Read Level Up with the Gods :: Chapter 8

Level Up with the Gods
Chapter 8

The manager was silent for a while, but soon he started to laugh. “That is not wrong,” he said, still laughing.

The manager stroked his beard before bending over until he was eye level with Yuwon.

“You’re probably the first person to kill the messenger in tutorial no.2. Hah, wow. I’ve never had this happen.”

The manager laughed another strange laugh. He must have been feeling speechless after realizing what just happened.

But Yuwon was right. The manager had accepted his request for a private meeting, learned the messenger’s secret, and then killed the messenger with his own hands.

Just as Yuwon had wanted.

“It might not be at your own hands, but it is indeed an impressive achievement.”

The death of a messenger normally couldn’t happen. They managed the tutorials on behalf of the managers, and that gave them a level of strength normal tutorial participants couldn’t challenge. They were on par with a tower’s ranker.

But Yuwon’s plan had worked.

“Thank you.”

“So, what do you want? It looks like you already received a lot of points. Let’s see. What would be a good reward...?”

The manager trailed off and fell silent while he thought over what was sufficient for such an unprecedented event.

About five minutes passed.

The manager, who had sat on the floor at some point, stood and slapped his knee.

“Yes. That should be enough.” The manager extended his palm to Yuwon. Handshakes were a common method of point exchanges in tutorials and in the tower.

Managers didn’t need to shake hands for that, though.

When they did it, it applied to skills.

Why is he...?

Not knowing what that meant, Yuwon grabbed his hand.

That moment...

[You obtained Lord of Mana.]

[Your mana recovery increased by a small amount.]

[Your mana resistance increased by a small amount.]

[Your mana sensitivity increased by a small amount.]

[Your MP increased by 5.]

Along with the messages that appeared one after another, Yuwon’s body suddenly glowed blue for a moment.

Huh...?

Yuwon’s eyes opened wide.

The manager laughed at Yuwon’s surprise. “I’ll see you when tutorial no.3 is over. I should go punish my underlings now.”

Once again, the subway station shook heavily.

The manager vanished in the same rippling space he had arrived in. Yuwon stared after him for a while and checked his new skill just in case.

[Mana Essence]

<Rank: S+>

<Proficiency: 0.00%>

Not only was it a rank S+ skill, but it was also one of the mighty powers only a manager would possess.

“How could this appear in a tutorial?” He would’ve been satisfied if he had received an A-rank skill or item.

But even Yuwon had never heard of this type of skill.

Control over mana...?

Mana was everything.

Hence, the ability to control mana was the biggest factor that divided the strong and weak.

He could now control that mana.

“I won’t be able to use it properly yet, though.”

He hadn’t used this type of skill before, even if he knew the theory. It wasn't very remarkable on its own, but it was very compatible with other skills and enhanced overall power. Exactly how useful it was depended on proficiency.

Should I thank Olympus or something...?

Above his palm, a blue ball formed, crackling with power.

The ball kept changing shape, unable to stay smooth and stable. It was evidence that he couldn’t yet properly condense mana.

A mana bomb in tutorial no.2...

Yuwon looked at the mana bomb above his palm. Although it wasn’t properly formed, it was unmistakable. And Yuwon only had twenty-six mana points.

Mana Bombs usually required over forty mana points and a lot more control. His bomb may be unstable, but he was still able to form one.

It would’ve been impossible if it wasn’t for the enhancing effect of Lord of Mana.

Finally, the unstable mana bomb formed on Yuwon’s palm exploded. The power of the bomb scattered everywhere, creating dents on the floor.

Yuwon closed his fist.

“This is pretty good.”

Yuwon’s goal wasn’t to simply pass the tutorials. It wasn’t to become a ranker and gain wealth and power in the tower, either.

This still isn’t enough.

The outer gods embodied the term “almighty” more than anything else.

In order to fight them, regaining his previous power and redoing what he had done wasn’t going to be enough.

It would require many more cards than this.

A lot more.

***

About fourteen hours remained until the end of tutorial no.2.

Yuwon continued to hunt.

Earth worms were scattered throughout the building basements beyond just the subway station.

Yuwon hunted them, exploring various basements.

Earth worms were the only monsters that appeared in tutorial no.2. Finally, he checked his stats close to the end.

[Name: Yuwon Kim]

[Level: 26]

[Strength: 33]

[Agility: 29]

[HP: 30]

[Perception: 26]

[MP: 30]

[Points Available: 10,027]

[Bonus Stat Points: 0]

Yuwon had reached level 21 after killing the mam worm, and he gained five more levels in the thirteen hours after that.

Earth worms alone won’t cut it anymore.

Level 26.

In tutorials, the stronger and more difficult opponents one defeated, the greater rewards they got.

Since he was hunting a much weaker monster than himself, it made sense that he was leveling up much slower.

Well, since tutorial no.2 is almost over...

Yuwon decided to go back up to the surface with one hour left. There would be another reward issued in the safety zone when it ended. He didn't want to risk missing the reward if he was outside of the zone.

Yuwon left the basement, heading to the ground level.

He’d been hunting all day, so it was evening again.

“Wait, what’s that?” he asked.

Inside the safety zone, which was no longer shrinking, people were divided into two large groups, and they were shouting about something.

“So let’s just try waiting a little longer! The government’s bound to do something, especially when it’s Hongdae! If we wait one more day, I’m sure—”

“Shut up! The world has changed. Not only in Hongdae, but everywhere!”

“H-how do you know that?”

“Haven’t you been listening to what they’ve been saying? They numbered this area! Do you think it’s isolated to here?”

“Even if that’s the case, the time’s almost up! Is this really necessary?”

“If this is named no.2, then there must be a no.3 and no.4. Do you think the next one will be safer? What if this safety zone disappears? Then it could become so dangerous that we might not even be able to get food!”

“So form a group to go get food. Who’s going? We don’t have time!”

People were fighting. They’d divided into two groups: one that accepted this world, and one that couldn’t.

They were separated into relatively weaker and stronger groups.

Those who accepted it wanted to secure supplies from various convenience stores and restaurants while avoiding the earth worms.

“Don’t feel like it’s too unfair. We were all gonna die anyway, but many can live now.”

“Wh-what do you mean?! We should all live together!”

“If we stay like this, we’ll end up all dying together!”

Some even looked close, as if they’d formed their own groups and teams within them.

I can tell why that’s happening.

People were packed shoulder to shoulder inside the vast safety zone.

Too many had survived the Zombies and competition of the first two tutorials.

Those who will die will die.

Those who will survive will survive.

That was the nature of the tutorials, and that didn’t change in the tower.

“Wait, huh?! Look!”

“A human?”

“Isn’t that a human over there?”

They had finally seen Yuwon approaching with his backpack, and he took in the mix of surprise and worry on their faces.

No earth worms came to try to attack him, possibly because of how many he had killed, and he made it almost entirely to the zone before something finally squirmed under his foot.

I knew it.

There were still some earth worms left.

Some onlookers noticed it as well and started to shout warnings moments before they burst from the ground to attack Yuwon.

But the number of earth worms he had killed had already gone over four digits.

Stomping this earth worm at the right time wasn’t that difficult, even though it was a surprise attack.

Thanks to his strength stat of thirty-three, he didn’t even need weapons to get through them.

All eyes were on Yuwon. He glanced up, checking how much time was left.

[Time Remaining: 00 : 05 : 12]

“Keep talking. Don’t mind me,” he said.