The Player Who Can't Level Up

“Dammit,” Gi-Gyu swore as he sensed someone approaching him. Actually, it wasn’t a single presence. He could sense numerous strangely indiscernible entities coming.

“My body is in bad shape,” Gi-Gyu muttered in frustration. This was all because Jupiter had abused his body while fighting Asmodeus.

Lou replied,

-You know it couldn’t be helped. Just shut up and get ready.

Gi-Gyu’s condition affected Lou greatly as well, so even he wasn't in good condition. Consequently, he also couldn’t tell if the approaching group was their friend or foe.

‘In the worst-case scenario, we will get Andras or Ha Song-Su…’ Gi-Gyu thought grimly. If this were the case, he needed to run as quickly as possible. The problem was that he had no escape route.

-They’re coming!

Lou warned him.

The group was approaching them rapidly, so Gi-Gyu couldn’t even use Brunheart’s gate, as opening and closing it took some time. If the group arrived before he could close the gate, his headquarters might become vulnerable to an attack.

Gi-Gyu used Life to heal his body; unfortunately, his body refused to recover fast enough. Jupiter had used Chaos’ power, which, in turn, overloaded his body. No other player could have even endured this, so Gi-Gyu supposed he should be thankful. He frowned unhappily nonetheless.

Suddenly, he heard a loud explosion.

Boom!

The debris from the Asmodeus fight had blocked off the entrance, but this explosion created another entrance. The footsteps were now louder than ever.

Gi-Gyu grasped Lou tighter. As the dust settled, he finally saw the intruder, and his eyes widened.

***

Soo-Jung asked, “All right. So you’re Gi-Gyu’s servant, and Gi-Gyu planned this whole kerfuffle? You and Gi-Gyu planned this to distract Andras while he does whatever he’s doing somewhere else?”

Rohan nodded quickly. He looked out the window in panic and replied, “That’s correct. So I can’t stay here like this. I need to go out to do my part…”

“All right, I guess.” Soo-Jung turned toward Baal, who sported his usual illegible expression.

Soo-Jung continued, “I still can’t trust you completely. I don’t know if my Evil Eye isn’t working or if you’re really Gi-Gyu’s servant, but…”

Baal silently moved behind Rohan.

Soo-Jung offered, “We’ll create enough chaos for you, so you can just sit tight.”

As if trapped in a giant spider web, Rohan couldn’t move an inch. He stared at Soo-Jung, who was smiling eerily.

Soo-Jung asked, “So we can just kill all the Iron Guild members, right?”

“N-not all of them! You need to pick and choose… Just take care of the ones under the First Potion’s influence or those obviously too corrupt.”

“Hmm…” Soo-Jung nodded and muttered, “Well, if that’s what my pupil wants, I suppose… Anyway, I can do this, and it sounds like it’s the right thing to do whether you’re Gi-Gyu’s friend or foe.”

Soo-Jung stretched her arms as if she felt stiff; the unexpected turn of events had actually de-stressed her. She grinned to show off her pearly whites and ordered, “So don’t do anything funny unless you want to die, okay?”

Soo-Jung walked to Baal and whispered, “Baal, you got this, right?”

“Say no more.” The light from a nearby lamp reflected off Baal’s glasses, making them sparkle.

“Good. I’ll be back,” Soo-Jung announced before leaving the tent.

Baal nodded, and Rohan trembled in fear. They both could hear the continuous stream of screams and explosions from the outside; a few minutes after Lucifer had left, a sudden silence fell.

Rohan found himself shivering.

***

Gi-Gyu stared at the intruder. An ever-increasing number of players closely followed the intruder, but none attacked him.

The silence continued for a while before the intruder opened his mouth.

“Long time no see.”

“Indeed. It has been too long,” Gi-Gyu gossiped.

The intruder was none other than Tao Chen, a Chinese high ranker nicknamed Beautiful Beard. Gi-Gyu had worked with this player in the Gangnam Gate before.

Gi-Gyu asked, “Why are you here…?”

Gi-Gyu remained tense, ready to fight at a moment’s notice. He was prepared to take Tao Chen’s head if necessary.

Tao Chen didn’t immediately answer Gi-Gyu. Instead, he looked around silently while one of the players whispered something into his ear.

Gi-Gyu wanted to listen in. His senses were slowly coming back, so he could hear parts of the whisper. Unfortunately, the player was speaking in Chinese.

‘Dammit.’ Gi-Gyu became frustrated. He had become fairly fluent in English but hadn’t had time to study Chinese.

Tao Chen turned to look at Gi-Gyu again and asked, “So, have you become a demon now?”

Gi-Gyu shook his head cautiously.

Tao Chen tightened his grasp over the Green Dragon Crescent Blade and asked, “Then… Are you an enemy of the Caravan Guild?”

The Green Dragon Crescent Blade shone dangerously.

Gi-Gyu’s eyes wavered.

“Hmm…” Tao Chen caressed his beard before respectfully offering, “It looks like you’re wounded. Shouldn’t we move to another place where you can get treated?”

Gi-Gyu nodded.

Tao Chen sheathed his weapon and gestured for his players to get to work. The Chinese players walked past Gi-Gyu and began gathering the corpses.

***

Gi-Gyu broke the awkward silence.

“I’m sorry, but may I get some privacy for a moment?”

Gi-Gyu was inside a secret branch of the Red Dragon Guild. Tao Chen was this guild’s master and was the one who had brought Gi-Gyu here.

Tao Chen nodded and replied, “I’m assuming this is about the Bukhan River situation. All right, go ahead.”

Gi-Gyu didn’t say anything to explain himself. He had expected Tao Chen to be well informed about the situation in Korea. Besides, he suspected that many knew the Bukhan River had become his headquarters by now.

Tao Chen must be wondering why he was here when war raged in his headquarters.

“Thank you,” Gi-Gyu replied and walked out of the room. In an empty lobby, where he was certain he was alone, he silently called out, ‘Rohan.’

When he didn’t hear back, Gi-Gyu called out again in panic, ‘Rohan!’

Anxiety filled his chest, but just when he was about to contact Hal or his other Egos, he suddenly heard Rohan’s voice.

-I’m sorry I’m late, Master!

‘What’s going on?’ asked Gi-Gyu. Given Rohan’s loyalty, something must have happened to cause such a delay. Also, the way Tao Chen had mentioned the Bukhan River earlier was a little odd. He didn’t overthink it then; now, he realized that something unexpected must have occurred. He couldn’t control his growing panic.

-The thing is…

Rohan seemed hesitant to explain. He stammered,

-R-right now, I-I am…

Gi-Gyu waited patiently.

After a while, Rohan finally blurted,

-I’m with that gentleman named Baal.

‘Baal?’

-Yes… and also…

Ba dum, ba dum.

Gi-Gyu’s heart began to pound rapidly.

-Lucife— I-I mean your teacher is here as well, Master.

Gi-Gyu’s eyes widened again. He asked, ‘Soo-Jung is there? So what’s happening over there?!’

-Oh! I-I think everything is…. going really well actually…

Finally, Rohan explained the situation in the Bukhan River area.

***

After leaving the tent with Rohan and Baal, Soo-Jung looked around. It was a typical battlefield filled with blood and gore. When she released her magic to study the details, she realized that Gi-Gyu’s creatures were winning overwhelmingly.

“They’re doing well,” Soo-Jung muttered. Gi-Gyu’s monsters easily broke through the Iron Guild’s defenses and marched bravely.

Soo-Jung grinned. She wondered if trying to give him a gift was a mistake; in the end, she was just relieved she didn’t indirectly harm him.

‘It all worked out, right…?!’ Soo-Jung thought. She had felt a little guilty until now, but she decided it was time to be free of it.

Her eyes gradually turned violet as she used her Evil Eye to look around, which helped her see the true nature of those around her.

“I knew it! My Evil Eye is working perfectly fine.” Rohan had made her doubt if her Evil Eye was working, but she had now confirmed that her skill was still very much functional.

‘And I can see who has used the First Potion.’ She could see the sorcerous energy being exuded from certain players. Some players had already lost their bodies to demons.

“Y-you! Why are you here?!” someone from behind yelled. Soo-Jung turned to see an unfamiliar player in the Iron Guild armor. He was clearly her enemy and even gave off the unpleasant sorcerous energy. It was obvious he had used the First Potion.

A sudden glare struck the player, splitting him in two. This Iron Guild player had recognized Soo-Jung, but he died before he could do anything.

“Haaah.” Soo-Jung yawned and stretched her arms. She failed to gift Rohan’s neck to Gi-Gyu, so it was time to work on her plan B.

“I’ll get you another gift, my pupil,” Soo-Jung announced and stretched her arms. Her energy slowly moved to form her signature black flame. This flame split into countless little balls and attacked the specific players she had targeted.

“Ackkkk!” Her prey screamed in pain. Soo-Jung’s definition of “enemy” was clear. She only attacked naturally evil players, players exuding sorcerous energy, or demon players. Her black flames burned these sinners alive one by one.

Soon, silence fell on the battlefield. It didn’t take long before everyone was staring at her.

***

-So that’s what happened. I ordered the remaining Iron Guild players to retreat. I’m going to guess that the whole world will focus on what happened here. I haven’t heard anything from the Iron Guild or the Caravan Guild headquarters, but I’m certain they are concentrating on resolving the situation here.

Gi-Gyu couldn’t help grinning. He replied, ‘All right. Good job, Rohan. And please send Soo-Jung to Eden.’

-Of course, Master.

When his communication with Rohan ended, Gi-Gyu laughed, “Ha… Ha… Haha…”

He felt myriad emotions, but the happiness from Soo-Jung’s arrival dominated them all. However, now wasn’t the time to celebrate, so he wore his poker face and returned to the room where Tao Chen was. He could feel no other presence around, so he assumed Tao Chen had sent everyone away to have a private conversation with him.

Gi-Gyu sat opposite Tao Chen as if nothing had happened. He felt much more relaxed after knowing what had happened in the Bukhan River.

Noticing the change in Gi-Gyu’s countenance, Tao Chen asked, “I guess everything worked out?”

Gi-Gyu didn’t reply.

Tao Chen continued, “Then let’s resume our conversation. Are you an enemy of the Caravan Guild?”

Gi-Gyu looked straight into Tao Chen’s eyes; instead of answering, he demanded, “Before I tell you, you must first explain why you’re asking me this question.”

Tao Chen smiled mysteriously.