The Player that Can’t Level Up

Gi-Gyu had tried to sync with Lee Sun-Ho, the Creator, to gain more power. He had previously synced with Earth, every creature on the planet, and Babel that ran on dimensional essence. Still, Gi-Gyu wasn't confident he could defeat his opponent.

‘If I continue to fight without syncing with him…’ Gi-Gyu believed he could still win, but that would take an indefinite amount of time. And they might end up destroying Earth in the process. Since he was synced with Earth, if it were destroyed, the battle would end, just not in his favor.

So Gi-Gyu needed to use the greatest ability he possessed.

“Sync.”

Dun!

“What are you doing?!”

Dun!

“Sync!”

Dun!

“Sync!”

Gi-Gyu continued trying to sync with Lee Sun-Ho near the Earth’s mantle. The invisible threads from Gi-Gyu approached Lee Sun-Ho repeatedly as he focused on this task.

“Sync!”

“It won’t work! How dare you…!” Lee Sun-Ho screamed angrily, but Gi-Gyu didn’t stop trying.

“Sync!” Suddenly, the threads from Gi-Gyu began embracing Lee sun-Ho.

“...!” Lee Sun-Ho’s eyes widened in surprise, but when he glared and released his power, the threads melted away.

Fsssssh.

‘No!’ Gi-Gyu grew desperate. He could barely even start the syncing process, but his opponent kept breaking the threads. Also, they weren’t like normal cloth threads, so every time Lee Sun-Ho broke one, Gi-Gyu felt that a part of his brain melted away. If that happened again, he wasn’t sure he could make it. Gi-Gyu was already beyond his limit.

-I’ll help.

“...!” When Gi-Gyu heard a voice from inside his head, his eyes widened in shock. He was so surprised that he screamed, “Jupiter!”

He had hitherto believed that Jupiter was gone forever, his existence erased after uniting with Gi-Gyu.

Just then, Lee Sun-Ho screamed in a fury, “Ackkk!”

Gi-Gyu’s threads wrapped around Lee Sun-Ho again.

-We’ll help too.

-I’ll tell you.

-Let me help too!

More voices followed Jupiter’s voice.

‘Tae-Shik hyung… Alberto… Sung-Hoon…’

Other familiar voices chimed in, including that of Tao Chen, Mammon, Dark, Hart, and Paimon. Those connected with Gi-Gyu were helping him. Countless powerful threads left Gi-Gyu and began enveloping Lee Sun-Ho faster than he could melt them.

“Ackkk!” Lee Sun-Ho screamed again.

-We’ll help too.

-Master, I’ll give you a hand.

-Master! You can do this!

“Lou…. El! Brun!” Gi-Gyu recognized the last three voices. These three Egos had been with him the longest. They were so dear to him that hearing their voices made him cry. A thread, significantly thicker than all the others, left Gi-Gyu and wrapped around Lee Sun-Ho.

“How dare you?! How…?! I made you! How could you do this to your creator?!” Lee Sun-Ho screamed, but all the threads made it seem like he was in an impregnable cocoon. Sure the Creator couldn’t break free, Gi-Gyu stepped back.

‘But all this… Is it really enough?’ Despite being restrained by the collective power of this entire world, Lee Sun-Ho flailed with vigor, proving that he was indeed the true god. The threads that hugged him throbbed like a beating heart.

Dun! Dun! Dun!

Every time it throbbed, Gi-Gyu felt a small part of his brain melted away. Suddenly, Lee Sun-Ho resisted ferociously; in response, the threads stole more power from Gi-Gyu to reinforce the cocoon.

“...!” This had happened without Gi-Gyu’s order. He hadn’t even thought about doing something like this.

Gi-Gyu's magic strengthened the threads holding Lee Sun-Ho, infusing them with Life, Death, Order, and Chaos. All the energies Lee Sun-Ho had created flowed into Gi-Gyu's threads. Chaos and Order, the very foundations of Lee Sun-Ho's being, were now keeping him in check.

Dun dun dun dun dun!

The rapid throbbing seemed to drown out Lee Sun-Ho’s screams and fury.

‘He’s trapped now.’ Gi-Gyu was sure his sync threads had completely trapped his enemy. So, for the final time, he screamed, “Sync!”

***

‘Where am I?’ When he woke up, he found himself in a completely different space. Nothing was in front of him anymore, not even the burning world.

Gi-Gyu could guess where he was. ‘I must be inside Lee Sun-Ho’s memory.’

After many failed attempts and receiving help from the entire world, he had finally synced with Lee Sun-Ho. Gi-Gyu was now inside Lee Sun-Ho's memories, or rather, the memories of the Creator. The distinction between the two wasn’t relevant at this moment. What mattered was that he had successfully synced with Lee Sun-Ho.

Gi-Gyu looked around the void. Was this how the world looked at the beginning of time?

‘Was Lee Sun-Ho born here?’ Gi-Gyu tried to look and feel as much as possible in this place. Here, his brain no longer hurt, and the thoughts and emotions of the countless beings no longer pestered him. He felt he was rediscovering peace and comfort.

‘Nothing before me but the world.’

Kaboom!

Suddenly, an explosion occurred. It started small but grew rapidly, filling the void with bright light. When the light faded, Gi-Gyu saw something in the center of it.

‘That must be…’ That “something” was a baby, and Gi-Gyu could easily guess that the baby was the Creator.

Gi-Gyu walked toward him. The baby was sound asleep; Gi-Gyu had difficulty believing the baby was the same man he had fought earlier. Gi-Gyu sat down and stared at him.

‘This will take a long time,’ Gi-Gyu thought. After syncing with so many creatures, he had realized something. The time taken to sync with a creature completely was a variable, dependent on the power and memories of the creature. Stronger creatures with more memories took longer to process.

And now, he was syncing with god, the real god, the one who had created everything in existence. He couldn’t even imagine how long he would have to spend inside Lee Sun-Ho’s memory. After the process was over, he could leave this place. And even though much less time would have passed for those outside, Gi-Gyu would’ve spent a long time.

‘It’ll be hard.’ But Gi-Gyu wasn’t afraid. He didn’t even care if he died while accepting Lee Sun-Ho’s memory.

‘Eden is ready to be on its own.’ Gi-Gyu could vaguely see Old Man Hwang’s plan. He realized that Old Man Hwang was much more than a skilled blacksmith; he was also a talented architect and planner. The old man had even thought about the end of the world and created a new world, Eden, to replace it. Or perhaps, he just had a strange obsession with creating a world. Gi-Gyu supported the idea and had shared some of his power with Eden before syncing with Lee Sun-Ho.

Now, Eden was strong enough to exist on its own. Even if he were gone, everyone living inside Eden would help each other survive.

‘There is Paimon too.’ Gi-Gyu knew he could also count on Hwang Chae-Il and Hwang Min-Su, who had shown great potential. Gi-Gyu felt certain that these figures would lead Eden in the right direction. With so many talented creatures, Eden would be just fine.

‘I feel sad…’ Tears rolled down Gi-Gyu’s eyes. Sitting before the glowing child, the Creator, Gi-Gyu cried, imagining the world going on without him.

‘How will I survive if I already feel like this?’ Gi-Gyu wondered if he could even endure his time here. He didn’t know how long he would have to stay here. One year? Ten years? Longer?

‘It might be over a thousand years.’ Gi-Gyu knew he would have to live here for as long as the Creator had lived. He needed to be here until he could accept the vast amount of the Creator’s memories.

‘I will be all alone.’ Sad, Gi-Gyu cried silently. ‘But I chose to do this.’

He would rather suffer than let the Creator destroy the world and kill everyone precious to him. If his suffering could save others, Gi-Gyu was willing to do anything.

He turned to look at the baby again. For some reason, the infant was glowing like a bulb.

‘It will be over someday.’ Gi-Gyu wasn’t sure if he would face death or a new beginning at the end, but either way, it would be over. ‘That’s my only hope.’

To endure his time here, he needed something to look forward to. Gi-Gyu was surrounded by darkness, with the Creator being his only light source. He wiped away his tears, realizing how ridiculous he must look. He had fought and defeated the Creator, so how could he cry like this? If someone saw this, they would be in disbelief or laugh at him.

Gi-Gyu hugged his knees and watched the baby. ‘But I don’t care if someone laughs at me. I wish I had someone, anyone, by my side right now.’

Suddenly, his eyes widened when he felt a hand on his shoulder.

“Why do you think you’re alone?”

“You… You!” Gi-Gyu couldn’t hide the shock in his voice as he screamed.

“You and I have always been together and always will.” Jupiter knelt behind Gi-Gyu and hugged him. They looked ridiculous, hugging while kneeling on the ground, but Gi-Gyu couldn’t stop the tears of joy.

“Jupiter…” whispered Gi-Gyu. Jupiter had become part of him in the past.

Suddenly, Gi-Gyu felt two more hands on his back.

“We’re here too.”

“Master.”

When Gi-Gyu turned around, he saw a man and a woman smiling.

“...!” Gi-Gyu saw Lou and El standing behind him.

“I guess he got here before us,” Lou muttered. He was about to sit next to Gi-Gyu, but noticing El, he apologized, “Ah, sorry. You go ahead.”

El smiled at Lou and sat down next to Gi-Gyu. She held Gi-Gyu’s hand tightly.

“Ahh… I’ll suffer so much here,” Lou said in annoyance.

“But I like this! This is much better than what I had to experience. I have lived so long that I even forgot my own identity,” said Jupiter.

“If it’s with you, I don’t care… where I am,” El whispered.

Holding El’s hand, Gi-Gyu clenched his other hand to hide the overwhelming emotions. The four figures sat down and watched the Creator; time passed slowly.

***

A man opened his eyes and exhaled in a space where not even dust existed.

“Haa… How… long… has… it been…?” His voice sounded rusty as he looked around. “I guess it hasn’t been that long…?”

He had stopped keeping track of time long ago. He knew much time had passed, but not as much as he had expected. His eyes still open, Gi-Gyu looked up in the air and murmured, “Show yourself now… It has gone on for long enough.”

In the void, Gi-Gyu ignored the rules [1] and shouted, “Jung Soo-Jung! Soo-Jung! I mean… Gaia.”

Narrowing his eyes, he moved his hands. He couldn’t control his body well yet, so his hands moved up before flopping down awkwardly. Suddenly, the space ripped to reveal a different place behind it.

From that dimension came the woman Gi-Gyu wanted to see. It was impossible to tell what she was feeling. Many emotions filled her eyes as she replied,

[Long time no see.]

Her voice was heard in a system-like manner.

[My pupil.]

The rip in the space elongated to reveal more of the world Soo-Jung was in. Behind her was Baal, and nearby, Gi-Gyu saw Shin Yoo-Bin and Lim Hye-Sook slumped on the ground weakly.

And behind them were two women lying on the ground like corpses.

“Mother… Yoo-Jung…” His eyes unfocused and cloudy, Gi-Gyu called out to his family before looking at Soo-Jung.

1. The author never mentioned and never mentions these rules. Even in this chapter, he just used the word "rules" to convey there might be some rules, which he never mentions. ☜