Overgeared

Grid wasn’t surprised when he saw the way the grandmaster treated Pungsa. Rather than questioning it, he thought it was natural. It was because the grandmaster loathed the existence of a god itself. It would be funny if he was polite to a god. However...

“I greet the god.”

The grandmaster’s attitude when meeting Chiyou was undeniably polite. His greeting was respectful and he bowed deeply and solemnly without anyone making him do it. It was a completely different attitude from when he dealt with others. Chiyou—the most powerful god of the east and the one who educated the yangbans. The grandmaster was afraid of his power?

Grid thought about it but soon realized this wasn’t the case.

‘...It is different. Completely different.’

Rebecca, the goddess of light; Hexetia, the god of blacksmiths; Zeratul, the god of war; and Pungsa, the god of wind. So far, Grid had faced quite a few gods. He felt kindness and complicated emotions toward Rebecca, sympathy toward Hexetia, and fear and disgust toward Zeratul and Pungsa.

However, Chiyou was too vague. This person wasn’t a subject of sentimentality or emotions. He couldn’t judge Chiyou at all.

“It is nice to meet you.”

Chiyou’s gaze shifted from the grandmaster to him and Grid’s body became stiff. It was a shock similar to when he first met Mercedes.

[The martial god of the east, Chiyou, is contemplating you.]

[All information about your level, combat related stats, and combat related skills will be disclosed to Chiyou.]

[100% of your weaknesses are exposed to Chiyou.]

[When attacking, hit rate will decrease by 80% and when attacked, you will receive three times more damage.]

[The transcendent status you have accumulated is still weak and it is being suppressed.]

[All the stats and skills generated by your transcendent status are sealed.]

It was different from Keen Insight. Mercedes’ Keen Insight was the power to see through ‘everything’ while Chiyou’s gaze was the power to see through the target’s ‘combat power.’ Keen Insight was in the growth stage and could only see a few things while Chiyou’s gaze was fully developed and completely overwhelmed Grid. In the present time, Chiyou’s gaze was much stronger and superior than Keen Insight.

However, there was an important fact here. The reason Grid shivered wasn’t because he was overwhelmed by Chiyou’s gaze. To Grid, Chiyou’s existence itself was enormous. He seemed to know why the grandmaster bowed his head.

‘This is a real god.’

Hexetia and Zeratul were made by Rebecca, while Pungsa was created by Hanul. On the other hand, Chiyou was born naturally from the desires of humans. It was no wonder why there was a difference. How did it feel when seeing Rebecca, the goddess of light and one of the absolute gods? Grid had been thrilled just by seeing Rebecca’s ‘image’ that descended to the ground. He was already curious and expectant about what he would feel when meeting Rebecca. Additionally, he became nervous about how terrifying Hanul would be.

“Go up.”

Gulp.

The staircase that was revealed when Chiyou left. Grid gulped several times as he climbed the stairs. The yangbans despised humans. Hanul was the one who made them. Hanul even uses quests to lure players to be killed. It happened at least three times that Grid knew of.

‘Hanul is evil.’

Hanul was a sneaky god who didn’t threaten humanity outright like the evil god Yatan, who made the great demons. Hanul slowly corroded, deceived, and enslaved humans. The image of Hanul in Grid’s mind was the devil itself. It reminded him of a venomous snake who secretly exhaled poison that decayed the human lungs. However, reality was completely different.

“Welcome.”

[You are the first player to witness the Absolute, Hanul.]

[You have witnessed one of the sources of the world and your base has expanded.]

[You won’t be afraid when encountering absolute beings such as gods, dragons, and great demons in the future.]

A warm voice and gentle eyes—the feeling that Hanul gave off resembled Rebecca, the goddess of light. He even provided the members of Grid’s group a chair made of clouds. He sealed the Four Gods and tricked all the humans on the East Continent into believing false myths. A person who created massive quests many times to kill thousands of players...

Hanul’s appearance was the opposite of Grid’s imagination. Even so, Grid was alert. He tried to peek at the brutal and sinister nature lurking behind Hanul’s warm exterior. Then he felt confused. He stared at Hanul, but he couldn’t see what Hanul looked like. This person felt like a gentle and warm being, but Grid couldn’t fathom Hanul in front of him.

Hanul’s gaze fell on Grid after greeting the grandmaster. “It is greedy to judge something using the simple dichotomy of good and evil. You would’ve been considered evil by many people.”

“......!!”

Hanul’s remarks seemed to pierce through Grid’s intentions. Unlike Rebecca, who represented good, and Yatan, who represented evil, Hanul expressed himself in this way.

“I am the closest of the three gods to humans. It is pointless to look at only one aspect of me and be vigilant and hostile.”

The seven malignant saints had said that Rebecca and Yatan were nothing more than emotionless systems. The two gods periodically repeated the process of destroying and restoring the world and they felt neither affection nor resentment toward humanity.

On the other hand, Hanul was completely different from them. He had feelings. Sometimes he fought for someone and inevitably, he had to sacrifice someone. This was why he sealed the Four Gods of the east and made the yangbans to strengthen the Five Seniors.

“I...”

Hanul’s hazy face became firm. It was the face of a mighty warrior.

“I fight for those who serve me.”

Hanul’s face changed again. It was the face of the serpent that Grid had imagined.

“I punish those who doubt and go against me.”

This time, it was the face of a crying woman.

“I can mourn the dead.”

In the end, it was the face of a benevolent old man.

“I am the only god who gives the right advice for the future of humanity.”

Hanul was trying to dispel the doubts in Grid’s gaze. In other words. he was speaking to persuade the grandmaster.

“Then what about Rebecca and Yatan? They separated each other into good and evil and made the world fight. I just watched it. In particular, Rebecca didn’t care about the seven people who fought for her and gave them the stigma of the seven evils.”

“......”

The grandmaster’s eyes were bloodshot. It was due to his hatred of Rebecca. The grandmaster couldn’t coexist with Rebecca and was persuaded by Hanul, who didn’t belong to good or evil. He thought Hanul was a true god who would understand humanity and lead them in the right direction.

However, Grid intervened in the conversation. “Have you ever given us the right advice for the future of humanity?”

It was a blunt question. Sobyeol and the three Sas stared at Grid. It was a gaze that didn’t contain anger or killing intent, but Grid could feel the hostility.

Hanul replied, “Serve us as your gods.”

“Does that ‘us’ include the yangbans?”

“Yes.”

“Is the right advice to treat humans as livestock and serve the yangbans who easily hurt them?”

“First of all, the claim that yangbans easily hurt them is wrong. Apart from the children who couldn’t control their emotions, none of the yangbans committed any killings.”

In fact, this was right. Surprisingly, the yangbans didn’t exercise much violence. A short example was the Cho King wasn’t punished for losing the Red Phoenix Bow, an important key to sealing the red phoenix. The yangban who committed the killing spree was Garam and he was blinded by his anger at Grid. It would be cruel to judge all yangbans based on Garam.

“It is also inevitable that the yangbans can’t treat humans correctly. They might look the same, but their lifespans and abilities are different. It is natural to feel a sense of distance. The reason why humans are ridiculed instead of receiving gratitude is because they haven’t yet become gods. Once the yangbans become gods, their thinking will expand and they will feel grateful to the people and reward them.”

“Isn’t that too consequential? Can those who treat people like livestock and do harm according to their mood really cherish people after becoming gods?”

Why did it feel like there was no progress in the conversation?

Hanul asked Grid in reverse, “How many people have you killed?”

“......!”

“It seems that the killings committed by you alone are hundreds or thousands times more than those killed by hundreds of yangbans.

“T-That...”

“Of course, a lot of the killings would be to protect someone or practice justice. However, can you say that your justice is correct? Wouldn’t you be the devil from the perspective of those who were killed by you?”

“......”

Grid became speechless. It wasn’t because he agreed with Hanul’s opinion, who protected the yangbans. It was because he couldn’t refute it. Grid became quiet while Hanul finally reached the grandmaster.

Hanul asked him, “Do you think this type of conversation would be possible with Rebecca?”

“...No, it would never be possible.”

The grandmaster shook his head and a faint smile appeared on Hanul’s face.

"I am the only god in the world who can understand and align with human beings through dialogue. To create the world you truly desire, the seven good people must be with me. In order to revive the seven good people, you need my strength.”

It was a voice full of conviction. Hanul believed that the grandmaster would be with him. The grandmaster was silent for a moment before slowly opening his mouth, “However, you aren’t apologizing.”

“......?”

“A god who doesn’t apologize or provide solutions to the shortcomings of the yangbans who regard humans as inferior. He just accepts it because it is inevitable. It isn’t communication.”

“Every action comes with a price. As I said earlier, the yangbans will surely reward humanity.”

“......”

The grandmaster noticed—all gods were the same. However, Hanul wasn’t so extreme compared to the other two gods. The grandmaster stood up from his seat with a bleak expression and Hanul called to him, “Poor apostle Zik, it is impossible for you to revive the seven good people on your own.”

“No.” The grandmaster stopped and placed a hand on Grid’s shoulder. “I’m not alone.”