Chapter 328: I Came to Find You? (3)
Chapter 328: I Came to Find You? (3)
“What? There are 564,477 entrants?”
“Y-yes!”
The Divine world had been turned on its head. The reason was the massive crowd that had suddenly entered the divine world.
“What are you talking about?”
“Some crazy god blew up the equipment within the evaluation center…”
“What?!”
Which psycho did something worth being punished by the heavens?
“We are currently diverging our entire manpower.”
“At this rate, we will have no idea which gods have entered the Divine world!”
“…!”
These elite Constructs were the public employees of the Divine world. This incident was causing them headaches because a lot of them had made backroom dealings with the Zodiacs.
“We won’t be able to locate him since things turned out like this.”
“Do you mean the god of the Serpent Bearer temple?”
“That’s correct.”
In truth, they had received a heads-up on a god that they should be on the lookout for. This god had been put on the list.
[Serpent God of the twelve Zodiacs]
[Zodiac of the Earth]
[He might come looking for his Constructs. Be on the lookout.]
[It’ll be fine to refuse him entry.]
They had no idea why, but they were told to expel a low-rank serpent god.
‘I also never expected the gods to join up because of a Construct of human origin.’
It didn’t matter in the end.
“What the hell? A serpent god was amongst the twelve Zodiacs?”
“What? You didn’t know about it? I guess it’s to be expected since it is a top-secret matter.”
“Top secret?”
At the end of the day, the twelve Zodiacs were quite famous.
Currently, eight great forces existed within the Pantheon. These forces ruled over tens of billions of stars and dimensions. They were the leaders of those dimensions and the kings of the gods. Living beings of all dimensions treated them as kings of the universe.
The twelve Zodiacs had been one of those forces. One time, they used to be called the ninth great force.
‘Of course, they had deteriorated to the point that they are considered nonexistent. This is why more and more gods are unaware of the twelve Zodiacs.’
However, that wasn’t important right now.
“The Zodiacs want us to track down that fledgling. What if he’s amongst the illegal entrants? What are we supposed to do?”
“Hey. Losing the serpent bastard isn’t important right now! We have to prioritize restoring the arrivals hall! What are we going to do if an evil god crawls through it?”
“You’re right. The Constructs will quickly take care of a mere serpent god. He is classified as the lowest-rank god.”
That serpent god’s temple was located on the fringes. It was a country bumpkin temple with a lowly minor god. His name wasn’t even known.
“We have to find the terrorist instead of that guy!”
They quickly rushed toward the arrivals hall.
* * *
At this time, the terrorist in question was swearing profusely. “Fuck! This isn’t a smooth ride!”
Lee Gun was passing through an unknown tunnel. As he traveled down a dark endless tunnel, he felt like he was riding a roller coaster, as though he was being sucked toward somewhere.
Suddenly, he realized where he had felt this sensation. “Damn it! This feels the same as traveling down the gullet of a monster!”
He raged at the being who had made this tunnel, but the awful sensation dissipated soon.
Pahng!
“Koohk!”
Accompanying a bright light, Lee Gun exited the cave. When he opened his eyes, he flinched.
‘This place is…’
He was thrown into a space as large as the universe. He couldn’t see the end of it. It was a vast expanse of universe that could instantly swallow up a mere god.
Moreover, Lee Gun saw it clearly. A familiar world was unfolding before his eyes. It was like staring at a black hole.
A black sphere lay there, and with the sphere at its center, a red storm was swirling around it like a typhoon.
Moreover, a red pillar of light was extending out from the black sphere. It headed toward the sky, toward heaven. It was like looking at an elevator connected to the Divine world.
That place was the lowest floor of the Divine world. It was the World of Torture. It was where Yeonwoo’s soul had been located and also where Hugo had been lured into by Confusion.
However, that place wasn’t Lee Gun’s destination.
Pahng!
“Koohk!”
Lee Gun was immediately sent hurtling toward the red pillar. When the red light of the pillar swept him inside it, he felt as if he were riding an elevator. In a flash, he was sent flying upward.
[You are permitted to enter the Pantheon.]
Accompanying a sound that seemed to come from the universe, Lee Gun saw an unfamiliar world. It was an odd world that looked to be made in an icosahedron shape. Here, the dimensions met other dimensions. It was the world of the gods that emanated a massive amount of energy.
Pantheon was an amalgam of ten thousand dimensions.
[The ticket’s information remains in your body.]
[“Where Hades is located”]
[The exact coordinate is unknown. Do you have the general coordinates?]
He didn’t care about going to the general area. “Send me to that bastard’s house.”
[It is on the 5th dimensional floor.]
[Warning! The region in question is high rank (a very expensive region).]
[Will a low-rank god like you be able to handle the toll?]
[You might take on massive amounts of debt.]
[I will give you another opportunity to choose the general area.]
When the voice spoke in a sarcastic manner, Lee Gun contemptuously laughed. “Fuck off! Just send me to the fifth floor.”
A scream rang from Lee Gun’s hand after he spoke. It was Satyr. Lee Gun had kidnapped Satyr to gain more information about Hades and Hugo.
“Ahhhk! That’s crazy! Fifth floor?! You plan on going to a high-rank dimension! Are you sure you can facilitate this?!”
Lee Gun didn’t know the exact details, but the fifth floor seemed to be a very nice place.
[The fifth floor is the private region for the high-rank gods. It is very expensive.]
[You need 100 thousand Talents.]
[However, since this is your first time moving there, you will be charged 1 million Talents. This includes taxes.]
[If the amount is even 1 Talent short, you will be put under forced labor for 1,000 years. A penalty of 10 million Talents will be added on top.]
Shocked at those words, Satyr tried to run away. Unlike him, Lee Gun laughed. “I knew this would happen, so I brought this.”
Lee Gun took out a small cloth bag. When he opened it, Satyr’s eyes rolled backward.
“M-My god! Those are all gold coins! These are all Talents! How much is this in total?”
“They are fakes.”
“What?!”
Lee Gun was able to make anything using his Creation Workshop ability. He had made this item when he saw the currency of the gods. Basically, it was counterfeit money!
“Ha ha ha! Take this, assholes! This is the money for the toll!”
Satyr screamed. Such a thing wouldn’t work in the Divine world.
[You have met the requirement for 10 million Talents.]
[You have successfully deposited the toll fee.]
[Welcome! The Divine world welcomes the wealthy god.]
“Ahhhk! The Divine world was bamboozled by counterfeit money?!”
Lee Gun merely grinned. Those coins weren’t made normally. He had used Life stage 3 and his Creation ability to create those high-quality items.
“Then let’s go to the fifth floor….”
[Fake Currency has been detected.]
[A growling sound can be heard from these Talents.]
[These Talents possess a sense of self.]
[The manufacturer of the Talent despairs since these Talents are too beautiful in how they were made.]
[The originals look much uglier than these.]
[You have been charged for creating counterfeit money. You will be expelled.]
“What the hell!?”
Lee Gun had been caught because he made them too well. He was instantly expelled.
“Ahhhhhk!”
They were thrown toward the icosahedron world and fell as if they were skydiving.
[A low-rank god (rank unmeasured ) dared to create counterfeit money to trick the Divine world.]
[You dare imbue life into the currency of the gods. Did you really think the high-rank gods wouldn’t notice your shameless actions?]
[You will be put under forced labor for 1,000 years and pay a fine of 10 million Talents. This number will be tripled since you have offended us.]
Lee Gun was dumbfounded. “That’s a bunch of bullshit! If their stomachs hadn’t growled, you would have never known they were fake, idiots!”
Moreover, wasn’t currency much more valuable if they possessed a sense of self? Moreover, they hadn’t returned his items either!
[You will be sent to the 20th dimensional floor. You will fall to the lowest floor.]
Satyr turned pale from fright. “Ahhhhk! Not the twentieth floor of all places!”
The Dimensional world was a place where dimensions were stacked and overlapped over each other. It was like the inner core of the earth. The lower one went, the worse the situation got.
It was like the upstream being the cleanest. Everything thrown away from the top flowed to the bottom. That was why the lowest floor of the Divine world was where all the waste gathered. It was akin to a waste disposal plant.
The last and the lowest floor of the Divine world was a dumpster that one should avoid falling into at all costs!
“Even a Great-Spirit rank will lose their Divine status if they get swept up in it! Hurry up and ask for mediation— Ahhhhk!”
Mediation, my ass!
A great power slammed down into Lee Gun. It was a power intended to crush a mere low-rank god into the dust making up the Divine world.
Pahng!!
As if he were being pressed down by powerful gravity, Lee Gun was instantly hurled toward the lowest floor.
Kwah-gwah-gwahng!
“Koo-oohk!”
Then, the dizzying sensation continued one after another. It was as if he were breaking through layers of glass walls between floors as he fell.
He was getting closer to the lowest floor, yet he was still unable to use his power.
Kwahng! Kwahng! Kwahng!
“Ahhk! We really will be sent to the waste disposal plant at this rate!”
The Divine world seemed hellbent on taking away Lee Gun’s Divine status.
Boom! Boom! Boom!!
[You have been expelled from the 15th dimensional floor.]
[You have been expelled from the 16th dimensional floor.]
[You have been expelled from the 17th dimensional floor.]
Lee Gun felt as if the fierce power pressing down on him wanted him to know his place. He furrowed his brows.
[This is the 18th dimensional floor.]
[You have been expelled from the 18th—]
Kwahng!!!
“!!!”
Suddenly, Lee Gun embedded his fists into the dimensional wall and extended his arms. It seemed he was trying to slow down the speed.
Ggah-gah-gah-gah-gahk!
“H-Hyung-nim!!” Satyr’s face turned pale from fright. “It’s useless! Do you realize how much power each floor possesses?”
Even the Great Zodiacs paid money to travel between each floor for a reason. No god tried to put up a resistance against the administrators of the Divine world.
Even if some gods were spirited enough to try, they would be ripped apart before they were sent to the lowest floor. They would find their end there.
“Your body will get crippled— Ahhk!”
Kwahng!!!
“Ahhhk!!”
An enormous sound rang out. It was loud enough to rend the dimension.
Unclear how long had passed, but Satyr’s mouth had fallen open, and it remained open as the sound continued.
Lee Gun, who had been about to be expelled, came to a stop. This was accompanied by the sound of the dimensional wall being destroyed.
He had won against the power of the Divine world slamming into him! Yet, he was nonchalant. “Jeez! I thought my shoulders would be dislocated. If I popped a disk at this age, I’d have made the ones responsible pay for it.”
This wasn’t something that should end with a mere herniated disk! Satyr let out a soundless scream.
‘How sturdy is he to endure that!’
He bit his tongue.
‘Is he perhaps a diamond that became deified to become a subtype god?!’
Material god! Yes! The probability of this god being one was high. The Zodiacs probably needed a hard crystal to make their weapon, so he had probably been deified. Otherwise, this situation didn’t make any sense at all.
However, that wasn’t important right now.
Hoo-doo-doohk!
“!”
Satyr almost screamed as he watched the debris fall from the sky.
‘The boundary of this floor was destroyed!’
From the crack created by Lee Gun, the sound of a bizarre roar seeped through. Satyr felt an ominous feeling as he gulped.
‘Did something happen to the top side…?’
However, he didn’t have long to feel worried. “Kuhk! Wait a moment, Hyung-nim! Don’t grab me by the collar— Ahhhk!”
Lee Gun dragged Satyr as he jumped through the crack in the dimension.
* * *
The place Lee Gun had jumped into seemed to be connected to the ocean. It was unclear as to how long the dark ocean swept them away.
“Poo-ha!”
Lee Gun, who had been swimming until now, finally made it above the surface. At the same time, he swept his hair away in annoyance. “I’ve suffered several dozen years’ worth of hardship thanks to that idiot Taeksoo….”
“Kyahhhhk! It’s a handsome male god!”
“!!”
Lee Gun was surprised by the voices he suddenly heard. When he turned his head, he found goddesses wearing nothing but their swimsuits.
“My god! Who is this? Is he a new employee?”
“It has been a long time since we got one in a humanoid form!”
“Didn’t he just break through the dimensional wall?”
“Oh my! Really?! I’m glad I came here to play!”
Lee Gun wondered why he had to fall here of all places, but he soon found out why.
[Congratulations! The entire 18th dimensional floor is a floor of entertainment.]
[Warning! If you aren’t careful, you might spend all your Talents in one day.]
“…?!”
Was it because he had finally entered the Divine world? He heard a voice that he had missed. In reality, it was the voice of the thirteenth, his father. However, Lee Gun knew that it was the Serpent Bearer’s Seat of power speaking.
The female voices continued to speak to Lee Gun, but Lee Gun completely ignored them as he turned away from them.
“Hey. Where the hell is the exit?”
The goddesses seemed disappointed, but Lee Gun told them he was busy. He started looking for Satyr, his guide.
“I’m so happpppppy! I want to live here forever! This is paradise— Kuh-poo-hoop!”
“…”
Satyr was in the arms of a goddess. He was so happy that he looked like he was about to drown.
Lee Gun was about to say something to him when…
‘!’
Was it because he had entered the Divine world? Lee Gun slowly felt his Divine power return. He tried to sense Hugo’s energy, but his brows soon furrowed.
‘As expected, I sense nothing.’
When he was on the earth, he had tried using the Virgo Constructs to track down Hugo, but all their attempts had failed.
‘I thought I would be able to feel his energy once I reached the Divine world.’
Hades’s divine artifact was the invisibility helmet. It probably had the power of Invisibility.
At this point, there was only one way to find Hugo. Lee Gun had to find the one who had kidnapped Hugo. However, there was a problem in trying to meet that bastard.
‘Will I be able to reach the fifth floor?’
When Lee Gun looked at the sky, he saw something resembling a red barrier. It was probably a wall that separated each floor.
While the thickness of the walls was a problem, his attempt at counterfeiting had been discovered. He would have to suffer a lot of damage if he wanted to reach that floor.
‘I have no choice. I’ll just break everything.’
He grumbled since it would be very annoying. Therefore, Lee Gun was about to turn around when he heard it.
“We are quite lucky today. Hades-nim is visiting us, yet someone that amazing is also visiting us!”
“That’s right. I heard he acquired a very rare Construct. I’ve never seen Hades-nim be so happy!”
“He brought other famous gods along with him!”
Lee Gun, who had been angry until a moment ago, slowly turned his head around. What? Who was here? His evil smirk was merely the cherry on top.