The Player Who Can't Level Up

Chapter 305 – The City of Death (2)

Go Hyung-Chul had never been so glad to see someone.

He wasn’t this happy even when he reunited with the woman he had fallen for briefly.

Heck, not even when he bumped into his childhood bully after becoming a high ranker was he this ecstatic.

He had been happy when he learned about his birth secret from a Caravan player, but this…

Go Hyung-Chul yelled, “What took you so long?!”

He was in a desperate situation, so he couldn’t be happier to see Gi-Gyu. Perhaps the overwhelming pleasure he felt partly stemmed from the sync, which forced him to feel undying loyalty toward Gi-Gyu. And it was also possible that Go Hyung-Chul had the utmost faith in Gi-Gyu, believing he could even fix this dire situation.

“Why are you crying…?” Gi-Gyu asked in confusion.

“Huh…?” Go Hyung-Chul was just as confused. But instead of trying to figure out his emotions, he yelled, “Dodge!”

Go Hyung-Chul saw the monster’s giant hand, the size of a house, coming down at them. The monster targeted Gi-Gyu now, whose feet were glowing golden. When Go Hyung-Chul saw that Gi-Gyu only continued to stare at him in confusion, he screamed, “No!”

Thinking Gi-Gyu would be swatted by the giant hand, Go Hyung-Chul was about to leap to sacrifice himself. However, Gi-Gyu abruptly vanished from right in front of his eyes.

“A spectrum?” Go Hyung-Chul whispered. Before he knew what was happening, he saw Gi-Gyu reappear behind the monster’s back.

Whack!

Gi-Gyu leaped in the air to step on the monster’s shoulder before kicking its face. The resultant explosion was loud, and so was the sound of its hide being ripped.

“Kerrrrk!” The monster screamed before falling to the ground.

Gi-Gyu looked down at the beast and explained, “I had a little bit of time left on my Super Rush.”

“...!” Go Hyung-Chul couldn’t hide his shock. He had sparred Gi-Gyu a few times before and after they synced. He had fought Gi-Gyu after becoming stronger, so he had seen much of Gi-Gyu’s abilities, but what he saw just now was still a huge surprise.

‘Does this mean that… he never used his full power when he sparred with me? It looks like he didn’t even show half his power.’?Go Hyung-Chul despaired. This jerk, now his master, had never shown his full strength to him. Even now, Gi-Gyu wasn’t using his full strength.

“We’re not done yet!” Gi-Gyu yelled and ran toward the monster.

“Haa…” Go Hyung-Chul sighed.

***

“So tough,” Gi-Gyu muttered, realizing that the monster’s skin was tougher than he had expected. He had punched the monster with half of his strength, yet the beast looked fine.

‘Does it have some kind of tolerance to physical attacks?’?

The monster had a thick and tough hide, which meant it might have a certain tolerance for physical attacks. But this didn’t mean Gi-Gyu could use his bigger and more destructive skills or attack with his full power.

“Kwerrrrk!” The monster roared again. Before it fell, Gi-Gyu had ensured there wasn’t anyone nearby that could get hurt. However, he couldn’t prevent the Colosseum from being destroyed. If he used one of his big skills or his full power, there was a good chance he might harm the evacuees. It would cause even more turmoil and confusion.

“This way!”

“Please keep calm and move quickly!”

The players were still working hard to help the tourists run to safety.

Gi-Gyu asked El impatiently, ‘El, isn’t it done yet?’?

-Just a bit longer! Please wait!

El replied in a hurry.

‘What about Hamiel and the rest?’?

El was in the middle of making a barrier to protect the non-players and the association players who were too weak to face the monster. Gi-Gyu was confused because he could only feel El’s energy. He could find no trace of Hamiel and the other angels.

-They are chasing after the cardinal.

‘The cardinal?’

–Hamiel reassured me he could do this, so please don’t worry.

‘All right.’?

Hamiel had seemingly found a clue about the cardinal on his way here.

Gi-Gyu noticed that the monster was trying to get up, so he plunged his fist into its head again. “Stay down!”

Whack!

With a loud explosion, the monster collapsed again.

“This is…” After studying the monster’s body, Gi-Gyu realized something. “This monster is similar to the ones that attacked Eden before.”

Those monsters had also possessed incredible regeneration power and were tough. Gi-Gyu knew that his creatures had a hard time dealing with them. From what he could feel, the monster before him had similar qualities except for one difference.

‘I think this one is even stronger.’?Based on the sorcerous energy the monster was effusing, Gi-Gyu could tell that it was much stronger than the ones that had attacked Eden.

“It’s as strong as a hell king,” Gi-Gyu muttered. However, it could compare to hell kings only in terms of the amount of sorcerous energy held. In every other aspect, this monster was too simple and stupid. Its brain didn’t work properly, and it attacked blindly. This monster was much easier to deal with than the hell kings.

Gi-Gyu was watching the monster and thinking when he got the signal he had been waiting for. From El’s location, a white light beamed and enveloped the entire area.

-Master, thanks to the players’ help, I was able to create my barrier much more quickly.

It appeared that the association players had decided to help El use her skill.

‘All right.’?

Gi-Gyu replied and turned back toward the monster. He blinked once, and something in him changed drastically.

An opaque light appeared in his eyes, and Gi-Gyu ordered, “Die.”

With his undeniable command, the light spilled over the monster.

‘Alberto… I’m sorry.’?Gi-Gyu apologized in silence, knowing that to kill the monster, he would have to sacrifice the Colosseum.

***

“Ha…” Go Hyung-Chul laughed and sighed at the same time. He couldn’t understand why he had even risked his life earlier. It was even more upsetting because he had given up his identity to sync with Gi-Gyu to become more powerful.

“What’s wrong?” asked Gi-Gyu.

Go Hyung-Chul was reminded of how insignificant he was compared to this man.

‘I guess that’s why he’s my master.’?Go Hyung-Chul told himself. Honestly, he had known this for a while now. When they had synced, he didn’t say anything to Gi-Gyu, but he had felt what was inside Gi-Gyu.

‘His power seems bottomless.’?Go Hyung-Chul thought in awe. It was bigger than the ocean. The only way he, a mere player with meager power, could describe it was… Space. Kim Gi-Gyu’s shell was vast and unimaginable, like space, and the fact that he ever tried to compare himself to Gi-Gyu felt ridiculous.

But at that moment, a stupid expression was on Gi-Gyu’s face. It was hard to imagine that this was the same man who had killed the monster so mercilessly earlier.

‘He’s a strange one,’?Go Hyung-Chul thought.

“Mr. Morningstar!” Alberto rushed toward Gi-Gyu. It was hard to tell if he had just arrived or if he had been helping with the aftermath of what had happened.

“Ah…” For some reason, Gi-Gyu looked upset.

‘Is it because he destroyed the Colosseum?’?Go Hyung-Chul wondered. But Gi-Gyu had saved so many people; the Italian Players Association had to be indebted to him. If it weren’t for Gi-Gyu, the monster would still be rampantly running around, and the casualties would have been unimaginable. There was no way the Italian government didn’t realize this.

Go Hyung-Chul asked, “You did such an amazing job, so why do you look upset?”

“Well, because…” It was apparent why Gi-Gyu was concerned. It was because he had destroyed the Colosseum. However, it turned out that Gi-Gyu was worried for nothing because Alberto rushed forward and thanked him.

“Thank you! Because of you, so many people and players survived this. If you weren’t here, I don’t know what would have happened, Mr. Morningstar…” Alberto trailed off.

“I-it is nothing.”

“No, I mean it.” Alberto took a step back and bowed deeply. “Everyone in Rome—no, the entire Italy, and I, the manager of the Italian branch of the EPA, are now indebted to you, Mr. Morningstar.”

Alberto straightened his back and continued, “I can’t speak for Italy as a whole, but if you ever need anything from me, I will be happy to help.”

Alberto was genuinely thankful, and all Gi-Gyu could do was scratch his cheek.

‘Poor guy.’?Go Hyung-Chul thought. Alberto may have had minimal influence, but it was only when compared to the other association managers. Alberto was still the head of the Italian branch of the EPA, which meant he was in control of all the Italian players.

Go Hyung-Chul couldn’t tell if Alberto didn’t know what he was saying. He also was frustrated that Gi-Gyu only looked awkward and refused to name his reward.

‘But this isn’t a bad feeling.’?Go Hyung-Chul thought. Thanks to the sync, he felt so many more different emotions.

‘Maybe this is what loyalty feels like?’?he wondered.

“I’m sorry about the Colosseum. If I hadn’t controlled the monster, things would have gotten much worse,” Gi-Gyu apologized.

“It’s all right.” Alberto smiled. “After the Vatican’s destruction, the Italians have become more accepting of the destruction of… What’s wrong?”

Alberto stopped when he noticed that Gi-Gyu’s frown hadn’t dropped.

Gi-Gyu replied, “It’s not over yet.”

“Pardon?”

“Go Hyung-Chul.” When Gi-Gyu called out to him, Go Hyung-Chul nodded. Gi-Gyu ordered, “You stay here and help Alberto with the cleanup.”

Gi-Gyu took one step as he explained, “I think Hamiel and the other angels are battling Cardinal Castro right now. I need to go help them.”

Before Go Hyung-Chul could even respond, Gi-Gyu was gone.

Go Hyung-Chul muttered, “Guess he’s gone.”

Go Hyung-Chul and Alberto’s eyes met.

Alberto explained, “Firstly, now everyone in Italy knows why Mr. Morningstar is here. About that…”

Go Hyung-Chul realized that there was something he could do for Gi-Gyu. It wasn’t a physical battle, but it could still be beneficial.

Go Hyung-Chul replied, “All right.”

***

Gi-Gyu still found it difficult to control the sorcerous energy he had gained so abruptly. This was why he had practiced his new power while battling the monster.His goal had been to destroy the monster with only his fists without using his swords. The monster had gotten Gi-Gyu a few times with its acid attacks, but it couldn’t cause significant damage. As planned, he had killed the monster with his bare fists.

However, he had received El’s message while talking with Go Hyung-Chul and Alberto.

-Hamiel is fighting the cardinal.

With a thump in his chest, Gi-Gyu also received a message from Hamiel.

El announced.

-I’ll be heading out to help Hamiel, Master.

Knowing El could support Hamiel well, Gi-Gyu felt comfortable spending a little time with Go Hyung-Chul and Alberto. He could feel that Hamiel was a little nervous, but it wasn’t alarming. He assumed that Hamiel was just anxious about the battle. Besides, there were two other angels with him.

‘They should be just fine.’?Gi-Gyu felt certain that the three angels would fare well until El arrived. He assumed they could capture Cardinal Castro before he caught up with them.

All of Gi-Gyu’s creatures had been training very hard to become powerful. So, like Gi-Gyu, all his creatures had grown stronger. Therefore, Gi-Gyu believing his angels could capture the cardinal was a logical thing.

Because he had used up Super Rush during the battle with the monster, Gi-Gyu had to move slower than he would like. But he wasn’t worried.

However, he realized how arrogant he had been when Gi-Gyu finally arrived.

“What the heck…?” he whispered. The first thing he saw was the despair on El’s face.

“Master…” El moaned.

Nearby, Hamiel was on the ground, unable to move. “Grandmaster…”

Then, he saw his two angels, dead not too far away.

Hamiel whispered, “The enemy has killed them.”

Gi-Gyu suddenly remembered the strange thump he had felt earlier. It was a sign of the sync between him and the two angels breaking.

“Grandmaster… I’m so sorry.” Hamiel must’ve forced himself to remain awake until now. When he saw his master, he finally fainted.

“Ahhh!” Gi-Gyu wailed in agony.