The Player Who Can't Level Up

“Demons stealing players’ bodies…” Gi-Gyu whispered as he recalled what had happened before. Earlier, his enemies had become beastly when the sorcerous energy from the syringes had engulfed them.

Gi-Gyu looked at Sung-Hoon and replied, “Yes, that’s correct.”

As if aware of what Gi-Gyu was thinking, Sung-Hoon continued, “I’m referring to something else. Those players that attacked you earlier didn’t get their bodies stolen by demons.”

Sung-Hoon smiled bitterly as he added, “I will tell you more about that later. Anyway, when you entered the Tower to take the 50th-floor test, all the unratable gates in the world were cleared.”

Looking grim, Sung-Hoon explained, “Everyone was so happy since our world had overcome a serious crisis, believing everything would return to normal. We even thought our world would improve thanks to all that we have learned and gained from the unratable gates.”

“Things gained from the unratable gates?” Gi-Gyu asked for clarification.

Sung-Hoon nodded and answered, “Most of the rewards from these exceptional gates were either relics or demonic properties. Many believed we could study and incorporate hell’s technology into our own.”

This reminded Gi-Gyu of how he had obtained the cocoon. It appeared that some rewards from the unratable gates had been similar to Botis’ cocoon.

“But it was all a trap,” Sung-Hoon announced.

Gi-Gyu’s eyes widened.

Gi-Gyu could feel Sung-Hoon’s fists shake as he continued, “It was a trap. Those relics and properties were just a tool. A medium to steal our bodies.”

***

“So…” Gi-Gyu hesitated before summarizing what he had just heard.

“The demons feigned defeat to set a trap? Is that what you’re telling me? They gave up their gates to spread their relics, which was a trap. And by the time the players figured this out, it was too late? Because many high-level and important players had already lost their bodies?”

Gi-Gyu mumbled in disbelief, “That’s what you’re telling me?”

“Yes, mostly. Just… many players still don’t know what happened, and what is happening.”

“What?!”

Sung-Hoon smiled bitterly and explained, “Many players and non-players still don’t know demons have stolen numerous players’ bodies. They just think that the demonic relics from the unratable gates helped us become stronger.”

“How is that possible? After the situation progressed this much?” Gi-Gyu asked in frustration. He still hadn’t heard a lot of the details, but it sounded like quite some players had lost their bodies. Yet, there were still people who weren’t aware of this?

Wouldn’t one act utterly different if their body was stolen? How were the other people not noticing that something was wrong?

This didn’t make any sense at all.

“Actually, not much changes about a player even if they have a demon inside. They hide in a player’s subconsciousness, affecting the players’ actions only when they want. They rarely reveal themselves fully, and they do this by eating parts of the players’ consciousness.”

A short silence fell before Gi-Gyu replied, “So they leave parts of a player’s consciousness intact and take control only when necessary. I get it now. It makes sense that many people didn’t notice anything suspicious.”

“Yes, that’s exactly what happened.” Sung-Hoon nodded. “Until demons give off their demonic energy to make an appearance, it is impossible to tell which players have lost their bodies.”

Gi-Gyu finally realized how serious the situation had become. This meant that there was no way of distinguishing friends from foes.

Old Man Hwang seemed confused as he suggested, “This doesn’t make sense. We’re talking about powerful creatures hiding inside a shell much smaller than them. There has to be a way to tell.”

“Yes, I’m sure there is.” Sung-Hoon gave the blacksmith a bitter smile before replying, “But we got no time to figure it out. Before we knew what was happening, demons had already stolen many players’ bodies and infiltrated our world. We couldn’t even tell that we had enemies among us. They invaded us like an invisible fog.”

Old Man Hwang became quiet, and Sung-Hoon continued, “While we were investigating the relics, more and more players lost their bodies to demons. Some of us knew about it but had no power to stop this. The Korean Players Association is certainly powerful, but most players couldn’t resist the relics’ temptation. The KPA insisted that we stop studying these relics so that we don’t get used by demons.”

Gi-Gyu couldn’t help but snigger. He knew exactly what must have happened. Humans were such greedy creatures that they would take impossible risks just to become stronger.

Gi-Gyu murmured, “Even if they knew how dangerous it could be… I know they wouldn’t have given such powerful items up.”

“Exactly. The media actually claimed that the KPA was trying to monopolize the relics and their powers. The conspiracy theory began spreading, and I can see why.” Sung-Hoon’s face darkened in grief. It looked like he had almost given up.

“None of the unratable gates in Korea gave any relics, but the ones in the other countries did. Do you understand what I’m trying to say?” Sung-Hoon asked.

Old Man Hwang answered, “The population believes the KPA stole the relics from the Korean gates to create a monopoly. Am I right?”

“Yes, Sir.”

Old Man Hwang clicked his tongue before muttering, “Of course… This would be the most logical conclusion if every country except Korea got the relics.”

“Sounds like a perfect plan,” Gi-Gyu announced. Sung-Hoon and Old Man Hwang turned toward Gi-Gyu as he continued, “It’s obvious that they were trying to isolate Korea from the beginning. Someone wants the KPA blamed and isolated…”

‘And that someone has to be that annoying Marquis of Dissension Andras. Probably planned this whole thing.‘

Sung-Hoon added, “Korea was quickly isolated and lost its reputation. And all of this is because of…”

Gi-Gyu smiled, knowing what exactly must have happened. “The high-level members of the World Players Association have already lost their bodies to demons, haven't they?”

Sung-Hoon flinched and replied, “Yes…”

“The KPA may be a powerful organization, but if the rest of the world and the media works against it, crushing it wouldn’t be impossible. So the collapse of the Korean Players Association was…”

Inevitable.

It appeared that Andras’ plan worked out perfectly. He had used human greed for power and the competitive relationships among the players against them. It was indeed a perfect plan.

“That Andras… incredible.” Gi-Gyu was impressed. It had orchestrated a plan so intricate and genius that some of the strongest players were in the middle of an ugly conspiracy now.

-I told you this would be annoying.

Lou, who had been quiet until now, muttered.

“Yeah, you’re right,” Gi-Gyu agreed. There was no doubt that Andras was indeed an annoying figure.

Still finding something odd, Gi-Gyu commented, “It still doesn't make sense. The KPA was a powerful organization, so it should have been able to endure the world’s criticism. It also had incredible high rankers comparable to the Angela Guild’s best, so how could it go down so easily like this?”

Suddenly, Sung-Hoon smiled. He seemed amused for the first time since they had met as he replied, “I never said that the Korean Players Association has collapsed.”

“Pardon?”

Was Sung-Hoon joking? A confused look appeared on both Gi-Gyu and Old Man Hwang’s faces. Slowly, a theory developed in Gi-Gyu’s head.

“You mean…?!” Gi-Gyu yelled.

Sung-Hoon nodded.

Gi-Gyu asked in shock, “Are you saying President Oh Tae-Gu and Tae-Shik hyung purposefully disbanded the KPA?”

“Yes. This has been in the works for a while. According to General Manager Oh Tae-Shik, they started planning this the day you told him about Andras’ plan, Ranker Kim Gi-Gyu,” Sung-Hoon explained.

Gi-Gyu couldn't hide his shock. He had just realized what an idiot he had been. All his life, he had never been proactive. Whenever a situation arose, he would simply use brute strength to handle it.

Yet…

‘Just how far ahead are they thinking?’ Gi-Gyu was in awe. He couldn’t see it himself, but Tae-Shik was seemingly always planning for the bigger picture.

Of course, Andras was doing the same.

Just what were these people’s ultimate goals?

“President Oh Tae-Gu and General Manager Oh Tae-Shik foresaw this, which is why they prepared for it as best as they could,” Sung-Hoon explained.

***

Sung-Hoon continued, “Losing a player to a demon means we’re losing an important ally and gaining a powerful enemy. But, the more important thing is…”

Gi-Gyu nodded, prompting Sung-Hoon.

“Our world is run by the rich and the powerful. If the demons stole their bodies…” said Sung-Hoon.

“So they knew this was coming,” Gi-Gyu mumbled.

“Indeed. And they decided that it was best to avoid unnecessary fights. To preserve as much strength as possible, they came up with a plan.” Sung-Hoon told Gi-Gyu about Oh Tae-Gu and Oh Tae-Shik’s reasoning for their actions.

Sung-Hoon continued, “They intentionally disbanded the KPA, pretending it couldn’t survive the pressure from the rest of the world. This way, the important figures high up in the KPA would remain unscathed, and…”

“I suppose this would also preserve the KPA’s secret army, Grigory, right?” Gi-Gyu guessed.

Sung-Hoon’s eyes widened as he asked, “What did you obtain from the 50th floor, Ranker Kim Gi-Gyu? I wouldn’t say you were stupid before, but…”

Gi-Gyu believed he would feel hurt if he heard the rest of Sung-Hoon’s sentence. So he quickly interrupted Sung-Hoon and asked, “So what happened after that?”

“Oh, so that was the plan. They were going to make it look like KPA collapsed from the pressure, but… Something unexpected happened.”

“What was it?” asked Gi-Gyu. What more could have happened?

Sung-Hoon answered, “Andras himself made a move. He had been hiding, but suddenly, he led the Caravan Guild into the world. By then, he had already won over many of the world’s leaders, and…”

Sung-Hoon watched Gi-Gyu nervously as he added, “He had the Iron Guild leading his army.”

Gi-Gyu twitched a little as he whispered, “The Iron Guild…”

Gi-Gyu didn’t fly into a rage, which made Sung-Hoon sigh in relief.

“The Caravan Guild and Andras moved quickly. They seemingly didn’t believe that the KPA had really collapsed, so they began making up reasons to fight the KPA.”

Gi-Gyu clenched his fists in fury as he listened. He was angry toward Andras, of course, but…

‘Ironshield.’ Just thinking of his nemesis’ name was enough to make Gi-Gyu shake.

Sung-Hoon explained, “Using the player bodies they had stolen, they continuously provoked President Oh Tae-Gu and General Manager Oh Tae-Shik.”

Old Man Hwang seemed furious as he murmured, “What a disgusting bunch.”

“Many things happened, but I’ll keep it simple. In the end, a massive battle occurred. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say it was a full-blown war.” It seemed that Sung-Hoon didn’t want to waste any more time. “Before this battle occurred, Lucifer returned to Korea and took your family away, which everyone agreed was for the best.”

Gi-Gyu nodded in agreement, and Sung-Hoon resumed, “President Oh Tae-Gu and General Manager Oh Tae-Shik… declared war against the Caravan and the Iron Guilds. They felt confident because they had Grigory, a mighty army. The KPA’s strength shocked the whole world. They knew the KPA was strong before but knowing and seeing are different things. The KPA was unexpectedly strong, so the battle was long and vicious.”

It sounded like Sung-Hoon had participated in this battle because Gi-Gyu could see the hot rage in his eyes.

Sung-Hoon continued, “The KPA was very close to winning. It was about to officially defeat the Caravan Guild and the Iron Guild, but…”

“What happened?” Gi-Gyu asked, noticing Sung-Hoon’s shaking fingers. He recognized the emotion Sung-Hoon felt, so he kept his voice quiet.

Fear.

Sung-Hoon felt true fear at the moment. The expression on Sung-Hoon’s face resembled that of Gi-Gyu’s enemies when Lou had descended and eaten the enemies alive.

Sung-Hoon’s voice shook as he mumbled, “It was someone we’ve never seen before… No one knew who he was… When he appeared, everything changed… Ugh… Ugh…”

Pure fear took over Sung-Hoon’s mind. Gi-Gyu and Old Man Hwang looked at each other before Gi-Gyu asked silently, ‘El, can you help him?’ 

It seemed Sung-Hoon couldn’t continue speaking, so Gi-Gyu asked for El’s help to calm him down.

-Of course, Master.

A bright light appeared from El, who was in her ring form. This warm light slowly hugged Sung-Hoon; gradually, his breathing returned to normal.

Unfortunately, the fear in Sung-Hoon’s eyes didn’t disappear.

‘Just who was it that he saw?’ Gi-Gyu wondered.

“I’m sorry… Ranker Kim Gi-Gyu… I’ve embarrassed myself…” Sung-Hoon apologized. Controlling his emotions, Sung-Hoon continued, “He appeared, and… everything changed. General Manager Oh Tae-Shik and President Oh Tae-Gu personally led the team to deal with him. They were trying to preserve as much of Grigory as possible.”

Suddenly, Sung-Hoon bit his lips and whispered, “And then… it was over.”

Gi-Gyu felt frustrated when Sung-Hoon paused, but he waited patiently.

Before long, Sung-Hoon explained, “Even with President Oh Tae-Gu and General Manager Oh Tae-Shik, we lost.”

“...!”

“They were exhausted from fighting Ironshield and Andras, but even so… It was such an overwhelming defeat. It didn’t even seem like ‘he’ was using all of his strength… He was moving as if he was toying with us. Despite this, we lost. Afterward, Ironshield and Andras sent both President Oh Tae-Gu and General Manager Oh Tae-Shik to Gehenna.”

Gi-Gyu asked, “But didn’t you say Tae-Shik hyung wasn’t taken to Gehenna?”

Sung-Hoon nodded and replied, “He was saved. After we lost, four people came to our rescue.”

Gi-Gyu looked straight into Sung-Hoon’s eyes when Sung-Hoon named the four players. “Lucifer, Lim Hye-Sook from the Gypsophila Guild, the Cain Guild’s Guild Master Yoo Suk-Woo, and…”

Sung-Hoon seemed doubtful even as he mumbled, “Guild Master Lee Sun-Ho from the Angela Guild. These four players came and rescued President Oh Tae-Gu and General Manager Oh Tae-Shik.”