The Player Who Can't Level Up

“The First Potion?” asked Sung-Hoon.

“That’s right. And it wasn’t just a few vials. I saw quite a few Vatican players in their white uniforms accepting the First Potion.” Go Hyung-Chul’s eyes were unwavering.

‘So the Vatican took the First Potion.’

“But…” Heo Sung-Hoon opened his lips. “That information alone doesn’t warrant that the entire Vatican is working with Andras. Perhaps it’s just a few Vatican players.”

Heo Sung-Hoon didn’t finish his sentence, aware his claim didn’t make much sense. Go Hyung-Chul had said that the amount of First Potion delivered to these players was significant. Therefore, it couldn’t have been just for a few players.

Heo Sung-Hoon couldn’t hide his disbelief. The Vatican was the holy land, after all.

“How could they have colluded with a demon?” Sung-Hoon muttered. It was like the beginning of a bad joke.

However, there was still no clear proof that the Vatican and the Caravan were in cahoots. The Vatican players took a large amount of First Potion, but they could have just been the middleman.

Gi-Gyu and Heo Sung-Hoon had the same idea, but Go Hyung-Chul warned them, “Don’t get your hopes up. Don’t you think I would’ve followed those players who took the First Potion?”

“...”

“Thankfully, I hid perfectly as I followed them and heard everything.” An ugly smile appeared on Go Hyung-Chul’s lips. It was impossible to tell if he was laughing at himself or the players. “They said they were taking the First Potion to the pope.”

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

“The pope…?” asked Gi-Gyu.

“That’s right. The pope. I’m talking about the ruler of the Vatican.”

“I know who he is,” Gi-Gyu replied rigidly. He remembered seeing the pope at the Global Players Association meeting. Gi-Gyu had accompanied Oh Tae-Shik to this event, and it was where he first met Michael too. The pope and Tae-Shik were seemingly acquainted.

Gi-Gyu remembered the pope being an amazing player. He had only seen the pope briefly, so he didn’t know much, but he assumed that the pope had to be a man of elegance and impeccable ethics.

When Gi-Gyu met the pope, he hadn’t felt anything odd.

‘Could it be that I couldn’t tell because I wasn’t as capable back then?’ 

Gi-Gyu wondered if he just couldn’t sense the evil in the pope at the time. But he didn’t believe so because he had been with Lou and El.

‘I better ask Lou and El.’ 

Gi-Gyu was deep in his thoughts when Heo Sung-Hoon muttered, “I just can’t believe this situation. The pope isn’t just a simple ruler. Every person in the Vatican is devoted to him. In a way, it’s a situation worse than China. If the pope is cooperating with the Caravan, then…”

“It would mean that the entire Vatican is working for Andras,” Go Hyung-Chul finished Sung-Hoon’s thought. “Not much is known about the Vatican players apart from a few things. They have their system, and like the rest of the world, they close gates and climb the Tower to become stronger. However, they are rarely spotted in public, and few have witnessed their true powers.”

“So I guess they’re trying to be a mysterious organization,” Sung-Hoon whispered.

“No, it’s more like they’ve dialed their caution up to eleven after a gate destroyed the original Vatican. Since then, they have stopped propagating propaganda and maintained a cautious attitude. As a matter of fact, few knew the Vatican still existed before the pope revealed himself.”

Gi-Gyu believed the statement because he, too, had no idea the Vatican existed until he had met the pope and Michael.

“And…” Go Hyung-Chul’s mouth must have been dry because he licked his lips as he continued, “There is a strange rumor going around about the Vatican players.”

“What?”

“Allegedly, they all use very similar skills.”

“...?” Gi-Gyu looked at Go Hyung-Chul in confusion. “How is that strange?”

Different players could have similar jobs. Some even had the same job and, in turn, the same powers. So why was this considered odd?

“I’ve heard about this too,” Sung-Hoon chimed in. “I heard that they all have similar unique abilities.”

“...!” Gi-Gyu finally understood the significance of the statement. Go Hyung-Chul hadn’t explained it clearly. Two players having similar skills was one thing, but two players having a similar unique ability… As the name suggested, this ability was supposed to be unique to each individual.

So the fact that the Vatican players all had similar unique abilities had to mean…

“So the Vatican had strange elements even before all this,” Gi-Gyu muttered. The Vatican seemingly held a secret before they had even joined the Caravan Guild and Andras.

Gi-Gyu tried to organize his thoughts as he asked Go Hyung-Chul, “All right. I understand that the Vatican working with Andras could be a huge problem. But there is something else you want to tell me, isn’t there?”

The Vatican’s involvement with Andras was indeed an important piece of information. However, Go Hyung-Chul was supposed to tell Gi-Gyu something even more crucial.

Something involving El…

“Tell me what you learned about the Vatican’s Michael,” Gi-Gyu asked.

***

The situation reminded him of the tale of Hansel and Gretel. It was one of the few stories he knew. Since his childhood, he wasn’t allowed much. Even the Hansel and Gretel story was secretly narrated to him by one of the priests.

He remembered this story very clearly.

‘Kidnapped by a witch and raised by her to be eaten…’ 

In the story, Hansel and Gretel were basically livestock. Their father was a poor woodcutter and didn’t pay much attention to his children. And their stepmother abused them terribly.

Their stepmother and father schemed to abandon the children. The kids tried to find their way back but got lost and ultimately ended up in the witch’s house of cookies.

The cannibalistic witch intended to fatten the siblings before eventually eating them.

The similarity between the story and his situation made him laugh. At least the children in the story had a family. Their father was too poor and weak to care for them, and their stepmother abused them, but still, they weren’t alone.

“Well, perhaps I also have a family,” he muttered. Perhaps he also had a stepmother figure in his life.

But it was a little different for him. He had suffered abuse but didn’t realize it at the time. The generous, considerate, and respected figure had been like a father to him.

At least, it was what he thought until he learned that everything was a sham.

“Gabriel…” he whispered. This was the name of his father, the pope of the Vatican.

And the same man had imprisoned him. He was trapped in this beautiful castle. He lacked nothing, yet he was stuck here, barred from doing anything he wanted. Even his powers were placed under restriction. He despaired, wondering how he had ended up in this situation.

He had always wanted to find his parents. More specifically, he wanted to find his origins. And one day, he had found a clue.

Under the Vatican’s protection, he had grown strong. When he finally entered the outside world, he had met “him” and “her.”

The man and the woman who could give him the answers he was seeking.

So he had decided to follow them. He felt that if he stayed with them on their journey, he would someday find out who he was. This was why he had returned home.

His home was the Vatican, a place that had raised a foundling like him. However, he finally saw it that day.

Michael gritted his teeth angrily, thinking about the pope whom he used to respect and follow. The pope, Gabriel, had been like his father and an emotional anchor. But when Michael told him that he wanted to explore the world to destroy evil, the pope had finally taken off his mask and revealed his true self.

Gabriel had said to him, “It’s finally time. You have done your job.”

The pope had tried to steal Michael’s body. Michael thought it was all over for him. He had collapsed weakly, and in his head, he kept hearing the demand to surrender.

But with a hollow sound, the pope was pushed out from Michael’s physical body. This was the first time Michael saw the pope looking confused. He still remembered how Gabriel had gasped in shock. The pope made several more attempts to steal his body, but he was always kicked out in the end.

Ultimately, the pope gave up, imprisoned Michael in this castle, and sealed away the holy grail. This made Michael as weak as a non-player.

“Livestock indeed.” Michael smirked.

The pope was raising him to use later. Michael had been searching for his identity all this time when the truth was that he was just a shell for someone else. So he despaired but didn’t give up.

“I… still have one sliver of hope left,” Michael whispered. He told himself that he wasn’t simply livestock. His existence had a meaning. When he met “them,” he had felt something extraordinary. It told him that there was much more to his identity.

This was why he couldn’t die just yet. Actually, he would rather die than let the pope steal his body, but he couldn’t even kill himself right now.

But this didn’t matter because Michael planned on surviving. Somehow, he would make it and learn the truth about himself.

“Please… Answer me…” Michael prayed. He had shared the power of the holy grail with him to save him. From then on, he could feel a faint connection between them.

“Please…!” The connection was weak, but Michael believed in the power of the holy grail. This man he had saved couldn’t be a simple human, so Michael believed this could work.

But unfortunately, Michael didn’t have much time. Even as he prayed, the pope was probably looking for a way to steal his body.

“Answer me…”

Would his request be answered? Michael was trapped in a hidden castle in the Vatican. Only those closely involved knew the Vatican’s location.

“Help…”

But Michael continued to call out for help. He clasped his hands like he was praying and closed his eyes.

“Kim Gi-Gyu…” Michael called out to the man who was his last hope.

***

“Michael is being detained in the Vatican,” Go Hyung-Chul explained.

“Are you saying Michael isn’t involved with the Caravan Guild or Andras?”

“Exactly,” Go Hyung-Chul answered. “They called Michael a traitor. They said he was an ungrateful traitor and a demon who needs to be destroyed.”

Gi-Gyu laughed because he knew one thing for sure. “There is no way he’s a demon.”

Michael might have been a corrupted angel, but he was definitely not a demon. Michael carried the holy grail in his body; this wouldn’t have been possible if he were a demon.

‘And if he were a demon, he would’ve been carrying around Chaos.’ 

When they first met, Gi-Gyu had sensed only holy power from Michael.

And…

‘Gabriel…’ 

Gi-Gyu felt certain that Michael’s body belonged to Gabriel, but he wasn’t sure about whose consciousness was in the body. Of course, it could be that Michael had fooled him completely.

That would mean that both the mind and the body belonged to Gabriel. Then, Michael would be on Andras’ side. But why would the Vatican call him a traitor if this were the case?

“This doesn’t make any sense…” Gi-Gyu was perplexed. He asked Go Hyung-Chul, “Is there anything else you can tell us?”

“No. I was almost caught a few times. The first set of players moving the First Potion was weak, but the other Vatican players were incredibly powerful. I wouldn’t have lost if I were forced to fight them, but I needed to remain hidden. So there was a limit to what I could find.” Go Hyung-Chul shook his head.

“Let’s just keep this simple,” Sung-Hoon announced decidedly. “We are now certain that the Vatican and the pope have sided with the Caravan Guild.”

Gi-Gyu nodded, and Sung-Hoon continued, “And the Vatican has also detained a high-ranker named Michael. So isn’t it obvious? The enemy of our enemy could be our friend. And doesn’t Michael have a favorable attitude toward you, Ranker Kim Gi-Gyu? I think…”

Sung-Hoon turned toward Gi-Gyu and suggested, “It would be best if you ask him in person. If the Vatican is on the Caravan’s side, it’s helping the demons. This means we need to destroy them.”

Sung-Hoon was right. There was no point in thinking too hard about this. Gi-Gyu looked at Go Hyung-Chul and Sung-Hoon and asked, “So, where is the Vatican?”