The Player Who Can't Level Up

Since only Gi-Gyu knew the reason behind the vibrations, everyone else was confused. Then suddenly, the vibrations stopped.

“Huhhh?” one of the players gasped. At first, it seemed that nothing was happening. But the change immediately after made the players scream for their lives.

“Run!” one of the Blue Dragon Guild members shouted.

“Arghhhh!” another shriek.

Suddenly, the ground beneath their feet began gaining altitude. It wasn’t a mountain-like creature that was rising like before. The land itself was surging upward. Many players standing on top of it fell helplessly. Some tried to hold on by plunging their swords into the ground, but it was useless. Only Gi-Gyu was left standing.

‘At least no one will die from the fall.’ Gi-Gyu thought. Since weaklings weren’t allowed in this gate hunting group, the steep fall didn’t kill anyone.

-What an unkind thing to say.

Lou muttered, but Gi-Gyu didn’t bother answering him. Not because he had no retort, but because he was preoccupied with doing his best not to lose his balance and fall. If the shaky, soaring ground weren’t one of his problems, he still would’ve to deal with Botis’ dark energy. It sent dirt and stones exploding everywhere, ensuring that Gi-Gyu could barely see anything.

Lou and El shouted their warnings.

-You gotta jump!

-Master! You must run!

‘I know that!’ Gi-Gyu muttered in annoyance. The magic aura he felt from Botis was extraordinary. He removed his swords stuck in the ground and quickly jumped off Botis using his elemental skill.

“Michael!” When Gi-Gyu yelled, Michael replied, “Got it!”

Michael seemingly knew exactly what Gi-Gyu was asking him to do.

Michael waved his hands to summon a skill Gi-Gyu had never seen before. “Saint Area!”

Michael’s hands and wings resonated to create a giant circle. Soon, a clear barrier with a bluish tinge appeared all around Botis.

Ba dum!

Ba dum!

Ba dum!

Suddenly, Botis began to jolt, followed by pained screams.

“Kaaaa!”

Despite the numerous distractions, Michael didn’t stop and hurriedly placed a barrier around Botis. However, that wasn’t enough to protect all the players.

“Dammit. What the hell is this?!” Crouched on the ground, Gi-Gyu stared at the scene unfolding before his eyes. A cocoon with sharp thorns as weapons and armor had filled the battlefield. The cocoon thorns were like mindless drones since they stabbed and attacked both sides.

Lou yelled in shock,

-This is Botis’ cocoon!

His voice filled with rage, Lou muttered.

-Andras, that bastard…

But Gi-Gyu wasn’t paying attention to Lou anymore. He was too preoccupied with the familiar energy flowing out of the giant cocoon.

“S-Suk-Woo?” Gi-Gyu whispered, realizing it was his friend’s aura.

“Run!” Suddenly, Michael’s desperate warning echoed in the area. The barrier he created, Saint Area, was shaking as if it was about to shatter.

Ba dum!

Ba dum!

Botis began jolting again, and this time, it was followed by a loud explosion.

Kaboom!

The battlefield became a mess beyond recognition.

***

The cocoon’s deadly thorns covered the ground. Without discrimination, the thorns attack both sides, killing numerous mantises and chimeras. Luckily, the players received minimal damage thanks to Michael’s barrier and the players’ superior reflexes. There were some fatalities, but it was minor.

“Dammit,” Gi-Gyu mumbled, unable to think. This giant cocoon was the same one he saw in Botis’ territory. He asked, “That’s Botis?!”

Lou replied.

-I didn’t expect this either. Botis was big, but he was never this big.

Lou was confused as well.

-The fact that Botis created a cocoon must mean…

Lou couldn’t finish his thought because another explosion occurred not too far away from Gi-Gyu. He quickly stepped back to dodge it and noticed the surviving corps commanders rushing toward him as if to protect Botis.

From afar, Tao Chen shouted, “We will take care of the corps commanders! You must kill that giant cocoon!”

“Grandmaster! We will ensure that these monsters don’t touch a single hair on your body!” Hal rushed forward as he declared gallantly. Tao Chen, raising his Green Dragon Crescent Blade, and Hal, swinging his halberd, placed themselves between Gi-Gyu and the corps commanders.

“Dammit! We’ll help too, so just do something!” Choi Chang-Yong screamed as well. After a long and enlightening journey, he had finally accepted that Gi-Gyu was powerful. Now, he was desperate for Gi-Gyu to take care of the boss monster.

-Botis is gonna go berserk.

“Berserk?” Gi-Gyu asked as he positioned himself. He placed Lou in front and El at the back. After working with them for so long, Gi-Gyu had learned that Lou was best for attacking while El was perfect for defense. They were a perfect team, and Gi-Gyu couldn’t be any prouder of them.

Lou explained in a hurry.

-When Botis feels threatened, he makes a cocoon. Botis’s cocoon is like a ticking bomb! You must draw Botis out of his cocoon! Or else this entire space will explode!

“But…! I can feel Suk-Woo’s presence from inside that cocoon! What’s happening?!” When Gi-Gyu asked, Lou replied,

-How should I know, you bastard?!

El shouted in concern,

-Master! You must hurry!

Ba dum!

Ba dum!

The cocoon began to thump again, making the ground shake.

“Dammit!” Gi-Gyu swore, realizing he didn’t have the time to think.

Thud!

He kicked the ground and bounced up like a metal spring; his leap perfectly matched the cocoon’s heartbeat. Then, Gi-Gyu crossed El and Lou to block the thorns. The other players were fighting the corps commanders to protect him, so he had to protect them in return.

“Hup!” As Gi-Gyu yelled, violet energy flowed from Lou. This dark magic wrapped itself around the thorns and melted them away. Thankfully, the players behind Gi-Gyu remained safe.

“Please take care of the boss monster!” Tao Chen encouraged Gi-Gyu.

“Do it now! Kill it!” Choi Chang-Yong screamed in desperation.

“We believe in you!” Lee Bum-Jun yelled earnestly.

“Dammit! I’ll join you after killing these corps commanders!” Michael grumbled.

Gi-Gyu used one partially melted thorn as a stepping stone to hop closer to the cocoon. He floated like the wind as he asked, “El, can you do it?”

-I have about two more shots left, Master!

When El replied, Gi-Gyu replied, “Okay!”

Still in the air, Gi-Gyu aimed El at the cocoon. Slowly, El began to exude light particles; simultaneously, Gi-Gyu’s legs melded together before flames engulfed them via Elemental Fire.

Whir!

Whoosh!

Then, a light beam from El squarely struck the cocoon. It resulted in a faint sound, something like a breeze, but the consequential destruction was anything but that.

Crack!

Kaboom!

When El’s light beam touched the cocoon, a loud bursting sound, like a watermelon exploding by a gunshot, rang in the area. The cocoon’s surface began to burn, and the giant dust cloud thus formed blurred everyone’s vision.

“Ugh.” Gi-Gyu fell to the ground and groaned. El’s light beam attack required a certain amount of time and energy in preparation. But because there wasn’t any time to waste, Gi-Gyu had to use it in a hurry. That took a huge toll on his body.

“Is it over?” Gi-Gyu muttered. That was a powerful attack, so it was bound to deliver fatal damage.

“Dammit,” Gi-Gyu swore as he bit his lips. As the smoke cleared, he saw that his attack had created a giant hole on the cocoon’s surface. Sadly, this hole revealed another layer of silky protection underneath that seemed even more unbreakable.

***

Crackle!

Zappp!

As Lou blocked the thorns, irritatingly unpleasant sounds scratched Gi-Gyu’s ears, and sparks flew around dangerously.

“Vortex!” Choi Chang-Yong yelled in his baritone voice. Finally, he defeated a corps commander, proving he deserved that high ranker title. Although it was that one-armed corps commander, it was still quite an accomplishment.

The Blue Dragon Guild members began helping Tao Chen with the other corps commander, but Choi Chang-Yong decided to help Gi-Gyu with Botis instead.

Suddenly, a blue storm appeared behind Gi-Gyu—Choi Chang-Yong’s skill, Vortex. It made wind storms with electric currents. The thorns aimed at Gi-Gyu met this storm, resulting in a giant explosion.

Boooooom!

Loud noise filled the air again. Choi Chang-Yong’s skill had destroyed many thorns, making sprinting ahead a little easier for Gi-Gyu.

Raising Lou, Gi-Gyu murmured, “Death.”

Violet smoke flowed from Lou and melted away the rest of the thorns around Gi-Gyu. They turned into dust, and Gi-Gyu reached the cocoon safely.

Crack!

Gi-Gyu plunged Lou into the cocoon and shouted, “Death!”

Another puff of violet smoke appeared from Lou and began to melt the cocoon’s second surface. However, when it shot more thorns, Gi-Gyu had no choice but to retrieve Lou and step back.

“Dammit… At this rate, it’ll never end,” Gi-Gyu whispered in despair.

-Master, I can try again…

When El offered, Gi-Gyu shook his head and replied firmly, “No, not yet.”

If Gi-Gyu had to point out the strongest existence on the battlefield, he would say El in her evolved state. However, he couldn’t repeatedly call on El’s evolved form because the damages were cumulative in nature. She had a Life Root piece and knew how to maneuver it expertly, so forcefully evolving again wouldn’t damage her shell; it would just mount her fatigue. However, there was a limit to how often she could evolve this way. If she did go through with it again, she could, at most, maintain that form for a minute.

Gi-Gyu murmured, “And I don’t think she could do much in that minute.”

Even in her evolved form, El wasn’t powerful enough to defeat Botis in one minute. This meant that forcing her evolution again would be a waste.

“Haa…” Gi-Gyu sighed as he kicked the ground again. He continued to dodge the thorns aimed at him. This battle made him feel like a non-player trying to crack a giant rock with bare hands.

“Actually, it feels more like fighting the moon,” mumbled Gi-Gyu. His opponent was simply too humongous, and that wasn’t even what made this an impossible battle. Regardless of how many skills he used or how much damage he dealt to the cocoon, he was only damaging the very outer layer of this monster.

“At this rate…” Gi-Gyu murmured. This would end very badly.

Choi Chang-Yong screamed in despair, “Dammit! I’ve never seen a monster like this!”

There was no solution to their problem. Everyone felt dejected as they faced this hopeless situation. They could defeat the corps commanders one way or another, but there was no way to kill this boss monster.

“Dammit!” Choi Chang-Yong swore and looked around the battlefield. One fortunate thing was that Botis had killed many of its own monsters. As for the remaining mantises and chimeras, Gi-Gyu’s summoned beings took care of them.

“It looks like they are almost done with the other corps commanders,” Choi Chang-Yong murmured. Michael and the three angels were close to defeating one of the corps commanders. The last one, being fought by Tao Chen, Hal, and the knight’s order, was still fighting viciously.

The lich Hart approached and announced, “Grandmaster. I am here to help.”

Hart was riding the griffin king earlier, but it was nowhere to be seen now. Gi-Gyu assumed it had to return to the gate because it was heavily injured.

“Hart…” Gi-Gyu turned toward the lich, who wasn’t in that good a shape either. Liches were known to recover quickly; for Hart to look this bad, he must have fought with everything he had.

-There is… one way to defeat it.

Lou suddenly murmured to Gi-Gyu.