The Player Who Can't Level Up

“That’s it? It’s over already?” Gi-Gyu asked when he was transferred to another place.

[Yes, this part of the memory has ended.]

Despite this part being much shorter, Gi-Gyu felt like he had learned something much more important this time.

He murmured, “Gabriel and my father… They definitely worked together. And my father…”

It seemed that Lou and El had been imprisoned back then because of his father. So, in a manner of speaking, his father was responsible for making El and Lou’s lives miserable. They were precious to Gi-Gyu, so he couldn’t help feeling upset.

“And Gaia,” whispered Gi-Gyu. That was what his father said while looking in the pit with that woman. It had to be the name of the woman inside the yellow sphere. Things were becoming more and more complicated; Gi-Gyu had a difficult time organizing his thoughts. All this new information almost made him dizzy since what he had learned was beyond what Lou and El had told him.

The secrets of the Tower.

The reason the Tower was built.

Suddenly, the system began narrating a story.

[Kronos became the leader of the human world. However, Gaia was the one truly worthy of ruling the human world.]

The system continued.

[But Gaia gave the position to Kronos and hid. Instead of becoming the human world’s leader, she stayed here at the construction site where the Tower was being built. She became responsible for summoning Chaos’ power and transferring it to the Tower.]

The system gave additional information to fill the gap.

[She was revered as the goddess in her land. In fact, she was the closest creature to God next to El.]

So why did such a woman decide to defy God? And willingly at that?

[The Tower builders succeeded in summoning the Chaos’ power. These immortals took thousands of years to complete the Tower.]

‘So they succeeded in finishing the Tower… Well, that’s obvious since even I have benefited from the Tower.’ 

[The power the Tower could wield was beyond these builders’ wildest expectations. They felt certain they could kill God, and that was how it all began.]

Fwoosh.

Gi-Gyu was returned to the hallway with the candles.

[The war to kill God—no, to capture God to steal his power.]

The last sentence sounded like a whisper. Listening carefully, Gi-Gyu looked around. He could see dozens of candles now. Which one was he supposed to touch next? Which memory would he be shown?

[This is the last memory.]

The system ordered firmly.

[Please head toward the 12th candle.]

Gi-Gyu walked and asked, “Is this the end?”

[That’s right. You are only allowed three candles, which is already more than normal. The Tower cannot read your present and future, so it doesn’t know what information you need.]

Gi-Gyu wondered, ‘Then what about the two memories I was shown just now? How were they selected?’

[Those were selected by me. After reading your mind and having watched you, I…]

Gi-Gyu paused before the 12th candle and asked, “Watching me?”

When the system didn’t answer, Gi-Gyu whispered, “Well… I guess it’s fair. After all, I was told I would learn more about you after this test.”

That is what the system had claimed at the beginning. He would learn about the things he was curious about and get information about the system.

Since this was the last memory, he suspected it would be quite important and probably related to the system. So far, he was satisfied with the information he had gotten.

‘I learned a lot about El and Lou’s past. I also learned a bit about my father.’ Gi-Gyu thought. Unfortunately, the small memory didn’t tell him everything about his father.

Why marry his mother, why father a child only to look at him with resentment, and what kind of man was his father? He had questions but not enough answers to form a conclusion.

‘For now, he looks to be a mad man…’ This wasn’t how Gi-Gyu wanted to see his father, but this was the only description he could come up with. In the memories, Kronos had informed that his goal was to steal God’s power for all the rulers to share. But in truth, it appeared that he had an ulterior motive.

‘He wanted to take both Chaos and God’s power for himself to rule the world.’ 

Did his father want to become the new God? If so, why?

Gi-Gyu could make an educated guess. His father was human, a species of powerful greed and desire. So it made perfect sense that the head of the human world, his father, had obsessively pursued power.

[Please touch the 12th candle now.]

Gi-Gyu raised his hand to touch the light at the system's insistence. Surprisingly, he couldn’t tell if the flame felt warm or cold.

Fwoosh.

He was transferred to watch the last memory.

***

Kaboom!

Before Gi-Gyu could realize where he was, the whole world shook from an explosion. He felt no physical pain and only saw his sight shake as his surroundings trembled.

‘What was that?’ Gi-Gyu shouted in shock. As expected, no voice came out of his mouth. Just like in the other memories, he could only communicate through his mind.

[This is the last memory.]

When the system replied, Gi-Gyu looked around as he waited for further explanation. Suddenly, Gi-Gyu saw something that told him where he was.

The Underground.

This was the place where his father and Gabriel were standing before.

[This is a memory from the war to kill God.]

It was war indeed. Continuous loud noises and smoke so thick that Gi-Gyu had difficulty seeing anything filled the air.

[The smoke will be eliminated.]

With the smoke gone, Gi-Gyu could now see many familiar figures. They were the rulers of the world he saw in the first memory.

“Focus your energy!” Kronos ordered.

Anu screamed, “I am doing my best! Don’t yell at me!”

The rulers were surrounding something familiar. It was the pit where Gaia was seen in the second memory. Gaia, still inside the yellow sphere, was in the air, and every creature had his hands raised toward her. It looked like the rulers were feeding Gaia their power.

Kronos announced, “We will get only one chance! God will show himself just once!”

‘God will show himself?’ Gi-Gyu became curious.

Luckily, Kronos explained, “God, a substanceless existence, had only shown himself when Chaos’ power was revealed! He will do it again since we’ve summoned Chaos. That will be our chance! We will kill God and connect the Tower to him!”

At Kronos’ encouragement, everyone concentrated their power further into Gaia, but the rulers couldn’t hide their fear.

“Dammit! The Tower’s power output is too big for us to handle!” one ruler screamed.

“At this rate, the Tower will explode before we can kill God!” another shrieked.

The world rulers being so afraid was a rare sight; it indicated the severity of the situation. They sweat profusely as if death was approaching them all.

Kronos urged, “Please hold on for a while longer! Gaia is going to pull Chaos out soon! Just a bit more!”

The power gathering around Gaia grew. It looked like the rulers were simply feeding their power to Gaia—a task so simple that any player could do it. However, the rulers were panicking, and Gi-Gyu could tell why.

‘Just… how much energy and power is that?’ Gi-Gyu wondered in awe. It was only a memory, but he could still feel the power. The amount of power being poured into Gaia wasn’t quantifiable. It looked like it would be enough to swallow the whole world.

‘This is the power of the rulers,’ Gi-Gyu thought in shock. It was as if those figures alone had every ounce of power available in the world. And all of it was being concentrated in one place.

Gi-Gyu felt goosebumps all over. Just how much power could these rulers use? And who was this Gaia who could accept it all?

And how was he supposed to feel about God, Chaos, El, and Lou, who were even more powerful than those standing here?

[This was possible because the Tower connected every world in every dimension.]

The system’s calm voice sounded ironic against the turmoil-filled background.

[The Tower pierced all the dimensions and connected the worlds. This was why the rulers here were given the right to use all the world's powers. The power these rulers held was much less than what they wielded here. Your guess just now was correct. They indeed did what you thought they were doing.]

‘No way! Could it be…’

[That’s right. They are squeezing their worlds for power to feed Gaia.]

‘That can’t be! What would that do to the world?’ Gi-Gyu screamed in shock.

[The world and the Tower had already begun fusing. They wanted all the worlds to become one and rule it as true gods.]

Gi-Gyu turned back toward the rulers. After hearing the system’s explanation, he could feel the infectious madness from them. And it all began with Kronos.

[It will now begin.]

“Kwarrrrrrk!” something roared viciously.

One of the rulers shouted, “It’s here!”

It appeared that Gaia had managed to pull Chaos out. The rulers had temporarily bent God’s seal that trapped Chaos so that Gaia could do this.

Chaos roared.

‘Just what IS Chaos…?’ Gi-Gyu wondered. The rulers had claimed Chaos was out, but Gi-Gyu couldn’t see anything. However, he could feel and hear it. Chaos’ cry was enough to make all souls weep.

“Ackkkk!” Anu suddenly covered his ears with his hands.

Kronos ordered, “Snap out of it! This isn’t the time to back down!”

“What the hell am I supposed to do?! I think I’m going to die… No… I can’t… I,” Anu screamed as he fell to the ground.

Thump!

Suddenly, Gaia’s sphere shook.

Kronos yelled, “Dammit! The direction of the energy—”

Suddenly, Gabriel appeared in the sky. His wings flapping, he yelled, “He will be appearing soon!”

“Gabriel! You need to help us right now! At this rate, we will only end up releasing Chaos to the world!” Kronos begged.

Gabriel seemed annoyed, but he still positioned himself as he swore, “Dammit!”

Thanks to Gabriel’s help, Gaia’s sphere stabilized again.

Kronos announced, “Chaos will soon swallow all the power, and we will be able to use this combined energy.”

‘Chaos will swallow all the power?’

Kronos continued, “Once Chaos and the world’s power combine, a huge force will be created! It will be enough to defeat God. So just a bit more! Just a little while longer!”

Suddenly, a deadly silence fell.

Only quiet prevailed in the area until Gabriel murmured, “It’s finally happening.”

Gabriel trembled in fear as if he was dying prey in dead winter.

Fwoosh…

A strange noise was heard before the area lit up. Gabriel was about to drop to his knees in fear when he said, “God has finally appeared.”

Kronos suddenly screamed, “Gaia!”