The Player Who Can't Level Up

“Grandmaster, you became the true king.” Hart finished recounting that fight with reverence.

Gi-Gyu thought Hart was done speaking, but the lich added, “Grandmaster, you must stay far away from evil. Evil is a sinful flame that destroys everything. It will mercilessly burn your body and soul.”

While Hamiel’s face showed worry and fear, Hart’s reaction was a bit different: Alongside trepidation, there was also awe on his face as if he was in the presence of God.

“Haa…” Gi-Gyu sighed deeply. Noticing the troubled look, Hal declared, “Whatever you decide, we will always follow you, Grandmaster.”

Both Hart and Hamiel agreed, “That’s right. We will forever be your faithful servants.”

Their answers were simple, but they still made Gi-Gyu smile. “Thanks, guys.”

The three creatures bowed respectfully.

Gi-Gyu turned toward Hart and ordered, “I need to be alone for a while. I’ll be in my room, so please don’t let anyone in.”

“Your wish is my command,” replied Hart with another bow.

***

Under Old Man Hwang’s leadership, the plan to create a pyramid to punish Rogers Han was scrapped. The skeletons and the griffins were now building a giant tower that connected the sky islands above to the undead lands below. Gi-Gyu’s private room was in the middle of this tower.

“Old Man Hwang’s taste is so…” Gi-Gyu murmured as he looked around. His room had a huge floor-to-ceiling window overlooking the whole gate. The merging process was still underway, so Gi-Gyu could feel faint vibrations. Once the merge was complete, Old Man Hwang planned to connect this tower to the underground dungeons.

“Well, the view here is great.” Gi-Gyu continued to study his new room. The elegantly-decorated room looked beautiful. He was once again impressed by Old Man Hwang. He had never seen anyone better at making and decorating things than the blacksmith.

“Haa…” Gi-Gyu stared out the window and sighed, then he lay on the sofa.

“Lou.”

-What do you want?

Lou asked bluntly.

“Just what are you?” Gi-Gyu muttered. Hart was a talented storyteller who had vividly described what unfolded after he lost consciousness. And based on the description…

“Bleghhhh!” Gi-Gyu became nauseous.

“Ugh.” When he recalled that he had eaten Botis, he couldn’t help but hurl a few times.

“I can’t believe I ate a demon.” Feeling like he could still taste Botis, Gi-Gyu retched again. “Bleghh!”

Then, Gi-Gyu rolled on the sofa, trying not to vomit.

-What happened is all in the past now. We just need to clean up the aftermath.

Lou explained before ordering.

-First, examine your body. Did you really have to hear what happened before checking your body? I told you you’re in a dangerous shape, didn’t I? Do you have a death wish? Idiot!

Lou grumbled, worried about Gi-Gyu. After the whole possession ordeal, Gi-Gyu found that his sync with Lou had become stronger. He could now sense Lou’s feelings more accurately and…

‘I think I can utilize more of his power.’ Then, Gi-Gyu sat down in the lotus position. It was time to look at his shell.

-According to Hart, your shell shattered when I possessed your body.

As he listened to Lou, Gi-Gyu recalled what Hart had told him earlier. According to Hart, Lim Hye-Sook had been the first to discover his shattered shell. Then, she had performed an emergency treatment using Micheal’s Holy Grail and El. However, that treatment was just a temporary solution, akin to first aid.

In summary, Gi-Gyu’s shell had shattered, and Lim Hye-Sook had simply glued the pieces back together.

-Your shell holds incredible powers. They are much more important than you think. And through the cracks, these powers…

Lou continued to speak as Gi-Gyu’s consciousness fell into a deeper sleep. Usually, by this point, he could see his shell; but for some reason, he couldn’t now. Perhaps not examining his shell for a long time was the reason.

Meanwhile, Lou’s voice became quieter.

-Hey…

Gi-Gyu concentrated even harder, but he still failed to see anything. As his consciousness sank deeper and deeper into nothingness…

-Hey!

Jolt!

When Lou shouted, Gi-Gyu saw a pair of giant eyes.

“Huh?!” Gi-Gyu gasped before taking a deep breath. He couldn’t describe the color or the shape of the eyes, but they somehow looked familiar. However, a tsunami of fear soon followed that feeling of familiarity.

-This is nuts.

Lou grumbled.

Gi-Gyu was so overwhelmed by fear that he couldn’t voice his question. Noticing his confusion, Lou explained.

-Death has invaded the cracks between the shattered pieces of your shell. The problem is…

Lou yelled angrily,

-That Death has the pieces and the memories of the old me! Fuck! How could something like this happen?!

Lou appeared very emotional about this, but Gi-Gyu couldn’t understand. Suppressing the extreme fear, Gi-Gyu asked, “Explain what just happened. Nothing you said made sense to me.”

-Do you remember what Hart told you earlier? What you did, and what you looked like when I borrowed your body?

“How could I forget?” whispered Gi-Gyu. An ominous feeling began to creep up deep inside of him.

-That part of me is still inside you. It should have all been erased, but it's still inside your shell! Do you understand what I’m saying?

“...?”

-Listen well. My old self, the vile one, the King of Hell, can take hold of your body anytime! And you can’t do jack shit about it!.

Gi-Gyu’s eyes widened in shock. He had never thought Lou’s descent would ever happen again. Yet Lou was telling him that “evil Lou” could control his body anytime, and he couldn’t do anything about it.

It was the worst-case scenario. After all, uncontrollable power was nothing but a ticking time bomb. “Evil Lou” couldn’t suppress his infinite hunger or distinguish his old world from the new.

“Dammit!” Gi-Gyu swore. Being powerful wasn’t good in this case, since he was like a missile without a guidance system now. Lou appeared confused as he murmured,

-I just don’t understand what happened…

Another silence fell as Gi-Gyu and Lou contemplated. Strange tension appeared between them before Lou broke the silence as he cautiously asked,

-By the way, why aren’t you… dead yet?

Gi-Gyu’s eyes widened even more.

***

Gi-Gyu remembered Lou’s explanation from earlier.

-You should’ve died. Death is now outside your broken shell; even the old me couldn’t have survived something like that.

Gi-Gyu sighed and murmured, “Should I go see Advisor Lim Hye-Sook?”

He was certainly curious about his current state. Since Lim Hye-Sook had saved him, he believed visiting her to learn about his condition was the best option. The elderly woman had also told him to visit her, but Gi-Gyu didn’t think this was the right time.

Lou suggested,

-I don’t know if your current state is a huge problem for now. Let’s just wait a bit and see what happens.

Even Lou didn’t have an explanation for Gi-Gyu’s state, as he himself believed he could have never endured what Gi-Gyu had. It was an unprecedented situation, so it made sense that Lou felt confused.

Gi-Gyu changed the subject, “Well, at least we took care of two things.”

Gi-Gyu didn’t know if he was in a stable state, but since there was nothing he could do anyway, he decided to stop worrying and call it a problem solved.

“Now, it’s time to wake up El,” Gi-Gyu announced. El had to push herself beyond her limit to buy time for Gi-Gyu during the territory war. Thereby, she had fallen into a deep sleep, and Gi-Gyu needed to make an effort to wake her up.

“But how much time do I have…?” Gi-Gyu couldn’t stay inside his gate forever, but he also had to learn what was going on outside with the other unratable gates. He looked down at his old watch.

“Huh?”

-What? What’s wrong now?

Lou seemed uninterested. They had discovered something very shocking just now, so it seemed that nothing could surprise him anymore.

As confused as ever, Gi-Gyu murmured, “My watch stopped.”

-What’s the big deal about your watch stopping?

When Lou asked bluntly, Gi-Gyu yelled, “It’s not that! This watch has never stopped before!”

Gi-Gyu couldn’t hide his confusion. Electric devices couldn’t be used inside the Tower or the gates. Consequently, only hand-wound watches could be used inside, since all other watches, even the most expensive ones, had batteries.

But Gi-Gyu’s watch was special. It had never stopped once, even when he was inside the Tower or the gates. The only guess Gi-Gyu could make was…

“This was my father’s,” whispered Gi-Gyu. His father was one of the forerunners, and this watch was the only thing Gi-Gyu had of him. He suspected it was a player item, but it couldn’t be appraised accurately. Because it was his father’s, he also never tried to disassemble it to see what it was. There had been one time when he thought about selling it because he desperately needed money, but…

‘I couldn’t take it off.’ The watch fit him so tightly that he couldn’t remove it from his wrist.

Lou asked in confusion.

-What? That’s an item?

“I don’t know. I just think that it might be,” replied Gi-Gyu. It was a worn and well-used watch; Gi-Gyu couldn’t even tell how old it was. Even during his most vigorous fights, it didn’t break, and the clock hands kept moving. So what else could it be other than an item?

-Dammit! What the hell…?

Lou seemed even more bewildered.

“Let’s just wait. This has never happened before, so we’ll see.” Gi-Gyu decided as he hid the watch with his sleeve. His current best course of action was to get it examined by Old Man Hwang.

-Something feels strange. I never felt an ounce of magic from it, so I never considered that it could be an item.

“Really?” When Gi-Gyu shrugged nonchalantly, Lou muttered in annoyance,

-Haa… Whatever. So are you going to wake up El now?

“Yeah, I think it’s time.” Gi-Gyu needed to take care of many things before leaving this gate.

-Then, let’s change the order of your priorities.

“Huh?”

-You can wake El later. I think you should deal with Botis first. I think it will take a long time, so it would be better if you woke Botis before El.

“You think so?” asked Gi-Gyu. Lou was aware of his ultimate plan, so he knew Lou would give him useful advice.

“Well, if you insist.” Gi-Gyu agreed, willing to do whatever he could to be more efficient.

-Then, you should…

Lou slowly explained his plan,

-Go to the cocoon right now.