Ranker Who Lives Twice

"Are you alright?" Yeon-woo asked Kronos, who returned with a gloomy face. Putting aside the raid for Allforone, he felt pity that Kronos looked so down. It seemed Kronos had heard harsh words from Zeus just now. He looked miserable, like a dog stranded in the rain.

Kronos hadn't recovered his relationship with the others, so closing the gap with Zeus would probably be even more difficult. Yeon-woo personally didn't care if he was on bad terms with Zeus and the rest of the gods since they didn't quite register as siblings in his mind, but that wasn't the case for Kronos.

Yeon-woo had no idea how to comfort his father. 'I can't understand how such a loving father was able to torment his children like that, even if he was influenced by the Demonism.'

The Demonism's control over Kronos' mind likely played a major role, but it was probably more accurate to say the time he spent on Earth had really changed him. Yeon-woo could see a glimpse of how much his mother had transformed Kronos. It was a small indicator of how much she had loved her husband.

'Since I also resented him…I suppose I'm not too different from Zeus and the others. Kronos is a father dismissed by his children…' Yeon-woo had a bittersweet smile. He was able to have a close relationship with his father after coincidentally seeing the truth. However, if that hadn't happened, he wouldn't have been too far off from how Zeus and the others were acting now.

'It seems Jeong-woo was able to sympathize with Father the most… They do say the relationship between a father and son is the closest, but also the farthest. Maybe later…I should find a way to help him.' Yeon-woo didn't want to see Kronos struggling any longer. He hoped his father would always be confident and happy.

* * *

"Are you feeling better now?"

『Whew. I only show you my bad sides.』After slightly calming down, Kronos chuckled at Yeon-woo's question. He only had memories of them fighting on Earth during peaceful times back then, so he found it strange that they were able to understand each other in this battle-torn place. Still, he felt more at ease seeing his dependable son.

Just then, Yeon-woo widened his eyes at the messages that suddenly appeared.

[Entrance to the seventy-seventh floor has been denied!]

[The godly society <Olympus> is transported back to the ninety-eighth floor!]

[The godly society <Chan Sect> is transported back to the ninety-eighth floor!]

…

[All godly societies are surprised at this sudden turn of events!]

[<Malach> is searching for the cause of this unexpected occurrence!]

Kronos looked up as if he sensed something as well.

['Vivasvat,' the master of the great holy territory of the seventy-seventh floor, is strongly refusing the trespassing of outsiders!]

[Currently, the entire seventy-seventh is closed off.]

『Ha! Can he stop others since he has the talent of being able to reach anywhere?』The gods, who had been prepared to start their onslaught of attacks, were flustered. They had to pay an immense amount of laws of causality just to leave the heavenly world, but all that had been for nothing since their entrance was being blocked.

[The Central Bureau attempts to change the settings of the seventy-seventh floor.]

[It has failed.]

[It has failed.]

[The use of the system key has been denied.]

Even Yvlke's attempts weren't working, and this was an issue that Yeon-woo hadn't expected. It appeared that Allforone had pulled out his hidden card.

[A message from Athena has arrived.]

[Message: Our attempts to descend are failing. At this rate, it'll be impossible to complete the quest. Can we search for another path?]

[A message from Metatron has arrived.]

[Message: I am searching for the reason with Baal…but it seems Allforone has used his authority to close off the seventy-seventh like a hidden stage. Since he is the system's incarnation, he must know methods that cannot even be imagined.]

[A message from Metatron has arrived.]

[Message: This is something that can't be solved with the system key. Since Allforone's authority is above the system keys…there's only one way to fix this: completing the master key. If you wish to continue the quest as we agreed, consider creating the master key now.]

Athena, Metatron, and Baal seemed taken aback. Although they were leaders in the heavenly world, their understanding of the system was lower than Allforone's.

However, unlike the flustered gods, Yeon-woo was able to become certain of victory with Allforone's action. 'No. This is an opportunity.' The Allforone he knew was someone who'd directly face all the gods if they tried to step into the seventy-seventh floor. However, the fact that Allforone had shut the doors and cut off communication with the outside world could only mean one thing…

'He is currently in some kind of danger.' Yeon-woo didn't know if it had anything to do with the Sea of Time preventing Allforone from moving, but this was an opportunity in his eyes. 'I'll be contradicting myself by creating the master key and handing it over now. I need to have the leash in my hands. If the door is closed, I'll have to use a dog hole.'

As Yeon-woo finished planning, Kronos returned to his sword form and slid into Yeon-woo's grip. They combined, and a long slit was left in the air to reveal emptiness.

[An unidentifiable power has attempted to hack the system!]

[The hacking has failed.]

[The hacking has failed.]

…

[The hacking has succeeded.]

[A strange phenomenon has occurred as a result of a system error. Emptiness has opened!]

[It has been confirmed that someone abused the system. The abuser is designated as a bug, and the system's defenses have been raised to level six.]

[The patch is forcefully activated.]

…

[Approach of the abuser has failed.]

[Approach of the abuser has failed.]

[The patch has failed to extract the abuser!]

…

[The system's defenses have been neutralized!]

[Many spaces appear and vanish along the emptiness.]

[The system has failed to restore the emptiness!]

[The system has failed to restore the emptiness!]

…

[The system key (snake) has activated and chosen unique coordinates within the emptiness!]

[A shortcut to the seventy-seventh floor has been established!]

[New information about the 'Abuser' has been added!]

The emptiness faded away before the white world of the seventy-seventh floor appeared. At that moment, all the supreme gods who had been on the instance stage turned toward Yeon-woo.

『Huh!』

『He created a shortcut? Even if he used the system key, how was he able to…?』

『Abuser? What did he do?』

『Did he ignore Allforone's authority?』

[Metatron of <Malach> is very surprised at your achievement!]

[Baal of <L'Infernal> is extremely interested in your new ability!]

The supreme gods were shocked by Yeon-woo, who had hacked into what the Central Bureau had been denied from and also created a system error to form a shortcut. It was already surprising that he had a system key that could change most settings, but he was able to hack the system itself as well. The supreme god felt threatened by Yeon-woo's ability. They wanted to know what an "abuser" was, and how much authority the "abuser" had.

However, as the gods of the heavenly world prepared to descend, the supreme gods' attention returned to the seventy-seventh floor.

[Many beings of the ninety-eighth floor attempt to re-enter the seventy-seventh floor!]

Dududu! The instance stage rumbled. Many stars began to shine in the bright sky, eventually becoming a massive galaxy that seemingly fell to the ground. The many stars within it slid toward the emptiness, and transformed into a meteor shower.

The countless beings of the heavenly world were trying to descend to the seventy-seventh floor through the instance stage.

[Immense pressure is focused on the seventy-seventh floor!]

[Warning! The pressure has exceeded its limit. If the pressure increases, the floor and the stages may be destroyed!]

[Warning! Too many holy territories have been declared! The floor is overloaded! Beware of collapse]

[Warning! The durability of the seventy-seventh floor is decreasing rapidly!]

…

[The godly society <Olympus> has completed all descents!]

[The godly society <Chan Sect> has completed all descents!]

[The godly society <Deva> has completed all descents!]

…

[<Malach> gifts all societies that have attempted to descend with blessings!]

As the supreme gods didn't stall any longer and tossed themselves toward the shortcut, Kronos watched and quietly muttered to himself.『It's really beginning now.』As someone who had also been sacrificed by Allforone, he knew that he'd have to finish things with Allforone someday, but he never imagined a bustling battle like this would take place.

When Kronos was most active during his prime, there hadn't even been a Tower, and the gods and demons had stuck to their own territories. It had been rare for them to come across each other. Even if they met, they would just look at each other warily and part ways… Although quite a long time had passed since he first entered the Tower, he still found it interesting to see gods moving on a large scale like this. However, because he knew this was the "real" first step to finding his youngest son, Jeong-woo's, soul, Kronos contained his various emotions and assisted Yeon-woo.

[Zeus has descended on the seventy-seventh floor!]

For a moment, Kronos was silent. Through their combination, Yeon-woo was instantly able to realize his father was momentarily feeling many somber emotions.

Kronos composed himself and found stability again as a sword. He would keep his private and official matters separate. Having once been in the seat of the king of gods, he knew very well what he needed to do to help Yeon-woo.

Yeon-woo tightened his hold on Vigrid. "Then, I'll head in now."

『Alright.』

Yeon-woo entered the stage that was flickering with innumerable stars.

[You are attempting entrance into the seventy-seventh floor.]

[With the expiration of the previous quest, the instance stage 'Garden of the Gods' is disappearing!]