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Chapter 2
-Zeus' lightning is raging.
Crackle!
"Grrr!"
Seun threw Astraphe without hesitation towards the Outer that appeared after breaking through the ceiling. Ignoring the common knowledge of lightning that should have struck from the sky to the ground, the sharp electric current came from the bottom to the ceiling, and struck the creature's head. The sound of thunder filled the place, and the Outer screamed with a voice as loud as thunder.
"That worked."
This was where Seun stood. In the innermost part of the treasury, where he entered to find the Hourglass of Kronos, there were numerous treasures that were no less valuable than the Hourglass. Including the just-used Astraphe.
[The lightning that summons typhoons, Vajra]
- As the weapon used by the Thunder God Indra to defeat the Asuras, it can cut through anything.
There were numerous highest-level relics used by the divine-class Thrones all around.
"Anyway, I won't be able to take them!"
Kwarrung-!!
The relic Vajra, owned by the Throne Indra, was thrown without any hesitation at the Outer.
A throw. Using divine-class relics as disposable items. If the original owner, Indra, had seen this scene, he would not only be furious, but he might have torn Seun apart regardless of consequences. Of course, now that all the Thrones had been swallowed by the Outer, it was meaningless to worry, but still.
"Guee-eu!"
The screams of the Outer grew louder.
The Vajra penetrated the tough skin of the creature, which was hard enough to shatter the gold within the Manma Temple. With a weapon of such level, even the remnant of the Outer had taken damage.
It was a shame to send weapons that could be called relics one by one, but there was no other choice. With the conditions of of Hourglass of Kronos, it was impossible to take the items here to the past. But.
‘How did they gather all of these?’
In the midst of all the excitement of picking up the weapons, Seun became curious about one thing. If it was those demonic swords or relics that he had seen at the entrance of the warehouse, he could understand, but how did they acquire these divine-class relics? Astraphe, for example, was known as the weapon of Zeus, the god of the sky. And they just casually stole such a weapon and put it in the treasury? Even though they had that ability, they were defeated in the Divine War? No matter how much he thought about it, it didn't make sense. Then, Seun realized.
‘They’re not real.’
Seun realized the true nature of the numerous treasures in the treasury. In fact, it was obvious. If these relics were real, even if they were thrown away casually as disposables, Seun, who was an ordinary human and not a transcendent being, would never be able to use them. If it was a high level relic, one would have to reach the level of the apostles of the respective gods to barely tap into the power of the relics. However, it didn't mean that these are all fakes.
‘They must have collected traces and reproduced them.’
Taking Astraphe as an example, it was reproduced by amplifying its power based on the traces of Zeus using Astraphe. The same went for the others. In simple terms, they were replicas. How greedy they must have been to make replicas and store them in this place? Looking at these, Seun could understand how remarkable the determination of the God of Greed, the owner of these replicas, was.
‘Well, it doesn't matter to me!’
[The Sword of Destruction, Leviathan]
- The sword of Surtr, a fiery giant said to exist to burn the world, a weapon that Loki forged in Niflheim using runes.
Whoosh!
This time, it was a sword of fire. Although it didn't penetrate as well as the weapon thrown earlier, as soon as Leviathan pierced the Outer's body, a blazing fire started to erupt. The heat was so intense that Seun could feel it burning on his skin.
"Guee-eu-eu!"
Crash, kwang!
The struggles of the Outer intensified. Golden chunks that made up the ceiling poured down, burying and disappearing the treasures that the God of Greed had collected throughout his life.
The wounds on the creature's body healed incredibly quickly, but Seun's speed in throwing new weapons was even faster.
"Finally, the true form is revealed."
The Outers didn't have a typical form. Instead, they had a slimy body which molds into other creatures. The same went for the one that's now slithering through the collapsed ceiling. The attacks continued, and the sticky liquid on its surface was peeled off, revealing its true form.
"A boar?"
It's not clear, but the power of the Outer grew with the strength of the creature it devoured. Therefore, it was obvious that the power of the main body that destroyed the Manma Temple must be incredibly powerful.
- Time remaining until all sand grains fall: 28 seconds...
Seun had used more than a dozen weapons in the last ten minutes, and he’d barely scratched its skin. That thing wasn't even really Outer, it's some remnant of an Outer's body. Seun couldn’t imagine where such a thing could have come from.
[The Radiant Spear, Brunark]
- Known to be the spear of the God of Light, Lu Ravada, which moves on its own, never misses, and pierces through everything.
Could this be called a kind of venting? Anyway, it didn't matter what happened to it when time reversed, but Seun wanted to defeat even one Outer with his own hands. This was also a declaration that after regressing through the Hourglass of Kronos, he would confront the Outers.
"Hup!"
Swish!
He exerted force on his lower body, twisted his waist, and thrust his arms with all his strength. He squeezed out all the mana and strength he could muster, distorting the muscles of his whole body. Distant pain and a bitter taste of blood were felt in his mouth, but he had no regret.
Whoosh!
A dazzling light pierced through the Outer's body like a flash, creating a new hole. The Outer's movements stopped so suddenly as if it were a lie, but Seun's attack didn't end there.
Paaat!!
A flash erupted from Brunark, which had penetrated deep into the outer's body. Light spewed out from the holes that had been pierced throughout the creature's body, and its body gradually swelled and turned red.
"Guee-eu-eu!!"
As if sensing its impending doom, the Outer let out a rough roar. A flash of light emanated from Brunark, bright enough to make it difficult to open one’s eyes.
Boom!
***read at novelworldtranslations.blogspot.com***
Like a bursting water balloon, the Outer's body burst open. Killing the writhing body of the Outer was difficult, but when the creature that it had swallowed died, it died as well, like a parasite losing its host. With this, Seun became the first player to defeat an Outer.
-First player to defeat an Outer.
-You have achieved a great accomplishment.
-You have obtained 500,000,000 points as a reward.
Although a tremendous amount of achievement points came in, he didn't even pay attention to such things. After all, those points would be reset when the hourglass started working. And as if waiting for the Outer to die, the grains of sand inside the hourglass completely fell.
-Hourglass of Kronos is activated.
-The causality of player 'Jeong Seun' is reversed.
-All skills you possess disappear.
-All accumulated stats from the tower are lost.
...
The light emitted from the hourglass covered his field of vision. Unintentionally, all that he had desperately gained to survive and climb the tower disappeared—various achievements and accumulated stats, as well as his best unique skill, 'Guide of the Journey’—just to go back to the past.
Nevertheless, even without the Guide of the Journey, he believed that he was superior to anyone else among the tower players in terms of knowledge. This time around, he’d take advantage of the knowledge he had gained thanks to the Guide of the Journey and the countless hidden pieces of knowledge he knew but couldn't obtain due to lack of power. With these, he would become strong enough to chew and swallow these damned things. As he made that determination, suddenly a new message filled his field of vision.
-'Treasury of Greed' has collapsed.
-The owner of the treasury does not exist.
-The player 'Jeong Seun,' who is currently in the treasury and possesses the Golden Key, is recognized as the owner of the 'Treasury of Greed.'
-The 'Treasury of Greed' is absorbed as an ability.
"Huh?"
Even though the hourglass was activated and his power was fading away, he could be sure of one thing—that he had become the owner of this place. But what's the use? After all, it would be impossible to take the treasury when he regressed, right?
Their was another message.
-You have defeated the Beast of Gluttony.
-The Power of Gluttony has lost its master.
-The Power of Gluttony has been granted to the player who defeated it, Jung Seun.
"What is this?"
‘Beast of Gluttony? Was the monster I just defeated, which the Outer was using as its host, the Beast of Gluttony? That's not the problem. If it possessed the power of gluttony, it must undoubtedly be one of the seven demon’s powers, right?’
In that brief moment when the Hourglass of Kronos was activated, countless thoughts swirled through Seun’s mind. He wanted to read the message again to organize the information, but time was no longer on his side.
Spot!
The surroundings, once bathed in radiant light, suddenly turned dark as if someone had switched the lights off. Seun then felt a dull impact, like being struck on the back of his head with a baseball bat. All his senses vanished, replaced by excruciating pain twisting his insides, accompanied by a loss of balance and a rising sense of nausea. He felt as if he were abandoned in the middle of the universe.
‘I mustn't lose my focus!’
Seun held onto his sanity tightly, using the pain that tormented him as an anchor. He swallowed the nausea and clenched his fist, while repeating his name, Jeong Se Woon, endlessly to keep himself from losing it.
Hourglass of Kronos.
Whether it was a replica or a side effect caused by defying causality, Seun couldn't determine. Nevertheless, if he lost his sanity here, it felt as if he’d be forever cast away in the crevices of time.
‘How many hundreds of times did I repeat my name?’
Sss...
Through the numbed layers of his skin, a warm sensation seeped in. As if hidden beneath closed eyelids, he felt bright light soaking through his skin. His blocked sense of smell was filled with the fragrant scent of grass. Taking a slow breath, he cautiously opened his eyes. It had been such a long time, yet he couldn't forget the scene that unfolded before him.
"Welcome to the tutorial."
The outer perimeter of the tower. It was a test to determine if he, as a player, had the qualification to enter the tower. It was the beginning of the tutorial.
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