Chapter 36
Chapter 36
Chapter 36 - Observation
In the Pantheon, there are countless gods.
From the gods that existed before, to newly born gods, or even those who newly become gods.
The name Pantheon is not an exaggeration.
Then what about the Pandemonium? The number of Demon Kings is not many.
In the barren environment called the Demon Realm, demons that survive without entering under a Demon King's command are extremely few, and even among those, the individuals that can grow to become Demon Kings are exceedingly rare.
However, even with just that small number of personnel, they are beings who can dare to rival the myriad gods, so they proudly use the name Pandemonium.
It's not called Pandemonium because numerous Demon Kings exist, but because they are Demon Kings who can oppose numerous gods, that's why it's Pandemonium.
He had proven this when Baal alone faced several of the Highest-Grade Gods, who are the pinnacle of gods.
Though Demon Kings have no concept of cooperation or submission among themselves, they tacitly acknowledged Baal as their leader.
And now, at this place, the pinnacles of the Pantheon and the pinnacles of the Pandemonium had gathered in one place.
The chief god of Olympus, Zeus.
The divine king of Svarga, Indra.
The supreme god of Asgard, Odin.
The Tathagata of the Pure Land, Shakyamuni.
The creator of the Garden of Eden, Yahweh.
Even just the lineup of gods was brilliant.
All of them were Highest-Grade Gods called the pinnacle of gods.
Each of them commanded hundreds of subordinate gods under their command, and the number of believers who would sacrifice their lives at their single command was difficult to count.
But the opponents who made even such beings tense were sitting right across from them.
The ruler of the eastern Demon Realm, Agares.
The ruler of the western Demon Realm, Vasago.
Those who gladly accepted the gods' invitation, not knowing what traps might be waiting.
No, it would be more accurate to say they didn't even care because they were absolute powerhouses confident they could overcome any trap.
"Finally here. But... what's with that appearance?"
And the final person who kept everyone waiting finally arrived at their seat.
The first sovereign of the Demon Realm, Demon God Baal (Baël).
The gods wore displeased expressions but couldn't show it in words. If the opponent targeted them and started biting, they would have to suffer tremendous losses.
They never thought they were below the opponent, and rationalized it as avoiding troublesome matters.
"I couldn't come carelessly when I was going to see that guy. Sorry. Zeus. This is just because I was bored."
Baal grinned and answered Zeus who had spoken to her first.
Unlike the simple red muscle monster form of the avatar that Han Yeong-min had been seeing, she had taken the appearance of a small girl compared to Zeus.
It was the appearance from when she was still a lowest-rank demon in the Demon Realm, before she had done any predation. She had taken this form thinking there was no appearance more fitting for seeing Han Yeong-min.
But Zeus was never fooled by that smile, that rogue-like attitude, that trivial apology, or the girl's appearance.
She was a mad dog that could bite the opponent at any time. He thought that even now, behind that smile, she was probably thinking about fighting, killing, devouring, and stealing power from her opponents.
But Baal wasn't actually thinking such thoughts.
What Baal hated was boredom. She fought and tried to devour opponents every time to relieve boredom, but if there was something else interesting, there was no need for that.
If there was something more interesting than getting stronger, she would become more absorbed in that.
"Got it. Let's start soon."
The screen that Zeus had prepared began playing a video. Inside it was Han Yeong-min's figure entering the Tower captured in high definition.
The reason they had gathered. It was to observe Han Yeong-min's climb, who had thoroughly toyed with their avatars for a full month based on the tutorial's time.
And there was also the reason for establishing countermeasures against him.
"Even when I only saw him through avatars, I could feel it to some extent, but Earth's god certainly created a masterpiece. To think a mere mortal could contain so many abilities."
Odin looked at Han Yeong-min and purely admired him. The numerous abilities he had accumulated made even Odin, who prided himself as an all-rounder, click his tongue in amazement.
"It doesn't seem to be because of Earth's god. That human just seems peculiar. There have been many who risked their lives to glimpse even a fragment of our authority, but that guy had absolutely no fear of death. What on earth happened in the 1st round to give birth to such a guy?"
Indra thought Han Yeong-min's existence was likely a singularity not intended by Earth's god.
If such beings could be created intentionally, instead of making him regress, they should have just mass-produced them. If even one more like him appeared, it would truly be a disaster.
"It's a regression that blurs even our memories, so Earth's god must have made many sacrifices. But he's a person worth that much. Especially his nearly infinite mental strength was something to see and learn from."
Shakyamuni was not just admiring Han Yeong-min but sending him some praise.
He too, as a being who had attained Nirvana through martial arts and enlightenment, applauded the will of the human called Han Yeong-min.
He glimpsed the possibility that someday he might step into a realm equal to, or even beyond, his own.
"Baal. Are you certain he is not your successor? He was using domination magic that only you can use. I suspect he might be a collaboration between you and Earth's god."
Yahweh suspected Han Yeong-min might be Baal's successor. Both the martial arts he had been using and his fighting style were too similar to Baal's.
It seemed impossible for them to be so alike unless Baal had taught him directly.
"I was suspicious too. He even handled your Demon God Art and HellFire. Even if not you from this round, you from the previous round might have taken Han Yeong-min as a disciple."
Zeus was thinking that Baal and Han Yeong-min might have had some kind of relationship in the 1st round. Nothing else could explain the situation.
He couldn't even imagine that Baal had sent avatars in the 1st round too.
The act of sending avatars to the tutorial space was dangerous enough to cause permanent damage to one's status.
They too had noticed the regression and realized it was something Earth's god had done, so they sent avatars by twisting the system's laws, but originally they would never have done so.
But to attempt such a dangerous act to spy on Earth, which was considered worthless? It would be absolutely impossible unless one was a complete madman.
"Well. That could be possible. I'm also curious since it's my first time seeing someone other than me handle domination magic. Something must have happened between me and him in the 1st round."
Baal spoke as if she didn't know well, but was already expecting what her 1st round self might have done.
Surely, even in the 1st round, she would have sent an avatar to the tutorial. And meeting the being called Han Yeong-min, she would have thoroughly analyzed everything.
And in this gathering where everyone thought Han Yeong-min was a genius, only Baal thought of him as a dunce.
'To handle domination magic, one must first experience the bottom.'
Only those who have crawled up desperately from the very bottom and realized the essence of domination can handle domination magic.
That's why no other god or Demon King could imitate her domination magic.
From the weakest lowest-rank demon in the Demon Realm to becoming the strongest Demon God, only Baal knew how many things she had killed, devoured, and grown through.
Thinking that Han Yeong-min had also lived such a life, Baal felt interest in him boiling up fiercely in her chest.
She wanted him to pass through the trial floors as quickly as possible and accept her invitation.
She had so much she wanted to say. So much she wanted to hear too.
But watching him progress through the trial floors was also interesting, so she focused on the screen for now.
Just then, it was a scene where Han Yeong-min was spewing curses after being confirmed for Hell difficulty trials due to everything he had accumulated so far.
At that sight, everyone present burst into quiet laughter.
Whether much or little, everyone had been robbed of techniques they had been proud of by Han Yeong-min. Seeing that ability thief in a predicament, they couldn't help but laugh.
Even the noble Shakyamuni and Yahweh had to do their best to suppress their laughter in such a situation.
"PFFT... That guy. He's definitely a troublemaker. He's thinking of deceiving the Tower's trials from the start."
Agares burst into quiet laughter again watching Han Yeong-min who was trying to break walls first thing upon entering the trial.
He had noticed it when Han Yeong-min broke through and imitated his authority, but he was just a real madman. The two were so similar that it made him suspect if Han Yeong-min really wasn't Baal's successor.
"What... what is he doing..?"
Vasago knew that Han Yeong-min had the ability to detect traps with Deep Insight and avoid them all.
But instead of avoiding traps, he was going directly into them, feeling pain and smiling.
Seeing that scene, everyone's mouths fell open.
Looking now, he seemed like an even crazier bastard than Baal.
Training resistance was understandable, but smiling while his whole body was being pierced with pain was a different realm altogether.
Those gathered here had all been thinking of proposing apostle contracts the moment he broke through the 10th floor, but for a very brief moment... they had doubts.
'Would it be... okay to make him an apostle..?'
It was the first moment when gods and Demon Kings' thoughts aligned.
*
"This trap isn't cooked evenly. It's a failure."
After throwing my body into traps so much, I could now distinguish which traps were good and which were mediocre. The heated iron skewer trap just now was mediocre.
Of course, the judging criteria for good traps was how much they helped grow my resistance.
Among the previous traps, the one that grilled my body like crazy with hellfire really helped my resistance grow rapidly, so I gave it 4.7 out of 5 stars.
'The quantity was disappointing.'
The reason I deducted 0.3 points was because its duration was short. If it had grilled me a bit longer, my resistance would have grown even faster, which was too disappointing.
Next was a trap that tortured my entire body with electricity as if responding to expectations. It was a thrilling sensation that reminded me of the lightning Baal's Avatar used.
I could feel the electrical resistance part of my Comprehensive Resistance growing rapidly.
[The level of Intermediate Comprehensive Resistance rises.]
[The proficiency of Intermediate Comprehensive Resistance has reached maximum.]
[Intermediate Comprehensive Resistance upgrades to Advanced Comprehensive Resistance.]
"The cooking level of the trap was good. Electric Grill Trap-san... survives."
This was also disappointing for not being long enough. But it became the catalyst for my resistance to reach an advanced level, so it was very good.
And what I gained by throwing my body into the traps here wasn't just resistance.
[The level of Intermediate All-Mastery rises.]
The potential gained from the monsters that set traps. As it bloomed, it was included in All-Mastery and crazily raised the level of Intermediate Trap Installation.
The enlightenment from the countless traps experienced here allowed just the level-up of Trap Installation to raise even the level of All-Mastery that encompassed everything.
The good thing about such integrated skills is that as long as the skill level rises, it affects the performance of all integrated skills.
I raised the level of Trap Installation, but the performance of sewing, metallurgy, acupuncture, etc. also rises. So skill integration is definitely profitable in any way.
The true meaning of Myriad Streams Return to the Source was here.
"Ah, but... is this the end?"
By the time Advanced Comprehensive Resistance reached level 5 and Intermediate All-Mastery became level 3 as I continued forward, I could see the end of the path.
There were no more traps I could sense.
[You have passed the 1st floor trial of Test Floor Hell difficulty.]
[Calculating rewards.]
"No. Forget rewards and bring more traps."
I'm still hungry.
Why won't they take additional orders when the customer wants to order more?