The Player Who Can't Level Up

‘It’s so warm.’

Just looking at it made him feel pleasantly warm. When Gi-Gyu focused on it even more, his sight zoomed into it like a camera. Now, he could even see the details in that wisp of light. 

‘It’s so small.’

Surprisingly, this wisp was smaller even up close, unlike all the other things he had seen so far. The tiny orb-like light shone brightly, producing enough warmth to seemingly melt his mind. However, looking at it also gave him a sudden burst of vigor. 

Pure light. 

In a way, Gi-Gyu could see some similarities between this light and death.

‘Life.’

Gi-Gyu had a feeling that this was what he had been looking for. 

-I guess you found it. 

Lou confirmed his suspicion. This wisp of light was the life force he had been looking for—it was El’s Root and just as powerful as Lou’s Death. 

‘What do I do now?’ 

Gi-Gyu succeeded in seeing the life force but now what? His heart began to pound wildly since he was now closer than ever to getting El back. 

-Not even close. We still have a long way to go.

Lou’s words brought Gi-Gyu back to reality.

-Are you ready?

‘Ready for what?’ When Gi-Gyu asked, Lou explained. 

-That wisp holds as much power as Death. It may be just a lowly, tiny piece now, but I have no idea what will happen to you when you touch it. 

‘Hmm… Do I have to touch it?’ 

-That life force, or Life, took root within your shell, but it still hasn’t assimilated with it. You’ve to incorporate that into your shell to accomplish what you wish. 

‘So I do have to touch it.’

Gi-Gyu thought for a moment, but he didn’t wait long. He wasn’t pondering whether he should touch it: He was preparing for the consequence straight. Just like when he tried to touch Old Man Hwang’s form, Gi-Gyu touched Life. 

The moment his fingertips made contact, the Root, the life force, Life exploded.

***

“Ackkk…” The suffocating pain made Gi-Gyu scream. It felt like his blood vessels were melting away, and his organs were falling out of his body. After the first scream, he couldn’t even make any more sounds. All he could do was dig his nails into his palms to distract himself.

-Stay awake!

Lou warned to prevent Gi-Gyu from losing himself in pain. He was being punished for touching Life as it exploded upon contact and expanded. Such significant might was hiding inside that wisp of light. The burst of energy went right through Gi-Gyu’s pierced heart and spread throughout his body. That wasn’t the problem: Life was bouncing from place to place. It moved next to Death and inched closer until the two touched. The moment Life and Death made contact, the pain he felt worsened. 

Explosion and implosion: A cycle of these two processes gave rise to terrible pain.  

-Thankfully, your body hadn’t completely absorbed the elixir. Well, it makes sense since, at the time, you weren’t strong enough to absorb the entire elixir. 

Gi-Gyu tried his best to focus on Lou’s words, but the agony had other plans. The pain was so intense that he felt like his body was containing an explosion; in the end, Gi-Gyu used Lou to cut his palm.

Slice. 

He was afraid that if he didn’t do something, he might lose his consciousness. And if he did, he had no idea what would happen. 

-Tough bastard.

“Haa… Haa…” The sharp pain on his hand was enough to disperse the unbearable pain. 

-The elixir is preventing your body from exploding. You better be grateful for that. 

When Lou explained, Gi-Gyu asked, “W-what should… I do… to make this pain… go away…” 

Noticing the painful cracks in his voice, Lou replied quickly. 

-The first thing you must do is build a wall between Life and Death. These two are like oil and water: They can’t nor ever should mix. The pain stems from the merging happening right now. 

“S-so how… do I stop…” 

-Make the shell change its configuration in the order of Death, Ego zone, and Life.

Gi-Gyu understood Lou’s idea: He had to place the Ego zone between Death and Life, which were currently stuck together. That would stop these two similar yet very different entities from trying to mix. They will stay within their respective space and expand from there. 

But then…

“How… do I do this…?” 

How could he move the Ego zone? 

-Just wait.

“What…?”

-It’s already moving.

Suddenly, Gi-Gyu lost consciousness. 

***

He couldn’t tell how much time had passed. It felt like he just had a very long dream when he finally opened his eyes. 

“Ugh!” Remembering the pain he felt before he lost consciousness, Gi-Gyu shivered. Just the thought of it was enough to make him tremble. 

“Haa…” Breathing deeply, Gi-Gyu tried to forget this painful memory. Turning side to side, he examined his body. He noted that there was no change in his condition. When he opened his palm, he saw the cut had already healed. 

-Are you awake?

Lou’s voice sounded a little lighter. 

“What happened?” When Gi-Gyu asked, Lou replied.

-You better count your lucky stars. The Egos inside your shell moved their zone themselves to build the wall. Even I didn’t know it was possible; thankfully, everything worked out pretty well.

“What?” Gi-Gyu couldn’t understand what Lou was saying. 

-Have a look yourself. Meditate and focus on the shell’s internal structure.

Gi-Gyu did as Lou asked since he wanted to have a look anyway. He looked deep inside himself, passed the blankness, and slowly meditated. 

The first thing he saw was the sticky death.

‘Huh?’

That oxblood Lou sat beside the sticky death. The sticky death and Lou’s Death were in contact and seemingly exchanging something. Bi and Oberon were positioned near Death. These two had a firm hold of their space and were pushing it away. It tried to encroach on the Egos’ area, but they kept pushing its constantly expanding and contracting self into its area.  

‘That’s…!’

Meanwhile, Brunheart and Hermes were doing the same to Life. Life, a mere wisp before, was now much bigger. It wasn’t as big as Death, but it now had a recognizable form. 

‘And there is Old Man Hwang.’

Slightly above them all, in the middle, was Old Man Hwang. The entire configuration of his shell had changed. On top of that, a hazy membrane now covered everything. It represented the size of his shell: It looked much bigger than before. 

‘Or maybe it’s because El isn’t here.’

Gi-Gyu felt his shell looked bigger only because the space where El should be was empty. After examining the inside of his shell, Gi-Gyu opened his eyes.

[The assimilation level went up.]

[You have learned Life.]

Gi-Gyu heard the system announcement.

***

[Assimilation (S): You can use 80% of your Egos’ abilities.]

[Life: You can control life.]

These were the two major changes. Gi-Gyu’s assimilation level probably increased because meditation strengthened his connection to his Egos.  

“I learned Life.” Gi-Gyu continued happily, “I think there are only two more levels of assimilation left.”  

For player skills with different levels, the highest level for most was called the SSS class. However, he had heard advancing from the S class was almost impossible. So he understood upgrading his assimilation level any further would be difficult. But, he was already satisfied with his current status. 

“Lou.” Gi-Gyu called out to his Ego and asked, “What’s the next step?” 

Lou previously told him that learning Life was impossible. But he was successful, which meant it was time for the next step. 

-Now that you’ve learned Life, you must learn to control it. I don’t think Old Man Hwang is done repairing El’s body, so you can use the time to practice using Life.

“Controlling Life…” Gi-Gyu trailed off, realizing just how odd that sounded.

Life and Death: Gi-Gyu now owned them both. He couldn’t believe his incredible luck. Lou told him what he did to get Life was a huge gamble; it was a success only because he still had a bit of elixir left and his unique ability to sync with Egos. 

-Tsk. Maybe it’s because Life and Death have been completely separated? Anyway, the thing I thought might happen didn’t actually happen.

“What are you talking about? What thing?” 

-It’s not important. I guess your existence is indeed unprecedented. The fact that you can use these two contradicting abilities means you have made an inconceivable accomplishment already. 

Lou sounded disappointed as he congratulated Gi-Gyu. 

“So, how do I control Life?”

-It’s just like Death: Using it will be very difficult and strenuou—

Suddenly, Gi-Gyu’s left hand began glowing as a small light ray materialized there. The light was white, but it almost looked gray because it was so cloudy. 

-Dammit.

“What’s wrong?”

-I’m just finding this ridiculous. Maybe it’s easy for you to use Life because your assimilation to Death is high now. Anyway, since you have successfully learned to move Life, you just need to continue practicing it. 

If Lou had a face, Gi-Gyu imagined it having a frown right now. 

-Go practice inside the gate. You’ll be more comfortable there.

Gi-Gyu nodded and turned toward his gate, which was vibrating and creating crystals even as they talked. 

***

When Gi-Gyu entered the gate, the first thing he did was visit Old Man Hwang.

“Hello there,” Old Man Hwang greeted him. It looked like the blacksmith was taking a break. Gi-Gyu looked around while the blacksmith wiped the sweat off his body. The temporary workshop inside the gate was made hastily, but it still looked decent. There wasn't any furniture, but it looked organized and clean. 

“How is everything going, Sir?” Gi-Gyu asked after studying the workshop. El, the sword, was standing in the corner, still looking as dented as before. Feeling disappointed, he turned toward Old Man Hwang. 

“Well… This isn’t as easy as I thought. The more I learn about holy swords, the more confused I feel. It’s a weapon, but at the same time, it isn’t. Haa…” Old Man Hwang replied and sighed. 

Gi-Gyu noticed Nine standing in another corner. Old Man Hwang continued, “Had Nine not been an evil sword, there might have been a way, but… Oh, and can I bring Min-Su here?”

“Pardon?” Gi-Gyu couldn’t hide his surprise. The inside of the gate was safe and comfortable, but it didn’t change that they were standing in the middle of a cemetery full of skeleton monsters. He wasn’t afraid that his monsters would hurt Min-Su: He was just worried such a gruesome place might negatively affect the boy. 

Old Man Hwang reassured him, “You don’t have to worry about anything. The magic density in this place is incredible. It’s a perfect place for a blacksmith to work, so working here will be a great experience for Min-Su.” 

“Well, if you say so, Sir…” 

“Ah, and this might be a difficult request, but”—Old Man Hwang scratched his cheek awkwardly—“I haven’t made much progress so far. I actually need another holy sword. Would it be possible for you to get me one…?”

Old Man Hwang asked cautiously. Unfortunately, Gi-Gyu couldn’t give him an answer because he himself needed more holy swords, but where could he get them? Suddenly, Lou chimed in,

-This is good. 

“What do you mean?” Gi-Gyu asked in confusion.

-There is something you must do. 

When Lou replied mysteriously, Gi-Gyu couldn’t hide his frustration. He frowned and asked again, “And I asked you what you mean!” 

It was rare for Lou to give Gi-Gyu a straight answer. It was either because Lou was teasing him or… There was another reason. 

After a short pause, Lou answered.

-Do you remember the holy swords you obtained from the test?

“Of course.”

All those holy swords were basically corpses at the moment, so Gi-Gyu stored them inside his gate, hoping they might be of use later. 

“Ah!” Gi-Gyu exclaimed in sudden realization. 

-I guess you’ve gotten pretty smart now.

With a smirk, Lou continued.

-Revive them using Life.