Chapter 17: Nectar Exchange House

[Reward (1): “Heart of Extreme Cold (Mythic)” has been granted!]

[Reward (2): 10 “Fragments of the Broken Golden Law” have been granted!]

Mythic Rank!

And on top of that, ten Fragments of the Broken Golden Law.

The corners of my lips rose.

The notifications didn’t stop there.

[Would you like to register your name in the Hall of Fame?]

Hall of Fame.

This message had also appeared when I defeated Kartal in Episode 1.

But at that time, I decided to postpone registration.

The reason was simple.

‘Because I had just returned and didn’t understand the situation at all.’

The tutorial had begun the moment I logged out and realized I had returned to the past.

Just in case, I preferred not to leave my name recorded.

But now it was different.

Just as Rag’s name echoed throughout Asgard.

I needed Kim Jeongseok’s name to echo throughout Earth.

Because that way.

‘The gods’ avatars would consider me someone far more dangerous.’

Some would try to compete with me.

Others would approach me.

But none of them would dare act recklessly.

Because they would regard me as a supreme god.

And there was another reason to register my name in the Hall of Fame.

‘The Hall of Fame ranking rewards.’

Additional benefits granted exclusively to those who registered their names.

Depending on the ranking, the rewards could be enormous.

Before my regression, the Hall of Fame was practically the exclusive property of the avatars.

“I’ll register my name.”

Now it was different.

I would take everything for myself.

Shortly afterward.

Ding!

[Please decide the name you wish to register in the Hall of Fame.]

There was no need to use my real name.

Registering my identity could bring wealth and fame.

But it could also make me a target.

Especially someone like me, an “Irregular,” had a high chance of becoming prey for the avatars.

The difference between us was too great.

Revealing too much about myself was dangerous.

I needed to prevent them from knowing who I was, where I lived, or what I did.

Therefore.

‘Discreet, but grand.’

Quietly.

But with absolute certainty.

Shortly afterward.

Ding!

A golden message appeared before every Awakened person in the world.

[The Hall of Fame has been updated!]

[The first-place ranking of Episode 1, “Invasion,” has changed.]

[1st: NONAME]

[Score: 990]

[2nd: Yamamoto]

[Score: 588]

[3rd: Gareth]

[Score: 491]

……

[Rank #1 Benefit! “NONAME’s” experience gain rate increases by 50%!]

[Title Acquired – “Original First Place”]

The difference from second place was no less than 400 points.

A gap impossible to overcome.

Moreover, the benefits granted by the Hall of Fame rankings were essential for widening the growth gap in the future.

I nodded slowly.

‘In the past, Yamamoto held first place.’

The Martial Emperor Yamamoto.

One of the five who reached the end alongside me within humanity’s last resistance force.

True to his title as the King of Combat, he had surely dominated the battlefield from the very beginning through overwhelming strength.

Personally, I desperately hoped he wasn’t a god’s avatar.

Because he was a genuine genius.

Someone who had started from a completely different starting line than mine.

‘If we’re talking purely about combat power, I was the weakest.’

Among the final five survivors, I was the weakest in direct combat.

The Martial Emperor Yamamoto and the Swordmaster Aritolt constantly competed for first and second place.

If I fought them head-on, I would undoubtedly lose.

Of course, if we fought on a battlefield prepared by me and with every possible preparation in place, I might have around a fifty percent chance of victory.

‘But a situation like that would never happen.’

I let out a small chuckle.

What did such a hypothesis matter?

They weren’t stupid either.

They would never obediently fight on my home ground.

…It was then.

Ding!

[The Hall of Fame has been updated!]

[The first-place ranking of Episode 2, “Regional Defense,” has been recorded.]

[1st: NONAME]

[Score: 1,100]

[2nd: None]

[3rd: None]

[4th: None]

……

[Rank #1 Benefit! “NONAME’s” experience gain rate increases by 50%!]

[Title Acquired – “Transcendent First Place”]

***

The sky across the entire world turned golden.

System messages were forcibly projected onto the retinas of every Awakened person.

The Hall of Fame.

Those shining names.

Whenever the name of someone from their country appeared, people erupted into cheers.

But.

“NONAME?”

“Why does first place have a name like that?”

“Damn it. Look at the score. It’s double that of second place!”

An absolute first place that appeared amid the sudden Great Cataclysm.

His very existence was like salvation to humanity.

Yet the first-place holder chose to hide his identity.

Meanwhile, those watching from the shadows reacted similarly.

The gods’ avatars.

“……990 points?”

“That’s impossible.”

“That makes no sense.”

They couldn’t comprehend it.

Countless avatars had fought battles bordering on massacres and accumulated points using every method possible.

And yet, 990 points.

A practically perfect score.

“What kind of monster is that guy……?”

But the shock didn’t end there.

Shortly afterward, the Episode 2 rankings appeared.

[1.º: NONAME]

[Score: 1,100]

The avatars rubbed their eyes.

They thought they had read it wrong.

“Eleven hundred points?”

“Is that score even possible?”

“Impossible. The limit is one thousand.”

It made no sense.

It was a number that was impossible according to the system’s rules.

The maximum score obtainable in an episode was 1,000 points.

No matter how perfect a run was, it couldn’t exceed that amount.

“Is it a bug?”

No.

The system had no bugs.

Then only one answer remained.

‘He exceeded the limit.’

It meant he had achieved a feat that transcended even the restrictions imposed by the system.

“NONAME……”

Who the hell was he?

What god’s avatar could display such power?

He wasn’t some mere minor god or intermediate god.

To demonstrate a category like that, at the very least he had to belong to…

The beings who dwelled in the deepest parts of the Garden of the Gods.

No.

Perhaps even beyond them.

‘Could he be one of the Twelve Principal Gods?’

…Choi Taemin frowned.

Because he couldn’t even imagine who it could be.

Even after Episode 2 ended, the difference remained overwhelming.

Even Choi Taemin, who ranked fourth place, had only managed to obtain 500 points.

And he was the avatar of a superior god of flames.

He had personally caused disasters and exterminated monsters as much as possible.

Yet first place had 1,100 points.

More than double.

It was absurd.

It was as if a being from a completely different dimension was looking down on them from above.

Unless he truly was one of the Twelve Principal Gods.

But the Twelve Principal Gods would never participate in a mere “game.”

“Who are you? What the hell are you……?”

Choi Taemin ground his teeth.

His pride had been wounded.

He had been convinced that nobody could surpass him in Episode 2.

And yet someone had appeared and crushed him with an overwhelming gap.

Jealousy.

Envy.

Avatars all over the world began to grow restless.

It was then.

Another message appeared before their eyes.

This time it wasn’t golden.

It was blood-red.

An ominous warning.

Ding!

[We have bad news.]

All the avatars fixed their eyes on the message.

Bad news?

The next sentence completely halted their thoughts.

[The owner of the 27th floor, Caligo, the God of the Snowstorm, has been killed.]

[His existence has been completely erased from Asgard.]

“……!”

Silence.

Everyone stopped breathing.

After Kartal, now Caligo had also fallen.

And he had been “killed.”

The timing was far too suspicious.

Every time an episode began and ended, a god died.

…Was someone deliberately hunting gods?

However, no god suspected Earth yet.

After all, an avatar on Earth couldn’t kill a god.

The only way to kill a god was to destroy them directly inside the Tower of Gods.

At least, that was what the gods’ common sense dictated.

***

Floor 34.

And Floor 27.

The gods’ investigation team searched both locations in silence.

They examined the ground and analyzed the residual mana in the environment.

But the results were disastrous.

“……There’s nothing.”

The God of Pursuit, leader of the investigation, shook his head.

“There’s absolutely nothing. Not a speck of dust or a drop of blood.”

It was strange.

This had been a battle between gods.

Normally, natural catastrophes would occur, space itself would tear apart, and traces of divinity would remain behind.

But both places were spotless.

As if they had never had an owner to begin with.

“They evaporated. Both Kartal and Caligo.”

One of the investigators trembled as he wrote the report.

“There are no traces of external intruders or signs of internal combat.”

If not for the system message announcing their deaths, they would have thought they had simply run away overnight.

“What do they have in common?”

the leader asked.

“Two things. First, they both belonged to the Natural faction.”

Earthquakes and snowstorms.

Gods clearly associated with natural disasters.

“Second, both were currently participating in the ‘game’ taking place on Earth.”

Silence fell again.

It was the most important clue.

Someone was specifically targeting the gods participating in the game.

“Is there any possibility that what happened to an avatar on Earth affected the main body?”

someone asked.

“Theoretically, it’s impossible. An avatar is nothing more than an independent terminal. Even if feedback occurred, it would never be enough to destroy the main body.”

It was a logical conclusion.

Then only one possibility remained.

Someone was secretly carrying out assassinations within the Tower.

“The problem is…”

The investigator sighed.

“We don’t know who their avatars are on Earth.”

They didn’t even know what names Kartal or Caligo used in the human world.

Nor where they were.

No god knew.

Anonymity among the gods.

The fundamental rule of the game.

And also its safety mechanism.

Keeping their cards hidden.

That had turned against them.

“We must immediately obtain the list of avatars of every god participating in the game,”

one of the investigators proposed.

“If this continues, we won’t even know who the next target will be.”

“They’ll refuse,”

the leader replied.

“No one will reveal their identity because of the death of two minor gods. They’re too arrogant. They all believe they’re different.”

The atmosphere was pessimistic.

There still wasn’t enough evidence.

They didn’t know whether the killer was hunting participants in the game or members of the Natural faction.

The investigation remained stalled.

A case completely trapped inside a labyrinth.

The only possibility they had left was—

“Find out which god is behind NONAME.”

The newly appeared figure in the Hall of Fame.

Perhaps there was some connection.

But even that was nothing more than a hypothesis.

And they didn’t even have a method to confirm it.

Thus, the investigation continued without ever reaching even the shadow of the culprit.

***

Ding!

[The hierarchy will be adjusted to fill the vacancy on Floor 27.]

[The owner of Floor 26 advances to Floor 27.]

[The owner of Floor 25 advances to Floor 26.]

……

[The owner of Floor 1 advances to Floor 2.]

It was a domino effect.

When a piece broke in the middle of the structure, the gods on the lower floors were pushed upward.

Rag was no exception.

Only a few days had passed since he became the owner of the first floor.

And now he was automatically advancing to the second floor without doing absolutely anything.

And then.

[Floor 1 has become vacant.]

[It is ready to receive a new god.]

The first floor became vacant once again.

But there was a problem.

Not much time had passed since the last trial.

There hadn’t been enough time to gather and select new seeds.

The system made an efficient decision.

[The period between trials is too short.]

[Authority will be transferred to the next-ranked participant.]

[Darakan has been designated as the new owner of Floor 1.]

In the underground waiting room.

Darakan’s eyes widened.

“……Huh?”

Was it a dream?

No.

The system message was perfectly clear.

Second place.

A humiliating score of only two points.

Completely crushed by the monster named Rag and then abandoned.

And yet, now he had become the owner of the first floor.

“Hahahaha!”

Darakan burst into laughter.

It was fate.

Proof that the heavens had not abandoned him.

With proud steps, he opened the door leading to the first floor.

A brilliant light poured over him.

Intoxicated by excitement, he moved forward.

“Wait for me, Rag.”

Darakan ground his teeth.

“How dare you look down on me?”

He had not forgotten that humiliation.

One day he would find him and crush him.

Now he too was the legitimate owner of the first floor.

They were back on the same starting line.

No.

He could even surpass Rag if he developed his floor better and gained the recognition of the gods.

“There’s only a one-floor difference. I’ll catch up to you very soon.”

He clenched his fist and opened his eyes.

And then.

“……?”

He was left speechless.

It was empty.

There was nothing.

White land.

White sky.

Not a single monster or blade of grass.

Nothing but a desolate plain.

“W-what is this?”

Darakan’s voice trembled.

He felt despair.

What was he supposed to do there?

It was like being abandoned in the middle of the ocean on a tiny boat.

***

Meanwhile.

Whoooooosh!

I blinked.

The scenery hadn’t changed.

It was still a white land beneath a white sky.

If anything was different, it was the density of the air.

It felt heavier and more sacred.

‘The second floor?’

I still found it hard to believe.

I had only killed an avatar on Earth.

And as an extra gift, I received a promotion.

Now that was what you call killing two birds with one stone.

A new message appeared before me.

Ding!

[Congratulations on advancing to Floor 2.]

[Starting from Floor 2, you will receive “Nectar” periodically.]

Nectar.

The drink of the gods.

The moment I saw that word, a memory crossed my mind.

Kim Insu.

Caligo’s avatar.

The murky golden light that had emanated from him when he forced out his power before dying.

— Did you give nectar to your avatar?

I remembered his words.

The pieces fell into place.

Nectar wasn’t just a drink.

It was an energy source capable of sustaining and amplifying divinity.

If administered to an avatar on Earth, it could be used as a medium to temporarily invoke the power of the main body.

Something similar to the Shattered Fragments of the Golden Law that I used.

[As a promotion gift, you receive 100 Nectar.]

[On Floor 2, you will receive 100 Nectar every 30 days.]

Clink.

The number appeared in my inventory.

I had no idea whether it was a lot or a little.

I approached the central crystal of the floor.

And opened the shop function.

[Shop]

· Common Grass (1 pyeong): 1 Nectar

· Oak Sapling: 2 Nectar

· Lesser Goblin Summon: 5 Nectar

· Crystal Stream (10 m): 10 Nectar

“……How stingy.”

I frowned.

100 Nectar.

With that, I could barely cover the yard with grass and plant a few trees.

Forget forming a goblin army.

It would barely be enough to install a small fountain.

And that was a monthly salary?

Even the world of the gods seemed to suffer from economic inequality.

‘How am I supposed to develop my floor and advance like this?’

One of the conditions for advancing floors was the prosperity of the floor itself.

The key was to build a powerful ecosystem and properly develop the territory.

Once a certain threshold was reached, the right to challenge the next floor was obtained.

But with such a starting capital.

Just as I was about to sigh.

Ding!

A new notification flashed in the corner of my vision.

[The Exchange House has been unlocked.]

[You may exchange special items for Nectar.]

Exchange House?

I opened the tab out of curiosity.

A list of exchanges appeared.

[Heavenly Demon Armor] ↔ [5,000 Nectar]

[Heart of Extreme Cold] ↔ [5,000 Nectar]

‘It seems Myth-rank items can be exchanged.’

So this was how the gods obtained Nectar.

‘Wait.’

But there was something else on the list.

‘Can I also exchange Fragments of the Broken Golden Law?’

Out of curiosity, I checked the exchange rate.

And then.

“……?”

I thought I was seeing things.

I looked again.

I counted the zeros.

[1 Fragment of the Broken Golden Law] ↔ [1,000,000 Nectar]

“……Shit.”