Leveling with the Gods

Side Story 100

Confronted by Cthulhu, YuWon looked around in the space where he found himself.

All kinds of Dreams were manifesting.

He could see all forms of monsters that a human could imagine.

Imagination.

That was the very essence of dreams.

"No matter how strong you are, no one can defeat a dream."

The One Who Dreams Grand Dreams.

That was the name Cthulhu possessed, and also his essence.

"The stronger you are, the fear and imagination you experience also grow."

YuWon nodded at Cthulhu's explanation.

It was true.

The first nightmares of children are often quite trivial and cute.

But as time passes and fear fades away,

ironically, the shape of the nightmare grows along with the dreamer's body and mind.

Just at that moment.

"The forms of fear are generally similar."

Whispering~

In the purple-colored dream, beings with shapes revealed themselves one by one.

"Do you think you'll be different?"

A monster with a single green eye and dozens of tentacles like an octopus writhed.

Beside it, a sphere with hundreds of eyes blinked, and in the sky, a giant three-headed snake serpentined.

All kinds of monsters with grotesque shapes lurked around YuWon.

Looking at them, YuWon mentioned their names one by one.

'Ig. Juk Shab. K’aiga…

Familiar shapes and names.

And not just one or two.

There were dozens.

Their only common point was:

"They are the Administrators."

All of them behaved like Administrators in this world.

"A deep dream is no different from reality."

Familiar-shaped Administrators appeared.

The same ones he had encountered on his way here.

A massive boar that looked like a mountain king.

A green one-eyed monster with dozens of legs...

All of them were nightmares created by Cthulhu's dream.

"Now you are here. What do you think? Even if you have their Names, can you really handle them?"

In the face of Cthulhu's arrogant voice, YuWon squinted his eyes at the shapes of the Administrators appearing around him.

The dream had become reality.

Cthulhu had extracted what he had seen in the nightmare, and that nightmare had created an Administrator.

No one can defeat a nightmare.

If you can defeat it, then it wasn't a nightmare in the first place.

Thinking about it, the Name "Great Dream" was a perfect Name.

However.

"...?"

Even after some time passed, nothing changed.

The dozens of Administrators that appeared around him didn't move an inch.

"Why...?"

An unexpected reaction.

Cthulhu, surprisingly, felt bewildered when nothing happened.

"What have you done?"

"Nothing."

When he entered this Great Dream of his own accord,

YuWon was certain.

"There's only one way to defeat a nightmare."

Cthulhu.

There was only one way to defeat the Dream itself.

"Realize that it's a dream."

A Dream is as real as reality until you realize it.

But once you do, it becomes as intangible an illusion as mist.

That's what YuWon told Cthulhu now.

Of course.

"That's absurd!"

It wasn't something that could be done just by knowing it.

Even if one knew it was a dream.

Overcoming the fear of a nightmare was impossible in the first place.

"There is no one who is not afraid. Even in the courage of one who has accepted death, there must be another fear that surpasses it."

"I know you too well to be afraid of you," YuWon said mockingly in response to his almost hysterical cry.

"He had a nightmare when he was a child."

Suddenly.

Cthulhu's dilated eyes trembled.

He had reacted to the word "childhood."

"It was a terrifying Dream. I don't remember well how it was. He looked like an octopus, but also a dragon or a ghost..."

It was a very old memory.

YuWon scratched his head as he searched his memory.

"Waking up from the nightmare, he realized it was a monster created by his own imagination. Isn't that right? Everyone does that when they're children."

YuWon referred to himself as "he" when talking about his memories.

It was to not let himself be swayed by Azathoth.

"Isn't it a ridiculous imagination? But, you know what's different?"

"...What are you saying?"

"He was too special."

Uong, uuu, uuuung-.

Cthulhu's world staggered irregularly.

The space known as the Great Dream was filling with confusion from the story YuWon was telling.

"The dream became reality. The nightmare turned into a monster. And once it was born, the nightmare didn't disappear even when the child grew up and stopped being afraid of dreams."

"It can't be... It can't be..."

He had already had the idea before.

Amorphous Chaos.

One of the Names that Azathoth had.

From the moment he saw it with his own eyes, he thought there was a one-in-a-thousand chance that YuWon was Azathoth.

But he didn't want to admit it.

No, he couldn't admit it.

That this being before his eyes...

Was truly the great father who had created the Dream that was himself.

"That's not possible..."

"You're right. I'm not who you think I am."

YuWon also denied being Azathoth.

His True Name had disappeared. A Name that disappeared once did not come back, but he was special.

Like a phoenix rising from the ashes. Someday, somewhere, he would rise again. Perhaps he himself would be the vessel for that.

However...

"But still, I know you. I know you too well."

Cthulhu denied YuWon.

It wasn't a wrong choice.

Actually, Azathoth's True Name had disappeared, and YuWon's power was only a fraction of Azathoth's.

However, what was needed to confront the Great Dream was not his power but his "memories."

"Do you understand now, Cthulhu?"

Swoosh-.

The tip of the sword wielded by YuWon cut through the illusion of the Great Dream.

"You're nothing more than a small nightmare he had in his childhood."

Children grow up, become adults, and realize that those Dreams are nothing at all.

Azathoth was also like that.

"And that goes for all of you."

Swoosh-.

YuWon's gaze once again swept over the Administrators surrounding him.

Their Names came to his mind.

Each and every one of them were beings Azathoth had dreamed of in his childhood.

-------------

In childhood.

Azathoth used to have nightmares frequently.

The variety of monsters appearing in his nightmares was vast.

From octopuses to frogs, ghosts, pigs, and snakes.

It's typical for a child's imagination to fear all kinds of animals and fuzzy figures.

Azathoth was no exception.

"Azathoth-!"

That day was the same.

In a worn-out shed with piled-up straw. One day, as usual, Azathoth, who slept there, was visited by an adult from the village.

Thwack!

The blows that reached him were not painful.

No.

Or at least, he had already gotten used to it.

"Didn't I tell you to clean the front yard and all the dung before the sun came up?"

Clap!

This time, he received a slap.

It didn't hurt much. But somehow, it felt sad.

Azathoth tilted his head.

"I'm sorry."

It was an absurd instruction.

A little child.

Definitely not something the child could do alone.

However...

"Do everything before midnight, and go to the village to buy wheat and firewood. If you mess up, you won't get away easily today."

"Yes, I'm sorry."

"Eh, tsk."

What an annoying man.

He muttered and left, turning on his heel.

In front of Azathoth lay a small money pouch.

Looking alternately between the man's retreating back and the money pouch on the ground...

"...It hurts."

Coc, coc...

It wasn't the body, it was the heart that hurt.

Not from the blows and slaps on the face, but because his chest with a beating heart felt pained.

Gently, he put the money pouch on his lap, and Azathoth blinked.

And at that moment...

Thud.

Suddenly, he was in the middle of the marketplace.

"Ah!"

The man who collided with Azathoth looked at him, making sounds of pain.

He barely reached the man's waist height.

"This kid, damn it...!"

He looked at him with disgust and disdain.

Gradually, people distanced themselves from Azathoth.

It was because he was dirty and unfortunate.

While this was happening...

"Are you okay?"

It was a middle-aged woman with a warm appearance.

She asked Azathoth, who had collided with her.

"What were you doing here alone?"

"I was running errands."

"Errands?"

"Yes. The owner told me to buy wheat and firewood..."

"So that's it."

In an instant, the woman who was considering something took Azathoth's hand and led him.

"Come this way. I'll show you the way."

Azathoth knew the way too.

But she led him in the opposite direction of the path Azathoth knew.

A narrow alley. A shady corner of the village full of shadows.

It was then, as he separated from the people.

"What are you doing?"

"Why did you bring this filthy brat?"

Her group appeared.

Two men with knives.

The two blades instantly created a sinister fear.

"Does this brat have any money?"

"Doesn't he understand anything?"

"Is he stupid or what?"

At the woman's question, Azathoth hesitated for a moment.

There was no fear in his expression.

So, in the face of Azathoth's fearless reaction, the men made unpleasant grimaces.

"This kid, is he crazy?"

"Doesn't he understand what we're telling him?"

"That's not it. I earlier..."

"No, it's not that. I earlier..."

Sigh.

Hit.

It was then.

Azathoth took out the money pouch he had on his lap and dropped it on the ground.

"Can I go now?"

"..."

The men, looking at Azathoth in disbelief, checked the money pouch.

It wasn't an abundant amount, but it wasn't meager either.

The men nodded and gestured to Azathoth.

"Get lost, brat."

Azathoth nodded and turned around.

A dark alley.

It was the street he had frequented the most before being taken in by the house owner.

Just when he was starting to think that this was better than a straw-filled shed...

"Azathoth!"

The voice calling his Name.

For the first time, Azathoth's face filled with color.

"Nyarla?"

A ragged figure like his.

A dirty face from not washing and tangled hair.

Nyarla, a girl of the same age as Azathoth, ran towards him and greeted him joyfully.

"How did you come? Weren't you going into Cthugha-nim's house?"

"I went in. I came out for a moment."

"A moment? How?"

"A task."

Nyarla was a friend Azathoth had grown up with in the alleys for a long time.

Perhaps the only person in this world. Someone who didn't bother him and even rejoiced to see him.

"Do you have to go in right now?"

Nyarla's expression saddened with regret.

To her, it seemed like a pity that her friend, whom she hadn't seen in a long time, was leaving so soon.

Azathoth looked at her figure, more emaciated than before, and shook his head.

"No. It's okay."

"Really?"

Nyarla smiled, as if she hadn't done so before.

Showing a tooth that wasn't known where it had been hit and lost, she smiled radiantly.

"Let's play together, hehe."

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