The Player Who Can't Level Up

The urgency in El’s voice made Gi-Gyu stop and ask, “What’s wrong?”

The player who was drooling sighed in relief, indicating he was indeed only pretending to have gone insane. When Gi-Gyu turned toward him, the man flinched and shivered. But Gi-Gyu lowered his hand and waited for El to answer.

“We have an intruder, Master,” El remained invisible as she replied.

“An intruder?”

‘This is a surprise. Usually, El just takes care of the intruders, even if it means fighting a bloody battle. Could it be…’

“That’s right, Master. It’s someone you know,” confirmed El.

Gi-Gyu had also figured out that the intruder was someone he needed to face himself.

Curious, Gi-Gyu asked, “Who is it?”

For some reason, he felt expectant as he sensed the new energy interacting with El’s barrier.

El asked, “What should I do, Master?”

“Just leave them alone.” Gi-Gyu smiled, feeling happy and eager. Now, he could feel dozens of presences outside, and one of them was familiar to him.

Lou asked,

-Are you sure about this? He might have betrayed you. The situation now is…

“I doubt that,” Gi-Gyu interrupted Lou firmly. There was no way “he” would betray him.

And…

“Even if he did, we would just fight it out again,” Gi-Gyu added, aware that wouldn’t be necessary. He had complete faith in “him.”

Boom!

Finally, the presence outside approached the building and destroyed the entrance. A familiar voice ordered, “Get all of them!”

Gi-Gyu tried not to grin, but he couldn’t help it.

“Clear!” A man’s voice shouted and sighed, “Haa… Did you make trouble again?”

The familiar face turned toward Gi-Gyu and walked up to him.

Gi-Gyu greeted, “Long time no see.”

“This isn’t the time for leisurely greetings.” Sung-Hoon seemed exhausted.

Gi-Gyu smiled and replied, “Hi, Sung-Hoon.”

A bright grin appeared on Sung-Hoon’s face as well. He offered his hand and murmured, “Welcome back, Ranker Kim Gi-Gyu.”

Gi-Gyu shook his hand. The building reeked of blood and one man’s urine. The agents Sung-Hoon brought were chatting among themselves loudly, but they also watched the two players’ interaction. This should have been a touching moment, but it looked strange.

Gi-Gyu turned toward the trembling enemy player, the bedwetter, and commented, “This is your lucky day.”

***

“Haa…” Sung-Hoon sighed again.

“What’s wrong?” Gi-Gyu asked.

Sung-Hoon replied, “I expected something like would happen, so I made all the preparations to rescue you, but… it looks like we didn’t even have to come here.”

Gi-Gyu grinned. Sung-Hoon’s men were searching for a way to dispose of the corpses, so he helped them out. “No need for that! Just put everything in here. And you can go inside too.”

Gi-Gyu pointed at Brunheart’s gate. All the corpses and the surviving players were placed inside. Afterward, Sung-Hoon’s men entered the gate per Sung-Hoon’s order. This was such a convenient way to travel.

Sung-Hoon and his men were amazed and impressed. He already knew about Gi-Gyu’s gate, but it seemed he didn’t expect things to be this simple.

“It would have taken a lot of preparation just to get access to the portal for a situation like this. I’m so relieved. But, I guess I shouldn’t have come here at all,” Sung-Hoon muttered bitterly.

Gi-Gyu replied, “That’s not true. I really appreciate you being here right now, Sung-Hoon.”

“Really?”

Gi-Gyu’s eyes remained calm as he continued, “I needed an explanation. You giving me the details is way more efficient than me torturing someone who might know nothing.”

When Sung-Hoon nodded, Gi-Gyu offered, “Shall we go inside too? If we’re going to leave the Tower, this would be the easiest way.”

“Of course.” Sung-Hoon nodded again. He was about to enter the gate when Gi-Gyu whispered, “By the way, Sung-Hoon…”

“Yes, Ranker Kim Gi-Gyu?”

“Can we… trust your men?” asked Gi-Gyu.

“Pardon?”

Gi-Gyu was referring to the agents Sung-Hoon had brought here. Gi-Gyu pointed at the gate and explained, “If those men can’t be trusted, please tell me now. My gate creatures can take care of them easily.”

The calm and nonchalant offer from Gi-Gyu made Sung-Hoon jerk.

“That’s not necessary, Ranker Kim Gi-Gyu. Do you remember the group named Grigory?”

“You mean the secret army President Oh Tae-Gu and Tae-Shik hyung formed?”

“Yes, that’s right. These men are from Grigory. We have no access to the KPA agents, but these players… We can trust them completely.” It was clear Sung-Hoon had absolute trust in them.

Gi-Gyu nodded in understanding. If Sung-Hoon felt this strongly, it had to be true.

“All right.” Gi-Gyu walked into the gate first.

Sung-Hoon watched the gate quietly. He found it a little hard to take a step forward. There was no doubt that he felt glad to see Gi-Gyu after three months. He had been waiting here for Gi-Gyu all this time.

But…

‘Something feels different about him,’ Sung-Hoon thought. There had been times when Gi-Gyu had changed suddenly like this, but Sung-Hoon had always attributed those changes to his physical and emotional growth.

But now, he couldn’t help feeling uncertain.

‘Something doesn’t feel right…’ Sung-Hoon tried to shake off his anxiety and walked inside the gate.

Fwoosh!

The glowing blue gate entrance vanished, leaving behind a ruined building reeking of blood.

***

“Did the Korean Players Association really collapse?” Gi-Gyu couldn’t believe it. He had pretended to believe the claim to fool the bedwetter, but Gi-Gyu didn’t actually believe the KPA was destroyed.

“It did…” Sung-Hoon confirmed.

Gi-Gyu had no choice but to believe it now.

“Haa…” Gi-Gyu couldn’t help but sigh deeply. What had happened in the last three months while he was away? Gi-Gyu had so many questions. The first was about the people close to him.

“What about my family? Tae-Shik hyung? And the Cain Guild? What about all the other people?” Suddenly feeling even more anxious, Gi-Gyu asked, “Have I really been in there for three months? Or has it actually been three years?”

“Please slow down. I’ll answer everything, Ranker Kim Gi-Gyu.” Sung-Hoon smiled bitterly, knowing Gi-Gyu must be panicked. Before Gi-Gyu could bombard him with even more questions, Sung-Hoon offered, “Foremost, your family is safe. I guess General Manager Oh Tae-Shik too…”

Something had probably happened to Tae-Shik hyung. Gi-Gyu was about to ask another question when Sung-Hoon quickly added, “Lucifer is back in Korea.”

“Soo-Jung’s back?”

“Yes, that’s right. Soo-Jung, code name Lucifer, anticipated everything and returned to Korea. She prepared a safe passage for your family too, Ranker Kim Gi-Gyu.”

“What about Tae-Shik hyung?”

Deep worry appeared on Sung-Hoon’s face as he murmured, “General Manager Oh Tae-Shik…”

Gi-Gyu felt his heart fall as Sung-Hoon continued, “Suffered a near-fatal injury. Before that, let me give you a bit of background. You will need it to understand the situation better.”

Coincidentally, a knock was heard when Sung-Hoon had just finished his sentence.

“It’s me. Can I come in?” It was Old Man Hwang.

Gi-Gyu looked at Sung-Hoon, silently asking if it was okay for Old Man Hwang to listen to Sung-Hoon’s story. He trusted Old Man Hwang, but he wasn’t sure if Sung-Hoon did as well. Of course, he would tell everything he heard to Old Man Hwang later anyway, so having the elderly blacksmith present would be more convenient.

Sung-Hoon nodded and answered, “Of course.”

Creak.

“Thank you,” Old Man Hwang replied and entered the room. They were inside the Tower being built inside Brunheart’s gate. The Tower connected the sky islands to the ground and Gi-Gyu’s private room was in the middle.

“Long time no see, Sir.” Sung-Hoon bowed deeply and added, “Min-Su also accompanied Ranker Kim Gi-Gyu’s family to safety.”

Old Man Hwang felt appreciative that Sung-Hoon had told him this even before he asked. The elderly man nodded and replied, “Thank you.”

Seeing Old Man Hwang looking relieved made Gi-Gyu feel better.

The blacksmith explained, “I’ve provided the others with food and a place to rest. They are resting comfortably for now.”

Old Man Hwang then turned to Gi-Gyu and continued, “Your creatures are very worried about you. After you sort things out, you should go talk to them.”

Gi-Gyu nodded in understanding and turned to Sung-Hoon to continue. Now that he knew his family was safe, Gi-Gyu felt much more relaxed. They were inside his gate, so they were in the safest space possible.

‘If my gate were open outside… Or if I had Old Man Hwang stay at home rather than inside the gate…’ Gi-Gyu couldn’t help wondering what would have happened had his gate’s access not been restricted by the test. Could his family have evacuated into it?

In fact, should he have moved his family into the gate to begin with? Gi-Gyu had so many regrets, but it was too late to dwell on them.

‘I won’t make the same mistakes again next time,’ Gi-Gyu promised himself.

Gi-Gyu looked distracted, so Sung-Hoon announced, “Then I will continue.”

Sung-Hoon said, “Where should I begin… Well, I’ll start around the time you entered the Tower to take the test. At the time, the unratable gate problem was still unresolved. Do you remember?”

“Yes. I know three months have passed for you, but it’s a much shorter span for me. So I remember everything. You don’t need to slow down for my sake.” Gi-Gyu’s words seemed to put Sung-Hoon at ease.

Sung-Hoon continued, “Anyway, to everyone’s surprise, those exceptional gates…”

Sung-Hoon looked straight into Gi-Gyu’s eyes as he explained, “Closed automatically not too long after you went inside the Tower to take the test. It was as if… things were planned this way.”

When Gi-Gyu remained silent, Sung-Hoon emphasized, “As I said, it was as if this was the plan all along.”

Gi-Gyu could tell there was a much bigger scheme than he had initially anticipated. Sung-Hoon continued, “General Manager Oh Tae-Shik told me you had already warned him about Andras’ plan.”

Sung-Hoon’s eyes wavered in fear and fury as he whispered, “I’m talking about how the demons wanted to steal the players’ bodies.”

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