The Player that Can’t Level Up

Gi-Gyu had been chatting with Lou and El several hours ago when he had heard a telepathic message.

-I met Yoo Suk-Woo.

The speaker was Soo-Jung, who was communicating with him through Lim Hye-Sook. Gi-Gyu’s heart fell the moment he heard those words.

‘If she met Yoo Suk-Woo, then she must’ve met Mother and Yoo-Jung too,’

Gi-Gyu couldn’t remember the last time he had seen their faces. Add to that the time he had spent inside his shell during that Tower test—it had been just too long.

-But there is a problem.

Before Gi-Gyu could say a word, Soo-Jung continued. Gi-Gyu’s heart beat violently.

-Yoo Suk-Woo isn’t okay. I can’t talk for long; we need your help.

Before Soo-Jung could even finish her message, Gi-Gyu heard another message; it was from Go Hyung-Chul.

-We have a problem.

***

Gi-Gyu quickly lost contact with Soo-Jung. He knew something big must’ve happened. After all, Yoo-Bin and Lim Hye-Sook had accompanied Soo-Jung, and they were now with Suk-Woo. The four people were individually strong enough, so one could only imagine how strong they would be as a group.

‘I’m sure they’ll be able to last a bit longer.’ Gi-Gyu decided. Since they could contact him, they must be having a problem returning to him. Therefore, Gi-Gyu felt certain they could hold on for a bit longer.

Of course, this didn’t mean Gi-Gyu wasn’t worried. His heart continued to pound wildly. He was so anxious that the creatures of Eden could feel his nervousness.

-Is something wrong?

Several of Gi-Gyu’s creatures asked. Gi-Gyu quickly reassured them and blocked their communications.

‘Soo-Jung never mentioned my family.’ And that was why Gi-Gyu was so anxious.

She had mentioned being with Suk-Woo but not his family, who was supposed to be with Suk-Woo. Was it because she didn’t have time to communicate?

Or could it be because of something worse?

What if something had happened? Did Soo-Jung purposely not mention his family because she didn’t want to worry him? He had lost contact with Soo-Jung, so he had no one to ask. He was dying inside, but Gi-Gyu knew he couldn’t dwell on his worries.

-Are you listening to me?

Go Hyung-Chul asked again. Unlike Soo-Jung, Go Hyung-Chul hadn’t lost contact with him.

‘I am,’ Gi-Gyu replied.

Gi-Gyu had sent Haures to the Tower to deal with the Red Players, but on the 79th floor, Haures had informed Gi-Gyu that he had encountered a powerful enemy. So, Gi-Gyu had sent Go Hyung-Chul and Drake Knight’s order as reinforcement. Several days ago, Gi-Gyu had received a message that Go Hyung-Chul had reached Haures safely. This was the first time he had heard anything from Go Hyung-Chul since then.

‘I was distracted because of the message from Soo-Jung,’ Gi-Gyu explained to Go Hyung-Chul.

-Is something wrong?

‘I don’t know yet. But it’s fine. You go ahead.’

Go Hyung-Chul seemed concerned for Gi-Gyu, but he soon continued.

-After I joined Haures, I began studying this enemy Haures mentioned. I wanted to assassinate him if he wasn’t anything special.

Go Hyung-Chul’s new job after syncing with Gi-Gyu was Shadow Lord. His new abilities allowed him to specialize further in infiltration and assassination. Assassinating an enemy in secret would be the best option in most cases for Go Hyung-Chul.

-But…

Gi-Gyu could feel Go Hyung-Chul becoming tense.

-This enemy is someone very unexpected.

‘Unexpected?’

-It’s a human.

‘...’ Gi-Gyu felt confused. Haures and Go Hyung-Chul were on the 79th floor, so they hadn’t even expected a normal player to be there, much less a human. Moreover, how was a human on a floor that even the Angela Guild and Lee Sun-Ho hadn’t reached?

-I couldn’t believe it. But he’s so powerful that I can’t even approach him. I’m not sure if we can defeat him without suffering a huge loss.

Go Hyung-Chul wasn’t the type to exaggerate, so Gi-Gyu was interested.

‘Who is he? You don’t recognize him at all? A player that powerful would be very well known, wouldn’t he?’

-That’s the problem. I don’t recognize him at all. I know all the famous players, but I have no idea who he is. And it’s not like I can question all the players in the world about him now.

When Gi-Gyu became quiet, Go Hyung-Chul demanded.

-Give me an order.

Gi-Gyu had few options. Since he had sent Go Hyung-Chul there to assist Haures, he could either ask them both to return or command them to fight the mysterious human regardless of whatever loss they might suffer.

Gi-Gyu ultimately chose to fight.

‘I’ll send you some reinforcement.’

-...

Gi-Gyu had decided to send more help to fight this unknown enemy. His creatures had to continue climbing the Tower no matter what. He had many questions for Gaia, and the only way to get answers was by conquering the Tower.

He was concerned about this powerful enemy on the 79th floor, but that wasn’t enough for him to order his creatures to stop climbing the Tower.

-You’ll have to send the right reinforcement. Think hard about it. If you send some random help, only the damage we would suffer will increase. Either send someone good or let me and Haures return.

Go Hyung-Chul’s voice became quieter as he continued.

-Things are terrible here. I didn’t want to say anything because I didn’t want to alarm you or affect your decision, but this place…

Go Hyung-Chul whispered darkly.

-It feels like we’re being hunted here.

***

“That's shocking…” Heo Sung-Hoon looked concerned. “A human on the 79th floor? I didn’t receive a report regarding this when the KPA was functional. Even after the formation of Eden, I haven’t gotten anything like this.”

All the players trying to conquer the higher floors had to report to the association. After all, such players were usually high-level players—a limited resource—so the association had the duty to protect them.

Alberto, who must have been very busy, had still come when Gi-Gyu had asked for his presence. He chimed in, “Same in Europe. We haven’t heard anything either.”

“Same in China. I haven’t been told about anything like this,” Tao Chen added. He hadn’t left Eden since the Roman incident.

Sung-Hoon murmured, “A human on the 79th floor…”

Turning toward Gi-Gyu, Sung-Hoon suggested, “He is either a player who was never certified or a Red Player.”

Uncertified players were people who received an invitation from the Tower but never reported to the Tower. Uncertified players rarely entered the Tower since they only got limited access. Such players tended to use their powers to better their everyday lives.

The other possibility was a Red Player. Perhaps he had somehow gotten so powerful that he could ascend to such a high floor.

‘Considering that he has already attacked Haures once, the latter is the most likely possibility,’ Gi-Gyu thought. Haures was currently in a human form, but that player had still attacked him, proving that the mysterious player saw humans as his enemy.

‘Or… it could be some creature in a human form.’ Gi-Gyu also thought of this possibility. However, only a very powerful creature could fool Go Hyung-Chul into believing they were a human. This last possibility was the most dangerous scenario.

“What are you planning to do?” Sung-Hoon asked, “Didn’t you say you got a message from Soo-Jung too? Anything more from her yet?”

Gi-Gyu shook his head. He hadn’t heard anything from her since they had lost contact.

Gi-Gyu replied, “I’ll send more reinforcement for now. At the very least, we have to figure out his identity.”

Gi-Gyu knew that his creatures might be defeated, but he needed to learn more about this enemy, who might affect the outcome of this entire war.

“Hmm….” Tao Chen caressed his treasured long beard and suggested, “What do you think of sending Bodhidharma as the reinforcement?”

***

“Long time no see.” Because Bodhidharma had such a bright smile, Gi-Gyu felt even more apologetic.

Gi-Gyu apologized, “I’m sorry about that… I wish we could meet more often, Bodhidharma.”

“I no longer go by Bodhidharma. Please call me Kim Mo[1] from now on.”

“Kim Mo?”

Bodhidharma smiled widely and explained, “I have been going by that name for so long that I decided to come up with a new name. And since I couldn’t come up with anything creative and I mostly work from Korea… I decided to take your family name.”

It seemed that the monk hadn’t come up with a proper name yet.

Gi-Gyu offered, “If you don’t mind, may I suggest a name you could use in Korea?”

“Oh! I would appreciate that.” Bodhidharma smiled innocently, which only increased Gi-Gyu’s guilt. He couldn’t remember the last time he talked with the monk. They were synced together, but the monk mostly worked independently outside Eden, and they rarely bumped into each other.

‘But I can feel that he’s always worried about me.’ Gi-Gyu could tell that the monk thought of himself as his father and always tried to help him. This was why Gi-Gyu felt guilty for not spending much time with Bodhidharma.

“Please don’t make that face for me.” The monk smiled. “I know how you feel.”

Bodhidharma looked at Gi-Gyu as if he could see right through him. Gi-Gyu hadn’t met with the monk often because he purposely avoided Bodhidharma.

“I can understand how it upsets you to see me. I get it, so please don’t mind me. I am sure there will come a time when you will feel comfortable around me. I’m used to waiting.” Bodhidharma’s smile was guileless, which made Gi-Gyu smile bitterly.

The monk was right. Bodhidharma looked exactly like Kronos and his father. As a matter of fact, the monk was the past self of Gi-Gyu’s father. So Gi-Gyu couldn’t help feeling confused whenever he faced the monk. Gi-Gyu couldn’t treat the monk like his father, so he felt awkward.

“So your name…” Gi-Gyu looked up at him. He decided that he could no longer neglect the monk. “How about you use my father’s name? Kim Se-Jin.”

“...!” Bodhidharma’s eyes widened in shock. Gi-Gyu had never seen his monolid eyes look this big.

“A-are you sure that’s okay?” The monk’s voice shook with uncertainty.

“Yes, you have the right to use that name, Sir.”

Bodhidharma clenched his fists and whispered, “Thank you.”

***

Bodhidharma had offered to go inside the Tower whenever Gi-Gyu needed him to. The monk was becoming stronger quickly. Even as a mere human, he had reached a powerful state. So, he had become even stronger after syncing with Gi-Gyu.

Gi-Gyu hurriedly came up with a list of names to be sent to help Haures and Go Hyung-Chul inside the Tower.

‘But I still feel unsure…’ Gi-Gyu couldn’t help feeling anxious. Unfortunate things often happened whenever he had a bad feeling. It had led Gi-Gyu to believe his instincts were more accurate than he had thought.

Bodhidharma asked, “Do you think you need to send even more reinforcement?”

Gi-Gyu read over the list again. He didn’t think he needed to send anymore because the list included such powerful beings. Whomever this enemy was, it wouldn’t be easy for him to defeat them.

However, he remembered how fearful Go Hyung-Chul had sounded. He had said that he felt like someone was hunting him.

He wondered what would happen if the player’s strength exceeded all his expectations. The player could end up hurting his friends and creatures. Gi-Gyu was reconsidering what he should do when he heard Soo-Jung’s voice again.

-Can you hear me?

1. ‘Mo’ is usually used in news content when the media wants to keep the person in question ambiguous. Here, his name could also mean “something” or “whatever” in Korean ☜