The Player Who Can't Level Up

Alberto knew more than he had revealed—why wasn’t he telling Gi-Gyu everything?

“How can you be sure?” Gi-Gyu narrowed his eyes at Alberto, who seemed certain that these men wouldn’t wake up. Gi-Gyu could tell if someone was lying, but he couldn’t learn others’ secrets without syncing with them.

“I told you about the police brutality before, right?” Alberto seemed uncomfortable.

“You mean…?!”

“Yes. The criminals rarely die from police players' attacks. Most of these non-players lose consciousness after being arrested and never wake up. But since they die under police custody, the public deems their deaths the result of police brutality,” explained Alberto.

“...”

“It’s an honor to meet you, Mr. Go Hyung-Chul. I know that you were a famous high ranker. May I ask you one thing? You said you met these non-players tonight, correct?” asked Alberto.

Go Hyung-Chul replied with a small nod.

“Then they will most likely die before the end of tomorrow.” Alberto seemed resigned, indicating something like this had happened many times before. “We’ve had all kinds of players in the healing and support categories try to heal them, but we have never been successful.”

Gi-Gyu turned toward the unconscious non-players again. Their conditions were strange and unusual.

A heavy silence fell.

El asked Alberto, “By the way, didn’t you say you came here for an urgent matter?”

“Ah!” Alberto suddenly remembered why he had walked into Gi-Gyu’s room so hurriedly. He was so shocked by what he had seen that he had forgotten about it.

Alberto shook his head. “It is about something similar to this.”

Instead of explaining further, Alberto glanced at Go Hyung-Chul.

Realizing Alberto was worried if Go Hyung-Chul could be trusted, Gi-Gyu nodded and promised Alberto, “He’s like my slave, so you don’t have to worry. You can tell us.”

“Slave?” Alberto asked in confusion.

“Who are you calling a slave?!” Go Hyung-Chul yelled in annoyance.

Gi-Gyu explained, “I’m just kidding. Simply put, he can be trusted, so go ahead. Whatever you tell me will be relayed to Go Hyung-Chul anyway.”

“All right,” Alberto replied. “Some Vatican players are scheduled to visit a week from now.”

“...!”

“...!”

Go Hyung-Chul and Gi-Gyu looked at each other. They had difficulty finding clues, but it looked like things were looking up. They never expected a giant clue, much less Vatican players themselves, to show up so easily.

However, Vatican players rarely showed themselves, so it was odd that they decided to emerge during Gi-Gyu’s visit.

“But why?” asked Gi-Gyu, wondering what could make the Vatican players move. “Could it be that they know I’m here?”

Was the Vatican sending someone to confirm Gi-Gyu’s presence in Italy? If this were the case, then…

‘I need to prepare myself.’ Gi-Gyu had to be ready to avoid falling into another trap like before.

“No.” Alberto shook his head. He pointed his fingers at the unconscious non-players and added, “I think it’s because of them.”

“Ah.” Gi-Gyu finally understood.

The players could do the impossible; they could even do things that modern medicine couldn’t. Yet none of the players could save the unconscious non-players; consequently, they couldn’t even extract any information from them.

They couldn’t question the unconscious criminals, and the crimes continued in the meanwhile.

Gi-Gyu suggested, “Maybe the Vatican players could wake these men up.”

“Yes… I truly hope we get something out of this because some of the latest victims have been tourists.”

Go Hyung-Chul groaned and mumbled, “So the government has no choice but to get involved. Well, it makes sense since the Vatican is controlling Europe.”

Go Hyung-Chul wasn’t here when Alberto and Gi-Gyu had talked about how the Vatican controlled Europe. If he already knew about this, it meant this was a well-known fact.

‘Guess it makes sense since he deals with information,’ Gi-Gyu thought.

“Anyway, they will be here in a week, huh?” asked Go Hyung-Chul.

“Yes,” Alberto answered.

“That means they won’t be here in time to save these men. Which means they are certain the crimes will continue.”

Go Hyung-Chul acted condescending toward Alberto, and it seemed that Alberto didn’t think much of it.

The non-players in the room wouldn’t survive another day. So the Vatican players must be coming here to save the future non-player criminals who would go unconscious.

But Alberto’s answer was negative. “No. One person has survived. The Vatican is sending their players to try to heal this person.”

“...!”

This was something unexpected.

“Wait.” Confused, Gi-Gyu asked, “Why do you think only the Vatican players can save this person?”

“Pardon?”

“I am not sure if I can save him, but”—Gi-Gyu reached for one of the thugs with blond hair—“I should be able to extract information.”

Gi-Gyu touched the man’s head. Looking at him, Go Hyung-Chul whispered, “Ah, why didn’t I think of that?”

Alberto blinked in confusion, “What are you planning to do now…?”

***

Time passed by quickly. Everyone in Eden continued to train hard, just as usual, and Sung-Hoon and Rohan were busier than ever.

-You might not be able to contact me for a while, Pupil! Keep training hard.

This was Soo-Jung’s last message, who had gone on a journey with Yoo-Bin, Lim Hye-Sook, and Baal. They were out to find Gi-Gyu’s family and friends. Paimon was also busy doing his experiments. He was working on necessary things for Min-Su.

No one was wasting time except for Gi-Gyu himself.

“You have now seen almost all of Rome's main tourist attractions,” Alberto announced.

“I guess there isn’t much to see,” replied Gi-Gyu.

“Oh, please don’t say that. You’ve seen everything in Rome, but Italy has so much more to offer. You will need at least a decade to see everything in this country.” Alberto seemed very proud of his country.

Gi-Gyu turned toward El and asked, “El, did you have a good time too?”

“Of course.” El smiled.

It had been a week since Go Hyung-Chul brought the non-player thugs to his room. During this time, Gi-Gyu had toured Rome leisurely.

Gi-Gyu asked Alberto, “Can I ask you something? Will you give me an honest answer?”

Alberto slapped his chest a few times and replied, “You can ask me anything, Mr. Morningstar. I will do my best to answer you truthfully.”

“You don’t have much work as the branch manager, do you?”

“Pardon?” Alberto, who had seemed so confident, slowly turned rigid.

“All this week, you did nothing except give us a tour of Rome. You’re the branch manager of Italy, which means you’re pretty much at the association president level, yet…” Gi-Gyu couldn’t believe how much free time Alberto seemed to have on his hands.

“Hahaha! What are you talking about?!” Alberto relaxed again. “I have a lot of free time because I’m the branch manager! I actually don’t have too much to do. I can finish my duties in the evenings.”

But this didn’t make sense. A branch manager had to approve and reject a lot of things for an association to run smoothly.

“After all, I’m just a puppet branch manager, so my presence isn’t really missed there.”

It was only for a brief moment, but Gi-Gyu saw a pained look in Alberto’s eyes. Was there something more going on here than he knew?

As usual, El changed the subject smoothly. “So it’s today.”

“Yes,” Alberto replied. “A Vatican player is going to visit the association branch today.”

Today, the dispatched Vatican player would arrive here. This player would heal the unconscious non-player who had been somehow strong enough to fight players. They wished to extract information from this non-player if he woke up.

“So we’ll finally get to see him,” said Gi-Gyu. He hadn’t wasted the last week just touring the area. He had synced with the thugs that Go Hyung-Chul had brought one night, but it didn’t work. Go Hyung-Chul had then tried to find traces of Vatican players, but he was unsuccessful.

This was why today would be a momentous day. They would finally meet one of the famed Vatican players.

‘We have to catch him.’ Gi-Gyu promised himself. For them to proceed forward, they needed to get this player. He didn’t have any more time to waste.

“I don’t think that would happen, but…” Alberto said to Gi-Gyu, “If your presence here is revealed, I can’t take your side. As a matter of fact…”

This could turn into an international incident. Alberto warned, “I will deny any knowledge of it. I will formally protest against the Korean government and the new association Eden.”

Alberto had no other choice. Just as he had mentioned, he was the Italian branch manager in name only. The Vatican and the Caravan Guild controlled Europe, and Alberto was powerless against them.

“If this happens, you might not face physical danger, but you will no longer receive the media’s support.” Alberto gave Gi-Gyu sound advice.

The situation would indeed get very complicated if Gi-Gyu’s presence were revealed. Physically, he would be safe, but the reputation he had built for himself and Eden might get ruined. He didn’t want to see the Caravan Guild and the Iron Guild regain power just because the media and the public lost their trust in him.

Alberto looked at his watch and announced, “It’s time.”

Thump!

Gi-Gyu felt a strong jolt in his heart and staggered.

“...!” Gi-Gyu gasped.

“Mr. Morningstar!”

“Master!”

Alberto and El rushed toward him in shock.

“I’m okay,” Gi-Gyu tried to reassure them. This had often been happening since he arrived in Italy. His heart began to pound...

‘And I’m going to hear the voice again.’

Gi-Gyu waited, and just as he had predicted, he heard the voice in his head.

-Help me.

Gi-Gyu couldn’t even tell if it was the voice of a man or a woman. This person was asking for his help, yet there was no way for Gi-Gyu to find out who it was.

‘Who are you?’ Gi-Gyu had asked many times, but he never got an answer. All he could hear was the loud pounding of his heart.

Alberto urged, “We need to hurry.”

“Master…”

“I’m okay, El.” Gi-Gyu stood up quickly. They didn’t have much time. They couldn’t run because they couldn’t risk being noticed. The group needed to get to the association building by car; to get there on time, they needed to leave now.

Looking nervous, Alberto announced, “The car is waiting outside.”

***

Go Hyung-Chul said to Gi-Gyu in his head.

-Don’t be late.

Go Hyung-Chul was already in the Italian association building, located in the Colosseum. He had secretly arrived early to study the area. The plan was to capture the Vatican player, and they needed to know the area well to do this.

The car carrying Gi-Gyu and the group drove quickly toward the Colosseum.

“I don’t feel anything yet,” Gi-Gyu murmured.

“Me neither,” El replied.

The time the Vatican player was supposed to arrive was near, but neither detected anything. This bothered them greatly.

“We’ll be arriving soon. I hope you realize that I can’t go with you,” Alberto, who was driving, said hesitantly.

“We know.”

Soon, Gi-Gyu would get a big clue. He was getting excited when suddenly, his heart began pounding again.

“Why…?” Gi-Gyu grabbed his chest in confusion. During his time in Italy, this strange phenomenon had happened no more than once in a single day.

‘Could it be…’ Gi-Gyu guessed what this might mean. But he didn’t get much time to contemplate.

-Help me.

The desperate voice filled his head again, making him sweat.

“Master! Master!”

Gi-Gyu could hear El’s panicked voice. He wanted to reassure her, tell her he was okay, but his lips refused to move. Instead, the voice inside his head became much clearer.

-I said you need to rescue me, you moron!

“Michael…?” Gi-Gyu mumbled.

This novel is available on bit.ly/3iBfjkV.