Leveling with the Gods - Chapter 632

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Ranker Proud descended to the 1st floor.

There was only one reason why he had to come down to the distant lower floors.

It was because there was someone he had to meet.

Thud, thud, thud-.

“Pandora! Pandora!”

He knocked on someone else’s front door and shouted Pandora’s name.

“Come out here, Pandora!”

This was Pandora’s house.

It was the place where the three great beauties of the tower, along with Tsukuyomi and Aphrodite, lived.

He was finally able to find the house where Pandora lived after asking around with great difficulty.

But.

‘Marriage? That’s nonsense.’

She was getting married soon.

He had climbed the tower while always looking at her, so how could this be happening?

It was while he was knocking on the door, feeling so resentful.

Creak-.

The door slowly opened.

“Oh, Pando……ra……?

Proud tilted his head.

Muscular body, tall enough to touch the ceiling.

He had clearly heard that this was Pandora’s house, so why was such a man coming out?

But somehow, his appearance looked familiar.

“I apologize. I am here instead of Pandora.”

The hero Heracles.

He was also known by the fearsome name ‘Giant Slayer’.

“They are both out right now. What do you need from her?”

Thud, thud-.

Proud looked up at Heracles, who had come closer.

He was about two heads taller than him.

It wasn’t just his size that was overwhelming, but the sense of oppression he felt was no joke.

‘Don’t be scared. I’m a ranker now too.’

Gulp-.

Proud raised his head and faced Heracles.

Then he patted his chest and said confidently.

“I have come to challenge Kim Yu-won.”

“Kim Yu-won?”

“Yes. I started climbing the tower long before him, and my feelings for Pandora are much deeper. I am also qualified to take the seat next to her.”

A determined and tragic tone.

However, to Proud’s words, Heracles sighed deeply and muttered.

“This crazy bastard is still at it……”

Before the tower forgot about Kim Yu-won, such pests had appeared more than once or twice.

Pandora, one of the three great beauties of the tower.

Unlike Artemis, who was surrounded by the giant forces of the hidden Tsukoyomi or Olympus, Pandora was someone he could meet whenever he wanted.

Furthermore, since the seat next to her was empty, many men had feelings for her.

If there was anything different, it was that this guy came looking for him even though he knew about Yu-won.

“Are you calling me a crazy writer right now?”

Proud was briefly offended by Heracles’s words, but when their eyes met, he lowered his voice.

“Ha…… Sir……”

“If I offended you, I apologize. And I’m afraid I’m going to have to be rude again.”

“What, what do you mean?”

“Go back. This is advice.”

Heracles had a genuine expression of concern for Proud.

“If that guy comes, you might die.”

He was sincere.

Like Baruna, the current High-Ranker.

Just how unlucky was that guy to remember Yu-won’s name?

However, Proud, who was standing right before his eyes, seemed like a fledgling who had just become a Ranker, let alone a High-Ranker.

However.

“I’m already prepared to fight him.”

“……Huh?”

Proud’s confident answer made Heracles doubt his ears.

Fight?

Did he just say fight right now?

Judging from the fierce look in his eyes, it didn’t seem like he had misheard.

Seriously, what a ridiculous situation this was.

‘I’ve never seen a fool like this before.’

Judging from his reaction, it was obvious what kind of life he had lived.

He must have worked hard to become a Ranker, but he had never faced a giant guild, and he thought that being a Ranker was the end of the sky.

Because he didn’t know that there was another sky above the sky, he could be brave because of his ignorance.

However, in Heracles’s eyes, he looked like someone who would fly away if Yu-won just flicked a finger.

“Can I talk to you for a moment?”

* * *

Since he couldn’t let an unknown guest into his house, Heracles had Proud sit on a chair in the garden.

Heracles brought out some simple tea and spoke after a brief silence.

“Don’t give up on life.”

“What do you mean?”

“No matter how hard it is to the point where you want to die, there will definitely be a reason to live if you just keep living. That’s why……”

“Are you saying that I came here to die right now?”

“That’s exactly what I’m saying.”

Heracles nodded.

“Why did you come to seek out a woman who already has a master and cause trouble? Actually, if it were up to me, I would first like to drive you out myself….”

Heracles’s gaze, which had been continuing his speech, turned toward the back.

With a face of frustration, he covered his face with one hand.

“I’m late.”

Thud-.

Yu-won and Pandora, who had gone out and returned before anyone knew it.

Of those two, Yu-won, who had experienced similar things many times, approached Proud and asked.

“Again?”

“Are you Kim Yu-won?”

“So what?”

“I formally challenge you.”

Thud-.

Getting up from his seat, Proud looked at Pandora, who was next to Yu-won.

“I’ll bet her and have a duel with you-.”

Huh?

Suddenly, his vision spun.

And in the next moment.

“Is she an object? How can you bet her and do as you please?”

Yu-won’s face seemed to twist to the side in front of him, and then the world turned upside down.

* * *

When did I collapse?

In the pitch-black vision, Proud’s consciousness gradually rose above the surface of sleep.

“You’re not dead?”

Heracles’s voice could be heard.

Dead? Who?

“I hit you too hard.”

“It’s fortunate that your head didn’t explode. What did you do to make him this angry?”

“What are you doing, getting beaten up by this kind of guy when you’re the one who offered him a ride?”

“I was trying to calm him down and send him away… Oh, he’s awake.”

His vision slowly returned.

Proud was lying on the floor of the garden, bleeding.

What in the world had happened?

“Ugh….”

As he tried to get up, Proud felt a severe dizziness.

He touched it lightly and saw that there was blood on his head.

It was a sign that he had been hit in the head.

‘I got hit? Me?’

He hadn’t even seen it.

Gulp-.

‘I started climbing the Tower first. But is it really possible that the difference is this big?’

It hadn’t even been 10 years since Yu-won had become a ranker.

Furthermore, it had been over 200 years since he himself had started climbing the Tower.

He thought that he was more experienced.

But.

“Get out of the way. I have something to say to this guy.”

“Don’t kill him.”

“If only he comes to his senses like Baruna.”

At Yu-won’s words, Heracles stepped aside.

Left alone with Yu-won in the garden, Proud clenched his fists.

“I’ll challenge you again.”

“……?”

“I want to fight you fair and square. I’ll bet everything I have.”

Yu-won made a dumbfounded expression as he looked at Proud, who thrust his clenched fist forward.

Proud extended his clenched fist forward, and YuWon made a bewildered expression.
Pandora waited for him.

Initially, it was annoying, but now it was ridiculous.

“Have you checked the rankings?”

“I don’t know about that number game.”

Somehow.

Only then did YuWon understand Proud’s reckless behavior.

Even though they were rare, they existed from time to time.

Players who weren’t interested in the rankings.

Perhaps he had only heard of his name but hadn’t bothered to check his ranking.

Ignorance is bliss, after all.

“Check it once.”

“I didn’t think I’d win anyway.”

YuWon made a puzzled expression at Proud’s response.

“I’m not stupid enough not to know the difference.”

He challenged him without thinking he’d win?

He didn’t seem to be the type to simply charge in after seeing Pandora’s appearance like Baruna.

Of course.

“Okay, then….”

He didn’t plan on letting it slide just because of that.

As YuWon nodded, Proud took a distance and got into position.

Clack-.

He gathered magic power in his fist and charged toward YuWon with ferocious momentum.

And right after.

Thwack-.

“……?”

He lost consciousness again to the sound he heard from his forehead.

* * *

Proud, who had fainted for a moment, realized the reason for his defeat from the throbbing pain on his forehead.

It was a smack.

When he regained consciousness, he was lying in the yard, looking up at the sky.

Creak-.

Proud bit his lip and got up.

YuWon looked down at Proud with an expression that asked, ‘Are you going to continue like this?’

“……I lost.”

YuWon nodded at his confession.

He was thinking that if he kept going, he would have to get a little more physical.

“I heard you’re getting married soon.”

Proud opened his mouth with a serious tone.

“Why did you choose her?”

“Why?”

“Yeah. Why.”

It wasn’t like he was an older brother sending his younger sister off to get married, so what was with this question?

Still, it was the first time he had ever been asked this.

YuWon thought for a moment.

‘Why, huh….”

“I’m going to get married.”

He hadn’t been sure when Pandora first told him.

He had so much on his shoulders that he had become numb to the feeling of liking someone.

Marriage?

He had never even thought about it.

But.

“I was forgotten once.”

It was a story that everyone knew now.

At one point, the world had forgotten the name Kim YuWon, and then remembered it again.

“But one person remembered me.”

Pandora had waited for him.

Thinking that he would return someday.

Someone that everyone had forgotten, without any promise.

“You kept saying my name. I don’t know when it started.”

“Kim Yu-won, Kim Yu-won, Kim Yu-won, Yu-won….”

Pandora kept repeating the same name, shedding tears so that she wouldn’t forget him.

Thinking about it, she was eating cake back then too.

Click-.

Just thinking about it made him smile.

“How lovely.”

It was probably back then.

He had been moved by her, who had been chasing after him unilaterally.

“I was saved by her. I owe her so much that I can only repay her with my heart.”

When everyone had forgotten about him, she was the only one who remembered him and liked him.

She was a beautiful person, but her heart towards him was even more beautiful.

“Is that your answer?”

This was the reason why Yu-won liked Pandora.

“She….”

Proud’s lips trembled as he listened to Yu-won.

“Why does she like you?”

It was another why.

Thinking about it, it was a question that he should have received at least once, so why hadn’t he heard it yet?

It seemed that it was because the people he hung out with were a stupid monkey and a guy whose head was filled with muscles.

‘Come to think of it, why?’

It was a question that he had never even thought of asking because it was awkward.

He was missing out on a lot of things with the excuse that he was clumsy.

He didn’t even know why they liked each other, so it didn’t seem like something that could be passed off as being immature.

Yu-won nodded after thinking deeply.

“Yeah. I should definitely ask her. Thank you.”

“……?”

This time, Proud had a bewildered expression at Yu-won’s response.

However, he soon got up from his seat with a refreshing smile.

“It seems that you’re a better man than I expected.”

Chuck-.

As he turned around, he showed his white teeth.

“Please take good care of Pandora, Kim Yu-won.”

Thud, thud-.

Proud turned around and left Yu-won’s house.

Watching Proud as he walked away.

Hercules, who was watching Yu-won and Proud from the second floor, asked in a hoarse voice.

“So what happened?”

“I don’t know.”

Of course, Pandora didn’t remember him.