The Player Who Can't Level Up

Gi-Gyu realized that he must have been pretty agitated too. Had the players’ emotions affected him somehow? All in all, he had used more energy than he had anticipated.

The players had excellent skills; they were still no match for Gi-Gyu.

Honestly, they weren’t even close.

Tao Chen, looking pale, stated in disappointment, “You didn’t even use your sword.”

Twenty players, eight of them high-rankers, had attacked Gi-Gyu. Still, he hadn’t unsheathed his sword. They had attacked him simultaneously, but he defeated them all with nothing but his bare hands.

In fact, he had barely even used his hands.

Tao Chen trailed off, “You’re incredible…”

Tao Chen could only stand because he was using the Green Dragon Crescent Blade for support. But soon, he fainted.

Gi-Gyu looked around the now-silent field. Tao Chen was the last to faint; all the others had long since collapsed.

“Haa…” Gi-Gyu sighed, thinking he had done something unnecessary. However, the look on the unconscious players’ faces showed him that perhaps this wasn’t a bad idea. The players looked relieved and amazed.

“Is there anyone who can help?!” Gi-Gyu asked. He couldn’t leave these players on the ground like this, so he called for help. Unfortunately, there was no one around.

It made sense because all the unrelated individuals had distanced themselves when the fight began. If they had stayed, they could have gotten hurt.

Gi-Gyu was about to leave to find someone for help when suddenly, he felt his heartbeat.

Thump.

“...?”

His heart beating shouldn’t have been strange, but…

Thump, thump, thump.

After beating three more times, his heart began pounding wildly.

Thump, thump, thump, thump, thump, thump, thump!

His heartbeats were so loud he could hear them. Gradually, he lost consciousness.

“W… what the…?”

Plop.

Gi-Gyu knelt on one knee but didn’t fall completely. He also didn’t lose consciousness completely. His heart beat fast, but he bit his lips to keep himself awake. Blood oozed from his lips; a confused look appeared on Gi-Gyu’s face.

***

“So… Your heartbeats became fast and loud after you used your power? You couldn’t move your body because this pounding created a large burst of magic, and you thought you might”—Soo-Jung turned rigid—“lose control? Is that what you’re saying?”

“That’s right,” Gi-Gyu replied.

Gi-Gyu was still in China, while Soo-Jung was in Eden. But they could talk as if they were in the same space thanks to the ability Brunheart had gained after fusing with the Sephiroth Tree.

There was a mirror-sized blue gate between Gi-Gyu and Soo-Jung. They could look and talk to each other through this. Cell phones were an option, but they could converse face-to-face like this.

Soo-Jung seemed tense.

Gi-Gyu asked, “Do you know why that happened?”

Gi-Gyu felt impatient. Soo-Jung alone wasn’t chatting with him through the gate. He could see Lou, El, and even Old Man Hwang gazing at him.

A short silence fell as the figures on the other side contemplated. It appeared that they were all thinking the same thing.

Lou broke the silence and murmured, “God’s power… What did you do with God’s power?”

After Gi-Gyu had become one with Jupiter, he hadn’t used or even mentioned God’s power. It wasn’t an easy-to-control power, but it held unimaginable might. As a newly gained ability, he had to train to use it properly.

But so far, Gi-Gyu hadn’t done anything to perfect it.

Gi-Gyu looked hesitant. After some time, he replied, “It’s gone.”

“...?”

“...!”

The figures on the other side couldn’t hide their shock and confusion.

Gi-Gyu explained, “It’s not exactly gone. I can’t feel it, so I am sure it’s not actually gone.”

“Why didn’t you tell us before?” Soo-Jung asked while glaring at him.

“Because I wasn’t sure. I thought it was just a matter of time before it returned. And I didn’t think this was a priority considering everything else that’s going on. I really didn’t think it was that important”

“This is crazy,” Lou muttered. “I can guess the reason, but give me some time. I need to think about this for a moment.”

Lou looked serious when he resumed, “If my assumption is correct, this won’t cause any problem right away, but… It might be problematic later. For now, don’t use too much of your power. Be careful.”

“Don’t use my power?” Gi-Gyu asked incredulously. He came here for the fight of his life, so how could Lou tell him not to use his power?

If Gi-Gyu couldn’t even use his full power, everything would be for naught.

Lou smirked and said, “Because you need it for an emergency, right? As I said, it won’t cause immediate trouble, but you need to be prepared just in case. So stop showing off as you did earlier and just stay still, you moron.”

Gi-Gyu glared and said, “You wanna fight me again?”

“Ahem!” Old Man Hwang coughed loudly, trying to shift the conversation. “Is everything going well over there?”

“Yes, Sir. It’s good here. How about there?”

“It’s all good here too. I’m sure Rohan and Heo Sung-Hoon will return soon with positive news. They told me the negotiation was going very well. No surprises, which is a relief.”

“All right. I’ll call you again later.” Gi-Gyu closed the gate.

Gi-Gyu had come to China alone. Ha Song-Su could appear anywhere. The best scenario was for him to appear where Gi-Gyu was, but if he were found in Korea, Gi-Gyu had to ensure he could get there quickly.

Gi-Gyu closed his eyes and focused on his heart, where his shell was located.

‘Jupiter.’ He called out, but there was no answer.

***

“Are you okay?” Sun Won asked.

Gi-Gyu tensed up.

Sun Won waved his hand hurriedly and added, “Of course you’re okay! I’m sorry I asked such a silly question.”

Gi-Gyu relaxed, realizing that his condition wasn’t caught. He replied, “No worries.”

What happened to him had occurred while everyone had been unconscious. It had a temporary effect, so Gi-Gyu believed no one knew. He had spent much effort to make sure it stayed this way.

‘If they find this out, they will worry.’ Gi-Gyu knew he shouldn’t show any weakness at this point. But this mysterious phenomenon brought him much anxiety, especially because he was about to go to war.

Lou had said everything would be okay, and Gi-Gyu believed him. He also had his guess as to why this had happened. If he was right, Gi-Gyu knew he would be okay for now.

“By the way”—Gi-Gyu looked at Sun Won—“your Korean is excellent.” He was surprised.

Gi-Gyu was currently alone without an interpreter, so it was just him and Sun Won.

Gi-Gyu asked, “Are you using an item?”

Gi-Gyu had heard that there were items that could interpret different languages. It was an expensive item, but these players could certainly afford it.

However, Gi-Gyu couldn’t feel the magic an item usually exuded.

“No. I can speak Korean. I studied it before,” Sun Won answered. “I speak a total of 13 languages, including English, French, Japanese, and Spanish.”

“...?”

“It just proves that Chinese is the superior language,” Sun Won added.

“So you learned 13 languages?”

“It wasn’t that hard.”

“...”

“What’s wrong?” asked Sun Won.

Impressed, Gi-Gyu stared in awe.

Sun Won explained, “But I have changed my mind a little. Tao Chen always tells me that Sinocentrism will be my downfall. And now, I guess I have met the best of the best.”

Gi-Gyu was surprised at how quickly Sun Won had changed his mind. But either way, he was amazed by his effort.

To learn 13 languages just to prove a point…

Or maybe it should not be surprising that Sun Won could do this so easily? It was a known fact that most players had above-average intelligence. A player's power and strength were seemingly directly related.

‘Gaia…’ Gi-Gyu had been told that he was created the way he was on purpose. It was to ensure he didn’t go insane. His mind was simpler than most.

‘So that’s why I could survive all those hard times?’ Gi-Gyu reminisced about his dark past. He had thought he had survived it because of his stubbornness. But some might have called it his stupidity.

“Haa…” Gi-Gyu sighed.

Sun Won asked, “Is there a problem?”

“No. What brings you here?”

Gi-Gyu had already been informed that all the players had regained consciousness. So he was surprised that Sun Won, not Tao Chen, visited him first.

After the sparring match, the attitude of all the players changed. But Gi-Gyu didn’t expect their change to be so quick and passionate.

Sun Won answered, “I have a message for you. They would like you to attend the meeting.”

“You could have just called me…”

“I’m here to give you a proper tour of the Shaolin Temple. Tao Chen told me he didn’t get to finish showing you around.”

This was true. Gi-Gyu had only seen the Shaolin Temple’s main parts. A tour of the place was never his priority, but he was interested.

Sun Won continued, “I think we could look around the temple a little more before attending the meeting.”

“Ah.” This wasn’t a bad idea because Gi-Gyu was also interested in the Shaolin Temple.

“I would like that. Thank you.” Gi-Gyu gave Sun Won a respectful fist-in-palm salute.

Sun Won brightened. “As the head of the Shaolin Temple, I, Sun Won, promise to show you everything in our temple.”

Gi-Gyu was putting on his shoes when he looked up in surprise. “Pardon?”

Sun Won looked just as confused. “Is there a problem…?”

“You’re the head monk?”

“Yes,” Sun Won replied proudly. “I’m the head monk of the Shaolin Temple.”

Gi-Gyu had no idea Sun Won was bald because he was a monk.

***

“The Shaolin Temple is one of the places that experienced the most changes after the Tower appeared. Many here have trained in isolation, but the Tower finally gave us the chance to use our skills in real life.” Sun Won showed Gi-Gyu around the temple.

The tour Sun Won gave was very different from Tao Chen’s. Tao Chen had only provided a summary of the temple’s outer area, while Sun Won offered a more thorough look into the place.

‘I guess he’s really the head monk.’ Gi-Gyu could easily believe Sun Won was the master of this place. He couldn’t count how many times the passing monks had bowed deeply to Sun Won.

Until now, Gi-Gyu had only seen these training monks from afar. Now seeing them up close, he could tell how powerful they were. The Shaolin Temple housed many players, but many non-players also practiced martial arts there.

Gi-Gyu was surprised to find that even the non-players gave off powerful mental and physical energy. There was something very strong about them.

Sun Won announced, “There is something I really want to show you.”

When Gi-Gyu followed him, he was brought to a room.

[The Head Monk’s Room]

It was Sun Won’s private room.

Gi-Gyu looked at Sun Won in confusion.

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