Chapter 3

Chapter 3.

He'd said it clearly.

......'His.'

Proof that Force Majeure — the one I'd annihilated along with the Earth — was unmistakably 'above' the God of Typhoons, Heimdal.

That wasn't the only thing I'd learned.

'So it's a name that normally can't be known.'

Even I had only discovered it at the very end.

By reading the text inscribed in the system message.

[You have killed the Absolute God, 'Force Majeure.']

Absolute God and Force Majeure.

I'd merely regarded him vaguely as 'the final despair and disaster.'

The one who watches as the world perishes.

Naturally, no one should be able to know that name.

Not unless they were mad enough to follow through the way I did.

And judging by Heimdal's reaction.

'......Is he really alive?'

If so, then I really had returned to the past.

Heimdal's attitude didn't seem like that of someone addressing a god who'd actually been destroyed.

His composure — gone.

His voice — subdued.

Rather than berating me for my impudence, he was watching my reactions.

The kind of behavior you'd only see toward a living authority.

I needed to assess the current situation first.

So.

"Is it a name I'm not supposed to know?"

I pressed forward with even more composure.

Heimdal's eyes locked onto me.

I answered with a smile.

And then.

"......What a fascinating creature. A 'seed' who knows His name. If you learned it instinctively, your talent might be even greater than I thought."

Heimdal's demeanor softened.

Instead, 'desire' crept into the god's eyes.

Almost human.

Familiar.

That was unmistakably the gaze of one who covets.

"Your name, wretch?"

My name?

I could hardly answer Kim Jeong-seok.

After a moment's deliberation, I replied.

"'Rag.'"

DING!

[The character's name has been set to 'Rag'!]

[Tutorial begins.]

[Objective: Head to the Tower of God.]

[Warning: Do not let anyone discover that 'Rag' is a character.]

[All eyes of the gods will turn toward 'Rag.']

[Reward: Determined by speed of arrival.]

[Upon tutorial completion, your level will rise and 'logout' will be activated.]

......What the hell is this now?

It really was like a game.

In any case, it seemed completing the tutorial would allow me to 'log out.'

If so.

'I need to finish this tutorial as fast as possible.'

I'd have to mobilize every method available to reach that so-called 'Tower of God.'

"Rag. I'll remember it. When you climb the tower, come find me."

The look in Heimdal's eyes as he gazed at me.

I should probably exploit that desire.

"If you take me there yourself, I'll consider it."

"Take you where?"

"The Tower of God."

But I had no idea where the Tower of God was.

I could search for it, sure, but that would undoubtedly take a long time.

I had no time to waste.

On top of that, who knew what might happen on the way to the Tower of God?

Another god could appear and try to harm me.

Heimdal's expression hardened.

"......Take you there personally? Me, Heimdal?"

His pride was clearly wounded.

I shrugged and spoke.

"If you take me to the tower right now."

I raised my index finger.

"I'll climb the tower and seek out the great Ruler of All Things, 'Heimdal,' first."

"Ha."

Heimdal let out a scoff.

An expression of pure disbelief.

At the same time, the audacious proposal seemed to strike his fancy.

"...Very well. I accept that deal."

Phew. Thank goodness.

An easier acceptance than I'd expected.

But.

"On one condition."

"Condition?"

"Among the god candidates, climb the tower as the overwhelming 'first place.'"

Heimdal's eyes flashed.

"If you climb with a mediocre result, I'll annihilate you the instant you appear before me. The price for wasting my time is annihilation, nothing less."

So if I wasn't a definitive first, I'd be worthless to him.

Arrogance befitting a god.

It seemed that heading to the Tower of God meant competing against other 'children of god.'

I nodded.

"Sure."

"......What?"

"I'll climb the tower as the overwhelming first place."

It was do or die at this point.

Completing the tutorial and logging out came first.

And then.

"Kahahahaha! I like you — I really do!"

Heimdal finally erupted into laughter.

At the same time.

FWIIIIING!

A massive gust of wind enveloped my body.

My vision inverted.

Space folded, the world distorted.

"Go, you insolent 'seed.'"

The moment those words lingered in my ears.

THUD!

I felt something solid beneath my feet.

When I opened my eyes, a colossal tower that pierced through the clouds stood displaying its majesty.

'Not even rocket delivery — typhoon delivery.'

The sheer speed left me speechless.

DING!

[You have arrived at the 'Tower of God.']

[Tutorial complete.]

[It cannot get faster than this.]

[An astonishing arrival speed!]

[You have claimed 1st place in all-time tutorial rankings!]

['Rag's' name has been recorded in the 'Hall of the Gods.']

[A reward befitting the record will be granted.]

[Reward (1): Inventory]

[Reward (2): Wings of the Spirit]

[Reward (3): 5 Fragments of the Broken Golden Rule]

[Your level has risen.]

['Logout' is now available.]

***

The top floor of the tower.

The endless garden of the gods, with clouds beneath their feet.

Countless gods had already gathered there.

Heimdal appeared, cutting through the wind.

The moment he did, someone spoke as though they'd been waiting.

"Heimdal. Why did you personally bring a 'seed'?"

A frigid voice.

"Finding the tower on one's own is itself part of the trial. Why did you grant such a privilege to a mere seed?"

An interrogating tone.

Every god assembled in the garden fixed their gaze squarely on Heimdal.

Unfriendly stares.

Understandably so.

The retrieval rate for seeds scattered across Asgard was a mere 1.8%.

Meaning 98 out of every 100 died without ever reaching the Tower of God.

The surviving 1.8% of seeds then underwent a competition of killing and being killed.

The number who ultimately became 'gods' was far fewer still.

Heimdal had personally fastened the very first button of that brutal survival competition.

Heimdal replied with indifference.

"Because he had the qualifications for it."

A brazen attitude.

In response, another god's voice rang out like a warning.

"Arrogant as ever. If the seed you brought turns out to be unqualified, you won't escape unscathed either."

"Do as you please."

Heimdal merely shrugged.

The fury of the gods didn't concern him in the slightest.

If anything, a strange sense of anticipation was the only thing making his heart race.

Because it was a first.

The God of Typhoons, the Ruler of All Things — Heimdal.

Even before that overwhelming divinity, the one who hadn't wavered an inch.

A mere seed, at that.

In a situation where groveling on the ground in terror wouldn't have been enough.

The creature had looked him straight in the eye and shamelessly proposed a deal.

He could still picture it.

That insolent gaze.

In all his eons of existence, he'd never once encountered such a madman.

That's why he'd agreed before he even realized it.

No — to be honest.

'......A seed that knows the name of the Absolute God.'

It should be impossible.

His name was known only to the highest-ranking gods, like Heimdal himself.

It was not a name some mere seed could utter.

Granted, there had been rare cases where a seed intuitively learned a particular god's name.

But that was only possible when the seed deeply possessed that particular god's talent.

What if — just what if — Rag possessed the talent of Force Majeure?

Force Majeure was the absolute apex, one even they had never seen.

The one and only existence who controlled this Asgard and the Tower of God.

And yet, that immutable value could be shaken.

'Asgard is too static. An insufferably dull and boring place.'

Heimdal was the God of Typhoons.

He wanted a violent typhoon to sweep through this place as well.

He wished for those stale, absolute beings to be shaken.

The reason was simple.

'I do not permit anyone else above me.'

The desire to ascend.

The ambition to reach a higher floor.

But once you became a god, your assigned 'floor' rarely changed.

To reshape this structure, it had to be shaken from below.

If 'Rag' could serve that role, a gamble of this magnitude was well worth taking.

It was in that very moment, while Heimdal was quietly smiling to himself.

"How goes the amusement on 'Earth'?"

"Didn't we agree to proceed by each creating a character?"

"It's still the protection period. Refrain from excessive disasters."

"What's the target for human awakenings?"

"For now...... thirty percent."

"And the remaining seventy?"

"What an obvious question. Annihilation."

***

DING!

[You have logged out.]

[Returning to reality.]

[Caution: If your body in reality or in Asgard dies, both will perish.]

A familiar ceiling.

Mold-spotted, grimy wallpaper.

A cramped studio apartment that reeked of dampness.

I sat up in bed and looked around.

"......Ha."

I let out a hollow laugh.

I remembered.

'I've really come back in time?'

......This was the semi-basement room I'd lived in twenty years ago.

I checked the calendar.

March 14, 2026.

A date I could never forget.

The day peaceful everyday life shattered and hell began to unfold.

That was when it happened.

RRRRRUMBLE!

The entire building shook violently.

Dust rained from the ceiling, and textbooks wedged into the bookshelf spilled onto the floor.

BZZZ! BZZZ!

The smartphone by my pillow screamed.

At the same time, the TV screen that had been on turned red as breaking news flashed across it.

— This is a breaking news alert. A magnitude 6.2 earthquake has struck the heart of downtown Seoul!

— Roads are currently collapsing across the city.......

The anchor's frantic voice.

I steadied my swaying body and made my way to the window.

Through the semi-basement window, a scene of utter pandemonium unfolded.

CRACK!

The asphalt road split apart like crumbling crackers.

A massive sinkhole yawned open, swallowing cars and people around it.

"AAAAAH!"

"S-save us!"

"The ground is caving in!"

Screams.

Blaring horns.

And then.

SKREEEEEE!

From the cracks in the shattered earth, from the pitch-black darkness below, bizarre creatures crawled out.

Giant rats with red eyes flashing, baring razor-sharp front teeth.

'Demonic beasts.'

The very moment they first revealed themselves to the world.

The old me would have pulled the blanket over my head in terror.

But not now.

Compared to the day the Earth perished, this didn't even qualify as a sideshow.

More importantly, there was something I needed to check first.

"Status window."

DING!

<Stats>

Level: 2

Class: He Who Devours Disasters

Strength: 100 (-80) Stamina: 100 (-80) Agility: 100 (-80)

Intelligence: 100 (-80) Mana: 100 (-80)

Titles: Absolute God Slayer, The Ultimate Disaster, The Omnipotent

Disasters Devoured: Typhoon of Annihilation

My jaw dropped.

"......Insane."

Just one level gained, and every stat had skyrocketed from 50 to 100.

But there was a problem.

[Warning: The usable power in your current body is '20%.']

[To use your full power at 100%, 'Descent' is required.]

[A special medium is needed for Descent.]

[Required item: Fragment of the Broken Golden Rule]

Usable power was a mere 20%.

So that's why every stat had -80 written next to it.

'Nothing's free after all.'

I immediately reached into the air.

"Inventory."

SWOOSH.

The air split open, revealing a translucent space.

Inside were the items I'd received as tutorial rewards.

[Wings of the Spirit]

→ Wings of a spirit. The wearer can fly.

[Fragment of the Broken Golden Rule: 5]

→ Enables 'Descent.' Each fragment guarantees 1 hour of 'Descent.'

It seemed using a Golden Rule fragment would bring Rag's power descending into me.

In other words, I could wield Rag's full power for a total of five hours.

'More than enough.'

It was overkill for cleaning up those overgrown rats and getting things under control.

SKREEEEEE!

Before I knew it, a giant rat had shoved its head through the gap in the window.

Foul drool dripped from between its yellowed teeth.

Our eyes met.

I pulled a fragment from the inventory and gripped it tight.

"Descent."

FWAAAAAAH!

The studio apartment was bathed in golden light.

My body twisted and expanded.

A height that easily exceeded two meters.

Solid muscle.

My hair turned a gleaming gold as well.

I had become 'Rag.'