Leveling with the Gods

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“Wait, is this thing defective?”

Even the test examiner was stumped by the sword. 

YuWon looked at his reflection off the blade that was perfectly broken in half.

The blade of the sword had a gentle blue hue. 

YuWon smiled faintly.

‘So this thing was here.’

* * *

[Totsuka no Tsurugi – Fragment]

ᗌ It is a fragment of the sword used by Susanoo long ago to seal 《Yamata no Orochi.》 There is a special power sealed inside it.

ᗌ It is currently in a broken state.
You need to collect the remaining fragment to recover its original power.

The effect of the item was laughable.
Broken in half, you couldn’t even call it a real sword.
A sword was a weapon meant for slashing and stabbing, but a broken sword could do neither very effectively due to its short length. 

However, that didn’t matter.
YuWon had already procured a sword to use, and the fragment of 「Totsuka no Tsurugi」 wasn’t meant to be an item for slashing and stabbing.

‘It is a key to obtain one of the Three Sacred Treasures, the Kusanagi no Tsurugi.’

The 「Totsuka no Tsurugi」 was originally an item that YuWon was supposed to obtain by fighting the “Three Precious Children.” So having obtained half of the item here meant that his plan just became easier.

“If you are unsatisfied with the reward, just tell me.
Even if it takes some time, I’ll put in a request with the Administrator…”

“It’s okay.”

Click—

YuWon put the sword back in its scabbard and put it in his inventory.
He wouldn’t be needing that item for a while.

“This will be plenty.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes.”

This was far better than a mediocre item that was only usable on the lower floors.
And since he knew where to obtain the other fragment, it wasn’t a difficult item to use. 

Also, this was only the bonus prize for clearing all the trials of the Colosseum.
The real prize still remained.

[You have cleared all the trials of the 1st Floor test.]

[You have obtained 20000 points.]

[All your stats increased by 2.]

[You have obtained 「Totsuka no Tsurugi – Fragment.」]

[You have obtained 「Orochi’s 7th Heart.」]

[Would you like to move onto the next floor?]

Two points for every single stat.
A total of ten stat points were given as a reward.
For someone like YuWon who desired his stats to be well rounded, this was a reward as sweet as honey.
With this, Strength, his highest stat, had reached 80. 

Also, he was given 「Orochi’s 7th heart.」

YuWon looked at the ruby-colored gem in his hand. 

This was Orochi’s heart.
A miniscule heart compared to its giant size.
That meant that 「Orochi’s Heart」 was an item with that much condensed power.

[Orochi’s 7th Heart]

ᗌ It is the 7th heart of Orochi, which was separated after being sealed by Susanoo.

ᗌ It possesses a powerful poison.

Unlike the 「Giant’s Heart,」 「Orochi’s Heart」 couldn’t be consumed by any normal means.
Orochi’s blood carried poison, and the heart was condensed with the most lethal poison in its body. 

It was an item that he couldn’t use right now, but if he could somehow neutralize the poison, it would be one of the greatest elixirs ever.

“Orochi’s Heart… I kind of half expected it, but it actually gave it to you as a reward.”

Shuri couldn’t help but be a little envious.
「Orochi’s Heart」 was an elixir that even High Rankers desired.
It was so valuable that it was hard to put a price tag on the item.

“Congrats.
Let me give you a piece of advice.
Don’t just consume it.”

It seemed that Shuri had felt bad about the reward she gave YuWon.
Which wasn’t all that surprising since, compared to 「Orochi’s Heart,」 nothing should be known about the fragment of 「Totsuka no Tsurugi.」

“Thank you for the advice.”

After this, YuWon had intended to leave the 1st Floor since he had obtained his reward, so there was no more reason to remain here.
Yet…

Vwoom, vwoom—

Vwoooom—

[「?’s Egg」 is reacting.]

[「?’s Egg」 expresses hunger.]

Out of nowhere, the egg started letting out a cry.

‘So suddenly?’

Despite it crying out in hunger, there was nothing YuWon could do since he knew nothing about the egg. 

Normal eggs hatched simply by incubating them, but this egg didn’t do that. 

An egg that expressed hunger… YuWon had never once heard of an egg like that. 

[「?’s Egg」 shows its form.]

The egg was going to show its form? 

YuWon checked his inventory, which showed no reaction.
The egg was definitely still safely inside his inventory. 

But then…

“W-What in the…?”

The first one to notice that something was off was Shuri.
She readied her sword and activated her mana. 

YuWon looked around to see what was up and felt a chill down his spine.

Gnaw—

Crunch, crunch—

The Colosseum was enveloped in darkness.
And within the darkness appeared dozens of half-opened eyes and not fully grown teeth.

“Did a monster break into the Colosseum?” Shuri wondered. 

She stayed on guard against the monster that had suddenly appeared in the testing arena. 

She found this bizarre.
This was the testing arena, a place protected by the power of the Tower.
She had worked here as the test examiner of the 1st Floor for thousands of years, yet this was the first time a being from the outside had intruded into the testing arena. 

Shuri decided to leave the thinking for later.
For now, she had to prioritize bringing order to the testing arena as the test examiner. 

Shing—

She tried to cut down the mysterious being by swinging her sword.

“Wait!”

Hearing YuWon’s voice, she stopped and turned her head. 

“… Please give me a minute.”

YuWon stopped Shuri and looked at the strange thing that had appeared in the arena. 

He was sure that these eyes and teeth didn’t come from the outside.
Instead, it was…

[「?’s Egg」 has started feasting on ‘Orochi’s 7th Head.’]

… The ‘Egg’ that YuWon possessed.