The Player Who Can't Level Up

After Botis’ territory assimilated into Brunheart’s gate, many changes occurred, affecting not only Brunheart but also all the creatures living in her gate.

Now, Gi-Gyu could summon one creature without even opening the gate if he were ever in a life-threatening situation. And this was why he felt safe even when he knew an unknown intruder was inside the hospital room.

But, what he didn’t expect was the intruder’s identity, whom Hal was still holding.

“Go Hyung-Chul!” Gi-Gyu yelled in surprise. To his confusion, Go-Hyung Chul was the dagger’s owner and trespasser. He was a powerful player and the most capable player paparazzo in the country. Gi-Gyu had previously hired him to find out the deal between Lee Sun-Ho and Ironshield.

Go Hyung-Chul abruptly turned himself into smoke to escape Hal.

Fwoosh.

“Grandmaster!” Hal yelled as Go Hyung-Chul threw the dagger at Gi-Gyu.

But…

Clunk!

Go Hyung-Chul’s deadly dagger flew like a bullet, but it was blocked easily. The moment that dagger left his hand, Lou—in his sword form—appeared in Gi-Gyu’s hand, and a single feather coiled around Gi-Gyu’s finger. This feather, El’s avatar, glowed in bright light as it slowly turned into a white sword. In the blink of an eye, Gi-Gyu found himself holding his two swords, ready for a battle.

“Dammit,” Go Hyung-Chul swore angrily. He was looking for a way to escape, but Suk-Woo’s room was completely quarantined.

“Why are you here?!” Gi-Gyu roared. Why did Go Hyung-Chul infiltrate Suk-Woo’s hospital room? It appeared that Go Hyung-Chul had chosen the moment Gi-Gyu had entered as his opportunity to follow inside.

Gi-Gyu couldn’t come up with a plausible reason. He glared at Go Hyung-Chul and asked, “Could it be… Did someone hire you to do this? To find information about Suk-Woo? Or to assassinate him?”

Gi-Gyu’s eyes glowed icy blue, giving off bloodthirsty energy. Go Hyung-Chul could no longer speak, as Gi-Gyu’s deadly power was smothering him.

“Hal,” Gi-Gyu called out to his death knight.

“Your wish is my command, Grandmaster.”

“Protect Suk-Woo. Make sure not a single hair on his body gets harmed. Protect him as you would protect me,” Gi-Gyu ordered.

Thud!

Hal hit the floor with his halberd before aiming it toward Go Hyung-Chul. He replied with absolute confidence, “As you wish, Grandmaster!”

Gi-Gyu watched Go Hyung-Chul, who was coughing painfully. His neck must have been injured when Hal grabbed him earlier.

“I’ll kill you,” Gi-Gyu whispered. Go Hyung-Chul had helped him in the past, but this was a different matter. He was no more than an invader here to harm Suk-Woo now.

Clack!

Gi-Gyu kicked the ground to leap toward Go Hyung-Chul. They were inside a small hospital room, so if Gi-Gyu didn’t act quickly, there was a good chance Go Hyung-Chul might accomplish his goal.

“Die!” Gi-Gyu turned and swung Lou. There was no need to use Death or his other skills. He was now powerful enough to slay a high-ranker like Go Hyung-Chul with one swing. Moreover, he believed that even Hal could take Go Hyung-Chul down if given a chance.

‘I’m strong now,’ Gi-Gyu thought in odd excitement. A few seconds away from beheading Go Hyung-Chul and…

-Wait!

“Wait!”

Both Lou and Go Hyung-Chul yelled at the same time.

Drip.

Blood drops dripped down Lou as his sword form lingered dangerously close to Go Hyung-Chul’s neck. At the very last moment, Gi-Gyu pulled back slightly; the only reason Go Hyung-Chul’s neck wasn’t rolling on the floor. Shock and fear appeared on Go Hyung-Chul’s face as he stared at Gi-Gyu.

“What the hell?!” Gi-Gyu swore in annoyance. All he needed to do was twist his arm a tiny bit, and it would be enough to…

‘I could’ve killed him so easily,’ Gi-Gyu thought, unable to hide his frustration. All of his excitement disappeared, replaced by annoyance.

-Snap out of it, you moron.

“What was that for?” Gi-Gyu asked Lou, still glaring at Go Hyung-Chul.

-Haa… We can talk about this later. Just let Go Hyung-Chul live and put him in the gate. Your minions inside should be able to detain him.

Gi-Gyu seemed confused, so Lou explained,

-You’re an idiot. If someone hired Go Hyung-Chul to harm Yoo Suk-Woo, don’t you think you should find out the who and the why first? Secondly, if he is doing it of his own violation, the why still matters.

Gi-Gyu slowly pulled back since Lou was right. The excitement had muddled his mind.

-And lastly, look at his eyes.

Finally, Gi-Gyu noticed Go Hyung-Chul’s red eyes. In the past, when he first met Go Hyung-Chul, Gi-Gyu chalked it off as a special skill. But much time had passed since then, and Gi-Gyu was now aware of demons. He could now sense sorcery and different non-human energies.

“You…” Gi-Gyu asked Go Hyung-Chul, “Are not human?”

Go Hyung-Chul lowered his face. Gi-Gyu couldn’t tell if it was because he had lost too much blood or for another reason, so Gi-Gyu walked up to him to check.

“He’s still alive,” Gi-Gyu announced when he felt the player paparazzo’s pulse. Go Hyung-Chul had just fainted.

“Hal,” Gi-Gyu called.

“Yes, Grandmaster.”

“Take him into the gate. Umm… Tell Old Man Hwang that he is Rogers’ replacement.” When Gi-Gyu ordered, Hal’s eyes wavered as if in surprise. Hal remembered Rogers being treated like a slave. Was this why he seemed shocked?

“Of course, Grandmaster.” Hal grabbed Go Hyung-Chul and returned to the gate.

Suddenly, Suk-Woo opened his eyes and whispered, “Gi-Gyu…?”

***

“What happened? I remember…” Suk-Woo’s eyes looked hazy as he mumbled.

With a wide grin, Gi-Gyu replied, “Let’s get you checked up first. Your consciousness was invaded, so you aren’t in good condition right now.”

Suk-Woo nodded, and his doctor hurried to examine him. Sung-Hoon walked up to Gi-Gyu and asked, “Can we talk for a moment?”

“All right.” Gi-Gyu followed Sung-Hoon outside. It had been an hour since Suk-Woo woke up. When this happened, El left Suk-Woo’s shell quietly and returned to her ring form on Gi-Gyu’s finger.

-Everything worked out. I felt that you were put in danger, Master.

When El inquired, Gi-Gyu reassured her, ‘I’m fine now, El.’

When Go Hyung-Chul attacked Gi-Gyu, El’s avatar was summoned momentarily. This was why El knew about what had happened.

‘Go Hyung-Chul…’

Gi-Gyu was lost in thought when he and Sung-Hoon arrived at the hospital gazebo outside.

“Haa… What happened?” Sung-Hoon asked in worry. He had seen how damaged Suk-Woo’s room was, so he could make a guess.

Sung-Hoon continued, “Was there an invader or something?”

“Yes.” When Gi-Gyu answered, Sung-Hoon became rigid. Before Gi-Gyu had entered the room, he had asked for all the cameras to be turned off. Because the association ran this hospital, Gi-Gyu’s request was accepted. However, when Sung-Hoon went inside the room later, he found blood splatters and broken walls. The barriers around the room also felt damaged. It was clear a battle took place here. The doctors found the scene odd. But because of the association president's order and the fact that Suk-Woo had regained consciousness, the doctors didn’t ask any questions.

“What happened to the trespasser? And how did Guild Master Yoo Suk-Woo wake up? Did you wake him up? Did you decide to visit Guild Master Yoo Suk-Woo because you knew you could?” Sung-Hoon couldn’t hide his curiosity as he bombarded Gi-Gyu with questions.

Scratching his neck, Gi-Gyu smiled and replied, “Please, one question at a time. I’ll answer you then.”

Realizing how impatient he sounded, Sung-Hoon blushed and apologized, “Sorry. I was just so shocked.”

Before Gi-Gyu could say anything else, Sung-Hoon suddenly turned serious. He whispered, “C-could it be…”

‘Did he figure it out?’ Gi-Gyu wondered.

Sung-Hoon continued, “Those blood splatters on the floor… And Guild Master Yoo Suk-Woo looked so pale…”

It appeared that Sung-Hoon was slowly piecing the clues together. “Could it be that… there was some kind of virus from that Gangnam Gate, and…”

Looking up at Gi-Gyu, Sung-Hoon asked, “Was Guild Master Yoo Suk-Woo suffering from severe indigestion? And did you prick his finger to get him better?”[1]

“...?”

“Is that why he woke up?”

“Hahaha!” Gi-Gyu couldn’t stop laughing. Sometimes, Sung-Hoon could be incredibly goofy.

***

Sung-Hoon was only joking to lighten the mood. Now that he had successfully teased Gi-Gyu, he felt much better and listened quietly to Gi-Gyu’s explanation.

“So it was Go Hyung-Chul,” Sung-Hoon whispered. It was out of his expectations, and his curiosity piqued again.

However, he didn’t have to ask any more questions because Gi-Gyu continued, “Once I find out more, I will tell you. The first thing I need to do is to find out how Suk-Woo is doing.”

“Ah, of course,” Sung-Hoon replied.

They returned to the hospital and learned that the doctors had finished running their tests. Suk-Woo still had to be quarantined, but the doctors were confident that he would be okay.

Gi-Gyu hurried to meet his friend while El explained,

-I absorbed all the dark energy inside his shell, Master. I will give you the details later.

Gi-Gyu nodded and entered Suk-Woo’s room. To his relief, Suk-Woo looked much better as he greeted, “Hey, Gi-Gyu.”

“How are you doing? Are you okay?” asked Gi-Gyu.

“Of course. And I’m starting to remember a little of what happened.” When Suk-Woo first woke up, he couldn’t remember much. The last thing he could remember was going into the Gangnam Gate and being captured by Botis.

But now, his memory was coming back slowly. Suk-Woo explained, “I lost consciousness after getting attacked by a giant mantis. As you might have guessed, I tried to escape using my unique ability, but…”

This was the part Gi-Gyu was most curious about. Suk-Woo had the rare and covetous power to open a portal. This was why Suk-Woo kept it a secret.

“But…?” Gi-Gyu asked impatiently. With such an ability, Suk-Woo should have been able to escape easily. It might not have been enough to close the gate, but Suk-Woo shouldn’t have been trapped inside.

“Something invaded my body.”

“...?”

“I don’t know exactly what happened since it happened very fast. I was so shocked that I tried to open the portal, but”—Suk-Woo lowered his face as if he was still in disbelief—“it wouldn’t open.”

“What?”

“The portal wouldn’t open.”

“...?” Gi-Gyu couldn’t understand. Did he fail because he was inside a demon’s territory? But Suk-Woo had already tested his ability inside the Tower and several gates. The only difference this time was that he had entered a demon’s territory. And it was also the very first unratable exceptional gate the world had ever seen.

Or…

“Could it be…” When Gi-Gyu murmured, Suk-Woo nodded. Could it be because of the energy that had invaded Suk-Woo’s body? Suk-Woo probably didn’t know, but Gi-Gyu knew what it was.

It was a piece of Paimon’s inheritance.

Suk-Woo continued, “When that energy entered my body, I couldn’t activate my unique ability. Or maybe it’s more accurate to say that my unique ability disappeared.”

Gi-Gyu couldn’t believe what he had just heard.

1. It’s a Korean home remedy where pricking one’s finger and drawing blood can relieve indigestion. ☜