The Player Who Can't Level Up

“A demon…” When Gi-Gyu heard the system, he looked down. Still kneeling, Hal and the other durahans were changing right before his eyes. Hal’s eyes became redder, and a dark cloud appeared from his body to form armor and a helmet. Meanwhile, the other durahans’ heads began to awkwardly reattach themselves to their necks, exactly how it happened for Hal when the gate ate enough crystals.

-This is unexpected… 

-I can’t believe you created a demon. I was surprised when you created Hamiel and the rest, but this is…

Lou and El exclaimed in shock. 

Confused, Gi-Gyu murmured, “What the heck is going on?”

Suddenly, Hal and the other durahans stood up and roared, “We are forever indebted to you, Grandmaster. We shall sacrifice our souls to serve you forever.” 

“Umm… Okay,” Gi-Gyu replied. He still couldn’t understand what had happened, but it was clear his durahans were now much stronger. 

As Hal and the other durahans stood before Gi-Gyu, Lou suggested seriously,

-Use your evil eye. We need to find out their true nature.

“Okay.” Gi-Gyu activated his evil eye, and one of his eyes began to turn violet. He stared at Hal a little harder to focus, but then…

“Ugh…!” Gi-Gyu groaned as a terrible pain shot through both of his eyes. One was violet due to the evil eye, while the other eye remained the same color. The pain worsened quickly and suddenly…

-He fainted again?

When Lou muttered with a smirk, El protested.

-Please don’t be so insensitive, Lou.

Indeed, Gi-Gyu lost consciousness. 

-Tsk. 

-I think the situation is worse than we thought.

Lou and El continued to chat while Gi-Gyu remained unconscious. 

Meanwhile, Hal, now a death knight, shouted, “Protect the grandmaster!” 

Hal quickly carried Gi-Gyu into his tent, and the loyal knight order followed. Lou muttered in annoyance,

-I’ve never seen such a ridiculous scene before.

***

Under Old Man Hwang’s lead, hundreds of skeletons and one man were building a new structure that no longer resembled a pyramid. Nearby was Gi-Gyu’s extravagant tent.

Only Gi-Gyu, the angels, and El were inside the tent. The new knight’s order stood outside, guarding the tent even though no enemy was in sight.

A ten-something-year-old girl mumbled seriously, “He isn’t waking up.”

Hamiel and the other two angels nodded in worry.

-Hmm…

Even Lou sounded concerned because it had been three days since Gi-Gyu turned Hal into a death knight. El and Lou could guess what might have caused him to faint.

-Life and Death still haven’t reached a balance inside him.

When Lou stated, El agreed, “That’s right.” 

-And it looks like the shock from that day has returned. 

Gi-Gyu’s Life Root shattered not too long ago, and the pieces roamed around his body. Lou remembered one of them occupying the evil eye’s adjacent eyes. 

El suggested, “But it could also be because the evil eye and Life are clashing.”

-That’s possible.

Life was a picky power. It was such an independent and elegant force that it clashed with most other energies. The current situation was even worse because Gi-Gyu already had Death, the exact opposite of Life. It was no wonder there was a conflict inside him, and the massive fallout was probably why Gi-Gyu lost consciousness.

-Any way to fix this?

Lou asked. His specialty was Death, not Life, so El should be much more helpful in this situation.

“There is no way,” El replied firmly. Her voice remained calm, but her eyes looked down with uncertainty. Her lips trembled, indicating how worried she was for Gi-Gyu.

El continued, “I already examined our master’s body. That Life piece has already settled deep inside his eyes, and removing the evil eye should also be impossible. Despite being independent of each other, the evil eye and Life coexist inside him now. They are in harmony, becoming something completely new.”

-What?

Lou gasped in disbelief, then questioned El in frustration.

-You’re saying that’s possible? For Life and the evil eye to coexist yet be independent of each other? I’m the master of Death, but I still haven’t heard of something like this before.

Lou’s doubt wasn’t baseless since he was the only one who could control Death before Gi-Gyu, who got the power less than a year ago. Unlike Gi-Gyu, he had the evil eye for eternity. So, how could Gi-Gyu experience something that Lou never had before?

“Because this is our master we’re talking about.” When El replied, Lou couldn’t say anything.

-...

Lou had to admit that Gi-Gyu was at the center of many unexpected and unprecedented events. He could sync with Egos and the gates, he controlled Life and Death, and he created three angels and a demon just recently. Therefore, he could see the logic in this illogical situation since it involved Gi-Gyu.  

Lou wondered,

-Just what is he?

“Maybe he’s the one we have been—” 

Lou firmly denied El’s suggestion. 

-No. I don’t think so.

El became very quiet, and Lou, as if wanting to change the subject, asked,

-Anyway, are you sure there is no way to help him?

El looked down at Gi-Gyu closely and replied, “No.” 

She gently sat down next to Gi-Gyu and held his hand. Grateful for the warmth she felt from his hand, El whispered, “We should just pray for our master’s recovery.”

Thankfully, Gi-Gyu wouldn’t die even if he couldn’t overcome this. Lou murmured,

-I guess we can only hope that he does it once again.

The two contrasting existences, Lou and El, prayed for the same thing as the tent fell into another silence.

***

The dark world of unconsciousness felt familiar to Gi-Gyu now. Was it because he learned to see his shell? In a way, he felt even more comfortable unconscious than when he was awake.

‘Tsk…’ Gi-Gyu clicked his tongue as he swam inside the darkness. In just the last few weeks, he had almost died so many times that he now knew that him being here meant he was “almost dying” again. Gi-Gyu couldn’t describe the feeling, but he felt certain that it could be the end for him yet again.

‘If I don’t escape this place safely, I might die,’ he thought. Gi-Gyu felt that if he failed to leave this darkness, this world of unconsciousness would devour him. Despite this scary thought, he felt calm since he no longer feared death. 

When he moved his arms and legs, he felt his body move forward. However, he couldn’t leave the darkness regardless of how much he moved. In this place where he couldn’t see or feel anything, he even forgot the passing of time. 

‘I’m tired now.’ Roaming inside the world of darkness was a tiring task, so he eventually became sleepy as the fatigue engulfed him. 

But…

‘I can’t fall asleep!’ He was here because his body was sleeping, so if even his mind fell asleep, the unconsciousness could take over his entire existence. Trying hard to maintain his thoughts, Gi-Gyu flailed and continued to move. 

Time passed as many thoughts crossed his mind. 

‘Lots of things happened in my life.’ 

After meeting Lou and El, time passed so quickly. He went through so many changes in less than a year that he could even remember them now. He became stronger, experienced much sorrow, and—most importantly—learned the importance of power. 

Gi-Gyu remembered entering the Maze of Heryond to save his mother. There, he met Ironshield, who captured and tortured him, and he also met Lucifer, who made a deal with him that he still couldn’t understand very well.

There weren’t many things Gi-Gyu was sure of, but there was one: Tae-Shik was on his side. Suk-Woo, Sun-Pil, and Dong-Hae also walked in the same direction as him. As for Tae-Gu, Gi-Gyu wasn’t sure. At times, the association president helped him; at others, he couldn’t help feeling that Tae-Gu had another motive. 

‘The demons, the angels, the Tower, and the gates… Huh?’ 

Gi-Gyu was deep in thought when he suddenly realized he had escaped the darkness. 

‘Is that light?’ He thought only darkness existed here, but he could see the light in the distance. Now that he had a clear destination, his heart began to pound. Gi-Gyu suspected that light was his way out, so he flailed his arms and legs hard again. 

As he got closer, the light became bigger and brighter. When he was close, he no longer saw the darkness; disappointingly, the light wasn’t the exit. 

‘This is still part of the world of unconsciousness.’ He was still inside the same space: The inside of his shell. 

Slowly, Gi-Gyu looked back. This time, he could see the darkness far away waving at him.

After thinking for a while, Gi-Gyu began to move again. After swimming for long, he realized he was now equidistant from the light and the darkness.  

Finally, he stopped and looked from side to side.

‘They are the same size now.’ Currently, the light and the darkness seemed the same size. He realized that he was right at the border between the two energies.

“Master!”

Gi-Gyu suddenly heard El’s voice.

***

“How long was I asleep?” Gi-Gyu asked El when he finally escaped the world of unconsciousness. Her eyes filling with tears, El nodded and replied, “Two weeks.”

“Oh my god.” Gi-Gyu couldn’t believe he had wasted two whole weeks. He remained calm, but he couldn’t help feeling disappointed. 

“Do you know what happened?” He asked as he stretched his body to loosen his tight muscles. His muscles had been inactive for the past two weeks, but his physique returned to normal quickly because he was no ordinary human. 

When Gi-Gyu looked unusually calm, Lou wondered,

-Hmm…

El watched Gi-Gyu cautiously before wiping away her tears. The news of his recovery had already reached everyone in the gate, so countless creatures were waiting outside for a glimpse of their master. 

However, only Lou and El currently had access to the tent’s insides; even the other angels had to leave so that the two Egos and Gi-Gyu could have a private conversation. 

El explained, “It was because of Life. Your body couldn’t endure the side effects of the Life Root explosion. Life can’t be mixed with anything else. Not with Death and certainly not with the evil eye. Since you have all these things inside you, they crashed into each other.”

“Is that so?” Gi-Gyu answered as he clenched and unclenched his fists. 

-I see. 

Lou murmured as well. Not knowing what Lou might say next, El took a step back and waited patiently. Suddenly, Lou floated in the air in his sword form and vibrated. Looking up at it, Gi-Gyu sarcastically asked, “Huh, that’s a neat trick.” 

-I could always do this. Just open your hand.

When Gi-Gyu obeyed and showed his palm, Lou floated toward it and nicked it a little. He didn’t scream or demand an answer because it wasn’t painful, and he couldn’t feel any hostility from Lou.

Fwoosh.

Lou, still vibrating softly, absorbed those small drops of his blood. A short silence fell before Lou announced,

-I know for sure now.

Lou’s voice was calm but grave as he continued,

-A balance has been reached.

El’s eyes widened in shock.