The Novel’s Villain

62. Monsters (3)

Her Petrification Beams were powerful. While her curse was limited to living beings, that new attack of hers wasn’t.

Everything it touched turned to stones so brittle even the slightest vibration could immediately make them crumble and turn into powder.

Moreover, it had quite a long range and was contagious, almost like water seeping in. How the hell did they make that happen?

‘Se-yeon never crossed that line, but…’

This was Prof. Kim Dae-jin’s doing.

He was already far beyond it.

Medusa’s hair, the snakes, released beams relentlessly. Perhaps because it was based on the Curse of Petrification, its energy efficiency was substantial.

However, the limit to their output soon revealed itself.

“More! More! We need to increase the output even more!” Prof. Kim Dae-jin urged her on, but her beams were already beginning to fade little by little.

“Manager… I’m at… my limit…”

They still had a long way to go before they could reach its core, but her firepower had already dropped sharply.

He nodded, his eyes gazing at Medusa.

“Well, there’s still room for adjustments. Her mind is involuntarily sealing its maximum potential.”

“Really?”

This feat alone was already huge.

He had successfully turned her into a weapon of mass destruction. Those hit by her beams turned to stone immediately, making her no different from a small battleship.

“Let even greater rage rise within you!” He took out a remote control and pressed a button, causing the spaceship’s wings to reassemble themselves into a large speaker.

It soon played an oddly familiar sound, almost like a flute or a rain.

Medusa’s eyes began to tremble. So did her serpents. Their pupils swirled uncontrollably until their eyes flipped over.

“Ugh! Poseidon, you bastard!”

Red energy emanated from her entire physique. Soon enough, she fired yet another beam, the size of which was incomparable to the previous one.

“Woah…” Jin-woo uttered in admiration. Considering its current momentum, it would most likely penetrate smoothly through it.

When he looked at Prof. Kim Dae-jin and asked for an explanation, he smiled and provided him with one.

“It’s hypnosis.”

“Hypnosis?”

“Yes. I used a technique to remove one’s mental limitations through hypnotism. Now, in Medusa’s eyes, everything around her looks like Poseidon. Since she’s basically a snake, I based it on the sound of flutes.”

It wouldn’t have been possible if he had removed every instinct she had as a monster, which would also ultimately make her difficult to capture.

Prof. Kim Dae-jin.

As Jin-woo thought, he was dangerous in many ways.

Bang!

The beam drilled a huge hole all the way to the surface of the volcano. Gray hues gradually spread around it, turning all it infected into powder, which then scattered with the winds.

Even a gigantic being like Typhon would be able to get out of a gap this wide.

Jin-woo looked at him.

“What do you think? Is this enough to escape?”

“…”

Typhon didn’t know how to respond. His expression had blanked out since he first witnessed Medusa’s beam, leaving him with no other choice but to lower his head.

“Typhon?”

Slowly raising his chin once more, he revealed his distorted face and the red aura flowing from his eyes.

His muscles twitched. His limbs had no tendons, but his rigorous physique still remained.

“That’s an interesting reaction. Let’s go to the spaceship first.”

“That’d be nice.”

Jin-woo and Prof. Kim Dae-jin got on their spaceship and went out.

Even after the music stopped, Medusa’s beam showed no signs of weakening. Etna Volcano was already turning gray and crumbling out of existence by the time he looked down.

As the huge hole widened more, the volcanic-ash-like powders scattered away.

[Typhon has joined Team Ragnarok.]

Aww!

The Titan jumped through the ground the beam had softened, allowing him to display his gigantic body in all of its glory.

“Zeus, you motherfucker!”

He rampaged across the lands, causing the earth to shatter and burst like lava.

Seemingly feeling no sense of fatigue, Medusa continued releasing her beam, turning this vast, continent-like volcanic area into hell in an instant. Its crusts fell not long after, causing a strong earthquake to occur, which in turn led to the creation of a tsunami in the sea that surrounded them.

At the same time, Zeus, Poseidon, and Athenas’ warriors, who had received the power of Ares, made their way to Etna in a gigantic ship.

They had been sent to bring an end to Typhon’s existence once and for all.

They were equipped with capes that could withstand lava, and one of them carried a sword that Hephaestus took decades to smelt. As a result, it gained the ability to surely destroy Typhon or any god for that matter since it took away their powers.

Zeus had been hiding that secret weapon of his for quite a long time now.

The warriors the deities sent were all demigods who inherited the blood of Zeus, Poseidon, or other gods. After all, the myth about Typhon’s obliteration would spread from generation to generation!

“God of Olympus, give us the strength to fight monsters!”

“Huh?”

“What’s that?”

The ship they rode remained dry thanks to Poseidon’s blessing, but the earthquake-induced tsunami was so large that it was impossible to see its end even if they looked up.

Compared to it, their ship looked like a small boat.

“Ah…”

“P-Poseidon…”

“Ahh! What is that?!”

Soon enough, it came crashing down on them, proving their vessel to be too weak to withstand its sheer weight. The cloaks they wore only protected them from lava, not the rage of the sea. Quite ironically, now soaked in seawater, they wrapped around their bodies, binding them completely. They floundered around as they drowned, but the tidal wave ultimately swept them away.

[Poseidon blinks. Despite being the god of the sea, it happened so quickly that he couldn’t do anything.]

[Zeus is speechless.]

[Athena begins to withdraw.]

Jin-woo was unaware of the situation. He was just staring blankly at Typhon, who was running wild, and Medusa, who was frantically firing beams all over the place.

“Hahaha! The effects of rage are amazing!”

“Can’t you stop that?”

“Ah! Now that you mentioned it, I didn’t make any music that would release her from that state.”

“… I see. Then we have no choice but to wait.”

They remained on standby as Medusa screamed and fired a beam into the sky, hitting the sun floating right above them.

“Woah! What- Aaaaaaaah!” Helios shouted. After his chariot got destroyed a while ago, he used up a huge amount of dimensional gold coins to get a new one.

He cherished it so much he didn’t let anyone scratch it, but the passing beam turned it into powder in an instant.

“Ah… .”

The sun started to set again.

[Helios declares a strike. Apollo begins driving the sun chariot instead of Helios.]

Pulling the sun chariot was hard work. Because of the sun’s heat, not even godhood could save his skin from ruination. Moreover, he had no holidays.

Apollo was forced to take over such heavy labor.

It took a while for Medusa and Typhon to calm down.

Anyway, Typhon had joined Team Ragnarok.

* * *

Team Ragnarok’s numbers began to increase.

Jin-woo collected several monsters, starting with Medusa and Typhon. Besides them, some of the most well-known beings he recruited were the Hydra and the Sphinx.

The Hydra was a nine-headed reptile that would remain immortal for as long as it had one remaining head left. Jin-woo brought it back to base along with its eight heads Hercules cut off. However, Prof. Kim Dae-jin added eight new heads with various functions instead of the existing ones.

He also now renamed it ‘Elemental Hydra.’

Hercules and the Elemental Hydra cleared up their pasts, allowing them to get along well with each other. They even apparently drank beer together every now and then.

‘The Sphinx…’

Recruiting the Sphinx didn’t prove that difficult. Its only condition was that all of its riddles and nonsensical quizzes be answered. In that regard, they satisfied it thoroughly.

The Sphinx looked at Hercules.

“What is the opposite of happiness?”

“Uh… Sadness? Anger? Sorrow?”

“Dang. Hahaha!”

The Sphinx was also insane, much like the other members of Team Ragnarok.

Typhon was unexpectedly popular. The angels followed him.

“Look at how huge that angel is!”

“Oh my God! He’s gigantic!”

“How tall are you?”

“Become our leader!”

Typhon was a giant with wings. Hence, to the Angels and Golden Angels, he looked like a humongous version of them, even more so since he also possessed divine powers.

The sudden increase in his popularity seemed to make him happy, at the very least. Compared to the Olympian gods such as Zeus and Poseidon, he was like a nobleman.

‘They’re a little odd and unique in their own ways, but they’re all pretty powerful.’

Medusa and the Underworld Conquerors became so close with each other that they spent time together almost every day. Hanging out with them made her feel quite normal.

Se-yeon approached Jin-woo in his tent, which was built in the center of the base, while he was drinking coffee that Arcana had prepared.

“Evil God!”

“… What’s with that outfit?”

“A uniform based on the concept of the Evil God!”

Se-yeon was wearing a black robe that had a black pattern embroidered on it. Now that he thought about it, Yoo-na was dressed the same way.

He decided to respect their preferences.

“We’ve finally found the entrance to Tartarus. Typhon helped us quite a lot.”

Typhon was born in Tartarus, so he knew the place well. Se-yeon activated the hologram device.

“This is what Tartarus looks like.”

“That’s…”

The place the device displayed looked like a labyrinth.

He couldn’t figure out its internal details since he didn’t know what it exactly looked like, but he guessed that it was a fairly high-level maze.

“I think you have to go through that labyrinth to get to the depths of Tartarus. Perhaps the Titans are sealed there.”

“Are there any other obstacles besides that?”

“There is. When the Underworld Conquerors went down there, they reported having to fight monsters the same rank as them. According to Typhon, that’s caused by the Shadows of Tartarus. Even Zeus apparently can’t enter that place recklessly due to it.”

Tartarus was an upgraded version of the Maze.

The Underworld Conquerors often entered it since they could acquire a lot more experience points there than they could in the Maze.

Se-yeon provided analysis and explanation behind that phenomenon.

“Defeating the shadows causes the power they scatter to seep into their avatars, which the system recognizes as experience points.”

“Is it much more efficient than the Maze?”

“Yeah, about ten times as much.”

“Great.”

New World players currently raised their ranks in the Maze and earned money through the Sci-Fi World. Gaining ten times more experience points than the Maze could provide was huge.

It would’ve been great if warriors could keep using it as training grounds, but there was a reason why they couldn’t.

Apparently, death down there meant being dragged into the abyss.

However, the concept of death didn’t apply to avatars in the first place.

‘Still, it’s difficult to implement since this is the World of Gods.’

Considering the Shadows of Tartarus created an enemy equal in power to that of the intruder’s rank, it would be difficult for even him to enter it.

Jin-woo thought about it for a while but stopped when he heard a loud noise outside.

When he checked up on the commotion, he found a crater in front of him. In the middle of it was a person who seemed to have fallen from the skies and crashed down to their base.

Typhon was inside the crater, his fists clenched. He seemed to have already beaten her up before he arrived. Medusa was in the area as well, looking at her with cold eyes.

“Ugh…” She moaned as she turned around.

Jin-woo looked down to identify the intruder, only to find himself as surprised as everyone else.

[SS+] Athena

Goddess of Wisdom and War.

One of the Twelve Gods of Olympus.

She is also the World of Gods’ inhabitants’ second most worshiped god, with Zeus being the first, because of her superior strength, wisdom, and intelligence. She was at odds with Ares, but when war was declared on Olympus, Zeus forced the two to reconcile.

She opposes the supreme god’s brutal war strategy.

As the goddess of wisdom, she is capable of riding the tides of combat intricately well.

*[SS] Goddess of War: Enables her to fully utilize any weapon at will.

* [S+] Goddess of Wisdom: Provides her with excellent tactics and strategies.

* [S+] Pure Love: She has found a mate who can surpass the Styx oath.

Athena lay on the ground with black tentacles and slime covering her.

She seemed to have gone through multiple hardships just to come here, and now that she arrived, her troubles still didn’t end. Typhon wanted to destroy her so badly, but he backed away when he saw Jin-woo.

“Why is an Olympian god here?”

“I’m here to talk.”

“Don’t you think there are issues you need to clear up first before that?” He looked at Medusa, and Athena did as well. Gulping, she nodded.

He didn’t intend to get involved even if Medusa tortured or enslaved her, but she was kind. She cut her long hair short, considering it enough punishment to pardon the goddess.

Prof. Kim Dae-jin gathered the fallen hair strands and went into his lab, perhaps to begin experimenting with it.

After going through various tests, Athena was finally granted an interview with Jin-woo. By the time they met again, she was already haggard.

He handed her hot cocoa, which she drank carefully.

“Okay, what do you want to talk about?”

“I am… disillusioned by Olympus’ hypocrisy. They wage wars for the majesty of gods, forcing the innocent to suffer in the process while they do nothing but drink Nectar and enjoy the battles from the comforts of their own thrones.”

“Your family is a mess.”

Athena couldn’t refute Jin-woo’s words.

“Ares… That god has slaughtered tens of millions of humans. I’d much rather leave Olympus than be with someone so vile.”

“You’re betraying Olympus?”

“I’m just following what I think is justice.” She said, then proceeded to divulge intel about the gods’ plans. She seemed sincere about this choice of hers.

“Zeus is gathering soldiers. Hundreds of millions of soldiers have already rallied around Mount Olympus, but that’s not the worst part of it. He’s feeding them Nectar, a clear violation of our rules as deities.”

“Nectar?”

“A drink that immortalizes the gods. Killing the soldiers won’t send them to the underworld for resurrection. On the contrary, death won’t claim their souls unless they’ve been killed multiple times. And even if they do die… They’ll be reborn as vile monstrosities. That’s why humans should never consume it.”

That was a little tricky.

Through death, warriors began their journey to the underworld. However, the supreme god prevented that by feeding them Nectar, essentially creating an army of immortal warriors and giving him enough momentum to equal Jin-woo’s.

They would ultimately turn into beasts and abominations in the end, but he couldn’t care less about that.

Ares apparently liked that idea of Zeus’ quite a lot. On the other hand, it disillusioned Athena.

Jin-woo decided to accept Athena into his ranks. Those who belonged to the Sanctuary had their abilities to betray him stripped away from them anyway.

“Fine. You may join us. Learn under The Heavenly Demon Supreme.”

“Huh?”

He called The Heavenly Demon Supreme, who promptly entered the tent.

“Did you call me?”

“Yeah. This girl’s a newcomer. Educate her properly.”

His lips curved into a deep smile.

“Hehehe, I finally graduated from washing dishes…”

“What did he just say?”

Bump!

The Heavenly Demon Supreme grabbed Athena’s shoulder.

“What do you think you’re doing…”

“Are you crazy?”

“Huh?”

“Only crazy people talk to their seniors like that.”

“Oh, that’s… This is just so sudden…”

“Is that a complaint? I take it you want your new life to be over now, then?”

“Oh, no. That’s not it.”

“Are you sure? We can just send you back to wherever you came from right now.”

“No!”

Athena grew more disciplined.

As befitting the goddess of war and wisdom, she was quick-witted.

[Athena has joined the Sanctuary, resulting in a change in her title.]

*[SS+] Goddess of War and Wisdom -> [A] The Sanctuary’s Newest Member

Athena rolled into hell on her own.

“An immortal army…”

Jin-woo pondered about it for a moment.

An army that wasn’t afraid of even death. Even he had such a battalion of insane beings who enjoyed death.

They were real monsters.

“If this is how he wants to play, then it’s time I use cheat codes of my own.” Jin-woo chuckled.

He knew very well how to make crazy people even crazier.

* * *

After a while, New World’s official website released a new teaser video revolving around the preview of new large-scale content.

‘New World: Fall of the Gods!’

New World’s genre had once again completely changed.

Thanks to Bread Jam, it had already gained more than enough publicity to ensure its success, but it also provided more features the New World players excitedly looked forward to.

[You’ll soon be able to visit the World of Gods!]

[1 Billion New World Players Appreciation Event!]

1. 10x Experience Multiplier Event! Break through the Labyrinth of Tartarus!

2. Enjoy infinite avatar resurrection during this event’s period!

*Login to claim a Beginner’s Support Box for free!

(D-Rank Weapon Box, D-Rank Armor Box, D-Rank Accessory Set, D-Rank Evil God Costume Set)

*Ally yourself with Team Ragnarok, and The Holy See may just grant you skills!

*Avatars won’t reset during the event period. Feel free to die to your heart’s content with peace of mind!

The new event was so shocking it made everyone go crazy.