The Player that Can’t Level Up

“Tae-Shik hyung…” It had been a while since the revelation, but Gi-Gyu was still as confused as ever.

Gi-Gyu’s voice cracked a little when he whispered again, “Tae-Shik hyung…”

Gi-Gyu couldn’t remember the last time he had seen Oh Tae-Shik. And when they had finally met again, Tae-Shik had looked like a horrible black beast. Shockingly, they had fought on their reunion, resulting in Tae-Shik now resting before Gi-Gyu like a corpse.

“What happened to you…?” Gi-Gyu asked despite knowing Tae-Shik couldn’t hear him. It looked like that black barrier from before had been ingesting Tae-Shik but had to spit him out after the fight. His clothes were in tatters, and he was covered in wounds. All those wounds weren’t from the fight earlier. Some looked old, as if they had been inflicted long ago and then left to stew.

‘All this time… what were you doing?’ Gi-Gyu wondered. Players’ natural recovery rate was higher than non-players, and even severe wounds that would leave a scar on non-players quickly healed with just a drop of some healing potion.

Of course, only the elixir or the high-ranker healers could treat fateful wounds like amputated limbs.

‘I still can’t believe there are so many wounds on Tae-Shik hyung.’

Oh Tae-Shik’s ability to recover was remarkable, so for him to have this many wounds meant he had experienced something truly terrible.

“Haa…” Gi-Gyu sighed, his confusion dying down a little. ‘Why is Tae-Shik hyung here? What was he doing here? And why did he attack me?’

“Please answer me…” Gi-Gyu whispered, but Tae-Shik, unconscious, only breathed quietly.

Go Hyung-Chul approached Gi-Gyu and announced, “We don’t have much time. This isn’t a safe zone, and we don’t know what is happening to the Tower. We don’t have much time, so we gotta move quickly.”

Gi-Gyu needed to either carry Tae-Shik and find a way out of this Tower or keep climbing. He had to make a choice; he had to do it fast.

When Go Hyung-Chul urged Gi-Gyu, he replied, “I’m going to wake him up.”

“How?” Go Hyung-Chul turned rigid. “You already tried everything you can.”

Earlier, Gi-Gyu had injected Life into Tae-Shik to wake him up. There weren't any negative side effects, but unfortunately, that didn’t work.

Did Gi-Gyu have another way?

“Could it be…?” Go Hyung-Chul looked at Gi-Gyu with suspicion. There was one last thing he could think of that Gi-Gyu could attempt. “Are you planning on syncing with him?”

“...” Gi-Gyu didn’t answer, which was an answer on its own.

Confused, Go Hyung-Chul asked, “Are you sure you can handle it? He is someone dear to you, and that would change him. You might lose the General Manager Oh Tae-Shik you knew forever.”

Sync was a powerful ability, but there was an unavoidable side effect.

“Have you found a way to bypass the forced unconditional loyalty that comes with it?” asked Go Hyung-Chul, even though he knew it wasn’t possible. There was no way to avoid the unconditional loyalty clause; if there were, Gi-Gyu would have used it when he had synced with Go Hyung-Chul.

It may have looked like the way Go Hyung-Chul treated Gi-Gyu hadn’t changed after the sync, But this was only because Go Hyung-Chul was a talented actor. He couldn’t help but feel boiling loyalty and affection toward Gi-Gyu now, but because Gi-Gyu didn’t want to be treated differently, Go Hyung-Chul made an effort.

“No, there is no way to avoid that,” Gi-Gyu finally answered.

Go Hyung-Chul nodded. “I knew it.”

“But I think I might be able to break the sync before that forced loyalty thing sets in.”

“What?”

“Don't worry. I realized something when I synced with Ironshield.” Gi-Gyu looked at Go Hyung-Chul. His eyes looked clear and confident. “I’ll hurry up.”

Gi-Gyu quietly sat down. Before walking away, Go Hyung-Chul replied, “All right. I’ll hold everything off as much as possible, so just make it quick.”

“Hyung”—Gi-Gyu placed his hand on Tae-Shik’s chest—“Sync.”

***

“So”—Lou, listening silently until now, raised his hand to interrupt Yoo Suk-Woo—“you’re saying that Gehenna is—”

Lou stopped Yoo Suk-Woo because he couldn’t believe what he was hearing. He wanted to make sure that Yoo Suk-Woo was certain of this information.

Before Lou could finish his question, Yoo Suk-Woo replied, “Yes. It is related to Chaos in more ways than one.”

Yoo Suk-Woo’s voice was as calm as ever, but Lou and El’s faces turned deadly serious. According to Yoo Suk-Woo, Gehenna was Chaos’ weapon, this world’s underground, and Chaos’ stomach. But people who knew the truth could probably understand why Lou and El looked concerned.

After thinking for a long time, Lou finally opened his lips. “I understand now.”

Lou had realized why no one could escape this place and why so many species—including angels—lived here. Yoo Suk-Woo’s story had also explained why Pandemonium existed and why Gehenna looked like a post-apocalyptic world.

“I guess we entered a place we never should have entered.” Lou sounded bitter. “So Kronos sent you here?”

“That’s correct.” For the first time, Yoo Suk-Woo’s face showed emotions. He had explained that initially, he had been inside a different dimensional gap. He had been hiding there with Gi-Gyu’s family.

“There, I realized I can’t use my portal ability inside dimensional gaps,” Yoo Suk-Woo continued. His ability to form portals was just as useful as Gi-Gyu’s sync. Yoo Suk-Woo could even travel to different worlds using this power, but he quickly realized it was useless inside dimensional gaps.

Dimensional gaps didn’t have designated coordinates. Also, it didn’t take some definite amount of space, as it was literally the gap between dimensional fragments.

“And Gi-Gyu’s family must be…” Lou trailed off.

Suk-Woo didn’t have to answer this question. Kronos had kidnapped Gi-Gyu’s family.

“But Gi-Gyu’s mother and Yoo-Jung will be safe,” said Suk-Woo.

“...?”

“Based on what I saw, I’m certain Kronos treasures them,” Yoo Suk-Woo explained.

Lou and El nodded because this somehow made sense to them. Kronos had to know how much Yoo-Jung and Gi-Gyu’s mother were worth to Gi-Gyu.

‘And there might even be another reason,’ El thought while listening to Lou and Suk-Woo’s conversation.

Lou asked sharply, “Still, how can you be so sure?”

Unfortunately, it was just a feeling, and those didn’t make for good definitive answers. Lou looked unsatisfied, but he didn’t prod further. Instead, he asked another question, “It looks like you are an important figure in this place. Did I get that right?”

Everyone Lou had seen at Pandemonium’s entrance was powerful. ‘This place is like hell. Everyone here has survived inside Chaos’ stomach until now, so they must be strong.’

Only the truly powerful could survive here. Of course, there were special cases like Yeon Nam-Ju, but Lou could tell this wasn’t a common occurrence.

Unlike the first question, Yoo Suk-Woo answered this one. “I was lucky enough to meet someone I never expected to see.”

“...”

“I think I told you most of the important parts.” Suk-Woo rose and suggested, “Now, why don’t you chat with someone else? Time flows a little differently here.”

“There is a time difference?” asked Lou.

Suk-Woo nodded. “Yes, the time flow here is erratic, which might be because we are in Chaos’ stomach. Sometimes, time here flows faster, but…”

Suk-Woo’s eyes glowed as he added, “It can flow slower too.”

Lou and El didn’t ask Suk-Woo any more questions. They rose quietly and followed him because they could guess who they were about to meet.

‘The one who rules Pandemonium.’ Since they were about to meet the most important figure inside Pandemonium, they thought it would be better to question them than the figurehead.

‘It’s probably him.’ Both El and Lou thought about the same man. Yoo Suk-Woo walked quickly, and Lou and El followed.

***

Gi-Gyu, his hand still on Oh Tae-Shik’s chest, opened his eyes. Go Hyung-Chul had been guarding Gi-Gyu wakefully, and when he saw Gi-Gyu finally open his eyes, he asked, “What’s happening?!”

Gi-Gyu had opened his eyes after an entire day. Thankfully, nothing much had happened around them while Gi-Gyu synced with Oh Tae-Shik.

‘But they obviously don’t understand what is happening,’ Go Hyung-Chul thought as he turned to look at Kang Ji-Hee and the other Angela Guild members. They were staring at Gi-Gyu with curiosity and fear.

“How did it go?” Go Hyung-Chul asked Gi-Gyu.

Gi-Gyu’s face turned dark as if all the fatigue was suddenly engulfing him.

“Give me a minute…” Gi-Gyu removed his hand from Oh Tae-Shik and rose. He took a few deep breaths.

‘It must have been a difficult process.’ Go Hyung-Chul watched Gi-Gyu with worry. Everyone else around them was also staring at Gi-Gyu. It was hard to tell if Gi-Gyu had succeeded.

“It’s done,” Gi-Gyu announced.

“...!”

“Some kind of parasite was living inside Tae-Shik hyung’s shell,” Gi-Gyu explained.

“What?” Go Hyung-Chul asked hurriedly, feeling deja vu.

“I think it was similar to what was inside Ironshield’s shell.”

Inside Ironshield’s shell were Andras and some other existences. This was why when Ironshield had taken care of Andras for Gi-Gyu, Gi-Gyu had shown mercy by killing him.

“So you’re saying something similar was happening to General Manager Oh Tae-Shik?” asked Go Hyung-Chul.

“It was a little different.” Gi-Gyu turned to point at Behemoth—the king of all beasts, lying before Fenrir like a corpse. “It was connected to that thing over there.”

Gi-Gyu continued, “I don’t know why, but Tae-Shik hyung had assimilated with Behemoth. The side effect of which made him like this.”

Gi-Gyu looked at Oh Tae-Shik again and murmured, “For now, I severed their connection. And, of course, I severed the sync between Tae-Shik hyung and me too.”

“...!” Go Hyung-Chul’s eyes widened. It appeared that Gi-Gyu had prevented Oh Tae-Shik from feeling an unwanted loyalty toward him. He felt immediate relief, and he wondered why. It didn’t take long for Go Hyung-Chul to find an answer. Oh Tae-Shik was important to Gi-Gyu, and because of his loyalty toward Gi-Gyu, Go Hyung-Chul couldn’t help but worry about Oh Tae-Shik too.

“Ha.” Go Hyung-Chul suddenly felt envious of Oh Tae-Shik, who would never have to be forced to feel loyal to someone. All these new emotions confused Go Hyung-Chul, but he still didn’t regret syncing with Gi-Gyu.

‘I would do it all over again.’ Go Hyung-Chul gained power in exchange, and it was worth it. ‘But damn it! I haven’t been able to use that power at all.’

Go Hyung-Chul’s bitter smile turned sour. Gi-Gyu rigidly continued, “But… I don’t know how long he was connected to Behemoth. By the time I synced with Tae-Shik hyung, his shell was already…”

“I guess it was already heavily corrupted by Behemoth.”

“Yeah,” Gi-Gyu replied. This could mean that the problem was bigger than they had expected.

‘There is a chance that when Oh Tae-Shik wakes up, he might not be the same as before.’ Go Hyung-Chul worried.

Behemoth was a powerful monster. Everyone remembered this legendary beast.

‘It was nicknamed the king of all beasts.’ Go Hyung-Chul murmured out loud, “Of course, that title now belongs to another creature. That wolf is now the king.”

“What the heck are you talking about?” Gi-Gyu frowned at Go Hyung-Chul, who changed the subject. “He’s going to wake up soon.”

Just then, Oh Tae-Shik, still lying on the ground, groaned, “Ugh…”