Leveling Up With Skills - Chapter 250: Community, Earth’s Players (1)

[Kim Hwiyeon［Hard］: Phew. Finally, people have calmed down.］

She posted a message of relief. Until just moments ago, the chat was moving so fast that it was impossible to even target specific individuals to communicate with.

The fervor had died down a little, and now things weren’t as chaotic.

Normally, she would have ordered people to quiet down, but this time, there was a reason she hadn’t.

［Geum Jung-geun［Hard］: People who wanted to talk have had their conversations. It’s about time things settled down.］

Upon returning from the labyrinth, everyone was teleported back to where they had been.

For example, an American traveling in Korea entered the labyrinth as a Korean. Among the Korean players, there were people from other countries.

Those players desperately searched the community for news of their surviving family members, crying out for information. The leaders of each country couldn’t remain cold-hearted enough to suppress them.

［Kim Hwiyeon［Hard］: Now that things are more organized, shall we start inviting people? Those who wish to have a discussion, please let us know.］

The community had expanded, allowing players from different countries to communicate.

It wasn’t just going to be a simple chat.

［Oliver Khan［Hard］: It’s me.］

［Daniel Darmon［Hard］: Please include me as well.］

［Ichijo Eika［Hard］: Me, too…］

［Amelia Aerin［Solo］: Invite me too. And all your **Solo Mode** players.］

［Lee Taeyeon［Solo］: Us, too? We don’t really know much about that sort of thing… but if you want, sure.］

［Kang Taesan［Solo］: Is everything organized now?］

［Kim Hwiyeon［Hard］: Yes, Mr. Taesan.］

［Kang Junhyeok［Solo］: I thought you were quietly focusing on strategies, but you’ve been watching?］

［Kang Taesan［Solo］: It seemed like things had calmed down. If there’s going to be a group chat, invite me too.］

［Kim Hwiyeon［Hard］: Understood.］

Kim Hwiyeon began organizing people.

Other representatives from different countries also started selecting their people.

［Kim Hwiyeon［Hard］: I’ll set it up now.］

[Kim Hwiyeon has created a group chat. Would you like to accept the invitation?]

Taesan accepted.

A group chat with dozens of people was created.

［Daniel Darmon［Hard］: Things are calmer now. We can have a more relaxed conversation.］

［Oliver Khan［Hard］: Indeed. So, let me ask straight away—what country are you all from? We’re from the U.S.］

They got straight to the point. Kim Hwiyeon answered.

［Kim Hwiyeon［Hard］: We’re from Korea.］

［Daniel Darmon［Hard］: We’re from France.］

［Ichijo Eika［Hard］: We’re from Japan.］

The countries represented were the United States, Korea, France, and Japan.

Seeing their names, Taesan thought to himself.

‘Just like before.’

All three of the others were people he remembered from his previous life. The intervention of the **Old Gods** had affected only Korea. The other countries didn’t seem to have changed much.

［Oliver Khan［Hard］: It’s strange. As I suspected, we’re able to communicate with people from other countries who are still alive.］

［Kim Hwiyeon［Hard］: It really is…］

They had thought that contact with other countries was completely impossible and that they were the only survivors.

But that wasn’t the case.

There were still many people alive in the world, and they were all descending the labyrinth.

That fact gave them a great deal of strength.

After a moment of reflection, they introduced themselves to each other.

［Oliver Khan［Hard］: I’m the leader of the U.S. As you can see, my name is Oliver Khan, and I’m… well, let’s say I’m old enough. The people participating in this conversation are the leaders of each country, correct?］

［Kim Hwiyeon［Hard］: Yes, that’s correct.］

The representatives from the other countries agreed. Oliver grumbled.

［Oliver Khan［Hard］: Whoever destroyed Earth, I have no idea who they are, but if they’re going to open up a community, couldn’t they have at least separated us by country? Why did they not organize it properly like they did with the difficulty modes? It’s hard to make sense of.］

［Daniel Darmon［Hard］: I agree.］

［Kim Hwiyeon［Hard］: At least the conversation itself is working fine. I was worried we’d have to learn every other language, but it seems we won’t have to, which is a relief.］

Among the foreign players who had ended up in Korea, some didn’t speak Korean. But all of them were able to communicate without issue.

While they had expected it to be possible, there was still a small bit of uncertainty that had worried them.

［Oliver Khan［Hard］: Is this it, though? What about people from other countries?］

［Kim Hwiyeon［Hard］: Hmm… Let’s call them and see if they respond.］

They left the group chat and called out to people in the community.

Ten minutes later, they returned with no results.

［Oliver Khan［Hard］: …More people have died than I thought.］

As the community expanded, various channels resembling national communities were created.

There was a global community for all survivors on Earth, as well as national communities for the survivors of each country.

If a country’s community didn’t exist, it meant there was no one left to use it. In other words, that country had been wiped out.

And there were only about a hundred national communities.

Earth had a total of 206 countries. This meant that less than half had survived.

It was expected. The monsters were strong, and humanity was weak.

And in the chaos, rather than coming together to survive, people distrusted one another and sought to fulfill their own desires.

It wasn’t surprising that some nations had been completely wiped out.

But the shock of something happening, even if anticipated, was a different matter entirely.

［Daniel Darmon［Hard］: It seems that some other countries are talking to each other. But… more countries than I expected refuse to cooperate, saying they don’t trust us, or they’re just using their own community and ignoring us completely…］

Just because survivors were alive didn’t mean they were cooperative. There were several countries that remained distrustful of others.

And there were countries that ignored them altogether.

Anyone could enter other national communities and start a conversation. Daniel Darmon had entered the Chinese community and tried to speak.

But there was no response.

Not one person from China answered him. It was as if they couldn’t see him at all.

It was eerie enough to make his skin crawl.

［Oliver Khan［Hard］: Forget about those who don’t want to talk. What I’m looking for are those willing to work together to survive.］

Oliver said roughly, and Taesan laughed.

It was exactly the same as what he remembered.

Aside from Kim Hwiyeon, the other three people were the same individuals who had discussed the community’s expansion in his previous life.

［Oliver Khan［Hard］: Let’s get serious now.］

They started discussing more important matters.

［Oliver Khan［Hard］: Have there been any major changes in your labyrinth?］

［Kim Hwiyeon［Hard］: No. The labyrinth hasn’t expanded, nor have there been any changes in its structure.］

［Oliver Khan［Hard］: So, we can’t meet inside the labyrinth, then…］

The only thing that had opened up was the community. The labyrinth itself remained divided by difficulty mode and country.

［Daniel Darmon［Hard］: It seems the only place we can meet is on Earth.］

［Oliver Khan［Hard］: Then what’s important is returning. I take it you and your country are willing to cooperate?］

［Kim Hwiyeon［Hard］: Yes, we are.］

［Ichijo Eika［Hard］: We have no reason to refuse at this point.］

［Oliver Khan［Hard］: Good. Then tell me—how many survivors do you have, and how many players by difficulty mode?］

It was a reasonable question. To cooperate for survival, they first needed to know the strength of each other’s forces.

They began to report their numbers.

Korea had 46,000 survivors in total, with about 4,000 **Hard Mode** players.

Japan had 520,000 survivors, with 120,000 **Hard Mode** players.

And the numbers from the United States were beyond belief.

［Oliver Khan［Hard］: We have 1.5 million **Hard Mode** players and a total of 12 million survivors.］

［Kim Hwiyeon［Hard］: That’s… a lot.］

Kim Hwiyeon was shocked. Originally, the population of the United States was about seven times that of Korea.

But the difference in the number of survivors was incomparable.

Even Taesan was surprised. In his previous life, that many people hadn’t survived.

‘Is it because the focus was on Korea?’

The power of the **Old Gods** had been more heavily invested in Korea than in his previous life. It seemed other countries were in a better position as a result.

［Kim Hwiyeon［Hard］: You all… have so many people.］

But Kim Hwiyeon, who didn’t know that, felt overwhelmed. There were far more survivors compared to Korea.

［Oliver Khan［Hard］: Korea has lost many… It must be tough.］

［Ichijo Eika［Hard］: Stay strong.］

The others left messages of sympathy. Kim Hwiyeon had nothing to say and kept quiet.

［Oliver Khan［Hard］: Still, the fact that you’ve endured until now means the survivors must be strong. What floor have your **Hard Mode** players reached? We’re on the 30th floor.］

［Daniel Darmon［Hard］: Wow. As expected from the U.S. We’re on the 28th floor.］

［Ichijo Eika［Hard］: We’re on the 27th floor.］

［Kim Hwiyeon［Hard］: Huh?］

Kim Hwiyeon was surprised.

Oliver Khan asked with interest.

［Oliver Khan［Hard］: What floor are you on? 30? 32?］

［Kim Hwiyeon［Hard］: Uh… the 38th floor.］

A moment of silence followed Kim Hwiyeon’s message.

After a while, Oliver Khan posted in shock.

［Oliver Khan［Hard］: The 38th floor…? Is that for real? You’re not lying, right?］

［Kim Hwiyeon［Hard］: Why would I lie about something like this? If it were false, I wouldn’t even be alive.］

［Oliver Khan［Hard］: I guess that’s true… But how? No, more importantly, how are you only down to 4,000 survivors if you’ve reached the 38th floor?］

［Kim Hwiyeon［Hard］: Ah, that’s…］

Kim Hwiyeon answered hesitantly.

［Kim Hwiyeon［Hard］: It’s a bit complicated to explain. But yes, that’s the situation.］

Kim Hwiyeon was realizing something—that Korea’s circumstances were quite unique in many ways. And at the center of it all was Taesan.

But it was difficult to explain. Taesan was too extraordinary to explain to people from other countries.

Even if she explained, they wouldn’t understand, and it would likely cause unnecessary trouble. So, Kim Hwiyeon didn’t go into detail.

［Oliver Khan［Hard］: Could it be that having fewer people is actually advantageous? It’s possible. In our case, having so many people makes things safer.］

［Kim Hwiyeon［Hard］: If you need help with strategy, feel free to ask. I’d be happy to help if you’d like.］

［Oliver Khan［Hard］: Thanks for that. In that case, let me ask right away. We’re stuck on the 30th-floor boss. Could you give us some advice?］

After that, they exchanged various pieces of information about strategies. The representatives from France and Japan also jumped in to ask for help.

［Oliver Khan［Hard］: So, that’s how you do it. That’s helpful.］

Oliver Khan posted with satisfaction, pleased with the information he had received.

［Oliver Khan［Hard］: Since you’ve already reached the 38th floor, I expect you’ll be of great help when we finally meet. I’m looking forward to it.］

As the conversation was winding down, she spoke up.

［Amelia Aerin［Solo］: Is it over?］

［Amelia Aerin［Solo］: Ugh, boring and tiresome talk. Listening to it was torture.］

［Oliver Khan［Hard］: Amelia…］

［Amelia Aerin［Solo］: What? Got something to say? I respected your authority and stayed quiet until the conversation was over, didn’t I?］

［Oliver Khan［Hard］: Fine, do what you want.］

Oliver responded, sounding exhausted. Though he led the U.S. players as their leader, Amelia Aerin didn’t seem to follow his words well.

［Amelia Aerin［Solo］: In the end, only the strong will survive. And the strong can only come from **Solo Mode**.］

Overwhelming confidence.

And she had the power to back it up.

［Amelia Aerin［Solo］: Surviving with only 4,000 in **Hard Mode** means you have someone strong. Who are the **Solo Mode** players that were invited earlier?］

［Lee Taeyeon［Solo］: Uh… who are you?］

［Kang Junhyeok［Solo］: Who’s calling for us?］

［Amelia Aerin［Solo］: Of course there is. There has to be.］

She continued.

［Amelia Aerin［Solo］: The strongest human in the world. The person whom even the gods acknowledge as strong.］

［Lee Taeyeon［Solo］: Gods?］

In **Solo Mode**, Lee Taeyeon was considered the strongest player.

The reason was simple. She was the only one who had survived **Solo Mode**. She was the only one to have cleared **Solo Mode**.

But there had been a time when she wasn’t the strongest.

When people were still progressing through **Solo Mode** in various worlds, and when others besides Lee Taeyeon were making significant progress—when they were still alive.

Amelia Aerin.

Until the day she met her death in the labyrinth, she had been the strongest **Solo Mode** player.