Leveling with the Gods

Beyond - 3

Lee Seong-yoon's game room was filled with customers.

In that place, a burly man walked in.

"Isn't that Hercules?"

"Hercules?"

"Seriously? What's a guy like him doing in a place like this?"

Even though his tight tunic covered his body, it couldn't hide Hercules' enormous size.

Hercules was sweating under the tunic.

He had purposely come hiding his body, but had he already been found out?

"Yeah, it is."

"Wow, really. It's my first time seeing him..."

"Who hasn't seen him for the first time?"

"What's a High-Ranker like him doing on the first floor?"

Right.

They had found him out.

"Haa-."

Hercules sighed and took off the tunic. His brightly green-dyed hair and muscular body were revealed, causing exclamations of admiration here and there.

A little later...

"Welcome, Hercules-nim!"

Lee Seong-yoon came out from inside the store with a radiant smile on his face.

"Mr. YuWon and Chief Hargan are inside. Would you like to come in?"

"No. Thanks, but I'm good."

Suuk-.

Hercules rolled up his sleeves and headed to a game machine.

"I came today for another matter."

With a serious expression, Hercules approached the pulse machine.

"I got curious about this."

"Th-this?"

[I Am The Champion!]

It was a simple game machine with only one arm.

However, that simplicity was what sparked Hercules' competitive spirit.

"Do you know? That guy from Hargan's team, Lee Seong-yoon."

"I know him. What about him?"

"That guy recently opened a game room. And there, there's a game machine with an arm thicker than yours."

YuWon was the one who told him the news.

Hercules wasn't someone who felt a particular desire to compete.

"If you two had a pulse match, who would win?"

However, the story was different if the opponent was Son OhGong.

Even Son OhGong was the first to answer that question.

"Obviously me."

"…?"

It was an absurd statement.

He claimed he could beat him in a "strength" test, not in any other discipline.

"What's wrong? Why that face?"

"It's just ridiculous."

"If you only used your brute strength, you'd undoubtedly win. But as you know, I'm not alone."

"Are you going to pluck your hair again and create a clone?"

"Of course. And they're all 'me' too."

It wasn't a false argument.

Even if they were called clones, they were all Son OhGong.

It couldn't be said that using the strength of his clones was exactly cheating.

"So, let the two of them face off."

That's how YuWon instigated them.

"It sounds fun to me."

"Did I arrive late?"

Son OhGong, who was playing [Tekken], stood up from his seat after defeating his opponent. It seemed like he still wasn't giving up, despite losing to YuWon.

"You can't be faster than me, who's here all day."

"I'll beat you."

"You chose the wrong game if you want to make a bet, monkey."

Hercules had an unusually hostile aura.

He wasn't someone who boasted about his strength often, but his opponents this time were Son OhGong and Kim YuWon.

It was natural that even among friends, a little pride would surface.

However.

"Is that okay?"

Lee SeongYun looked at the machine between the two men.

The game room was a recreational place that even Rankers visited occasionally, so the machine was designed to be unbreakable.

The challenge was to surpass the limits of the Player, but the story was different if the opponents were Hercules or the Great Sage, Heaven's Equal.

"The boss is a monster too, but... those guys..."

Kwang-!

A sound like a bomb exploding startled Lee Seong-yoon.

Turning around, he saw that Hercules had already started the game.

But.

"…?"

"…?"

The thick arm-shaped part of the game machine had bent.

The machine and the arm separated, and the top of the back of the hand that hit the floor was shattered, causing the game to stop working.

"Broken? That?"

Lee Seong-yoon's eyes widened in surprise.

A considerable amount of money had been invested in that machine to increase its durability, as it was designed to be a challenge even for Rankers.

A significant amount of adamantium and mithril had been used to create the shape of the arm, making it the most expensive game machine in the store.

And yet...

"It's more fragile than I thought."

"They seem to have done it halfway."

Both Hercules, who was spinning the broken machine in his hands, and Son OhGong, who responded to his comment,

Both were enough to leave Lee Seong-yoon speechless.

"Halfway? Made halfway?"

Although he genuinely loved games, what could he do?

Before them, those words sounded normal.

"Don't break someone else's store, go out and do it properly."

Wajak-.

Hargan and YuWon came out with popcorn in their hands.

Both waved their hands to cheer them on.

-------------

Outside the store, a large crowd had gathered.

They were all people who wanted to see the showdown between Hercules and Son OhGong.

It wasn't a real fight, just a pulse match, so there was no danger of anyone getting hurt.

"Abilities are allowed, as long as they're not direct hits. Play however you want, just make sure not to break anything."

"I know, just start already."

"I'm ready."

Son OhGong and Hercules looked at each other with piercing eyes.

It seemed like both were about to start the game, exerting force on their arms.

However...

"Wait a moment."

YuWon poured cold water on both of their enthusiasm.

"Ah, why!"

"Something important is missing."

Ssuk-.

Having said that, YuWon asked the Players gathered around.

"Who are you supporting?"

There were hundreds of Players gathered, drawn by the rumor.

YuWon took out a notebook and a pen.

People, confident that Kim YuWon wouldn't cheat, joined the game confidently.

"100 points on Hercules!"

"Me too! 200 points on Hercules!"

"I'm on Son OhGong..."

"One by one, please. Oh, and tell the blonde guy over there too."

"Me?"

Hargan, with a perplexed expression.

After hesitating for a bit, he began carefully jotting down the names and amounts people gave him.

On the ground, Son OhGong and Hercules were still looking at each other fiercely.

"Do we really have to do this?"

He asked YuWon, incredulously, for turning the fight between Son OhGong and Hercules into a game in a matter of seconds.

"To enjoy a fight, the fun part is placing a bet."

YuWon replied with a smile as he noted down the names and amounts.

Meanwhile, the crowd grew larger.

Son OhGong, impatient, asked.

"When do we start?"

"Start."

"…?"

"…?"

A lackluster starting signal.

Whoosh-, whoosh-!

Uddut-!

At the same time, force concentrated in the arms of Son OhGong and Hercules.

"Grrruuuh... "

Veins popped on Son OhGong's face.

His biceps looked like twigs compared to Hercules'.

However...

Bang, pop, pop-!

He had a technique he relied on.

The Clone Technique.

Dozens of Son OhGongs appeared and grabbed Hercules' hand in unison.

"Pull!"

"Pull-!"

The clones, moving in sync with the main body's shout.

However, Hercules' arm didn't move easily.

"Hey, pull a little harder!"

"We're pulling!"

"Say to pull when you give the signal!"

"You haven't given the signal, idiot!"

"I am you, shorty!"

"If we're going to be like that, I'm also..."

Those were words that sounded really stupid, even to those listening.

It's not that they couldn't cooperate.

It was just that, no matter how hard the clones pulled, it was difficult to move Hercules' arm.

"Aaaarrrg!"

"Pull harder!"

The "Son OhGongs" gritted their teeth.

Slowly, very slowly, Hercules' arm began to give in.

"Oh!"

"It's possible, it's possible!"

"My stomach is going to burst!"

The Players who had bet on Son OhGong cheered.

However, most of the bets had been placed in favor of Hercules.

Since before entering the top 10, Hercules' symbol had been "strength."

YuWon, who had already finished noting all the bets, watched the battle between Son OhGong and Hercules.

"The bets are 2 to 1 in favor of Son OhGong."

Not really interested in the outcome, YuWon clicked his tongue regretfully.

"The bets are a bit low."

Tzztzzt-.

The battle was approaching its end.

Hercules began to really apply his strength.

"I guess this is enough to feed your ego, huh?"

"Eh?"

"Eh, eh?"

The Son OhGongs reacted with bewilderment to Hercules' words.

Even without that, Hercules' already thick arm began to swell even more.

[The power of the Giant dwells in your arm.]

Creak, creak~

The arm swelled.

And within it, the power of the Lightning Bolt also began to boil.

The arm that had started to give in, tilted back towards Son OhGong.

Son OhGong's eyes widened like plates, sensing that something was wrong.

"Eh?"

He had told him he was just feeding his ego. And those words weren't a bluff.

At the last moment...

Son OhGong saw Hercules' smiling face.

"Try again next time, Monkey."

Bang-!

------------------

With a swollen hand and broken bones, Son OhGong sat silently, pouting.

It seemed that losing in front of people had hurt his pride quite a bit.

"Are you crying?"

Pandora approached Son OhGong, who was sitting at the table, and shook her head to follow his face.

Anyone seeing it would think she was giving him medicine.

On the other hand, Hercules had a rather calm expression.

"Leave him be. He'll forget soon."

Being a straightforward guy, he would forget quickly.

YuWon nodded at Hercules' words.

"That's right. He'll forget soon."

"Forget?"

Hercules adopted a puzzled expression, as if he didn't understand what YuWon was saying.

His tone suggested that something like this had happened before.

"You two have faced each other before. And not just once."

"Several times? How many?"

"More than five times, only the ones I remember. And he has always lost."

YuWon looked at Son OhGong, who was being comforted by Pandora.

"How is it that he doesn't give up after losing so many times?"

"Who says he knew he was going to lose?"

"I know. Obviously."

Hercules' gaze turned to YuWon, who was scribbling with a pen.

It seemed he had invested a considerable amount of points.

YuWon's lips curled up.

"Don't tell me..."

"The commission was considerable too. Although the betting rate was low, it's not bad at all."

Scratch, scratch.

While calculating the winnings and commission, YuWon answered Hercules' curiosity.

"I'm a nobody, you know?"

"A guy with so many points..."

The points YuWon had accumulated climbing the Tower were not an insignificant amount.

Just by selling one of the items he owned at that moment, he could get a fortune that ordinary Rankers could only dream of.

And yet, he was glad to have earned points in this betting game.

"Is he greedy? Or just has a knack for making money?"

His nature of not letting any opportunity to gain benefits pass hadn't changed.

Swoosh.

[Earnings: 40,201 points]

YuWon underlined the amount of points he had earned this time and shrugged.

"There's also the saying 'kill two birds with one stone,' right?"

It was a way to pass the time and earn decent income.

Tap.

With a radiant smile, YuWon closed his notebook.

Today was a day for eating out.

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