The Player Who Can't Level Up

Kaboom!

A corner of the Colosseum shattered with a loud explosion.

“Kyaa!”

“It’s a terror attack!”

“Run!”

The tourists around the Colosseum screamed and ran. Before long, the area was filled with fire, smoke, and screams. The scariest thing for everyone was that they couldn’t see anything in the thick smoke. They couldn’t even see the person standing right in front of them.

“Son!”

“Mommy!”

“Dad! Where are you?”

“Ines! Ines! Don’t move and stay there!”

Moments ago, the families here were enjoying the Colosseum; now, they were screaming for their loved ones. But no matter how hard they yelled, they couldn’t find their family in this hell. The situation had escalated way too quickly.

Boom!

Another blast occurred, and more screams rang. Only this time, instead of shock, they were screams of pain.

“Ackkk! My arm…”

“S-save me… Please!”

Chaos, screams, explosions, smoke, and children’s cries permeated the famous tourist spot. The laughter and joy from a minute ago were gone, and the place quickly turned into a nightmare.

However, the Colosseum wasn’t a simple tourist place. The EPA’s Italian branch was located here. Players were dispatched quickly to rescue the non-players, and the situation began to settle.

“Please run!”

“Wind!”

“Barrier!”

The players used wind magic to disperse the smoke and deployed barriers to protect the non-players. Once much of the smoke disappeared, the battle-category players began moving the tourists to safety.

“This way!” the players ordered.

This was why the association was built inside the Colosseum. This landmark and its tourists needed to be protected.

“Oh my god…” People gasped. The people running away and the players helping them all froze on the spot in fear. The players had gotten rid of the smoke to help the people flee, but it ended up creating even more chaos.

“R-run!”

“It’s a monster!”

When the people saw that a giant monster was responsible for the damage, they screamed and panicked.

“Kwerrrk!” the beast with two horns roared. It was a third of the Colosseum’s size, and its face was melting grotesquely. The beast had eight arms, and the wings on his back only had bones left.

“I-is this a gate break?” one of the players dealing with the smoke paused and mumbled. The giant was undoubtedly a monster, most likely as strong as an S-Class gate’s boss monster. Seeing such a monster out on Earth felt surreal, which was why so many players had frozen in shock.

“Kwerrrk!” the beast screamed and flailed its hands as if it was swatting flies. Several players got smashed, giving rise to even more shock and fear.

“Run! We gotta run!”

“Please save us!”

The tourists finally came to their senses and resumed running.

“Ack! Don’t step on me! Ines! Ines! Where are you?!”

In the wild stampede, the panicked non-players stomped on others to escape. Now, it was pandemonium. Dozens of tourists died in the stampede, and the monster’s powerful aura froze even more. From somewhere, a fire raged, and blood rained from the sky.

However, one man ran in the direction opposite the crowd.

“Dammit!” Go Hyung-Chul swore as he sprinted toward the monster. “Hurry up, Kim Gi-Gyu… Dammit.”

Go Hyung-Chul had become much stronger, but even he shuddered when he felt the beast’s power.

***

Whir.

Gi-Gyu shuddered at the familiar feeling.

‘It’s the sorcerous energy.’ 

He had no doubt it was sorcerous energy. After getting out of Alberto’s car, Gi-Gyu began running at full speed. He was so fast that the non-players couldn’t even see him.

‘El.’

-Yes! Master.

Gi-Gyu called out to El, who was some distance away, but her answer was immediate.

‘The sorcerous energy is too dense. I think our enemy is more powerful than we anticipated.’

El must have also felt it because Gi-Gyu could feel her emotions. He ordered, ‘Please protect the non-players with Hamiel and the others.’

-What about you, Master?

‘I need to see what’s giving off such energy.’

After a brief silence, El replied,

-All right.

Logically speaking, Gi-Gyu had made the right decision. El and other angels worked well together as an attack and defense team. Gi-Gyu could do everything, but he specialized more in battles.

‘And…’ Gi-Gyu gulped. He stopped running because he could feel El’s tension. She appeared nervous because she didn’t know what he would say next.

‘Do you know the path by chance?’

-Pardon?

‘It’s just…’ Gi-Gyu looked around, not knowing where he was. He thought he was heading toward the Colosseum, but he found himself in a place he had never been before.

-...

El remained quiet.

‘Never mind. I’ll figure it out,’ Gi-Gyu scratched his cheek and added. There were so many buildings around him that he wanted to avoid using his speed skill if possible. But it seemed that he had no choice.

“Super Rush,” Gi-Gyu spoke under his breath, and his feet began glowing with golden light. He took a step in the air and started running in the sky.

***

-I’m coming! Hang on!

Go Hyung-Chul heard Gi-Gyu’s message in his head. Before he could answer, he had to dodge the giant beast’s hand coming toward him.

“Kwerrrk!” the monster screamed. Go Hyung-Chul escaped the hand, but the energy wave ripped through the air and didn’t stop moving.

“Dammit!” Go Hyung-Chul stretched his shadow to prevent the wave from reaching the others. Unfortunately, he failed.

“Help!”

“Ackkk!”

The non-players screamed when the wave hit them. The energy wave wasn’t a simple gale. It contained magic and unknown energy. Every player that came in contact with it began melting.

“Is it acid?” Go Hyung-Chul muttered. It was always sad to see non-player casualties, but this time, it helped them learn something about the monster.

‘Dammit.’ Go Hyung-Chul couldn’t understand why he suddenly cared about the non-players. As a player, he had reached the high-ranker position. Before he had synced with Gi-Gyu, he knew he was missing something. Although he was human, he lacked sympathy or any other human emotions.

He used to be apathetic to non-players’ plight, utterly unaffected by their situation.

‘But I feel different now. Is this because of the sync?’ 

Go Hyung-Chul suspected this change resulted from the connection between their souls and shells. He knew Gi-Gyu valued human lives, and it appeared that Gi-Gyu’s beliefs also affected him.

“I don’t like this,” Go Hyung-Chul mumbled while dodging the monster’s hand again. His opponent was powerful, so he needed all his power and focus to defeat it. If he didn’t have to worry about anything else, Go Hyung-Chul felt confident he could win.

‘I can’t.’ His body refused to follow his brain. He couldn’t ignore the safety of the non-players and concentrate only on the monster. Go Hyung-Chul realized that he had to protect the tourists and fight the monster simultaneously.

‘Just what the hell is that?’ Go Hyung-Chul had worked as a player paparazzo and a special informant. He had gained much information and knowledge, yet the monster before him was a mystery.

‘It’s probably because of that drug.’ He thought of the drug that allowed the non-players to become strong enough to fight players. There was something about this drug…

“I guess I lost the cardinal.” Go Hyung-Chul muttered while fighting the monster and simultaneously protecting the non-players. His main goal for the day had been to capture the Vatican player and question him. He was supposed to extract information about the Vatican; unfortunately, he couldn’t feel the cardinal’s presence anywhere.

‘I guess his goal wasn’t to heal the suspect but to release the monster inside the criminal.’ 

After the cardinal had succeeded, he must have escaped somehow. Go Hyung-Chul could tell that the cardinal was skilled enough to do this.

“Hup!” Go Hyung-Chul gasped suddenly. Until now, the monster had been only punching. However, it abandoned the simple battle pattern, and a massive amount of sorcerous energy exploded from the monster.

It was too late to dodge this time, so Go Hyung-Chul yelled, “Shadow Barrier!”

This was his first time using this skill. The shadows of Go Hyung-Chul and everyone around him moved toward him. Like the sorcerous energy orb that had surrounded Gi-Gyu before, the shadows combined to form a sphere to protect Go Hyung-Chul.

“Ah, wait!” At the last minute, Go Hyung-Chul remembered the non-players around him and stretched the barrier to protect them too. The decision reduced the orb’s thickness, and it lost much of its defense power.

“Kwerrrk!” The monster roared as thick white smoke arose from its mouth. This smoke covered the sphere and began burning it.

“Ugh…” Go Hyung-Chul groaned, beginning to regret syncing with Gi-Gyu. He blocked the monster’s attack, but he had used up too much of his power. Removing the burnt shadow, Go Hyung-Chul panted. If he were attacked like this again, he wouldn’t make it.

He didn’t have many options left now. After going through them quickly, Go Hyung-Chul decided that the best option was to make the monster focus only on him and lure it into an isolated area.

‘Shall I try using that skill?’ Go Hyung-Chul had recently obtained a new skill, perfect for such a situation.

“Shadow Restraint!” When he yelled, the burnt shadow he had put aside began climbing the monster.

“Please…!” he prayed out loud. The shadow had just barely enough power to restrain the monster. When Go Hyung-Chul saw the shadow enveloping the monster in several layers, he sighed in relief. Thankfully, the shadow had seemingly constrained the monster.

The people and players, who had been frozen in fear, finally began moving. The players directed the tourists to safety, and the situation began improving.

“Kwerrrk!” The monster suddenly freed itself.

Search tinyurl.com/2p9emv8w for the original.

“Fuck!” Go Hyung-Chul yelled when the monster spewed out its acid smoke again. He contemplated as the situation around him worsened. He knew he could escape and save himself, but that would mean tens of thousands of non-players would die.

His life mattered the most to him, but the sympathy and remorse in his head refused to let him be selfish.

“Dammit,” Go Hyung-Chul swore before a smirk appeared on his lips. It was too late to regret it now. He made a choice and was ready to pay the price.

Go Hyung-Chul was about to drain the rest of his power to form another Shadow Barrier when suddenly, he saw a bright golden light.

Fwoosh.

“Sorry, I’m late!”

Gi-Gyu was finally here.