The Player Who Can't Level Up

“What? You were awake this whole time?” Lou glared at Gi-Gyu suspiciously.

Gi-Gyu sat up so naturally that one couldn’t help but wonder if he had woken up from a quick nap.

“It’s not like that…” Gi-Gyu asked for some water, his mouth dry and voice cracking.

El quickly handed him a cup of water from the nearby table.

Gi-Gyu gulped it down, uncaringly spilling water everywhere.

“Haa…” Gi-Gyu breathed deeply, and everyone watched him in silence. After his breathing had slowed down, he finally opened his lips.

“What happened to Ha Song-Su?”

Everyone in the room stared at him in shock.

***

“So you’re telling me I defeated Ha Song-Su…?” Gi-Gyu asked after Old Man Hwang had explained everything.

“Don’t you remember anything?” Old Man Hwang asked.

How could Gi-Gyu not remember such a vicious fight?

How did he fight so well when his mind wasn’t even completely awake?

How did he spend every moment of the fight attacking and dodging if he was in such a condition?

‘Did he fight so well on instincts alone?’ Old Man Hwang wondered. Had the battle experience embedded deep in Gi-Gyu’s soul kicked in?

However, Gi-Gyu didn’t have that much battle experience. He had some major life-or-death fights in his life, but he still didn’t have decades of experience.

Maybe…

Old Man Hwang glanced at Lou and El before turning toward Gi-Gyu again.

‘Could it be Lou and El’s data…?’ 

Also, Gi-Gyu was synced with everyone in Eden. Old Man Hwang realized that it was possible with their combined battle experience. Of course, there was also Jupiter and his years of experience.

Gi-Gyu explained, “The last thing I remember is becoming one with Brunheart and activating the berserk mode. After that…!” He seemed to have abruptly remembered something. “That white light! What was that?”

“It was Ha-Rim.”

“Ha-Rim?” Gi-Gyu tilted his head, the name sounding familiar.

“She was with Ha Song-Su,” Old Man Hwang answered.

“So she was here?!” Gi-Gyu nodded in understanding. He remembered Ha-Rim being no ordinary woman. During Gi-Gyu’s first gate exploration, she accompanied and protected Ha Song-Su. Even back then, Gi-Gyu knew she was hiding something and that she was powerful.

“Then Ha Song-Su is…” Gi-Gyu trailed off.

“She took him.”

Gi-Gyu frowned, disappointed. Ultimately, he didn’t get to finish off Ha Song-Su. On top of that, he failed to extract any information from Ha Song-Su.

Old Man Hwang said encouragingly, “The important thing is that you won against Ha Song-Su. That fact alone changes everything.”

Gi-Gyu had defeated the one known as “the stronger man in the world.” Now, no one could stop Gi-Gyu.

‘But…’ Old Man Hwang had his doubts. Something didn’t feel quite right.

“I agree with you, Sir.”

“...?”

“I believe there is more to Ha Song-Su than the man I defeated.” Gi-Gyu turned serious.

Soo-Jung was becoming angry. Ha Song-Su had defeated her and many other powerful players, so how could Gi-Gyu say there was more to him? Her forehead twitching, Soo-Jung demanded, “Mind sharing your thoughts with the rest of the class?”

“I…” Gi-Gyu looked down quietly. “Didn’t use Chaos, Life, Death, or… God’s power during that fight.”

“...!”

“All I used was sorcerous energy. It was certainly an overwhelming amount, but I didn’t use any other superior powers I have. So did I really defeat Ha Song-Su?”

Gi-Gyu was just as doubtful as Old Man Hwang. He announced, “I need to find an answer.”

“What?” Soo-Jung yelled.

Gi-Gyu ignored her. He turned toward Old Man Hwang and asked, “Sir, where is Paimon?”

The elderly blacksmith slumped a little. Finally, it was time to wake Paimon up and hear the truth.

‘Lord Paimon…’ Old Man Hwang couldn’t believe the demon he worshiped and respected had returned as his enemy.

***

A strange rope restrained the monocle-wearing demon. Old Man Hwang, Hwang Chae-Il, and Min-Su had worked together to create it. It was a weapon in itself.

Old Man Hwang explained, “Originally, we made this rope to restrain Ha Song-Su in case we captured him alive.”

Gi-Gyu nodded and turned toward Bodhidharma. He asked, “How are you doing?”

“That beautiful woman, El, helped me recover fully.”

“I’m glad to hear that.”

Yoo-Bin, who was nearby, asked Gi-Gyu, “Oppa, are you okay?”

Gi-Gyu nodded and looked at Paimon.

Old Man Hwang asked, “Did you do something to him? We didn’t try to wake him up, but still… I’m shocked that he still hasn’t regained consciousness. Could it be that his mind has collapsed…”

It was obvious Gi-Gyu had done something to Paimon so that he couldn’t wake up. Still, Old Man Hwang feared there was more to Paimon's prolonged unconscious state. Paimon most likely knew much about Andras’ plan, so Andras must have prepared a contingency for Paimon getting kidnapped.

What if Andras had ensured that Paimon would never wake up if captured?

Old Man Hwang mumbled, “I’m afraid we might not get anything out of him.”

Gi-Gyu walked up to Paimon and placed his hand on the demon’s chest. Behind him, a black fog began to arise. It was sorcerous energy trying to escape Gi-Gyu’s body. Unfortunately, he still didn’t have full control over his newly gained sorcerous energy.

“Hmm…” Gi-Gyu opened his lips. “Thankfully, I think his mind is still intact. And I didn’t really do anything to him.”

Gi-Gyu also hadn’t expected Paimon to lose consciousness like this. He had expected the demon to wake up shortly after, so this was a surprise to him too.

“Based on his condition, I think you’re right, Sir. I believe Andras put some kind of restriction on him.”

“What?” Old Man Hwang gasped.

“I think Andras made it so that Paimon’s mind would disintegrate if he gets captured…” Gi-Gyu looked at Paimon for a moment. “But I think Paimon is fighting it.”

“W-what do you mean?”

“I have a good guess. After I defeated Paimon, I was planning to sync with him.”

Everyone nodded, agreeing that this was a good idea.

Gi-Gyu continued, “But I heard his voice in my head, saying that I shouldn’t. His body was laughing like a madman, but his voice said something different in my head.”

“What?!”

“And I am certain it was Paimon’s voice.”

Old Man Hwang couldn’t hide his confusion. He begged, “Please… explain.”

“I’m not certain of it, but… here is my theory.” Gi-Gyu continued coldly, “I don’t know much about Paimon’s legacy, but Andras used it to revive Paimon. He used it to accomplish everything so far.”

Gi-Gyu didn’t have to elaborate on this part of his story. Everyone knew that Paimon had something to do with the hell king cloning process and Ha Song-Su becoming such a powerful figure.

“Paimon was involved in all of Andras’ crucial projects, so I am certain Andras put some restrictions on him. I am not sure exactly what it is, but I believe he found a way to escape it. Perhaps he separated his mind from his physical body and hid it.”

This was a definite possibility.

Gi-Gyu continued, “This explains how he woke up and telepathically warned me at the last minute. I think his real self clashed with the part of his mind left in his physical body that sided with Andras.”

Gi-Gyu guessed that the two halves of Paimon’s brain were fighting for dominance inside.

“That makes sense.” Lou nodded.

“So what do you propose we do? If Paimon doesn’t wake up, we won’t get anything out of him.” Soo-Jung seemed very annoyed. “The Chinese coup was a success. Andras can’t use China again for his human experiments. All this is great, but what we really need is information. With Ha Song-Su gone now, Paimon is our only source.”

Soo-Jung was correct in her assessment. They had won, but it wasn't significant because they hadn’t gained anything important. Gi-Gyu studied Paimon quietly. Paimon was the biggest loot of this battle because he held many secrets.

“We need to wake him up,” Gi-Gyu announced.

“What?”

Gi-Gyu ignored Soo-Jung and placed his hand again on Paimon’s chest. Another black fog arose from him; this time, the once-rampant sorcerous energy followed Gi-Gyu’s directions, exiting from his fingertips.

Gi-Gyu’s lips moved, and he said, “Force sync.”

“What are you doing?! You said Paimon warned you not to sync with him!” Soo-Jung yelled.

“Are you sure this is okay?” Old Man Hwang also seemed concerned.

Paimon, who had been lying on the bed like the dead, began to twitch. Restrained by the strange rope, he had been unable to even breathe; now, he was shaking uncontrollably.

Dun dun dun dun dun!

Everyone in the room watched in horror.

A few minutes later, Paimon finally stopped moving.

“Is… it over?” Old Man Hwang couldn’t hide his concern.

Gi-Gyu didn’t reply.

Instead, Paimon muttered, “Where am I…?”

The cracks on his monocle were gone. He glowed as he easily freed himself from the special rope Old Man Hwang had created with everything he had.

Paimon sat up and looked around the room.

***

“I am truly impressed,” Paimon stated. He was now wearing a hoodie and a pair of jeans. Wiping his monocle, he asked, “How did you do it?”

“You mean, how did I wake you?” Gi-Gyu replied. They were still inside the room, but Paimon had asked most of the people to leave, so only Gi-Gyu, Paimon, Old Man Hwang, Lou, and El remained inside.

Paimon explained, “I put my consciousness to sleep just in case. I was fighting the other consciousness and the restrictions put on me when…”

Gi-Gyu had suddenly woken him up, so Paimon’s other self disappeared into the virtual world of his mind. He couldn’t understand how Gi-Gyu managed to do this.

“By sync.”

“...?” Paimon frowned. “I still don’t understand. I am certain I told you not to sync with me, didn’t I? It was for your own sake. Based on what I know, you and I shouldn’t be… intact like this if you synced with me.”

Paimon sounded sure of his theory. After all, many legends and epics called him the greatest expert in the world. He was well aware of what sync was. He had researched the ability extensively because he was once Gi-Gyu’s enemy.

“If you truly synced with me, I should be feeling an undying loyalty for you. But I don’t feel anything. Therefore, you did not sync with me. I don’t feel any connection to you at all.”

Gi-Gyu smiled, aware that Paimon was correct. He replied, “I didn’t sync with you, Paimon.”

“What do you mean…? Ah!” Suddenly, Paimon rose and asked, “So you synced with the restriction placed on me and my other consciousness? I see… Yes, it’s possible, but it couldn’t have been easy to accomplish. So how…?”

“Do you want to know how?” Gi-Gyu asked knowingly.

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“Of course.” Paimon didn’t seem ashamed of his curiosity. As someone who wanted to learn about everything in the world, he resented what he couldn’t understand. Gi-Gyu interested Paimon, so he waited patiently for Gi-Gyu to answer.

“Then you must tell me something first.” Gi-Gyu had Paimon cornered now. “I want to know Andras’ true goal, what you did, and how you cloned the hell kings. I also need to know what Ha Song-Su is.”

Gi-Gyu’s eyes sparked with the charisma of a man who knew how powerful he was.

“...!” Paimon’s eyes widened. Whacking his head, he grinned and replied, “Andras wants to do the same thing as Gaia.”