The Player that Can’t Level Up

The situation was dire, and much time had passed, yet no one left the meeting. It turned out that everyone was waiting for Gi-Gyu. When he appeared, everyone stood up and greeted him. Gi-Gyu then raised his hand to ask everyone to sit down.

For the first time, Gi-Gyu wasn’t acting like a bystander. None of them had seen him act like this before. Usually, he would listen to reports and make decisions based on the plans others had suggested, after doing his due diligence, of course. He used to act passively, but something was different now.

‘He has changed.’ Everyone in the meeting could feel the difference in his eyes now. They looked sharper and steely. No one in the room was stupid enough not to recognize this change.

“Thank you all for waiting,” Gi-Gyu announced as he took the seat of honor. “Devising this plan must have taken a lot of your time and tedious discussions, so I apologize for abruptly changing it.”

Gi-Gyu looked at each one of them. His eyes looked hard as a rock. “I have to change everything about the plan.”

“Pardon…?” Sung-Hoon whispered in anticipation.

“I will send no one to the Tower’s basement,” Gi-Gyu announced.

“What?!” Michael gasped. Gi-Gyu’s family and Soo-Jung were in the Tower’s basement.

“This can’t be!” Tao Chen exclaimed.

There was no guarantee that his family was there, but they were surely last seen there. Gi-Gyu was well aware of this fact, which was why everyone had thought Gi-Gyu would prioritize going there.

So how could he now decide that he wouldn’t send anyone there?

“My understanding is that whoever is sent to the basement will end up lost in the dimension fragments. Correct?” asked Gi-Gyu.

“...”

“This means we have no idea how long it would take us to find the dimension with Soo-Jung… And possibly Kronos.”

Everyone already knew this. They had planned to send in several groups, each tasked with entering and exploring a dimension. They would all work simultaneously until they found the right dimension.

“I’ve decided on a different plan.” Gi-Gyu stood up, indicating that his decision was final. “I’ll go alone to help Haures.”

“...!”

Before anyone could say anything, Gi-Gyu continued, “The rest of the available soldiers”—Gi-Gyu grabbed the table's edges with both hands—“will set out to find Gehenna.”

***

Many believed Gehenna was just a mythical detention center for players who had committed serious crimes. Apparently, it had many systems in place to prevent players from escaping.

There used to be another man-made prison for player criminals like the Red Players. However, one day, a gate had suddenly opened in the middle of this prison. And this allowed the Red Players to escape, who then went wild and destroyed everything in their way.

Something similar had occurred in one of the prisons in the US too. Jeffery was a legendary player renowned for his evil nature. He had murdered countless players and non-players before getting caught by a high-ranker. He had then been imprisoned.

But Jeffrey was a psychopath who was obsessed with killing. His killing spree continued even inside the jail, and he soon underwent his secondary job change to become a Player Eater—a rare and hidden job title. Thanks to that, he became stronger than ever and continued feasting on the other player prisoners. Before long, he had become so powerful that even the prison couldn’t keep him checked. Now a high ranker himself, Jeffrey broke out of the prison. He had been caught again, but two high-rankers had died in the process.

Jeffrey had been on his third high-ranker when he was caught but not killed. Then, the world had realized that normal prisons couldn’t keep players locked up.

Finally, the GPA had decided to look for a special jail, which they had subsequently named Gehenna. It was supposedly a secret place, the location of which was known to only a handful of people. And soon, it had become the new house for many criminal players.

‘And no one has ever escaped that place. Not even the infamous and legendary murderer Jeffrey.’

It was the epicenter of quite a lot of conspiracy theories.

-The American Players Association uses these players for experiments.

-They actually ignore basic human rights and execute these players.

-These prisoners are given new identities to work for the American Players Association.

All the conspiracy theories sounded plausible, but the American Players Association remained silent on the topic, never even denying them. Being sent to Gehenna became synonymous with a death sentence, as no one had ever escaped from there and only a select few knew its location. After its appearance, the player crime rate had taken a tumble. Many questioned if Gehenna really existed, but the fear of this unknown worked very well to deter many from committing crimes.

‘The problem now is that we really don’t know much about Gehenna,’ Gi-Gyu thought in frustration. Even the guards who transferred the prisoners didn’t know its exact location.

‘And Association President Oh Tae-Gu is there.’

There was a good reason why Oh Tae-Gu needed to be rescued. So it was necessary to find Gehenna and secure it with Gi-Gyu’s soldiers.

After much thinking, Gi-Gyu called out, “Mammon.”

A young man sitting at the table, somewhere in the middle, stood up. This hell king had led many demons to Eden to surrender voluntarily and was the only hell king fully synced with Gi-Gyu.

“Yes, Master.” Mammon bowed deeply. He had gained great power after syncing with Gi-Gyu, so Mammon was satisfied with the outcome and deeply loyal to Gi-Gyu.

“You know about Gehenna, don’t you?” When Gi-Gyu asked, Mammon nodded.

Mammon used to control the entire Caravan Guild per Andras’ order.

“The Caravan Guild is controlling the American Players Association and the Global Players Association, correct?” asked Gi-Gyu.

With a blank face, Mammon replied, “You’re right, Master. The Global Players Association president Blood Emperor has been part of the Caravan Guild for a long time.”

The news filled the room with murmurs and gasps of disbelief. The Eden creatures alone weren’t attending the meeting; many famous players and guild masters had decided to work with Gi-Gyu.

Alberto muttered, “I didn’t want to believe it, but… it’s true, I guess.”

Gi-Gyu had already informed everyone before that the Global Players Association now belonged to the Caravan Guild, but many didn’t believe him. This was because most people believed that the Global Players Association was invincible.

“The Global Players Association controls Gehenna, and since the Caravan Guild controls them, you must know something about Gehenna,” Gi-Gyu said to Mammon.

Mammon bowed again and replied, “You’re correct, Master.”

The room became quiet again. Everyone was seemingly trying to absorb every single word Gi-Gyu and Mammon said.

Mammon looked up and continued, “And I know the location of Gehenna as well.”

Everyone’s eyes were glued to him, but ignoring all of them, Mammon added, “Gehenna is inside the Tower’s basement.”

***

The meeting ended. Gi-Gyu’s new plan was to be followed because it was their best one so far.

Lou gave Gi-Gyu a dubious look as he asked, “But didn’t you already know all of that about Gehenna?”

“I did.” Gi-Gyu had already heard everything about Gehenna from Mammon before. After all, Oh Tae-Gu was imprisoned here, so he had collected as much information as possible about this prison. But, he had chosen to reveal it to others only now.

“I let others know because there is no way to get to Gehenna at this point anyway,” Gi-Gyu explained. Mammon indeed knew a lot about Gehenna, even its location.

According to Mammon, Gehenna was inside a dimension fragment, just like Soo-Jung and Kronos. He had explained that the GPA had coincidently discovered the Tower’s basement. They had tried to find a use for all of these different dimensions; ultimately, they had decided that it would be perfect for imprisoning criminal players. They had picked an unstable dimension; no one could exit it and return to Earth without the key.

“Gehenna is one of the dimension fragments in the Tower’s basement, which means we can’t go there just because we want to,” Gi-Gyu added. “But the Global Players Association has been sending Red Players regularly to that place, so…”

“That’s why you decided to take control of the Caravan Guild first,” Lou replied. During the meeting, they had decided that Gi-Gyu alone would go to rescue Haures. The rest of the available hands were to take care of the Caravan Guild and take back the Global Players Association. This wasn’t what Tao Chen, Sung-Hoon, and several others wanted, but previously had no say in the matter.

“I am certain the Global Players Association knows how to get to Gehenna. And if we can enter Gehenna, then…”

Lou finished Gi-Gyu’s thoughts, “We’ll use the same method to enter Kronos’ dimension.”

Gi-Gyu nodded. It was an efficient way to find Soo-Jung. Old Man Hwang and Paimon were working hard to find a way to reach her but hadn’t succeeded so far.

“All right,” said Lou. “We’ll figure out something before you return.”

So it was decided. Gi-Gyu was to enter the Tower alone.

***

Everyone inside Eden moved busily. Compartmentalization had ended not too long ago, but there was even more work to be done now.

“Faster!” Old Man Hwang yelled. “Demons go that way, and the angels are to gather over there!”

Eden's new and old soldiers moved quickly under Old Man Hwang’s command. Despite it being a serious situation, he was obviously having fun.

‘Didn’t he say it feels like he’s playing a game?’ Gi-Gyu remembered Old Man Hwang saying that working in Eden was like playing a fun game he used to play as a child.

Gi-Gyu picked up a bag filled with various potions, weapons, and food. It wasn't for him but for Haures, who had spent a long time inside the Tower. When he put the giant bag on his back, he felt someone staring at him.

Gi-Gyu turned to see El watching him from high up in the sky castle. With his incredible sight, he could even see the texture of her skin despite the distance.

‘I’m sorry,’ Gi-Gyu apologized silently. El didn’t look happy, and he wondered if it was because she thought he was leaving her behind.

“But the people here need you,” Gi-Gyu whispered. El’s divine energy wouldn’t help Haures and Go Hyung-Chul much. However, she could help those in Eden currently getting ready to fight the Caravan Guild. Those in Eden were powerful, but there was no way to avoid the deaths and injuries while fighting the Caravan Guild. This was why Gi-Gyu had asked El to stay here.

-Master.

Gi-Gyu heard El’s voice in his head. Did she hear his thoughts?

-I will always wait for you, Master.

“It won’t be long.” Gi-Gyu smiled.

“Are you ready?” Sung-Hoon arrived to escort Gi-Gyu out.

***

“Ackkkkkk!” The scream was coming from far away, but it was so loud that it sounded much closer. The scream carried so much power that it shook the ground.

“Haa… Haa…” Haures panted.

“Dammit!” Go Hyung-Chul swore. The scream had weakened the barrier he had created, so he muttered to strengthen it, “Shadow Barrier…”

Shadow Barrier allowed him to hide in a shadow and provide protection for others, but it wasn’t enough.

“Ugh!” one member of the Drake-Knight Order collapsed.

“Fuck!” Go Hyung-Chul screamed and ran toward the injured. Thankfully, the death knight, being a sturdy creature, wasn’t fatally injured. But it would take a long time to recover.

It had been three days since this battle began.

Haures, who had lost an arm and was leaning against a rock, whispered, “This is worse than hell…”

“I guess we might not last a week.” Go Hyung-Chul smiled bitterly. His barrier wouldn’t protect them for too long now. This was the Tower, and their current location didn’t supply much sorcerous energy. Unfortunately, Shadow Barrier required a large quantity of sorcerous energy. At this rate, he would barely last a week.

“Dammit.” Go Hyung-Chul bit his lower lip again. Hal was in front of him, and his broken halberd was stuck in the ground; his eyes were closed.