The Player Who Can't Level Up

On another floor of the Sephiroth Tree, Hwang Chae-Il had arranged it so that everything happening inside Eden could be seen from here too.

In this room, two women stood quietly. One wore a pure white outfit and was looking at the screens with worry.

“What’s wrong?” The second woman had the opposite appearance. She wore a black dress and was leisurely sipping wine. The scene outside and her composure created quite a contrast.

The woman in white turned toward her but remained quiet.

“You want to get out and fight too?” the woman in black asked.

“No, it’s not that,” the first woman replied calmly.

‘El.’ The woman in the black dress, Soo-Jung, waited for El to continue.

“I’m just worried about our allies. How many of them will survive this war?”

“Hmm…” Soo-Jung placed the wine glass on the table and turned toward the screens. “Everything is going according to our plan.”

10,000 players. This included 300 demons and 200 weaponized players created by Andras and the Caravan Guild.

Most importantly…

“I sense three hell kings; one of them is Leviathan, but…” Soo-Jung trailed off.

“We aren’t certain of the other two’s identity.”

This was the main problem. Unlike Leviathan, who had shown himself before, not much was known about the other two hell kings.

Asmodeus was dead, and it couldn’t be Satan or Lucifer, which left four hell kings. Leviathan was one, so the two had to be among the three remaining kings. However, the presence of Belphegor’s mace suggested that Belphegor was dead.

Then…

“But we can’t know for sure,” Soo-Jung announced.

That left only two known hell kings. Were they on the battlefield here? That was hard to believe, as hell kings were selfish creatures.

Satan was most likely piloting Ha Song-Su because Andras alone making the hell kings dance to his tunes sounded improbable.

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“Besides, Andras probably isn’t betting everything on this battle,” Soo-Jung continued. Andras’ absence on the battlefield suggested that the battle wasn’t critical to him. Therefore, it didn’t make sense that he would send three hell kings, including Leviathan.

El replied, “I know, and that’s why we have a chance to win here.”

“I wouldn’t call it a win. It’s more like we won’t lose,” Soo-Jung corrected El.

Both women faced the screens again. Over ten screens displayed the various battles occurring inside Eden.

“Lou,” El whispered, watching Lou and Leviathan fight. She could also see others, including Botis, Hal, and Hart. All Eden soldiers were fighting bravely.

Soo-Jung raised her glass again, smiled, and beautifully swirled the blood-red wine in the glass. “Everything will work out according to our plan.”

***

Some time had passed since the battle began.

-I won.

Hwang Chae-Il heard Botis’ tired voice.

“I’ve been watching you. Thank you for your hard work,” replied Hwang Chae-Il. He had watched the entire fight from Sephiroth Tree and now had a concerned countenance.

Hwang Chae-Il added, “You may retreat.”

-All right.

The flame on Hwang Chae-Il’s face seemed to grow with his worries. Among all the enemy groups, he was most confident about the defeat of Botis’ group.

The way Rohan divided his army wasn’t preplanned. It was all decided by Hwang Chae-Il once they had entered Eden. And he had sent Botis to a group he felt would give Botis an advantage.

But…

-Something’s wrong.

Botis informed Hwang Chae-Il, who didn’t reply.

-Zephyr has always been strong, but not to this extent. I can’t explain it, but something has definitely changed.

Hwang Chae-Il had already realized this. As he watched the screens, he realized his assumptions about the enemy were incorrect. Rohan’s army was much more powerful than he had anticipated.

He had expected Botis to demolish the assigned group quickly; in reality, Botis had barely won before retreating to recover.

-How is it going with the others?

Hwang Chae-Il hesitated before answering, “It’s about the same.”

-This is a problem.

“I think I will get all of them to retreat. We will have to move up our final plan.” Hwang Chae-Il decided. If things continued this way, they would suffer badly. There was something unexpected about their enemies, and Hwang Chae-Il felt could make an educated guess.

'The First Potion and the by-products of Project Adam…’ 

This had to be the source of their enemies’ newfound strength. Hwang Chae-Il looked at the screens, focusing on the one displaying Lou and Leviathan’s fight.

“El, can you hear me?” Hwang Chae-Il asked.

-Yes, I hear you.

Hwang Chae-Il continued to monitor the fight as he continued, “Please tell Soo-Jung that we have to expedite our plan.”

-....

For what seemed like an eternity, El didn’t answer, as she was also watching the same fight with Soo-Jung. Hwang Chae-Il knew they were aware of what was happening.

El finally responded,

-She said that she is ready.

“All right.” Relief filled Hwang Chae-Il’s face. He was so grateful that Soo-Jung was on their side.

***

“What the hell did you eat?” White-haired Lou muttered. Despite being in his adult form, he was pale and panting roughly.

Leviathan, in Kim Dong-Hae’s body, stood before him, smiling. He replied, “Lucifer… I finally get to make you mine.”

Behind them, the enemy players, the ones not from the Caravan Guild and the Iron Guild, flailed on the ground while screaming.

“Ackk…”

“H-help…”

They were wounded by the aftereffect of Lou and Leviathan’s fight.

“Tsk.” Lou clicked his tongue and kicked the ground. He flew up; milliseconds later, a water dragon struck the ground he had been standing on with a loud blast.

Boom!

Dirt and rocks flew everywhere. Normally, these would have been harmless, but they became dangerous weapons since Leviathan’s sorcerous magic was involved.

“Dammit,” Lou swore without stopping moving. He looked annoyed but still made an effort to form a black wall around the injured players behind Leviathan.

“What do you think you’re doing?! Stop being distracted and focus on me!” Leviathan screamed.

“I asked you what the hell you ate, you stupid water snake,” Lou replied while protecting the other players.

Something was different about Leviathan. Lou knew his condition wasn’t perfect, but he believed he wasn’t much weaker than Leviathan. This was why he had joined the battle.

But Leviathan seemed very different from before. The unfamiliar aura around it was seemingly empowering it.

“Focus on me!” Leviathan screamed again.

Boom.

Boom boom.

Kaboom!

Near Leviathan, another water dragon appeared. Then one more showed up, and another one…

Suddenly, dozens of water dragons erupted from the ground. They appeared like a hurricane and entwined together high up in the air.

“That crazy bastard,” Lou muttered before looking back. Thankfully, the overabundant sorcerous energy kept all the players unconscious. None of them would try to attack him from the back.

But…

“I have a bad feeling about that thing.” Lou looked up at the sky.

A giant water dragon, one comparable to Leviathan’s original form, was plunging toward him.

-Please retreat now. We’re going to expedite the plan.

Lou heard Hwang Chae-Il’s voice in his ears.

“Dammit! I will have to block this first, though,” Lou muttered in annoyance. By retreating now, he could reserve a lot of his power for the next phase of this war, but he would have abandoned all the collapsed players.

“P-please save us… Help my cousin,” Do Hae-Min begged Lou. He seemed like the only one awake enough to beg for help.

“Dammit,” Lou mumbled again. The water dragon was closer than ever, destroying everything on its way down.

‘Damn you, Kim Gi-Gyu.’ Lou’s view of humans had changed because of him. He could no longer sit by and watch a human die.

Boom.

The gale from the water dragon created a small blast, but more was coming.

Kabooooooooooom!

The ground was turning over.

***

The attack just now left Hwang Chae-Il nonplussed. It was so destructive that it left the entire Eden shaken.

Hwang Chae-Il yelled in alarm, “A-are you okay?! Lou? Lou?!”

No answer came. The screen was filled with gray smoke, making it impossible for Hwang Chae-Il to see anything.

‘Enable magic.’ Hwang Chae-Il activated the sensor to detect different energies, but…

“There is too much magic here; it’s not working.” It appeared this part of Eden’s functions was paralyzed.

Leviathan’s attack just now was remarkable, proving why it was one of the original hell kings.

Hwang Chae-Il murmured again, “Lou…”

The other groups had already begun retreating as he had ordered. They moved to lure the enemies into the open field he had prepared.

At least, this was the plan, but…

“Dammit!” Hwang Chae-Il swore loudly. He still hadn’t heard anything from Lou.

Of course, he was concerned about Lou’s safety, but Lou was also a critical part of his plan. All the hell kings had to be in one place for his plan to succeed.

Hwang Chae-Il turned pale, realizing the situation was becoming too dangerous.

Just then…

-I-I’m retreating.

Lou’s voice was filled with agony.

“Lou!”

-I shook off Leviathan. The players are still there, but… I lured Leviathan away from them; I’ve done everything I can… If you want to save them, do it. I don’t care…

That was the end of Lou’s transmission.

Relief filled Hwang Chae-Il. At the same time, he tried his best not to burst into laughter.

Lucifer was once the true king of hell. Even Hwang Chae-Il had heard of Lou’s evil reputation in his former life.

Yet, just now, Lou had risked his life to save humans. He even treated them as his equals and was ready to fight the enemies together. Hwang Chae-Il felt an oddly overwhelming emotion.

This time, he brightly ordered, “Soon, everyone will be in the open field! Please get ready!”

This was after he had ordered the skeleton soldiers to rescue the players. Hwang Chae-Il did not doubt that this was what his absent master would have wanted.

***

“I can do this only once.” Soo-Jung looked very tense. This was very different from how relaxed she had looked earlier. It was clear that she was nervous.

In the open field, their enemies gradually came together. Hwang Chae-Il had created a wall here to buy some time. Once everyone was here…

“Baal,” Soo-Jung called out.

Baal replied, “All the preparations are complete.”

Soo-Jung nodded.

A giant magic circle covered the entire open field. Baal was just as knowledgeable about black magic as Lou. The magic circle was filled with Baal’s essence, and this would amplify Soo-Jung’s power.

“I’ll repeat. I can only do this once. I won’t be able to move for a while after doing this.” Soo-Jung looked at El.

El replied with determination, “I will protect you.”

If Soo-Jung failed, El would have to guard Soo-Jung, who would be incapacitated.

“It would be so much easier to kill them all… Tsk.” Soo-Jung seemed truly frustrated. She was so nervous because she couldn’t annihilate Rohan’s entire army. Killing innocent players would make everything pointless. If she murdered them, she knew Kim Gi-Gyu would refuse to take over her position.

Therefore, the plan was to use her power, amplified by Baal’s magic crest, to neutralize their enemies.

-I’m almost there…

Lou’s tired voice announced.

Soo-Jung ordered, “Get ready.”

Meanwhile, more and more enemies gathered inside the field.