"...Err, hello," he said quietly.


    Gulping down, if the scent of fear is what lured the beast directly to him, it was now exuding from him like the thickest cologne.


    It loomed directly over him, overshadowing himpletely with its massive size as saliva slowly dripped from his fangs.


    That drool rained directly over Sol, who quivered as a droplet of saliva fell on his cheek.


    "Eek!"


    The moment he let out the squeaky noise from his throat, the massive beast parted its maw, unleashing a mighty roar that emitted directly against him.


    It boomed through the forest ground, rattling the trees and parting the grass; the roar caused his hazel hair to wildly sway as his ears suffered the full wrath of the devastating volume.


    As the roar came to a close, he was left stunned for a moment before turning around and bottling.


    "Screw this!" He yelled out.


    There wasn''t any bone in his body that wanted to battle against the mystical beast as he raced away, running into the forest.


    Hell no! Hell no! Hell no! He thought.


    As he raced into the trees, he nced back, finding the massive tiger sprinting towards him with speed unhindered by its size, moving even faster than a normal tiger, at that. Through itsrge size, it mmed through any foliage or trees in its path.


    "I''m not even that much meat! Like, seriously! I''d just be a beefstick to you! Chasing me is just going to burn more calories than I''ll recover! It''s simple math, you hear me?!"


    He tried reasoning with the beast while running, but it seemed to only provoke it as it lunged at him, forcing him to duck and roll beneath a branch.


    "Gah!"


    The thick branch immediately snapped off, but it saved him from the jaws of the great tiger, prompting him to stumble to his feet and continue sprinting.


    Inside of his chest, his heart thumped like a drum as he could feel the breaths of the ravenous predator chasing his heels; he could only listen to the sound of wood shattering while the tiger charged through the forest after him.


    "I told you already: I''m not tasty! I''m spoiled meat! Full of diseases, you know!? It''d be a bad idea to munch on me!" He yelled.


    Just as he nced back while trying to reason with the violent beast, he realized it was lunging right towards him, leaping with such force that surely he wouldn''t be able to dodge it.


    Am I…going to be kitty food?! He thought.


    "--A dazzling appearance is made!"


    Such a random assortment of words was shouted, echoing through the forest with such shy style that he was left confused in that moment between moments.


    As the King Tiger had its maw open, nearly engulfing him between its massive teeth, a sh of light was sent across his vision, shining like a star.


    SQUELCH.


    Huh…? He thought.


    Between him and the beast, there was a man; he was tall and built like an athletic specimen, wearing a id blue scarf and a matching vest that showed off his muscr, tattooed arms.


    There was a strike that must''ve been unleashed at untraceable speeds, as before his eyes, the beast''s head was cut off cleanly, causing the now headless beast to tumble past the two, falling to the ground.


    Who is this guy…? He thought.


    Jingling met his ears, sounding like bells, but not so–it was the jewelry the man wore, all sparkling with a unique, space-like design that seemed to move within the confines of the jewelry as if containing space itself.


    ? [Tsukikage | Level 40]


    The first thing that caught his attention was that ludicrous level–"40."


    Fourty…?! That''s ridiculous! That''s even higher than Dae-Seong was! And that name…is he Japanese? He thought.


    He stood frozen, watching the man with white-and-pink hair in awe as he turned around to face him, met with a dazzling smile and sparkly, pink eyes that resembled jewels.


    The man named Tsukikage had fingernails that were all painted different colors, but even more standout than the man''s appearance was the weapon he held in his right hand–it was arge katana of sorts, though it wasn''t forged of steel.


    It didn''t seem to be made out of any known, tangible material, but of the cosmos itself as it contained the shine of deep space, filled with stars,s, and the spirals of gxies.


    "Well met! I, the ''Dazzling God'', Tsukikage, have just saved your life! What do you have to say?" The man spoke to him, looking down at him with a bright smile.


    There was something extremely intimidating about the man, besides his high level and his entric fashion, he was built like an olympic athlete, carrying himself without any fear.


    He was left devoid of words as he nced back, confirming once agains that the tiger was indeed beheaded and in.


    …He killed it in one-shot…so casually, he thought.


    "What do you say?" Tsukikage repeated.


    He gulped, "Err, thank you very much…?"


    Tsukikage''s smile widened before heughed, "Indeed! You shall now worship me from now until the end of your life!--No! Now and forever, even in death! That''s the reverence the Dazzling God summons!"


    "''Dazzling God''...?" He repeated, squinting up at the man.


    "Indeed! I embody wildness, mboyance, and joy! Me, Tsukikage!" The manughed.


    He''s a human just like me. This guy is a total nutjob…but he''s stupidly strong so…I''d like to stay on his good side, Sol thought.<novelnext></novelnext>


    "Alright, Dazzling God–"


    "Tsukikage is fine," the man corrected him casually.


    "Okay, Tsukikage…You''re a yer, too, right? Do you know what''s going on?" He asked.


    Tsukikage remained smiling, running his fingers through his white-and-pink locks, "Of course I do!"


    "Really?"


    "We''re in a forest!" Tsukikage told him.


    "--" His expression immediately dulled as he sighed, "Not what I meant…"


    For better or worse, he now found himself with a panion", though it felt more like he was a minion to the entric man.


    "There you go! Keep it up! I''ll leave the non-dazzling parts to you!" Tsukikageughed.


    He was left chopping away at any foliage or low-hanging branches in their way, clearing the path for Tsukikage.


    Well, I guess this way…I should be safe, he thought.


    –


    [Quite A Tall Mountain, The First Floor]


    Marching down the mountain trail, Yeong-Un found himself constantly looking over his shoulder as unfamiliar animals scurried around, watching him, though not attacking.


    "...Little punks," he mumbled.


    For the young man with sharpened senses, the air felt noticeably alien from the world he''d just been;pared to the hellish skies that swirled around Earth, the winds were pure and refined within the new realm.


    Even while traversing the mountain trail, where the air should be more thin and sparse, it was a pleasure to breathe it in, at least inparison to the ashced air before.


    For a moment, he stopped, standing on the edge of the mountain as he was still high enough to be just below the roaming clouds. The clouds cast a shadow over him as they slowly traversed the pale blue.


    The reason he stopped wasn''t to gawk at the pretty scenery, however.


    "--" Yeong-Un stood still, watching the ground he was standing on.


    It was subtle, but noticeable to his keen eyes; pieces of sediment were vibrating on the gravel. Beneath the soles of his leather boots, the ground was humming with a building frequency.


    Somethin''s up, he thought.


    His ears picked up on a noise; it was a quiet scratch, as if rocks were being rubbed together. This sound crescendoed until it reached a full-fledged BOOM–his ears were filled with an abrasive sound.


    "What the…!?" He let out.


    All at once, the mountain began rumbling as he looked up as arge shadow, darker and more spread out than the cloud loomed over him.


    It was a beast with a wingspan that stretched the size of a small town; covered in ck scales, it flipped its mighty wings as another BOOM abrasively manifested. That massive noise was the p of its wings; the air was shattered by the strength of each wing p.


    "Ghh!"


    Being not more thore a dozen meters below the dragon, which didn''t notice the human man that was nothing more than an ant to it, he was subject to the pulsation of its wing, causing him to lose his bnce and trip from the mountain trail.


    "Grrgh! Arghh!" He yelled out.


    What just happened?! That big fuckin'' lizard popped out of nowhere and knocked me off?! Just my luck…! He thought.


    It was quick to soar through the skies beyond the mountain, leaving such freak idents in its mighty wake, but the young man still fell downward, plummeting as his body fell through the sideways-growing trees along the mountain.


    He gritted his teeth as branches continuously pped against his body on the way down; crashing through trees and getting leaves stuck in his mouth, he eventually gathered himself, drawing both of his swords from his sheaths.


    Hate to do this to ya, but right now I''m in a pickle…! He thought,menting to his dual swords.


    As he fell downward with the high-velocity wings hissing into his ears, his blue hair swaying rapidly, he reared his des back.


    "The hell if I''m dyin'' to someme ass fall!" He yelled out.


    With that angry promation, the scar-faced youth stabbed both of his swords straight into the rocky hide of the mountain. It was a less than elegant usage of swords, to say the least–the cries of cksmiths could be heard groaning from the afterlife, but he smiled nheless as his split-second n seemed to be working.


    "HA-HA-HA!" Heughed out loud.


    Used like icepicks, the swords were embedded into the stone, carving downward through the mountainside as his descent began to slow down.


    Of course, for the entric young man, this proved to be an adrenaline rush for him that he enjoyed before he finally came to a full stop. He was clinging to the handle of his swords with such gripping power that he counteracted the forces of gravity more than should be humanly possible.


    "...The Great Yeong-Un lives another day!" He proimed with an ear-to-ear grin.


    Though he had stopped quite close to the ground, so it was simple enough for him to pluck his swords from the skin of the mountain and jump down,nding on the forest ground without any issue.


    As he walked through the forest, the critters avoided him as the aura he gave off was not unlike an apex predator; his sharp teeth, the swords that were his ws, and his fearsome eyes–he was a beast in his own right.


    Though as he left the bounds of the forest, he found himself staring at a distant sight that caused him to lean forward and squint.


    "A big ol'' city…If there''s any ce where the rest of ya are, it would be there, huh?" He said to himself before smiling, "--Then there''s no question about it! That''s my destination!"