Leveling Up Alone

Han-Yeol and Tayarana were much more powerful than anyone else, so there was nothing impressive about what they did this time. Han-Yeol had also won against countless stronger enemies in the past.

Whoosh!

He flung the magma off his sword before sheathing it.

“Let’s go, Tara.”

[Okay.]

They headed for the altar after neutralizing all of the golems in order to collect the Jewel Sword of Annihilation.

Krwaaang!

[Hmm?]

“What was that? Aren’t we underground right now?”

Han-Yeol was certain that they were currently inside a volcano that was a monster. Oddly enough, was the sound of thunder something that should exist while they were inside a monster or underground?

Clouds were required to create lighting, but how would clouds exist underground?

“Hold on, is it a monster?”

[Hmm…]

“Damn it. It’s not over yet. Oh well, I didn’t expect those monsters guarding the Jewel Sword of Annihilation to be so easy.”

Han-Yeol and Tayarana raised their guard and prepared for battle once again.

Krwaaaang!

A bolt of lightning struck the altar.

Gulp!

Both of them gulped nervously at the bizarre phenomenon.

Whoosh!

A gust of wind blew past the altar, and three individuals appeared at the foot of the altar in front of Han-Yeol and Tayarana. They wore white robes and looked like animals that walked on their hind legs, just like the Bastrolings.

‘Bastrolings?’

[They might look like the Bastrolings, but the mana they possess is different from theirs. Therefore, it is difficult to say that they are Bastrolings.]

‘What?’

[T-Their mana is amazing. I have never come across such powerful mana before.]

‘Damn it! What’s going on?!’

The sudden appearance of not one but three individuals with extremely powerful mana made Han-Yeol anxious.

Fortunately, neither of the three seemed to harbor any hostility toward him. In fact, they seemed to be quite fond of him for some reason.

‘Maybe they’re not enemies?’ Han-Yeol wondered.

[Greetings, visitor and benefactor from another dimension.]

“Who are you?”

[We are the gods who manage the Bastro Dimension.]

“G-Gods?!”

Han-Yeol was in utter disbelief at their introduction—no, he thought it was utter nonsense.

‘Why the hell would gods appear suddenly?!’

[What’s wrong, Han-Yeol? Do we have to kill them too?]

On the other hand, Tayarana could not understand the Bastro language, so she thought the three aliens were enemies. She did not sense any hostility from them, but she was still wary as plenty of enemies were capable of hiding their killing intent.

“No, Tara. They are not enemies.”

[They’re not?]

“Yes. They just introduced themselves as the gods of the Bastro Dimension.”

Even Tayarana was shocked after Han-Yeol revealed the identities of the trio.

[Gods?!]

“Yeah, that’s what they said. I have no idea why those gods suddenly appeared, but it’s important we remain calm and–”

[Wow! That’s amazing! Nice to meet you, gods!]

“Huh?”

Han-Yeol was the flustered one, while Tayarana seemed happy rather than surprised after he mentioned that they were gods. He told her about the three gods to get some reaction out of her, but he reacted instead.

‘Nice to meet you? Why?’

A regular person might be amazed at meeting a god, but the fact that Tayarana was casually talking to them left Han-Yeol baffled.

[This is my first time meeting another god aside from Ra.]

“Oh right…”

[Hmm? What’s the matter?]

“Ah, it’s nothing.”

‘I totally forgot about that. That’s why Tayarana could become a Transcendent Master-Rank Hunter in the first place.’

What happened to Tayarana was quite unnatural so to say. Someone suddenly getting blessed by the gods and becoming stronger was something that only existed in fantasy novels.

‘Ah, who am I to say anything? My ability is more fantasy-like than hers.’

“Ahem. It is nice to meet you, gods, too. But why have you appeared in front of us?” Han-Yeol asked.

[We should have descended unto this world sooner, but some complications prevented us from doing so. I hope for your kind understanding.]

“I mean, I do not think I am anyone to understand or not…”

Han-Yeol was baffled as to why he should be understanding of them.

[No, you are the benefactor of this dimension. I am referring to the magic circle you destroyed recently.]

“Ah, I see. I guess the magic circle should have gotten on your nerves since you are the ones in charge of this dimension.”

The three gods nodded in agreement to his words. Then, the god on the left of Han-Yeol spoke up.

The god was a goddess. She had a high-pitched voice and had a white cloth covering her head. The opaque cloth made it difficult to see her face, but the shape of her hands and feet showed that she was most probably related to the deer race.

[You are right. The Bastro Dimension is a beautiful and pure place, but the hyenas have destroyed everything. That is something I will not tolerate.]

“Hold on. Then you could have just gotten involved, right? I know the hyenas are quite strong, but things would have been easily resolved if the gods got involved.”

[We wanted to do the same. Thus, we searched for those with special talents, and we were going to anoint them as our warriors.]

“But what happened?”

[Two problems occurred right when we were about to put our plan in motion.]

“Problems?”

[Yes. The first was the birth of the Dragon of Destruction.]

“Ah…” Han-Yeol muttered after recalling a piece of knowledge he had obtained from an angel in a cave.

The Dragon of Destruction existed solely to destroy a dimension, and it completely ignored the laws of causality. Even a god managing a dimension could not avoid facing the dragon without risking their demise.

[Well, although the Dragon of Destruction is still alive, it was sealed thanks to you. But that’s where the second problem lies.]

“Hmm…”

[Kubera.]

“Huh?”

Han-Yeol had also heard of Kubera from the angel. Kubera was the God of Dimensions and Balance—or, rather, the previous God of Dimensions and Balance.

However, Han-Yeol had a question.

‘But why mention Kubera all of a sudden?’

Han-Yeol could feel his head starting to hurt after the gods suddenly got involved. It was difficult for him to accept it as a normal human being, and he could not help but be amazed that Tayarana could so easily accept this whole situation.

‘Well, a god had chosen her after all…’

She was a strong S-Rank Hunter when they first met, but she was now one of the strongest Hunters in the world. She was more impressive than Han-Yeol in a sense, as she had gotten stronger without relying on any overpowered abilities.

The conversation with the gods continued.

[The Bastro Dimension suffered immense damage due to the war against the Dragon of Destruction. Our children would not have lost to those ungodly savages if we had gotten involved, but that strange god, Kubera, was powerful enough to stop all of us. We were forced to stand and watch our children get massacred by those hyenas, and the dimension slowly became corrupt as a result of that.]

“I see…”

[I’m sure you would understand as you’re from this dimension as well.]

“Yes, I do. Unlike the dimension I come from, the Bastro Dimension is heavily influenced by the gods. But I found it ironic that the Bastrolings lost so badly against the hyenas and ultimately relinquished control over the dimension to them.”

Noras claimed that the Bastrolings were too arrogant and ignored the warnings from their gods. Thus, the Bastrolings eventually lost to the hyenas, but the gods were not so petty as to punish them to this extent just because their warnings were ignored.

Under normal circumstances, the gods would have chosen a champion to rally the Bastrollings and help them vanquish their foes. The gods of the Bastro Dimension had always done so according to the dimension’s history.

However, Kubera’s sudden appearance ruined the gods’ plan and turned into the worst-case scenario — they lost the entire dimension to the ungodly hyenas.

That snowballed into what happened until recently — the magic circle slowly sucked the dimension dry.

Ironically, the hyenas were probably unaware that the magic circle to bring the Dragon of Destruction back to life would also result in their demise.

The other god, who did not say a single word earlier, spoke up this time.

[We were able to appear in front of you as Kubera is currently distracted by something else. We are still clueless as to why a god managing the dimensions and balance is so intent on the destruction of the Bastro Dimension.]

The god wore a white robe that was similar to the others, but a black cat mask covered his face.

‘Is it a cat god?’ Han-Yeol wondered, but he decided to put his thoughts aside for now.

“I see…”

[There’s not much time left. You’re our last remaining hope, visitor from another dimension, as you’re not affected by the gods present in this dimension.]

[The three of us came to meet you as representatives of all the gods of this dimension.]

[We came to give you a gift.]

“A gift?”

The word "gift" delighted Han-Yeol, and he would always accept a gift from the gods with open arms.

[It would be best if we granted this to our children, but you’re somewhat related to this dimension despite being a human, so we could argue that you are not an outsider.]

“Well…”

Han-Yeol agreed. Earth was important to him, but the Bastro Dimension was important to him too, and thus he came and risked his life to kill the Dragon of Destruction.

“So what is this gift you have prepared for me?” Han-Yeol asked.

[This is our gift.]

Woooong!

A surge of mana similar to the light attribute that Han-Yeol possessed swirled around him. The mana felt familiar but also unfamiliar at the same time.

Ding! Ding! Ding!

[You have received a special gift from three of the gods managing the Bastro Dimension.]

[A gift from the gods is a truly special thing and could be considered the greatest treasure one could ever find in their entire life.]

Ding!

[The God of Abundance and Diligence, Paragon, has granted you immense experience points.]

[Your level has risen.]

[Your level has risen.]

[Your level has risen.]

[Your level has risen.]

…

[Your level has risen.]

Ding!

[The God of Victory, Meriaken, has granted you a new skill.]

[A new skill has been created – God’s Blessing (M)]

Ding!

[The God of Fire and Blacksmithing, Eratos, has granted you a new item.]

[You have obtained the GOD item, Chain of Annihilation.]

[The dimension manager is no longer surprised.]

“...”

Han-Yeol was stunned by the gifts he received.

‘Is this for real? Is this really happening? This is too much! I’m so thankful if you’re giving this to me me!’

In summary, he gained a whopping one hundred levels from the first blessing.

One hundred levels! Was something like this even possible?

Han-Yeol was Level 611 just a while ago, but he gained one hundred levels in the blink of an eye. The amount of effort he had to put in to gain one hundred levels was most likely immeasurable.

Yet, the god of this dimension granted him that without even snapping their fingers.

[I apologize. This is all I can grant you with my current powers.]

‘H-Hey! What do you mean by that?! You just gave me one hundred levels!’ Han-Yeol screamed internally, but he decided to just keep his thoughts to himself.

Why? Because this was the best gift he had ever received thus far.

‘Hehehe! This is awesome! This is the best!’

Then, he suddenly remembered something that snapped him out of it.

‘Eh? Hold on, wasn’t this just the first of three presents?’

Han-Yeol remembered that he still had two more gifts to open.

‘The second one was a skill, right?’