Leveling with the Gods

C450

It was a strange sensation.

Turned into a handful of dust, he floated in the universe. It felt as if he had been banished from the world and had become nothing.

There were no stars in the universe where YuWon was.

Therefore, everything was dark. Interestingly, in that universe without a single point of light, his own figure was reflected clearly.

'What the hell is going on?'

He vividly remembered persuading Danpung and asking his to calm down. But the moment he saw Danpung's figure, who finally nodded with difficulty, YuWon lost consciousness.

He had been so confident both physically and mentally to challenge anything. But somehow, he lost consciousness without even having a chance to do anything.

'Is this what it means to be in danger?'

Although he didn't know where he was, now that he was awake, he decided to move his hands.

Fortunately, there was nothing wrong with his body. He wasn't hurt anywhere, and indeed, he even felt that his body was lighter than before.

No...

'It's not just a little lighter.'

In reality, he had more strength than he had initially.

YuWon clenched his fist and brought it close to his eyes. His body had more strength than before, and there was an overflowing desire to use his bubbling strength.

And this kind of change could only mean one thing.

[You have defeated 'Shub-Niggurath.']

[The level of 'Danpung' has increased.]

[The level of 'Danpung' has increased.]

[The Divine Power of 'Danpung' has increased by 31.]

[The growth rate has increased by 61.22%.]

[Arcane Power has increased by 10.]

[You have obtained 100,000,000 points.]

[Danpung has acquired the name 'The Black Goat of the Woods with a Thousand Young.']

[The first name has been obtained.]

"Damn, this is insane!"

Curses spilled out of YuWon's mouth at the messages that kept coming one after another.

They were incredible messages. They say that when joy is too great, curses come out instead of a cry of joy. YuWon was no different.

Ten points of Arcane Power.

Moreover, Danpung's level increased significantly, and Divine Power increased by 31.

The 100 million points that the highest Rankers would consider as the highest reward were the least valuable reward among them.

'Is Shub-Niggurath dead?'

YuWon had no idea what had happened.

All he knew was that while floating in this space of unknown identity, Danpung defeated Shub-Niggurath.

And through the reward, YuWon's Arcane Power also increased thanks to Danpung absorbing Shub-Niggurath's power.

Furthermore...

'Danpung obtained the name of Shub-Niggurath.'

The Black Goat of the Woods with a Thousand Young.

The name representing Shub-Niggurath.

So far, YuWon had fought against the Outers and had faced many names. Shub-Niggurath had three names, and the most well-known of them was Black Goat of the Woods with a Thousand Young.

Not much was known about the power a name possessed. According to some of the smartest, like Mimir and Odin, research on that power suggested that Outer Gods acquired unique power and characteristics according to the name. But that was all that was known so far.

'Does Danpung now have that power?'

It was unexpected news for YuWon, who originally planned to simply kill Shub-Niggurath through the Predator to increase his stats.

However, it was still a mystery how that power would affect Danpung.

'Don't think too much about it.'

If expectations were high, so would disappointments be. It was better not to include unnecessary variables and simply follow a plan.

For now, he had to be satisfied with the rewards in front of him.

'It's attractive enough even now.'

Ten points of Arcane Power.

That was more than enough to completely change the nature of the Arcane Power YuWon had.

At this point, it could be said that there weren't many who could match him just in terms of the amount of Arcane Power. Maybe someone like Odin or Son OhGong could be on par.

'It might be a little uncomfortable the process, but... anyway, I got more than I expected.'

YuWon's eyes explored his surroundings.

'The problem is how to get out of here.'

Suddenly, he felt anxiety.

What if he was trapped here forever, unable to get out?

"Dad, danger!"

Could that be what it meant?

At that moment, when YuWon was starting to delve into how to get out of here, a familiar voice resonated in his ear.

"Whoo."

Who blew wind in my ear?

The itchiness made him scratch his ear with his hand. And at that moment, YuWon saw how the dark universe around him wrinkled as if someone had kneaded it.

And only then could YuWon feel relief.

'Luckily.'

He wondered how to get out of here.

Perhaps, after all, he didn't have to worry about that.

"Hoo-. Hoooo-."

A loud wind noise resonated in his ears. Instead of opening his eyes after regaining consciousness, it was the itching in his ears that woke him up first.

YuWon slowly opened his eyes and blinked.

Danpung blew in YuWon's ears, as if playing a prank on him.

That was the voice of that guy.

"Hoooo- Hoo-."

"...I've woken up."

"Hoo-."

Didn't he hear or was he pretending not to hear? The breeze in his ears made YuWon's eyebrows twist.

And then, YuWon's reaction caused a commotion.

"He's awake."

"He woke up!"

"He's awake!"

The first thing YuWon saw was the ceiling. It was a white ceiling, and the distance between it and the black sky he had been seeing before was considerable.

The surroundings were also lit; it wasn't the Black Woods from before.

'It's fluffy.'

Regaining his senses, YuWon checked the comfortable bed holding him and the appearance of the room.

And again...

"Seeing you roll your eyes like that, it seems like you're fine."

Hercules, accompanied by a broad shadow, also spoke to him.

It was clear.

The fight seemed to have ended a long time ago.

Swish-.

YuWon immediately got up without saying a word.

It was because he felt that if he didn't, Danpung would keep blowing wind in his ears, and also to show that he wasn't hurt.

"Enough, that's enough."

Swish, swish-.

YuWon pressed Danpung's head, who complained by raising his arms. Danpung groaned as if telling him not to do it.

Not only Danpung and Hercules but also several people were around him. It seemed that there were at least six people outside the door, which was slightly open.

"Why are so many people gathered here?"

"We thought you were dead."

"Dead? Who?"

"You, who else would we be talking about?"

"How long have I been here now?"

"Close to ten days. Or maybe a bit more?"

"Ten days?"

He thought he had been somewhere like outer space for a moment, but it turns out it had been that long.

YuWon felt a slight sweat on his back. Even when he was unconscious, he could tell how long he had been unconscious. Although he couldn't say exactly how many days had passed, he always had a vague sense.

But now?

YuWon's experience lasted only about five minutes.

YuWon looked at the scene in front of him with a momentarily perplexed expression.

What the hell had happened?

"We don't know exactly what happened either."

The one who explained YuWon's expression was Mimir, who was reading a book.

"You suddenly disappeared, and that monster disappeared too. When you reappeared, there was a little lamb's neck rolling on the ground."

Mimir's explanation ended, and he focused his gaze back on the book.

"It's just that you look like you don't know what's going on."

Judging by YuWon's expression, it seemed he took care of Shub-Niggurath.

He probably received help from Danpung, but he didn't remember the process.

'Is it okay to move forward?'

Still, YuWon thought he should refrain from asking Danpung for this kind of favor if possible.

"I thought about asking you what happened when you woke up, but I guess it's unnecessary."

"I thought you came to visit me because of my situation or something."

"Since we just changed the subject now. Are you okay?"

"I feel like I've just been born. I feel fresh."

Hercules chuckled softly at YuWon's response. It seemed like he thought it was a joke.

Of course, it wasn't just talk.

As if he really had just been born, YuWon's body felt fresh and seemed like it was about to fly.

The rising Arcane Power filled his body, infusing a new vitality.

"How are things being organized?"

"It's harder than the Assembly. Just... the situation is out of control."

"...There must have been a lot of deaths."

"Yes. Much more than we expected."

It was a world that had been invaded by Shub-Niggurath. Indeed, it wasn't a strange situation that not only one floor but several worlds had been destroyed.

'Maybe it's something to be thankful for.'

They didn't know that Shub-Niggurath could have caused much more damage.

However, the reason why things ended like this was because the situation was better than expected.

Moreover...

'Foolish Chaos moved sooner than we thought.'

YuWon and Foolish Chaos moved together for the first time, and it would probably be the last time.

A common enemy, Shub-Niggurath. To catch Shub-Niggurath, Foolish Chaos appeared at the last moment and decided to steal one of her names.

Until then, YuWon and the others' role was to reduce Shub-Niggurath's power as much as possible. To do that, YuWon borrowed the power of Vishnu.

The result was successful.

But he didn't have great expectations. The probability of Foolish Chaos appearing at the right moment to help was almost zero.

However, Foolish Chaos moved exactly at the optimal time.

For YuWon and the others, who had to avoid getting damaged by Shub-Niggurath while fighting her, Foolish Chaos was in a position where he could act without worries.

But then, why?

'Is there another reason?'

He couldn't ask him directly or think about it right away.

Foolish Chaos's quick help and the results of defeating Shub-Niggurath.

Somehow, an uncomfortable feeling remained.

"For now, rest a bit more and then come out. Many people are worried about you."

"You can rest a bit more. Anyway, you were the one who made the biggest contribution in this matter."

The two got up from the bed as if they agreed that it was enough.

Mimir left the room first, and Hercules stopped for a moment and looked at YuWon.

"Oh, and..."

"Do you have anything else to say?"

YuWon, who had been checking his Player Kit for the past ten days in case there was any other communication, urged Hercules to speak quickly if he had something to say.

"I wanted to talk to you about that. If you're not going to get up right away, take a look at the ranking. It has changed drastically this time."

"Well."

The Ranking.

He didn't care much about that really.

Not only at the current moment, but YuWon knew the Rankings up to a much distant future. Moreover, he had already reached a higher Ranking than the current one.

Hercules left the room with an indifferent gesture to YuWon's indifferent reaction.

The reason YuWon took out the Kit had another purpose. His eyes sparkled as he checked the Kit.

'It's there.'

The communication he had been waiting for.

Several messages and calls were stored in the kit.

[Son OhGong: Hey! Hey! Why aren't you responding?]

[Son OhGong: Come to the Celestial Floor immediately. Help!]

[Son OhGong: Help! Help! Hey!]

[...]

All the messages were from Son OhGong. Dozens of urgent messages.

Somehow, it seems he found the Celestial Floor.

But...

"...So, where is that place?"

Among all these messages, there was no information on where the Celestial Floor was.

KO-FI