Leveling with the Gods - Chapter 635

“I’m sorry I couldn’t come in person?”

* * *

The day had come.

“You’ve grown up so much.”

Bang, bang-.

Son Oh-gong patted Yoo-won’s back, who was wearing a tuxedo and tie.

Seeing this, Heracles frowned.

“Be careful. Your clothes will get wrinkled.”

“Don’t worry, these clothes don’t wrinkle easily. I made them myself.”

Hephaestus proudly spoke at Heracles’ concern.

The material of the tuxedo Yoo-won was wearing was something Hephaestus had taken special care to create.

He was good at making everything besides equipment.

“Speaking of which, it has a self-repair function in case of wrinkles or tears, so it’s always in top condition…”

“Mister.”

“Hm?”

“This is a bit too small, isn’t it?”

Yoo-won frowned at the feeling of the clothes fitting tightly to his body.

He had felt it before, but this kind of outfit made it very uncomfortable to move his body.

It would be difficult to swing a sword like this.

“Are you crazy? Do you think that’s a combat suit?”

Hephaestus clicked his tongue and shook his head.

“You don’t have to fight today, so bear with it even if it’s uncomfortable. You need to look good on a day like today. For the bride’s sake.”

It was quite a mature thing to say.

Come to think of it, how old was Hephaestus? He must have been to a place like this once or twice.

He, too, was wearing a fancy suit instead of the overalls he usually wore.

‘For the bride’s sake, huh…’

Yoo-won awkwardly tidied up his clothes.

He looked unfamiliar in the mirror.

When was the last time he wore clothes like this?

Pandora felt the same way.

“Do well, son.”

Pak-.

Hephaestus patted Yoo-won on the back.

“And be happy. You deserve it. Live it up. Even I admit it.”

It was the first time he had heard such a blessing today.

Yoo-won’s lips curled into a small smile at his words.

“You sound just like my dad.”

“I’m still older than you. You old man.”

“But you haven’t gotten married, have you?”

“That’s true!”

Yoo-won burst into laughter as Hephaestus made a gesture as if he was about to take a hammer out of his inventory.

It was then, as they were laughing and chatting.

“My father sent this.”

Hargan, who had arrived in a carriage led by a pegasus, was carrying a load of gifts.

Yoo-won and even Hephaestus, one of the top ten richest men in the Tower, were surprised at the gifts he brought.

“W-what is all this?”

“Crazy…”

Even Son Oh-gong, who wasn’t greedy for points, was impressed by the number of gifts.

Fist-sized jewels, numerous accessories, gold equipment, and a garland made of an elixir that made players invulnerable.

Yoo-won, who was taken aback by the carriage of gifts that Hargan had brought, asked,

“What is all this?”

“I told you before, didn’t I? My father sent it.”

“Zeus?”

It was unexpected.

At a glance, many of the gifts in the carriage seemed to be more for Pandora than for Yoo-won.

Among the clothes, there were dresses that were clearly for women.

“He said he’s sorry for not being able to come in person?”

“Zeus?”

This was truly unexpected.

That rigid Zeus had sent a message of apology.

Through that message, YuWon was able to understand why Zeus had sent such a gift.

‘He knows that he wouldn’t be welcomed.’

Zeus and Pandora had the worst relationship.

To be exact, it was Pandora who hated Zeus one-sidedly.

He probably would have a hard time being welcomed even if he came in person.

Instead, Zeus sent a huge gift as a replacement for his congratulations.

It was also meant as an apology.

“Wow. He could easily buy a castle with this.”

“Don’t accept it. Father wouldn’t just give something like this for no reason. You should be suspicious of it at least…”

Hephaestus, who was in awe, and Heracles, who doubted that Zeus would do such a thing.

Then, Hargan proudly began to brag about the things he had prepared with a grin.

“Fireworks will explode from all over the tower as soon as the ceremony begins. Today, all the giant guilds, such as Olympus, Asgard, Veda, the Demon King, and the Heavens, will serve free food and drinks.”

“Why is it so noisy?”

“What do you mean, why? Go outside and see. You have no idea how many gifts arrived before you. It took more than ten Sun Chariots to carry them. And…”

I listened to Hargan’s words with one ear and let them go out the other.

It would only give me a headache if I listened to it.

I could calculate it all later.

As Hargan continued to brag, a signal sounded outside the waiting room.

“The groom is ready!”

It was time.

YuWon’s body tensed up.

* * *

In front of Pandora in her dress, Son Wukong was lying face down on his Somersault Cloud.

He looked at Pandora’s dress curiously and asked,

“Why are you wearing such a thing?”

“Why?”

“Isn’t it uncomfortable? It looks uncomfortable.”

Son Wukong didn’t understand Pandora’s dress.

The dress was so long that her feet weren’t visible, and the jewels adorned all over it seemed to have no use other than to sparkle.

Pandora looked around at the ‘group’ of Son Wukongs making a mess in her waiting room.

It was noisy enough with just one of them, so why did he have to make clones and come here?

Among them, Pandora looked at the Son Wukong closest to her and asked,

“Are you a clone, too?”

“Me?”

“Yeah.”

“No.”

Son Wukong shook his head at Pandora’s question.

Pandora looked at him with a puzzled expression.

As if it were obvious, Son Wukong nodded towards YuWon’s waiting room.

“Jae has a lot of friends anyway.”

Indeed, Pandora’s waiting room was relatively empty compared to YuWon’s.

It was partly because she was uncomfortable with a lot of people, but the biggest reason was that Pandora didn’t do many external activities.

That was why Son Wukong was here.

Of course, YuWon had also asked him to.

“Thank you.”

Pandora smiled bashfully.

It was an expression that she didn’t usually show.

She had seen her with YuWon quite a few times, but it was the first time she had smiled like that today.

Son Wukong, who sat up straight, asked,

“Do you like Kim YuWon that much?”

“Yeah.”

“Why?”

He had been curious for a long time.

Why did Pandora like Kim YuWon so much?

Thinking about it, before they returned to the past, Pandora and Yu-won had no connection whatsoever.

“That’s…”

Cha hesitated as he trailed off.

“Bride, get ready!”

Finally, the moment had arrived.

* * *

Numerous rankers bustled about inside the grand hall.

“A marriage between the top beauty and the top warrior of the Tower. My heart feels warm.”

Thor, dressed in a tight-fitting suit, muttered from the front row.

General Lee Rang-jin nodded with a gratified expression.

“They deserve to be happy. Both of them.”

“But still, I think it’s a bit of a waste for Kim Yu-won.”

Aphrodite wore a slightly dissatisfied expression.

Sitting next to her, Artemis spoke bluntly in response to her muttering.

“That goes better with you as a match, doesn’t it?”

“Is that so?”

“I’ll never give you an answer, so just keep quiet.”

“What’s an answer?”

“You should learn some of the younger generation’s slang. Or else you’ll start to sound like an old lady…”

“Hey, you guys.”

Thud-.

Someone kicked the back of their chairs with their foot.

Aphrodite and Artemis turned their heads and saw a man with long, flowing red hair.

“Keep it down. My ears are ringing.”

The Demon King Diablo.

He was rubbing his ears as if they were ringing, clearly annoyed.

“…Yes.”

“Yes…”

No matter how popular they were on Olympus, they were dealing with Diablo.

He was the head of the Demon King’s Army and a giant who now wielded influence even over the colossal guild, Sky.

If they said the wrong thing to him, who was known for not discriminating between friend or foe, who knew what kind of disaster would strike.

“We will now begin the ceremony between groom Kim Yu-won and bride Pandora. I am the officiant, Tike, as you all know.”

The officiant was Tike, a High Ranker who symbolized luck.

The banquet began, and the rankers who had been chattering away started to quiet down one by one.

“First, we will have the entrance of today’s main character, groom Kim Yu-won. Please give the groom a warm round of applause as he enters.”

The door opened with Tike’s gesture.

“Groom, enter!”

Creeeak-.

Yu-won walked out as the waiting room door opened.

Applause erupted as Yu-won entered, his body stiff with nerves.

Thud-.

‘I’m nervous.’

‘I’m nervous.’

People who knew Yu-won started to laugh one by one.

Even when Ragnarok was happening, this guy had been calm, but today, he was more nervous than they had ever seen him before.

“Whew-”

Yu-won exhaled nervously as he waited for Pandora to enter.

And soon.

“Next, we will have the entrance of the bride, Pandora!”

Clap, clap, clap, clap-!

This time, the applause was much louder than when Yu-won had entered.

With her long, shiny crimson hair flowing beautifully and her face adorned with the finest makeup by Aphrodite herself, Pandora’s beauty made Yu-won’s eyes go wide.

Their eyes met, and she smiled more radiantly than ever.

* * *

Pandora’s eyes met Yu-won’s.

Sun Wukong’s question came to her mind.

“Do you like Kim Yu-won that much?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“Why?”

She slowly walked and recalled the past.

Ever since she received the mysterious box from Zeus and opened it,

All the misfortunes of the world clung to her.

“Who the hell are you?”

“Everyone next to you becomes unhappy.”

“Get lost! You cursed wench!”

Numerous people made eye contact with her and took their own lives.

She didn’t know the reason.

Why did she have to hear such contempt and get pointed at?

What had she done wrong?

Zeus locked her away in deep darkness like Tartarus.

“I want to get out…”

She always thought in the darkness.

What would it have been like if she didn’t have this cursed power?

Like others, she could have seen the light, eaten something sweet, and fallen asleep in a warm and fluffy bed.

If she could live like that, how great would it be?

“I want to live…”

She cried and screamed several times a day.

She tore her forearms and bit her lips, shedding blood every day.

About a thousand years passed, and she lost hope.

She could never be happy.

But one day.

“Are you Pandora?”

Athena found Pandora.

“I have something for you to do. Come with me.”

She said.

She said that she could go outside once this was over.

It seemed like a ray of salvation.

When she came out of the prison where not even a ray of light could enter and came outside,

A gust of wind sprouted in her heart that had given up on everything.

She didn’t want to go back to that darkness again.

“What do I have to do?”

She had to do anything to not go back to that place.

But.

“Stay there. That’s how you can help.”

“Just stay? Why?”

“You’re a disaster. You can’t come outside.”

Athena, who she thought was a ray of salvation, still had the same eyes as the people thousands of years ago.

Unpleasant and contemptuous.

The gaze that looked at the cursed lump.

Nothing had changed.

No matter how much time passed, she was nothing but a walking misfortune.

She thought it would be like that.

“Where are you going with those slow steps?”

What’s with this guy?

Why is he okay even after seeing me?

She belatedly realized.

YuWon had fought misfortunes much greater than her.

YuWon’s eyes, which were fighting her, had neither contempt nor unpleasantness.

YuWon didn’t kill her after she lost the fight.

He didn’t kill her and only took away the cursed power that clung to her.

When the fight was over and she opened her eyes again.

She could finally feel it.

This long curse had finally come to an end…

The sword he wielded cut off the curse that clung to her, and his hand pulled her out of the darkness.

After thousands of years, I was saved by him.

Tak-.

YuWon and Pandora met on the carpeted path.

Her heart was pounding as if it was going to burst.

When she thought about the time she opened her eyes every day in the darkness, this moment was so happy that she felt like she was going to cry.

Why do you like him so much?

I want to ask everyone who asks that.

If you were me, would you not fall for him?

(Epilogue of Leveling with the Gods)