The Player Who Can't Level Up

The scene made Gi-Gyu scream in despair. The swords had impaled her in seven different places, each oozing a horrifying amount of blood.

‘No!’ Gi-Gyu screamed again despite knowing that this was just a recreation. This scene, this test, was just a simulation based on El’s memories stored inside the Tower.

‘I can’t watch El die again!’ Gi-Gyu couldn’t stand watching El’s death again. The last time El had died, he had felt terrible despair. More importantly, he didn’t want El to ever feel this kind of pain again.

But…

‘Why won’t my body move?!’ His body refused to obey him. He was floating in the air, and his transparent body could do nothing to change what was unfolding before his eyes. All he could do was stare at El, who was throwing up blood and crying.

Why? Why was this happening? Why did they plunge their swords into El?

‘I have to move! I must do something!’ Gi-Gyu screamed desperately.

-W-what the…?!

Lou stammered in confusion, but Gi-Gyu ignored him. There was only one thought in his mind and that was to save El.

‘I don’t want El to experience the pain of death again!’ Gi-Gyu yelled.

Suddenly, everyone in the room gasped. It was because Gi-Gyu’s body had materialized.

“We’re carrying out a holy ritual, so who dares to interrupt us?!” one of the archangels exclaimed.

‘It’s an enemy!” another archangel screamed.

***

“Stop it!” Gi-Gyu roared. He was no longer transparent and everyone could see and hear him.

Gi-Gyu screamed again, “I said stop this!”

Gi-Gyu moved like lightning and appeared before El. Hiding her behind him, Gi-Gyu whispered, “El…”

The six other archangels and the countless angels only watched. At first, they tried to stop Gi-Gyu, but…

El vomited more blood as she begged the other angels, “Please stop.”

Turning toward Gi-Gyu, El asked weakly, “Who are you…?”

“El…” Gi-Gyu whispered.

El replied firmly, “My name isn’t El.”

El voiced her thoughts clearly, “Right now, it doesn’t matter who you are. I don’t understand your motive, but… it is too late to stop this ritual.”

Everyone seemed shocked and wary because of Gi-Gyu’s abrupt appearance. However, El acted calm as if she had expected this. And before long, she began glowing brightly.

“No! I said stop! El!” Gi-Gyu screamed, but he couldn’t stop her.

“It’s too late now,” a familiar voice whispered. Gi-Gyu realized that it was Raphael whom he had seen earlier. Before he knew it, a pure white sword had aimed at Gi-Gyu's neck.

Raphael explained, “The ritual has already begun. She will be sealed away inside the Tower in the form of a sword.”

Gi-Gyu’s eyes became like saucers; without backing down, he screamed, “But El is your queen! I don’t know what holy goal you’re trying to achieve here, but how could you kill your queen like this?!”

Emotions ran wild in his mind, making his improved intelligence seem useless. All he could think of was how to save El. It was just a simulated world, but he didn’t want to lose her even in a simulation.

“El! Stop this! Stop it right now! El!”

El must have felt his sincere emotions because she turned to him with a pained look in his eyes. “Who are you? Why do you feel so strongly about me?”

“I’m your master!” Gi-Gyu screamed.

El and all the other angels became silent. It was as if time suddenly stopped for everyone. Even Gi-Gyu, who was being ruled by his emotions and seemed oblivious of everyone else around him, looked around in confusion. He realized that all the angels, who had their heads bowed previously, were staring at him. Raphael had also lowered his sword. The other archangels took a step back and watched Gi-Gyu with an unreadable expression. An uncountable number of eyes were on him.

“What the…?!” Gi-Gyu was confused. He hadn’t expected to receive such a reaction from everyone.

Finally, Gabriel questioned Gi-Gyu, “Do you have any idea what you have just claimed?”

Gabriel’s voice carried great respect. Even Raphael seemed confused as he whispered, “What are you saying…?”

“I’m El’s master,” Gi-Gyu declared calmly again. Indeed, he was El’s master; it wouldn’t change regardless of where he was. Simulation, past, future—none of that mattered. El would always belong to him.

Another silence fell. Looking pale, El looked up at him and whispered, “You are…”

Her head slumped. El seemed contemplative as she continued, “This can’t be…”

Murmur.

The other angels began to chat among themselves. The heavy silence was gone, followed by the archangels screaming at Gi-Gyu.

“H-how dare you…?!” Raphael trembled as he screamed. Swinging his sword at Gi-Gyu, Raphael yelled, “How dare you impersonate god?! You shall be punished!”

***

The moment Gi-Gyu had decided to save El, he knew there would be a battle. And his guess came true. Only one sword attacked him, but seven spectra followed to attack him. Unfortunately, these spectra weren’t mere illusions but a real aggregate of divine power strong enough to damage him.

“Hup!” Gi-Gyu roared. He didn’t waste any time trying to assess his opponent since he already knew enough about the attacker.

‘In terms of swordsmanship, he might be even stronger than El,’ Gi-Gyu thought. Raphael was an archangel infamous for his strength. He had led countless battles against hell into victory and killed numerous demons. Gi-Gyu had no intention of underestimating such a powerful enemy.

A sword made of Death appeared in Gi-Gyu’s hand.

“What?!” Raphael screamed in shock. It wasn’t because Gi-Gyu blocked his sword easily but because Gi-Gyu appeared to be wielding death.

“That’s…!” another archangel nearby yelled. “That’s the power of Death! Dammit! So is he the one who was the ruler of hell?!”

They called him the hell ruler, but Gi-Gyu had no time to concentrate on their conversation. He was having a hard enough time blocking Raphael’s sword.

‘Botis’ skill isn’t working here.’ Gi-Gyu thought in disappointment. Foresight was proving itself useless against Raphael. More specifically, Gi-Gyu could see Raphael’s next move, but he couldn’t escape it. In fact, Foresight was even giving him wrong information.

-Isn’t it obvious?

Slice.

Raphael’s sword managed to cut Gi-Gyu’s clothes. A sweat drop fell from Gi-Gyu’s forehead as he stepped back. He was grateful that the other archangels or the angels didn’t join Raphael in attacking him. He positioned himself lower and tried to find Raphael’s weak spot when he heard Lou.

-Botis’ Foresight is a great skill, but it won’t work against higher beings. Think about it. If Foresight worked on everyone, wouldn’t Botis have taken me out and become the king of hell?

This made sense. Even though Foresight was an incredible skill, Botis only held a low Seat of Power in hell. This proved that this ability was a very limited one.

Raphael moved even quicker as he screamed, “You have committed the sin of impersonating god! And you even interrupted our ritual! Therefore, you must die for it!”

Every time Raphael swung his sword, one shiny wing would sprout on his back. Gi-Gyu knew exactly what this was.

Raphael’s ultimate skill.

Once all 22 of Raphael's wings had unfolded, he could use the powerful fire. That was something even Lou, in his prime, would struggle against. So if Raphael reached this power level, Gi-Gyu would die.

“Dammit!” Gi-Gyu swore, aware he needed to finish this battle as quickly as possible. He felt apologetic toward Raphael, but…

‘He’s only data anyway.’ Gi-Gyu rationalized his decision. He needed to kill Raphael and save El. Unlike Raphael, who was nothing more than data, the real El was inside this simulation El. Gi-Gyu couldn’t stand El going through that pain again.

“W-what the…?!” Raphael stammered when he saw the Death sword in Gi-Gyu’s hand grow bigger. It was twice the size now, and…

Raphael screamed, “That’s definitely the hell king! To be able to use Death like that…!”

Another sword made of Death appeared in Gi-Gyu’s other hand. Gi-Gyu moved both of his hands rapidly as he advanced toward Raphael.

Clank!

Raphael’s sword fell helplessly to the ground. At the same time…

“...!” Another silence fell. This time, it was filled with despair and fear. Every eye turned toward Gi-Gyu’s back.

Flutter.

A set of black wings had sprouted on Gi-Gyu’s back.

“Die.” Gi-Gyu swung his two swords.

***

Raphael was now on the defensive because the battle had abruptly taken a turn. Before he could unfold all of his wings, he had no choice but to kneel. Had all the archangels fought Gi-Gyu simultaneously, things might have been different, but they didn’t get involved. All they did was watch Raphael and Gi-Gyu’s battle.

“Kill me,” Raphael said to Gi-Gyu as he looked up.

But Gi-Gyu didn’t attack Raphael further because he couldn’t understand the situation. He whispered, “Why…?”

Gi-Gyu had abruptly appeared with a sword, yet only Raphael fought back. The other archangels and countless angels only watched from afar.

“El…” Gi-Gyu turned toward El, who was still alive. Gi-Gyu made his Death swords and the black wings disappear.

Furious, Raphael screamed, “What are you doing? Are you playing a trick on me?!”

Ignoring Raphael and all the other angels, Gi-Gyu walked away. There was no point in killing them; that wasn’t what he wanted.

‘And I don’t want El to die even if this is a simulated world.’ Gi-Gyu didn’t doubt this was something that had happened in El’s past.

So…

‘Even if this is not real, I…’ Gi-Gyu thought desperately. He wanted to give El’s story a different end this time. Gi-Gyu knelt in front of El so that their eyes could meet. Then, they silently watched each other.

Gi-Gyu had many questions. Why didn’t the other angels attack him? What was El trying to achieve by getting stabbed like this?

And who was he really?

But Gi-Gyu didn’t ask these questions. All he did was whisper her name.

“El.” When he placed his hand on her shoulder, El yelled, “You’re…!”

Life flowed through his hand to El, making her gasp. Gi-Gyu wanted to continue pouring his power to heal her, but suddenly his hand fell to the ground.

Stab.

Something had been thrust into his chest, making him vomit blood.