Read Level Up with the Gods :: Chapter 6

Level Up with the Gods
Chapter 6

Upon the messenger’s appearance, Yuwon shrugged his shoulders.

“I stand out, don’t I? It must be boring to watch other people.”

In the safety zone, the only special event was the massacre happening every three hours. Although that would be interesting to watch for a messenger, Yuwon would have been an even more interesting subject.

“Well, yes. Thanks. You’ve made my work less boring. But you reached level 20 already!”

“I was lucky.”

“Lucky...? People who talk like that are the scariest.”

The messenger giggled. Among the entire tutorial process, tutorial no.2 was the most boring mission from its perspective.

“So, what did you call me for?”

“Store.”

“Aha! Do you want to purchase items?”

“No.” Yuwon shook his head. “I want to buy skills.”

“Skills?” The messenger looked surprised, but it smiled and opened the store.

“You’re probably the first person to ever buy skills in tutorial no.2.”

“Skills” referred to numerous powers that existed in the Tower.

Unlocking mana was the minimum condition to use those skills, and reaching level 20 was the minimum to unlock mana. A list of items appeared in front of Yuwon.

There were all kinds of things in the store.

The most basic items were cheap weapons and equipment worth roughly 100 to 200 points.

The only things that could be called proper items were over 500 points.

Here they are.

After scrolling through, skills started appearing.

They were a minimum of 1,000 points.

The most expensive skills went all the way up to 100,000 points.

“Is this all? Are there more?”

“Those are the only skills you can get in the tutorial levels. Why? Are you looking for something particular?”

“No. Not really.”

He would stand out too much if he revealed he knew all the items in the tower.

No good would come from catching a messenger’s eye. If they found out he knew so much information about the tutorial and tower, the difficulty level of the tutorial itself could change.

“...I’ll get this one.”

Yuwon selected a skill.

[You used 2,000 points.]

[You obtained Eyes of the Monkey.]

[Points Available: 1,527]

Yuwon’s eyes turned yellow.

The messenger looked confused. “Eyes of the Monkey? That’s not that great of a skill.”

“It has a cool name.”

“Hmm…” The messenger looked strangely disappointed.

It was understandable. The skill didn’t actually have a cool name, and it really didn’t have much of an effect either.

More than anything, it was too difficult for a tutorial participant who had yet to enter the tower to use.

Yuwon selected another skill.

[You used 1,500 points.]

[You obtained a Low-level Mana Sword.]

[Points Available: 27]

The messenger nodded.

“Decent choice. Low-level Mana Sword is a useful skill that offers you attacking power that tutorial participants typically lack.”

That was the reason Yuwon picked the skill. It’s also affordable. He didn’t use the remaining points.

When Yuwon turned around, the messenger smiled.

“Have a good time. I’m very much looking forward to your performance.”

Yuwon stopped for a moment. Knowing what that meant, Yuwon looked in the direction the messenger disappeared.

A subject that requires special treatment.

Anyone who demonstrated remarkable performance during tutorials was watched closely for cheating.

It wouldn’t matter.

What made it possible for Yuwon to come this far in tutorial no.2 was his abilities.

They wouldn’t find a connection with the tower, rankers, or corrupt messengers.

If there was one thing they might find, it would be that he returned to the past.

Traveling back in time was a very big advantage.

Anyone with prior knowledge, information, and experience regarding the future would find tutorials easy.

But he didn’t have to worry.

There’s no way a manager would find out.

The Clockwork was an item that Kronos, Mimir, and Odin created.

They fought against the Outer Gods that led the tower to destruction.

Besides, Kronos, the main figure who made the item, didn’t even exist at this point due to the penalty of Clockwork.

Even a skilled manager wouldn’t be able to notice the existence of the item.

Yuwon took in a deep breath.

Mana points and two skills—the minimum conditions he had to obtain in tutorial no.2 had been fulfilled.

[Eyes of the Monkey]

<Rank: F>

<Proficiency: 0.00%>

[Low-level Mana Sword]

<Rank: F>

<Proficiency: 0.00%>

Both skills had simple descriptions.

Mana Sword was a pretty useful skill to use during the tutorial and on the lower floors of the tower, and the description made that obvious.

But he couldn’t figure out Eyes of the Monkey from the description.

“Who else would buy this?”

Even to Yuwon, 2,000 points was expensive. But he’d still picked it.

Yuwon tried activating the skill. His senses expanded, and his field of vision widened.

Everything, including sound, physical presence, and the air on his skin, felt different.

The more skills, the better.

There were no bad skills to have.

But this doesn’t justify its price.

He didn’t have any choice.

He just had to keep using this skill to raise its proficiency.

So this is what he sees.

Yuwon checked the remaining time. There were about thirty minutes left until the orange safety zone disappeared next.

There’s enough time.

After regaining some of the mana that he had lost, his body felt as light as a feather.

Although it was nothing compared to what he’d had before, the difference between not having it and having a little was clear.

As he moved further into the station, there were other earth worms—–many more than before. It was like he was looking at their nest.

A faint blue light appeared above the pocket knife in his hand with a strange sound, signaling the activation of Mana Sword.

Yuwon walked through the earth worms. The entire place was covered.

“I knew you’d be here.”

There stood a vast worm much larger than any of the other earth worms. Her body’s width was easily six feet across, and she looked longer than thirty. She was eating a human body, the loud noise of her feeding echoing.

It was the mam worm.

The mam worm laid countless eggs that hatched into the smaller earth worms that worked to bring her food. This was the boss of both the dungeon and tutorial no.2.

All the nearby earth worms screamed at Yuwon when they noticed him.

There were roughly three hundred of them in squirming piles.

I don’t have time to kill all these.

Yuwon jumped. As he landed, he sliced the earth worms and ran toward the mam worm at the same time.

The pocket knife wrapped in mana sliced through the earth worms rushing toward him.

Fortunately, the mam worm was quite protective of hertheir children. HerIts huge body moved forward, shrieking as sheit thrashed.

She didn’t take care to spare her children as she attacked in a rage. Yuwon chuckled while killing them.

“I can tell she’s a little dense.”

But herits speed as sheit approached was beyond ordinary.

The mam worm writhed aggressively as she bared her teeth at Yuwon.

A chilling sound came along as her teeth clashed against each other.

Her teeth closed on empty air. In her moment of confusion, Yuwon attacked, striking the side of her head.

The mam worm screamed.

“Thanks for coming to me first.”

Yuwon alternated between his axe and pocket knife to stab her. As if he were climbing a mountain, Yuwon quickly latched onto the mam worm’s body.

Realizing that Yuwon was on her body, she immediately thrashed before rolling and exposing her belly.

Without a moment’s hesitation, he stabbed her with his pocket knife immediately. Blood gushed out of the monster’s split flesh.

The blue light above the pocket knife and axe gleamed brightly as he raised both blades to strike her stomach again, slicing it open. She cried out in pain again.

The mam worm lashed out and tried to bite him again, but with his mana-covered axe, Yuwon split open her head.

***

[Time Remaining: 00 : 01 : 12]

There was not much time left.

Myeonghoon saw the old man he had thrown outside.

Fuck. I had no choice.

He still had a conscience, though, and it stirred as he looked at the old man he had selected to die.

“He-help, please...!”

“This isn’t right! You know he’s going to die!”

As the time counted down, the other people who had been dragged out also shouted in resentment.

Myeonghoon bit his lip before shouting, “Shut up!”

His chilling glare made people trying to sneak in flinch.

“Let’s not do this, all right? We promised! And everyone agreed,” Myeonghoon Kim said as he extended the knife he bought for 100 points from the store.

“Who agreed to this?!”

“Yeah! We—”

“Most people! Everyone else besides you guys!”

Myeonghoon gestured at them with his knife.

A man who was trying to enter the yellow zone flinched and backed off.

“If you come inside, we’ll kill you. Got it?”

Everyone who stood safely in the yellow zone nodded their heads.

It came down to one of two choices: either they go across the yellow line and get killed by people, or stay outside and get killed by monsters.

[00 : 00 : 30]

The old man closed his eyes.

He knew the monsters would rise from the ground to eat him.

Earth worms began to appear outside the orange safety zone with fifteen seconds to go.