The Player Who Can't Level Up

“A piece of bone?”

The diamond box had nothing inside except for a piece of bone. It was such a curious reward that Gi-Gyu couldn’t help but stare at it for a moment. He understood that the likelihood of him getting another elixir bottle was slim, but he expected something more valuable than this random piece of bone. 

However, Lou seemed to recognize it since Gi-Gyu could feel him reacting strongly to it. “Lou? Do you know what this is?”

-It’s part of my physical body. 

“Part of your body?”

-Yes. I can’t believe they are toying with my body like this.

The black sword, Lou, trembled in a fury. Gi-Gyu’s fingers shook along with it, so he had to wait a while for Lou to calm down. 

-Just take it and keep it safe for now. It will provide an opportunity for us later.

“All right,” Gi-Gyu didn’t know a single thing about the piece of bone, but he still put the box in his bag without hesitation. After all, it came from the diamond box; even without Lou’s suggestion, he could tell it was valuable. 

On top of that, it was part of Lou’s old physical body. Knowing what Lou used to be, an undeniably powerful being, there had to be something to this piece of bone. After processing these thoughts, he announced, “It’s time to leave the Tower.”

Gi-Gyu didn’t plan to climb any higher today, so he promptly left the Tower. His current goal was to go over the things he had gained and re-equip himself. 

***

After resting and spending some time with his family, Gi-Gyu returned to the association: He wanted to meet Tae-Shik. 

“Hyung, I have a favor to ask.” Working on his desk, Tae-Shik looked up at Gi-Gyu in confusion. Gi-Gyu had asked for favors before, but only a handful of times and never this candidly. 

Tae-Shik gulped and stammered, “W-what do you need?” He couldn’t imagine a favor that warranted such directness and determination. With a smile, Gi-Gyu asked, “I want to have a sparring match with you.”

“A spar?”

Gi-Gyu sat down on the sofa and explained, “I obtained many things from the 30th-floor test. But unfortunately, I have no one to test them out on.”

“Why don’t you try out your new skills inside the Tower or the gates?” Tae-Shik asked with mock annoyance. A spar wasn’t a big deal, so in a way, Tae-Shik felt relieved. However, he still felt strange that Gi-Gyu asked him to do this. 

Gi-Gyu replied, “The monsters inside aren’t strong enough for me to test out my new skills. I suppose I can find a high-grade gate and try them out there, but I could get some unwanted attention if I do that.”

Gi-Gyu smiled brightly before adding, “So you’re the only one who can help me, Hyung!”

“Gosh…” Tae-Shik massaged his forehead in annoyance. 

“Well, I did think about asking the association president instead, but…” When Gi-Gyu murmured, Tae-Shik shook his head emphatically and protested, “No! Don’t do that! I’ll spar with you! I haven’t had the chance to test myself either lately, so this will be a good opportunity!”

Tae-Shik quickly rose from his seat as if he was ready to fight Gi-Gyu right in his office. With a shrug, Gi-Gyu replied, “All right… But what’s up with that reaction? So fishy… Worried I might owe the president a debt? Or are you worried the president will crush me with his strength?” 

Tae-Shik opened the door and walked out as he answered, “Both.”

Gi-Gyu gave him a playful smile as he followed him out.

***

Currently, they were in the association basement, where Gi-Gyu asked Tae-Shik for permission to enter a gate before. Tae-Shik insisted on testing Gi-Gyu’s strength out at the time to see if Gi-Gyu was fit to enter the gate. 

And now, they were back here. 

“It has been a long time since we were down here.” Actually, not much time had passed, but Gi-Gyu still felt very different from the last time he was here. 

“Only association employees can enter this place, so don’t worry about privacy,” Tae-Shik said nonchalantly. Turning toward Gi-Gyu, he ordered, “Just unlock your magic capacity, so I can have a look.”

Usually, a player’s magical power represented their strength, unlike the gaming concept. In this world, a player’s attributes and skills were stored inside their body as magical power. Once their magic power exceeded a certain level, they could hide or unlock their capacity. For example, a player with seemingly insignificant power could suddenly overwhelm their opponent by revealing their true strength. Or a powerful player could hide his power to conceal his presence from others. 

However, that wouldn’t work on Gi-Gyu since the elixir had heightened his senses. Consequently, he could gauge a player’s magic capacity accurately even if they hid it well.

Tae-Shik explained, “My senses aren’t as accurate as yours. I could feel how strong you were in the past because you weren’t as powerful; now, I can’t even make a guess.” 

Gi-Gyu had been hiding his full power for a while now. Moreover, since his assimilation level had increased after passing the 30th-floor test, his ability to sense other players’ magic capacity also increased. In Gi-Gyu’s current condition, he could easily hide his power even from high rankers. 

Gi-Gyu replied, “All right.” As Tae-Shik requested, Gi-Gyu slowly revealed his full power. Only players could see magic, and when Tae-Shik saw the blue storm revolving around Gi-Gyu, he gasped, “W-what the?!”

The amount of power Gi-Gyu unlocked was enough to seal a low-level item or suffocate a weak player. His incredible magic made Tae-Shik exclaim in shock, “Hey! Hey! Stop that already! What the heck is that?!”

Shaking his head in disbelief, Tae-Shik murmured, “With this much magic…” He was in such awe that he couldn’t even finish his sentence. Gi-Gyu frowned and argued, “I know it looks like a lot, but it’s just my capacity. I don’t have any decent skills, and it’s not like I can use my magic in full anyway.”

Magical capacity was a player's full power, which included everything from their attributes to skills. What Tae-Shik saw wasn’t just Gi-Gyu’s strength—it also had his Egos’ abilities. So although the power storm around Gi-Gyu looked alarmingly enormous, he didn’t have access to all of it just yet. The assimilation grade had increased, which helped, but it still wasn’t 100%. That was why Gi-Gyu looked so frustrated. 

“Hey, if you could use all of that power, you would’ve been a high ranker already. Haa…” Tae-Shik sighed deeply before continuing, “Most players can’t achieve half of what you have even if they work their entire lives for it. Yet, you achieved all this in less than a year.” 

Tae-Shik stopped talking and walked away. 

“Where are you going, Hyung?” When Gi-Gyu asked Tae-Shik, who was leaving the training hall, Tae-Shik replied, “Practice weapons won’t be enough for our battle. I will go get my real weapon, so just wait here.”

“...” Gi-Gyu couldn’t help smiling at Tae-Shik’s announcement. Tae-Shik’s weapon was just as famous as Tae-Shik himself when he was an active high ranker. Since Tae-Shik now felt the need to use it, he acknowledged Gi-Gyu as a powerful player. 

Feeling proud of himself, Gi-Gyu smiled in satisfaction. 

***

Tae-Shik held a long, dark-colored spear; it was an ordinary-looking weapon with no decorations. However, Gi-Gyu knew how powerful it was since it was related to Tae-Shik’s code name. 

“Behemoth.” When Gi-Gyu murmured, Tae-Shik flailed his hands in frustration and objected, “Hey, please don’t call me by my old code name. It’s embarrassing.”

“What do you mean ‘old’ code name? You know very well that a player’s code name can never change: It's yours forever once you get one. You’ll have to use it once you return to being an active high ranker,” Gi-Gyu stated. No player could just up and change their code name without a valid reason; not liking it wasn’t a valid reason. 

Tae-Shik scratched his cheek in embarrassment and murmured, “I know that, but…” With another sigh, he added, “Fine, whatever. It’s just mortifying to be called by that name, that’s all.”

“All right,” Gi-Gyu answered and twirled his hands. Lou and El silently took their place, Oberon changed into a pair of dark-colored gauntlets, and Gi-Gyu’s chest shone brightly before a gray armor materialized on his body. He was now fully armed and ready for the fight.

Gi-Gyu examined Tae-Shik and thought, ‘Wow, just how strong is Hyung? It looks like he’s still an active high ranker.’

-This Oh Tae-Shik fella sure is strong.

-Master, this may be a practice fight, but please be careful anyway.

-Master! I’m sure you can win! I just know it!

Tae-Shik’s robust aura made Gi-Gyu hesitate, but he realized he wasn’t alone when his Egos encouraged him. He was grateful for the kind words, but that didn’t mean he was now magically strong enough to defeat Tae-Shik. ‘How is he a retired ranker with that crazy amount of power? ’

Gi-Gyu only saw Tae-Shik as a middle-aged man in the past; now, he knew better. Tae-Shik did give up his official position as a high ranker and a ranker; obviously, he didn’t stop hunting and training to keep himself sharp.

“You can only see what you know.” When Gi-Gyu whispered, Tae-Shik scratched his ear and asked, “What nonsense are you talking about now?” 

Tae-Shik positioned himself as he gripped his spear firmly. His weapon, nicknamed the Behemoth’s thorn, was one of the few legendary weapons in the world. 

Gi-Gyu shook his head and replied, “It’s nothing. I just remembered something someone said to me before.” He looked at Tae-Shik, who now stood with a serious face, and his eyes darkened with an ambition to win. Noticing the greed of power in Gi-Gyu’s eyes, Tae-Shik smiled proudly and murmured, “I like this.”

With a nod, Tae-Shik announced, “I’ll make the first move.” The Behemoth and his thorn flew toward Gi-Gyu faster than a bullet. 

***

Sung-Hoon exclaimed in shock, “What the heck happened here?!”

“Oh… there you are,” Tae-Shik replied in a tired voice.

“I’m glad you’re here, Sung-Hoon,” Gi-Gyu also murmured weakly. Both Tae-Shik and Gi-Gyu were on the floor, so exhausted and severely wounded that they couldn’t even move a finger. 

Sung-Hoon muttered, “I’m here, but…” He looked around the training hall in disbelief and continued, “Who the hell fought here? Did an S-level monster suddenly appear or something?”

“Stop talking nonsense and just pour some healing potions on us already,” Tae-Shik ordered in irritation. Grumbling but still obedient, Sung-Hoon did as Tae-Shik commanded. 

“G-get me some too, Sung-Hoon.” When Gi-Gyu whispered, Sung-Hoon sighed, “Haa…” 

Once Sung-Hoon poured healing potions on the duo, they were back to normal in just a few minutes. Shaking his head, Tae-Shik murmured, “Uwahh… I thought I was gonna die.”

After their battle, Tae-Shik used his last bit of strength to call Sung-Hoon. Had he fought Gi-Gyu a minute longer, Tae-Shik knew he would’ve felt too weak to even reach for his phone. Tae-Shik and Gi-Gyu would’ve had to wait here long before people began to look for them. 

Gi-Gyu pouted and replied, “You’re lying. I know you didn’t use your full force, Hyung.” Gi-Gyu was much stronger now, but he still couldn’t force Tae-Shik into going all out; he couldn’t help grumbling in disappointment.

“Wow… Sung-Hoon, I really didn’t want to swear. I really tried to keep things clean, but—” Sung-Hoon interrupted Tae-Shik and asked, “But what?”

“This bastard became strong enough to almost force me to use my full strength. It took him less than a year to get this far, yet he’s complaining?! What a jerk!” 

“Haa…” Sung-Hoon only sighed, not knowing what to say. He still couldn’t believe this strange situation. 

Despite what Tae-Shik said, Gi-Gyu still had a long way to go. Tae-Shik’s specialty was his subversive and deadly skills; he couldn’t use them against Gi-Gyu right now. So Tae-Shik’s exhaustion was partly from his effort to control his strength not to hurt Gi-Gyu too badly. 

But this didn’t mean Gi-Gyu was weak by any means. 

‘I almost ended up using it.’ Tae-Shik shook his head in shock. During their spar, he almost went all out; this fact shocked him to his core. 

Still feeling the pain, Tae-Shik looked down at his wounds. Despite pouring several bottles of healing potions on himself, his injuries weren’t healing as well as they usually did. Tae-Shik asked, “Do you have some skills from the curse category or something?”

“Something. It’s called Wound Aggregation,” answered Gi-Gyu.

“Huh. Never heard of it before.” When Tae-Shik seemed impressed, Gi-Gyu shrugged and muttered, “It’s nothing really. Just some minor skill, that’s all.”

It again reminded Gi-Gyu of just how few skills he had. And the once he had belonged to the buff, debuff, and defense categories. He laid down on the training hall floor and looked around. Just as Sung-Hoon mentioned, they did a number on the place. 

Rattle…

The cement dust from the ceiling was still falling all around. Sung-Hoon announced, “Fixing this will cost a fortune. If not for the barrier around this place, everyone in the building would’ve thought we were being attacked.”

Tae-Shik and Gi-Gyu rested quietly until their eyes met. Tae-Shik asked, “By the way, what was that thing you used at the end?”

“It’s something I obtained recently, but I don’t think I can use it effectively at this point.” When Gi-Gyu replied, Tae-Shik yelled, “Hey! Are you serious? Can’t you see what it did to my spear?”

Both Sung-Hoon and Gi-Gyu looked at Tae-Shik’s spear and saw a tiny scratch on it. Tae-Shik growled, “This is a legendary weapon, you jerk! It’s supposed to have limitless durability, so I can’t believe you did this to me!”

Toward the end of their battle, Gi-Gyu’s sword began effusing a violet smoke. Had Tae-Shik not dodged it, thanks to his superior instinct, Behemoth’s thorn could’ve been damaged severely. 

"But the repercussions of this skill are too big. I thought I was dying while using it,” Gi-Gyu grumbled in frustration. He used Death for the first time using his own power, and it drained him. He could tell it was a mighty move, but it left every part of him throbbing in pain. Even with the healing potions and the Strong Will skill, his wounds were healing way too slowly. 

“Gosh, you’re such a beast.” Tae-Shik shook his head again as he looked at Gi-Gyu. He stood up and announced, “I think it’s time to get ready now.” 

“Ready for what?” Gi-Gyu rose as well and asked, but Tae-Shik only smiled.