Leveling with the Gods

The bottom of the tower.

The first floor.

It was a familiar place to descend to from time to time, but today it felt very different.

"Quiet."

The bustling streets were deserted. No one was doing business, no one was going out for drinks.

YuWon asked the few passersby the reason.

"Don't you know the administration is paralyzed?"

"Since Olympus, which administered public order, has become a mess, we are on our own."

"Although Asgard is stepping up, but for the time being... we have to be careful."

"We can only wait until all this calms down."

After asking a few people, the answers were similar.

The absence of administration.

Since the city was under the control of Olympus, various criminals in the Tower had heard the rumors and descended to the ground floor.

"This is screwed."

The absence of Olympus affected the entire Tower.

Like a fox being king on a mountain without a tiger, several criminals descended to the ground floor to rob the empty house.

This chaos may not last long.

A tigerless mountain is destined to have a new owner.

But for now, this place would be quiet.

YuWon walked through the deserted streets to the blacksmith shop.

The forge remained quiet for a long time.

Normally, the sound of a hammer would be heard.

Kki-Ik-.

The door was not locked.

Yu-Won entered the forge.

Stairs led to the basement.

The forge was not as hot as before, though the heat persisted.

"Is anyone there?"

He could feel a presence.

Still, Yu-won asked in case Hephaestus was surprised.

Tak~

"First knock and then come in, you bastard."

An answer came from below the stairs.

He wondered why.

He could take a break from hammering, but he hated it when the forge cooled down.

After descending the stairs, YuWon knocked on the wall with the back of his hand and said:

"I did it, I knocked on the door."

"You... bastard."

Hephaestus sat in his chair.

It was the chair he sometimes rested in from hammering, but for some reason there were two liquor bottles rolling by his side instead of a hammer.

Alcohol.

Something he normally didn't even touch.

"Why are you drinking that when you know it won't get you drunk?"

Rankers drank a special type of alcohol.

It was like poison. For a Ranker whose physical abilities were enhanced by stats, only the highest level of alcohol could make them slightly drunk.

But the alcohol Hephaestus was drinking was low-grade, easily available to lower-level players.

"If I wanted to get drunk, I could buy the best alcohol in the Tower."

"Then why are you drinking that?"

"My house has been destroyed and I couldn't help feeling a little sad."

His house.

YuWon couldn't help but pause for a moment.

As much as they chased him, Olympus was Hephaestus's home.

But Olympus had fallen.

This allowed Hefesto to stop being chased, but he couldn't help feeling a little delighted.

Hefesto left the empty wine bottle on the ground.

Then, he waved his hand at YuWon, who was standing in front of him.

"I'm not blaming you, so don't look at me like that. On the contrary, you did well."

Hefesto stood up from his seat.

His back, which had seemed hunched over for a moment, straightened again.

"Useless metal must be melted down and forged anew. Only then can the work be done."

It was a metaphor befitting a blacksmith.

The outward sadness didn't last long. Inside, he probably needed to fix things for quite some time, but he would overcome it.

YuWon had already seen him do it once.

"What's wrong? You probably didn't come to console me."

"I have a gift for you."

"A gift?"

YuWon searched his inventory.

Hefesto looked puzzled.

Suddenly, the darkness of the extinguished forge was illuminated.

Fazizit-.

"What, what..."

As if he couldn't believe what he was seeing, Hefesto's eyes widened.

"Could this be the Lightning Bolt?"

A round, circular orb.

It was a simple shape, but Hefesto recognized it as the Lightning Bolt as soon as he saw it.

No wonder, since it was Hefesto who created the Lightning Bolt in the first place. At first, the shape was a little different, but Hefesto wasn't a simple enough blacksmith to not recognize the item he had made.

"I knew you'd recognize it."

"Why do you have that?"

"I also participated in the war."

"Yes, you did, but..."

He knew YuWon had fought in the war.

After all, he had been at war with Olympus for a long time, so of course he would be in the center of it.

But one thing was that he was at the center of the war and quite another that he got the Lightning Bolt.

The Lightning Bolt was the symbol of Zeus. Naturally, it was also one of the most valuable spoils of war.

But did YuWon have it?

Unless the Lightning Bolt was lying on the ground somewhere, it meant that YuWon had acquired it himself.

"Although they are up now, when I rise, I will drop them and send them to the bottom."

That was YuWon's answer when asked what he would do with Olympus someday.

They were the same words, but the more he thought about them, the more they seemed to sound true.

'So, was all of that true?'

At the time, he only thought of it as the clever words of a young talent who still didn't know the world.

But this time, he couldn't let his words pass.

"So, is this my gift?"

"It's not the only one."

Jiik-.

YuWon took off the black gloves he was wearing.

Next, he took off his armor and placed it on the ground.

Tuduk-.

Three objects were placed on the ground.

The Lightning Bolt.

Triaina.

And Kyneē.

All of them were items that Hefesto himself had created.

And, at this moment, all three were in the same place.

"This...."

"Does this remind you of anything?"

"Did you know everything and put it together?"

Hephaestus made these three objects.

And the material at the heart of them were the three divine stones, similar yet different.

Hephaestus had secretly been waiting for a day when they would all come together.

"Who the hell are you? What are you planning to do?"

"That's a new question. Unfortunately, I have no words to answer."

"Does this still make sense?"

"Why not, and it's not like it matters now."

Shrugging, Hephaestus hypnotically looked at the three objects that were on the floor and at YuWon.

It didn't matter.

It was true.

He wasn't wrong.

Normally, he would have pried and poked to know more, but he wasn't interested now.

"Can you do it?"

A question that lacked a "do what?"

But Hephaestus immediately knew what YuWon wanted from the question.

"Are you sure...it doesn't matter?"

A treasure exposed before him.

It was impossible for YuWon not to know its value.

If he used them, something big would come out of it.

It wouldn't be enough to think of what item to make for three days and three nights.

No.

"I might fail. Maybe I'll scrap it all."

The object itself might be ruined.

So even if he was greedy as a blacksmith, it was the last thing he wanted to do for someone who already had the object in their hands.

Still...

"It doesn't matter."

YuWon responded without hesitation.

"Please enjoy it to your heart's content, uncle."

Hephaestus's pupils dilated.

It was a familiar situation.

"That way, the item will come out authentic."

The man had come to him with the Divine Crystal of Darkness for him to melt.

Just like the first time he trusted a stranger, YuWon trusted three equally precious objects to Hephaestus again.

There were no traps, schemes, or requirements.

Just to have it in his hands and enjoy it to his heart's content was all he asked for.

"In exchange, do it for free."

"Hehehe..."

Hephaestus laughed.

An absurd and amusing laughter.

His head was still spinning, but more than that, his hands were sweating.

The desire that had always been in his mind, like a dream, appeared before his eyes.

The Lightning Bolt in Zeus's hand, and the two stones that looked like it, now lay before him.

"Oh, yeah, it's fine. As for the points, there's no need, it's all on me."

His tone of voice gradually rose.

The man who, a few moments ago, had been shaken by the fall of Olympus, had found his world again.

"This will take some time. In the meantime, do other things. Go up the tower, rest for a while, whatever you want."

Swish-.

Hephaestus rolled up his sleeves.

"I can't say for certain how long it will take. But I can promise you this..."

Meeting Hephaestus's eyes, YuWon felt as if the cold workshop was warming up.

"I will make you the best object I can, even if it means burning my soul."

Hwareuk-!

The fire in the workshop was reignited.

YuWon quickly became an invisible person.

Hephaestus could no longer see anything but his work. Using his Mana to dissipate any possible intoxication, he went straight to work.

YuWon silently left the workshop.

Making three objects in one.

It's probably not an easy task.

'He will probably fail'.

If that happens, it would be very sad.

The Lightning Bolt, Kyneē and Triaina.

All were recognizable objects in this Tower.

Thinking in that way also churned his stomach.

But after all, Hephaestus was the only one he could trust.

"Well... so be it."

There are countless items in the world. There are few objects that can compare to the Lightning Bolt, but they are not impossible to find.

Although it was a gamble, it was a gamble worth taking.

"How long will it take?"

A month, perhaps.

Maybe it will take years.

The three objects represented an important part of the power that YuWon currently possessed.

Without them, his plans had to be postponed for the time being.

"For now, I have no choice but to climb the Tower again."

A momentary pause.

Now that Olympus had been destroyed, the only thing left to do was to take a break and slowly climb the Tower for the time being.

For now, it was time to rely on the strength of others and not his own.

"That guy..."

As he walked towards the Tower, YuWon thought of Son OhGong, whom he had separated from in the Temple of Ares on the 40th floor.

"I'm sure he's doing well."

This time, Son OhGong had nothing to do with the destruction of Olympus.

By helping in the fight against Athena, Son OhGong's role had ended.

His twelfth alter ego would not be of much help in the fight against Zeus, and he had more important things to do than to help fight.

So YuWon separated from Son OhGong on the 40th floor.

Without access to the upper part of the Tower, YuWon could only climb up to a limited level, so Son OhGong's alter ego had no choice but to ask him for what he needed.

"See you soon."

Kak-.

Floor 51.

The world where the body of Son Oh-gong, the Great Sage Equal to Heaven, was sealed.

Towards that world, YuWon began to climb the Tower again.

"Time to visit my old rival."