Leveling with the Gods
Chapter 104
“You’ll become a target of Olympus after getting the Divine Sea Crystal.”
The first one to talk about it was Odin.
He was a man of few words, but it looked like he couldn’t afford to spare words this time. That was just how much of a double-edged sword the 「Divine Sea Crystal」 was.
“It’s definitely a great item, and it’s an item that must never fall into Olympus’s hands… but the storm that will come after taking it won’t be small either.”
“Maybe it would be better to give up the Divine Sea Crystal and buy some time?”
“Take the safe route? That’s not a bad plan if you want everything to fail.”
The opinions were split in two—the ones that said it was still too dangerous to openly oppose Poseidon at that point, and the ones who said choosing safety wouldn’t change the outcome.
In a sense, since YuWon sought out Hephaestus early on, he was in conflict with Olympus, but until this point, the majority’s opinion was “It’s dangerous.”
However…
“You won’t have to worry about that.”
The one who knew more about the internal affairs of Olympus than anyone else spoke.
“My uncle won’t be able to move that actively.”
“Do you know something?”
Hearing Odin’s question, Hercules nodded.
“The three main bloodlines of Olympus were from a single family, but their relationship with each other wasn’t that good. Especially between my father and Uncle Poseidon.”
“Isn’t that another already famous story?”
“Even more so than the famous story.”
After hearing Hercules’s words, everyone gathered around in silence with shining eyes. It was for the joy of hearing a story never told before.
“Between the three stones, my father got the Divine Sky Crystal, and after making the Lightning Bolt, over half the authority in Olympus became his.”
Everyone knew the story up to this point. The power of the 「Lightning Bolt」 increased Zeus’s power many times over, and because of that, Zeus was able to become the King of Olympus acknowledged by everyone.
“After that, my father had an epiphany, that the Divine Dark Crystal and the Divine Sea Crystal couldn’t fall into the hands of my uncles.”
“So what you’re saying is that Zeus didn’t want Poseidon to obtain the Divine Sea Crystal?”
“Yes.”
“Then on the other hand, what’s the chance that Zeus would aim for the Divine Sea Crystal?”
“My father can’t afford to move that much. If it’s in the hands of some random player and not Poseidon, he won’t be able to move since he has to keep wearing the crown.”
“…Is that so?”
In reality, after becoming the King of Olympus and the end of the Gigantomachy, Zeus had stopped most of his activities.
In addition, if the King of Olympus started moving, the other big guilds would also start to move. And if they were to believe what Hercules said, that meant that unless Poseidon had the Stone, Zeus wouldn’t personally move against a random player.
“Well, back in those days, even I paid attention to what Zeus did.”
Odin, the head of the main rival guild to Olympus, Asgard, also knew this well.
Zeus couldn’t afford to let his attention wander beyond Olympus, which meant that if the 「Divine Sea Crystal」 was outside Olympus, all Zeus could do was stop Poseidon from getting it as well.
“Then the answer is obvious.”
An outline had started to form.
“Since we can’t give up the Divine Sea Crystal, we can only make Zeus and Poseidon fight themselves.”
* * *
“Why isn’t it possible!”
Rumble—
The enormous temple shook. The ground rumbled as if there was an earthquake, and the air grew heavy.
His third son, Orion, who came after hearing the news, answered while kneeling on one knee.
“It may be to ban further skirmishes with the Giants and…”
Orion couldn’t continue speaking because of the goosebumps that started to appear on his back. He felt that if he spoke one more word, his entire body would be ripped apart by the existence in front of him.
‘Why the hell did I have to get the short stick?’
The news had to be relayed by someone, and the man who had to receive it was someone who had hair more like the ocean than the ocean itself.
He was one of the three main gods of Olympus, the God of the Sea, Poseidon.
“It is not against the Giants but just a mere player,” Poseidon said.
“The Ruler of the Skies doesn’t think that little of this incident.”
The Ruler of the Skies. Among the names given to the great High-Rankers of Olympus, that was the greatest name. It was a name given to signify that none should dare to speak his real name so easily.
Poseidon, the Ruler of the Seas, was enraged by what he heard.
“He just dislikes the idea of me obtaining the Stone of the Sea!”
Bang—!
Crunch—!
The small table was broken into pieces as his fist struck down on it, and Poseidon’s face grew red with anger as he glared at Orion.
“What are your thoughts? Zeus, that bastard is scheming, isn’t he?”
“How dare I give my thoughts on…”
Orion was stuck in a difficult position. No matter which side he took, either would bring him trouble. There were thousands of eyes and ears in the temple, and the moment he answered wrong, Zeus would end up hearing what he said.
“You damn bastard…”
Poseidon thought of Zeus’s face and ground his teeth.
They said they were brothers under one family, but they were quite distant from each other. This was even more evident after Zeus became King of Olympus.
After he obtained the 「Divine Sky Crystal」 and then got Hephaestus to make the 「Lightning Bolt,」 Zeus’s strength far exceeded Poseidon’s and Hades’s, and the balance between the three main gods was broken.
“Thank you for letting me speak, but I feel the message also means that you mustn’t further attack a player who isn’t even a Ranker.”
“And how long ago did he grind his teeth saying that guy interfered with capturing Hephaestus?”
“Th-That is true.”
“That rat dog bastard!”
Poseidon continued to publicly curse Zeus as he destroyed more furniture. The Rankers inside the temple could only pray that Poseidon’s anger wouldn’t reach them.
After destroying even more furnishings, Poseidon’s anger slowly subsided. Only then did he start to organize his thoughts, and he could see why Zeus would make such a decision.
‘He chose practical interest rather than an easy revenge. As expected of Zeus.’
Zeus’s personality was always like this. He put more importance on practical benefits than emotions.
This was the reason that, even though he was Zeus’s brother, Poseidon was secretly afraid of him. If nothing else, it was because of his personality that made Poseidon think he wouldn’t be surprised if no blood even flowed inside Zeus.
‘No matter how much talent that Kim YuWon has, he’s still only a player. It would still take hundreds and thousands of years until he has enough power to match me.’
It was only natural for the great tree in front of him to be of higher priority than the little sapling. By giving up the small prey called YuWon, Zeus had made up his mind to keep Poseidon in check.
Flap—
After getting up in his rage, Poseidon finally sat back down in his seat.
“So is that where the justification is…”
The reason that Zeus was always able to openly keep him in check was because he always had ‘justification.’ He had also always been an advocate for the Laws of the Tower, the set of rules that many Administrators and big guilds formed together. On top of that, he even combined it with Olympus’s internal rule where one was banned from clashing with the Giants.
“Looks like I’ll have to practice some self-restraint for a while.”
He smiled at the baffling situation.
Through this incident, Poseidon ended up losing a lot of things. The opportunity to find the 「Stone of the Sea」 that he so desired, the justification to move and use Rankers, and the rights to do so. He ended up losing all of them.
* * *
Translator – Jreaming
Proofreader – BringTheRayn
* * *
YuWon opened his eyes.
After the rowdy party ended and after exchanging some light final greetings without any big farewells, he ended up climbing to the 21st Floor.
He felt as if he had slept for two days straight. This was a sign that his body’s condition had deteriorated that much, and it was also from the aftereffects of pushing 「Kyneē」 past his limits.
‘I can’t overuse it.’
His torn and broken hand had recovered, and his creaking body was refreshed. In the end, nothing beat a good night’s sleep for recovery.
Creak, crack—
After sitting for a bit, dazedly looking at the ceiling, YuWon began stretching his body. He relaxed his stiff joints and drew up an image in his head.
‘It was my loss in the fight against Theseus.’
Theseus was a High-Ranker. From the beginning, he wasn’t someone YuWon could clash with right now. It was mostly because the difference in stats and levels was too big.
He could still clearly remember the spearpoint that cornered him without using any mana.
‘If I didn’t use Sensory Field and Cinder Eyes, I wouldn’t have been able to take all his attacks.’
YuWon recognized just where his skills and abilities were.
‘My luck was good as well.’
He had used the 「Divine Sea Crystal」 to nullify Theseus’s Arcane Power, but he couldn’t use it for a long time. On top of that, if Theseus had recognized that his mana was only nullified in relation to ‘water’ a little earlier, the situation would’ve become much worse.
Of course, YuWon had also been in an exhausted state where he wasn’t able to use 「Kyneē」 at all…
‘Even if we fought at full power, I still wouldn’t be able to win.’
Even though he had an enormous advantage because of the 「Divine Sea Crystal,」 the outcome of the battle would still have been the same.
However, YuWon didn’t let it discourage him. Rather, as YuWon envisioned his fight with Theseus in his head, his eyes became brighter.
‘Yet.’
The fight would be doable in a sooner time frame than expected. He already had this much power at the 20th Floor.
YuWon wasn’t an idiot who didn’t even know how much power he had, but he could never be sure. That was why when the opportunity presented itself, he had clashed with Theseus. And through that fight, a new sense of assurance was born.
‘I’ve reached here already.’
Originally, he had planned to get to this point in three years minimum, five years maximum.
If others were to hear that, they would still feel it was an impossibly short time to get so strong. Because originally, a Ranker was an existence that would take anywhere from a few hundred to a few thousand years to be created.
However, YuWon currently possessed power that could rival a Ranker’s even though he wasn’t one right now. Past the point of putting up sails in a gentle wind, he felt as if he could fly through a thunderstorm.
‘Now, the 21st Floor.’
He had practically cleared the lower floors at this point. He had obtained power and most of the important items and skills he needed to get through tests.
With this much, he was confident.
“Looks like I’ll be able to run a little faster.”
As he had now obtained the 「Divine Sea Crystal,」 time was on his side since Zeus and Poseidon wouldn’t be able to move for a while, keeping each other in check.
‘Should I take the test now, or should I level up like I decided on the 20th Floor?’
It didn’t take long for YuWon to come to a conclusion. After obtaining the 「Divine Sea Crystal,」 the things he had to do were already decided.
“I’ll be seeing him for the first time in a while.”
After getting up from his seat, YuWon pulled out his player kit and started to write a letter immediately.
“Ahjussi.”
* * *
Time passed.
News of the incident that happened on the 20th Floor quickly spread throughout the Tower.
The 「Stone of the Sea,」 the item the God of the Sea and King of the Oceans, Poseidon, was looking so long for. And the rumor said that the one who obtained it was no Ranker but a player none other than Kim YuWon.
“I thought he was just a little chick, but isn’t he quite the funny guy?”
The white-furred monkey heard this and laughed out loud, “Those fools of Olympus will feel pretty bad ’cause of this.”
And the King of Asgard was also smiling at the first good news he had heard in a while.
“When the opportunity arises…”
The Battle God of Three Heads and Six Arms ignited his fighting spirit at anticipating a future opponent.
Kim YuWon. The player who had obtained the 「Stone of the Sea.」
His story had started to spread secretly among the High-Rankers related to Olympus.
