Chapter 2
Chapter 2
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 2
Chapter Title: Raided the Demon God's Warehouse
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-Zeus's Lightning Bolt strikes.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ Zeus's Lightning Bolt, Astrafe, strikes. Kraaaang!
"Grraaaah!"
Se-woon hurled Astrafe at the Outer that had burst through the ceiling without a moment's hesitation.
Defying the common sense of lightning striking from sky to ground, the sharp bolt of electricity surged upward from below, slamming into the creature's head.
Thunder roared, filling the warehouse, and the Outer let out a scream just as thunderous.
"That's effective."
The place where Se-woon stood was the deepest chamber of the warehouse he'd entered to find Chronos's Hourglass, brimming with treasures every bit as magnificent as the hourglass itself.
Including the Astrafe he'd just used, of course.
[Vajra, Lightning that Summons Storms]
- The weapon Indra, the Thunder God, used to vanquish the Asuras. It can slice and pierce anything.
Weapons wielded by constellations of supreme god rank littered the area.
"You couldn't take them anyway!"
Kraaaang!
He flung Vajra, the prized possession of its owner constellation Indra, at the Outer without the slightest hesitation.
A spear throw.
He was treating a supreme god's sacred relic like a one-use disposable.
If its original owner, Indra, had witnessed the scene, he might have flown into a rage and torn Se-woon apart, rules of causality be damned.
Of course, with all constellations now devoured by the Outers, it was a meaningless worry.
"Grraaaah!"
The Outer's screams grew even louder.
A scar from Vajra's penetration marred the creature's skin, tough enough to shatter Pandemonium's gold.
Using a supreme god's weapon ensured solid damage, even against an Outer remnant.
It pained him to hurl away weapons each worthy of being called ultimate relics, but there was no choice.
Per Chronos's Hourglass ability, he couldn't carry these items back to the past anyway.
But then.
'How did they gather all this?'
As he gleefully tossed sacred relics, a question arose.
Magic swords or relics visible from the entrance made sense, but how had they acquired these supreme god relics at the warehouse's far end?
Astrafe was known as the Sky God Zeus's signature weapon.
Steal it casually and stick it in a warehouse? With that kind of power, how did they lose the Divine-Demon War?
It didn't add up, no matter how he thought about it.
Then it hit him.
'They're not real.'
Se-woon realized the truth about the warehouse's myriad treasures.
It was obvious, really. If genuine, a mere human like Se-woon—far from a transcendent—couldn't wield them, even crudely as disposables.
Relics of this caliber required at least an apostle-level player of the relevant god to barely draw out a fraction of their power.
But calling them fakes didn't mean they were worthless knockoffs.
'Replicas made from traces.'
Take Astrafe: based on traces of Zeus actually using it, amplified to near-original power.
The others were the same.
In simple terms, high-fidelity replicas.
'Counterfeits,' essentially.
How obsessive must the Greed Demon God's constellation have been to craft and hoard fakes?
Gazing at them revealed the sheer tenacity of that constellation dubbed the Greed Demon God.
"Whatever, doesn't matter to me!"
[Levatein, Sword of Ruin]
- The flaming giant Surtr's sword, said to exist to burn the world, forged by Loki in Niflheim using runes.
Fwoosh!
This time, a sword of fire.
Not as piercing as the previous ones, but the moment Levatein embedded in the Outer, fierce flames erupted.
The heat was so intense Se-woon felt his skin prickle from afar.
"Grraaaah!"
Boom! Crash!
The Outer's thrashing intensified.
Gold chunks forming the ceiling rained down, burying and vanishing the Greed Demon God's lifelong hoard beneath them.
Its wounds healed at a grotesque speed, but Se-woon's pace in hurling new weapons was even faster.
"Finally, the core's exposed."
Outers lack fixed forms. With their slime-like fluidity, they typically envelop other lifeforms for structure.
This one wriggling through the collapsed ceiling was no different.
Repeated strikes peeled away the surface slime, revealing the core.
"A boar?"
Not fully clear, but an Outer's power scales with its host's strength.
Thus, the core that razed Pandemonium was undoubtedly overwhelmingly powerful.
Time until sand fully falls: 28 seconds... Less than thirty seconds remained.
He'd exceeded ten weapons in ten minutes, yet only now peeled the surface.
And this was just a fragment dripped from the true Outer. Imagining where such a thing fell from was impossible.
[Bryunak, Spear of Glory]
- The spear of Lu Lavada, the Light God, known to move on its own, never miss, and pierce all.
A bit of venting, perhaps?
Time would rewind soon enough, so the Outer’s fate didn't matter, but Se-woon wanted to claim at least one kill with his own hands.
This was his declaration of intent to face the Outers after regressing via Chronos's Hourglass.
"Hup!"
Shweee!
Powering his lower body, twisting his waist, he flung his arm with full force. Squeezing every drop of mana and strength, he wrenched his muscles.
Excruciating pain hit, a metallic tang of blood in his mouth, but no regrets.
Splurt!
A flash brighter than gold pierced the Outer, boring a new hole.
The Outer’s movements halted abruptly.
And Se-woon’s assault didn't end there.
Fwaaah!
Brilliant light burst from Bryunak deep within the Outer.
Light spewed from every hole in its body, swelling it red.
"Grraaah!"
As if sensing its doom, the Outer unleashed a guttural roar.
The flash from Bryunak grew blinding.
Sploooosh!
Like a burst water balloon, the Outer exploded.
Killing a free wriggling Outer core was tough, but one that devoured a host died with it, parasite-like.
Thus, the first player to fell an Outer.
⚔ ACHIEVEMENT UNLOCKED ⚔ As the first player, you have defeated an Outer. You have achieved a great feat. Reward: 500,000,000 points acquired. An unimaginable flood of achievement points poured in, but he barely noticed.
They'd reset when the hourglass activated anyway.
And as if awaiting the Outer’s death, the sand in Chronos's Hourglass fully drained.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ Chronos's Hourglass activates. Player 'Jeong Se-woon’s' causality reverses. All skills possessed are erased. All stats accumulated in the tower are erased. ... Light from the hourglass flooded his vision.
All the power he'd desperately built surviving in the tower against his will slipped away.
Not just achievement and hidden piece stats, but even his top unique skill, Journey's Compass.
Merely regressing to the past.
Yet, as proof of his growth, the receding fullness left him with overwhelming lethargy.
'Still, I can do this.'
Se-woon resolved.
Even without Journey's Compass, his knowledge surpassed any tower player.
Knowledge from it, plus countless hidden pieces he'd known of but couldn't claim due to weakness.
He'd monopolize them all, grow strong enough to crush these accursed things.
The moment he vowed it, new messages filled his view unbidden.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ 'Treasure Vault of Greed' has collapsed. No warehouse owner exists. Player 'Jeong Se-woon,' currently inside with the golden key, is recognized as owner of 'Treasure Vault of Greed.' 'Treasure Vault of Greed' is absorbed as an authority. "Huh?"
Midst the hourglass activation, power drain, and disorientation, one thing was clear.
He'd become this warehouse's owner.
But what use? Regression meant he couldn't take it.
And the messages didn't end there.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ You have defeated the Gluttony's Beast. 'Authority of Gluttony' loses its owner. 'Authority of Gluttony' attaches to player 'Jeong Se-woon,' who defeated Gluttony's Beast. "What's this now?"
Gluttony's Beast? Was that the monster the Outer had possessed? More importantly, Authority of Gluttony—one of the Seven Demon Gods' powers?
In that brief window before Chronos's Hourglass fully triggered, myriad thoughts swirled.
He wanted to reread the messages to sort info, but time was no longer on his side.
Fizzle!
The brilliant white landscape winked out to darkness.
Like a baseball bat to the skull, a dull impact hit.
All senses vanished; guts twisted in agony, equilibrium shattered, nausea surged.
As if abandoned in the universe's void.
'Can't lose consciousness!'
Se-woon clung to the torment like a lifeline, gripping his mind.
Swallowing bile, clenching fists. To anchor himself, he endlessly repeated "Jeong Se-woon."
Chronos's Hourglass—a replica's flaw? Or regression's aftereffect? Unknown.
But losing it here felt like eternal abandonment in time's crevice.
How many hundreds of repetitions?
Slrr.
Warmth seeped into his numb, frozen skin.
Bright light pierced his sealed eyelids. Fresh grass scent filled his blocked nose.
Slowly inhaling, he cautiously opened his eyes.
There unfolded a scene long past yet unforgettable.
🔔 WELCOME ⚔ Welcome to the Tutorial. The tower's outskirts.
The trial determining if one qualified as a player to enter the tower.
The Tutorial had begun.