The Player Who Can't Level Up

“You mean Guild Master Yoo Suk-Woo?” Sung-Hoon asked in confusion. He already knew Gi-Gyu and Suk-Woo were close friends. However, Gi-Gyu hadn’t visited Suk-Woo once despite the latter’s continued state of comatose. So, Sung-Hoon was surprised when Gi-Gyu abruptly asked to see Yoo Suk-Woo.

After thinking for a moment, Sung-Hoon turned serious and asked, “Are you prepared for that mentally?”

Sung-Hoon guessed that Gi-Gyu hadn’t visited Suk-Woo until now because he was worried Suk-Woo might never wake up.

“...?” A confused look appeared on Gi-Gyu’s face but only for a moment. Finally, Gi-Gyu nodded and replied, “Yeah… I guess.”

“All right. I’ll make an arrangement immediately. Please wait here for a moment.” Sung-Hoon bowed and disappeared. Gi-Gyu guessed that Sung-Hoon was calling the hospital to make an appointment for a visit.

“Hmm…” Left alone, Gi-Gyu thought about Suk-Woo. Suk-Woo’s comatose continued even after he had been rescued from Botis’ cocoon. There were two reasons Gi-Gyu still hadn’t visited him. Sung-Hoon had guessed the first one correctly, and the second…

‘Because I won’t be able to help him anyway.’

But now…

“El,” Gi-Gyu called out El’s name.

-Yes, Master.

“Please take good care of Suk-Woo when we reach the hospital.”

-Of course. Your wish is my command, Master.

Gi-Gyu had a way to help Suk-Woo.

***

Beep… Beep...

It had been a long time since Gi-Gyu visited a hospital. Sung-Hoon and Gi-Gyu were at the secret hospital run by the association. Regardless of their level, this hospital treated all players that needed it. Gi-Gyu’s eyes looked calm as he remained quiet.

Meanwhile, Sung-Hoon studied Gi-Gyu’s unreadable face. He couldn’t tell if Gi-Gyu was upset or not because there was only calm on his face. Then, he turned to look through a glass window and saw Suk-Woo.

‘Guild Master Yoo Suk-Woo.’ Sung-Hoon watched the man lying on the neat white bed, resting as if dead. Despite being only Gi-Gyu’s age, he was already the guild master of a top ten guild that protected Korea. He had to be one of the most powerful players in the country, yet he was lying helplessly in the hospital bed. Several tubes were connected to his wrist, continuously feeding him different types of potions.

As if remembering something, Gi-Gyu asked the men clad in white scrubs standing beside him, “The coma is the only problem, right?”

“Yes. There were no signs of organ damage or external injuries. Consequently, we couldn’t make a definitive diagnosis. Even the healer category players couldn’t find the reason behind his state. So…” one of Suk-Woo’s doctors replied, looking down in shame. He was basically telling Gi-Gyu that there was nothing that could be done for Suk-Woo. The fact that these doctors worked in an association hospital meant they were world-class healers. Sadly, even the best couldn’t bring Suk-Woo out of his coma.

“Thank you for your hard work,” Gi-Gyu mumbled tepidly. It made sense that no one here knew what was wrong with Suk-Woo. Gi-Gyu suspected that no player in the world could figure it out. Well, perhaps except for someone like Lee Sun-Ho. Then again, it wasn’t like Lee Sun-Ho would come all the way here just to diagnose Yoo Suk-Woo.

Realizing Gi-Gyu wanted some quiet, the doctors left.

The silence turned awkward and continued until Gi-Gyu asked Sung-Hoon, “May I go inside?”

Currently, Suk-Woo was in quarantine. Apart from the giant glass window, dozens of barriers separated him from the rest of the world.

Why?

The reason was simple. The gatekeeper of an unratable gate had captured Suk-Woo. No diagnosis could be made, and he remained in a coma. Some unknown virus or curse couldn’t be ruled out completely, so the barriers protected Suk-Woo and the people outside.

“All right,” Sung-Hoon replied after some thought. He believed that Gi-Gyu would remain safe inside the room with Suk-Woo. Besides, Sung-Hoon knew trying to stop him would be useless.

‘He always accomplishes what he sets out to do,’ Sung-Hoon thought in resignation. Gi-Gyu sometimes looked naive and even stupid, but Sung-Hoon had to admit that his stubbornness was unmatched. He always got his way, so refusal was never an option. Most importantly, Sung-Hoon felt confident that Gi-Gyu would remain safe.

After chatting with the hospital officials, Sung-Hoon returned and explained to Gi-Gyu, “They gave the permission, Ranker Kim Gi-Gyu, but…”

Sung-Hoon hesitantly continued, “Once that glass window is opened to let you in, this space will also be quarantined. No one will be allowed entry to this space for a while, and you also can’t leave the quarantined space during that span.”

Gi-Gyu smiled and replied, “That’s exactly what I wanted.”

***

‘I’m sure it will be fine,’ Sung-Hoon tried to reassure himself. It was thanks to Oh Tae-Gu’s order that Gi-Gyu was allowed to even enter Guild Master Yoo Suk-Woo’s private hospital room. Yoo Suk-Woo was one of the top players in the world, and at the moment, he was lying defenseless in a hospital bed. There were several guards, but they were outside, and Gi-Gyu was entering the room alone. Normally, this wouldn’t have been allowed.

“Then I’ll need some privacy,” Gi-Gyu asked Sung-Hoon to leave as well. Sung-Hoon bowed lightly and left the room. Gi-Gyu looked around, waiting for the entrance to open.

Creak.

With a loud noise, the glass window moved up, revealing Suk-Woo’s room in its entirety. Apart from a few cameras on the walls, there was nothing more in the name of security.

The room only had Gi-Gyu and Suk-Woo, but he still studied his surroundings carefully. When he felt confident they were alone, he finally walked into Suk-Woo’s room. It looked like Suk-Woo was sleeping, and he could hear Suk-Woo’s faint breathing with his superior hearing. If not for that, he would’ve thought his friend was dead.

Gi-Gyu slowly raised his hand and placed it on Suk-Woo’s chest. When he closed his eyes, Lou ordered,

-Have a look at his shell.

Gi-Gyu followed Lou’s instructions. He was a bit anxious since this was his first time looking at someone else’s shell and sweat drops began to roll down his forehead.

-You have pretty good instincts.

Lou said encouragingly as Gi-Gyu began to examine Suk-Woo’s shell.

***

‘...?’ Gi-Gyu was surprised to find that Suk-Woo’s shell looked different from his. Unlike his shell, which resembled the empty, endless cosmos, Suk-Woo’s shell had a definite form and was filled with something.

-Be careful. Touching someone’s shell is like having their life in your hand.

Lou warned, and Gi-Gyu nodded subconsciously. Currently, his eyes were on something like Suk-Woo’s heart—no, actually, it was more important than Suk-Woo’s physical heart. The faintest shiver could shatter the shell.

‘And according to Lou, that’s worse than death.’ Gi-Gyu reminded himself of Lou’s warning. He studied Suk-Woo’s shell cautiously, getting closer to this shell that had a bluish tinge.

-This is the important part.

What Gi-Gyu was about to do was dangerous.

‘Okay. I’m about to step inside his shell,’ Gi-Gyu thought nervously. What he was about to do was akin to walking inside someone’s mind to see what the problem was. Gi-Gyu felt uncertain because he was doing this without Suk-Woo’s permission, but it was necessary to save his friend.

Suk-Woo was teetering on the edge of life and death. There was a small chance he could wake up on his own, but Gi-Gyu was doubtful and decided to help.

‘Even if it involves certain risks…’ Gi-Gyu was determined to do this because this was the surest way to help his friend. Slowly, he approached Suk-Woo’s shell. A thin, fragile membrane covered it, and Gi-Gyu’s consciousness carefully passed through it.

Drop.

Gi-Gyu’s forehead was sweating like it was raining. He was so focused that he wouldn’t be able to defend himself if someone attacked him now.

‘I’m in,’ Gi-Gyu thought in excitement. He had entered Suk-Woo’s shell without leaving even the smallest rip in the fragile membrane.  

-Now, it’s going to be…

Lou completed Gi-Gyu’s sentence,

-A race against time.

Invading someone else’s shell was a dangerous task. If Gi-Gyu’s consciousness remained inside Suk-Woo’s shell for too long…

‘My consciousness might get mixed with Suk-Woo’s shell,’ Gi-Gyu thought with a shiver. His consciousness could affect Suk-Woo’s shell, or Suk-Woo’s shell could engulf Gi-Gyu’s consciousness. It could happen any time, so he had to be quick.

‘Where is it…?’ Gi-Gyu moved his consciousness impatiently. Suk-Woo’s shell was filled with icy-blue smoke and marbles.

‘This looks very different from mine,’ Gi-Gyu wondered as he continued his search. Did all shells look different? Suk-Woo’s shell was vastly different from his, and if he had more time and less worry about endangering Suk-Woo, he would’ve loved to study his friend’s shell. Unfortunately, that wasn’t possible now.

‘I need to hurry up…’ Gi-Gyu had to find the culprit trapping Suk-Woo’s consciousness.

‘I found it!’ Gi-Gyu finally spotted the dark energy of sorcery; surprisingly, it was nothing like normal sorcery.

-That’s…

What Gi-Gyu had found was a lump of red-black smoke. Lou asked,

-Is that Paimon’s inheritance?

Gi-Gyu and Lou knew why Suk-Woo couldn’t regain consciousness because Botis had told them. To steal Suk-Woo’s body, the demon had to trap his consciousness. This required various witchcraft and magical measures. An average demon could never accomplish something like this. It was only possible this time because of…

‘Paimon’s inheritance.’ Gi-Gyu thought grimly. According to Botis, the energy he felt was from Paimon’s inheritance; it was slowly taking over Suk-Woo’s shell. Under normal circumstances, the only course of action would’ve been to let Suk-Woo fight the energy on his own and regain consciousness. However, given what El had done for Tae-Shik, Gi-Gyu believed he might be able to do something for his friend.

‘El,’ Gi-Gyu called out to her silently.

-Yes, Master.

‘Are you ready?’

-Of course.

El could cure Suk-Woo. After her evolution, she had gained an incredible healing ability. When Gi-Gyu and El discussed this before, she seemed very confident about it.

-I think I can do it, Master.

Their plan was for El to absorb the piece of Paimon’s inheritance to heal Suk-Woo.

‘Please do your best, El.’

-Of course, Master.

Then, an opaque light left Gi-Gyu’s consciousness and approached the red-black smoke that was Paimon’s inheritance.

-It’s time for you to get out of there.

Lou ordered. Now that Gi-Gyu had successfully injected El into Suk-Woo’s shell, it was time to leave.

‘All right,’ Gi-Gyu replied. The only thing left was for El to eat Paimon’s inheritance. She could leave Suk-Woo’s shell on her own after completing the task. Since she was skilled enough to do this alone, Gi-Gyu had no reason to stay back.

Gi-Gyu’s consciousness slowly backed away to leave Suk-Woo’s shell.

Drop.

Sweat continued to pour from his forehead, as leaving someone’s shell was just as hard as entering one. Slowly and carefully, Gi-Gyu worked his way out. And finally…

“Ugh,” Gi-Gyu groaned. He had worked hard not to harm Suk-Woo in any way. The floor was wet with his sweat, proving how much effort he had put into this. But before he could even take a breather, he saw a red dagger aiming for him.

Schwing.

The cold metal made an ominous sound as it touched Gi-Gyu’s neck.

His opponent silently kept his weapon on Gi-Gyu, who broke the silence before long. “So you’ve finally decided to show yourself.”

Gi-Gyu grinned. The moment he entered Suk-Woo’s hospital room, he knew that there was an intruder thanks to his enhanced senses. But even he couldn’t tell the intruder’s identity. This was why he decided to risk his own life to learn the trespasser’s identity.

But of course, he knew that his life was never in real danger.

“I shall punish you for attempting to harm my master,” Hal murmured. When Gi-Gyu turned around, he noticed that Hal was already holding the intruder by his neck. The intruder’s dagger did manage to graze GiGyu’s neck, but the injury was minor. Touching his neck, Gi-Gyu turned around.

“...!” Gi-Gyu’s eyes widened when he saw the intruder’s face. His enemy was flailing while Hal held him by his neck.

‘Those red eyes… His face…’

“You are…!” Gi-Gyu whispered, recognizing the intruder.