The Player Who Can't Level Up

Strangely, even after the feather was plucked, that area kept glowing. As for El, she had removed the still-glowing feather with a blank face.

Whoosh!

Eventually, much of the glow left the feather, and only a sword was left in her hands.

“A sword?” Gi-Gyu murmured in surprise. This faintly glowing sword looked similar to El’s sword form, but it was a little sharper and pointier.

El explained, “You can use my power through this sword.”

When she handed the sword to Gi-Gyu, he asked, “Really?”

Was El saying that she could stay in her physical form and create a sword with powers comparable to her sword form? Did that mean Gi-Gyu could have a near infinite number of swords with El’s strength?

-Haa… Your dumbness is really stressing me out. Do you really think that’s possible?

Lou yelled in frustration.

El explained, “This sword is like my body. Much of my power is embedded in that sword. I've given it a piece of my strength, so I’m weaker now and can’t make more swords.”

“Ah!” Gi-Gyu was impressed because the sword was basically El.

El continued, “And you have a special power, Master.”

El was referring to the sync connection she shared with him. “Thanks to that, using that sword would be just like using my sword form, but that would hold true for only you, Master.”

Gi-Gyu squeezed the svelte sword; it felt great in his hand. Pleased, he looked at El and asked, “Any drawbacks?”

Contrite, El replied, “Yes, there is. Unfortunately, you can’t use it for prolonged periods. So, only use it in special cases like this. Under normal circumstances, you should just do… what you did before.”

When she said the last part, a blush appeared on her cheeks.

However, that went unnoticed by Gi-Gyu, who yelled in excitement, “Oh! In real battles, I should just wield you!”

That led to an awkward silence. Blind as to why, Gi-Gyu looked around and asked, “What’s wrong? Is something the matter?”

Botis dragged its mucus-covered body away from Gi-Gyu and El and announced, “You should start your sparring match now, My King.”

***

‘I can see it.’ Gi-Gyu realized that he could feel the trajectory of El’s sword. Maybe “feeling” wasn’t the right word; it was more like he could see it.

Schwing!

El’s sword passed by Gi-Gyu’s cheek, failing to even graze him.

El was fighting at almost full strength, so she was shocked by how easily Gi-Gyu was dodging her attacks. Let alone El, even Gi-Gyu was shocked.

‘How?’ Gi-Gyu wondered how he could see her moves ahead of time. Take her last attack, for example. It was faster than anything he had ever faced before, and he would’ve had a split cheek had he not seen it coming. So how did he “see” it?

“I’m about to go faster, Master!” El announced. It sounded like her pride was hurt by how easily Gi-Gyu evaded her attacks. Realizing she could fight for real, El decided to go all out.

She threw dozens of strikes toward Gi-Gyu, but he didn’t have to do much to avoid them. He would simply either sidestep or block.

Then…

Tap.

Gi-Gyu pushed El’s shoulder lightly. She was so confused that she lost her balance and fell. Before she knew it, Lou, in his sword form, was right before her chest.

“What just happened?!” Gi-Gyu murmured in confusion. He won this match, but he couldn’t understand how. He could “see” her attacks, but he was sure his eyes had nothing to do with that.

‘Am I a soothsayer now or what?’ Gi-Gyu thought in wonder. It was as if he could see her future attacks and dodge them. He knew this was impossible, yet this was exactly what had happened.

“How about another round, Master?” El bit her lips and requested.

“Yup. I also want to try again and figure out what’s happening.” Gi-Gyu was happy to agree. For answers, he was willing to fight her as many times as needed. Then, he offered his hand to help El stand up.

Another round began. Many watched with interest, but one of the creatures’ eyes widened.

When Botis gasped, Hart asked respectfully, “What’s wrong?”

Hart was having difficulty dealing with the newest addition to Gi-Gyu’s group. Hart had synced with Gi-Gyu well before Botis, so he should have had the seniority, but Botis’ power and ability were beyond his own. Consequently, he had no choice but to show respect to it. Hart was just thankful that he was the assistant manager of the gate since that title was the only thing that put him above the demon. Since Gi-Gyu didn’t trust Botis completely, he hadn’t given it any titles.

“Ah…” Botis moaned. Without answering Hart, it whispered, “It’s happening again… He’s back… The King of Hell.”

Botis began crying. No one seemed to have noticed it yet; right now, Botis wasn’t feeling just loyalty toward its new master. Another emotion, one that was embedded deep in its being, was slowly filling its head.

Fear.

The fact that the King of Hell had returned scared Botis out of its wits. Moreover, the king seemed stronger than before.

“Ugh!” Gi-Gyu groaned.

“Master!” El yelled as their battle ended. It wasn’t a long match, but Gi-Gyu was covered in sweat and mild cuts. El was in a similar condition—parts of her thin clothes were also ripped.

“Are you all right?” El ran toward Gi-Gyu and began healing his wounds. After her evolution, her control over Life had increased. So, healing Gi-Gyu’s light cuts was easy for her.

As his wounds closed, Gi-Gyu asked in shock, “El, was that your attack just now?!”

El’s last attack was so surprising that Gi-Gyu didn’t even get the chance to block it. El smiled and replied, “I couldn’t test it on anyone else, but I thought I could try it on you, Master.”

She seemed very proud of herself. Eyes wavering in awe, Gi-Gyu exclaimed, “It was amazing! It was…”

Her last attack had confused him as her new ability was…

‘Sorcery and Death,’ Gi-Gyu thought in shock. El was once the queen of all angels, but her last attack had the elements of magic and death.

***

-I think I know what ability you gained after you ate Botis and synced with it.

Lou said, confident in his findings.

Gi-Gyu was also able to confirm everything he had newly gained, like how El had done so during their match. And, of course, Lou was the one who did all the finding. El too, had also guessed Gi-Gyu’s new power.

El stated,

-I think it allows you to see the future, Master. Something like… Foresight.

-Foresight.

Both El and Lou simultaneously said.

Lou continued,

-Obviously, you can’t look far into the future and make 100% accurate predictions. However, being able to foresee your opponent’s attack is an amazing ability nonetheless.

“So that’s Botis’ ability?” When Gi-Gyu asked, Lou replied,

-That’s right. Botis has always had the Foresight ability.

Gi-Gyu nodded. To be able to see the future… Lou was right; it was an incredible ability.

“But this doesn’t make sense. How did you destroy Botis so easily if it had Foresight?” Gi-Gyu asked. If Botis could predict the immediate future, why was Lou, possessing Gi-Gyu’s body, able to kill it so easily? Couldn’t Botis have defended itself a little better?

-It wasn’t me…

Lou trailed off and became quiet for a moment. After, he continued,

-It was you and me combined. Also, Foresight doesn’t work on every opponent, and there are some attacks you can’t evade even if you know they are coming.

A good example was El’s last attack earlier. At the beginning of their match, Gi-Gyu could predict El’s moves because all she did was fight with her ordinary sword. But when she began to use her new skills to corner him, he became helpless despite his new skill, Foresight.

El’s new skills were so dazzling that even the greatest players couldn’t escape them easily.

-And it’s also partly because of the special skills.

“Huh?”

-You and I could trounce Botis because we ate the future.

When Lou explained, Gi-Gyu asked, “We ate the future?”

Gi-Gyu couldn’t understand Lou’s explanation, but Lou didn’t answer his question.

El murmured, “Master…”

Gi-Gyu turned toward her and noticed how serious she looked. She begged, “Please do not let Lou descend again. It was such a dangerous move. Your life was at risk, and… Something even worse than death could have happened, Master.”

“El.” Gi-Gyu looked at her warmly. He appreciated how much she cared for him. Gi-Gyu reassured her softly, “Please don’t worry.”

El seemed satisfied with his answer and nodded. However, there was something he hadn’t told her yet. Because she hadn’t examined his shell closely yet, she didn’t know the King of Hell now slept inside Gi-Gyu’s shell and body.

Lou whispered to Gi-Gyu so that El wouldn’t hear him.

-Be careful.

“I know.” When Gi-Gyu murmured, El looked at him with curiosity. However, she didn’t question him and just nodded as if she understood.

Knock knock.

Suddenly, they heard someone knock at the door. Gi-Gyu was currently sitting in Tae-Shik’s office. He turned toward the desk where Tae-Shik’s nameplate sat.

[Gate Maintenance General Manager]

The door didn’t open immediately. After a brief pause, the one outside the room announced, “I’m coming in.”

Creak.

The door slowly opened and a worn and torn Tae-Shik walked in. Sung-Hoon had previously informed Gi-Gyu that Tae-Shik’s group had successfully closed the gate, but their group had suffered severe damage. One of the top ten guilds perished in the process. Many members of the association’s secret weapon, Grigory, suffered as well, and Tae-Shik didn’t escape unscathed either.

“Hyung… Your eye…” Gi-Gyu whispered when he saw a long scar on one of Tae-Shik’s eyes. Tae-Shik also strongly reeked of blood.

Just how difficult was closing their gate? It had been several days since Tae-Shik returned; the middle-aged man was still in bad shape. Gi-Gyu felt worried.

Tae-Shik grinned and replied, “Don’t worry. I’m fine. My eye looks bad, but I’m sure it will get better if I rest.”

Tae-Shik’s tone was light. It was obvious he was pretending to be okay, which made Gi-Gyu feel even worse.

“Haa…” Gi-Gyu sighed deeply as he studied Tae-Shik. He couldn’t help feeling concerned, but he knew he should go along and feign nonchalance.

“Hyung, why did you knock before entering your room?” asked Gi-Gyu. Noticing his fake smile, Tae-Shik couldn’t help smiling bitterly, realizing he was trying to be considerate.

“I heard you came in with a beautiful woman, so I thought you might be… busy.” When Tae-Shik teased, Gi-Gyu’s eyes widened as he stammered, “W-what? What are you talking about?!”

“Master,” El spoke as if on cue. Both Gi-Gyu and Tae-Shik simultaneously turned toward her. Tae-Shik stared at her with a curious look in his eyes, wondering who she was.

To everyone’s surprise, El announced, “I can heal him.”