Huh...? Me?
Even in a situation that could erupt into a knife fight any second, I blinked in confusion at the sudden voice and muttered,
"Huh...? Me?"
Yes!! It's you!!
A frail voice, like that of a child, cried out in a mix of joy and shock at my reaction to its call.
I couldn't believe it...! Thank goodness.
"What?"
Baek Yiheon, who couldn't possibly hear the child's voice, stared at me like I was crazy as I mumbled to myself.
I wasn't sure if my voice would reach you. Only those chosen as Incarnations can converse with gods. But... you're the first person with divine power who doesn't serve a god.
The voice chattered on a bit chattily, somehow.
I figured it was worth a shot—nothing to lose! I never dreamed it'd work! This is great!! Please, stop these weirdos. I might die at this rate.
...Who are you? I asked in my mind, avoiding Baek Yiheon's gaze.
Gods rarely spoke directly to humans. They only issued brief commands or oracles—more like one-way communication than true conversation.
The only being who could converse with a god was the Descent Dancer born in the Iron Kingdom alongside an oracle.
Of course, as someone from the Iron Kingdom in my dreams, I couldn't say for sure about the other two upper gods—the Curtain God and the God of Slaughter—since their existences were unclear to me.
I am the god dwelling in the sacred flame made for the gods of the continent.
Never heard of a god living in the Ten Thousand Gods Sacred Flame.
Of course not. I'm not a god born from the dawn of time—I'm one created by humans.
Fortunately, even without speaking aloud, my thoughts reached it, and the frail voice replied.
Created by humans? You mean humans can make gods?
Well, "created" isn't quite right. There are prayer priests who pray not to one god, but to the gods dwelling across the continent. When their earnest wishes gather over long ages, they gain power.
I nodded slowly at that.
Sob...!
That was when it let out a groan-like exhale.
Whoosh...!!
At the same moment, the sacred flame flickered wildly.
Um, could you help me? They're heating their hammers with the sacred flame to move it. But at this rate, the pedestal might shatter.
What do I do?
Just protect the sacred flame so it doesn't go out. It's tough, of course... but only you, with an Incarnation's power, can do it.
Sudden Quest Discovered
It was no surprise—the sequence was predictable from what it had said.
"Hey, what the hell are you doing?"
Baek Yiheon snapped irritably as I pulled up the alert window.
"Hold on a sec. Something came up. It's getting noisy with all these guys, so just clean 'em up roughly."
I waved him off to stay quiet, which made the Torongkin scowl and shout.
"You bastards--!!"
"Kill them all...!!"
They charged at us in unison.
"Hey!!"
"Quest popped."
"...Huh?"
Baek Yiheon's face changed at those words.
"You get it, right? Party's on hold for now. If you want even scraps, protect me properly."
"...You're one evil bastard."
He grimaced but didn't seem too displeased as he raised his sword at my command.
Slaughterer Trait Activated!
The moment Baek Yiheon glared at the Torongkin, his aura shifted like a beast eyeing prey.
Clang-!
Clang! Clang! Clang!!!
Surrounded by five Torongkin, he held his ground just as I'd expected. The Slaughterer trait boosted damage against animal-type monsters—including humans—and sped up stamina recovery. It was plenty useful not just for hunting but PVP too. Few players at his level could beat him easily, so 35-level Torongkin were no trouble.
Quest: Guardian of the Ten Thousand Gods Sacred Flame
Members of the tribe called Torong are secretly trying to use the sacred flame on Muhama Plateau. But their clumsy handling risks shattering the sacred flame.
The lower god dwelling in the flame asks you to protect it.
Difficulty:B-S Rank
The quest was straightforward. But the difficulty was the issue.
Torong warriors are only level 35. If the quest monsters hit B-rank—level 60+—it's probably because of U-ryu-ga.
I'd have to clash with him eventually.
"Hmm."
I looked up at the plateau's summit. Beneath the flickering sacred flame, one man gazed down at us.
That guy...
The moment Black Eye saw him, it couldn't hold back and erupted in blue flames.
"Don't screw this up rashly, Black Eye."
U-ryu-ga wouldn't recognize him now that his Sin-su body had erased his old form, but I calmed Black Eye and slowly ascended toward the summit.
"Hey!! You gotta rejoin the party first!"
Baek Yiheon yelled at my back, surrounded by Torongkin.
"Finish up and come."
"That rude prick..."
Kaaang-!!!
Baek Yiheon shoved back the Torongkin's sword with all his might, shattering it and sending the warrior reeling.
Weapon Destruction Success!
Can use Plunder's Wail.
Limited Uses: 3/3
The shattered blade absorbed into Plunder's sword, infusing it with poison.
"Perfect."
Baek Yiheon grinned satisfactorily at his now green-tinged blade.
Clang-! Clang-!! Clang-!!
"Urk, ugh!"
"Aaaack!!!"
Amid the screams from behind, I reached the summit where the sacred flame blazed with extreme heat.
Protect the flame so it doesn't go out...
It sounded like simply guarding the at-risk pedestal. But the quest was to protect the flame rising within—not the pedestal itself.
Protecting an intangible flame could mean many things.
I looked up at the massive blaze burning in the sacred flame.
No conditions on how far or in what form. So protecting that house-sized inferno whole, or sneaking off with a tiny match-flame lick—either way, the quest completes.
But the reward would surely differ based on the method.
Tang-! Tang!!
"Hurry!"
"Damn it, why won't this work?"
"More flame! We need hotter fire to melt the magic silver!"
Around the pedestal, on anvils thick with sacred flame heat, people hammered relentlessly without collapsing.
That...
I frowned at the crude silver lump on the anvil. Lastera, the magic silver ore—one of the hardest attribute stones to find, existing only in theory like lapis lazuli.
Even as the Iron Kingdom's king, I'd never seen a chunk that big.
Hal-son Woken had mixed a tiny bit into my treasured sword, Twisted Edge.
Just a pinch for a king's blade—and they had a massive lump?
Players in this early server phase wouldn't know Lastera's value, but NPCs would.
How'd they get that?
Click- Norpa's Torong was Unique-grade thanks to rare materials like Lastera.
Did they find a silver vein with Lastera deposits?
If so, it was a huge discovery. But their clumsy hammering made it pointless anyway.
"Gotta check that out."
I figured I'd wrap this up and interrogate them later.
For now, best to stop them from breaking the pedestal. The moment the vessel shatters, the flame dies.
If the sacred flame blocking the plateau's chill went out, a blizzard would erupt. Protecting the flame mattered, but as someone who knew the future, preventing disaster did too.
The plateau chill covering the continent is nothing. If the flame dies, communication with the gods cuts off...
That was when—
Kwaaaaang---!!!
Before the lower god finished, a flash engulfed me.
"D-Danger...!!"
Baek Yiheon bashed the last Torongkin with his sword's flat and sprinted up desperately.
Szzzzz...
The heatwave from the summit melted the surroundings instantly.
Crack... Craaaack...
The snow-covered ground briefly showed, but the boundary refroze solid. The flash between us vanished like fresh ice.
"Who are you."
A crude, heavy greatsword pressed down on me. I shoved Tesaro's sword upward with all my strength, deflecting it.
"That sword..."
His lake-deep eyes trembled faintly upon seeing me, like ripples.
"Good."
I stared at the man wielding the crude greatsword like the one War God Gullak used.
"U-ryu-ga."
His face hardened at his name.
"Where'd you get that sword?"
"And you—wielding a greatsword that doesn't suit you. I thought it was because you admired War God Gullak... but did you really behead the true War God and steal it?"
Of course not. Black Eye's old sword, White Night, had long vanished. U-ryu-ga's fake couldn't be it.
U-ryu-ga glares at you.
U-ryu-ga harbors hostility toward you.
True or not, it was provocation enough.
"I came seeking you on Norpa Jeran's word, Torongkin. I know you stole the dwarves' Torong and mean to smelt it with the sacred flame."
Murmurs—
The hammering stopped dead at my words.
"Don't stop tempering!!!!"
U-ryu-ga bellowed without looking away.
"Don't forget our vow. We must reclaim the lost tribal lands in the Land of Savages!"
The Torongkin hurriedly resumed hammering.
"You're quite different."
His thunderous roar and demon-like grimace—even if a tragic smile—differed from the ever-smiling U-ryu-ga I remembered.
"Lucky you're not the first of Glory's 9 I met in this world. Old ties might've made me go easy otherwise."
"Nonsense."
"U-ryu-ga, you're Gullak's second hero too. A hero's sword equals facing the hero himself—so show respect before the sword of your first-hero senior, Tesaro."
"Shut up...!"
U-ryu-ga hurled his greatsword at me with full force.
Bwoooong---!!
It tore the air like a monster's wail. But I didn't dodge.
Greatsword feint into twin-sword rush.
That was always his ingrained opener.
Kagang...!!
I gripped Amur's shortsword in reverse grip and slashed upward. The greatsword spun off course and clattered to the ground.
Kaang! Kang!!!
U-ryu-ga lunged with twin swords; I countered with Tesaro's and the shortsword.
"Even Amur's?"
His face hardened further seeing I had the fourth hero's sword too.
"Can even he deny you're a hero?"
I murmured low amid the fierce push-pull.
"...What?"
That was when—
...U-ryu-ga!!!
Blue flames surged before him.