The Player that Can’t Level Up

Chapter 347: The Rescue (2)

What? Go Hyung-Chul asked in confusion.

I said Master is coming this way.

... Go Hyung-Chul stared at Haures as if he was being absurd. Haures looked tired, but he wasnt hurt. He was also carrying an armful of food.

Well, you cant exactly call it food, but Go Hyung-Chul knew that not many things in the Tower were edible. Occasionally, certain floors could give birth to decent ingredients, but that wasnt where they were. Consequently, all Haures had brought was monster meat, fetid mushrooms, and a few other strange things.

Haures reacted to Go Hyung-Chuls confusion offhandedly. He gestured toward the Red Players and ordered, Prepare the meal.

They had seemingly done it before, often.

T-thank you. The Red Players drooled over what Haures had brought and began cooking immediately.

I guess Go Hyung-Chul watched them work quickly. The Red Players were mostly criminals who had run to the Tower to avoid being captured by the association. Since the association controlled the Towers entrance, they couldnt leave freely. Therefore, they had to get most of their food from the landmarks.

Or just eat whatever they can find. So they must be used to this. Go Hyung-Chul guessed that these Red Players had lived a self-sufficient life just like they were doing now. The only difference was that, being high-level players, these Red Players had subordinates who used to do their cooking for them. Still, they were more familiar with cooking these strange ingredients than Go Hyung-Chul.

While the Red Players were busy cooking with their tools and skills, Go Hyung-Chul asked Haures, So Kim Gi-Gyu is coming right now?

Haures, who was resting, replied, Yes.

Haures looked a little better now, but with his amazing sight, Go Hyung-Chul could see that Haures was still shivering, which he was trying hard to hide.

Ignoring this on purpose, Go Hyung-Chul continued, How can you tell? I know youre synced with him, but you still shouldnt be able to tell something like that. Or do you have a special skill?

Their current floor seemed disconnected from the outside world; the fight between that unknown player and Ironshield seemed to be to blame. The sync was a special ability, but this shouldnt have been enough for Haures to know where Gi-Gyu was. They were still connected to Gi-Gyu but couldnt communicate with him. Plus, Haures was in bad shape, just like Go Hyung-Chul.

Haures explained, Well, I suppose you could say that. I forced one of the monsters on the 69th floor to surrender. I can tell this monster met the master since its connection to me has been severed. The monster is powerful enough not to get killed easily, so I can tell the connection didnt break because it is dead. I also gave it a clear order, so Im sure he met Master.

Go Hyung-Chul brightened visibly.

Hmm But there is another problem, Haures announced, making Go Hyung-Chul frown again. Go Hyung-Chul guessed that Haures special power must be to frustrate people.

Haures continued, I went near this floors entrance in case there is a way to escape, but

Haures face darkened as he added, For some reason, the entrance is blocked.

The entrance is blocked? Go Hyung-Chul knew more than your average human, but this was the first time he had heard something like this.

I am certain Master can get through it one way or another, butHaures rose and walked up to Go Hyung-Chulit might take longer than we anticipated. Since we are still alive obviously only because of you, Ill give you the rest of my sorcerous energy.

Go Hyung-Chul watched Haures quietly as he felt powerful sorcerous energy entering his body. He saw Haures face become visibly gaunt, but he just silently looked away.

Just when will he wake up? Go Hyung-Chul muttered as he watched Hal, who still had his eyes closed.

***

Kirrrk! the lizardman, the ruler of the 69th floor, purred like a cat.

You want me to take you with me? asked Gi-Gyu.

Kirrrk! Kirrrk!

Hmm After Gi-Gyu had synced with the lizardman, he had learned a lot from it. I didnt know Haures had this kind of ability.

Haures was a famous hunter who had chosen to become a seatholder solely to hunt. So, perhaps the fact that he could also domesticate his prey shouldnt have come as a surprise. Whenever Haures found a prey with a unique or special ability, he would make it submit to him. Unlike Gi-Gyus sync, his skill only used psychological influence to accomplish this.

So youre saying that Haures now knows I met you?

Kirrk! Kirk! The lizardman was burning, but Gi-Gyu actually found it cute. He wondered if Haures had domesticated this monster for that reason.

Hmm Gi-Gyu contemplated. As the ruler of the 69th floor, the lizardman was plenty powerful. This was why he had planned on sending it to Eden, but it looked like this monster wanted to accompany him to save his original master Haures.

The problem is that were going to much higher floors. I feel like you might be able to survive, but Gi-Gyu didnt have the time to slow down for this creature.

Kirrk! Kirk!

I dont have to worry about you? You can take care of yourself? Gi-Gyu grinned because the lizardman looked confident. All right, lets go.

Gi-Gyu didnt know why, but he wanted to keep this monster close. Perhaps it was because he valued how much this monster cared about its master.

Or maybe Im lonely. Who knew Lou and Els absence would hit so hard.

Gi-Gyu had come alone into the Tower, as he had left Lou and El in Eden for another mission. It was possible that Gi-Gyu just wanted a companion on this journey.

Lets go. Anyway, the reason didnt matter. Gi-Gyu decided to go with the lizardman but had no intention of slowing down for this monster. Gi-Gyu ordered the lizardman to go to Eden if they got separated. Brunheard had become powerful enough to assist synced creatures in returning to Eden whenever necessary.

Kirrk!

Huh? Gi-Gyu was about to leave when he noticed the lizardman hopping wildly. Suddenly, the monsters eyes turned redsymbolizing the demonic race. The lizardman began growing. It melted down like lava before hardening, and its entire body grew as it turned hard like a rock.

Kwerrrrk! With a particularly thunderous roar, thousands of lizardmen erupted from the ground.

Kirrrk!

Kirrrr!

***

The lizardman turned out to be much more useful than Gi-Gyu had expected. He felt silly for thinking that this monster might slow him down.

Kwerrrk! Whenever the lizardman roared, thousands of lizardmen erupted from the ground.

The most shocking thing is that I cant sense them. Gi-Gyus senses were second to none, yet he couldnt feel their presence. Gi-Gyu could guess why this was the case.

There are thousands of them, but they all are a part of that lizardman. That must be why.

The main lizardman was seemingly like a shadow that could multiply. The thousands of lizardmen were like its incarnations. They were alive, yet they werent.

Gi-Gyu also believed that this lizardman wasnt a simple floor boss. He hadnt bothered with reading its memories in detail, but it usually roamed the floors 70th and above. Obviously, it knew the floors well, as once they reached the 71st floor, it led Gi-Gyu straight to the next floors entrance. It even killed everything in the way for Gi-Gyu.

Gi-Gyu remembered another creature that resembled this lizardman.

It gained a fragment of a demon and roamed different floors.

It was the monster Gi-Gyu had met on the fourth floor, part of the tutorial floors. That monster had almost killed Gi-Gyu and had also given him enough courage to challenge the fifth floor. And that was when he had received his ability to sync.

The lizardman had the same demonic red eyes as that monster, which was unusually powerful. So Gi-Gyu guessed that they were similar in kind.

But I cant understand why Gi-Gyu stopped paying attention to the lizardman. He followed the monster, and while his body moved on autopilot, he wondered, Why wasnt there a test?

There had to be a test on the 70th floor; Gi-Gyu had even prepared for it. So when the lizardman had insisted on following him, Gi-Gyu wondered how the lizardman would pass the 70th floor.

But there was no test Why? It seemed that the entire 70th floor had disappeared. When he had crossed the door to the 70th floor, Gi-Gyu had been transferred directly to the 71st floor. There was no test or landmark.

Kirrk. Kirrrk. The lizardman, which had shrunk to its original size, came to Gi-Gyu and explained.

You passed that test a long time ago?

Kirrk.

Gi-Gyu was surprised to hear that a monster could move to different floors, let alone pass the tests.

Kirrk. Kirk.

But the 70th floor disappeared one day?

Kirrk. The lizardman nodded.

The Tower had been changing for a while now. The rest of the world hadnt noticed it yet, perhaps because there werent many players exploring the Tower's higher floors.

Or maybe there is another reason.

After rescuing Haures and Go Hyung-Chul, Gi-Gyu knew he would have to have a chat with Sung-Hoon. They would have to check the other floors someday to see if all test floors had disappeared.

Gi-Gyu paused for a moment to look up at the sky. The 71st floor was a forest, and its sky resembled Earths sky.

Gaia

Could the Towers changes be related to something Gaia was experiencing?

Lets hurry.

Kirrk! The lizardman began running again.

***

The distance to the next entrance increased every time they climbed to a higher floor.

I feel like Im crossing an entire continent.

Gi-Gyu guessed that each floor was now much bigger than the Asian continent. He needed to run the vast distance before reaching the next entrance.

Thanks.

Kirrrk!

Gi-Gyu had no idea how much longer it would have taken him without the lizardman. Thanks to this monster, he saved much time. Suddenly, Gi-Gyu also felt grateful to Haures, who seemed to have somehow predicted what would come.

Hes doing a good job.

Gi-Gyu had ordered Haures to unite the Red Players and climb the Tower. After giving this order, Gi-Gyu should have checked on Haures occasionally. But it was evident that Haures had done a much better job than Gi-Gyu could have had expected.

Maybe I shouldve come here sooner. Even though he had the power to climb to the higher floors, Gi-Gyu had chosen not to enter the Tower until now.

It wasnt just the missing 70th floor and the test that seemed strange.

The monsters are too weak.

The monsters on these floors were much weaker than Gi-Gyu had expected. They were, of course, still too powerful to be defeated by other average players.

But Lee Sun-Ho and the Angela Guild shouldnt have any problem reaching these floors. So why didnt they? Gi-Gyu wondered. Remembering how powerful Lee Sun-Ho was, these floors should have been a walk in the park. Yet, even years after the Tower had appeared, no one had conquered these floors. Until now, Gi-Gyu had assumed the reason was that the monsters on the higher floors were too strong. At least, this was what all the other players had claimed.

But now that he was here, Gi-Gyu learned the truth.

Its not that they couldnt They didnt do it on purpose.

It was obvious that Lee Sun-Ho and the Angela Guild had chosen not to conquer the Tower. They pretended it was an impossible task and had been lying to the world. The other high-rankers might have found it difficult to kill these monsters, but this couldnt be the case for Lee Sun-Ho.

Kirrk.

All right, Gi-Gyu replied when the lizardman announced they were getting close. They were currently on the 78th floor and about to reach the entrance to the 79th floor where Haures and Go Hyung-Chul must be trapped. It took quite a long time, but not as much as Gi-Gyu had expected.

As the lizardman walked faster, Gi-Gyu easily followed behind. They were close to the entrance to the 78th floor.

Then suddenly, both of them stopped.

... Gi-Gyu frowned and concentrated. What are they?!

Near the entrance to the 79th floor, he felt the presence of many players. These players werent weak by any means. They felt powerful and perfectly equipped. Gi-Gyu approached them to see who they were, and when he spotted them, his eyes widened in shock.

...!