Leveling with the Gods

"It's you... the monster living inside him."

Jjoeok-, jjeok-.

Dozens of mouths bared their teeth as if they wanted to threaten the Bull Demon King.

It was a type of monster he had never seen before, and its mere sight instilled instinctive fear in him.

'But it only appeared at the moment its owner was about to die,' he thought.

The Bull Demon King pushed YuWon to the limit to bring out the creature.

And that creature made him feel like he could die at any moment.

In other words, the existence of the Predator that appeared threatened the Bull Demon King, instilling a sense of impending death.

Hiss, hiss-.

Countless mouths drew closer.

The Bull Demon King reached out his hand towards them.

And then...

Bang!

Sharp teeth bit into the Bull Demon King's hand.

A throbbing pain shot through his hand. The Bull Demon King extended his other hand towards it and patted around the mouth.

"I don't want to hurt you."

He turned his head and looked at Danpung.

Instinctively, he realized that this multi-mouthed monster with sharp teeth was the little one in front of him.

"Abba...?"

Danpung shook his head.

He seemed clueless, like a newborn child, but he was anything but.

His purpose was clear: to protect YuWon who lay beneath.

"I'm not trying to fight. I just wanted to confirm it with my own eyes."

"Baah, baah-."

"I'm not sure what you're saying, but..."

Danpung understood what he was saying. But on the other hand, the Bull Demon King couldn't understand him.

The Bull Demon King's gaze shifted to the Predator that had clamped onto his hand and refused to let go.

"If you don't let go, I'll have no choice but to make a move."

Kaaaak-.

Mana flowed into the remaining hand.

At the same time, a fist charged with Arcane Power swung towards the teeth of the Predator biting him.

Tak, tak, tak!

Thud, thud, thud.

The Predator's teeth shattered.

At the same time, countless other teeth began to alert the Bull Demon King.

The hand that pushed through the teeth.

There were clear bite marks on his hand.

"I'm not looking for a fight."

Pulling his scar-filled hand away, the Bull Demon King directed his gaze at Danpung.

"I have no intention of fighting, and I have no intention of losing to someone as young as you."

Those teeth were certainly intimidating.

Hard and sharp enough to cut through one's own body, they could probably chew through anything in this Tower.

But still, the Bull Demon King was confident that he would not be defeated by this thing.

The being before him had barely come out of infancy, let alone being a child.

It never occurred to him that he could lose to such a creature.

Of course not.

"Abaat-?"

Regardless of the Bull Demon King's words, Danpung's response was no different from before.

"I'm frustrated because I can't understand you..."

Turning his head in frustration, the Bull Demon King saw thousands of teeth surrounding him.

They were threatening him.

No, rather, a single being was threatening him.

Its purpose was clear, and it made no sense to fight against it here.

"Let me ask you a question."

The Bull Demon King raised both hands.

The child needed to be spoken to at an appropriate height for his age.

The Bull Demon King raised his right hand.

"Is this guy your master? Or..."

Then, raising his other left hand, the Bull Demon King tried to communicate with the uncommunicative Danpung.

"Is he a prey?"

It had been a long time since he had fallen unconscious.

As if he had fallen into a deep sleep, his consciousness, which had been dormant for a long time, slowly rose.

"That madman."

The Bull Demon King had said it seriously.

As if wanting to say that he couldn't take it anymore, his eyes lit up and he pounced on him.

Two strikes to the head and stomach, and YuWon lost consciousness.

In the last second, he thought he had at least landed a hit, but...

"He didn't even feel it."

He had two contradictory feelings.

"There's still a long way to go."

He had come this far.

Still, he left a scar on the Bull Demon King's body. A scar on the body of a true High Ranker.

An extraordinary achievement.

And then there were doubts.

"He didn't want to kill me."

As he had already regained consciousness, his blurred vision was clearing up, but YuWon almost shouted at the face that appeared in front of him.

"Are you awake?"

"...What's with that reaction?"

The Bull Demon King was sitting on a chair next to the bed, looking at him.

He had placed a damp towel on YuWon's forehead, as if he had been taking care of him all night.

And then...

"Baat-."

Even Danpung was outside.

"You must have been exhausted. You suddenly fainted."

"That's because you..."

YuWon frowned as he sat up.

His head was dizzy and his stomach hurt. Every part of his body was a mess.

In the face of his expression, the Bull Demon King shook his head.

"Don't force yourself to get up, and rest a little longer. Resting is also training."

"I don't think that's something you... should be saying."

"I'm sorry."

His face as kind as the first time.

He couldn't believe that just moments ago he had been looking at him as if he was going to kill him.

What the hell was that reaction?

"Why did you do that?"

"Because of him."

The Bull Demon King's gaze turned to Danpung.

"Abba...?"

Tilting his head, the boy walked up to YuWon's face.

YuWon, who looked at Danpung stretching his cheeks as if he was having fun, asked as if he was bewildered.

"Are you blaming this little one for that?"

"Well, it seems that way on the surface, but..."

On the surface.

The words reminded YuWon of Uranus' words.

-"Does he look small in your eyes?"

In Uranus' eyes, Danpung seemed different.

Maybe, just maybe...

"How does he look to you?"

"This guy?"

The Bull Demon King's gaze turned to Danpung.

Their eyes met, and he thought for a moment before responding.

"He looks like a dumpling."

"A dumpling?"

"He's cute."

It wasn't the answer he expected.

That's when YuWon let out a small sigh of disappointment.

"But there's more to him than meets the eye."

"......?"

"He's quite fierce, especially those teeth."

Woosh-.

The Bull Demon King rolled up his sleeves.

Marks of sharp teeth near his fists.

What the hell had happened?

YuWon's gaze shifted to Danpung, who had grabbed his cheek and wouldn't let go. His eyes asked him what had happened, but YuWon didn't understand what he was referring to.

But...

Even if he knew, he wouldn't be able to understand.

In the end, YuWon couldn't help but feel uneasy and asked the Bull Demon King.

"Was that why you wanted to kill me?"

"If it weren't for that, I wouldn't have come out."

He wasn't wrong.

YuWon remembered the first time Danpung had reacted during their fight against Chryses.

The first fight that had been so intense it had left him unconscious.

In that fight, when he was still an Egg, he had first revealed the Predator inside him.

It only showed itself when he was in danger of death.

'The Predator didn't appear until it was time to fight the Outer Gods. The same goes for Danpung...'

But the fact that such a guy had appeared in the fight against the Bull Demon King.

"Are you saying you won't let me die?"

YuWon's feelings became complicated as he looked at Danpung stretching his cheeks.

He remembered the Predator that had shown its teeth for the first time.

Did he really consider himself as his master, or did he see him as prey?

It wasn't easy to know, which is why he had been debating whether to break the Egg or not since Danpung was inside it.

By now, it had already hatched.

If he thought of him as prey rather than his master, he was literally holding a time bomb that could explode at any moment.

"I needed to make sure. If it's a power that's not suitable to have, I'll have to cut it off."

"Baat, ba, baba-!"

Upon hearing those words, Danpung glared at the Bull Demon King and shouted something.

Apparently, the word "cut off" was quite offensive.

But the Bull Demon King didn't mind and asked YuWon.

"What do you think?"

YuWon knew more about the Predator, at least more than the Bull Demon King.

They had been together for some time now, and he was getting to know Danpung a little better.

And as time went by, YuWon became convinced.

It was clear that it was a dangerous power to possess.

But still, he needed it.

"High risk, high reward. That's exactly what I'm looking for."

YuWon didn't have much time.

He didn't know what would happen in his limited time, nor what fate awaited this World.

He had seen it all, experienced it all, and what may have seemed like a long and vague period of time for others was too short and clear for him.

That's why YuWon needed Danpung.

A monster that devoured the Outer Gods.

The natural enemy of the Outer Gods.

And the power to eat them and grow stronger.

Danpung's presence gave YuWon hope.

"...Really?"

After pondering YuWon's response for a moment, the Bull Demon King nodded.

"It's yours, so I won't bother you anymore. I won't force you. Who knows, maybe it'll save your life a few times."

Kirik-.

The Bull Demon King stood up from his seat.

"Leave when you feel better. It'll be hard for you to move now."

"Do you have anything else to do?"

"Aren't we going to rescue the youngest once my body is fully healed?"

As he approached the doorknob to leave, the Bull Demon King turned around.

"We don't have much power right now. The strongest power here is me, and then the alter egos of the youngest."

He was right.

Most of the power was currently focused on the Bull Demon King. As powerful as Son OhGong's alter egos might be, they were no match for a single Bull Demon King.

They still lacked a lot of power.

Knowing that, YuWon could only nod.

"And you."

"Are you referring to me?"

"The more power you can replenish in the remaining time, the better. And it will be you, the Player who is not yet a Ranker, who will see the best short-term results."

"That's right, that's right."

YuWon looked up at the voice he heard from above.

"Honestly, it's true, isn't it? You're the weakest among us."

Since when?

Son OhGong floated on a cloud above YuWon's head, floating in a semi-reclining position.

"It's not even a bunk bed."

YuWon sighed.

The Bull Demon King and Son OhGong's first alter ego.

They were good enough people to help.

"That's a lot of progress in a short period of time...."

YuWon stared at Son OhGong's alter ego.

"It's not like there's no path."

Still, the plan after reaching the 50th floor wasn't just to rescue Son OhGong.

It was to rescue the Bull Demon King, rescue Son OhGong.

Fight against the Celestial Realm.

And...

"These eyes."

Hwaryuk-.

YuWon's eyes turned red.

[The 'Cinder Eyes' resonate]

Within those pupils, Son OhGong's right eye shone with a golden color.

"It's still only halfway, isn't it?"