The Player Who Can't Level Up

People were concerned yet expectant when the gates and the Tower had first appeared. Many wondered if mythical creatures like dragons really existed.

Would these supernatural creatures appear in their world?

The public had been excited to see these beings, but they also feared a world where these beings were the apex predators.

“Dragon,” Gi-Gyu mumbled. Meanwhile, Hermes glowed as he studied what stood before him.

The creature’s body was made of water, and it was wiggling slowly. It looked like a dragon; to be precise, a water dragon.

-Well, it’s something similar, but not exactly the same.

Lou’s words sounded a little slower than usual.

Gi-Gyu wasn’t using the full strength of Super Rush, but rather a more controlled state, which must have been why he could still hear Lou.

-Stay alert and cautious.

Lou warned firmly, his voice no longer lagging.

Gi-Gyu grasped Lou and El tightly. Lou exuded dark energy so powerful that it seemed like he wanted to overwhelm the entire space.

Lou informed Gi-Gyu,

-Control yourself.

Following his suggestion, Gi-Gyu got the dark energy, Death, under his control. Before long, the energy had been concentrated and reduced in size. Now, it was only covering Lou’s sword form.

-Go.

Lou whispered.

As soon as Gi-Gyu stepped forward, Leviathan roared.

-Kerrrrk!

Gi-Gyu could hear its roar, which meant Leviathan had invaded his accelerated time axis. He felt nervous and excited as he thought, ‘I guess he’s a hell king for a reason.’

As a smorgasbord of emotions raced in his head, he swung Lou toward the Leviathan, the water dragon.

Slice.

***

Super Rush could create an accelerated time axis; Leviathan and Gi-Gyu were currently fighting in it. Leviathan, who already had no problem matching Gi-Gyu’s speed, began moving even faster. Meanwhile, Gi-Gyu’s fatigue was mounting, but Leviathan’s pained screams were a great encouragement.

-Kerrrk!

The giant water dragon was suffering from Gi-Gyu’s attacks. The hell king attacked Gi-Gyu with everything it had, but he dodged it at a mind-numbing speed.

Gi-Gyu had been using the time between each of Leviathan’s attacks to wound the dragon. There was nothing Death could not cut through. It could even wound water, air, space, fire, and pretty much everything in between.

Leviathan screamed,

-How?! How do you have that ability?! Lucifer!

It looked like Leviathan was shooting water rivulets, but it was actually extremely concentrated sorcerous energy and magic. The dragon was shooting dozens, no hundreds, of such rivulets.

Whoosh, whoosh.

These rivulets nearly reached Gi-Gyu, but they didn’t actually touch his skin. Still, the wind pressure from them was enough to cut his skin.

‘Focus.’ Gi-Gyu told himself to bring out Hermes’ full potential.

Creak.

The problem was that Gi-Gyu had been barely enduring the accelerated time as is. And his joints were already audibly creaking in protest.

-Master.

El whispered.

Gradually, Gi-Gyu felt his fatigue vanishing, as El had used Life to heal him. He focused back on quickly attacking the water dragon. Already, there were several black cuts on the hell king.

‘I gotta move faster.’ Gi-Gyu told himself, as Leviathan had been catching up to him easily. Grudgingly admiring the hell king’s persistence and power, Gi-Gyu transferred even more energy into Hermes. Consequently, he felt a wave of magic leave his body.

Hermes began glowing like the sun. The whole area wavered with magic, sorcerous energy, and Death. The cocktail of such impressive powers was starting to damage the surrounding space.

“Ugh,” Gi-Gyu groaned. His excessive movement was having a bad effect on his wounds.

-Master!

El yelled.

-This is dangerous!

El was telling him that his wounds were worsening at a pace Life couldn’t catch up to. If he didn’t stop using Super Rush or if he moved any faster, he would be jeopardizing his life.

But…

-Kerrrrk!

Unfortunately, Gi-Gyu couldn’t slow down. After all, Leviathan was catching up to him despite his incredible speed.

‘I need to go faster… Faster!’ Gi-Gyu’s mind no longer saw logic. He couldn’t think of anything else other than defeating this monstrosity. So, the two continued to fight in the accelerated time.

Just then, Lou and El warned Gi-Gyu,

-Dodge!

-Watch out, Master!

One of the molars of Leviathan had started shining. As the light took shape, Leviathan’s maw bolted toward Gi-Gyu. Leviathan moved faster, even more so than Gi-Gyu. It was only a matter of time before the dragon caught him.

Gi-Gyu yelled, “Faster!”

When Leviathan’s molar was inches away from him, Lou warned,

-I gave that molar to Leviathan. That is Satan’s molar. It’s dangerous!

***

Choi Chang-Yong mumbled, “What is going on here…?”

He couldn’t believe what was unfolding right in front of his eyes. He and the other evacuees were standing far away, but he could still see the battle by focusing his power on his eyes.

And what he had witnessed was something otherworldly.

“Is that really possible?” Choi Chang-Yong had never even imagined a scene like this. Every second seemed to pass differently in the space that held Kim Gi-Gyu and the dragon.

Choi Chang-Yong became very quiet. Whenever he met Kim Gi-Gyu, his self-image plummeted, and he felt like a bigger helpless and weak imbecile.

“Don’t compare yourself to the grandmaster,” Botis, standing nearby, commented.

Choi Chang-Yong had once been terrified of Botis. Turning toward the gross monster, he mumbled, “Thank you for saving us earlier.”

Thanks to Botis, Choi Chang-Yong and the Blue Dragon Guild members survived. But this bravery came at a cost to Botis.

Choi Chang-Yong asked, “Are you okay?”

Botis nodded quietly. Taking on the power storm alone had left its body in tatters.

Choi Chang-Yong couldn’t tell if Botis was shy or if he was just indifferent. He didn’t say anything, and Botis also silently watched the battle.

The giant water dragon and Gi-Gyu, who looked like a firefly from afar, were battling. Surprisingly, they were fighting neck and neck. Several layers of barriers protected the survivors, but they could still feel the fight’s sharp remnant energy.

Botis and Choi Chang-Yong continued to watch the battle.

“Don’t compare yourself to him,” Botis repeated himself. “A mere human like you shouldn’t even dare.”

Suddenly, Botis smiled bitterly.

Seeing this, Choi Chang-Yong thought Botis’ expression looked very human.

Botis continued, “Creatures like us aren’t worthy of judging their battle. You and I are trivial compared to them.”

Choi Chang-Yong nodded and mumbled, “I guess I made the right choice.”

Kaboom!

A deafening explosion had occurred far away.

Botis whispered, “I think the battle is finally winding down.”

Behind Choi Chang-Yong and Botis stood Kim Sun-Pil and the gate creatures. They were all focused on the battle.

“Ugh…” Suddenly, Choi Chang-Yong grabbed his chest. An unexplainable emotion had overwhelmed him. He whispered, “W-what is this…?”

He was a high ranker, so a single emotion crippling him like that made no sense.

Botis’ face also crumpled in agony. “Y-you must endure it! Snap out of it! Take care of your guild members!”

“Ack…” Choi Chang-Yong quickly turned to see his men grabbing their chests in pain.

Schwing!

Suddenly, a guild member pulled out his sword and roared, “I should’ve been the next guild master!”

The player dashed toward Choi Chang-Yong. This player was someone he had favored. He quickly defended himself with his sword and muttered, “How could you?!”

While protecting himself, Choi Chang-Yong tried to figure out what was happening. Why was this happening? And what was this unpleasant emotion he was feeling? What could explain this sudden turn of events?

Right now, extreme jealousy was overwhelming every single one of them.

***

Snap.

The water dragon shut its mouth with the glowing molar and stood still. Meanwhile, Gi-Gyu was nowhere to be seen. Super Rush was no more, and the time was now flowing normally. The space only had quietude.

Suddenly, something appeared from high up in the sky.

With half a jet black wing on his back, Gi-Gyu was flying.

“Phew…” Gi-Gyu exhaled deeply. He just had a very close call. He had planned on ignoring Lou and El’s warning and stabbing Leviathan’s vital spot; unfortunately, he couldn’t do so. If not for the half-wing on his back, this Death and Life-filled gate, and Lou’s help, he would have died.

-Are you okay?

Lou asked, as the dragon’s molar had almost crushed Gi-Gyu.

But at the moment, the glowing molar was no longer important.

An unfamiliar voice whispered, “Leviathan.”

A new creature had appeared out of nowhere. Gi-Gyu hadn’t noticed this new presence, and it wasn’t because he was focused on his battle. The newcomer had appeared so suddenly that Gi-Gyu didn’t get a chance to sense it.

‘I couldn’t feel it at all,’ Gi-Gyu thought in distress. “Who are you…?”

Alarmingly, he still couldn’t sense the newcomer standing on Leviathan's nose.

Gi-Gyu’s eyes blurred. His eyes were bleeding from the blood vessels bursting. He assumed that it was from using Super Rush. If he hadn't dispersed his energy, he probably would have still been oblivious to this stranger.

El whispered,

-Master.

Gi-Gyu began to recover. It wasn’t perfect, but his eyesight was returning slowly as well. Then, he heard the new enemy scolding Leviathan, “Finding you a shell was so difficult, so how could you risk losing it?”

The voice sounded familiar to Gi-Gyu, and when his eyesight returned, he whispered, “Ha Song-Su…”

-Why are you interrupting me?! I will take Lucifer’s master, and Lucifer—

Leviathan protested but couldn’t finish the sentence as Ha Song-Su smacked the dragon’s nose.

Kaboom!

Gi-Gyu became speechless. They were currently in his territory in the Bukhan River. Therefore, it was very likely that Leviathan hadn’t been able to use his full strength. Even so, he was fighting better than Gi-Gyu.

Yet, Ha Song-Su could silence the water dragon with a single hit to the nose.

Thud.

Leviathan fell to the ground. He remained quiet, but it was obvious he wasn’t dead.

“We meet again,” Ha Song-Su said to Gi-Gyu, who was still flying in the air.

Gi-Gyu didn’t move—no, he couldn’t move. He knew that he would die if he attacked Ha Song-Su right now.

‘I have no chance against him.’ Gi-Gyu became tense. Was Ha Song-Su going to attack him? If so, would it be better to make the first move? Suffice to say, many thoughts crossed Gi-Gyu’s mind.

Suddenly, Ha Song-Su appeared right in front of Gi-Gyu.

Fwoosh.

Almost feeling like he was being suffocated, Gi-Gyu couldn’t say a word.

“Not yet…” Ha Song-Su grinned, showing off his grotesque teeth. He looked human, but he didn’t seem human. He looked the same as when Gi-Gyu first met him, but something felt different about him.

“This isn’t the time yet.” Ha Song-Su announced before disappearing. He reappeared on Leviathan’s back and declared, “That’s enough for today. We’re going back, Leviathan.”

-B-but that’s not…!

Leviathan tried to argue, but it was useless. The water dragon disappeared, transforming back into Kim Dong-Hae.

“See you later,” Ha Song-Su said to Gi-Gyu. Before Gi-Gyu could say anything, Leviathan—now Kim Dong-Hae—disappeared with Ha Song-Su.