CH 334

More and more questions about Gaia plagued Gi-Gyu, but he couldn’t find a single answer.

‘I can’t believe Alberto became a ruler,’ Gi-Gyu thought in shock. Alberto had become a ruler just like Tao Chen. A ruler was a step above regular high-rankers.

“I guess it’s similar to reaching the final evolved state as Hamiel did.” Gi-Gyu rested his chin on his hand. It seemed that the rulers had power greater than regular players. Gi-Gyu suspected that becoming a ruler was the highest level a player could reach.

This was confirmed by what Tao Chen told him earlier.

“I think I can no longer level up, as all the training I do only subtly makes me stronger.”

Tao Chen had explained that training no longer improved his skills but allowed him to use his ruler power a little better. After becoming a ruler, Tao Chen grew exponentially.

‘He’s almost as strong as Bodhidharma now.’ 

In the past, Tao Chen couldn’t compare to the monk, but their recent spar proved that the situation had changed.

Gi-Gyu would have been interested in seeing Alberto become just as strong, but Alberto had explained, “I don’t think my battle prowess will improve much.”

Alberto believed that he would grow differently, and since he had only recently awakened, he didn’t know his power.

After waking up, Alberto had announced, “I need to return to Rome.”

Currently, he was busy searching for survivors trapped under the debris. Sung-Hoon had accompanied him to Rome to help.

‘Hmm… Being a ruler…’ Gi-Gyu was currently pondering alone.

This had to be the greatest job a player could get.

“It’s like you’ve reached the maximum level possible,” Gi-Gyu said to himself when a man entered the room without knocking.

“What?” asked the man.

Gi-Gyu had felt the man’s energy nearing his room, so he knew who it was. Instead of getting up from the sofa, he only turned his head to see Go Hyung-Chul standing.

“I said it’s like reaching the maximum level possible,” Gi-Gyu repeated.

“The maximum level…?”

“Supposedly, players can level up without any limit. Even Lee Sun-Ho hasn’t stopped hunting to level up,” explained Gi-Gyu. Lee Sun-Ho, who was nowhere to be seen now, used to be the most powerful player in the world. And even he was never lazy about hunting in the Tower to level up.

“But if he can’t level up anymore, wouldn’t that be considered the maximum level?” asked Gi-Gyu.

“The maximum level…”

‘So, becoming a ruler is the highest position a player can reach, but… What criteria does Gaia use to select a ruler? And why is she doing this?’ Gi-Gyu wondered. What bothered him a little was that she gave this power to those around him.

But Gi-Gyu decided not to overthink it anymore. He still had many questions regarding Gaia, but his experience had taught him one thing.

“All suspicious individuals should be considered enemies,” Gi-Gyu muttered.

“What did you say?” Go Hyung-Chul asked in confusion, but Gi-Gyu only smiled.

Changing the subject, Gi-Gyu asked, “What brings you here?”

Go Hyung-Chul had been very busy lately as well. He had helped a great deal in finding the survivors and the corpses in Rome. With an odd look, Go Hyung-Chul shrugged and replied, “What are you talking about? You called me here.”

“Ah, that’s right.” Gi-Gyu scratched his head. He had been thinking so hard about Gaia that he had forgotten that he had summoned Go Hyung-Chul. “I need you to do something.”

Go Hyung-Chul became tense, aware Gi-Gyu’s latest task would be no easier than all the others he had received so far.

“Please go to the Tower,” ordered Gi-Gyu.

“What?”

“I got a message that they need reinforcement inside the Tower.”

Go Hyung-Chul became even more confused. “Who asked for help? Do you have something going on inside the Tower too?”

“Yup,” Gi-Gyu answered simply and stood up. “I asked Haures to take care of the Red Players and clean up the Tower.”

“...”

Gi-Gyu explained, “But Haures contacted me and told me that he has been having difficulty dealing with someone.”

Haures held a Seat of Power, and as one of Gi-Gyu’s creatures, he had also been growing stronger. Gi-Gyu had ordered him to deal with the Red Players, and Haures had been doing his duty faithfully.

But a few days ago, Haures had contacted Gi-Gyu in a panic.

-Grandmaster, I sincerely apologize, but I’ve met a powerful opponent. At the moment, I’m on…

Haures had explained that he was on the 79th floor. Gi-Gyu couldn’t remember which floor Lee Sun-Ho had led the Angela Guild to conquer because it was long ago. However, he was sure Haures was on a floor no human had ever stepped on. Gi-Gyu was proud of him and curious about this “powerful” opponent’s identity.

‘At the moment, Haures is more powerful than Botis.’ 

So how strong was this opponent for Haures to ask for help? Gi-Gyu wanted to know the details, but he had lost contact with Haures. Gi-Gyu wasn’t worried, however, since their still-intact sync proved that Haures was alive.

“Anyway, you have to go inside, find him, and help him,” Gi-Gyu explained.

“Hmm… And why aren’t you going in yourself?” Go Hyung-Chul asked with curiosity.

When you're just trying to make great content at bit.ly/3iBfjkV.

Gi-Gyu knew he had to return to the Tower someday but now wasn’t the time. “Who knows what might happen if I go there now? I’ve already wasted so much time inside the Tower. I don’t plan on climbing for a while.”

“All right.”

Go Hyung-Chul was about to leave when Gi-Gyu added, “Take the order of the Drake Knights too.”

“Why?”

Gi-Gyu’s grin widened as he replied, “Their evolution conditions have been revealed.”

***

It had been a long time since Gi-Gyu went for an outing. He had been busy preparing for the battle with Kronos and training with his creatures, but he couldn’t miss this event. Heo Sung-Hoon, Alberto, and even Tao Chen had begged him to attend.

As soon as Gi-Gyu left Eden, numerous fireworks exploded.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

“Uwahhhh!”

“Wow! That’s really Morningstar!”

“He’s so much hotter in person!”

“This is nuts!”

The crowd went wild, and Gi-Gyu looked around in awe. And it wasn’t just the huge crowd that shocked him.

“The Colosseum…” Gi-Gyu whispered. Gabriel had destroyed the Colosseum, but it had been restored; it looked exactly like what it must have looked like after its construction. Its seats were now occupied by countless people watching Gi-Gyu.

“What the heck…?” Gi-Gyu mumbled in confusion.

The loud cheers and fireworks stopped, and someone walked up to him.

“Thank you for coming.” A blond man, Alberto, smiled brightly. Sung-Hoon and Tao Chen followed.

“What is happening here?” asked Gi-Gyu. He was shocked by both the crowd and the fully-restored Colosseum.

“Didn’t I tell you we have a specialist who can restore things?” Alberto smiled again. “And that’s me.”

“...”

“My new power is amazing. I didn’t think I could restore something destroyed this badly, but it turned out that I can.” Alberto continued, “My unique ability is Form Recovery.”

“Ah.” It all made sense now. Gi-Gyu had to agree that Alberto was a specialist.

Sung-Hoon suggested, “Why don’t you wave at them?”

“You know I hate things like this,” Gi-Gyu protested.

“I know, but today is a special day.”

Gi-Gyu ultimately gave up and waved at them.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

“Uwahhhhh!” The Colosseum was filled with a crowd cheering for Gi-Gyu.

Helicopters and fireworks filled the sky, and cameras were everywhere.

Gi-Gyu teased Sung-Hoon, “You better have a good explanation for this.”

“Look.” Tao Chen suggested to Gi-Gyu.

Soon, they escorted Gi-Gyu to the area near the stage in the middle of the Colosseum. Then, they climbed onto this stage while Gi-Gyu watched them in confusion. In the past, Gi-Gyu would have run from a situation like this, as too much attention made him uncomfortable.

‘But today, I don’t want to ruin the moment.’

The Roman populace had gone through so much recently, and even now, they sat in the middle of a city still in ruins, but they happily cheered today. Gi-Gyu could understand their sadness, so he felt obligated to stay.

Alberto stood on the stage and tapped the microphone twice, which was enough to silence the people and the cameras. The whirring of the helicopters couldn’t be stopped, but when Alberto waved his hand, silence fell.

The Silence skill was common among support players.

‘But using it to cover such a wide space and make it sound so natural…’ Gi-Gyu was truly impressed, realizing that being a ruler must have allowed Alberto to do this.

“Huh?” Gi-Gyu looked at his side in confusion. He saw that Lou, El, and Brunheart were also present in their accessory forms.

-They said we should come too, so here I am.

-We wanted to be with you, Master.

-Yo, Master!

“What is going on?” Gi-Gyu looked at the three men, Alberto, Heo Sung-Hoon, and Tao Chen, smiling at him onstage.

Alberto then began, “Rome is a land with an unfortunate history.”

Indeed, Rome had gone through a lot in history. It had been tough recovering from the S-Class gate break, but then Gabriel happened.

“The truth is, it wouldn’t have been strange for Rome to disappear from the map after what happened recently,” Alberto continued, and no one could deny this. In reality, Rome was in ruin. If Gi-Gyu hadn’t stopped it, Rome, and possibly Italy, would have disappeared from the map.

“But please look at that man over there.” Alberto pointed at Gi-Gyu.

“...” Gi-Gyu turned bright red. All the cameras and everyone’s eyes were on him.

“He saved Rome, Italy, and”—Alberto swallowed—“the entire world. He’s our hero!”

His voice rang inside the Colosseum as he added, “The Italian Players Association has decided to become independent of the European Players Association. In addition…”

All the cameras turned toward Alberto as he announced, “We have decided to join Eden!”

Alberto pointed at Tao Chen. “High-Ranker Tao Chen and the Chinese player groups have all decided to join Eden as well.”

Another silence fell in the building.

Alberto continued, “Eden will follow our hero Morningstar anywhere forever! We aren’t out of the woods yet, so the world is still at risk. A tragedy like Rome’s could happen anywhere. Those watching this broadcast at home in different cities and countries, you must remember this!”

Alberto put the microphone down and added, “The only one who can resolve this situation is Morningstar, who is sitting over there!”

The cameras went off wildly. This had to be one of the biggest news in history. Three giant player organizations were uniting, which had never happened before.

And these groups were joining forces to form an army for a single player.