The Player that Can’t Level Up

“Ugh…” Go Hyung-Chul opened his eyes with a groan. He wasn’t sleeping; he had just kept his eyes closed to conserve sorcerous energy, which he was losing fast.

‘Has a day passed by?’ Go Hyung-Chul wondered. He was so sensitive to the passing of time that he could feel every second. It appeared that another day had passed by as his sorcerous energy dwindled.

“At this rate…” He feared that his barrier might disappear before he had anticipated. Since he could see through the black dome he had created, he peeked outside to see if the situation had changed.

“Ackkkkk!”

“Dammit,” Go Hyung-Chul swore when he heard the strange cry; it hadn’t stopped. He studied his surroundings and muttered, “This whole floor is…”

It felt like something was swallowing up this entire place. Go Hyung-Chul suddenly and quickly closed his eyes again. He had looked outside for a second, but that had been enough to make his sorcerous energy drain even faster.

“Fuck,” he cursed and looked inside his barrier. The injured drake knights were on the ground, and Hal was still kneeling, using his broken halberd as a crutch.

“Is he okay?” Go Hyung-Chul wondered. Hal hadn’t moved in a very long time.

“Dammit.” There was nothing he could do but curse at the situation. He had to let Gi-Gyu know the situation, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t contact Eden or Gi-Gyu.

‘I’m sure he’ll come to rescue us.’ Go Hyung-Chul just prayed that it wouldn’t be too late.

The creature outside his barrier was a monster he had never seen before.

‘The problem is that it is Ironshield.’ The creature was covered in mucus and looked different from the Ironshield he remembered. Being a high-level player, Go Hyung-Chul, however, had no doubt the creature was Ironshield.

“Maybe that’s a good thing…?” Go Hyung-Chul muttered with a grin.

‘Kim Gi-Gyu will get here as quickly as possible since Ironshield is here. I mean… There can’t be anything more important happening elsewhere, right?’ thought Go Hyung-Chul. To Gi-Gyu, the only thing more important than Ironshield was his family. As long as his family was safe, Go Hyung-Chul knew Gi-Gyu would come to rescue them.

The question was whether his sorcerous energy would last that long or not.

“Huh?” Go Hyung-Chul whispered, “What are you doing?”

The creature had his eyes closed and had been immobile like Go Hyung-Chua until now. But, he had suddenly moved, seemingly preparing for something.

Apart from what Gi-Gyu had told him before he had left, Go Hyung-Chul didn’t know much about this man.

“Haures?” Go Hyung-Chul whispered. Gi-Gyu had told him that Haures used to be a seatholder demon. Haures specialized in hunting and had entered the Tower to subdue and unite the Red Players after syncing with Gi-Gyu.

“Ugh…” countless players groaned behind Haures. They were the Red Players who lived inside the Tower because they were criminals or those who resented the world. The Red Players were also inside the barrier, but Go Hyung-Chul didn’t pay much attention to them.

‘Who cares about them?’ Go Hyung-Chul wasn’t interested in humans. ‘They are just criminals. They don’t belong to Kim Gi-Gyu either.’

Haures had been tasked with gathering these players, but this wasn’t Go Hyung-Chul’s job. Besides, he didn’t believe these Red Players were of much help in this situation.

‘Actually, I wish they would just go away.’ Because of them, he had to expand his barrier, which essentially made these human players a burden.

But Go Hyung-Chul was at least glad of one thing.

“If you complain or grumble, I’ll kill you. If you harm anyone here, I’ll kill you. If any of you even move while I’m away”—Haures turned toward the Red Players—“I’ll kill you.”

“Ugh…”

“Hng…”

The Red Players shuddered in fear. They were known to be the roughest thugs on Earth, so Go Hyung-Chul wondered, ‘How did he get them to be so obedient?’

Some among the group were even fairly strong, so Go Hyung-Chul felt curious. However, regardless of the method employed to get that result, he was glad they were under control.

“I’m going to go out for a moment,” Haures announced. It seemed that Haures was preparing for something. He approached Go Hyung-Chul quietly.

“Are you serious?” asked Go Hyung-Chul in shock. Haures knew well what was outside this barrier, so why would he go out willingly?

“I need to go get some food.”

“Food…?”

“I know you won’t die of starvation, but you’re weakening fast. To protect everyone here, you need as much energy as possible. Food will help.” Haures was right. “And they must eat to recover, so I better go get something.”

Haures pointed at the Red Players. While Go Hyung-Chul didn’t care about the Red Players, he had still allowed them to stay inside his barrier. It wasn’t because of Haures or Gi-Gyu. He could’ve abandoned the players anytime, and no one would have blamed him. He was only protecting them because when Ironshield had attacked them, they had fearlessly jumped in to sacrifice themselves.

“And you think you can survive outside?” Go Hyung-Chul asked Haures.

Haures grinned and replied, “Of course.” With that, he just vanished.

“...!” Go Hyung-Chul couldn’t help but be surprised. This barrier was Go Hyung-Chul’s space, which meant he had complete control over who came in and went out. Yet, Haures could seemingly exit the barrier freely.

“This can’t be,” Go Hyung-Chul whispered in disbelief.

“Then I’ll be back.”

“...!” Go Hyung-Chul flinched. He thought Haures had left, but he had heard Haures’ voice in his ear. Finally, he felt a presence leave his barrier.

“Impressive.” Go Hyung-Chul closed his eyes again. The Red Players moaned in pain, but none moved.

‘I’m curious about who he is.’ Go Hyung-Chul wondered about Haures. But he needed to survive this to satisfy his curiosity. Keeping his eyes closed and concentrating on keeping the barrier intact, Go Hyung-Chul thought desperately, ‘Hurry up, Kim Gi-Gyu.’

***

Gi-Gyu didn’t have to deal with the monsters, as they voluntarily moved out of his way.

“This is amazing,” Gi-Gyu muttered. The monsters parted to make a path for him. If one of them was too stupid and tried to attack him, the other monsters took care of it immediately.

Things had changed. Every time Gi-Gyu entered the Tower, he could see and feel the difference in treatment.

“But it’s still strange to see the monsters act like this.” He had never seen or heard about monsters acting this way. Most monsters inside the gates didn’t have much intelligence. But as he climbed higher inside the Tower, the monsters seemingly became smarter.

Sadly, he didn’t have the time to enjoy the moment. Gi-Gyu kicked the ground again and ripped the air to fly forward. It wasn’t just the monsters that moved aside. All the different energies on each floor moved around him to show him the way to the next floor.

‘Soon, I’ll reach the test floor.’ It hadn’t been a day since he entered the Tower. He had immediately moved to the 60th floor through the portal when he had first entered. Gi-Gyu ran as quickly as possible, and thanks to the monsters’ cooperation, he reached the 70th floor before the day was over.

Gi-Gyu already knew what kind of test was waiting for him.

‘I have to clear it as quickly as possible.’

If it were a test involving simple hunting or killing, it wouldn’t have been a problem. But just like the 60th-floor test, the 70th-floor test involved introspection and realizing some obscure truth. Considering that time was of the essence, this kind of test was the worst possible for him.

“If worse comes to worst, I’ll just destroy it.” Gi-Gyu wasn’t sure if that was possible. Could he use his immense power to destroy an entire test floor? He was hoping to paralyze the entire floor and force open the door temporarily. He wasn’t sure if this would work, but if it looked like the test would take a long time, he would have to try.

Gi-Gyu could feel the door getting closer.

‘There aren’t many players around anymore.’ The high-level players had mostly stopped trying to climb the Tower a long time ago. Most were involved in what was happening outside and closing the gates. And many others had, unfortunately, died at the hand of the Caravan Guild. Other players were becoming powerful quickly to make up for this loss, but the situation wasn’t ideal.

Just then, Gi-Gyu saw a strange-looking lizardman blocking the door to the test.

“Kwerrrk.” the lizardman growled.

Gi-Gyu was about to shoot Death at it when the monster quickly knelt on the ground and bowed down deeply. Gi-Gyu retrieved Death and stood in front of the lizardman.

“...?” Gi-Gyu knew this monster was called Magma Lizardman King. “Are you the ruler of this floor?”

“Kerrk!” The lizardman nodded its burning face emphatically.

The ridiculous sight almost made Gi-Gyu laugh, but he quickly shook his head and ordered, “Step aside. I need to get inside.”

Although it was a monster, the lizardman seemed obedient. Gi-Gyu didn’t feel right killing it, so he asked it to move.

Strangely, the monster refused and continued to try to explain something. “Kwerrk!”

“If you don’t step aside, I’ll have to kill you.”

“Kwerrk?!” The lizardman seemed fearful as it stepped back but still refused to leave.

“...” Gi-Gyu became furious. Why was this lizardman so insistent?

Gi-Gyu slowly placed his hand on the monster’s head to get ready to sync.

“Kwerk…” the lizardman growled quietly and bowed as if he was ready.

***

‘Did something happen?’ Go Hyung-Chul wondered when Haures didn’t return. It had been quite a while since he left. Even though the day was about to end, Haures still hadn’t returned.

‘I don’t think he would’ve gone too far from this barrier…’ Go Hyung-Chul had witnessed Haures’ ability to erase his presence. It was truly impressive, but their enemy outside could most likely detect him. After all, the monster outside almost looked like a mythical creature.

Haures had to be aware of this. Moreover, in the amount of time that had passed, he should be able to leave and return at least ten times.

“Is it starting again…” Go Hyung-Chul looked outside the barrier. The same thing happened around the same time every day.

“Ackkkk!” A scream was heard again as Ironshield and the unknown player crashed into each other.

‘I just hope that he didn’t get caught between the two of them.’ All Go Hyung-Chul could do was pray for Haures.

Just then, a presence who had Go Hyung-Chul’s permission to enter walked inside the barrier. Go Hyung-Chul didn’t have to see to know who it was.

“I brought some food,” Haures announced. He looked exhausted as he added, “I think Master is on his way here.”