Chapter 333 – The Hell Kings  

“What the hell are you thinking about?”

There was now only one creature in the world who could speak to Gi-Gyu so rudely. Lou, in his child form, was pouting nearby. He had entered Gi-Gyu’s room and was playing a game on his TV. However, Gi-Gyu had been so deep in thought that he hadn’t even noticed anything.

Gi-Gyu asked, “What are you doing?”

“Playing a game. It’s fun. Wanna play with me?”

That made Gi-Gyu momentarily speechless. “You’ve been playing games?”

“Of course. This has been the only joy in my life lately,” replied Lou. It turned out that Lou had been playing games instead of training.

Gi-Gyu laughed a little. He could tell Lou was telling the truth because Lou had become an excellent gamer, something that required a lot of experience.

‘Or it might be because of his physical attributes,’?thought Gi-Gyu. Lou’s keystrokes were lightning-fast, and he could easily predict his game enemies’ movement.

“Is that fun?” asked Gi-Gyu, wondering if the game was too easy to be enjoyable.

“Yeah, it’s a good waste of time.” Lou’s answer was unexpected. His facial expression suggested that he was concentrating on the game.

Currently, Lou was stubbornly choosing to remain in his child form. Until Gi-Gyu had shown up, Lou had overexerted himself against Gabriel to buy him time. Lou had drained himself, using almost all of his power, to save those around him.

‘But he must have recovered by now,’?Gi-Gyu thought. But it looked like Lou liked this form because many had seen him roaming around in Eden in his boyish appearance.

Still focused on the game and in control of the controller, Lou asked again, “So I asked you what you were thinking about.”

“What was I thinking about… Hmm…” Gi-Gyu lounged on the bed again. He had been thinking about Gaia so hard that he hadn’t even noticed Lou entering his room. Gabriel’s information had answered some of his questions, but it had left behind even more.

According to Gabriel, [Order] didn’t have the power to create, and Gaia had used [Chaos]—a power very different from [Order]—to create Earth. Gi-Gyu used to think Gaia had stolen [Order] from God and had used it to create Earth somehow.

“What the hell are you doing?” Lou jerked when he saw a small light appear in Gi-Gyu’s hand briefly. He dropped the controller and protested, “Fucking moron! If you want to play around with such a dangerous power, do it somewhere else.”

The light in Gi-Gyu’s hand had been [Order]. He had summoned a bit of it briefly to feel it.

“It’s hard to control,” said Gi-Gyu.

“Haa… Of course, it is. It’s God’s power, you idiot. Even Gabriel’s God-like power was nothing but the accumulation of all the angels’ powers. He never learned how to control God’s essence successfully.”

Was that why? Gi-Gyu was now fairly experienced in dealing with Chaos, but God’s power, [Order], was a completely different story. Was it because [Order] was stronger than [Chaos]?

‘No, that’s not it,’?thought Gi-Gyu. He had never realized it before, but he realized that something was odd, so he tried to use the power again. And now, he knew for certain.

Gi-Gyu muttered, “It feels foreign.”

“Foreign?”

“Yeah.” Looking at Lou, Gi-Gyu explained, “I’m saying this feels like it’s a synthetic power.”

Lou replied, “Well, I don’t know anything about God’s power, so I’m sure you know what you’re talking about. But to call it foreign…”

Lou seemed troubled. The duo then fell into deep thought, lounging on the bed together.

***

This wasn’t the only odd thing about Gaia. The more Gi-Gyu thought about her, the stranger he found her. A while back, he had tried to contact her, but she hadn’t answered. And that wasn’t anything new. Since she hadn’t answered him so far, he had never gotten the chance to ask her anything. However, he felt that there must be a way to contact her.

Gi-Gyu called out, “Stat screen.”

The blue screen appeared in front of him.

[Level: 1]

There was only one line on his screen, which revealed his level. Previously, it showed his skills, unique ability, and such. The same thing was happening to El, Lou, and Hamiel.

“Hamiel,” Gi-Gyu called out to Hamiel, who was strolling with him in the garden. “Yes, Grandmaster.”

“Could you have a look at your stat screen?” When Gi-Gyu had opened Hamiel’s screen before, he couldn’t see anything. So, he wondered if that would change if Hamiel looked at his stat screen himself.

“Hmm…” Hamiel seemed confused. “I don’t see anything. The screen does appear, but… Every line is just a bunch of question marks.”

“I see.”

“Ah!” Just then, Hamiel yelled. “A new line just appeared.”

“What?”

“My tribe has changed to Diablo,” explained Hamiel.

Gi-Gyu couldn’t understand. A new line just appeared? Like that very instant? He had so many questions, but he muttered, “ I know she won’t answer me.”

“Pardon?” Hamiel looked at Gi-Gyu with curiosity, but Gi-Gyu only shook his head.

“Are you happy with your new power?” asked Gi-Gyu, trying to change the subject.

“Ah… yes. It’s more than I deserve.” Hamiel looked a little down. Without asking him, Gi-Gyu knew why this was the case. Hamiel must have felt guilty.

‘Does he think he sacrificed his friends to become stronger?’?Gi-Gyu thought sadly.

“I’m sure there is a way,” Gi-Gyu announced.

“A way to…?”

“Save the two angels.”

“...!” Hamiel’s eyes widened in shock. “Can you resurrect angels whose very existence has evanesced?”

“Can’t you tell by all the things that have happened so far?” There was a mysterious smile on Gi-Gyu’s face. “Nothing’s impossible. We don’t know how or have the power to do it, that’s all.”

Someday when it was all over and Gi-Gyu came out victorious, perhaps he would find a way. Hamiel, who was slumped with guilt, brightened. Gi-Gyu was a god to Hamiel, so Gi-Gyu’s every word was like an undeniable truth to him.

Meanwhile, Gi-Gyu couldn’t stop thinking about Gaia. ‘I need to talk to her again.’?

Gaia was hiding many things.

‘She told me to climb the Tower.’?

Gaia had told him that he would obtain the Tower if he reached the top. Would he be able to talk to her then? Or perhaps before that?

‘That doesn’t matter; I have to talk to her.’?Gi-Gyu decided that this was a separate issue from killing Kronos.

***

Gi-Gyu met with his creatures and players for the next several days to check their status screens. Most screens hadn’t changed, displaying the same attributes like level, skills, jobs, and such. Only Gi-Gyu and a few others’ screens had changed.

And for that, they had a theory.

‘Either we have become too powerful for Gaia to calculate our attributes, or…’?

Gi-Gyu, Lou, El, and Hamiel had become too powerful for Gaia’s system to provide support.

The second theory was the most likely one. Of course, there was one last possibility,

‘Maybe she’s intentionally not providing us system support.’?

Gi-Gyu didn’t know the real reason, but Gaia might have been hindering the system. Maybe she intentionally sabotaged their system screens, preventing them from seeing their stats.

‘Then what about me?’?Gi-Gyu wondered. From the beginning, he couldn’t level up. And even after he had become stronger, his system screen refused to reveal his attributes. So why was this?

What was he? Gi-Gyu was pondering this when someone approached him.

“Are you getting some rest?” Tao Chen asked.

Lou had told Gi-Gyu previously that Tao Chen had become a ruler. Lou suspected that Gaia was actively supporting Tao Chen.

Gi-Gyu could definitely feel something different from Tao Chen now. He was, without a doubt, much stronger. The rate at which he had grown was beyond logical.

Gi-Gyu replied, “I came to you because there is something I want to ask.”

“Ask away.” Tao Chen smiled kindly.

“Does your status screen show you everything?” asked Gi-Gyu.

“My status screen?” Tao Chen seemed curious, but he nodded. “Please give me a minute.”

Tao Chen obliged Gi-Gyu. Then, it looked like he stared into the air for a bit.

“Hmm…” Tao Chen seemed troubled.

“What’s wrong?”

“Something looks strange.”

“What do you mean?” asked Gi-Gyu.

“It used to look fine before, but now, it looks foggy for some reason.”

Gi-Gyu decided that this confirmed his theory. ‘Gaia is… not cooperating with me on purpose.’?

It was like she no longer favored him.

‘But I thought she cared for me as Jupiter’s mother.’?

After all, Gi-Gyu’s body once belonged to her son, Jupiter. This had led Gi-Gyu to believe she favored him.

‘Something changed.’?Gi-Gyu knew he needed to learn more about this change. He had one guess about it.

‘It might be because Jupiter disappeared.’?

Gi-Gyu and Jupiter had become one completely. The problem was that Jupiter’s consciousness was gone now, and Gi-Gyu couldn’t find it.

Was this why?

Before Gi-Gyu could finish his thought, he heard Heo Sung-Hoon yelling. “Ranker Kim Gi-Gyu!”

When Gi-Gyu turned around, he saw Sung-Hoon running toward him. He announced, “Alberto is awake!”

***

“Did we win?” asked Alberto. His internal and external injuries were all healed, but he looked gaunt because he had been unconscious for a long time.

Instead of answering, Gi-Gyu nodded.

“Thank you…” Tears began rolling down Alberto’s eyes. “I am grateful… I will never forget what you have done for us.”

Alberto was genuinely thankful. After all, Gi-Gyu had saved his country, Italy, and his hometown, Rome.

“I thought it was all over…” Alberto whispered. It turned out that despite being unconscious, Alberto had felt Gabriel’s descent; he had felt it deep in his bones. Gabriel’s tremendous energy had reached into his brain, forcing him to feel the kind of despair he had never felt before.

“I think that’s why I couldn’t wake up,” Alberto explained. Subconsciously, he had refused to wake up, fearing that all he would see was a world in ruins. The fear of seeing his hometown in destruction stopped him from regaining consciousness.

It was understandable. Gi-Gyu felt like no normal human could endure such tragedy.

‘Especially someone so caring like Alberto.’?Knowing how Alberto must feel, Gi-Gyu smiled to reassure him.

But Gi-Gyu became rigid when Alberto continued, “I was so afraid, and it was then that I heard a voice.”

“...!” Somehow, Gi-Gyu could guess the identity of the voice’s owner.

Alberto was different now. He held much more power, and something inside him had changed. Gi-Gyu didn’t say anything, but Alberto’s aura was similar to Tao Chen’s.

Alberto explained, “She called herself Gaia. She told me that everything was okay and that I should return. And… she said she would give me some kind of power. It was like a dream, so I don’t remember everything.”

So, Gaia had visited Alberto.