The Player Who Can't Level Up

Gi-Gyu was on the ground, covered in blood and panting.

“Haa… Haa…” Although they were inside his shell, getting wounded this badly was still not a good idea. Physical injuries here damaged his consciousness. If it were bad enough, he could even die.

But…

“Hmph, you better count your lucky stars,” Jupiter growled while looking down at Gi-Gyu. The metal chains were tighter than ever, pulling it as if ready to rip its limbs apart.

Jupiter couldn’t kill him, as it would also die if Gi-Gyu died. This was why Jupiter had only imprisoned him after stealing his body.

“Hey…” Gi-Gyu called out to it between labored breaths.

Jupiter seemed uninterested as he looked away. The metal chains trapping him constricted even more.

“If I promise to get you your revenge, will you help me?” asked Gi-Gyu.

Jupiter sniggered and looked at Gi-Gyu. “Are you telling me you’ll kill your father? You?” A mocking smile appeared on its face.

***

Lim Hye-Sook stated, “Gaia took Kronos’ side because of her child.”

“Her child?” Gi-Gyu asked.

Lim Hye-Sook shook her head and explained, “Gaia and Kronos had a child together. She had stopped loving him but stayed because of her child.”

Lim Hye-Sook closed her eyes briefly before adding, “In the end, Gaia helped Kronos for the sake of her offspring.”

“Could you give me more details?”

Lim Hye-Sook opened her eyes and replied, “The child born between Kronos and Gaia was a great creature. Offsprings of all rulers were born with a special power, but this one was especially unique. Apart from inheriting both Gaia and Kronos’ abilities, what made him unique was—”

Soo-Jung interrupted Lim Hye-Sook, “He possessed a giant shell. His shell was as big as a dimension, perhaps even bigger. No one actually knows how big it is.”

Soo-Jung continued, “However, such great power ensured that he couldn’t have a normal life. The biggest problem was that his power was uncontrollable.”

“...!”

“An immature boy having such an uncontrollable great power… It was truly a disaster. The sync power he inherited from Gaia tried to sync with everything, and his giant shell helped him engulf everything around him limitlessly.”

A disaster. Gi-Gyu had to agree with this word choice. A mighty but uncontrollable power could only lead to unprecedented disasters. And to continuously sync with everything around… He couldn’t even imagine something like that.

Lim Hye-Sook resumed, “His sync ability not only helped him sense his target’s emotions but also their thoughts. Consequently, he grew up with experiences a child should never have. It affected him in the worst way possible.”

Could it be…

“Before he could mature, he was burdened with the thoughts and emotions of numerous beings. It polluted his psyche, resulting in him creating numerous distinct personalities. In the end, he went insane,” Soo-Jung explained.

“But what about Kronos and Gaia? They were powerful beings, so they must have noticed how the great power created problems for their child. Are you telling me they did nothing to help their child?” Gi-Gyu couldn’t understand, so he asked.

Soo-Jung answered, “Well, the second problem was responsible for that. The boy didn’t only inherit power from Gaia; he also inherited Kronos’ power.”

‘Kronos? Does that mean…’

Soo-Jung continued, “Time. This child couldn’t control time well either, so it often stopped for him. Kronos was helpless. The immense power and time ability made it impossible for him to help his son. There was no treatment for the child or a solution to this problem. In the end, there was only one thing they could do.”

Gi-Gyu felt like he could make a guess. He whispered, “Isolation…”

“That’s right. Isolating and sealing him away from the world. This was the best alternative his parents could come up with.”

“...”

It was such a cruel sentence for a child, but Gi-Gyu could understand the necessity. This decision came from parental love, not anger or frustration.

“Gaia desperately wanted to free their child. Kronos blamed God for their problem and made her a promise,” Soo-Jung added.

Again it wasn’t a difficult guess for Gi-Gyu to make.

“He probably told her that he’ll use God’s power to create a world where their child could live freely. Or that he’ll use the power to devise a solution for their son’s problem.”

“That’s correct.” Soo-Jung nodded.

But the story was far from over.

Kronos, Gi-Gyu's father, and Jupiter were connected. However, the story's most important point was Kronos and Gaia's child.

Gi-Gyu asked hesitantly, “I have a question.”

“Ask away.”

“Who was that child?”

Soo-Jung quietly raised her hand. Opening her index finger, she pointed at Gi-Gyu.

“...!” Gi-Gyu’s eyes widened, thinking it was him.

Soo-Jung explained, “No, not you. The one inside you.”

“What?”

Soo-Jung stopped pointing and replied, “Jupiter. He’s the offspring of Gaia and Kronos. He inherited their powers and was supposed to become the ruler of the entire universe.”

Looking surprisingly calm, Soo-Jung announced, “That is Jupiter’s real identity.”

***

[720:00]

Gi-Gyu left his shell world after a long while. He had spent much more time inside than he had anticipated. Based on his calculation, the time difference between his shell world and the test world was about fourfold. He had spent full eight months inside his shell.

‘But this isn’t enough.’ 

It was a difficult time. He couldn’t see or talk to El, Lou, or other normal beings. Here, he could only talk to Jupiter.

‘Jupiter…’ 

The billboard disappeared along with all of his senses. In the dark space, only Gi-Gyu’s consciousness remained.

By now, he had battled Jupiter, his other self, numerous times. He had also talked with it a lot, discussing his various questions. All in all, Gi-Gyu now knew a lot about Jupiter.

However, that didn’t mean they were buddies now. Jupiter still acted like a snake, waiting to pounce if Gi-Gyu showed any weakness.

Jupiter refused to open up, and this was a problem.

‘I need to defeat him.’ 

If Jupiter could be convinced to cooperate with Gi-Gyu using words alone, things would go like butter. However, Gi-Gyu had known this was an impossible dream since the beginning. Jupiter had lost its humanity and gained a thirst for vengeance, which molded it into the true incarnation of evil.

Therefore, Gi-Gyu knew it would be impossible to convince Jupiter with words. He had tried for the sake of trying, but only one option was left now: Gi-Gyu had to defeat it, forcing it to obey.

‘But…’ 

He still had a long way to go. Jupiter’s power seemed endless. Thanks to the eight months he had spent in his shell, Gi-Gyu became incredibly stronger. He didn’t level up or gain a new skill. He discovered his true power and learned how to use it efficiently.

This alone was enough to make him so much stronger, but he was still far from being able to defeat Jupiter.

‘I only have four months left…’

He needed to get this done. Gi-Gyu’s consciousness slowly returned to his shell.

To the place where Jupiter was trapped.

***

“...”

A short silence fell after Gi-Gyu learned Jupiter’s true identity.

“Then what am I?” asked Gi-Gyu. Jupiter was just like him, yet different. It was an uncomfortable fact, but he had already accepted it long ago.

They were the same but had one wildly different aspect.

To lighten the mood, Gi-Gyu joked, “Am I in a soap opera? Are we identical twins separated at birth?”

It was a joke, but Soo-Jung answered, “Well, I guess it’s something like that.”

The reply shut Gi-Gyu up.

Soo-Jung said quickly, “But that’s not exactly what happened.”

She awkwardly continued, “I’ll get to the point, but you need to hear about the other thing first. I can tell him this story, right?”

Lim Hye-Sook nodded to give her permission.

With a deep sigh, Soo-Jung resumed, “So Gaia took Kronos’ side in the end. She cooperated in killing God and even promised to help Kronos become the next God. Having Gaia on his side made Kronos’ plan go smoothly. Babel was completed as he hoped. But… Gaia didn’t know one thing.”

Soo-Jung didn’t look pleased as she continued, “Kronos couldn’t become God.”

“...”

“Kronos was certainly a powerful ruler, but he was still one of God’s creations with a limited shell. There was no way he alone could hold God’s power. So he needed to find another way. He didn’t trust Gaia with God’s power. Besides, even she couldn’t possess God’s power indefinitely.”

Glancing at Gi-Gyu’s face, Soo-Jung continued, “In the end, Kronos became too desperate. As Babel neared its completion, he realized the other dimensional rulers were also scheming to steal God’s power. He couldn't hold the power or come up with a solution, which piqued his desperation. Then, Kronos found hope.”

A bitter smile appeared on Soo-Jung’s lips as she whispered, “Adam.”

“Adam?”

“Not many people know the truth, but I know exactly what Adam is.”

Gi-Gyu had first heard the name when he learned about Andras’ plan.

Adam. It was the name of the shell created to hold Satan and Lucifer. It was also the name of God’s supposed first creation.

Gi-Gyu currently suspected Ha Song-Su to be Andras’ artificial Adam. So, Soo-Jung saying Adam had been Kronos’ hope was shocking.

“God’s physical body,” Soo-Jung murmured.

“God’s physical body?”

“In a manner of speaking, God is a spirit, so he doesn’t have a physical form. However, he did create one for the worst-case scenario, and that was called Adam. Adam was the perfect and only shell capable of holding God’s power. His existence was a secret, and no one knew where he was located. But he did exist, and…”

Gi-Gyu mumbled, “Kronos wanted Adam.”

“That’s right.”

The puzzle pieces were all coming together.

Soo-Jung continued, “Kronos tried to find Adam and take his body, but he failed. No one knew if Adam even existed, so there was no way he could find him.”

“...”

“By the end, Kronos' desperation had peaked, so”—Soo-Jung signed—“he decided to create an Adam and possess it.”

“Is that even possible? It doesn’t sound like it.”

How could Kronos, who didn’t even have God’s power yet, create an Adam?

Soo-Jung murmured, “It is if you have the perfect specimen for an Adam.”

“No way…” Gi-Gyu didn’t even want to think about this possibility.

Soo-Jung continued, “Yes, he used Jupiter, who had gone mad. Project Adam, the one Andras is currently working on, was originally started by Kronos.”

Gi-Gyu gasped.

***

Crackle.

Everything was burning around them. They were still inside the world within Gi-Gyu’s shell. This synthetic space was filled with heat now.

Surrounded by flames were two identical men. One was chained while the other one was free.

“Let’s finish this already,” Gi-Gyu suggested. Most of the test time was gone now. He needed to defeat Jupiter during the 60th-floor test. He would never get another chance like this.

“Keke…” A suppressed laugh escaped Jupiter’s lips. He replied, “Is it finally over? What a boring affair this has been.”

Gi-Gyu looked at Jupiter with indifferent eyes.

After a while, he raised his hands and clenched them hard.

“...!” Jupiter’s eyes widened like his eyeballs were about to fall out. He blurted, “W-what do you think you’re doing?”

Clank.

The metal chains, the seal, were slowly coming undone. Unlike before, when all they did was loosen, they came off completely before disappearing one by one.

“I told you.” Gi-Gyu folded his bare hands in respect before taking his battle stance. He announced, “Let’s finish this.”

“...” Jupiter didn’t say a word.

Rattle.

Finally, the last metal chain around Jupiter vanished.

“You will regret this.” Jupiter’s words were those of concern, but a vicious smirk soon appeared on his lips. He added, “I can’t believe you removed the seal.”

Indeed, Gi-Gyu had completely freed Jupiter with his own hands.