The Player Who Can't Level Up

“Hahaha, I have never met anyone who fell for that.” When Tae-Shik laughed at him, Gi-Gyu frowned and sulked, “Please stop making fun of me.”  

Yoo-Jung had told Gi-Gyu that it was polite to take off one’s shoes before boarding an airplane. He believed her and did as she suggested, which resulted in Tae-Shik mercilessly teasing him. 

Gi-Gyu protested, “I don’t go on the internet often, and you know that I don’t have many friends. All I watch is the player’s news on TV, so how would I know such a thing.”

“Hmm…” Tae-Shik became quiet, knowing what Gi-Gyu’s childhood was like. He didn’t fall for this prank because he was stupid; his unfortunate childhood was the real reason. 

Gi-Gyu declared in a playful tone, “When I go back home, Yoo-Jung won’t be getting any more allowance from me. I will tell her that it’s all your fault, Hyung. So if you want to give her an allowance yourself, go right ahead.” 

Tae-Shik patted Gi-Gyu’s head affectionately. He knew Gi-Gyu was doing this to help him get closer to his family. “You must really trust me, Gi-Gyu. I appreciate that.” 

His family was everything to Gi-Gyu. So for him to trust Tae-Shik with his family meant he really cared about Tae-Shik. 

Gi-Gyu murmured, “Well, of course—”

“All right.” Tae-Shik interrupted him before he could say anything. 

‘I’ll have to tell him someday,’ Tae-Shik thought as he looked at him. Gi-Gyu needed to know about his father, Kim Se-Jin. Tae-Shik had already discussed this topic with Gi-Gyu’s mother, Su-Jin, and they concluded that now wasn’t the time to tell Gi-Gyu the truth. 

Tae-Shik suggested, “Anyway, just go rest for the day. Don’t go walking around too far. Stay inside the hotel. If you cause any trouble, it will get very complicated.”

“I got it.” When Gi-Gyu replied, Tae-Shik left. 

Gi-Gyu was now alone inside his hotel room. They had to pay top dollar for their rooms in this expensive New York hotel. This was where the meeting was to take place. 

All the players and powerful figures qualified to participate in the Global Players Association (GPA) meeting stayed in this hotel. The meeting was tomorrow, so Gi-Gyu was given a day off. 

When Tae-Shik left, Gi-Gyu’s eyes became calm. Lou murmured, 

-There are many powerful players here.

“I know,” replied Gi-Gyu. His senses were sensitive enough to measure the approximate strengths of the players inside the hotel. There was no doubt that the building was filled with powerful fighters. 

“El.” When Gi-Gyu called her name, one of the rings on his finger turned into light and floated into the air. Seconds later, El’s human form appeared before him.

“Being stuck in the ring must be tiring, so you can rest up in this form for a while. I really need to evolve you as quickly as possible. After we take care of these exceptional gates, I think I’ll have enough Egos. I will get your evolution done as soon as I have everything,” Gi-Gyu offered earnestly. 

“I’m just so thankful for your kindness, Master,” El replied. For some reason, El got the ability to take a human form after she was resurrected. Perhaps it was because the strength of Gi-Gyu’s Life had increased. Or maybe because the 40th-floor test strengthened her human form and made her stronger. 

Still, she couldn’t stay in her human form often or for long since she hadn’t evolved. She felt drained whenever she took this form; ironically, she felt trapped in her ring form. 

Gi-Gyu suggested, “Please rest a little.”

“Okay, Master.” 

Whenever El took her human form, she wore silver armor. It seemed too heavy and extravagant for a young girl to wear. So, Gi-Gyu brought something comfortable for her.

“Here.” Gi-Gyu handed her a simple shirt and a pair of sweatpants. Yoo-Jung used to wear these when she was little. 

A strange expression appeared on El’s face. The shirt had a cartoon character that used to be popular in the past, so he wasn’t sure she would like it.  After a short silence, El murmured, “I am forever grateful for your generosity, Master.” 

“Umm, El… I feel like you talk too formally. Anyway, it’s fine. I’m going to wash up first, so you can change.” 

“All right, Master,” replied El with a blush. Finding her adorable, Gi-Gyu patted her head before heading to the washroom.

El, left alone, hugged the clothes tightly and breathed in. Gi-Gyu put extra effort into cleaning these clothes for El, so they smelled strongly of fabric softener. 

“It smells so nice,” El murmured, pleased with the first gift she received from Gi-Gyu.

Lou was on the table in his ring form while Gi-Gyu took his shower. Watching El in disgust, Lou muttered.

-Gosh. Tsk, tsk. 

***

Tae-Shik suggested that Gi-Gyu enjoy his stay in this fancy hotel. However, he couldn’t do that since he hadn’t been to a place like this before. After honing his magic, Gi-Gyu sat down on his bed and studied the players inside the hotel using his senses. 

“The main figures must be just arriving,” said Gi-Gyu when he felt several players with immense power entering the building. Gi-Gyu assumed they were high rankers. While countries where the unratable exceptional gates appeared only sent a few experienced players to protect their respective association members, nations without any new gates sent many of their best players. 

From the US, Ironshield was sent to protect the president of the American Players Association (APA). 

“Ironshield…” Gi-Gyu murmured his enemy’s name as he sat on his bed. He felt frustrated that he couldn’t exact his revenge, but he wasn’t stupid enough to complicate the current situation. “This isn’t the right time.” 

Gi-Gyu believed he would get his chance someday, so he wasn’t impatient. He looked down on his lap to see El asleep there. She had always been a heavy sleeper, and maintaining her human form probably also tired her out. 

Gi-Gyu found El adorable. 

“This shirt looks good on her,” he murmured affectionately. El looked like a cute mixed-race child in Yoo-Jung's childhood clothes. But there was still something very extraordinary about her look. The mysterious beauty she held was surprising. 

Suddenly!

“Surprise! Ranker Kim Gi-Gyu! I’m here now! I was told that you’d probably feel alone since you don’t know how to enjoy this wonderful hote—” Sung-Hoon announced as he burst into the room unannounced. 

“Sung-Hoon?” Gi-Gyu asked in surprise. Sung-Hoon was supposed to remain in Korea, so this was very unexpected. But instead of being confused, Gi-Gyu was glad to see him. 

Gi-Gyu then noticed the serious look on Sung-Hoon’s face and how he stopped mid-sentence. He quickly realized that Sung-Hoon was staring at El. 

Sung-Hoon murmured, “I’m so sorry. Maybe I got the wrong room…”

“What are you talking about?!” Gi-Gyu screamed.

***

“So you’re telling me she is an Ego…?” Sung-Hoon asked in disbelief.

“Yes. You have seen Bi, right? It’s similar to that,” Gi-Gyu explained. 

Gi-Gyu and Sung-Hoon were sitting at the hotel bar as they chatted. Sung-Hoon exclaimed, “Oh my god! Even so, she looks so… human. She doesn’t even feel like a player. I couldn’t feel any magic from her.” 

Still shocked, Sung-Hoon turned to where El was sitting on a round chair and sipping on a glass of juice. 

“Really?” Gi-Gyu responded. Since he had never tried to read El, this was new information to him. 

‘So El’s power can’t be detected?’

However, El certainly had magical power, and she was an expert in using it. Gi-Gyu suspected that her powers were systemically different; consequently, other players couldn’t detect it. 

Sung-Hoon muttered, “Well… I know you won’t lie to me, so I’ll believe you.” 

“By the way, is it okay to burst into someone’s hotel room like that? I mean, I suppose you can, but, buuut…! I thought you were going to stay in Korea. What happened?” Gi-Gyu protested. Didn’t this hotel have any kind of security system?

Sung-Hoon explained, “General Manager Oh Tae-Shik asked me to come because he worried you might end up doing nothing except sitting in your hotel room. I was going to surprise you, but… That sure was a surprise. Anyway, I didn’t have anything to do in Korea.” 

“I see.” Gi-Gyu nodded and sipped on his cocktail. It may have looked like Gi-Gyu and Sung-Hoon were sitting idly, but they were studying the other players in the bar. Most here were powerful, the weakest in the bar was a B-grade fighter, and roughly everyone was at least a semi-ranker. 

Sung-Hoon pointed at one player and whispered, “Do you see that man?”

When Gi-Gyu turned toward the man, Sung-Hoon continued, “He’s a famous high ranker in the Arab countries. He’s called the Oil King.”

“The Oil King?” Gi-Gyu had heard of this player. Just as his name suggested, the Oil King was an oil tycoon who was also a powerful high ranker. Gi-Gyu could feel unusually strong magic from the man. 

“And that man over there is from Japa—” When Sung-Hoon pointed at another man, Gi-Gyu interrupted him, “Ah, I already know about him.”

Gi-Gyu watched the Japanese high ranker whose code name was Susanoo. Since Japan was a sensitive subject to all Koreans[1], Gi-Gyu knew most of the Japanese high rankers. 

“This is really cool,” Gi-Gyu murmured. This building housed powerful players of all nationalities, so he was awestruck since he was staying in the same place as these mighty fighters.   

“By the way, where is Tae-Shik hyung?” 

“General Manager Oh Tae-Shik is probably busy meeting the other countries’ association members. They usually meet before the official meeting to greet each other. Ah, there is always a party after the meeting, but I’m not sure if they will have one this time,” Sung-Hoon answered. 

“Do you attend this kind of meeting often?” When Gi-Gyu asked, Sung-Hoon shrugged and replied, “Well, sometimes.” 

Sung-Hoon and Gi-Gyu spent the afternoon chatting. Gi-Gyu was having much fun. Being abroad wasn’t what excited him—the opportunity to see so many famous players did. 

Then, suddenly, a frigid aura filled the hotel bar. Everyone, including Gi-Gyu, turned toward the entrance. 

“Who is that?” Gi-Gyu whispered. The newcomer had a cold look on his face, his golden hair had a tinge of blue, and his eyes looked even colder. The magic storm around him was quite surprising; Gi-Gyu suspected that this man was as powerful as Soo-Jung. 

Gi-Gyu asked Sung-Hoon again, “Who’s that man?”

Gi-Gyu didn’t recognize the man despite his unique appearance. But it was clear that this player would also be attending the meeting. Therefore, he needed to know the identity of this mysterious player. 

“I don’t know… I’ve never seen him before either.” Looking just as confused, Sung-Hoon replied. As someone who had information about all famous high rankers in the world, Sung-Hoon didn’t recognize this player. So, this man had to be someone well hidden from the public. 

Everyone in the bar became tense. The man and his chilling aura moved, completely disregarding all the eyes on him.

And…

The man stopped in front of Gi-Gyu, who looked up in confusion. 

“...?” 

Everyone’s eyes were now on Gi-Gyu. 

“What’s your name?” the blue-haired man asked as their eyes met. 

Sung-Hoon raised his hand as he tried to stand between the man and Gi-Gyu. He needed to make sure no conflict arose during their stay here. 

“Wait—” Sung-Hoon was about to say something when the blue-haired man’s eyes fell on him, making him suddenly kneel.

“Ugh…” Sung-Hoon groaned, unable to endure the man’s magic pressure.

But…  

“Haa… Haa…” Sung-Hoon sighed in relief when the suffocating energy suddenly disappeared. When he looked up, he saw Gi-Gyu’s hand over him, blocking the blue-haired man’s gaze. 

“Are you okay, Sung-Hoon?” Gi-Gyu asked in concern. Sung-Hoon was freed after he used his magic to neutralize the blue-haired man’s energy. 

“Hmm… You’re pretty good,” the man commented in English. 

Thankfully, Gi-Gyu had been studying English, so he replied coldly, “Introduce yourself. What is the meaning of this?!”  

Had Sung-Hoon not been recovering or had Tae-Shik been here, they would have been impressed by Gi-Gyu’s English. When Gi-Gyu frowned, dark magic wafted from his body. Meanwhile, the other players around watched the proceeding with interest while holding their popcorn equivalents.

“I can smell the filthy demon on you.” When the mysterious man claimed, Gi-Gyu’s eyes widened. 

“...!” 

Gi-Gyu was shocked to learn that this man knew about demons. What surprised him even more was how casually this man mentioned demons in public. Before Gi-Gyu could respond, the man stared at El and whispered, “Yet… besides you is…”

El was glaring at the man who openly acted hostile toward her master. She remained still only because Gi-Gyu ordered her to, but she was furious. 

“Why is the Saintess with someone like you?!” the blue-haired man yelled angrily. 

“Saintess?” Gi-Gyu couldn’t hide his confusion when suddenly, a majestic voice roared, “That’s enough.” 

Gi-Gyu also heard Tae-Shik yelling, “Gi-Gyu! What are you doing?”

Everyone turned to see Tae-Shik and an unfamiliar elderly man standing at the bar entrance. Before anyone could say anything else, the blue-haired man kneeled on one knee toward the elderly man and announced, “Greetings to Your Holiness.” 

The blue-haired man’s hostility toward Gi-Gyu disappeared. Instead, the man looked at the elderly man with respect. 

The pope called out the blue-haired player’s name, “Michael.” 

1. In 1910, Korea was annexed by Japan without the consent of the former Korean emperor. Koreans were deprived of freedom for 35 years. Because of this history, the anti-Japanese sentiment is still strong in Korea. ☜