Chapter: 07
Disaster Aptitude Test
A faint ripple spread through the garden of the gods.
*Kuuuuung.*
The nectar in the goblets sloshed gently.
The gods set down the fruits they had been bringing to their lips.
The hands of the muses, who had been playing their instruments, came to a halt.
Silence.
Hundreds of gazes simultaneously turned toward the floor.
More precisely, they were piercing through it, deep into the distant underground first floor.
“……Just now, what was that?”
Someone broke the silence.
An energy of a different caliber had surged up from below.
“The Selection Room?”
“The summoning ritual should be in progress.”
“A wave this strong. Could it be that a jackpot was hit?”
Jackpot.
The gods murmured among themselves.
On the system, the dice roll ranges from 1 to 100.
But that is merely a superficial number.
The probability of rolling a 100.
It is exactly ‘1 in 1,373,248’.
Less than even one in a million.
Throughout the entire history of the Tower, only five beings have hit the jackpot at the Seed stage.
And three of those five.
Are the supreme gods who now preside as seat-holders here, on the highest floor.
“That means he’s a brat born with the qualities of a king.”
“Who is it? Was there a talent like that among the Seeds that entered this time?”
The curiosity didn’t last long.
A messenger spirit flew through the air, parting the void.
An urgent voice echoed through the garden.
[An urgent report! A ‘Named’ has been summoned in the Selection Room on the 1st Floor!]
Named.
A familiar with a name.
A mythical being bestowed with a unique true name.
[The summoner is ‘Rag’! The summoned entity is…… the Great Calamity Dragon, ‘Angragon’!]
Instantly.
The gods’ expressions hardened.
“……The Great Calamity Dragon?”
“Are you talking about that Great Calamity Dragon I know?”
“Isn’t it one of the primordial dragons?”
Great Calamity Dragon.
A monster notorious for being the most ferocious and powerful among the primordial dragons.
More importantly, one fact stood out.
‘This being does not exist in the Tower.’
The Great Calamity Dragon is not in the monster database of the Tower.
That means it was forcibly dragged from outside, tearing through dimensions.
Luck alone is insufficient.
It is only possible if the summoner’s talent can handle the monster’s caliber.
*Swoosh.*
The gods’ gazes shifted to one place.
To a man sitting cross-legged askew in a corner of the garden.
To Heimdall, the God of Storms.
“Heimdall.”
“If it’s ‘Rag’, isn’t he that guy you brought in?”
Instead of answering, Heimdall tilted his goblet.
The smile on his lips was arrogant.
“Isn’t luck also a skill?”
The gods clicked their tongues at his attitude.
Gazes mixed with jealousy and envy.
While they had waited for centuries without obtaining an outstanding Seed, Heimdall had picked one up from outside.
And a monster that hit the jackpot from the very beginning.
“Hmph. We’ll see about that.”
One god crossed his arms and snorted.
“Just because a jackpot is hit doesn’t mean everyone ascends to this place.”
It was true.
Among the five jackpot winners in history, three became gods.
The other two met miserable ends.
Overconfident in their own luck and talent, they were futilely devoured.
“The Great Calamity Dragon. Certainly a powerful card, but……”
“If you can’t handle it, the dragon will bite its master.”
“In any case, it won’t be recognized as master.”
“We might get to see it self-destruct in the ‘Selection Room’.”
The gods tried hard to downplay his achievement.
But a thick sense of interest also lingered.
An undeniable sense of anticipation.
The one who broke through the one-in-a-million chance.
The one who obtained the primordial calamity.
Just how far would that Seed grow?
Or would it be broken before it could even sprout?
The latter is more probable.
Especially since.
The current ‘Seeds’ are hungrier than ever before.
The state of the Seeds is likewise excellent.
There’s no way they would leave ‘Rag’, who is pushing ahead alone, alone.
A nail that sticks out is bound to be hammered down.
—
The dust settled.
Everyone held their breath.
I was the same.
When the altar was destroyed and the black pillar shot up, I had high expectations.
A colossal dragon covering the sky.
I imagined a monster that would blow away this temple with a single breath.
But.
*-……Yawn.*
On top of the rubble.
A lifeform the size of a fist stretched its mouth wide and yawned.
Black scales.
Cute little wings on its back.
Round eyes.
To anyone, it looked like a baby lizard that had just hatched from an egg—no, a baby dragon.
“…….”
Silence.
The Seeds’ eyes went wide.
I too narrowed my eyes.
‘This is the Great Calamity Dragon?’
Quite a grandiose name.
But I couldn’t let my guard down.
The breath it exhaled while yawning.
A single wisp of that small smoke was corroding the stone floor black.
‘That’s for sure.’
I lowered my posture to match its eye level.
My knowledge as a mage was blaring alarm bells.
Magic and dragons are inseparable.
That’s why I know quite a bit about dragons.
Of course, my knowledge of primordial dragons is extremely scant.
But one thing was certain.
The most ill-tempered and powerful dragon.
A living calamity said to devastate an entire continent upon its appearance.
That out-of-spec being was precisely the ‘Great Calamity Dragon’.
Gugu shouted as if screaming.
“Th-the Great Calamity Dragon!”
The penguin’s eyes grew wide as if they would pop out.
“This is the first time! The first entity summoned since the Tower was established! Th-this, how many points should I give……!”
The Abyssal Dragon was 95 points.
But the Great Calamity Dragon is the first.
Meaning there isn’t even data to score it.
Literally immeasurable.
“……The summoning was successful, but still, will it?”
“……Right. Being recognized as the master is a different matter.”
Someone muttered.
At those words, the Seeds nodded.
Indeed.
The summoning isn’t the end.
True summoning magic includes ‘subjugating’ the summoned entity.
Especially when the opponent is a ‘Named’.
Monsters with names have pride that pierces the heavens.
There’s no way they’d recognize a mere Seed, not even a god, as their master.
“He’ll be devoured.”
“There’s no way he can control a monster like that.”
Pessimistic predictions poured out.
In reality, Angragon was staring intently at me.
Red eyes.
Was the look in them curiosity, or perhaps appetite?
I chuckled softly.
Fear?
Give that to the dogs.
If I showed even a hint of fear, it would instinctively notice.
And then it wouldn’t try to follow me.
I immediately reached out my hand.
Right in front of its nose.
“Crazy! He’s reaching out his hand!”
“His wrist will be torn off!”
Ignoring the gasps from around me.
I extended my index finger and lightly tapped its forehead.
“Angragon.”
The creature tilted its head.
I smiled and said.
“You’ve been kidnapped.”
“……?”
Its eyes widened round.
Kidnapped.
Probably the first word it had ever heard.
But I was unabashed.
“I kidnapped you. So behave.”
A moment of silence passed.
*Sniff sniff.*
Soon, Angragon sniffed my finger.
And then.
*Swoosh.*
It started rubbing its head against my palm.
*Purrrrr……*
Like a contented cat.
It purred, vibrating its throat.
“……Huh?!”
“I-impossible!”
Astounding.
Something impossible had happened.
It’s a Named.
A being of a different class and dimension.
That monster was acting cute towards a mere Seed?
‘…That’s a relief.’
Sighing with slight relief, I stroked its head.
I could roughly guess the reason.
All attribute affinity MAX.
Above all, the ‘Calamity Eater’ class.
To a Great Calamity Dragon like it, there would be no being more familiar than me.
“There, good boy.”
When I scratched its chin, it flipped over to show its belly.
A perfect sign of submission.
Gugu, who had been staring blankly at the sight, suddenly came to its senses and raised its wing.
“200 points!”
A resounding cry echoed through the temple.
“It’s 200 points! A breakthrough! The highest score in history!”
—
The commotion subsided.
But the gazes on me were still intense.
Awe, jealousy, and fear.
Naturally.
The other Seeds’ scores were at most in the 80s or 90s.
Not a single one had surpassed 100.
And yet, I alone had 200 points.
An overwhelming first place.
A gap too wide was created from the very start.
“Alright, everyone, settle down!”
Gugu flapped its wings, drawing attention.
“It’s not over yet. Summoning is merely an auxiliary means! The true power of a god lies elsewhere.”
Gugu pointed into the air.
*Whoosh.*
A single transparent crystal ball floated up.
“The second test is the ‘Disaster Aptitude’ evaluation.”
Disaster Aptitude.
The stage to identify the type of authority the gods wield.
I listened to the explanation with my arms crossed.
“The authorities of the gods are broadly divided into three systems.”
Gugu explained, extending its wings one by one.
“First, the ‘Natural World’. This includes authority over great natural forces like typhoons, earthquakes, tsunamis, and volcanic eruptions. It’s considered the highest form, with the most destructive power and widest range.”
Beings like Heimdall and Kartal fall into this category.
The most common and powerful, the standard type of disaster.
“Second, the ‘Biosphere’. This includes insidious powers like plagues, curses, and poisons that eat away at life.”
Beings like the God of Black Death or the Plague Lord from the past.
While their direct destructive power is low, they are masters at withering away an entire civilization.
“Third, the ‘Material World’. This includes powers that manipulate physical phenomena like explosions, collapse, and suffocation.”
This was the trickiest category in one-on-one confrontations.
Gugu tapped the crystal ball.
“If you place your hand on this ball, your latent aptitude will appear as a color. The deeper the color, the greater the talent. Now, shall we begin?”
The Seeds lined up with tense expressions.
The first participant was the goblin man who had summoned the hellfire wolf earlier.
“Hwaaah!”
The man put strength into his cry and touched the ball.
*Flash!*
The ball blazed red.
A fairly deep crimson.
“Oh! An aptitude for ‘Volcano’ and ‘Explosion’! Very excellent! 85 points!”
At Gugu’s shout, the goblin clenched his fist.
Gaining confidence, the Seeds stepped forward one by one.
“What about me?”
*Fwoosh.*
This time, a blue light swirled.
“Aptitude for ‘Heavy Rain’ and ‘Flood’! Natural world! 88 points!”
“Please……”
*Crackle.*
A green light oozed out stickily.
“Hmm, decay and poison. Biosphere then. Not bad. 75 points.”
The evaluations continued.
Most showed faint colors or ordinary hues.
Occasionally, a deep color would emerge, drawing cheers.
But no one managed to surpass the 90-point barrier.
And finally.
“Next, Rag-nim.”
It was my turn.
The hall instantly fell silent.
Everyone’s gaze focused on my fingertips.
‘What kind of aptitude does that monster have?’
‘Since he got 200 points in summoning, his aptitude must be incredible too?’
Expectation weighed heavily on the air.
I smirked and walked up to the platform.
‘Aptitude, huh.’
To be honest, I was curious.
I had used 100 million SP to max out all attributes and talents.
Theoretically, all colors should appear.
Or perhaps even a rainbow color?
“I’m looking forward to this.”
Gugu’s eyes sparkled.
Without hesitation, I placed my hand on the crystal ball.
*Click.*
A cold sensation.
No need to even infuse mana.
The moment my hand touched it, the ball reacted.
But then.
“……Eh?”
Someone expressed doubt.
No light appeared.
Neither red, blue, nor green.
*Whoooosh……*
Black smoke rose from within the ball.
It wasn’t emitting light, but absorbing the surrounding light.
In an instant, the entire ball turned pitch black.
No, it was so black it seemed like the space itself had been pierced, hollow and empty.
“…….”
Silence.
It was a different kind of silence than when Angragon had been summoned.
That had been shock; this was bewilderment and confusion.
“What is that?”
“Black? Was there even such a color?”
“Isn’t it broken?”
The murmuring grew louder.
Natural world, biosphere, material world.
Nowhere was there an explanation for ‘black’.
It was too alien to be a darkness attribute.
It was like a black hole consuming everything.
“Umm……”
Gugu scratched its head with its wing, looking perplexed.
Even the administrator seemed to be seeing this phenomenon for the first time.
“Usually, if there’s no talent, transparent or white appears……”
Gugu tilted its head.
Then cautiously opened its mouth.
“This is…… close to ‘Void’.”
“Void?”
“Yes. It doesn’t possess any property of a disaster. No destruction, no contamination, no physical interference is felt. It’s just…… empty.”
Empty.
As those words fell, the Seeds’ expressions shifted subtly.
“What, it’s a dud?”
“Looks like he dumped all his talent into summoning.”
“Well, a god can’t be good at everything.”
“It was right that he hit the jackpot purely by luck.”
Sighs of relief.
And then, jeers.
The gazes that had seen me as a monster instantly downgraded me to ‘a lucky guy’.
Gugu too, with an ambiguous expression, concluded.
“As per regulations, an aptitude that cannot be classified cannot be given a score. Moreover, since no power to cause disasters is felt……”
Gugu held up a placard.
“0 points.”
0 points.
It was the moment the craziest bastard in the history of the Selection Room, who received both 200 points and 0 points, was born.
“Puhahahaha!”
“0 points! 0 points!”
The dark elf burst into laughter first.
The others joined in, snickering.
The nervousness they had felt because of Angragon just moments ago was completely gone.
They chattered about how the gods were fair, how balance was maintained.
But I didn’t change my expression at all.
I thought I understood why black had appeared.
‘Because I don’t create disasters; I eat them.’
Black.
Emptiness.
Naturally.
My authority isn’t ‘creating’ disasters.
It’s ‘devouring’ them.
Fire, water, poison, explosion.
The power to consume all those disasters and make them my own.
Black is precisely the color of ‘Predation’.
Just as mixing all colors makes black, my aptitude that swallows all disasters cannot help but be black.
‘……0 points, huh.’
Strategically, it’s not bad.
It’s a perfect score to lower their guard.
A half-baked Seed who relies only on their summon and acts cocky.
That would be their assessment of me.
However.
‘There’s a bet with Heimdall at stake.’
I must ascend to the first floor as the overwhelming number one.
Otherwise, even if I reach the first floor, Heimdall will kill me.
—
“Hahahaha!”
Explosive laughter erupted, as if it would carry away the gods’ garden.
The solemn atmosphere of Valhalla became lighthearted in an instant.
“0 points! Are you saying a 0 really came out?”
“To record the highest and lowest scores in history simultaneously, that’s also unprecedented!”
The gods rolled around holding their bellies.
The tension from the earlier news of Angragon’s summoning had completely vanished.
To them, Rag was no longer a ‘threatening newcomer’.
He was just a lucky guy.
A ‘jester’ with no ability of his own.
“As expected, the Tower is fair.”
“He must have used up all his luck on summoning magic.”
“He’ll act tough relying on his summon and end up as a sacrifice. Tsk tsk.”
Mockery and ridicule.
The gods were obsessed with the numbers.
They didn’t even care what color had appeared.
The wonder of the 200 points was diluted, obscured by the ridiculous score of 0.
They saw only what they wanted to see.
They wanted to confirm Rag’s ‘incompetence’ and feel relieved.
But.
Only one person.
Heimdall, the God of Storms, did not laugh.
‘…0 points?’
He set down his goblet.
He narrowed his eyes and fell into thought.
This is the guy who knows the name of the Absolute God ‘Force Majeure’ and withstood a typhoon head-on.
And he has no disaster aptitude?
‘That can’t be.’
It makes no sense.
*Wooooosh.*
Just then, a wisp of wind brushed past Heimdall’s ear.
A spirit, his retainer, delivered urgent news.
-My lord. I have confirmed the color of Rag’s aptitude.
‘Speak.’
-It was black.
‘Black?’
Heimdall’s eyebrow twitched.
The spirit’s report continued.
-Yes. It wasn’t the purple or dark blue of a typical darkness attribute. It was a perfect darkness that even absorbed light. Literally, ‘black’.
-Administrator Gugu judged it as ‘Void’ and gave 0 points.
Void?
Whether he truly had no talent at all.
Or if his talent was so deep it couldn’t be discerned, I don’t know.
‘A promise is a promise, Rag.’
Heimdall downed his nectar in one go.
Only one gate remained.
Whether he could keep that promise of an overwhelming first place, it was time to see.
—
And.
Higher than where Heimdall sat.
A place where ordinary gods dare not even set foot, the highest part of the Tower, the ‘Heavens’.
It was a space of eternal darkness where even light could not linger.
In the thick darkness, a being sat upon a throne.
The God of Darkness, Hod.
One of the twelve chief gods of Asgard, an absolute being governing darkness.
“…….”
He opened his eyes.
Within the pitch-black space, his pupils flashed.
“A flawlessly perfect black, is it.”
Hod’s voice echoed heavily.
He reached out his hand and stirred the void.
Then, the darkness parted, reflecting the scenery of the Selection Room on the 1st floor like a mirror.
In that image stood a blond man with a brazen expression.
It was Rag.
Hod stared intently at Rag.
Eventually.
“At last, I have found you.”
A faint smile spread across Hod’s lips.
“My successor.”
