"AAARGH!!!"
Pan let out a monstrous shriek.
His face looked like he had just seen a horrifying monster.
And with good reason.
"I knew you'd be here."
Because right before Pan's eyes stood Lee Geon.
Lee Geon was grinning viciously at Pan, as if greeting a long-lost friend.
But for Pan, it was a completely different story.
"AAARGH! Why are you here?! Weren't you supposed to go to the 10th floor to audition to be Hades' patron god?"
Patron god, my ass.
"I got kicked out of there. By the Floor Master's power."
Pan grabbed his head at Lee Geon's bright smile.
"What the hell did you do to get kicked out by that power?!"
Getting kicked out by the power of the Floor Master undoubtedly meant one thing.
In truth, from the 1st to the 20th floor, each floor had its own Master.
Simply put, you could consider them the master and ruler who managed each dimensional floor.
Usually, the most powerful among the gods took these positions. They were roles where one received the authority of an administrator from the divine realm and could wield enormous benefits and power.
Anyway, one of the authorities each Floor Master could use was "Forced Banishment."
It was the power to forcibly expel any being, regardless of their rank. But they tended to avoid using that power.
'Because it leaves a record!'
While useful, it was also proof that they couldn't subdue the target with their own strength.
Anyway, that was the situation.
From the moment Lee Geon left for the 10th floor, Pan, who had been frolicking with the goddesses of the 18th floor, was frozen stiff.
'To think I thought I'd never have to see that bastard's face again.'
But unlike Pan, who was freezing up, the goddesses rushed towards Lee Geon with bright smiles.
"Kyaaa!! The man from before has returned!"
"We thought we'd never see you again!"
Pan had long since been discarded, trampled underfoot by the goddesses. They checked Lee Geon over with worried expressions.
"Did you hear? They say that cruise party we mentioned was completely devastated!"
"They say some scoundrel calling himself an entertainer caused a massive uproar...!"
"And of all places, Valhalla's death god and the Great Master of Kunlun were also inside...!"
"Those two aren't the only ones. Anyway, we were worried you might have gotten caught up in it by going inside unnecessarily."
Relieved, the goddesses gossiped with serious faces.
"But who is that entertainer?"
"According to testimonies, he's a monster?"
"Oh my, then is he a monster god like the Kraken?"
"You haven't seen his face, by any chance? He seems like a very dangerous god."
Lee Geon smiled brightly.
"I don't know. I got scared when things got crazy inside and ran away."
"That's right, safety really is the best."
The goddesses were squealing with delight, but Pan, being trampled by them, was certain.
'This is his doing!'
The gods on that cruise were all rare guests personally invited by Hades.
What kind of lunatic would dare touch gods that even the Great Gods wouldn't think of messing with!
And so, Pan was certain.
'The moment I get involved, I’m dead!'
The instant that thought flashed through his mind, Pan hurriedly crawled out from between the goddesses' legs.
Right now, the best course of action was to run away without getting tangled up with such a bastard.
But.
Thwack!
"Hey. Olympian god. Don't you guys do stuff like housewarmings?"
Grabbed by Lee Geon, Pan wept once more.
* * *
"So, I just need to contact them from here?"
"Yes..."
Pan had brought Lee Geon to a high-rise building.
And amidst the noisy streets stood the building in question.
[Connection Center]
It seemed each floor of the divine realm was wider than Earth, and accordingly, countless gods gathered there.
However, unless one was among the privileged Great Gods, communication between floors wasn't easy.
That's why this place existed: the "Connection Center."
Simply put, it was a place where gods without contact information could leave objects or send messages to others.
Pan led Lee Geon into one of the countless phone booth-like structures. Before pressing the numbers on the touchpad, he asked with a look of disgust.
"But are you really looking for an Olympian god? Seriously, someone inside that place?"
"Have you just been ignoring everything I've said until now?"
Pan's expression became deathly pale.
And with good reason.
"Olympus is the topmost floor! It's where the Great Gods reside! No matter how much you request an audience, there's no way they'd grant it..."
"Ah, it doesn't matter. You think I'd be looking for some High God?"
Pan's face immediately flooded with relief, and he grabbed Lee Geon's shoulder.
"Oh!! Of course! What a relief. Then, who should I contact for you? Do you have a friend on Olympus or something? A patron of some holy god..."
"The Lord of the Scorching Lion's Seat."
"Aha! I thought it was someone else. The Scorch..."
Scorch...
Scorch...
"The Scorching Liooooon?! You don't mean the Lord of the Sun?!"
"Yeah. Apollo. That pretends-to-be-handsome jacka..."
"AAARGH! He's one of the Superior Gods!!! If you're going to die, die alone, you crazy bastard!"
Screaming, Pan grabbed Lee Geon's shoulder.
"How can you possibly meet such a terrifying being?! You said you weren't meeting a Superior God!!! You liar!"
But Lee Geon just raised an eyebrow as if he had never lied.
"What part of him looks like a Superior God to you?"
Pan let out another scream.
"He's an incredibly high-ranking Superior God! A super heavyweight ranked within the top 150 out of tens of millions of gods!!!"
In terms of power, what power! In terms of status, what status!
"What's more, even if his clan was annihilated, he's a holy god who once held the seat of the Zodiac Circle... Cough!!"
"Enough. Just connect me already."
Having been smacked once by Lee Geon, Pan tearfully pressed the button on the touchpad.
"Please connect me to the 3rd Floor Olympus, the Palace of the Sun."
Then, something astonishing happened.
Above the touchpad, a hologram of a beautiful fairy popped out, and it began verifying the identities of Lee Geon and Pan.
[Is this your first visit? What name shall I deliver?]
"Tell him he'll know when he sees my face."
[Understood. Attempting to request a face-to-face meeting with the Lord of the Sun.]
But after a moment passed.
[The Palace of the Sun has declined the contact.]
[Please return safely.]
"!"
Instantly, Lee Geon's eyebrows twitched. Wondering if something had gone wrong, he tried again, but—
[We apologize. The other party has declined.]
[They say they don't know you.]
Lee Geon's temper flared.
Look at this bastard?
Finally, as Pan shot him a glance questioning if they really knew each other, Lee Geon raised the corner of his mouth.
And, seemingly furious, he pressed the button and spoke.
"Hey. You're dead. Get out here before I spill your secret."
[The Sun God states he has no secrets. The request cannot be accep—]
"About your head wig..."
[Connection established.]
[Entry to Olympus has been permitted.]
[No conditions are required.]
[Please, come to the Palace of the Sun as quickly as possible.]
When even a VIP pass was summoned for him, Pan jumped in shock.
"That's ridiculous!! Why on earth would such an esteemed being...!!"
Deal with a bastard like that?!
Pan stared at Lee Geon, horrified.
But Lee Geon merely snorted.
"Little grub bastard. I ought to rip every last root out."
* * *
The Divine Palace.
The divine realm was a world consisting of a total of 20 floors.
And if you were on the 3rd floor, it was already the unparalleled domain of the Grand Gods.
It was a place where lower gods could never ascend—the location of Olympus.
Therefore, it was utterly absurd that Lee Geon, whose rank hadn't even been verified, could even come up here.
But so what?
"Is this bastard truly asking to die!"
Lee Geon's temper was boiling over.
And with good reason.
"The punk doesn't show up at the meeting place we agreed on? Huh?"
That was it.
Lee Geon had agreed to meet the Lord of the Scorching Lion at their designated spot. It was none other than a cafe supposedly operated by Olympus.
The Lord of the Scorching Lion, who had secretly summoned the pass for Lee Geon, had said that meeting inside Olympus would be troublesome, so they should meet outside first.
And although Lee Geon had come to the place designated by the Lord of the Scorching Lion, he was nowhere to be seen.
He called an employee just in case, but—
[Yes? There's no way the CEO would come to a place like this.]
[If he came, his patron gods would have noticed immediately. More importantly, have you ever considered working here?]
[Your looks are perfect.]
Vein pop.
Eventually, realizing he'd been played, sparks flew in Lee Geon's eyes.
"That bald bastard, in a situation like that, he makes me sit through a part-timer interview?!"
It was a misunderstanding, but Lee Geon shot to his feet.
"Now I'm really starting to get pissed."
Of course, the number of gods on each floor was at least tens of millions!
It was truly comparable to finding a needle in a haystack, but finding the Lord of the Scorching Lion wasn't difficult.
Boom!!
"Get the hell out here, you baldy!"
If I can't find him, I just have to make him come out himself!
Going to the main plaza, Lee Geon smashed a statue to pieces.
Since Olympus had seized power, they had erected statues of famous Olympian gods.
And as the Sun God's head was mercilessly chopped off, the beings in the plaza screamed in horror.
"Wha, wha, what is that lower god doing!"
"He dares to sever the head of the great Lord of the Sun!"
"This is an act that will bring divine punishment!!!"
"Oh, Lord of the Scorching Lion!"
All the gods panicked and called for the guards.
He had smashed the statue expecting to be arrested or something, but unexpectedly, a much bigger figure appeared.
Flash!
A door of light appeared in the air, and an army came pouring out from within.
"Who is the scoundrel that dares harm an Olympian god!"
"We're already incredibly busy inside as it..."
"Is it him?!"
"?!"
Lee Geon hurled the soldiers descending from the door and entered the space they had come from.
The soldiers thrown aside were aghast.
"Aaagh! That madman! Some ruffian has just entered Olympus!"
"Get him!!!"
Beyond the portal was an incredibly beautiful palace.
[Warning. You have entered an 'Authorized Area' (Maximum Danger)]
[It is filled with Superior-ranked gods.]
[Currently, 'Serpent Lord's Seat' is at the lowest rank.]
[If caught, you will be executed immediately. Calmly hide here a—...]
But Lee Geon kicked away the approaching patron gods as if telling them to get lost.
Crack!! Crack!
Well, now that he'd come this far in, it didn't matter.
"Where is that lolicon bastard?!"
Lee Geon started by looking for Hades.
And as Lee Geon went around destroying every place that looked suspicious, a voice urgently spoke to him.
[Warning!! They say gods have karma.]
[It is said the divine realm can impose karma on gods who incur resentment!]
[Even running rampant in a higher zone incurs penalties!]
[They say if you're sued and accumulate karma, you won't be able to exert your power!]
The voice urgently tried to dissuade him, but surprisingly, no karma accumulated for Lee Geon.
It wasn't for any other reason.
"Aaagh! Valhalla has invaded all the way here!"
"These despicable bastards! O Divinity! I spend Talents! Bestow a mighty karma upon Valhalla!"
They seemed to misunderstand, thinking the intruders who had smashed the building were someone else, not Lee Geon.
"You were the ones who broke the rules first and attacked!"
"You declared war first! Weren't you the ones who first sent an assassin under the guise of an entertainer to the party?!"
"Argh! Where is that Hades bastard!!"
Thanks to this, Olympus was thrown into chaos. Lee Geon almost ran into enemies several times.
But.
"Cough!"
An unknown figure took down the enemies for him.
They even moved the enemies elsewhere before he encountered them.
So Lee Geon tilted his head.
What's this?
'Just like stealing Persephone.'
It's strange. Who's doing this?
Well, whatever.
Thwip! Thwip! Thwip!
Harpoons rained down in front of Lee Geon.
And then.
"Are you the one the Lord of the Sun spoke of?"
"I heard a snake had secretly entered the village."
"!"
Seemingly to capture Lee Geon, patron gods approached, surrounding him.
[Warning. These are Holy God-grade patron gods.]
[All have high divine ranks.]
Among them were familiar faces.
"O Serpent God..."
They were the crows of the Divine Bow Seat's patron. The ones Hugo often summoned and commanded.
And the patron gods who came to capture Lee Geon approached with sighs.
"Nameless lower god. We heard everything from the Lord of the Sun."
"You've been through a lot."
At those words, Lee Geon let out a sigh and smiled.
"Now you're finally making sense..."
"That you started a revolt because you didn't receive your wages."
"Olympus will handle the overdue payment, so please just go back— Cough!!!"
Thwack!!!
Having punched the Holy God, Lee Geon was seething.
"Overdue wages, my ass!"
The crow patron gods couldn't hide their dismay. They seemed about to say something, as if they knew it would come to this, but—
"Hey. What are you doing hiding over there?"
"?!"
At Lee Geon's murderous mutter, the patron gods flinched.
Sure enough.
Into the dense garden, atop a tree.
Lee Geon, having spotted someone, vanished in an instant.
And then.
Thwack!!!
Lee Geon punched the man who had been secretly watching him from the tree, sending him flying.
The blond man plummeted from the tree in a flash.
The Olympian patron gods were horrified, but whether they were or not, Lee Geon grabbed the man by the collar.
Because of this, the patron gods could do nothing but turn white as sheets.
After all, the opponent was a god of the highest rank among gods!
"O Lord of the Scorching Lion!"
"Lord Apollo!"
The sight of a Superior God being beaten up by a lower god seemed to shock them.
So the patron gods quickly summoned their weapons, but the battered Lord of the Scorching Lion stopped them.
"No. It's fine. No, we know each other."
The patron gods were bewildered.
"No, wha, what kind of relationship could you possibly..."
Seeing the Lord of the Scorching Lion in person for the first time, he rolled his eyes as if gauging Lee Geon's reaction.
"...Uh. Well, so... Ne, nephew?"
Furious, Lee Geon raised his fist.
"You bastard, you shower your own nephew with those unspeakable curses?!"
"No!"
Lee Geon's fist flew.
(Continued in the next episode)