Leveling with the Gods

Mumbling to himself, SungYoon looked to the side in fear. Luckily, Hargaan didn’t seem to mind SungYoon’s comment about him. Instead, he was smiling with extreme excitement.

“I knew it.” 

Vzzt—

Electricity started gathering around Hargaan’s fists. He could no longer just stand by and watch.

Boom—!

The electricity in his fists let out an explosive sound, and Hargaan took a step forward. Then, just like YuWon, Hargaan disappeared in an instant. 

Instantly…

Flash—

Crash— Smash—!

The Orcs’ shields broke into pieces, and the Acid Snakes that littered the floor were torn to shreds. 

It was the power of Hargaan’s electric attacks. 

“Like… we aren’t even needed, are we?”

“Yeah, but that doesn’t mean we should just stand around and watch.”

If you don’t do anything, you fall behind. That was the unchanging rule of the new world that they’d experienced since the 1st Tutorial.

SungYoon started charging up his Mana Blast. Yolche unsheathed her dual swords, and the Elf siblings prepped their spirits and magic respectively. 

The real hunt had started.

* * *

Boss room No.2 was a path filled with various traps—dozens of powerful arrows were fired at them while poison rained down, and swords and spears shot up from the ground. 

However…

Crash—!

Hargaan managed to break through all those traps with sheer force. 

It was the same for YuWon.

Fshh, fwooosh—

Sizzle—

The fire that enveloped YuWon’s body burned away the arrows and poison that flew at him, and the weapons shooting up were easily avoided with some acrobatics. 

“There really isn’t anything for us to do, huh.”

“It appears so.”

Hargaan’s teammates passed through the pathway the two of them had created. There were some traps that weren’t destroyed, but they weren’t so weak as to get caught in them. 

Slash, shing—

With her sword, Yolche cut down the flying arrows and spears.

Fsssh—

Elador and Paladinte stopped the poison that was raining down with fire and water.

[Mana Blast]

Boom—!

Any large obstacles that blocked their path were instantly blown up by SungYoon. 

YuWon glanced back at the guys following behind him and nodded his head.

‘At least they’re skilled enough to not be a hindrance.’

With the exception of Hargaan, YuWon had actually doubted their skills. He was worried they might have ended up holding him back. 

Well, that wasn’t exactly right, since YuWon had no intention of helping any of them, even if their lives were in peril. He didn’t have the luxury to intervene and help out every person he passed by. 

What YuWon was actually worried about was that they might accidentally get caught up in his business and die. 

“I think it’s that way.”

With an impatient personality, Hargaan was the one furthest ahead. 

After clearing through all the traps, a large door could be seen in the distance. It was an old door that looked to be at least 10 meters tall.

After arriving in front of it, Hargaan waited for YuWon and his party.

“… What a strange painting.”

Hargaan looked at the paintings on the giant door. There were many different drawings all over it. Orcs, Goblins, Lizardmen, Kobolds, Gnolls, Ogres… Countless monsters were depicted. And at the top of the door, puzzling hieroglyphics were inscribed. 

‘This is my first time seeing it in person.’

Sshhf—

YuWon wiped off the dust on the door. 

In the center of the painting where Orcs and Goblins were clashing was a drawing of a round object.

“It’s a war,” Hargaan mumbled, understanding what the painting meant. 

YuWon nodded his head. Hargaan was right. It was a humongous war that once occurred between various monsters on Barragánda.

‘And beyond this door…’

“Captain,” SungYoon called. 

Hargaan turned around and saw that his teammates had all managed to catch up to him.

SungYoon said, “How about we take a short break?”

Hargaan looked over at YuWon. Though they were accompanying each other due to sharing a destination, YuWon wasn’t actually a part of Hargaan’s team. Not to mention the fact that he and Hargaan had a bet to see who could defeat the boss first.

“Is anyone exhausted?” asked Hargaan. He was in a hurry, so of course he didn’t like the idea of letting YuWon go through the door first. 

“No, sir.”

“There wasn’t anything all that impressive.”

“Paladinte, that’s because YuWon and the captain had already broken through most of the traps.”

There wasn’t anyone in Hargaan’s team that appeared injured or exhausted. 

Hargaan nodded his head. It seemed like they were ready to enter.

“Then let’s—”

Creeeak—

With a thick, heavy sound, the cave rumbled. 

Hargaan turned his head and saw that YuWon was already opening the door. 

“Come on, you’re going to enter without saying a thing?”

“I was planning on doing this by myself from the beginning.”

“But we’re working together right now, aren’t we? Couldn’t you at least give us a heads up before—”

“Kkyaaaghh—”

The cry of a monster echoed. 

* * *

Startled by the cry, Hargaan stopped talking and turned his head to peek into the open door. 

There was nothing but pure darkness inside, but it wasn’t just the dark that surprised Hargaan.

“W-W-What was that?”

“W-Was that boss?”

“What kind of a monster is it?”

Its cry was petrifying, and its presence alone was spine-curling, making Hargaan’s teammates tremble. 

Hargaan also gulped. He knew the boss’s identity, but this was the first time he was facing it directly. “He really is an incredible bastard,” he commented.

Tmp—

YuWon was once again quick in his steps. The door had opened just enough for one person to get through, so he started walking inside the room. 

Hargaan couldn’t continue hesitating, so he looked back at his group and said, “Let’s go.”

Tmp— tmp—

Unlike the rest of the cave where there were torches lining the wall, inside of the door was entirely dark.

Hargaan gathered electricity in his hands to create some light. The inside of the room was a long cave, and towards the center, the ceiling got higher, forming a circular dome. 

And at the center of the dome was…

Thump—

“Kkyaaagh—!”

… The source of the cries. 

“W-What’s that?”

“What the fuck…?”

Thump, thump—!

Rattle, rattle—

The boss was locked behind giant steel bars, and it had a terrifying appearance. It looked like a disgusting mix of Orc, Goblin, Ogre, and more—the face resembling various monsters, the body of an Ogre, the legs of an Orc, the tail of a Lizardman, and black wings from an unknown beast. 

This monster towered over 10 meters tall. 

“Kkyaaagh—!”

The boss screamed at the group that had appeared within its sights. 

Just hearing its cry made their bodies feel like they were going numb. 

With the exception of YuWon and Hargaan, the rest of the gang took a few steps back, unable to withstand the pressure from the boss. 

YuWon observed the boss, which was restrained with chains all over its body.

“A Chimera.” 

The boss struggled in pain. It considered itself, a mix of various monsters, an abomination, feeling pain and anger. This mix of emotions condensed into bloodthirst and mana, which swirled around the Chimera. 

The Chimera in front of them was a monster that didn’t naturally exist within the Tutorial, like Suruhtra. That’s why it was the final boss of the Tutorial and why it required the cooperation of tens of thousands of participants to defeat it. 

[You’ve entered Boss Room No.3.]

[DEFEAT THE BOSS – THE ‘SEALED CHIMERA.’] 

[Once the objective is achieved, the Tutorial will be finalized.]

Those were pretty simple messages, but there were more messages waiting for them in boss room No.3. 

[1 person is able to break the Chimera’s seal and make it their familiar.]

[If you break the sealing crystal, the time limit will end, and you will be able to pass the Tutorial regardless of the requirements.]

[The Chimera’s master will earn additional CP respective to the participants they kill.]

Whirr—

Next to the cell where the Chimera was locked up, there was a staff glowing dark red. And at the top of the staff, there was a crystal emitting light. That was likely the “sealing crystal” that the message had mentioned.

“So if that thing is broken, this guy is going to be freed from its jail?”

“So it’s a trial where you need to kill the Chimera while also defending the crystal from other participants…”

“This doesn’t seem that hard.”

The trial would have been far more complicated if more participants were present, but only ten people were inside the boss room right now. 

It wasn’t too big a number for keeping track of each other’s movements. And even if one of them tried to pull something, there was the force called Hargaan that they had to get through first. 

Grab—

“Hey.”

YuWon turned his head. Before he realized it, Hargaan had snuck up behind him and grabbed his shoulder tightly.

“What do you think you’re doing?” asked Hargaan.

“Let go.”

“I asked what you’re doing.”

“I need that thing.”

“Are you planning on betraying me after all that? Did you forget about our bet?”

The bet between YuWon and Hargaan was either who could kill the boss first or rack up the most CP. That meant that in order for the bet to be resolved, one of them had to kill the boss. 

However, if the sealing crystal was broken, the participant who broke it would be able to control the Chimera like a familiar. Thus they would no longer be able to bet on who could kill the boss first. 

“I didn’t. I think I’m going to be the winner of that bet,” YuWon replied.

After hearing YuWon’s response, Hargaan froze for a second before shouting and squeezing YuWon’s shoulder even tighter. 

“Then what are you doing? Why do you need that thing?!”

“… This is why I wanted to do this alone.”

YuWon let out a sigh while raising his hand. Before anyone even noticed it, he was wielding a sword from his inventory. 

“Kim YuWon—!” 

Vzzzzzt—!

Hargaan unleashed an electric attack on YuWon, but…

Whoosh—!

Shatter—!

YuWon had already thrown his sword, breaking the sealing crystal far off in the distance.

[The sealing crystal has been broken.]

[The boss – Chimera will be released from its seal.]

[PLEASE DEFEAT THE UNSEALED CHIMERA.]

[The Chimera’s master is ‘Kim YuWon.’]