The Player Who Can't Level Up

It was hectic inside Eden. Everyone was getting ready for the enemy's arrival. They had expected an attack, so most of the necessary preparations were already in place.

However, who was attacking them and how was still a mystery. Their enemies were probably already inside Eden, waiting for the right time to attack.

El whispered an order, “Please hurry up, everyone.”

It was a whisper, but all the allies still heard it clearly. The evacuee group comprised the families of the allies.

The non-players remained quiet. They had heard about the truth of what was happening in the world, so this attack did not surprise them. But some still acted confused and shocked, while others remained calm.

An elderly man walked up to El and bowed. He said to her, “Please don’t get hurt. Stay safe.”

He sounded worried, but his face looked peaceful. The calm-looking evacuees were unconcerned because they believed in the Eden creatures. They knew how powerful Gi-Gyu’s Egos were, so they knew they would be safe.

El gave the elderly man a small smile. The man bowed again and joined the other evacuees.

El remained quiet and looked up into the air. During the recent Sephiroth Tree meeting, no one had asked for any information or the identity of their enemies. It was because everyone had felt the same thing.

‘Master…’ El thought in worry. The invaders were exuding bloodthirsty sorcerous energy so sharp that she felt it scratching her skin.

El clenched her fists.

Hamiel approached her and bowed. “Lady El, most of the people have safely been evacuated. We will protect them with our lives.”

Hamiel was telling El that she was free to go. She looked at Hamiel with pride. Not too long ago, Hamiel had thrown a tantrum, wanting to fight alongside Gi-Gyu.

But now, he had volunteered to protect the non-players, and El couldn’t be any prouder.

El tapped Hamiel’s shoulder. “Please take care of them.”

Hamiel bowed, his hands shaking. It wasn’t because he wasn’t allowed to join the battle. He was furious at himself for not being more helpful.

But Hamiel quickly recovered and shouted, “People, this way! You will have to move a little faster!”

Hamiel knew better now. Keeping these innocent people safe was just as important as fighting the enemies. Doing this would help his master.

***

El and all of Gi-Gyu’s creatures were busy doing jobs assigned by Hwang Chae-Il.

Meanwhile, in the Sephiroth Tree, Hwang Chae-Il and Old Man Hwang watched Brunheart.

They quietly studied Brunheart and the tree inside the control center. She had begun changing not too long after the invasion began. Still wearing her pink dress, she was now enveloped by the Sephiroth Tree branches. Her eyes were closed as if she were dead.

Old Man Hwang muttered, “It must be very hard for this child.”

He suspected the enemy had already infiltrated Eden successfully. However, the girl before them was the only reason they still hadn’t launched their attack.

This young girl was the Sephiroth Tree itself as well as Eden. She was using everything she had to delay their enemies.

Flinch.

The young girl cringed, indicating she was performing a difficult task. Old Man Hwang could feel their powerful enemies, but he knew there had to be even more of them than he could detect.

And this girl was protecting everyone from them.

“She’s normally so talkative, but look how quiet she is now.” Old Man Hwang seemed glum. With a bitter smile, he watched the usually chatty girl silently giving herself to protect them.

“It won’t be long. Since we all have lost our connection to Master, Brunheart’s ability to control this place has decreased significantly. She won’t last much longer,” Hwang Chae-Il said to his father.

“I know…”

Hwang Chae-Il was right. They couldn’t wait like this forever, praying for Gi-Gyu’s return. It wouldn’t work, and Brunheart might die trying.

Tik tok.

Time passed by at a snail’s pace. The Eden creatures didn’t know much about the enemy, but they knew timing would be everything in this battle.

Finally, El and Soo-Jung returned to the control tower and reported.

“Evacuation is almost complete.”

“We’re ready for the battle.”

Their enemies still hadn’t made a move.

Fwoosh.

El injected a bit of Life into the Sephiroth Tree. Brunheart, who had been cringing in pain, looked a little more relaxed.

Old Man Hwang looked around to see the creatures gathered in the control tower. Some were familiar to him, while the others were players new to Eden. Many of the players looked nervous.

Old Man Hwang announced, “You must all be feeling pretty good.”

Gi-Gyu’s creatures looked much more relaxed. They were worried, but they didn’t look desperate or hopeless.

Yoo-Bin said, “Because Gi-Gyu oppa will come to rescue us.” She even had a smile on her face.

“And we aren’t so weak that we’ll fall easily,” Hal, the head of the death knights, added gallantly. He thrust his halberd into the ground, creating a loud, resonant thud.

Botis said, “It is our duty to protect this place in our master’s absence. This is our job, so we should not worry.”

“Our master warned us this might get dangerous, didn’t he? All we need to do is defeat our enemies quickly and reunite with him.” Hart nodded.

El spoke last. “Our master isn’t weak. That means we, his servants, aren’t weak either.”

She infused Life in her voice to increase everyone’s morale. Gi-Gyu’s creatures looked calm and peaceful because they had the utmost trust in Gi-Gyu.

With an annoyed frown, Soo-Jung grumbled, “Let’s stop this embarrassing pep talk and get going.”

She sounded cold, but she also undoubtedly trusted Gi-Gyu.

She grinned and added, “If we don’t protect this place properly, I will be so embarrassed in front of my pupil.”

The pep talk was indeed a bit awkward and embarrassing, but they had a life-or-death battle ahead of them.

Suddenly, there was a flash of bright light in the control tower and Brunheart, tied to the Sephiroth Tree, finally opened her eyes. The light had actually come from her eyes.

Brunheart’s lips moved.

-I am at my limit now. The enemies will now enter.

Brunheart’s voice sounded robotic, like the system. Everyone looked at her as she continued,

It can be hard to make great work when its stolen from bit.ly/3iBfjkV.

-I am certain our master will persevere. We should no longer be dependent on our master. We will fight to help him.

Kaboom!

A loud explosion occurred outside.

The life-or-death battle was finally starting.

***

The sorcerous energy acted like thousands of knives, all trying to stab him. The energy trammeled him; whenever he showed weakness, it would stab him.

-Ugh.

Lou groaned. He tried to push it away, but there was just too much sorcerous energy here. Gi-Gyu knew he shouldn’t absorb any of it, but he had no other choice. As he continued to absorb bits and pieces of it, he felt ineffable pain, but it was anger that made his face crumple.

'It’s a checkmate.’ Gi-Gyu was furious. Why didn’t he prepare for something like this? Did he underestimate his enemy?

He didn’t believe that. He had worked with Old Man Hwang to devise a perfect plan for every situation. The problem was that what had happened was so devious and illogical that there was no way Gi-Gyu could have anticipated it.

‘Lou, just hang on,’ Gi-Gyu urged, aware of the pain Lou must be feeling.

-I know.

Gi-Gyu was suffering as well. However, the overwhelming anger gradually disappeared.

‘I can’t let this happen.’ It was no use dwelling on his mistake. Gi-Gyu was sick of being helpless and defeated.

He was no longer the useless, weak young man. He was a powerful player now; he believed he could overcome any difficulty.

‘I know I’m right.’ 

He wouldn’t die, and he wouldn’t let his enemy win.

He would come out of this a winner.

But the problem was…

‘I don’t have the time.’

Gi-Gyu had no idea what was happening in Eden. He was disconnected from it, so he needed to find a way. He needed to solve his current problem and then save Eden.

To do this, he first had to find the answer to an obvious question.

‘Why can’t I absorb this energy?’ 

He absorbed a nearly negligible amount each time, but the pain he felt was mind-boggling. It felt like his body would break. He knew it wouldn’t, but the pain was accumulating and causing him severe damage.

‘But I’m one with Jupiter now. So, there is no limit to what I can do.’ 

Kronos believed that Jupiter could hold God’s power. Gi-Gyu himself could hold a bit of it. And until now, he had stored a smorgasbord of energies. ‘So this shouldn’t be any different.’ 

Someone capable of holding and utilizing God’s power should be able to contain sorcerous energy, regardless of its quantity, easily.

The problem was that the sorcerous energy around him had something toxic.

‘I gotta figure out what that is first.’

Right now, panicking would do nothing. He had to be patient and work fast.

-Hurry up.

Lou muttered.

Gi-Gyu promised himself, ‘I won’t let others make my decisions anymore.’

Whir.

The energy covering him shook as he began accepting it, no longer fighting back.

Paimon watched with interest. “Is that your final decision?”

Ultimately, Kim Gi-Gyu chose to ingest the poison to protect his creatures. Something changed in Paimon’s eyes. They were still filled with madness and resentment; now, they also had a trace of intelligence and anxiety. Figuring out the anxiety’s origin was impossible, but one thing was clear: Paimon hadn’t expected Gi-Gyu’s decision.

“Ackkkk!” Gi-Gyu screamed in pain but didn’t stop accepting the sorcerous energy. To learn about the poison in this sorcerous energy, he had to absorb it first.

Gi-Gyu decided to do this because he trusted his body could handle it. Perhaps he was being arrogant, but this belief was what kept him going.

Only time would tell if he made the right choice.

***

“K…kekekekeke!” Aamon laughed like a madman, unable to comprehend what was happening around it.

Aamon looked around, seeing the corpses of its allies on the ground. The whole battlefield looked like a scene from an apocalyptic movie.

“I didn’t expect this.” A bitter smile appeared on Aamon’s face. “I could never have imagined I would die here and at your hands at that.”

This was an unexpected outcome for Aamon. It used to think killing these players would be as easy as stepping on an army of ants. Aamon had known the ants might bite, but that should have been all.

However, the reality was that a giant, mysterious ant came out of nowhere and was about to eat it.

Bodhidharma did a respectful fist-in-arm gesture and replied, “You were an admirable foe.”

Bodhidharma didn’t look much better. He was covered in burns, which was expected. After all, he had just battled a demon that wielded hellfire. But considering he had defeated the seventh Seat of Power, the wounds he had suffered were minor.

“You as well.” Aamon closed its eyes. It was a demon that loved battles. Dying at the hands of such a formidable opponent was an honor to it. This was why Aamon had changed its mind.

“Kill me now. And you better hurry.” Aamon considered Bodhidharma worthy, which was why it was willing to tell him the truth. “Our trap has already been activated.”

Boom!

Bodhidharma’s fist landed on Aamon’s face.

Bodhidharma replied, “I know.”

Aamon didn’t have to tell him. Bodhidharma had already felt the explosion of energy nearby. His face filled with concern, Bodhidharma walked forward. Behind him, countless demon and player corpses were piled up.

“This isn’t time for you to die.” Bodhidharma didn’t kill Aamon. Like Aamon, Bodhidharma had to admit that Aamon was a true fighter despite being a demon.

"Namo Amitabhaya.” Bodhidharma was willing to give Aamon a chance to repent.

The monk began sprinting. He needed to get there quickly to save his son. A new look, different from the one he had when he fought Aamon, appeared in his eyes

‘For him, I will become the devil itself,’ Bodhidharma thought in determination. It was the kind of determination one could only have after experiencing the trial and tribulations of multiple lifetimes.