Chapter 62: Chapter 62

[Translator - Night][Proofreader - Gun]

Chapter 62: The Garden of Olympus (2)

“Ugh... Where is this...?”

A place I was sucked into by the light of the heavens.

It was on top of pure white clouds.

A space that felt like heaven itself—peaceful and warm.

[Pollux says he had no choice but to summon you forcibly to block the attack of the Commander.]

Hmm...

It didn’t seem like there was any real attack, though.

Wouldn’t it have been better to reach level 100 back there?

[Pollux says to reach level 100 here instead.]

Here?

By defeating what?

I looked around, but there wasn’t anything in sight.

Just as I thought that, something started to rush toward me.

[Pollux says to defeat those.]

Floating like cotton candy on the clouds were pure white, ethereal forms.

These?

I reached out toward one of the spirits drifting toward me, and with a “pop,” it burst like a balloon.

[The soul of Saint ?? has been extinguished.]

[You have absorbed their abilities.]

[Your mana has significantly increased.]

A saint...?

I examined the nearby spirits closely, but they were just plain, white forms.

Waving my hand, they burst one by one with “pop pop” sounds.

Messages stating the extinction of “Saint ??’s soul” appeared, and my magic-related abilities rose dramatically.

Checking my status window, my mana was nearly maxed out at grade B.

Even my luck and skills had increased significantly.

If I raise my physical stats just a bit more, I could max those out at B as well.

Pop. Pop.

Even while I was standing still, the spirits were rushing at me and bursting on their own.

As they did, my grade B stats visibly climbed higher.

My experience points surged, and before I knew it, I had gained another level.

[Aurelia...]

Aurelia tried to send me a message, but it disappeared halfway through.

Seeing that gave me a sudden sense of alarm.

“Where is this place?”

[Pollux answers that this is the Garden of Olympus.]

“They’re the souls of saints, but what saints are they? Is it even okay to defeat them like this?”

[Pollux says they’re the saints of traitors, so it’s fine to destroy as many as you want.]

Destroy as many as I want?

I wasn’t even trying to destroy them—they were coming to me and self-destructing.

At this rate, if I reach level 100 and upgrade my grade to B, won’t I be massively affected by this relentless self-destruction?

But then again, wouldn’t I just need to go back and level up properly later?

“You can’t do that.”

Suddenly, I heard Pollux’s voice from above.

Looking up, I saw Pollux staring at me with a grim expression.

“No matter how you endure it, once you reach level 110, your grade will forcibly increase.”

“What?”

“Didn’t you say you didn’t want to become an angel? It seems Aurelia was planning something, but you are already one of us, an Olympus being. We can’t let Asgard take you.”

“What... what are you even talking about?”

“If you don’t know, it’s better that way. Ignorance is bliss. It’d be better for you to let the holy spirits engulf you and live in happiness...”

Pop. Pop. Pop. Pop.

The holy spirits around me kept bursting.

I leveled up again.

My mana and luck were already maxed out, and my skills were almost there too.

“Holy spirits...”

“They are the souls of saints who worshipped forgotten gods—those devout to gods of order. As your grade increases, your soul will also change, becoming as devout as theirs. You’ll even wish to join the angels...”

“Seriously, what’s wrong with you people? Why are you so desperate to turn someone into an angel?”

“That is your destiny.”

With those words, Pollux disappeared.

All around me, the holy spirits kept bursting.

Ugh.

Damn it.

I understand now.

Even if I hadn’t realized it, they brought me here intending to turn me into a divine soul.

Grrr...

Isn’t there an “Absorb Soul OFF” function somewhere?

I looked, but there wasn’t one.

Ah!

This is dangerous.

I quickly opened the shop and bought every type of “Form Maintenance Skill.”

SP kept rising as the spirits around me exploded like soap bubbles.

I’m going to lose my mind.

There’s no place to run, either.

It feels like I’m stuck inside a bubble of holy spirits.

Ugh. Stay calm.

If I reach level 110 and become grade B, I’ll immediately buy all the Form Maintenance Skills from the shop.

Would putting up a shield stop them from approaching me?

“Shield.”

Pop. Pop.

No effect.

They burst even when touching the shield.

“Wind.”

I tried blowing them away, but as they were spiritual entities, they weren’t affected by the wind.

“Etherealization.”

I thought becoming ethereal might prevent collisions, but they still burst regardless.

Argh, these things!

Before I knew it, I was already level 99.

Seriously.

Leveling up is insanely fast here.

Looking around, there was no way out.

If I move to escape, the spirits will burst like crazy, and I’ll hit level 110 instantly.

What kind of place is this...?

I need a way out.

Oh, right.

Hades.

At this point, it’s all or nothing.

Let’s try embracing some chaos.

I searched the shop for “Hades Command.”

[Hades Command SP Loan Bank.]

That’s the only result.

I clicked on it, and it said it loans SP at 1% daily interest, with nothing else useful.

Ugh.

Useless.

I tried everything I could to escape, but nothing worked.

Hey, Phoenix, can’t you do something?

[Translator - Night]

[Proofreader - Gun]

[In this place, I can’t use my power at all. Besides, if I get involved, it’ll only accelerate your growth...]

[You have leveled up.]

[You have reached level 100.]

[You are the first human on Earth to reach level 100. You have earned the title “Pioneer of Earth (Legend).”]

[Achievement conditions have been fulfilled.]

[You can now advance to Awakener Grade B. Would you like to proceed?]

Ugh, I’ve leveled up again already.

What’s with this insane leveling speed?

Fortunately, it’s not a forced promotion yet, so I dismissed the message window for now.

The holy spirits bursting around me in bright flashes made it hard to even see the message window.

As I scanned the system menu again, I noticed the recycling tab.

Ah, right.

I had the Chaos Magic Circle summoning skill.

Good.

Time to use something.

“Summon Chaos Magic Circle.”

[You have used a one-time skill. The Chaos Magic Circle skill will now disappear.]

As soon as I activated the skill, a blood-red magic circle began to form around me.

The circle slowly expanded, growing larger and larger.

The holy spirits that were attacking me turned their attention toward the magic circle.

The ones flying into the circle didn’t give me any experience points.

Perhaps that’s why my experience gain rate slowed down considerably.

Even so, there were still plenty of holy spirits bursting from my body, shrinking the magic circle as they exploded.

I had to keep the magic circle active. I poured my mana into it without hesitation.

“Focus Enhancement!”

I unleashed even more mana using Focus Enhancement, and the circle grew slightly larger.

[Uh… Why is a magic circle being summoned in Olympus?]

Suddenly, I heard a familiar voice coming from the magic circle—it was Hades.

“Hades! These spirits are self-destructing all over me in the gardens of Olympus!”

[What? Is that Awakener Kim Jiho? Why are you doing something so reckless? Wasting holy spirits like that.]

“I have a soul-reaper ability. It seems to be drawing them in.”

[Wait, you can reap souls too? That’s a neutral ability! Wow, this is wild. If I’d tempted you into chaos last time, you’d probably be dead now. What a pity. Sigh… Fine, let’s tweak this magic circle.]

The magic circle began to morph into something grotesque.

It transformed into a labyrinth-like structure, forcibly pulling the souls into its maze.

There were still many holy spirits bursting around me, but my experience gain had slowed considerably compared to before.

“Hades!!”

[Ah, calm down! My impatient nephew is here. Quickly, before the magic circle collapses, level up and choose a soul-related class. Hurry!]

The holy spirits continued to burst violently all around me.

The sheer power of Pollux’s anger was tangible, piercing my entire body.

Wow, this is insane.

While the magic circle was redirecting the spirits, I quickly prepared for my advancement.

Before that, I maxed out all my attributes and spent every single point and SP I had to bring everything to its full potential.

Now, all my stats were perfectly balanced and at their maximum.

I had 25,000 neutral faction SP remaining.

Alright, let’s do this.

“I’m advancing.”

[You have advanced to Awakener Grade B.]

[Assessing the user’s stats...]

Hurry up, system!

Why does the loading take so long?

The holy spirits were closing in fast.

Pollux grabbed the Chaos Magic Circle with his hand and ripped it apart.

Through the breach, a flood of holy spirits came rushing in.

Ugh…

Loading, hurry up!

[Fortunately, you made it just in time.]

Just when I thought it was all over, my entire body was suddenly enveloped in a blue barrier.

The barrier quickly expanded, forming a cube-shaped structure that isolated the space around me.

[The Seal of Drakia emits its light. The user is protected in the current dimension.]

[The Seal of Elprian emits its light. The user is isolated in the current dimension.]

“What?! Divine seals... I knew something was off when you got sucked into the World Tree!”

[Haha! This barrier is so strong that even Zeus couldn’t break it for a while! When did you prepare something like this?]

Pollux pounded his massive fist against the blue wall.

But the wall didn’t even crack.

Hooray for seals!

[Your stats have achieved perfect balance. A special class is now unlocked.]

[Your stats have achieved perfect balance. A special class is now unlocked.]

Oh, nice.

[The special classes available in the Order domain are as follows:]

[1. Spirit Angel]

[2. Soul Mediator (Enhanced)]

“No!!”

No?

Yeah, right.

I immediately selected option 2.

Since the seal had bought me some time, I took this chance to purchase all the Form Maintenance skills.

Opening the shop window, I clicked faster than ever, buying every Form Maintenance skill:

[Basic Form Maintenance LV3]

[Advanced Form Maintenance LV3]

[Perfect Form Maintenance LV3]

Buying all of them drained my SP completely.

10,000, 50,000, 100,000 SP…

Wow.

This SP consumption was insane.

If the holy spirits hadn’t provided SP, I wouldn’t have been able to buy all the Form Maintenance skills.

Is this what they call a blessing in disguise?

[The special classes available in the Neutral domain are as follows:]

[1. Dragon Kin – Ancient Dragon]

[2. Soul Reaper (Enhanced)]

I chose Soul Reaper as well.

Now that I had selected two classes, I felt a bit more at ease.

Another message window appeared:

[The Soul Mediator class has been enhanced. You can now use SP to level up Soul Mediation and Soul Resonance Enhancement skills.]

[The Soul Reaper class has been enhanced. You can now use SP to level up Soul Reaper and Trait Absorption skills.]

[Soul-related classes have stacked. You can now use SP to level up general skills.]

[Class skills are being enhanced.]

[Soul Mediation skill is now LV3.]

[Soul Reaper skill is now LV3.]

[Trait Absorption skill is now LV3.]

[Soul Resonance Enhancement skill is now LV3.]

[Soul Resonance Enhancement skill has increased the stat cap.]

[New class skills are added.]

[Soul Trade skill is now available.]

[Soul Energy Emission skill is now available.]

[Four soul-related classes have stacked. The qualification for “Seed of the Soul God” is recognized.]

Wow.

I can now use SP to level up skills, and I’ve unlocked new ones and even the “Seed of the Soul God.”

As curious as I was about it, escaping this situation came first.

Pollux stood in front of the wall with a terrifying expression.

“Hades and the Ancient Gods... you’ve been hiding well. But now that you’re in Olympus, you’re a mouse in a trap. You won’t escape.”

Pollux ground his teeth audibly.

“Take this, you bastard.”

I casually flipped him off.

With both hands.

I might get beaten up later, but I had to do it at least once.

Stupid jerk.

“You insolent brat! Just wait until the divine barrier disappears… I’ll tear you apart!”

[Haha! As expected of a minor god. You really don’t know anything. He’s untouchable now—at least until he reaches S-rank.]

Hades’ words made Pollux hesitate.

Really?

That got my attention.

Honestly, I had successfully advanced and avoided becoming an angel, but I was still figuring out how to escape.

Suddenly, a figure appeared beside Pollux without making a sound.

The man stood about 170 cm tall, wearing a winged hat and a dashing suit, with a handsome and approachable face. Sёarch* The Novelƒire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

He exuded an air of lightness.

This man, smaller than the towering Pollux, began scolding him.

“Hades is right, Uncle. Pollux, what the hell were you doing? Meddling in things you weren’t told to!”

“B-brother…”

“You’re bothering Awakener Kim Jiho. Get lost!”

With that, he lightly kicked Pollux in the rear, and Pollux’s figure disappeared on the spot.

Who the heck is this guy now?

[Translator - Night]

[Proofreader - Gun]