The Player Who Can't Level Up

Gabinji13-17 minutes 22.07.2022

“Oppa! I heard an exceptional gate appeared in Gangnam!” Yoo-Jung yelled the moment Gi-Gyu entered his home. She knew he went to Gangnam to buy gifts for her and their mother, so she was worried about him.

Gi-Gyu replied, “I’m fine. Only the non-players were affected. This new gate didn’t really affect the players.”

“Phew… I’m relieved.” Yoo-Jung sighed deeply. 

‘But that’s why it’s so strange,’ Gi-Gyu thought. After saying goodbye to Sung-Hoon, he returned straight home. At the moment, he didn’t care if the new gate was an exceptional type or that it was unratable. What mattered to him the most was spending time with his family. Besides, this brand-new gate wasn’t going to break anytime soon. 

But one thing did bother him. 

‘That gate didn’t have a huge amount of magic.’ Gi-Gyu prided himself on being able to sense magic accurately. After all, he had Lou, the Emperor of Black Magic, as his Ego. He didn’t feel much magic when the gate appeared, and the fact that its energy didn’t affect the players much confirmed his assessment. Only non-players were affected, not even the low-level players.

So how could such a gate be unratable?

-Hmm. 

‘Do you know something?’ Gi-Gyu asked Lou. 

-I have a guess, but I need to think more about it. I’ll also have to talk with El, so you just take a day off today. I heard today is a big day for humans.

Gi-Gyu nodded when Lou suggested. He deserved a day off after everything he went through. And what could happen in a single day anyway? He decided to worry about things tomorrow. For now, he wanted to enjoy his time with his family.

“Yoo-Jung, let’s go inside now. Mother must be waiting for me, right?” Gi-Gyu ushered Yoo-Jung inside.

“Of course. She has been waiting for you, Oppa. Tae-Shik was here earlier, but he left as soon as he heard about the Gangnam gate.”

“Really?” Gi-Gyu was glad to hear that Tae-Shik made time for his mother in his hectic schedule.

Snow continued to fall as Gi-Gyu and Yoo-Jung went inside.

***

“So I guess today is a white Christmas,” Su-Jin announced as she placed the Christmas cake on the dining table. Being her first try, the cake wasn’t pretty, but Gi-Gyu was just happy to see that his mother was healthy enough to try new things. 

When Gi-Gyu walked inside, he could see the worry on her face as she said, “Please always be careful.” At first, she asked him many questions about what happened in Gangnam, but when she realized that he hadn’t been in any danger, she seemed relieved. 

Su-Jin murmured, “But I’m still very concerned… How can an exceptional gate appear on Christmas of all days?”

“But there weren’t many fatalities. We should be thankful for that, at least,” replied Gi-Gyu. Many people died, but considering the location and the unratable nature of the gate, the damages weren’t even close to the expectation. 

Gi-Gyu quickly changed the subject to dissipate Su-Jin’s worries. “Shall we light the candles now? This is the first real Christmas in a long time when our whole family gets to be together like this.”

“Of course.” Su-Jin smiled. They lit the candles on the cake and blew them out. As the snow fell beautifully outside, all of Gi-Gyu’s worries became trivial, and he just enjoyed the peaceful time with his family. 

“These are the gifts I got. This is for you, Yoo-Jung. And this is for you, Mother.” Finally, he handed the gifts to his sister and mother. 

“Oh my god! Isn’t this Horsene?!” Yoo-Jung exclaimed in surprise. Su-Jin didn’t recognize the brand, but Yoo-Jung knew exactly what it was. She yelled, “This is crazy! I can’t even imagine how expensiv—” 

Gi-Gyu quickly covered his sister’s mouth. If their mother found out how expensive these gifts were, she would nag him about wasting money. 

However, Su-Jin, being their mother, read Yoo-Jung and Gi-Gyu like a book. “Is this very expensive?”

“Just a little,” Gi-Gyu murmured. When his mother narrowed her eyes, Gi-Gyu reassured her, “Please don’t think about the price. We never got the chance to celebrate Christmas, so I had to give you something memorable on our first real Christmas.” 

Su-Jin seemed hesitant at first, but she nodded eventually. “But…”

Gi-Gyu had gifted his mother a bracelet that could improve the wearer’s health. Also, it could create a shield around the wearer if it detected any danger. 

Noticing how carefully his mother was examining the bracelet, Gi-Gyu asked with worry, “What’s wrong, Mother? Don’t you like it?”

Did his mother feel uncomfortable because of the price? Or did she not like the design? Realizing that his mother might not like the very first gift he gave her, Gi-Gyu began to feel nervous. 

Su-Jin replied, “No, I love it.” It sounded consoling. “It’s not that…” 

She put the bracelet on the table, left, and returned with a shopping bag. 

“Horsene?” To Gi-Gyu’s surprise, she held a velvet bag with the same logo. 

Su-Jin explained, “Tae-Shik gave this to me as a Christmas gift… Is this very expensive?” Inside the bag was the same bracelet Gi-Gyu had bought for his mother.

“Haa…” Gi-Gyu sighed. How could this be? He rubbed his forehead in annoyance. How could they have bought the same gift for his mother? 

Gi-Gyu was also surprised that Tae-Shik purchased something so extravagant. If his mother found out how much it was, she would definitely feel uncomfortable. 

Yoo-Jung quickly yelled cheerfully, “Who cares?! I think it will look pretty if you wear both of them on your wrist, Mom!” 

To Gi-Gyu’s relief, the family Christmas party continued. 

***

Their party was a simple one, but everyone had fun. Later, even Old Man Hwang and Min-Su joined, and everyone had dinner together. It was freezing outside, but his house was filled with warmth. 

Since there was no special “after dinner” event planned, Gi-Gyu was happy to spend some quality time with his family. Afterward, he helped clean up before heading down to the basement. 

In the basement, Brunheart’s gate and the magic circle vibrated in a strange harmony and produced crystals. After he fused the Egos fragments into Brunheart’s gate, he got the ability to open three gates, all interlinked with Brunheart’s gate on Gi-Gyu’s chest, simultaneously. Currently, one was in Gi-Gyu’s basement, another was in Old Man Hwang’s house, and he still hadn’t decided the location for the last one.

Old Man Hwang followed Gi-Gyu down to the basement and asked, “Did you have a nice vacation?”

“Vacation?” Gi-Gyu smiled at the word. Now that he thought about it, this could indeed be called “vacation.” During this year, Gi-Gyu experienced stuff that most didn’t in their entire lives: He became stronger than ever, made new and strange friends, and accomplished many other things, all without taking a day off. He, at most, spent a few days' worth of time with his family in the entire year.

“I wonder what Soo-Jung is doing right now.” Gi-Gyu wondered out loud. Was she chasing after the Caravan Guild even on Christmas? It was a depressing thought.

Old Man Hwang advised Gi-Gyu, “Running toward your goal is good and all, but one needs to rest too. If you don’t take a break here and there, you will wear yourself out. Both physically and emotionally.”

“Thank you for your advice, Sir,” Gi-Gyu replied respectfully. 

“Oh! I heard an exceptional gate appeared in Gangnam. Is that true?” asked Old Man Hwang.

“Yes, it’s an unratable gate. I have a bad feeling about it, but… I don’t know much about it yet; I plan on revisiting it tomorrow or the day after.”

“Hmm…” Old Man Hwang seemed thoughtful as he murmured, “An unratable exceptional gate…” 

Such a gate had never appeared before, so it was a change, which usually meant progress, but it only meant danger in the player world. A small change here could produce a huge danger there; the appearance of an undefeatable enemy was always a concern. 

‘It’s because we still don’t know much about the Tower and the gates.’ Gi-Gyu thought in concern. Considering how long it had been since their appearance, the info they had on them was pathetic. 

‘Wait…’ 

Suddenly, Gi-Gyu turned toward Old Man Hwang.

‘Special players like Old Man Hwang know much more about the Tower and the gates than the rest of the players. They just aren’t revealing what they know to the world.’ 

Gi-Gyu now knew much more than he did a year ago. 

Demons with high intelligence and power.

Rulers of the Tower.

Angels. 

If the public learned of these secrets, the entire world would fall into pandemonium.  Also, since only a select few could approach these secrets, discovering the unknown would only confuse the public. 

‘I guess I have just a little over six months left.’ Gi-Gyu reminded himself. It had been six months since the Iron Guild branch incident, so he now only had half the time Lee Sun-Ho gave him. It hadn’t been very long, but Gi-Gyu had become more powerful and confident. 

‘By the way, Soo-Jung told me I’m her heir, but she didn’t even tell me what I will be inheriting,’ Gi-Gyu wondered. And why did Soo-Jung even need an heir? But he didn’t feel impatient. One by one, he would find out the truth in time. 

“You must have a lot to think about,” Old Man Hwang commented. 

“Yes, but I sorted out many things recently.” 

“Ah, I got you a Christmas gift.” 

“For me?” When Gi-Gyu asked in surprise, Old Man Hwang replied, “Of course. You’re my master, after all. On top of that, you saved my grandson and me. So it only makes sense that I get you a gift.” 

Old Man Hwang wiggled his eyes playfully. He was grinning as if he was excited about something. Feeling a little shy, Gi-Gyu asked, “Did you get me an Ego?”

A gift from Old Man Hwang? The most obvious answer Gi-Gyu could come up with was an Ego. Old Man Hwang only smiled and replied, “I just hope you like it.”

With that, Old Man Hwang entered the gate. 

“What could it be?” Feeling strangely expectant, Gi-Gyu followed the blacksmith into the gate. 

***

Vrooooom!

A refreshing engine sound rang in the air. In a way, it could sound unpleasantly loud to some, but the sound would excite most men. 

“Sir, this is…?!” Gi-Gyu couldn’t hide his confusion. He wasn’t surprised by the sound but by what was before him: A well-paved road inside his gate. It wasn’t complete, but it was long enough to race a fair distance. 

Gi-Gyu knew Old Man Hwang must have been busy building the newly designed pyramid that led to the sky islands. So, where did he get the time to pave this road? 

“No way… This can’t be…” Suddenly, Gi-Gyu wondered if Old Man Hwang asked to become the gate manager only to build a road like this. He knew the elderly man always wanted to race his rare cars. 

With a grin, Gi-Gyu murmured, “I wouldn’t be surprised if he did.” 

It was obvious Old Man Hwang loved to drive. 

Squeak!

The racing car stopped right in front of Gi-Gyu. The way it stopped so precisely at his feet was impressive—proof of Old Man Hwang’s amazing driving skills.  

“You should pick a car too right now. Let’s try racing against each other,” Old Man Hwang suggested. Such a luxurious car in the middle of the dead forest—everything about this situation was hard to believe. Old Man Hwang sounded like a Middle Ages knight asking for a duel, but the blacksmith looked like an excited child. 

Gi-Gyu didn’t expect Old Man Hwang to treat his cars so roughly. “I thought you were saving them as collectibles.” 

“No way! A car is made to be driven. I’m a blacksmith. I value the beauty of things, but functionality is even more important. Don’t you agree? How would you feel about a blunt sword? It wouldn’t be worth making it if it wasn’t functional.” 

It was no wonder Old Man Hwang was born to be a blacksmith. 

“Well, if you insist…” Gi-Gyu replied in excitement. He hadn't driven much since what happened with the Phoenix Guild. However, he could race as fast as he wanted inside his gate without worrying about anything. 

Gi-Gyu picked out a car from the collection: A red sports car. He and Old Man Hwang were at the start line when Hamiel and Hart appeared and began to argue.

“Grandmaster. I shall be the fairest judge for this race!” Hart announced dramatically.

“What?! I’m going to be the judge here!” Hamiel protested. 

“That doesn’t make any sense! I’m the assistant manager, so it’s my right to judge!” Hart fought back viciously. 

Gi-Gyu asked, “Sir, what have you been teaching these guys?”

“Things that will make you happy, Young Man.” Old Man Hwang yelled out the window with a grin, “Ready, set, go!” 

Vroooom!

Vroooom!

As their engines roared with life, Old Man Hwang stepped on the accelerator, and Gi-Gyu followed with a chuckle. 

“B-but I was going to give the start signal!” Hart stammered.

“No, I was going to!” Hamiel yelled hurriedly. 

The two creatures began flying to follow the two cars. 

‘I love this gift.’ Gi-Gyu thought happily. It wasn’t an Ego like he expected, but he was still pleased with it.

***

It was the best Christmas Gi-Gyu had ever had in his life. Old Man Hwang, with his limitless stamina, raced him countless times. He wondered if the blacksmith was so energetic because he was a player or inside his guardian territory. 

Another change that surprised him was how the skeletons expertly repaired and adjusted the cars between the laps. He was impressed by how much Old Man Hwang had achieved within a short time. 

That night, Gi-Gyu slept in his room for once. The next day, he woke up and walked to the living room to find Yoo-Jung on the sofa. When she saw him, she whispered, “Oppa…” 

Seeing the clear tension on Yoo-Jung’s face, sudden anxiety crept up. Yoo-Jung had a smile most of the time, so her worry-filled face spoke length.

In a low voice, Gi-Gyu asked, “What happened?”

Yoo-Jung didn’t respond. She didn’t have to because of the news channel playing on TV. 

-Other than the exceptional gate that appeared in Gangnam yesterday, four additional unratable exceptional gates have appeared in Korea.

“...” Gi-Gyu became speechless as he stared at the screen. 

-This unprecedented event in Korea has placed the governments and all the player associations in the entire world on alert. 

The reporter’s voice was filled with astonishment.