The Player that Can't Level Up

A cold silence took hold of the battlefield. The cocoon continued to thump like a beating heart, shooting sharp thorns continuously. It was deadly as ever, but it reminded Gi-Gyu of a scared, cornered animal making its last attempt to survive.

The players backed away in fear. The cocoon’s thorn attack was scary, but their instincts told them that things would get much worse.

The dark magic from the cocoon grew increasingly dense, becoming suffocating even.

“I-I can’t breathe!” one of the Blue Dragon Guild members lost consciousness with his mouth foaming.

“Get him out of here!” Choi Chang-Yong ordered in a strained voice. The other guild members tried to move the unconscious player to safety, but it wasn’t an easy task. They couldn’t move their leg as freely as before since it felt like their feet were trying to take root in the ground. Every human on the battlefield was experiencing the same, and only the non-humans could move a little. Consequently, the players were all left staring at one place.

Choi Chang-Yong stammered, “H-he’s human, isn’t he?”

The others nodded hesitantly, but everyone wondered. On the entire battlefield, only one man seemed unaffected by the change—Gi-Gyu. His black smoke had created a cocoon around him. As for Botis’ cocoon, it was unmoving and was just increasing the players’ anxiety.

“Haa… Haa…” Michael panted. It was hard to tell if it was from fatigue or fear. Slowly, the cocoon around Gi-Gyu dissipated in black smoke. Out of the cocoon, Gi-Gyu sighed, “Haa…”

Lou was still stuck in his stomach, but there was no blood. As he breathed out, black smoke came out of his mouth. The black smoke crawled onto Gi-Gyu’s back like a sentient ophidian.

“Haa…” Gi-Gyu breathed again, and another puff of black smoke left his mouth. His eyes still closed, his lips began moving up and formed a grin.

The black magic twines subsumed and weaved together to create a single wing-like appendage on Gi-Gyu’s back. Then, he began to move slowly. As he clenched and unclenched his fists…

Crack!

Boom!

“What’s happening?!” Choi Chang-Yong screamed.

Kaboom!

Explosions occurred everywhere, and no one could figure out why or how. As if a fighter jet was dropping bombs everywhere, the dozens of blasts destroyed all the enemy monsters. The players only saw flashes; within a minute, no mantis or chimera was left standing.

Creak!

Creak!

Gi-Gyu stretched his neck, making some alarmingly loud cracking noises; it was enough to make everyone tremble in fear.

The remaining corps commander was dead as well. Hal, no longer having an enemy to battle, kneeled and bowed toward Gi-Gyu and whispered, “I, a lowly demon, have been blessed by you, My Great King.”

Choi Chang-Yong screamed, “D-did he just kill a corps commander?! Did I see this right?!”

No one answered him.

Step.

Step.

Gi-Gyu began walking, but his eyes remained closed. A moment later…

Kaboom!

Booom!

The ground shook thunderously, making the other player gasp, “...!”

Gi-Gyu had pushed down the cocoon into the ground with one hand. He said with a smile, “Your king has arrived, so shouldn’t you be bowing down? Stupid mantis. How dare you keep hiding in your house like this?”

The creepy smile never left Gi-Gyu’s face as he continued, “Long time no see, Botis.”

Crack!

The cocoon, invulnerable till a moment ago, crumbled like a cookie.

***

The fine balance Gi-Gyu had created inside his shell was about to tip over because Death, strengthened and emboldened by this gate’s dark magic, was threatening to destroy the delicate barrier.

This emboldened and strengthened Death did make Gi-Gyu stronger. However, there was no saying what would happen if it destroyed the barrier and invaded Life’s space. All the Egos synced with Gi-Gyu were working together to keep Gi-Gyu's shell intact.

That was the only reason Gi-Gyu and Lou chose to take this risk.

Lou’s descent.

Gi-Gyu had never considered this possibility, but Lou had put much thought into this. After acquiring Life, his shell became stronger, and he gained more control over Death. The evolution had also made Lou stronger and restored his memories, which he decided to forget. But, some still remained. All he needed was the right medium and fuel to access the power he held as the former King of Hell.

Lou, of course, couldn’t regain all the power he used to have. But he could borrow much of it by using his current power and Death.

Life became the medium, Death became the fuel, and Gi-Gyu became the engine. With that, Lou descended as the being that could burn the world down.

Sung-Hoon mumbled, “He’s the incarnation of evil.”

Black smoke and red sparks flew everywhere as Gi-Gyu tore the cocoon’s layers while laughing like a mad man.

“Kekekekekekeh! Yes! This is what I needed! This is what I wanted!” Gi-Gyu roared, licking the blood and flesh splattered on his face. The pleasure on his face said he quite enjoyed the taste.

The incarnation of evil.

There was no better term to describe him.

Crack!

Kaboom!

The cocoon’s layers, shattered into a million pieces, flew everywhere

Lou was once the lord of all things evil. Now that he had borrowed Gi-Gyu’s body to make an appearance, he could destroy anything with a finger flick—even corps commanders high rankers had difficulty defeating alone.

And…

“That cocoon is supposed to be as strong as a high-level demon lord, yet…” Sung-Hoon whispered. Gi-Gyu was peeling the once unbreakable cocoon like a boiled egg. It scared the cocoon so much that it stopped shooting thorns and went into defensive mode, only concentrating on making its outer shell harder.

Crack!

Unfortunately for Botis, that didn’t work. Gi-Gyu continued to destroy the cocoon with his bare hands like he was clawing at styrofoam. Unbelievably, this was the same cocoon that Tao Chen’s skill had barely scratched a moment ago.

The players stared in silence. There was nothing to say since there was nothing they could say. Besides, they could barely move, and most were just trembling while covering their mouths so as not to make a sound. Just imagining what Gi-Gyu would do if they caught his attention sent shivers down their spines.

***

Hell looked exactly like what a human could imagine. It was a burning wasteland where sinners went to die. It was a lawless place, but it still had a governing system. This system managed hell and decided the seniority of all demons. Surprisingly, hell had a clear hierarchy.

To humans, hell may have looked horrendous; to demons, it was home. Well, it used to until one day. A creature suddenly appeared and turned hell into a living hell for every demon inside.

Demons were used to screams of pain and suffering of others, but this new arrival gave them a taste of their own medicine. The original system gave them a hierarchy that was both elegant and respectful. The politics of it all could be vicious, but the demons believed their system was fair.

However, the new arrival thought otherwise. He ignored the system and killed everything in his way, mercilessly destroying and conquering. He began his domination with low-level demons. More specifically, he started invading territories and killing their landlords. Whenever he appeared, the landlords and the low-level demons trembled in fear.

‘We’re all going to get eaten alive.’ This was what the demons actually feared the most. This new arrival didn’t simply kill its enemies. When he felt merciful, he killed them before eating them. But most of the time, he ate them alive.

Ironically, the new arrival made hell a place of fear and despair for demons, making them cower in fear.

Then, he put mid-level demons in his crosshairs. He began hunting the landlords that held a Seat of Power. Sending armies and assassination attempts to kill him ended in failure because he would just eat every last one of them. Since he gained the powers of every demon he ate, they inadvertently made him stronger. As he became stronger, the destruction of hell worsened. This phenomenon lasted several thousand years.

In the end, the surviving demons bowed down and surrendered to him. For the first time in history, hell was divided.

‘We shall serve the new king!’ The demons who surrendered became even stronger as they worshiped their new leader. Hell became what it was meant to be. Power trumped everything in this dog-eat-dog world. In this primitive era, those with good instincts gained more power and land as they served the new king.

The high-level demons that opposed this new arrival fell helplessly. Those holding the Seats of Power finally united to fight back, but it was too late. Unfortunately for them, this new arrival had an ability no one had even heard of—Death.

Death could kill anything and everything. Thanks to Death, he defeated every single high-level demon lord. Finally, the only remaining opposition was…The Seven Demons Kings.

The Seven Demon Kings were born powerful. They sat above the Seats of Power and ruled hell. In the end, they made their move. These kings had always remained passive as they ruled; this was the first time they actively got involved.

The war between the new king and the Seven Demon Kings was gruesome. Countless demons that served the new arrival died at the hands of the Seven Demon Kings. The new king, who seemed invincible, lost many battles to the Seven Demon Kings.

Their final battle decided the fate of hell. The sinners of hell had to experience death repeatedly because they were summoned as soldiers every day. They died every day on the battlefield while suffering unimaginable agony.

In the end, the new king triumphed. When he snapped one of the Seven Demon King’s neck and drank his blood, the other six kings knew it was all over for them.

‘I wonder what all of your blood tastes like!” the new king whispered with a grin. Once he ate that king, the other six had no choice but to bow down. Finally, the grim battle ended, and hell got a new king.

Unfortunately, the end of this war didn’t bring peace. The new king was a bloodthirsty demon and the worst tyrant of them all. He was…

The incarnation of evil.

Hell was becoming even more hellish as everything crumbled down when…

Dun!

The Tower opened, ruled by the six remaining members of the Seven Demon Kings. These traitors somehow made the new king fall. They exiled and sealed him away somewhere.

Although the tyrant was gone, no one in hell could forget his name, power, brutality, and unbelievable evil nature.

***

Crack!

Creak!

Ghastly sounds continued to echo throughout the gate. There was no more battle since Gi-Gyu destroying the cocoon took the stage. The boss monster trembled in fear. It may have looked funny how the cocoon shivered, but no one laughed. In fact, everyone was also trembling.

Crack!

Gi-Gyu thrust his hand deep into the cocoon again. This time, he reached the center. The hardest outer layer was all gone by now.

“Got it!” When Gi-Gyu moved his hand a little, the innermost layer opened. The creature inside trembled as it looked up at Gi-Gyu.

“Botis?” Gi-Gyu whispered.

Botis, the mantis, continued to tremble as Gi-Gyu’s hand reached its face. Since it created a giant cocoon around it, Botis shrunk in size. Had the cocoon successfully exploded, Botis would have taken another shape. However, it was the size of an average human now.

“Long time no see, you fucking bug,” Gi-Gyu murmured with a grin. Botis’ ugly face crumpled in fear. Its mouth opened slowly as it stammered, “I-I wasn’t told you would be here! I was tricked! I’ll tell you everything! So please…! Lu— Kyaa!”

“Don’t call me by my forgotten name. You're making me angrier,” Gi-Gyu murmured as he ripped Botis’ shoulder.

Gi-Gyu added, “But… too late. You have already made things worse, Botis.”