Brahm rubbed his chin with his hand. His serious eyes seemed to reflect his complicated mind.
“And the way to put attention on Walpurgisnacht?”
The more Yeon-woo continued to speak about the plan, the bigger the smile on Brahm’s face became.
***
Yeon-woo wore his mask and left the room, leaving Sesha with Brahm. It would take a while for him to get used to his body, and Brahm probably had a lot to speak about with Sesha.
Galliard, Phante, and Edora followed right behind him. There was anxiousness in Galliard’s eyes.
“What about Brahm…..?”
He was asking if Brahm’s last moments had been peaceful, not if Brahm was feeling better.
“He’s okay.”
“Sesha’s must’ve…..mm?”
“You’ll see if you enter. Sesha’s sleeping inside so be quiet.”
Galliard looked at Yeon-woo with a questioning face and quickly opened the door.
And he widened his eyes seeing Brahm stroke Sesha’s head.
“B…..!”
“Shh. Didn’t you hear me saying to be quiet?”
Galliard didn’t know what to do because he was so happy, and he returned to Yeon-woo to hug him.
“Thank you. So much.”
Galliard didn’t know what Yeon-woo did. But he knew that Brahm had become healthier, and Sesha had started to laugh again.
After Galliard lost his family to Akasha’s Snake, Brahm and Sesha were basically his family. He had been worried that he might lose them again, but Yeon-woo had saved them.
Yeon-woo patted Galliard’s back, as if telling him it was alright. He and Brahm were similar. Although the two seemed cold, they were actually warm-hearted.
“I’m making a fool of myself at this age.”
Galliard wiped the tears in his eyes and laughed.
Then, he spoke, gripping Yeon-woo’s shoulder.
“Let’s have a drink later. I think we have a lot to talk about.”
“Yes, sir.”
Galliard nodded his head and entered Brahm’s room again.
Yeon-woo just looked at his back. That guy was none other than his brother’s first teacher. He was someone who Yeon-woo planned on never seeing again after learning Shunpo, but Galliard had become more tightly intertwined with him after he protected Yeon-woo’s niece.
If it was that kind of person, Yeon-woo had to give whatever he had.
Then Yeon-woo turned back to look at Phante and Edora, who were blatantly staring at him. Unlike Brahm and Galliard, the two didn’t know about his backstory. He considered whether he should keep it like that, but now, he thought differently.
He could just push it back for later, but that wouldn’t solve the situation.
Yeon-woo realized that he couldn’t be caught in the past anymore.
It was time to roll.
“Phante, Edora.”
“Sup?”
“Yes, Oraboni.”
“I have something to say to you later, so please make some time after I speak with the Guardian.”
Phante and Edora furiously nodded their heads.
Now, it was time to speak with Yvlke. The conversation that they had would probably determine the direction he would take in the future.
Under the mask, Yeon-woo’s eyes hardened.
***
Just then, a portal opened in front of Yeon-woo.
“Ohyohyohyohyo. Would you like to come over here?”
It was the invitation of a Guardian.
Phante looked a bit surprised, and Edora looked at Yeon-woo with concerned eyes.
Yeon-woo signaled that it was okay and stepped into the portal. As he did, the portal closed, and it suddenly became bright.
It was a quite large room. There was a red carpet on the marble floor, and on the walls, there were all kinds of holy symbols.
Yvlke sat on the table under the crystal chandelier and waved his hand. The table was filled with elegant tea cups.
“I’m definitely more used to seeing you wear a mask. Would you like to sit here?’
Yeon-woo nodded his head and sat on the opposite side of Yvlke.
Yvlke put a cup in front of Yeon-woo and poured some tea for him. The pure scent of flowers stimulated his nose.
The guy looked like a crude goblin, but his mannerisms were more elegant than any other’s.
“Ohyohyohyo. This is made from a rare plant from a planet called Traville. It was made with care, so try some.”
Yeon-woo lifted the cup to his mouth. It really was a clean taste. His fatigue disappeared with a sip. Thanks to that, Yeon-woo was able to look at Yvlke with a fresh mind.
Yvllke asked with a grin.
“How is it?”
“Good.”
“Ohyohyo. That’s a relief. Unlike how you always make us suffer, I’m giving you such nice things. Isn’t this the epitome of a perfect Guardian?”
Yeon-woo ignored Yvlke’s joke and placed the cup back down.
“You said you have something you want to talk about. I hope you get straight to the point.”
“It’s so hard to make jokes with you.”
Yvlke lightly complained and clapped.
Chwak!
As he did, a purple artifact shined in front of Yeon-woo and popped up a hologram.
It was a view of the 23rd floor. It must still have been being restored, because the edges were quickly being readjusted. But there were some sections that failed to be restored.
“As you can see, the fight with Hermes and Agares was quite intense, so the restoration is still incomplete, though the stage was temporarily closed.”
Temporarily closed.
Yeon-woo’s eyes widened. The Tower had been in existence for over thousands of years, but cases like this were rare.
However, that might’ve been something obvious.
The sight that Yeon-woo saw before he passed out couldn’t be called a stage. Doing a trial in such a place was impossible.
“On top of that, most of the players on that stage died, so there are complaints from the clans. All Bureau business has been paused right now. Ohyohyo! The Bureau’s hate for you is quite enormous.”
Yblke stroked his sharp chin and continued.
“Of course, according to the regulations of the Bureau, nothing will be done to you since this was something that happened while you were doing the trial. And we’re partly responsible for not stopping Agares as well. Actually, what some guy did had the most part in it.”
Yeon-woo thought of someone. On the 21st floor, Lupi of Hai had come to him. And there was someone he referenced.
“Laplace?”
The highest Guardian of the 10th floor, Laplace.
Yvlke nodded his head.
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“So you’ve noticed. We’re still investigating what that guy was aiming for. Anyways, so what I wanted to say to you was that the Bureau won’t hold you responsible. However, other clans or players could…..”
“They might gain an enmity towards me.”
The Large Clans had paid attention to Brahm since a long time ago. They would’ve noticed why Agares suddenly descended.
At the moment, they were fine because the Bureau was protecting them, but when Yvlke left, they would move as one. Since Sesha was here, Yeon-woo had to protect them no matter what. Yvlke was warning him about this.
In other words, the reason why Yeon-woo and the others were able to rest without any particular interruption was thanks to Yvlke.
Yeon-woo became curious why Yvlke was helping them. He had felt this from the Tutorial, but he couldn’t read Yvlke at all. Was it just simply good will? Or was he trying to make them indebted to him?
And if not that, was there something else?
“I’m sure you didn’t stay behind just to say this.”
“Ohyohyohyo. Of course there’s a reason.”
Yvlke waved his hand to break the hologram. The screen broke, and gathered again to create several messages.
“Actually, there’s something else I need to tell you. There’s a lot of commotion right now, so it’s a bit awkward in the middle like this.”
Like someone who was presenting a feast, Yvlke spread his arms wide apart.
Messages endlessly popped up.
[A god of ‘Asgard,’ Heimdall, strongly requests something.]
[A god of ‘Deva,’ Shiva, has a strong opinion.]
[A god of ‘Olympus,’ Ares, shouts vehemently at the other gods.]
[The other gods all ignore him.]
…..
[A demon of ‘Le Infernal,’ Amon, observes you.]
[A demon of ‘Jeolgyo,’ Tao, licks his lips.]
…..
There were countless messages related to gods and demons.
Yeon-woo unintentionally frowned.
“What’s this?”
Yvlke cackled.
“What else would it be? They’re all people who are interested in you.”
“…..!’
Yeon-woo’s eyes became bigger.
“41 people from the godly side, and 55 from the demonic side want you. They’re all requests to become closer to you.”
“Are they offering apostle positions?”
But Yeon-woo calmed himself down. He had already expected the gods and demons would move. Even if he had received the help of Hermes and Athena, he had injured Agares, and Brahm was now bound to him.
However, he was just surprised that it was more than he expected. 41 gods and 55 demons. A total of 96 immortals were interested in him.
“Yes. That’s right. If you become their apostle, their influence on the lower floors will become that much stronger.”
“But gods like Shiva and Ares should already have apostles?”
Even though gods and demons could have multiple believers, they could only have one apostle. That was why they took particular care in choosing one.
The apostles of Shiva, the god of destruction, and Ares, the god of war, were already famous high rankers.
But they were interested in him?
“If needed, they seemed to be prepared to break off the contracts they already have.”
Yeon-woo was astonished. Considering how much effort the gods and demons put into raising a single apostle, it was incredulous that they were even thinking of breaking their contracts off one-sidedly.
‘And they made such a fuss when Brahm became bound to me. Their words are different from their actions.’
Yeon-woo couldn’t help but scoff at the gods who were much stronger, but in the end, the same as humans.
“But as you already know, the condition to be an apostle is to be a ranker.”
Yeon-woo nodded his head. There were 3 different positions of rankers. Apostle, Lord, and Supernaturalist. This was applied after they overcame the Dragon’s Temple on the 50th floor.
“However, they must’ve thought that it would be too late to wait until the 50th floor, and so they suggested this to me several times. They’re saying that they want a provisional contract first.”
In other words, it meant they wanted to mark their territory before others could take it.
“And there are a few who are offering their powers to you as soon as the provisional contract is finished. What do you think?”
Although powers were classified as skills, they were completely different. It was because they were the strength that symbolized the ‘concepts’ of gods and demons.
Being able to use powers on the lower floors meant that you could demonstrate extreme strength.
But Yeon-woo just crossed his arms.
He already had a powerful ability of the dragon. Since it was something from the ancient dragon Kalatus, who was once stronger than the highest of gods, most powers weren’t that tempting to him.
So Yeon-woo tried to refuse. He didn’t plan on being bound anywhere. Then, a thought occurred to him.
These manys gods and demons were wanting him. Did he have to be tied up to one?
[A god of ‘Malak,’ Azrael, is urging you to speak faster.]
[A demon of ‘Niflheim,’ Jormungandr, looks at you with calm eyes.]
…..
The side that wanted more was at a disadvantage. Yeon-woo shook his head like he wasn’t that interested.
“No. I can’t even control what I have right now. And I don’t feel the need to be tied up anywhere.”
[A god of ‘Olympus,’ Ares, shouts frantically.]
[A demon of ‘Le Infernal,’ Dantalian, suggests you change your mind.]
[A demon of ‘Jeolgyo,’ Gulaganta, looks at you with annoyance.]
…..
All the gods and demons were those in pretty high positions. The reason why it was only 96 beings might’ve been because the ones in lower positions didn’t dare to show interest.
They urged Yeon-woo to change his mind with the messages.
A few of them even spoke about how amazing the powers that Yeon-woo would get were if he signed the contract with them.
But Yeon-woo just nonchalantly shook his head side to side. Yvlke laughed seeing Yeon-woo. He had realized what Yeon-woo was trying to do.
Yeon-woo was probably the only player to play the gods and demons like this.
“Ohyohyohyo. Of course, even if the greatest treasures are shown, if the person himself doesn’t want it, nothing can be done. What a shame. Then, with this, I’ll close the channe…..!”
[A god of ‘Deva,’ Agni, jumps up and down. He is searching for a portal onto the 24th floor.]
[The society of gods, ‘Olympus,’ is raising a complaint against the Bureau!]
[The society of demons, ‘Jeolgyo,’ challenges the Bureau.]
Just when Yvlke was about to close the noisy channel,
“However,”
Yeon-woo jumped in at the appropriate timing and paused. Yvlke stopped like he had been waiting.
“I won’t refuse what you just feel like you have to offer me.”
Yvlke grinned widely and spoke looking at the channel. Countless gazes followed him.
“Ohyohyohyo. Did you all hear? That’s what player ### said. What do you want to do now?”
The loud channel suddenly became quiet. The gazes on Yvlke turned sharp. They had realized what Yeon-woo wanted.
For the time, he didn’t want to be tied up by a provisional contract. He would take what they had to offer and decide if he wanted it or not.
There was no one who had this kind of guts to go against the gods and demons, but Yeon-woo was calm, like he didn’t care, and Yvlke acted like he was going to close the channel any second now.
For a moment, no one was able to float up a message. It might’ve been their last pride, or it might’ve been because they were waiting to see what the others would do. No one stepped up.
In the midst of the silence—
[Agares of ‘Le Infernal’ suggests the power, ‘Hyoongshin Acksal’!] [TN: Hyoongshin Acksal in chinese is 凶神惡煞, means fierce.]
And with that message that marked the beginning, the channel exploded.