The Player that Can’t Level Up

Mammon hadn’t appeared alone—tens of thousands of demons had gathered around Gi-Gyu. It looked like more had shown up since Gi-Gyu first met Mammon.

Andras’ death had filled all the demons on Earth with anxiety. Since the high-level demons had been disappearing one by one, the weaker demons had no choice but to hide wherever they could on Earth. Mammon explained that he had created a contact network among the demons to maintain communication.

“I’ve called all that I could contact,” Mammon announced. Their communication network wasn’t anything special. Powerful demons could engrave themselves in the minds of lesser demons, which could be used for communication.

“What about the demons who belong to the Caravan Guild?” asked Gi-Gyu.

Mammon bowed and replied, “I’m afraid… Andras engraved their minds, so I can’t contact or summon them. I can’t even contact all the demons on Earth.”

But Gi-Gyu was still impressed with the number that had shown up. This was more than he had needed or anticipated.

‘Plus, I heard some demons are acting independently.’

Andras had summoned some demons, but his death had erased the engraving in their minds. So, they were free to do whatever they wanted, now more than ever since the hell kings had also lost their power.

Mammon continued, “After stealing the players’ bodies, they realized they could grow. So, they went rogue.”

The demons now had the players’ bodies, which meant they followed the Tower system’s rules. Following their demonic instinct, they began hunting independently as Caravan Guild players. The seniority system in hell had been so strict that many lowly demons had never gotten the chance to increase their ranks. But on Earth, as long as they evaded the hell kings and Gi-Gyu’s eyes, they could become more powerful. Demons were greedy creatures, so they found this opportunity attractive.

“Well, other people will take care of this, so we don’t have to worry about that,” Gi-Gyu reassured Mammon. Mammon had already given them the list of the demons who had chosen to remain in the Caravan Guild.

Gi-Gyu continued, “The humans will take care of them.”

Gi-Gyu had referred to Tao Chen, Heo Sung-Hoon, and Alberto, who led the newly unified Eden. Lately, many additional guilds and organizations had joined Eden. The plan was for this human organization to find and eliminate the hidden demons. But of course, if only the humans were involved, completing this task would take an eternity.

“However, once you submit yourselves to me, you will have to work for the humans for a long time to repent your sins.” When Gi-Gyu ordered, Mammon bit his lips. Mammon used to think of humans as no more than bugs. But now, he—a hell king who used to rule hell—had to work for a human. It was a hard pill to swallow.

But Mammon stopped frowning and bowed. “I understand.”

Mammon knew he had no other choice. He used to lead the entire Caravan Guild, and he was the infamous king of greed. There was no doubt Mammon was an intelligent creature, and he knew that he couldn’t refuse Gi-Gyu’s offer.

‘He knows that if he refuses, I’ll just kill him.’ Gi-Gyu had planned on killing Mammon and syncing with him. This way, Mammon would have been reborn to obey Gi-Gyu with unconditional loyalty. He would have lost his pride and identity and become a slave. Mammon was smart enough to know that voluntarily obeying Gi-Gyu was better.

The other demons began murmuring among themselves, perhaps because they had just witnessed Mammon embarrassing himself.

“Silence!” Mammon screamed, and soon, a heavy silence fell. Their station in hell very much limited the demons.

‘After all, their position in hell is directly proportional to their power.’ Gi-Gyu had learned that demons could get a high position in hell only with power.

Just then, Lou arrived and announced, “What a sight.”

He had been busy touring the newly improved Eden, which had to be why he had arrived just now.

Gi-Gyu replied, “Not a child today, I see.”

“Ahem…” Lou coughed a little. “Today is a memorable day, so I had to take a more appropriate form.”

Lou was in his full battle gear. The changes in Eden had made him much stronger. The horns on his head and the wings on his back were now bigger and darker. And underneath his main set of wings, he now had several layers of wings.

“I think you’re making them uncomfortable,” Gi-Gyu muttered. As soon as Lou had appeared, the demons had begun shuddering in fear. They remained quiet because of Mammon’s order, but it seemed they couldn’t control their shivering bodies.

Mammon nodded to Lou first before addressing him formally, “Greetings to Lucifer.”

This time, Mammon had shown his respect to Lou. He continued, “We, all the demons, have seen and felt the changes in this place called Eden.”

‘He’s feeling deprived,’ Gi-Gyu realized that Mammon felt inadequate around the Eden creatures. It was understandable, as all the Eden creatures had become stronger with Eden’s improvement. Something like this would have never happened in hell.

“We pray that we will get to serve a new king,” Mammon said earnestly. The other demons felt the same way, and Gi-Gyu could feel that they really wanted this.

Lou whispered to Gi-Gyu, “Nothing is more seductive than power to demons. They just witnessed all of Eden’s creatures becoming stronger with the place. They dream about stuff like this. I’m telling you that they just can’t deny this offer.”

Mammon knelt on the ground and bowed deeply before asking, “Would you take us in?”

One by one, the other demons also knelt and bowed.

His head still bowed, Mammon continued, “I, who goes by the name Greed, and the 43,266 demons behind me wish to belong to you.”

Gi-Gyu was about to reply when he heard Lou’s telepathic message.

-Repeat what I say.

Gi-Gyu nodded and began reciting what Lou was telling him. “When you belong to me…”

What would happen here wouldn’t be something as simple as syncing—they were about to sign a contract of souls.

‘A contract that will decide the future of an entire race,’ Gi-Gyu thought in awe. Lou had come here for this very purpose. Honestly, they didn’t have to make a big show of it. However, the demons would forever remember what would happen today.

Gi-Gyu continued to repeat Lou’s words, “You will breathe in my embrace.”

Thud.

The demons looked up, but an invisible force pushed their heads back to the ground. It was so forceful that their foreheads began bleeding.

“You will no longer be free,” Gi-Gyu continued.

Whack.

As even greater sorcerous energy suppressed them, the demons felt like their foreheads were stuck to the ground.

“You shall live and die by my command.”

Thud, thud.

“The lives of your families and future descendants will also belong to me.”

Whack!

“You shall raise your swords and use your nails and energy only for me…”

Whackkkk!

“You shall breathe only if I allow it.”

Clouds of sorcerous energy swarmed around them. After all, there were over 40,000 demons here, most of them fairly powerful. When all of their powers gathered, it created thick and dark energy clouds.

-Will you accept this condition?

When Lou said this in Gi-Gyu’s head, Gi-Gyu repeated it.

“Will you”—Gi-Gyu licked his lips to wet them—“accept this condition?”

“We will.” All the demons announced promptly in unison. Their voices and sorcerous energy created a giant vibration in front of the enormous door.

“Sync,” Gi-Gyu announced softly. An invisible threat sprouted from Gi-Gyu and split to reach all the demons.

“With this, you shall belong to my small world,” said Gi-Gyu.

***

Old Man Hwang remembered seeing the giant door in the basement of the Tower.

‘The door to hell.’ It was the entrance that had led him to hell. It was also the exit for the demons to leave hell and reach Earth. Eden’s enormous door wasn’t exactly the same, but many demons had been shocked by how similar it looked.

The hell door was a mystery, history, and pride of the demon race. Old Man Hwang could recreate it only because Paimon had helped him. To Old Man Hwang’s shock, Paimon had explained that he had previously participated in constructing the original hell door.

Lou couldn’t hide his shock as he murmured, “All the demons have moved downstairs. I can’t believe Old Man Hwang recreated the underground world.”

After Gi-Gyu had synced with Mammon and 40,000 demons, an overwhelming amount of sorcerous energy had invaded the Sephiroth Tree.

‘And then, this energy moved to the underground space.’ Gi-Gyu wondered if some kind of filtering system had been built inside the tree. The Sephiroth Tree had only sent the sorcerous energy to the space below and had allowed the other energies to remain above ground.

‘It was quite a sight when that door opened.’ Gi-Gyu, at first, had thought the door was only a decorative feature. But when it had opened, the newly created land of demons had been revealed. Old Man Hwang and Brunheart had worked hard together to recreate hell.

Gi-Gyu hadn’t been certain if the demons would like the idea. However, Mammon and the demons had thanked Gi-Gyu profusely when they saw their new home. The new space seemingly meant much more to the demons than Gi-Gyu had anticipated. All the demons had moved to the downstairs area happily.

Old Man Hwang explained, “They will come whenever you summon them. They are also free to visit Eden’s other areas as they wish.”

This was one major difference from hell. The demons weren’t trapped underground. The door was always open, so as long as Gi-Gyu allowed it, the demons could go wherever they wished inside Eden.

“How is it? Do you like it?” Old Man Hwang smiled mischievously.

“How could I not?” Watching his world become more organized, Gi-Gyu felt like the energies inside him were also becoming stable. He knew that he wasn’t just imagining it. His body was indeed finding a new equilibrium.

And just like that, the sync with the demons was completed. The demon race would now remain intact and become stronger as a part of Eden.

“I’m glad you’re happy with it. Hahaha!” Old Man Hwang laughed loudly.

“I’ll admit that you’re very skilled.” When Lou complimented him, Old Man Hwang’s eyes widened.

The elderly blacksmith exclaimed, “Thank you so much!”

Lou was once the true king of hell, so Old Man Hwang was truly flattered.

“You know it’s not over, right?” Turning toward Gi-Gyu, Old Man Hwang asked with a big smile, “Only the griffins are flying in the sky. Don’t you think it looks too bare?”

It appeared that Old Man Hwang wanted to see further improvement.

“Master,” El appeared and greeted.

“Grandmaster,” Hamiel did the same.

“Umm… Dammit! I can’t just call you by your name, right?” Michael, who followed El, muttered to Gi-Gyu.

“I told you that you can,” Gi-Gyu replied.

“Well, I’m off now,” Lou announced and left.

El and the other angels hadn’t attended the ceremony in which Gi-Gyu had synced with the demons. Syncing with one demon was a simple event, but their divine presence could’ve interfered as the ceremony was also a form of contract.

“Hamiel, are you okay?” Gi-Gyu asked suddenly. There was still one problem: They didn’t know Hamiel’s identity. He held sorcerous energy but wasn’t a demon. Although he used to be an angel, he dealt with the power opposite of divine energy. Hamiel had become a fallen angel and had evolved into Diablo.

It might have been okay if Hamiel had participated in the ceremony.

Michael stepped forward and proudly announced, “Look!”

Michael was still feeling a little awkward in Eden, but he was getting used to his new surroundings quickly. Gi-Gyu had been told that Michael and Hamiel had become good friends.

Michael urged, “Hamiel! Show it to your master!”

When Michael looked so excited, Hamiel blushed. Shyly, he took a step forward and opened his giant wings.

Whoosh!

“Huh…?” Gi-Gyu gasped when he saw Hamiel’s pure white wings.