The Player that Can’t Level Up

“You two built this castle,” Oh Tae-Shik continued to smile. “And created Pandemonium to gather all the species roaming Gehenna aimlessly.”

Lou remained quiet.

“I see.” Unlike Lou, El nodded in understanding.

Lou and El had suspected they had something to do with Pandemonium since the beginning.

“But I never expected that we were the masters of this place,” Lou muttered. He looked at El, who looked back at him silently.

‘So we…’ Lou said to El telepathically.

‘...built it together?’ El finished Lou’s thought.

Before they had met Gi-Gyu, they had been like oil and water. They used to be leaders of opposing factions, unwilling to compromise. Therefore, believing that they had built Pandemonium together was difficult.

“I can understand why you’re having a hard time believing this,” Oh Tae-Gu said to Lou and El. Turning toward Yoo Suk-Woo, he asked, “Guild Master Yoo Suk-Woo, could you give us some privacy?”

“Of course, President,” Suk-Woo answered. It appeared that the two still used their Earth titles.

Only Lou, El, and Oh Tae-Gu were in the vast hall now.

“There isn’t much time, so can I get right to the point?” When Oh Tae-Gu suggested, Lou and El nodded. “I’m sure you can’t remember, but both of you were in Gehenna before. You built Pandemonium and gathered all the surviving species to help them live here.”

Oh Tae-Gu swallowed and continued, “It happened when you fell into Chaos…”

Neither Lou nor El spoke. They looked confused and contemplative.

“Look behind me.” Oh Tae-Gu looked back to point at two thrones. Despite being the master of this place, he didn’t sit on either of the two thrones. Instead, he stood in the middle of the hall.

“Go have a seat. They originally belonged to you anyway.” Oh Tae-Gu stepped aside. “You might remember something if you sit there.”

Silence fell in the hall. Then, El began walking toward one of the thrones. Standing before one, she looked back at Lou. He clicked his tongue. “Tsk.”

Although Lou didn’t look pleased, he also walked toward a throne. Clearly, Oh Tae-Gu wasn’t lying.

‘This was expected,’ thought Lou. They hadn’t expected that they would turn out to be the rulers of Pandemonium. However, they had known they had lost some memories inside Chaos’ stomach. To recover those, Lou knew this was necessary.

“I guess we better sit,” said Lou. He and El stood before the thrones they assumed to be theirs.

“Don’t worry about anything else at this point. This shouldn’t take long.” Oh Tae-Gu reassured them.

Silently, Lou and El sat down.

***

“Good job, Fenrir.” Gi-Gyu patted Fenrir, who had shrunk again.

“Woof!” Fenrir growled happily, but it was obvious it was exhausted. It quickly went toward Go Hyung-Chul, who picked it up.

They were currently on the 87th floor. After Tae-Shik had woken up, they didn’t get much time to talk. They had to keep moving to find safety.

As before, the group had raced, and Fenrir had to, unfortunately, bear another burden.

“This sucks,” Go Hyung-Chul muttered angrily, clearly upset that Fenrir had to carry that giant Behemoth on its back. The wolf hadn’t fully recovered, so it had obviously suffered.

“I’m sorry,” Oh Tae-Shik apologized to Go Hyung-Chul.

Unable to say anything rude, Go Hyung-Chul clicked his tongue in displeasure and walked toward Haures.

Tae-Shik turned toward Gi-Gyu and thanked him. “I really appreciate all this.”

“Hyung, there is no need to thank me.” Gi-Gyu shook his head. “It’s all my fault that you had to go through everything and suffer so much.”

Tae-Shik had taken Gi-Gyu’s family and ran to protect them from Ha Song-Su. He had done so for Gi-Gyu, who could understand the hardships he must have experienced. And when Tae-Shik had woken up, he had been worried about Gi-Gyu’s family and not his own father.

Tae-Shik insisted, “Don’t say that. It wasn’t all for you, you know.”

Gi-Gyu laughed. “We’re on the 87th floor. I think we are relatively safe here. So…”

Gi-Gyu looked around to see the other members of his group resting. As expected, they looked tired.

Gi-Gyu suggested, “Should we talk now?”

“Sure.” Tae-Shik sounded like he had been waiting for this moment.

‘Finally…’ Gi-Gyu was impatient to hear what had happened to Tae-Shik. Why had he attacked Gi-Gyu? Where did Behemoth come from? Why was it connected to Tae-Shik?

‘And… when was the last time he saw my mother and my sister?’ Gi-Gyu was desperate to know about his family.

Tae-Shik suggested, “Shall we sit?”

Gi-Gyu quickly sat down a fair distance from the other members. Go Hyung-Chul, still holding Fenrir, winked at Gi-Gyu. He was gesticulating that he would place a barrier around Gi-Gyu and Tae-Shik to let them have a private conversation. Gi-Gyu nodded in thanks.

Tae-Shik began, “It was when Ha Song-Su attacked us…”

***

“Mmm…” El moaned and opened her eyes. The first person she saw was Oh Tae-Gu, whose expression hadn’t changed since she had sat down. He was looking at her quietly.

“Did he… Did Lou not wake up yet?” El frowned as if she had a headache.

“That’s correct,” Oh Tae-Gu answered. His tone was much more respectful than before Lou and El had sat on the thrones. Oh Tae-Gu even bowed to show his regard.

“All right.” El didn’t seem surprised by Oh Tae-Gu’s change in attitude. She looked comfortable as she caressed the throne handle.

“He must have more memories than I do. So it looks like he will take a bit longer,” El added.

Oh Tae-Gu didn’t reply.

“How did you know all of this? I mean… Have you known all this since the beginning? Before you even met Master?”

“No.” Oh Tae-Gu shook his head. “I was just like the two of you. My lost memories returned to me when I entered Gehenna. I think I was sent to Gehenna on purpose.”

“It was all part of the big plan,” El agreed. Someone had planned everything, including Oh Tae-Gu entering Gehenna. This was all possible because someone on Earth had known everything and had moved accordingly.

El could guess who this person might be. She groaned, “Ugh…”

Just then, Lou woke up as well.

“Dammit…” As soon as Lou woke up, he swore and looked back and forth between El and Oh Tae-Gu. Lou had also recovered his lost memories. Now that he had all the puzzle pieces, he could understand many things. It took him a little while to process the new information, and when he did, he cursed, “Fucking bastards…”

Of all the things from Earth that brought Lou satisfaction, swear words were the best. Lou continued to swear while El and Oh Tae-Shik watched quietly.

“Haa…” After his fury subsided, Lou turned to El and asked, “Did you remember everything?”

There was warmth and camaraderie in Lou’s voice as he spoke to El. Both of them were now certain that Oh Tae-Gu hadn’t lied.

“We created this place…” Lou murmured. Lou and El had fallen into Chaos because of Gabriel, and then they had built Pandemonium to protect the survivors in Gehenna.

“Yes, we did,” El answered softly.

Lou and El hadn’t been trapped in Gehenna alone back then.

“There were others. Gabriel, Kronos, Raphael…” Lou said in a self-deprecating tone. “I finally understand why all this is happening.”

Lou couldn’t believe how he had forgotten such vital facts. He had struggled all this time, but looking back, it all seemed like a joke.

“This is ridiculous.” Lou became annoyed and furious because someone had played him. Suddenly, the castle in Pandemonium began shaking. The castle recognized Lou and El as its masters and reacted to Lou’s powerful emotions.

Lou looked at El and then at Oh Tae-Gu. “We don’t have much time. First, we need to contact Kim Gi-Gyu.”

Gehenna was in a dimensional fragment, which was also Chaos’ stomach. Here, the flow of time wasn’t even. The second Lou and El had entered this place, they had lost contact with Gi-Gyu and Eden. They had planned on contacting Gi-Gyu after escaping from Gehenna with Oh Tae-Gu. However, Lou rose and announced, “Change of plans.”

They now had to first contact Gi-Gyu, and then make the uneven time flow here even.

“And we must find a way to escape this place,” El added.

***

“An S-Class gate appeared near Seoul!”

“Dozens of gates, including an A-Class gate, appeared in Beijing!”

“A gate break is occurring near New York City!”

Several players reported all at once. They all looked confused, unaware of the seriousness of the situation.

“Dammit!” said Sung-Hoon.

Alberto said to him, “Sung-Hoon, Italy isn’t faring much better.”

“I need to return to China. My people are in danger,” Tao Chen chimed in, his face pale from concern.

The trio looked exhausted; their extended dark circles indicated they hadn’t slept in days. Considering that all three of them were powerful players with incredible stamina, it was obvious how overworked they must be.

“Dammit…” Sung-Hoon swore again.

“More floors inside the Tower are collapsing! The players inside are sending signals to be rescued!”

“We don’t have enough players to control these situations!”

“Private guilds are helping, but the new gates are too powerful!”

More reports arrived. Not long after Gi-Gyu had entered the Tower and Lou and El had entered Gehenna, Earth experienced many severe changes. Countless gates appeared out of nowhere. They formed so rapidly that the players and Eden had difficulty getting a handle on them.

On top of this, the Tower was collapsing, so the players who had gone inside to hunt were lost and needed rescuing.

“We don’t have enough manpower,” Sung-Hoon whispered. These problems weren’t impossible to solve, but he didn’t have enough men for the job. After the Caravan Guild had collapsed, it didn’t take long for the Global Players Association to surrender to Eden. Unfortunately, many players had died in the process.

“I’m sorry, but I gotta go,” said Alberto.

“Me too. It can’t be helped,” Tao Chen added. Many countries’ association presidents and major guilds’ guild masters were present here, but they all wanted to return home. It was understandable since there was no other way, but Heo Sung-Hoon bit his lips in frustration.

What was he supposed to do?

“All right. Please return to your respective countries and do your best,” Heo Sung-Hoon announced.

Alberto, Tao Chen, and the other leaders seemed shocked by Sung-Hoon’s decision. Although the situation was dire everywhere, it was the worst in Korea.

Sung-Hoon said to reassure everyone. “Eden… will protect Korea.”

Sung-Hoon wasn’t referring to the new association. He was talking about Gi-Gyu’s Eden.

“Sir,” Heo Sung-Hoon said into the bracelet around his wrist. It was a gift from Old Man Hwang.

-Go ahead.

This bracelet was a tool for Sung-Hoon to communicate with Eden.