The Player that Can’t Level Up

surroundings carefully. 

One ranker-level player wearing a mask shouted, “The barrier! We must remove the barrier so we can escape! We must get out of here!” 

Gi-Gyu had no time to waste since he had to figure out the mystery that the leather-clad man was. 

Gi-Gyu activated his evil eye, turning his eyes a dark violet.
The man’s face was melting and cracking simultaneously now; his entire body gave off extreme heat as if he was burning alive.

[Flame Giant]

The stat screen above the man’s head indicated his true name.
Suddenly, the man bulged as a colossal flame pillar engulfed him.

***

“Where did you go…?” Sung-Hoon murmured.
When he heard Gi-Gyu was heading toward the Tower, he followed immediately.
But when he arrived, he couldn’t find Gi-Gyu anywhere.
Every floor of the Tower had portal maintenance agents, so finding Gi-Gyu should’ve been easy, but he was nowhere to be found. 

All Sung-Hoon knew was that Gi-Gyu was inside the Tower somewhere.
He couldn’t have been too far behind, so where did Gi-Gyu go?

“He has to be on the 1st floor somewhere,” muttered Sung-Hoon.
Since none of the portal workers knew where Gi-Gyu was, Sung-Hoon could only roam around. 

Feeling frustrated, Sung-Hoon sighed, “Haa…How did he go missing in an active landmark like the 1st floor?”

If Sung-Hoon failed to find Gi-Gyu soon, he would be in big trouble as he would get a scolding from the association president himself. 

Just when Sung-Hoon was about to drown in frustration, a familiar agent ran toward him and yelled, “Agent Heo Sung-Hoon!”

Right now, there was only one reason an agent would look for him.
So, boundless relief filled Sung-Hoon as he asked, “Did you find him?”

The agent shook his head and replied, “No… That’s not it.”

“Then what is it?!”

“There is a barrier on the 1st floor! It’s gone now, but…”

“But what?” Sung-Hoon asked, but the agent was too busy panting.
Sung-Hoon understood that the agent probably ran here, but did he have to pause at such a dramatic moment? After taking a few more gulps of air, the agent continued, “Skeletons and a durahan! The area is filled with skeletons, and we’ve even received reports of a giant fire.” 

Sung-Hoon became visibly rigid.
He asked in a panic, “Where?!”

After hearing the location, Sung-Hoon decided to rush there; before leaving, he turned around and ordered, “Call the general manager of the Department of Gate Maintenance (DGM).
Inform General Manager Oh Tae-Shik about this! Tell him there is an emergency on the 1st floor! Tell him we need Grigory!”

“Grigory…?” the agent murmured in confusion.

“Just tell him; he’ll know!”

“Y-yes, Sir!” 

While sprinting toward his destination, Sung-Hoon muttered, “Just what are you doing?” 

***

The masked players deactivated the barrier to escape.
Even though Gi-Gyu now didn’t have to worry about the barrier, he didn’t feel all that happy. 

Kaboom!

The flame giant slammed down its right hand, narrowly missing Gi-Gyu. 

“Haa…” Gi-Gyu sighed and repositioned himself, but things were getting worse.
With each passing second, the flame giant got crazier, and the heat went up a notch.
Lou’s flame resistance helped initially; now, it wasn’t as effective. 

“Is this hellfire or something?” Gi-Gyu murmured before shaking his head.
To non-players, it might feel like flames from hell.
However, Gi-Gyu knew better since he had seen real hellfire before. 

Boom!

“Haa…” He sighed again and jumped to avoid the attack.
Using his senses, he figured out the other players’ locations.
There weren’t many survivors, and the skeletons, the durahan, and Bi were still hunting them. 

“Just the gate monsters should be enough for them,” Gi-Gyu murmured before calling quietly, “Bi.”

He could sense Bi rushing toward him; before he knew it, Bi was around his neck in his necklace form.
As he dodged the flame giant’s fist again, he shouted, “Elemental Water!”

Suddenly, Gi-Gyu turned into water, and his speed increased.
His hands, now made of water drops, still held Lou and El firmly.
Finally ready, Gi-Gyu crashed into the flame giant. 

Kaboommm!

The collision of a hot and a cold force created an explosion so loud and massive that the entire floor heard and saw it. 

“Ugh…” Gi-Gyu groaned as he stood up.
Unfortunately, he received more damage from the explosion than his opponent and now had a scorched body.
His water form was also gone since his control over the elemental skills was still lacking. 

“Then…” Thinking up another idea, Gi-Gyu shouted, “Elemental fire!” 

Flames erupted from Gi-Gyu; even though they weren’t as intense as the flame giant’s, they still held impressive energy.
Gi-Gyu now looked like a man on fire.
He flew high up in the air and crashed into the flame giant again.

***

“H…humans… in masks… players… kill… Grandmaster ordered…” After hearing the durahan’s stutter, Sung-Hoon replied, “You mean Ranker Kim Gi-Gyu ordered you to kill the masked players?”

“T…that’s… right.” Durahan nodded.
Sung-Hoon was running toward the giant fire when he lucked out and met the durahan.
The durahan was busy killing masked players; thankfully, it recognized Sung-Hoon as an ally. 

“Haa…” Sung-Hoon sighed deeply.
He remembered this durahan was one of the many Gi-Gyu summoned before.
Based on what the durahan told him, Sung-Hoon figured out Gi-Gyu was battling the masked players. 

“All right, I’ll join you,” Sung-Hoon announced.
He had asked for Grigory, so he knew this area would soon be under control.
Only the strongest ranker could pass through Grigory.

Sung-Hoon turned to look at the huge fire nearby.
A scene right out of the biblical apocalypse. 

“He has been hunting humans more than the monsters lately.” Sung-Hoon shook his head and raised his spear.
Whatever happened, his role would remain the same.