The Player Who Can't Level Up

The anticipation in Go Hyung-Chul’s eyes turned into confusion, disappointment, then fury.

“Why not?” Go Hyung-Chul glared at Gi-Gyu.

“...”

“Why not?! Why won’t you sync with me?!” Go Hyung-Chul screamed when Gi-Gyu didn’t answer. He no longer knelt on the ground. He yelled, “Tell me… Tell me the reason!”

Go Hyung-Chul demanded an answer, but Gi-Gyu remained silent. Finally, Go Hyung-Chul wielded his daggers again; this time, his energy was filled with determination and fury. The new elements seemed to have brought his magic to new heights.

“If you won’t tell me…” Go Hyung-Chul turned into fog again and headed toward Gi-Gyu, who remained still.

In the blink of an eye, he materialized next to Gi-Gyu. His dagger was pressed firmly against Gi-Gyu’s neck, but he didn’t cut through Gi-Gyu’s skin.

Gi-Gyu finally opened his lips and said, “Do you know what sync is?”

Go Hyung-Chul didn’t move his dagger one bit.

Gi-Gyu coldly said, “It isn’t a simple ritual for obtaining power.”

“I know that.”

“No, you don’t. If I sync with you, your power will increase, sure. However, you will be forced to lead a completely different life. A life nothing like the other players.”

Gi-Gyu’s synced Egos followed the system but slightly differently. They could level up and learn new skills like the other players, but there was one big difference.

“You will belong to me completely, and you will never be able to leave my influence,” explained Gi-Gyu. It also meant that Gi-Gyu’s condition would directly affect his Egos. An example was what had happened recently. Gi-Gyu had fallen into a trap, which had weakened the entire Eden. More importantly…

“Your condition will change depending on the level of my sorcerous energy, Death, and Life. And I’m not talking about just your physical condition. Your mental condition will be affected as well.”

Go Hyung-Chul retrieved his dagger and stood quietly. His face was trembling.

Gi-Gyu continued, “Everything about you will change once you belong to me.”

Gi-Gyu’s voice was so cold now that it was icy.

“And…” Gi-Gyu’s voice shook slightly as he continued, “You will develop an unconditional loyalty toward me. Are you okay with that? Do you still want to sync with me?”

Go Hyung-Chul didn’t answer. He had already heard about the sync process and thought he was ready for it.

‘Am I not ready?’ Go Hyung-Chul despaired again.

It can be hard to make great work when its stolen from bit.ly/3iBfjkV.

“If you sync with me, you”—Gi-Gyu walked by Go Hyung-Chul—“might not be able to exist as yourself. With a single order, I could make you give up on your revenge. We will talk again if you are ready to accept all this.”

Gi-Gyu wasn’t moving fast, but he disappeared quickly. Even though he was gone, Go Hyung-Chul stayed on the spot for a long time.

***

Drakes were high-level monsters that only appeared in S-Class gates. Such a powerful monster was running amok as its giant body shook the entire place.

“Kwerrrrk!” Its scream pierced the players’ ears. The rankers were strong, but they weren’t strong enough to dodge the magic-filled shout of this monster.

“R-run!” someone yelled, but it was too late.

“Kwerrrrk!” The drake opened its mouth and drenched the players with its drool. The S-Class gate was too much for even the rankers.

“No!”

“Cheol-Min!”

The fleeing players screamed. There was a young player among the players who had failed to escape the drake. He was the youngest and the weakest of the group. The players had tried their best to stop him from joining them, but here he was, standing right in front of the drake’s mouth.

“Ahhhhh…!” The young player named Cheol-Min was a swordsman. He raised his weapon and aimed it toward the drake; his hands shook badly. Despite being a ranker, he lacked experience; consequently, he failed to shake off his fear and froze.

Cheol-Min was about to face certain death.

Boom!

“...!” The player named Cheol-Min remained frozen on his spot with his sword raised. The drake, which had meant certain death for him…

“Cheol-Min! Are you okay?” The other players had come running to help Cheol-Min.

“What about the drake…?” Cheol-Min asked, confused.

“Kwerrrk!” the drake roared once more. Before, its roars sounded like a predator’s roars; now, the roar sounded different.

Cheol-Min and the other players turned to look.

Kaboom! Kaboom!

The dust from the explosion slowly settled down, and they saw a man punching the drake.

“What the hell…?” one of the players whispered.

Every time the man punched the drake, the beast cried pitifully.

***

“Thank you for saving us.”

“We don’t know how to show our appreciation.”

The players couldn’t thank the man enough. He had helped them close the hellish S-Class gate. So, before being transferred to the reward room, the players bowed to the man deeply.

“I’m glad I could save your group,” Heo Sung-Hoon replied. “I’m from a group named Eden. We are still very new, but we plan to follow the KPA’s footsteps to ensure the players’ safety and honor.”

“Ah…!” the players exclaimed when Sung-Hoon handed them his business cards.

Eden was essentially the new Korean Players Association. Unfortunately, most players had lost their trust in the KPA, so they refused to join Eden. The government and the media helped improve Eden’s reputation, but the best way to change the players’ minds was to work with them for their betterment.

“I will work hard and do my best, so please join us!” Sung-Hoon continued.

“Our guild will join for sure!”

“Ours too!”

The guild masters of the two guilds promised.

Unlike when the KPA existed, guilds now had to work together to close S-Class gates.

“By the way, who is that gentleman?” Cheol-Min pointed at a player standing far away. Sung-Hoon had helped them close the gate, but he didn’t play a big part. The other player, however, had helped them close the gate in just three hours. He was the one who had exterminated the drake.

Sung-Hoon asked, “Have you heard of Morningstar?”

That mysteriously powerful player was Gi-Gyu. He was standing far away and talking to something.

“M-Morningstar?! You mean the one who once was a wanted man?” one player asked.

“Yes, but that was just a misunderstanding,” Sung-Hoon explained.

“Player… Kim Gi-Gyu, right?”

“Yes, you could say that he is the backbone of our group, Eden.”

“He looks different from the wanted posters,” another player mumbled.

“He’s a real beast, isn’t he?” Cheol-Min exclaimed in awe.

“Just what level is he?” one of the guild masters asked.

The players seemed fearful as they asked various questions, but Sung-Hoon only silently smiled.

“We need to investigate the gate, so would you like to go to the reward chamber and collect your rewards?” Sung-Hoon suggested, and the players nodded. They touched the gate’s boss monster, the blue drake, and were transferred to the reward chamber.

Sung-Hoon sighed deeply and walked toward Gi-Gyu. He asked, “Are you done?”

“Ah, yes,” Gi-Gyu replied.

Gi-Gyu was talking to the mid-boss, a drake. Sung-Hoon scratched his cheek awkwardly as the monster rubbed itself against Gi-Gyu’s cheek. The monster was drooling heavily and gave the impression that it was about to swallow Gi-Gyu whole. However, the expression on the drake’s face resembled that of an innocent puppy.

“Brun,” Gi-Gyu murmured, and a blue gate appeared in front of him.

Gi-Gyu pointed at the gate and ordered, “Go inside.”

The drake nodded emphatically before walking into the gate, which closed behind it.

Sung-Hoon thanked Gi-Gyu, “Thank you so much for helping me today.”

Sung-Hoon had been trying to publicize Eden as the new association, but as mentioned earlier, the players acted cynical. It was all due to the KPA’s collapse, and the poor job Caravan Guild had done in its place. Moreover, the players now knew demons were stealing their bodies; it increased their wariness. So, the guilds worked together to close the gates instead of joining the new association.

Sung-Hoon didn’t think what the guilds were doing was a bad idea. However, there would come a time when the guilds would all have conflicts with one another. He believed the best thing was to have the players unite under an organization, so he worked overtime to make the guilds join Eden.

And the most effective way to accomplish this was to save the players in danger. Gi-Gyu was here because Sung-Hoon requested his help.

“There have been too many S-Class gates lately.” Sung-Hoon sounded exhausted. “You saved the day. Not many players have joined Eden yet, so I have been having a rough time. Haa…”

“Call me whenever you need me. This isn’t hard anyway,” Gi-Gyu offered.

Sung-Hoon smiled bitterly. This was an S-Class gate. Because there were so many of them now, they seemed to be getting easier to close.

‘Still, it looks like he’s out for a stroll.’

It looked like Gi-Gyu had closed the S-class gate without breaking a sweat.

Sung-Hoon asked, “Did you sync with the drake?”

“Yes. It actually looked pretty useful. I didn’t use my full strength, but it still managed to endure a couple of my punches.”

Sung-Hoon smiled. Gi-Gyu had helped him a few times already. Whenever he found a decent monster, Gi-Gyu would sync with it and send it to Eden.

“Ah.” Sung-Hoon suddenly remembered something and said, “I heard the news. Player Go Hyung-Chul wanted to sync with you, right?”

Rumors spread fast in Eden. Go Hyung-Chul had begged Gi-Gyu to sync with him, but Gi-Gyu had refused. It was such an unusual event that even Sung-Hoon had heard about it.

“Haa… I’m going to guess it was Lou who spread this rumor. If even you have heard about it, everyone must know by now,” Gi-Gyu said in annoyance.

“Well…” Sung-Hoon scratched his cheek. “Is it true that Player Go Hyung-Chul is still in Eden?”

Even though Gi-Gyu had refused to sync with him, Go Hyung-Chul chose to remain in Eden. He spent the days alone in a quiet place, staring at nothing. No one knew what he was thinking.

“Why didn’t you sync with Player Go Hyung-Chul?” Heo Sung-Hoon asked. “I know it could lead to some problems, but… don’t you think he would be a great help? I’m surprised you’re so concerned about this, Ranker Kim Gi-Gyu. I thought it would be a good deal on your end to sync with him.”

Heo Sung-Hoon seemed genuinely curious. Go Hyung-Chul would indeed make a powerful ally. Having a loyal player would be helpful for Gi-Gyu.

“Could it be…” Sung-Hoon asked hesitantly, “Are you afraid you might lose a friend?”

“Pardon?”

“The way you treat Player Go Hyung-Chul makes it look like you think of him as a friend, Ranker Kim Gi-Gyu. So if you sync with him, he will no longer be your friend but your subordinate. Isn’t that what you’re worried about?” asked Sung-Hoon.

Gi-Gyu was surprised to hear this. He wondered if Sung-Hoon was right. Did he consider Go Hyung-Chul his friend?

‘Do I even have friends?’ 

The only person Gi-Gyu could call “friend” was Yoo Suk-Woo, who wasn’t even here right now.

‘Go Hyung-Chul…,’ Gi-Gyu thought for a moment. Their first meeting wasn’t a pleasant one. The paparazzo had investigated Gi-Gyu in detail, and later on, their relationship became a purely business one. But now…

‘It’s true…’ Gi-Gyu had to admit that he felt comfortable with Go Hyung-Chul. Everyone around him showed overwhelming loyalty and affection. Go Hyung-Chul was one of the few who remained objective. This was exactly why Gi-Gyu liked being around him.

“A friend…” Gi-Gyu mumbled. He couldn’t tell if he considered Go Hyung-Chul his friend.

In the end, Gi-Gyu smiled and replied, “I plan on talking to him about it again.”

He walked toward the blue drake. It was the boss monster, but it wasn’t powerful, so Gi-Gyu didn’t sync with it.

“If he’s really ready for it, then I will sync with him.” Gi-Gyu turned toward Sung-Hoon while reaching out to touch the blue drake. “Because, as you said just now, he would make a great ally.”

Gi-Gyu needed Go Hyung-Chul. He had never met anyone who could gather information better than Go Hyung-Chul. The paparazzo had been a great help to him so far, and he was a crucial part of Gi-Gyu’s plans.

Gi-Gyu touched the blue drake.

[Would you like to move to the reward chamber?]

Gi-Gyu nodded at the system announcement. Go Hyung-Chul alone wasn’t determined to do whatever for his goal. Gi-Gyu felt just as determined to keep Go Hyung-Chul close.

‘Hmm, a friend…’