Leveling with the Gods

The gate to cross over into the 4th Tutorial disappeared. And it wasn’t just that. The horde of monsters also disappeared, and the bizarre plants that wrapped around the buildings vanished as buildings returned back to their original layout.

There were also some things that didn’t change, such as the huge, invisible barrier that divided the sectors. But the biggest change was the sky. 

“Long time no see.”

The sky turned scarlet, and the temperature suddenly spiked. Luckily, YuWon didn’t feel too hot. 

YuWon checked the effects of the item he was wearing.

[Pyromancy Robe]

ᗌ A robe enchanted with ancient magic. It’s made from a special material.

ᗌ Does not burn.

ᗌ Strong resistance to fire attributes.

It didn’t have a lengthy description. It was pretty bare-bones for a 60K point item. 

‘A strong resistance, huh…’

However, anyone that knew how to properly read an item’s description would never deem this item ‘bare-boned.’

‘It’s not a bad item.’

Countless items existed within the Tower. It was impossible to fathom the wide variety, and among the myriad of items, only a few had their names well known. This was because while there were many different items, there weren’t many that had their values properly appraised. And YuWon had already seen many of the best items that existed. 

The 「Pyromancy Robe」 of course couldn’t hold a candle to the best items, but it had “strong resistance” against a specific attribute in its description. It should work as a pretty good defensive item against fire even in the Tower. 

‘It’s definitely overkill to use it in the Tutorial.’

Protection from hot weather would be a piece of cake for the robe. Needless to say, it was only YuWon who was receiving protection from the hot weather. 

“Why is it so hot?!”

“I-Is this the end of days?”

“Please save me! Please!”

YuWon could hear screaming and crying in the distance. He turned his head towards the noise. 

‘So there are only three survivors…’

He could only hear and feel the presence of three people. The reason why those three were left behind is probably because all their essence combined totaled less than 50. They might have even surrendered their essence to someone else in order to avoid being murdered. 

YuWon started walking towards them. He couldn’t feel the heat, but he could still tell that this place was getting progressively hotter.

“Y-You’re!”

“Why haven’t you crossed over…?”

The three people were confused to see YuWon. No one could have expected YuWon of all people to fail the Tutorial. How could they? He was skilled enough to amass over a thousand essence, far more than the required 50. 

YuWon glanced over their expressions. They looked as if they wanted something from YuWon. Did they want him to save them? But that was a pointless request. They were already drenched in sweat, their bodies unable to handle the heat. 

‘It looks like they’re barely any different from normal people.’

Though it was a scorching 60°C,* this much heat should have been manageable if they had raised their Constitution even a little bit. Yet they were sweating bullets, looking like they were about to faint at any moment, signifying that their Constitution stat was not even 15. 

*PR/N: 140°F

There was a reason why they were the ones to be eliminated. 

“… So it’s begun.”

YuWon looked up at the sky. It had turned a bright ruby red. The air wasn’t getting any hotter, but the Annihilation had already started. 

Gguuu, ggguuuuuh—

The earth shook, and the weather got as hot as it possibly could. 

“It’s so hot!”

“The ground is…!”

Kkk-crack—

The ground split apart and flames rose from the cracks.

Fwoosh—

“Ahhhhh!”

“I-It burns!”

Heatwaves continued to spew out of the ground until one man finally caught fire. And not longer after, the lady next to him also caught on fire. 

“P-Please save me!”

“I’m begging you! Please!”

They reached out their hands towards YuWon. 

YuWon thought about the ice crystals in his inventory. Would these three be able to live if he used the ice crystals to help them?

He didn’t get to be lost in thought for too long. 

Flash—

Crackle, crackle—

The flames that were rising from the ground weren’t all that big, but it was more than what normal people could handle, and the fire swallowed them up in an instant. 

YuWon shook his head and looked away. The world that had changed in a flash was laid out before his eyes. 

Everything was on fire with nowhere to escape. However, this world wouldn’t call it an “Annihilation” over some fire and brimstone. 

[‘ANNIHILATION – THE 176TH GIANT’ WILL NOW BEGIN.]

Kkk-crack, crack—

Whoosh—

A long, skinny hand shot out from the fissure in the ground. The hand was on fire, the flesh melting right off of it. The owner of the hand climbed out of the ground with great difficulty. 

Rattle, rattle—

It was a moving skeleton with almost no flesh. It wore clothes made of flames and held a torch in one hand. It was a trash-class Demon, a Skull. 

It wasn’t alone. 

Rattle, rattle—

Coupled with flames, thin bones continued to pop out of the divided earth. Hundreds and thousands of Skulls made their appearance. 

“… Yeesh. There sure are a lot,” YuWon mumbled at the size of the horde. 

Trash-class Demons were creatures that barely even qualified as Demons. Technically, they were more like servants of Demons, which is why they were called trash-class. 

Demons were one of the ruling races of the Tower, along with Gods, Giants, and Dragons. Such beings appearing in the Tutorial was illogical. That’s why it was called an “Annihilation.”

[The Low-Class Demon – Suruhtra has appeared.]

Ggguuuuuuh—

The ground rumbled, and all the Skulls stopped in their tracks, looked in the direction of an unknown something, and bowed their heads to it. 

That could only signify one thing.

‘It really appeared.’

One might be unimpressed because it was called ‘low-class,’ but a Demon was still a Demon. And if it really was the 176th Giant that YuWon remembered, it should be more than capable of easily slaying a Dragon Hatchling. 

“It wasn’t this small during Ragnarök.”

Thud—

A gigantic hand surfaced from the magma-like subterranean fire. 

YuWon smiled as he greeted the creature that changed the landscape into hell with its appearance.

“So we meet here, Suruhtra.”

Suruhtra was Surtr’s 176th child. The first time YuWon met Suruhtra was during the “Annihilation Mythology,” Ragnarök. 

Surtr was one of the key members behind the annihilation of Asgard. Surtr had hundreds of children. Some of them were born as Giants but lived their lives as humans while some climbed the Tower and became Rankers. Suruhtra was one of the Surtr’s children that was a Giant that turned into a low-class Demon. 

During Ragnarök, Suruhtra was as big as a mountain, yet…

‘He’s only about as big as a house right now.’

Fwooosh—

With a skull face and a magma-red body, Suruhtra wielded a giant flaming sword. It looked up at the sky with great pride and arrogance. Suruhtra was the ‘Annihilation’ that had descended on this Tutorial sector.

* * *

“ᐷ And so another world is swallowed up by the Tower.”

Suruhtra appeared to be deep in contemplation. The fiery words it spoke were laced with all sorts of strong emotions like anger, resentment, and hatred. 

Being the 176th child, it was among the weaker children of Surtr, but in terms of appearance, it resembled Surtr the most. 

“ᐷ A world doomed to burn and vanish should have never been born…”

“Hey, Suruhtra.” 

Suruhtra’s head turned. 

Compared to the giant, YuWon looked as small as a mouse. 

Unhappy its brooding was interrupted, Suruhtra glared down at YuWon. 

“Are you going through menopause? Why are you so emotional when you’re only the 176th child? Now stop being so moody, and let’s get started.”

“ᐷ You…”

Suruhtra lowered its head and looked at YuWon. Upon taking a close look, surprise dawned on its face. 

“ᐷ You have the same eyes as him.”

YuWon immediately knew who Suruhtra meant by “him” because YuWon currently had the eyes of “The Monkey from Mount Huaguo.”

Suruhtra’s put on a devilish smile. It was likely reminiscing an old memory.

“ᐷ I wonder. Will you also be able to escape from here?”

Guuuuuh—

The ground rose up, forming a giant, flaming chair. Suruhtra had used magic to create a throne so it could sit and look down at YuWon fighting. 

Once the Demon sat down on its high resting place, it raised its flaming sword up high. 

Fuuuuuuh—

Rattle, rattle, rattle, rattle—

All the surrounding Skulls started to approach YuWon. And once they were close enough to him… 

Slash—

Crack—!

YuWon’s new item, the 「Well-Sharpened Sword」 broke apart one Skull’s cranium. And simultaneously… 

Kaboom—! 

The Skull’s body exploded, and a black flame swallowed up YuWon. 

“ᐷ Impressive.”

Suruhtra couldn’t help but compliment YuWon taking down a Skull with a single slash. 

The smoke from the explosion subsided, and YuWon resurfaced from the black clouds, unharmed by the flames. A normal person would have been burnt to a crisp from that explosion, but YuWon’s level and Constitution was already far beyond that of a ‘normal person,’ reaching that of a superhuman. 

Also, the strength of items definitely couldn’t be overlooked. 

[「Pyromancy Robe」 has negated the heat from a Skull.]

[「Pyromancy Robe」 has gained additional resistance against fire attribute attacks.]

The 「Pyromancy Robe」 was a useful item not only in the Tutorial, but it would be pretty effective even as far up as the middle floors of the Tower. That, of course, meant that trash-class Demons like Skulls couldn’t harm YuWon with their flames. 

“ᐷ That’s no normal robe.”

Suruhtra recognized what YuWon was wearing. It was an item with a remarkably strong resistance to fire. 

“ᐷ Did you prepare that so you could defeat me?”

YuWon shrugged his shoulders at Suruhtra’s question. 

“Nothing beats paying to win.”

YuWon looked around at the Skulls surrounding him. 

He didn’t avoid the first explosion on purpose to test out the fire resistance of the「Pyromancy Robe.」The explosion from the Skull hurt no more than a pinch, but nothing good could come from stacking unnecessary damage. 

The Skulls weren’t all that agile, nor did they possess that high of a defense. And maybe it was because he wasn’t imbuing his sword with [Arcane Sword,] but instead of cutting, it was more like he was breaking their bones with his sword. 

Even being enveloped in fire attribute mana, except for the fact that they wore clothes made of fire, they weren’t all that dangerous. 

“I won’t be running away, Suruhtra.”

YuWon smirked. He looked around at the surrounding Skulls before looking up at Suruhtra sitting high on its throne.  

He would not run. That guy only barely managed to survive through this, and that wasn’t enough. 

The tip of YuWon’s sword slowly rose, pointing at Suruhtra. 

“Because I’m going to defeat you.”