The Player that Can’t Level Up

“The 100th floor…” Gi-Gyu thought about the announcement the system had made. “It said that this is the 100th floor.”

Suddenly, realization struck him, and goosebumps covered his body. As if a malfunctioning robot, he mechanically turned around, noticing that everyone was silently waiting for him to say something.

“I see…” Gi-Gyu mumbled. “So that’s how it is.”

He finally realized the conditions Kronos and Gaia wanted. Gi-Gyu used to think he knew much and that things were going his way, but he had missed something big.

Something big and unexpected.

“Earth is the 100th floor,” said Gi-Gyu.

“What?” Go Hyung-Chul gasped.

“What are you talking about?” Old Man Hwang asked.

“Ranker Kim Gi-Gyu?” Sung-Hoon looked confused.

Gi-Gyu looked at those around him. The system had announced that he had entered the 100th floor, and he was seemingly the only one who had heard that.

‘They don’t know anything…’ Gi-Gyu saw that they had no idea what was happening, but he understood everything. Or, more specifically, his brain worked quickly to accept the findings. Thankfully, several others seemed to be catching on too.

“So that’s how it is, huh?” Lou muttered.

“I understand now,” El mumbled.

With a solemn countenance, they looked at Gi-Gyu. Old Man Hwang approached Gi-Gyu and asked, “What are you talking about?”

Oh Tae-Shik, who had reunited with his father, also walked up to Gi-Gyu. “I want an explanation too.”

Gi-Gyu looked at Lou, El, and the rest. Everyone stared back at him.

“This is…” Gi-Gyu trailed off.

Since Gi-Gyu seemed hesitant, Lou explained, “This is the 100th floor of the Tower.”

“The 100th floor?” Oh Tae-Shik asked in shock.

“What are you talking about? Okay, so we entered a black hole and arrived here. And ‘here’ is Seoul. Right?” Go Hyung-Chul asked.

No matter how strange it might sound, they were definitely in Seoul. Lou didn’t speak further and instead turned to look at Gi-Gyu. He felt that Gi-Gyu should be the one explaining the situation.

With a nod, Gi-Gyu began, “Gaia created Earth after the other dimension had perished. She gained God’s powers, Order and Chaos, and used them to create this place after absorbing the essence of all the other dimensions.”

“Fine, so what does that have to do with…” Oh Tae-Shik mumbled in confusion, but Old Man Hwang had seemingly understood.

“Ah!” Old Man Hwang exclaimed. “You mean…”

Gi-Gyu nodded. “Gaia belongs to the Tower. And she created Earth.”

“I get it now,” Old Man Hwang whispered.

Ignoring him, Gi-Gyu turned toward the N Seoul Tower and continued, “I’m saying that Earth was created inside the Tower.”

***

Because of what Kronos had done, Gaia had become a part of the Tower. She had taken God and Chaos’ powers and then absorbed the essence of all the dimensions. After betraying Kronos, she had created Earth—her ideal world.

Gi-Gyu had known for a long time that Gaia belonged to the Tower, so why didn’t he realize this sooner?

The players, monsters, gates, and everything magic had something to do with the Tower. Gaia could control everything inside the Tower with the system, but she was powerless outside.

‘So why didn’t I make the connection before?’ Gi-Gyu wondered.

“So, Earth was constructed inside the Tower…” Gi-Gyu mumbled. Earth was the Tower’s highest floor—the floor every player on Earth wanted to conquer.

Everyone believed that the Tower had appeared on Earth, but the truth was that no one had ever actually seen the physical Tower. It was such a huge place that everyone assumed it physically existed somewhere on Earth.

‘So why didn’t I or anyone else find this odd?’

It now made sense why no one could see the Tower. Earth was inside the Tower, that was why. Gi-Gyu assumed that Gaia had done so intentionally, ensuring no one got suspicious. She was certainly powerful enough to pull off something like this.

“I understand completely now.” Gi-Gyu had obtained Lou and El’s memories when they were inside Gehenna. From them, he had learned a lot about Kronos and Gaia’s plan, but there were still things he couldn’t understand.

Kronos wanted the world to persist so that he could rule it as the ultimate god. This was why he had stolen Gaia’s powers and attempted to become the king of the Tower. And for that, he needed Chaos’ power, but the entity was trapped in the Tower’s basement.

And what did Gaia want?

‘She… wanted the destruction of the world.’ This finding was a surprise to Gi-Gyu. For a long time, he had believed that Gaia wanted to bring order and peace to the world. He thought this was why she had given humans the power to become players. But after obtaining Lou and El’s memories, Gi-Gyu had realized that Gaia’s plan had been entirely different.

“She wanted the world to end completely,” Gi-Gyu muttered. She wished for nothing to exist anymore and had shared this with Lou and El. Gi-Gyu noticed that Gaia tended to contradict herself in the past, and he was unsure of her true intentions. He also couldn't understand the meaning behind her statement that his choice would decide everything.

But now, he understood.

‘Gaia told me to conquer the 100th floor and sync with it.’

It was supposedly the only way for Gi-Gyu to get everything he wanted. It sounded like Gaia was tired.

‘Or maybe she just wasn’t in her right mind.’

Gaia's remnant consciousness within the black hole and the system's destruction were all indications to aid Gi-Gyu's comprehension. He took a few more minutes to put his thoughts together before he asked Heo Sung-Hoon, “Just what happened in Seoul?”

“It was very sudden,” Heo Sung-Hoon replied. Behind him were many players waiting for further instructions. Gi-Gyu recognized some of them as friends who had just arrived.

“Sorry, I’m late,” Tao Chen apologized.

“Long time no see,” Alberto greeted.

Sung-Hoon bowed to them quietly before turning toward Gi-Gyu again. The city of Seoul was still ablaze in the background. “As I said before, everything happened abruptly. Old Man Hwang and a few others entered the gate in the Seoul sky while we players dealt with the monsters in the city.”

The fight was brutal, but Sung-Hoon believed that they could win. But then, everything changed.

Sung-Hoon explained, “Ranker Kim Gi-Gyu, before you and your friends appeared here, an explosion occurred near the N Seoul Tower.”

The explosion in the air seemed destructive enough to swallow everything around it, but it didn’t. Instead, it created a massive flame that was currently burning Seoul.

“And ironically, this flame killed most of the monsters. There are some monsters still left, but the players and Bodhidharma—I mean, Player Kim Se-Jin are taking care of them,” said Sung-Hoon.

Instead of harming the players, this mysterious flame had closed all the gates and eliminated most of the monster.

“Tao Chen, myself, and some high-level players decided to gather here in the N Seoul Tower, where we met you. That’s all I know.” Sung-Hoon looked confused, but Gi-Gyu nodded. He now understood what had happened in Seoul.

Gi-Gyu asked, “Please gather the players.”

“Pardon?” Sung-Hoon seemed surprised by Gi-Gyu’s sudden order.

“More monsters will appear very soon, but it will be better than before. This time, the monsters won’t appear everywhere, but”—Gi-Gyu pointed at the N Seoul Tower—“they will gather around the N Seoul Tower. In order to prevent any major damage, we need some players to take care of them.”

Gi-Gyu obviously knew something the others didn’t. Sung-Hoon wanted to hear an explanation, but he knew this wasn’t the right time. He replied, “All right.”

Before Sung-Hoon, Tao Chen, and the other players could greet each other properly, they had to set out again.

Meanwhile, Gi-Gyu turned toward Oh Tae-Shik, Lou, and El and asked, “You guys can all feel it, right?”

The three of them nodded in silence. Gi-Gyu turned to look at the top of the N Seoul Tower.

“Kronos and Lee Sun-Ho are there,” said Gi-Gyu. They weren’t moving and were looking down at Gi-Gyu and the rest. Was the fight between them over? Did they decide to work together?

“I think they are waiting for us… Well, for me. As soon as the players arrive, we’ll move,” Gi-Gyu ordered. He knew monsters would appear as soon as he got near the N Seoul Tower. The others might not feel it, but Gi-Gyu could sense countless space cracks near the tower.

Currently, the 100th floor was linked to every floor in the Tower. The flames had killed about all the monsters that had appeared on this floor; if Kronos and Lee Sun-Ho desired, they could summon all the monsters in the Tower here at any moment.

‘The flame will go out soon,’ Gi-Gyu guessed. He suspected that Kronos and Lee Sun-Ho had made this flame, which would disappear shortly. After all, it was just a salute to celebrate the end.

Sung-Hoon quickly gathered the necessary players. “They’re all here, Ranker Kim Gi-Gyu.”

Turning toward Lou and El, Gi-Gyu asked, “Are you guys ready?”

“Haa…” Lou sighed.

“Of course,” El answered.

When Gi-Gyu looked at Lou, he smirked and explained, “Just how many times are you going to ask us if we’re ready? We’ve been ready for a long time. Let’s just end this now.”

After a long time, the familiar swords, one black and one white, appeared in Gi-Gyu’s hands. Gi-Gyu turned to look at the N Seoul Tower again.

‘Kronos and Lee Sun-Ho are over there.’

The man with the Scythe of Time and the man who uses double swords just like him were at the top of the N Seoul Tower looking down.

‘Our eyes met just now.’

Gi-Gyu nodded to Lee Sun-Ho before he ordered, “We’ll get going now. I can’t take care of you all, so please try not to die.”

Gi-Gyu’s shoes began glowing. Hermes’ condition had improved a bit, as Gi-Gyu’s connection to Eden had returned.

“Good luck,” said Gi-Gyu before disappearing.

***

“It has finally begun,” a feminine voice from inside the dark barrier mumbled.

Another voice, a male this time, asked, “When are you going to go?”

“It’s not time yet.”

Some young girl asked in annoyance, “Please let us go.”

“When did we ever restrain you? You can leave at any time, but if you go there… Things won’t end well for you. We’re leaving soon, so you can do whatever you want then.” The feminine voice couldn’t be any calmer.

Next, someone older but with a vibrant feminine voice asked, “Is this what you’ve been waiting for?”

The barrier disappeared, revealing six figures. Soo-Jung answered, “Yes, you already know the answer. You know my fate.”

Soo-Jung continued, “I won’t get involved until my pupil makes his decision.”

Beside Soo-Jung were Baal, Lim Hye-Sook, and Shin Yoo-Bin. Behind them were two women who whispered.

“Oppa…”

“Gi-Gyu…”

They were trapped inside a clear dome barrier surrounded by a flame.