"Found it."
A palace made entirely of gold glittered right before his eyes. It wasn't just the palace floor and pillars—the entire cavern surrounding it was plastered from top to bottom in gold.
No tycoon on earth could ever hope to possess this much gold.
The dazzling sight was so blinding it felt like staring down the path to heaven, paved in pure gold.
But Se-woon knew better. This place was the complete opposite of any "path to heaven."
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙Player Jeong Se-woon has entered 'Pandemonium'.
Pandemonium, or Manmajeon as it was also known.
As the name implied—a dwelling place for ten thousand demons—this was a site often called the capital of hell.
The temple had been built using gold bars extracted by the Greed Demon God as he led his demons to pierce through the hellish mountains belching black clouds.
It was also infamous as the gathering spot where the seven Demon Gods, embodiments of the Seven Deadly Sins, had convened to discuss the world's destruction.
"I hoped it wouldn't be, but to think it really dropped all the way down here."
Se-woon's current location was the 92nd floor of the tower.
In a tower whose end no one knew, this was the highest floor any player had ever reached.
But given that Pandemonium was a place where the seven Demon Gods—apex beings even among demons—had gathered, it rightfully belonged at the tower's summit, amid the domains of the constellations.
"Guess it's a silver lining in the storm?"
That was, until the Third Divine-Demon War.
Before that war exterminated every demon in the tower, including the Demon Gods.
Pandemonium and all remnants of demonic forces were thus banished from the top floors.
Which was exactly how Se-woon had managed to find it.
After the Divine-Demon War wiped out the demonic forces, peace had returned to the tower.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙'Until all the constellations were devoured,' that is.
As if they'd been lying in wait for just that moment, shortly after the demons vanished, new enemies appeared at the tower's summit, where the constellations dwelled.
The Outers.
Mysterious foes said to have emerged from somewhere beyond the tower's peak, in the highest heavens.
By then, half the constellations— the evil gods—had been wiped out, and even the righteous gods had been greatly weakened from battling them.
As the saying goes, small fish suffer when whales fight; the neutral gods' numbers had dwindled by more than half as well.
And the Outers wielded power that transcended even the gods themselves.
Though the constellations fought desperately to hold them back, they ultimately lost the war.
"After that, it was hell on earth."
The Outers who seized the tower's peak began splitting off pieces of themselves and sending them downward.
Monsters unable to withstand it fled in terror to the lower floors.
Players, deprived of their constellation sponsors and thus much of their power, couldn't possibly stop them all.
In the end, long before the Outers' remnants arrived below, player society had collapsed spectacularly.
That was the dire state the tower now faced.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙You have entered Pandemonium for the first time as a player. You have achieved a historic feat. You have obtained 100,000,000 points as a reward. You have entered a divine domain as a mere human. You have achieved an astonishing feat. You have obtained 10,000,000 points as a reward.
As expected of Pandemonium.
The moment he set foot inside, a barrage of system messages popped up, showering him with points—also known as contribution value.
Normally, he'd be grinning ear to ear.
"But it's not like there's anywhere to spend them now anyway."
The society built around the tower had crumbled completely under the Outers. No matter how many points he racked up, they meant nothing without a place to use them.
Se-woon swallowed a wry chuckle and stepped across the gleaming gold.
Glancing around, he spotted exquisite decorations everywhere.
"Talk about opulent."
A structure befitting the Greed Demon God, indeed.
Exquisite craftsmanship that seemed impossible without dwarven hands, fountains spewing golden liquid, and even statues of the seven Demon Gods forged in gold.
"Not even Zeus's temple stacked up to this."
The king of the Olympian Twelve, the supreme god of the sky—Zeus himself.
Yet even his temple paled in comparison.
He'd have loved to take his time admiring it,
But then—
Rumble!
Crackle-crack...
"Man, someone's in a real hurry."
The entire temple shook with vibrations, gold dust raining from the ceiling.
How they knew his location—the last player left on the 92nd floor—the Outer remnants were clearly unleashing hell.
A little farther in, a lavish entrance led deeper into the temple, but that wasn't his goal.
"It's gotta be here somewhere."
Pandemonium was known as the council hall of the seven Demon Gods, but its master was undeniably the Greed Demon God, Mammon.
Now that Mammon and all the Demon Gods had perished in the Divine-Demon War, there was only one thing Se-woon sought here.
'Mammon's warehouse.'
The Greed Demon God's hoard, amassed over eons.
The sole path to turning the tide, uncovered by scouring every book, prying secrets from sages, and piecing together hidden pieces from dungeons.
⚡ SKILL ACTIVATED ⚡Unique Skill: 'Journey's Compass'
Whirr!
A golden arrow resembling a compass floated above Se-woon's head.
The one unique skill that had allowed him—a man without a proper constellation sponsor or overwhelming combat prowess—to climb to the 92nd floor and find Pandemonium.
Journey's Compass.
The skill that earned top marks for exploration, adventure, and discovery.
Sure, it had gotten him exploited and endangered plenty of times, but without it, he wouldn't have survived this long.
Grind...
"Well hidden."
In a remote corner of the temple, he pushed the central wall section and tilted a golden candelabra. The floor parted, revealing a broad staircase.
Pandemonium's secret stairs.
No need to hesitate. This was the path to the Greed Demon God Mammon's warehouse.
Thud! Boom...
The deeper he descended, the stronger the tremors beneath his feet grew.
Feeling time running short, Se-woon quickened his pace.
After spiraling down the stairs countless times, the warehouse door finally came into view.
He placed his hand on the door—accessible only to the Greed Demon God.
Crackle!
Mana sparked like electricity, repelling his touch.
"Phelches. Never thought I'd owe that bastard one."
Se-woon pulled a golden key from his pocket.
A key whose info no appraisal skill could read.
Even as a top-tier dungeon reward, when they couldn't identify its purpose, Phelches had tossed it to him with a sneer, calling it his "prize."
Se-woon had forgotten about it for a while after, but his research into Pandemonium revealed the truth.
This was the golden key to Mammon's warehouse.
Click!
Creeeak...
The massive golden door swung open.
For the first time in the gold-saturated Pandemonium, something other than gold caught his eye.
"Holy shit, all this is treasure?"
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙You have entered the 'Treasure Vault of Greed'. You have entered the Treasure Vault of Greed for the first time as a player. You have achieved a historic feat. You have obtained 100,000,000 points as a reward.
System messages barely registered.
Even seeing the golden temple had only elicited a mild "Impressive." But now, Se-woon's eyes sparkled like gold itself.
"The cursed sword Tyrfing, the manual of Heavenly Demon Divine Art, a forgotten ancient grimoire of the 8th Circle, a Dragon Heart... "
Every item was extraordinary, piled high in the vast warehouse.
Treasures that would make any player—or even a god—drool, scattered everywhere.
As a player himself, Se-woon nearly succumbed to greed for a moment.
Rumble!
"Not the time."
The timely quake snapped him back.
Suppressing his urges, he pushed through heaps of riches, rummaging the warehouse.
The sheer volume was staggering; finding what he wanted might take months. But Se-woon had Journey's Compass.
Following the golden arrow overhead, he finally found it—the item he'd craved.
[Chronos's Hourglass]
The Time God's hourglass.
The only means to escape the tower on the brink of collapse.
⚔ STATUS ⚔🕰️ Time God's Hourglass: Chronos's Hourglass
'Well, "escape" might not be the right word.'
Using the hourglass only rewound the "user's time." And even then, it would just loop back to this moment.
'But if I can stop the Divine-Demon War...'
At the very least, maybe hold off the Outers' assault?
That was Se-woon's hope.
No, even without relying on demonic power, if he maximized his current knowledge...
'Climb the tower and block the Outers myself.'
He could avoid this worst-case scenario.
'Plus some petty revenge on the side.'
Snap!
He'd already planned every step ahead. No hesitation in using the hourglass.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙Time in the 'Tower' will be rewound for the first time.
A new beginning.
His mind brimmed with knowledge from climbing the tower: hidden pieces gleaned from Journey's Compass, books, and players.
Come hell or high water, he'd prevent this outcome.
No repeating the same foolish past.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙You have used Chronos's Hourglass. Time remaining until all sand falls: 9 minutes 58 seconds...
He flipped the hourglass. Golden sand began trickling down.
Time rewound.
An act defying causality, it seemed to take longer than expected.
Se-woon had no time to wait idly.
Kaboom!
Rumble...
"You actually made it here."
The golden warehouse ceiling caved in.
A Demon God's palace should be tough enough to withstand even gods, yet...
Power befitting an Outer that devoured constellations and claimed the tower's peak.
"Gr-aaah!"
Through the crumbling ceiling, the Outer flickered into view.
Its roar threatened to burst eardrums. Even just a remnant—not the main body—made his hands tremble on sight.
Normally, he'd flee immediately. But not now.
"Ten minutes. Let's have some fun."
[Zeus's Lightning Bolt, Astrafe]
⚔ STATUS ⚔⚡ Zeus's Lightning Bolt: Astrafe💨 Description: One of three treasures forged by the first giant Cyclops for Zeus, king of the Olympian Twelve and god of the skies.
Crackle!
Lightning of the thunder god blazed brilliantly atop Se-woon's hand.