The Player that Can’t Level Up

“Why are you here, Yoo Suk-Woo?” Lou asked coldly. An odd tension filled the air as Lou and El coldly looked at Yoo Suk-Woo.

‘He obviously has a high standing in this place.’ El could tell by watching those around him. When Yoo Suk-Woo had appeared, everyone, powerful in their own right, had stepped aside.

‘Or is this an illusion?’ El thought for a moment. They couldn’t really trust their sense inside Gehenna. After all, they had previously failed to sense the barrier shielding Pandemonium, a safe haven for people in Gehenna.

‘And the angels’ presence here is still bothering me,’ This was one of the reasons El thought this was an illusion. Perhaps there was another barrier she and Lou couldn’t sense.

‘Like before, maybe we are failing to sense another illusion barrier.’ After all, Gehenna was inside a dimensional fragment filled with strange energy. Maybe this place was more magical and odd than they had anticipated.

Suspicion filled Lou’s face when Yoo Suk-Woo opened his lips. “I’ll explain everything.”

Yoo Suk-Woo looked awkward as he continued, “I can understand what you must be thinking. I felt the same way at first.”

The silence was becoming uncomfortable. In the end, Lou and El nodded.

Lou replied, “All right, we’ll listen.”

“Please come this way.” Suk-Woo escorted Lou and El. Watching them, Yeon Nam-Ju sighed in relief, “Haa…”

***

“So what is happening?” asked Lou. Pandemonium was a strange village inside Gehenna. To Lou’s surprise, Pandemonium was fully functional. Angels and humans weren’t the only species inside—it housed various species and was a site for numerous architectures. It was also a hotspot for various cultures and lifestyles.

‘Of course, their qualities are questionable.’ Lou could see that although the buildings were still standing, they weren’t in good condition. The village was in ruin and barely surviving.

‘But one can learn a few things from here.’ Lou saw the many different species living in harmony in this place.

It seemed that El was thinking the same thing. She whispered, “I want to see something like this in Eden.”

Lou nodded in agreement. Thanks to Old Man Hwang, Eden’s compartmentalization had long since been complete, but Gi-Gyu had synced with more creatures since then. And some in Eden weren’t quite accepting of the greenhorns.

However, Pandemonium was different. Although the village of Gehenna’s survivors looked bare, it had been built to accept everyone.

“Is this the place?” Lou asked when Yoo Suk-Woo stopped before a dark-colored castle. It was clear that this was Pandemonium’s control tower.

“Yes, please go in,” Suk-Woo replied. He knew Lou and El were Gi-Gyu’s creatures, so he treated them with the utmost respect.

‘He looks different.’ Lou and El thought. In the past, Yoo Suk-Woo looked sharp yet kind. ‘But now, he looks more composed.’

Yoo Suk-Woo seemed much calmer now.

The entrance to the castle opened. There weren’t any guards around, which Lou and El found odd. On their way here, they hadn’t seen any patrols either. The very existence of this castle implied that there was order and hierarchy in this village. Yet there were no guards or soldiers to protect the castle.

‘Either they are confident they don’t need any protection, or there is no need for one,’ Lou guessed. It only piqued Lou and El’s curiosity. On their way here, they had tried their best to discern if the scene around them was an illusion. They had come to the same conclusion.

‘This isn’t an illusion.’ Lou and El looked at each other silently. They felt certain this wasn’t an illusion, but this didn’t mean they could trust Yoo Suk-Woo. There was something odd about Yoo Suk-Woo; perhaps the Suk-Woo before them wasn’t even the real Yoo Suk-Woo. Maybe it was someone else pretending to be him.

‘If worse comes to worst, we’ll just destroy everything,’ Lou decided. Violence wasn’t an effective way to gain information, but it was a way. If Yoo Suk-Woo was indeed their enemy, they had willingly entered the heart of their enemy’s camp.

Lou grinned and walked into the dark castle.

Creak.

Once they were inside, the castle entrance closed behind them.

Thud!

Silence fell around them.

***

The Death sword disappeared, and an orb of Death energy appeared in Gi-Gyu’s hand. He ordered, “Tell me.”

‘That crazy bastard!’ Go Hyung-Chul had been resting, but Gi-Gyu’s action had just given his mind a crisp smack.

The battles had ended, so Go Hyung-Chul had felt he could relax, but the mere sight of that dark orb had given him goosebumps. And then he remembered how vicious Death was and couldn’t help trembling.

“Dammit… We better get ready again.” Go Hyung-Chul must have thought something was about to happen. He barely had any sorcerous energy left, but he summoned whatever was left.

Go Hyung-Chul wondered, ‘Why the hell is that jerk acting like that?’

Gi-Gyu had never behaved this aggressively without reason. It was obvious he was intimidating his enemy, and Go Hyung-Chul couldn’t understand why. He couldn’t hear anything, but there was something odd.

‘That looks familiar.’ Go Hyung-Chul wasn’t referring to the black creature.

“Kwerk…” After Fenrir had ripped off most of the monster’s barrier, the monster could only growl. Defeated, it was on the ground, barely moving.

‘I swear I’ve seen it before.’ Go Hyung-Chul was certain of that.

Suddenly, Gi-Gyu yelled, “Tell me! Why do you have that?!”

Everyone turned toward Gi-Gyu, who was screaming at the creature and threatening it with a dark orb. Go Hyung-Chul wondered what was happening while watching Gi-Gyu and the creature speaking.

Slowly, the Death orb disappeared like the Death sword earlier. And almost simultaneously, the barrier disguising and hiding the creature began cracking like a barren land. As the black pieces fell, Go Hyung-Chul noticed Gi-Gyu’s eyes had become wide like saucers.

“Tae-Shik hyung?” Gi-Gyu whispered.

“Oh Tae-Shik?” Go Hyung-Chul couldn’t hide his shock at hearing this name.

Dun dun dun dun dun dun!

Just then, the floor resumed collapsing. Gi-Gyu didn’t have to order for the bone dragons and Dark to begin moving. The Angela Guild members and the Red Players hopped onto whichever dragons they could.

“Fenrir!” Gi-Gyu called out to the wolf far away. “Bring that monster and follow me!”

“Grrrr.” Fenrir nodded in understanding.

Gi-Gyu placed the black creature, Oh Tae-Shik, over his shoulder and began running.

***

Gi-Gyu and Fenrir’s respective battles had left them weakened. They rushed to the next floor to escape from the collapsing 85th floor. Because the 85th floor was a safe zone, it was smaller than some other floors. Thanks to that, they quickly arrived at the 86th floor.

The 86th floor hadn’t started collapsing yet. Go Hyung-Chul announced, “It feels okay here.”

The lizardman stood guard while the rest of the group rested. Except for Gi-Gyu and Fenrir, none had actively participated in the battles. But they had to use everything they had to survive the shockwaves and the aftermath of the fights, so they were exhausted.

Gi-Gyu watched the injured Lim Hyun-Soo. Meanwhile, Go Hyung-Chul was staring at another man resting behind Lim Hyun-Soo.

‘Oh Tae-Shik.’ Go Hyung-Chul couldn’t hide his shock. Oh Tae-Shik was a famous player, and he used to be the heir to KPA, a world-renowned player association. So, Go Hyung-Chul knew about him; he also knew Oh Tae-Shik had a close relationship with Gi-Gyu.

But, at the moment, Oh Tae-Shik was lying next to Lim Hyun-Soo.

“What the hell is going on here?” Go Hyung-Chul whispered.

Gi-Gyu had been desperate to find Oh Tae-Shik, but he hadn’t expected to find him here. Even more shockingly, Oh Tae-Shik was the black beast who had attacked Gi-Gyu.

Go Hyung-Chul could guess how confused and upset Gi-Gyu must be. It was no wonder Gi-Gyu couldn’t leave Oh Tae-Shik’s side.

“I knew I had seen that creature before,” Go Hyung-Chul muttered as he walked away to a place some distance from Gi-Gyu. Kang Ji-Hee was already there, and when she saw Go Hyung-Chul, she gave him a little nod.

“Grrr…” The monster Fenrir had fought growled. The majority of its barrier was gone, and it was covered in blood.

“That’s…” Kang Ji-Hee asked, “Behemoth, isn’t it?”

“...” Go Hyung-Chul nodded in silence. The monster turned out to be Behemoth, the worst monster to ever appear in an S-Class gate. Supposedly, it had eaten thousands of players before going dormant.

“Behemoth…” Go Hyung-Chul whispered.

He continued to stare at the monster when Kang Ji-Hee asked, “And that’s General Manager Oh Tae-Shik. Just what is happening inside the Tower?”

Kang Ji-Hee looked frustrated. As Angela Guild’s deputy, she usually had access to more information than most. Currently, however, that wasn’t the case. She couldn’t comprehend all these strange things happening inside the Tower.

“I… can’t figure out what is going on,” Kang Ji-Hee muttered. She was already overwhelmed with the situation with Lee Sun-Ho. She had come to the Tower to deliver supplies, and what she had to face so far was incomprehensible.

“I don’t know either.” Go Hyung-Chul replied blankly. “I don’t think anyone does.”

‘Well, maybe except Lee Sun-Ho, Kronos, or…’ Go Hyung-Chul thought.

“Jung Soo-Jung…” Go Hyung-Chul whispered.

“Pardon?” Kang Ji-Hee asked in surprise. Jung Soo-Jung, codename Lucifer, was a famous player, so there was no way she couldn’t recognize the name.

Go Hyung-Chul didn’t bother explaining. He replied, “Whatever is going on, one thing is clear. The end is near.”

He turned to look at Gi-Gyu, standing next to Oh Tae-Shik, without moving a muscle.

“Perhaps what you and Lee Sun-Ho said was right,” Go Hyung-Chul added. “The Trumpet of Apocalypse…”

Kang Ji-Hee understood what Go Hyung-Chul meant. Lee Sun-Ho had called Gi-Gyu the Trumpet of Apocalypse; now, it was becoming clear that Gi-Gyu was the front and center of whatever was the end.