The Player that Can’t Level Up

also announced various new policies concerning the association to redirect all the attention.”

When Gi-Gyu summarized what he had just heard, Do Bong-Gu nodded emphatically and replied, “Yes! I know the new policies are important too, but this was the first time the association president made a public appearance! Everyone was so shocked! Outside the Tower, the association president is now the talk of the town! People have just forgotten about the masked player!”

Gi-Gyu’s face turned awkward.

‘This is…’

Sometime back, Tae-Gu confidently promised Gi-Gyu he would take care of this situation.
However, Gi-Gyu never expected him to reveal his identity to the world for that.
Overall, the association president did manage to divert the world’s attention by revealing his identity; thus, he kept his promise. 

‘Or maybe, he planned on revealing his identity anyway, and he just happened to find the perfect timing.’

Gi-Gyu wasn’t naive enough to believe that Oh Tae-Gu, the association president, did this just for him.
He was certain that this event had something to do with Oh Tae-Gu’s plan to clean out his organization and begin reforming it. 

Gi-Gyu murmured, “So, I’m not indebted to the president.” After all, he was an association merc, and it was the association’s responsibility to take care of him.
This line of thinking helped Gi-Gyu feel much more at ease. 

“Pardon?” Do Bong-Gu probably thought Gi-Gyu said something to him, but Gi-Gyu just shook his head and replied, “It’s nothing.” 

‘They have hunted enough.
Time to go.’

Gi-Gyu got the information he wanted, so he was ready to leave.
But suddenly, his senses alerted him of something, and he said to Do Bong-Gu, “Please gather all of your guild members immediately.”

“What do you mean?” 

“I can sense numerous players approaching our location; I think they are red players,” Gi-Gyu replied grimly.
The aura he picked up was similar to what those red players had.

Do Bong-Gu shouted, “Get ready for battle! Quickly deal with the remaining monsters as a team and—” His words were stuck in his throat because Gi-Gyu was rapidly cutting down the monster population there.
It only took a moment, and Do Bong-Gu couldn’t hide how impressed he was. 

‘He’s so powerful.’ From what happened earlier, Do Bong-Gu could tell how strong Gi-Gyu was. 

‘Player Kim Gi-Gyu might be even stronger than our guild master—’

Do Bong-Gu never got the chance to finish that thought since he saw several red players rushing toward them, screaming, “They’re here! Those bastards!” 

Do Bong-Gu calmly took out his emergency flare gun and shot it into the sky.
The blue and black smoke quickly spread high up.
If the guild member he sent away earlier had reported their situation, their guild should’ve sent additional support to this floor by now.
And if they saw this flare, they would come here rushing. 

‘And with Player Kim Gi-Gyu, we can survive till then.’ Do Bong-Gu reassured himself.
Even though Gi-Gyu was a powerful player, there was no way he could deal with all of these red players.
So, he put his hope of survival on the en-route Cain Guild support team. 

The Cain Guild members gathered in one place, and the red players the Smurf Guild brought surrounded them.
Gi-Gyu could tell these red players usually hunted on the floors above the 30th from their aura. 

One of the bigger red players, a bald guy, stepped forward and asked, “Did you assholes kill one of ours?” 

Gi-Gyu, busy gathering the Cain Guild members before, stepped forward and replied, “Not these guys.
I killed him.” 

“Huh! You bastard! Are you some kind of philosopher? Nahhh.
You a hobo?” The bald player asked rudely. 

Gi-Gyu just studied the Smurf Guild members standing nearby; then, he recognized one.
 

“Huh?! You’re…!” Gi-Gyu exclaimed. 

“What? Do you know me?” When the Smurf member asked, Gi-Gyu grinned.
Gi-Gyu had been wondering if he would ever see this guy again.
He tried to steal Gi-Gyu’s crystal bags back then.
Gi-Gyu remembered the day very well.
He had just heard his mother’s diagnosis and was depressed, so he locked himself in the Tower for a long time and hunted mindlessly.
When he was finally leaving the Tower with his crystal-filled bags, he faced some thieves. 

The same guy who tried to rob him was now trying to kill him.
Gi-Gyu smiled and asked, “You’re the thief from that day, aren’t you?”

At the time, this thief warned that he would get Gi-Gyu later, but he failed to recognize Gi-Gyu due to the drastic change in his appearance. 

The Smurf Guild member replied, “What the heck are you talking about? We’re”—the other red players chuckled—”all thieves and murderers.”

Ignoring their laughs, Do Bong-Gu announced, “We’re the Cain Guild! Our reinforcements are nearby, and they would’ve seen our flare by now.
They must be on their way, so if you leave us now, you can avoid an unnecessary battle.”

“Huh? Oh, I'm so scared!” the bald player gasped mockingly before leering.
Gi-Gyu knew why the red players were so confident right now.
Before the bald player could reply, Gi-Gyu explained the situation to Do Bong-Gu.

“We are surrounded by red players right now.
It will be too late for us by the time our reinforcement arrives.
Is there a war I don’t know about between the Cain Guild and those people?”

“I… don’t know,” replied Do Bong-Gu. 

‘Something doesn’t add up.’ 

The red players acted as if they wanted to go to war with the Cain Guild.
Or did someone hire the Smurf Guild to kill the Cain Guild members here?

“Let’s just beat them up first and ask questions later,” Gi-Gyu announced. 

“Pardon?” Do Bong-Gu asked in confusion, but Gi-Gyu just murmured, “Accelerate.”

“There are some women here too! It’s so hard to find women inside the Tower.
This is just perfect! Kill everyone except for the wome—” The bald player was giving out his order when a stupid expression appeared on his face.
He was looking ahead, but he could somehow see the shock on his fellow red players’ faces: They were standing behind him.
And while he was learning that his voice no longer obeyed him, a whisper entered his ear, “Let’s not touch the women, okay? Didn’t your mother teach you anything?” 

To everyone’s shock, the bald player’s head was rolling on the ground.
However, the other red players didn’t run this time.
One of them shouted angrily, “Kill them! We won’t fall for this again! Our guild members are surrounding this area! Kill that crazy bastard!”

Gi-Gyu scratched his head with Lou’s handle and murmured, “I guess they aren’t going to run this time.” He thought that if he killed the one who looked like their leader, the others would scatter like the last time again; Gi-Gyu was mistaken. 

However, Gi-Gyu’s entire victory strategy didn’t depend on that.
He killed the strongest of them just now, so it was just a matter of time before he took care of them all. 

Do Bong-Gu, encouraged by Gi-Gyu’s show of power, ordered, “Cain Guild! It’s time to fight! Kill all the red players!”

“Yes, Sir!”

There was no way to escape this battle now.
More importantly, they had no reason to run.
The Cain Guild members looked toward Gi-Gyu, the bearded, dirty-looking player.
This unexpectedly powerful man had proven himself to be a friend of their guild master. 

With Gi-Gyu by their side, the Cain Guild members felt confident they could survive this fight.