait, they preferred to choose adventure.

Dreams don't have to remain just dreams. No matter how big a dream is, if it doesn't come true, it's just a dream.

In the face of those words, the Administrator regretted having traveled such a long path.

'Persuasion won't work.'

For someone dreaming of a Great Dream, it didn't matter what the Players prepared now, or that the Name of Chaos appeared again.

Only one thing was important to him.

To see the end of the long wait that had brought him here, regardless of the outcome.

"You said they are gathering. Let them all come."

Clang clang clang.

Dreams from all over the world gather. Their will didn't break, but rather strengthened to prepare for the battle.

"I will make them dream."

-----------------

Various Great Guilds gathered, centered on Olympus and Asgard.

Lee Rangjin-gun, Diablo, and even Yama, now leading Deva in practice.

Namgung Jincheon, the Murim Alliance Leader, and Heavenly Demon from the Heavenly Demon Cult also gathered in Olympus.

"Many have gathered."

"Oh, yes. Most of the protagonists from that time."

"Oh, General Chief! How was the Celestial Realm?"

"We had a good time. And the Demon Kings?"

"What are we going to do with them? Instead, when this is over, let's have a match..."

Diablo and Lee Rangjin. Yama, sitting with closed eyes in silence.

Rankers from various Great Guilds also gathered in one place.

It was the first time since the last battle against the Outers.

"Was it after Ananta wreaked havoc a while ago?"

"Back then, Olympus and Asgard joined forces."

"Really, the Tower is never at peace."

This gathering was organized by Zeus.

About a year ago.

The atmosphere was different from when he gathered the other Rankers from the Great Guilds to anticipate the fight against the administrators.

"Let's fight, where?"

Their own Guilds had been attacked.

The families of the Guilds, for some reason, had sided with the Administrators.

The Great Guilds had managed to overcome the crisis somehow, but many medium and lower-level Guilds had suffered almost devastating damage.

And among them...

Baruna, who traveled with Yama, looked around and spoke in a low voice.

"Isn't Hyung-nim here?"

Hyung-nim.

There was only one person whom he, a Deva High-Ranker, called Hyung-nim.

Despite the familiar nickname, they had only met a year ago.

And they hadn't even spent that much time together, but Baruna sincerely considered him as his Hyung-nim.

Even if it was a one-sided relationship.

"He'll come. For sure."

"You think so?"

"He must be somewhere. If he's really the guy you talked about."

After Vishnu's death, Baruna had secretly told Yama about YuWon. What kind of person Kim YuWon was, whom everyone in the world had forgotten.

'If even the Administrators have forgotten.'

Ignoring Baruna's words with one ear, Yama thought:

'In this battle, he is a key Player for victory.'

Sitting in the round table chair provided by the temple, Yama looked towards Zeus, who was seated in the main seat.

'Does he know?'

The YuWon Baruna had talked about didn't seem to want to reveal his existence.

For some reason, he had introduced himself to the world as 'Kim YuHun,' but that was just an alias.

Moreover, he hadn't been active since that day.

Whoosh, swoosh-.

And among the crowd, there was another.

Someone like Yama was looking for someone.

"Isn't that monster here?"

"Monster?"

"Who are you talking about?"

Yama and Lee Rangjin became interested in Diablo's murmur.

Who was Diablo referring to as a monster?

"I don't know his name. But he seems to know that guy."

He pointed at the Heavenly Demon sitting silently in a corner.

All eyes focused on the Heavenly Demon.

He seemed to have no intention of speaking, simply remaining silent, ignoring their gazes.

However...

Baruna and Lee Rangjin spoke at the same time, hoping it was him.

"Is it...?"

"Is it...?"

The two's eyes met as they realized they were thinking the same thing.

At that moment.

"It's Kim YuHun."

Clang-.

A man entered the conference room, emitting a fierce energy.

"That's the name he uses."

"Hmph..."

"Asura?"

"What is that guy doing here?"

The man, with a murderous aura that seemed like he could draw his sword at any moment, found an empty seat and sat down abruptly.

It was Asura, who didn't belong to any Guild and acted alone.

Therefore, the Rankers gathered as representatives of various Guilds couldn't help but be bewildered by Asura's appearance.

They wondered why he had come.

However, not everyone was wary of Asura's arrival.

"Another interesting guy has appeared."

Someone similar to him.

Diablo smiled ironically at Asura's appearance.

"Do you know that guy?"

"I know him."

Asura nodded and frowned.

"It's an unpleasant memory, but yes."

"Unpleasant?"

"I challenged him. And I lost."

In the tournament organized by the Celestial Realm for the position of General Chief.

Asura met him for the first time. He was interested and challenged him, but was defeated multiple times. Yet, Asura wanted to see the true sincerity of his opponent. He thought that only by defeating a sincere opponent could he regain his crumpled pride.

However...

He, instead, for the first time in his life, yielded to the sincerity of the other person.

"It seems I'm not the only one."

Swoosh-.

Asura and Diablo's gazes met.

In the moment they looked at each other, both confirmed that they had gone through the same thing.

Diablo had also been defeated by YuWon and had experienced humiliation.

"It seems many know."

And in front of Asura and Diablo's gaze.

Lee Rangjin looked around and opened his mouth.

"I'm talking about Kim YuHun."

When that Name was mentioned again, several Rankers, including Diablo and Asura, nodded.

Kim YuHun.

At first, they thought he was a high-level High-Ranker like Son OhGong or Hercules who had changed his name.

It was a natural assumption, as a Player with such skill couldn't suddenly fall from the sky.

However, during the last year.

Various Great Guilds had changed their minds after experiencing him.

"I have a memory of seeing him somewhere."

"I don't exactly remember where."

"You too?"

"Me too. Since I first saw him, he's always been like that."

They knew him.

From the first time they saw him.

It was just that no one could remember it.

"I remembered."

Asura looked around and opened his mouth as if making a declaration.

"Probably some here remember too."

Among them.

Baruna averted his gaze, and Heavenly Demon remained silent.

"There must be some who remember him."

That day, after Asura was beaten all day for kidnapping Pandora. Beyond his wounded pride, Asura was plunged into shock as he remembered someone he had long forgotten.

Why?

Not only him, but everyone in this Tower had forgotten Kim YuWon.

"Anyway, I was going to introduce him, but it seems like they're taking my job away."

Zeus, wrapped in bandages, saw everyone's attention focused on YuWon and decided to change the order of the story.

"I was originally going to do it a little later. It seems that now is the right time."

Clang-.

Another man entered the conference room.

He too, as if knowing it was the time to come out.

"Introduce yourself."

"My name is Kim YuWon."

More than a hundred leaders and executives of Great Guilds.

Standing in front of them, YuWon revealed his True Name for the first time.

"The one you know as Kim YuHun."

-

KO-FI:

https://tinyurl.com/LEVELKO

-

(Up to '95' more ch4pt3rs)Publication of up to 6 weekly ch4pters, thanks.

---