The Heavenly God's Fury

A massive presence vanished in an instant.

Baal let out a delighted giggle.

With three god-king level constellations present, even Zeus was powerless to resist.

“What is it?”

“Don’t worry. Since it’s officially registered in the system, we’ll wring it out of them one way or another.”

The Tower system’s binding force was absolute—even a god-king couldn’t ignore it. Or rather, attempting to ignore it would simply get them banned. Being expelled from the Pantheon after trying to hoard a bit of divinity would be the ultimate humiliation.

“It’s a shame we couldn’t negotiate and secure exactly what we wanted, though.”

A random reward. Since it was based on Zeus’s divinity, I’d hoped it might grant something lightning-related.

It was the same grade as my Pocket of Desire. They must have prepared this reward expecting Alexis to win. For a lightning specialist like him, it would have been an incredible elixir. Zeus must be feeling a sharp pain in his gut right about now.

“What’s there to be disappointed about?”

I gripped the Stone of Lightning tightly and activated Devour.

Any normal player would have been in mortal danger just from exposure to the lightning stored inside. But I was different. Absorbing Zeus’s essence rather than raw lightning wouldn’t be a problem at—

“Gyaaghhk!”

…Or so I thought.

The moment the stone’s power flowed into my body, it felt exactly like being struck by one of Alexis’s attacks. My entire nervous system screamed.

“It’s not a seizure, dammit.”

I gritted my teeth and continued forcing down Zeus’s divine power.

Heh. Another blessing in the bag.

“Lucky me.”

Meeting Alexis in the promotion match had been a stroke of pure fortune. I’d initially thought he was just another arrogant prick bloated with chosen-one syndrome, but after I smashed his pride and stole compensation from Zeus, I couldn’t have asked for a better outcome.

“For now, yeah.”

It was still the blessing of a god-king. Any lightning abilities I gained later by devouring more essences while climbing the Tower would only become stronger. If I swallowed more of Zeus’s essence and raised the blessing to rank 2, additional effects would appear. Either way, there was no downside.

“Don’t the other constellations ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠still owe me a settlement?”

An exquisitely carved serpent statue. An eerie energy coiled around its eyes and tongue.

“Just bear with it a little longer. I can’t eat it here.”

I stored the serpent statue in my Pocket of Desire and finished claiming the rest of my promotion rewards.

* * *

One of the biggest changes after the first Great Erosion was the real-time broadcasting of Babel Tower raids. Commentators now dissected battles like sports analysts.

The current hottest topic was, of course, my Silver-rank promotion match. The Diamond-rank matches had been pushed to second place.

“Did you see that, Thomas Caster?”

“I did. Player Yu Jinho is absolutely dominating that war golem.”

“Who could have predicted Alexis would be so utterly helpless?”

It had been about six months since my regression. Back then, almost no one outside my family and hometown knew my name. Now, it was harder to find someone who hadn’t heard of Yu Jinho.

“As expected of the hero of the Spice System. Truly overwhelming.”

“The timing and spacing of his skill usage are flawless.”

The two American commentators practically spat while praising my performance.

The Titan prototype. A player piloting a war golem saw their combat power increase by at least five times.

“Of course, first-time pilots usually struggle with the amplified mana control, so it’s probably closer to two or three times at the start.”

“The important thing is that Alexis couldn’t even lift a finger!”

Alexis, whose stock had been skyrocketing with Zeus as his sponsor. There weren’t many players in the world contracted to god-king constellations, so he had received massive attention across Europe and North America.

“I heard Player Yu Jinho hasn’t contracted with any constellation yet?”

“That’s correct. We confirmed it through Gold Moon’s contacts.”

“Ah, right. There was talk of a rather close relationship between Gold Moon and Player Yu Jinho.”

“And at this very moment, the war golem has been completely destroyed!”

The moment Alexis’s war golem was obliterated, the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠scales of victory tipped decisively. News outlets immediately began pumping out articles with titles like Yu Jinho vs Alexis: A Shocking Upset.

The entire world was paying attention to a player who had only just reached Silver. That was how closely people were watching my every move.

In this atmosphere, the Korean Player Association was busier than ever.

“Team Leader, here are the new membership applications.”

“Thanks for your hard work.”

Han Suchang waved his right hand dismissively. The dark circles under his eyes were so heavy they looked like they might fall off. No matter how many all-nighters he pulled, the workload only grew.

“Applications, huh…”

He sighed and flipped through the documents. At a glance, there were well over a hundred player names.

The Special Task Force—a new department created at my suggestion. It operated like a loose group of mercenaries rather than formal association members, carrying out the Association’s requests.

When President Kim Woosung had approved its creation, people had called it a dead-end department. Now it had the second-highest workload right after the Gate Monitoring Division.

It feels like just yesterday I was complaining about it being a cushy job.

Slurp—.

Han Suchang took a sip of coffee and smiled faintly.

The main reason he had joined the Association was a sense of responsibility. When the Babel Tower and Players appeared, the world had entered an era of upheaval. He had wanted to help stabilize it.

For years he had run himself ragged with little to show for it. Then my proposal changed everything. A new, unbound department called the Special Task Force was born, and after the first Great Erosion, countless players began flocking to it.

Their interests aligned perfectly with the Association’s.

No wonder I feel like I’m going to die from overwork.

Whether he died from being too busy or from rotting away in boredom, he’d rather die from overwork. Besides, he always felt grateful to me for creating this opportunity.

I will not waste the chance Lord Jinho gave me. I will use it well for our country.

Han Suchang downed the rest of his coffee in one go and returned his focus to the applications.

* * *

“Master, congratulations on advancing to Silver rank!”

Bang—!

Lee Jiyoung set off a party popper. A cake sat in the center of the team lounge, with the rest of the members seated around it.

“When the hell did you guys prepare this?”

“You defeated Greece’s rising star. As expected of Master.”

“His name was Alexis, right? He was full of chosen-one syndrome. He was never going to be a match for our team leader.”

I raised an eyebrow at Ping Lei’s comment.

“Whoa. Hearing you talk about chosen-one syndrome is actually shocking.”

“Are you provoking me ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠on purpose?”

“No, I’m just saying. You used to go on and on about the Chinese people this, the Chinese people that.”

Ping Lei’s face turned beet red. This was exactly why people needed to watch their mouths.

“Seeing someone else do it just looks pathetic, doesn’t it?”

“I will refrain from such behavior in the future.”

Ping Lei pressed his lips tightly together.

It was a small party with the team. All we had was a cake and a single party popper, but it still warmed my heart a little.

Before my regression, these people had all walked their own paths. Some had been allies, some enemies, and some I had never even crossed paths with. But now they stood by my side, preparing to prevent the future of destruction.

They themselves didn’t know that yet.

Nyx, who had manifested in a physical body, took a bite of cake and let out a strange noise.

“Mmmmmm!!”

“How marvelous. The way the cream and sponge melt on the tongue the instant they touch it… Truly a divine harmony.”

“Wait, is this seriously your first time eating cake?”

“Indeed it is.”

Lee Jiyoung shot me a glare. Hey, cut me some slack. If the Goddess of Gluttony awakened to gourmet food, I was the one who’d suffer.

After enjoying the small celebration, I returned to my room.

“I’m exhausted.”

“It’s because Jiyoung made such a big deal out of it.”

Thanks to the Blessing of the Earth Mother, my stamina almost never dropped.

I looked around, then reached into my Pocket of Desire. The statue engraved with a serpent—the Wicked Serpent Statue, a holy relic of Balak, the Dragon Lord.

“Time to devour this thing.”

“I’m not exactly in a position to be picky.”

I gave a light chuckle and gripped the Wicked Serpent Statue tightly.

Balak had been among the stronger demons of the 72, but he hadn’t spat out any divinity. As expected, divinity wasn’t easy to obtain.

“For now, yeah.”

My current race was still human. Although Devour had already freed me from about half of that limitation, I was still far from a true dragonkin. Dragons, wyrms, demonic dragons—dragonkin species that appeared across countless mythologies were basically born with golden spoons rivaling the gods themselves.

However—

“If I completely assimilate this essence into my body, the story changes.”

“I’m only doing it because I trust you, Goddess.”

I sat down in the lotus position with a calm expression.

My body had been reconstructed using the essence of a primordial species as its vessel. Now I would fully assimilate the essence of Balak, the demon god representing demonic dragons.

I already knew what the result would be. I had done this before my regression. Just like last time, it was going to hurt like hell, but—

“I’m counting on you.”

I entrusted Nyx with protecting me and turned my gaze inward.