The Player Who Can't Level Up

Gaah!”

A gruesome sound escaped Ironshield’s mouth before he muttered angrily, “Artemis’ arrow? Is this Athena’s doing?.”

“Hehehe, you got it!” replied a woman as the air nearby suddenly began to crease. Seconds later, two women appeared from within: A beautiful woman with a silver bob cut and another wearing an old Greek god’s mask. 

“Athena and Artemis. I see your skills have improved since the last time we met,” Ironshield murmured as he pulled out the moonlit arrow from his shoulder and threw it at them. The silver-haired player caught it easily. 

“Long time no see, Ironshield,” greeted the silver-haired woman.

“Artemis…” Ironshield’s face turned ugly as he whispered her name. He asked coldly, “I suppose I can take this as your declaration of war on the Iron Guild?”

“Hehe! Have we ever not been at war?” asked the woman with a coy smile. At that moment, Gi-Gyu thought he saw the masked woman’s eyes glow eerily. 

Without answering the woman’s rhetorical question, Ironshield ordered, “Rogers, take David and this spy to the other guild members. I’m sure Athena’s guild is already attacking them.” 

“Ah, yes, Sir,” Rogers Han answered quickly, but the newbie player, David, shouted in panic, “But Guild Master!”

Annoyed by the rookie, Rogers Han shouted at him, “Just follow me, newbie! We won’t be any use to the guild master here anyway!”

David seemed confused as he hesitantly looked around. But eventually, he turned around. After all, an order from the guild master was an absolute command. When Rogers chucked Gi-Gyu on his shoulder, Ironshield ordered, “Rogers, keep him alive!”

“Pardon? But…” Rogers wondered if it was smart to keep their hostage alive, especially after such horrid torture. He nodded to Ironshield; secretly, he shook his head.

‘There’s no merit in keeping him alive, so…’

A guild master’s order was akin to an imperial decree, but Rogers decided to go against it. Unfortunately for Gi-Gyu, he had seen Rogers’ true nature. Rogers smiled sneakily and answered, “Yes, Sir.”

“Dammit!” Gi-Gyu swore, but Rogers shut him up quickly.

“Be quiet.”

Both Rogers and David turned around and ran toward their guild’s group. Athena and Artemis didn’t stop the two players from getting away. One murmured to the other, “They’re gonna die anyway.”

“You mean you two will die at my hands?” Ironshield asked the duo as he spun Calleon and slammed it into the ground. Suddenly, a gigantic steel shield emerged from the ground; it stood before Calleon and Ironshield, making them impervious to all frontal attacks.  

It was time for a battle.

***

“Dammit!” Gi-Gyu swore again. He wanted to die right on the spot from shame and embarrassment. He was still alive due to Ironshield’s change of mind. Now, Rogers was carrying Gi-Gyu on his back like a sack of potatoes. It seemed his pathetic life was going to continue for a little while longer. 

“Keep quiet,” Rogers muttered. As things stood, Gi-Gyu’s life was in the hands of the man who tortured him. He now had absolutely no control over his body, and the feeling of helplessness made him want to sob. 

‘I’m so powerless…’ 

But Gi-Gyu had no one to blame but himself. He was a weak, unskilled player, yet he chose to enter the Maze of Heryond. Atop that, he decided to follow the infamous Iron Guild—a huge mistake. 

Regret over his many, debatably-dumb, decisions wasn’t the only emotion he was feeling: There was boiling fury too.

‘I’m going to kill them all!’

“Hey, David. Go ahead and get ready for the battle. It looks like the fight has already begun. I’ll treat this bastard first and follow you afterward,” Rogers Han ordered.

“Pardon? B-but the guild master as-asked us to jo-join the rest of the members imm-immediately,” stammered David.

“Hey, David. Look at this guy, hanging onto his life! He will die on the way if we don’t treat his wounds. Would you like to be the one who tells the guild master if he dies?” When Rogers Han asked sarcastically, the novice player stammered, “A-all right.” 

Then, David resumed running toward his guild’s camp. Still a good distance from the camp, he could hear the sounds of weapons clashing, screams of pain, and shrieks of misery—the whole shebang. And from the opposite direction, where Ironshield was facing those two women, Gi-Gyu could hear even louder explosions. 

Rrrrumble!

Kaboom!

The explosive sounds were something no humans should be able to create. It seemed like lightning was striking within the gate. With every loud blast, the ground shook as if the entire gate was about to crumble down.

“Scary, isn’t it?” Noticing Gi-Gyu’s awestruck look, Rogers asked knowingly. Gi-Gyu almost nodded in agreement at his question. This definitely wasn’t a fight between normal humans; it was a fight between high rankers. 

‘It sounds like the gods are fighting.’

Panting heavily, Gi-Gyu listened hard and tried to imagine the fight taking place. Unfortunately, it was impossible to picture it.

Schwing!

“W-what do you think you’re doing?” Gi-Gyu asked in confusion when he saw Rogers unsheathing his sword. 

“What do you think? I’m gonna kill you now,” replied Rogers as he showed off his white teeth. 

“But your guild master… Never mind. Just kill me.” 

Gi-Gyu was about to remind Rogers of Ironshield’s order to keep him alive, but he stopped himself. He didn’t want to survive by begging for his life at this point. Besides, the moment he got on Rogers’ back, he knew what Rogers had in mind. 

The public saw Ironshield’s guild as a righteous and exemplary group. If Gi-Gyu was left alive and the story of his torture got out, it would damage their stellar reputation. So, there was no way he was coming out of this encounter alive, with or without Ironshield’s orders. It was such a selfish and hopeless idea that Gi-Gyu almost laughed. 

‘Rogers… is a man who likes to show off and obsessively keep his reputation clean. He is terrified of people discovering his true nature. And that’s probably why he wants me dead.’

Gi-Gyu closed his eyes calmly as Rogers announced, “I’m just sorry I don’t get to give you a painful death.” Even now, Rogers was being a jerk. Before swinging his sword, Rogers asked, “Any last words?”

“Are any of your guild members nearby?” Gi-Gyu asked.

“Why? You think they will save you from me?” Rogers asked with a sneer. He thought Gi-Gyu was planning on begging the others to save him. 

Rogers shook his head with an ugly smile and began slowly plunging his sword into Gi-Gyu’s heart. Through the unimaginable pain, Gi-Gyu muttered, “Perfect.”

“What?” 

When the tip of Rogers’ sword was just an inch away from Gi-Gyu’s heart, Gi-Gyu glared at Rogers and shouted, “Reflect!”

In the past few days, he was subjected to an array of torture techniques, of which Brunheart used that opportunity to accumulate all the damage Gi-Gyu received. The recent increase in his assimilation level helped greatly in this endeavor. Gi-Gyu has been waiting for the perfect chance to use Brunheart’s reflection skill. He had planned on using it when Ironshield was about to behead him, but an even better opportunity came by. Gi-Gyu had no intention of losing this perfect chance. 

[Brunheart’s damage accumulation limit has exceeded.]

[Reflection skill has been activated.]

[Brunheart will perish now.]

A loud explosion flared between the two players. It was such an incredible explosion that it was hard to believe Gi-Gyu was behind it. 

“Ackkkk!” Rogers’ scream could be heard from the thick smoke. Meanwhile, Gi-Gyu felt a sudden wave of helplessness spread throughout his body. It was as if his very soul was being sucked out. But, this didn’t come as a surprise. His stats took a nosedive after he was distanced from his Egos; now, his last Ego, Brunheart, had perished, so Gi-Gyu had no strength left. 

“Haa… Haa…” Gi-Gyu panted loudly. 

“B…bastard!” Rogers screamed in both pain and anger. As the smoke began to clear slowly, two players appeared on the ground. One was Gi-Gyu, who was leaning against a wall, panting loudly. The other was Rogers, whose entire face and body were severely burnt. He was wailing as he lay atop Gi-Gyu’s legs.

Even Gi-Gyu didn’t come out of this explosion unscathed, but Rogers, definitely, took the greater hit. 

“Ugh…” Gi-Gyu groaned as he barely managed to stand up. His legs refused to cooperate; somehow, he pushed Rogers away. Rogers continued to flail and scream in pain as he collapsed.

Limp, limp…

Gi-Gyu staggered badly as he approached Rogers. Then, Gi-Gyu picked up Rogers’ sword that was lying nearby. 

‘My current strength is similar to what I had before I got Lou. I may be weak now, but I’ve lived my whole life like this.’

Although he was weaker than ever right now, Gi-Gyu still remembered living with this helpless body when he worked as a guide. He killed goblins with that strength, so how hard could this be? 

Gi-Gyu raised the sword with both of his hands and sat on Rogers’ stomach.  

“B-bastard! Don’t!”

Stab!

Rogers’ own sword jutted out of his neck. Brunheart’s accumulated damage must’ve been massive because Rogers couldn’t even resist. A Level 1 player had made sure he would reach the gates of hell safely. 

Plop!

Gi-Gyu collapsed on the ground, unable to endure the disappointment that filled his body. Right now, he couldn’t even move his finger. He still had Arachne’s Ball of Thread, but he didn’t have the strength to reach for it. Besides, without Lou, El, and the elixir, returning home was pointless. Even if he survived and returned home, he would lose his mother soon; then, he would live the rest of his life as a feeble player. 

“Lou… El…”

The first thing Gi-Gyu needed to do was retrieve Lou and El, but he was exhausted. 

“Elixir…” murmured Gi-Gyu as he remembered the second thing he had to obtain. After all, he came inside this gate to save his mother. But, all he wanted to do now was sleep. His eyes closed slowly as he muttered to himself, “I finally figured out… where the gatekeeper… is now too, yet…”

“I… I’m going to… kill… you,” Beside Gi-Gyu, Rogers whispered. 

Pfft!

Gi-Gyu knew he was about to die, but there was at least one consolation. It was the fact that Rogers lay beside him, choking on his own blood as he cursed Gi-Gyu. The pain Rogers was feeling right now couldn’t even be half of what Gi-Gyu had endured over the past few days. But, Gi-Gyu was just satisfied he could kill a powerful player, someone who was almost a ranker. 

And just like that, Gi-Gyu closed his eyes.

“Oppa!” Gi-Gyu heard a familiar voice calling out to him.

“Y-Yoo-Jung?” Gi-Gyu whispered his sister’s name. Was he hallucinating? 

“What are you talking about?! Oppa, are you okay?”

Gi-Gyu at first thought he was hearing Yoo-Jung’s voice; when he opened his eyes, it was Soo-Jung who was crouching in front of him. She was smiling brightly at him.

“Soo-Jung?” 

Gi-Gyu’s blood had clotted and stuck his lips together. Soo-Jung’s smile grew wider as she stopped him by placing her finger on his lips. She asked him teasingly, “If I save you and even get you the elixir, what will you give me?”

“...?”

“Can you give me your life, Oppa? Can you live as my slave until the day you die? Do you think you can do that?” asked Soo-Jung as her eyes glowed eerily. Gi-Gyu had always thought her violet eyes were beautiful; now, he realized they resembled those of the grim reaper. 

When Soo-Jung removed her finger from his lips, Gi-Gyu didn’t hesitate for long and made his lips rip the scab. 

“One… more thing.”

“Hmm? You’re so funny, Oppa. All right, what is it?”

“Help me kill Ironshield… and destroy the Iron Guild.” Gi-Gyu barely managed to whisper his requests.

“What?” Soo-Jung giggled and replied, “That’s two things! Well, I suppose it will depend on how well you do. Then we have an agreement?”

“My… swords… The white-haired middle-aged man took them… Then, yes, we… have a deal—” Gi-Gyu fainted before he could finish his sentence. Soo-Jung laughed and murmured, “Just how many conditions are you placing on this contract?”

Suddenly, the man with the glasses appeared from the dark and suggested, “I agree. This man is very interesting.” 

“Right? He was even more amusing when I watched him up close. He is evil by nature, but someone suppressed it for some reason. Did you see when he killed that idiot? It was probably his first murder, but he stabbed the vital spot perfectly. No hesitation, no anger, and no guilt. He was perfectly cold and objective,” said Soo-Jung, no Lucifer, with excitement as she pointed at Rogers, who was still choking on his blood. 

The bespectacled man asked blankly, “That Iron Guild member Rogers… Don’t you think he’ll live if we leave him like this?”

“Hmm, probably, right?”

Gi-Gyu couldn’t survive such an extensive injury, but powerful players like Rogers had an incredible regeneration capacity. Much of the bleeding had already stopped, and even the hole in his neck was closing slowly. 

The glassed man asked, “What are you going to do?”

“Why bother asking me? If he survives, then that will be his fate. Do you think Gi-Gyu will like it if I killed that bastard for him? I’ll bet Gi-Gyu will choose to kill Rogers himself,” replied Soo-Jung as she looked away from Rogers. She continued with a smile, “Thanks to everything that happened, I found out where the keeper of this maze is. I had lots of fun, and profited quite a bit too. It was also unexpected to see Ironshield battling Athena so suddenly. This guy is so much fun…”

When Soo-Jung stood up, she slowly began to grow. The change in her appearance was subtle yet shocking. Her violet eyes turned jet black, while her black hair turned violet. The woman that stood in Soo-Jung’s place resembled the beautiful little girl from a moment ago, but she was also a completely different person. 

The man in glasses smiled and teased, “So is this the arrival of Lucifer?”

“Shut up.” Soo-Jung, no Lucifer, flinched and replied, “Lucifer is a stupid nickname because I’m going to be the one who kills the real devil.”

Then, Soo-Jung stretched her arms leisurely.

The most vicious high ranker had finally arrived in the worst maze of all time. 

Favorite