The Player Who Can't Level Up

“Hahahahahah….”

The creepy laughter of a man reverberated in the area. 

Slash!

An enthralled beholder[1] was cleaved in half when the man swung his sword without ever getting a chance to resist.

Drip… Drip…

The red sword, covered in the beholder’s purple blood, gleamed with a unique shade. A few drops of this blood slowly dripped to the ground, but most turned into a sticky mucus-like substance that the sword absorbed. 

[Lou has absorbed the beholder’s blood.]

[Lou’s immunity against psychic attacks has increased.]

The system announcement rang in the man’s head. 

“Hehehehahahaha!!!!!!!!!!!” the man’s terrific laughter rang again. 

Gi-Gyu’s Egos begged him to stop.

-Just stop already.

-Master…

-Master! Why are you laughing like that?

“Grrr.” Even Bi growled awkwardly, and Gi-Gyu finally stopped laughing. 

He thought happily, ‘It gets so loud in my head due to all my Egos.’ 

Gi-Gyu’s shell was still growing exponentially, so he was bound to have more Egos. He worried his ears would suffer then from all the talking Egos. 

Anyway, he continued laughing, much to his Egos’ dismay. 

Lou said in annoyance,

-I told you to stop!

“But how can I stop?” When Gi-Gyu replied, Lou sighed.

-Gosh.

There was a perfectly good and healthy reason behind Gi-Gyu’s crazed laughter. He announced, “Open.”

When he ordered, Brunheart vibrated, and his gate glowed. Soon, dozens of skeletons marched out in an organized manner and created a formation around the gate. They still looked the same, but gobbling down so many crystals made them strong enough to deal with this floor’s players and monsters easily. 

Gi-Gyu ordered, “I’ll be back soon, so protect this area.”

He then drove a wedge into the ground. A recently purchased expensive barrier item. When the wedge was activated, a barrier that diverted other players’ attention formed within specified perimeters. It was a high-level item and could withstand everything below a literal, full-scale war. 

Rattle.

The skeletons nodded as if they understood Gi-Gyu. He smiled in satisfaction and was about to enter the gate when he turned around to face his soldiers again. 

“Haa…” He couldn’t help but sigh in sadness. He had such powerful soldiers, yet he had to do all the hunting himself. Again, there were reasons, believe me. 

Since skeletons only appeared on a few floors, a guy going around with a skeleton army would definitely attract much unwanted attention. Also, it could remind the other players of what happened in Yeoksam. 

The second reason was Lou. He could only become stronger by physically absorbing monster blood. 

Consequently, Gi-Gyu had to do the hunting himself. 

“I’ll be back,” Gi-Gyu promised the skeletons.

Rattle.

After organizing his thoughts, Gi-Gyu finally entered Bruntheart’s gate. He may have used a barrier item, but leaving his skeletons and gate in the open wasn’t a good idea. So, Gi-Gyu had to return as quickly as possible. 

***

There was also a perfectly good and healthy reason behind Gi-Gyu entering his gate inside the Tower. The reason was right in front of his eyes now. 

“Phew… I’m so glad I can now enter the gate.” Before, Gi-Gyu couldn’t enter Brunheart’s gate; after he strengthened it with an Ego fragment, entry became possible.  

“Grandmaster… welcome…” the durahan greeted. Even his vocalization became more precise thanks to munching down on crystals. 

Hart also greeted, “Grandmaster, the construction is going smoothly.”

“Good.” Gi-Gyu nodded as he tried to look solemn by placing his arm on his waist. 

Rattle.

Rattle.

Gi-Gyu saw a large wagon, filled with stones, being dragged by hundreds of skeletons and one man. All of this was for one purpose: Building a pyramid. 

Gi-Gyu didn’t know much about architecture, but Hart was a lich with vast knowledge. On top of that, Hart used his magic whenever the construction stalled. Consequently, construction continued at a fast pace. 

Originally, Brunheart’s gate lacked stony materials; after he strengthened it with an Ego fragment, the gate began producing much more usable materials. 

“Hehehe…” Gi-Gyu laughed in pleasure again. “Where are the things I gave you?”

“I have stored them in the back safely. They will be displayed once the pyramid is completed.” When Hart replied, Gi-Gyu asked, “Let’s go have a look. I need to verify they are stored safely.”

“Of course. Please come this way.” Hart began escorting Gi-Gyu. They left the construction site and headed toward a giant, temporary tent. 

“Oh! As expected, you have done an amazing job, Hart.”

“Thank you, Grandmaster.”

Gi-Gyu slowly looked at the displayed items and nodded in satisfaction. Everything inside the tent was found in the storage room Old Man Hwang gave to Gi-Gyu. 

Sparkle.

Countless gold, silver, and other precious, rare materials shone brightly. Looking at the many cars and elegant, ancient-looking objects, Gi-Gyu wondered if Old Man Hwang brought this from the other world. None of them were player items, but each looked priceless and beautiful. 

‘I’m surprised at how possessive I feel about such objects.’ Gi-Gyu had never been interested in luxury items. But even he couldn’t stop staring in awe when he saw Old Man Hwang’s collection of rare luxury cars and antiques. 

What Gi-Gyu liked the most about them was the represented wealth. 

“If necessary, I can sell them for cash anytime,” he mumbled in excitement. In the past, he wondered where Old Man Hwang kept all his wealth since he stayed in that tiny workshop. The truth was undoubtedly out of his expectations. He was shocked when he learned Old Man Hwang was a car collector and accumulated things that could easily be sold. 

Gi-Gyu ordered, “Display them well inside the pyramid once it’s completed.”

“Your wish is my command,” replied Hart. 

“Once the exhibition area is built, make Rogers complete the rest of the pyramid alone.”

“Your wish is my—”

“Stop repeating the same thing, Hart.”

“Yes, Grandmaster.” 

After giving his order, Gi-Gyu turned around. His eyes again caught the man dragging a wagon. 

‘Rogers Han.’ 

There were times when Gi-Gyu resented him so much that he wanted to drink his blood. Or feed him alive to a pack of wild dogs. However, Rogers was no longer a powerful player; he was just a helpless, worthless, weak slave now. 

Noticing Gi-Gyu’s stare, Hart asked, “Would you like to talk to him?”

“Later,” Gi-Gyu shook his head and replied. Although his fury had subsided, he still resented Rogers. For now, Rogers would continue to be punished, but he would get his salvation someday. 

‘When I need him, of course.’ Gi-Gyu planned on using Rogers as a pawn in the future. 

Suddenly, Rogers and Gi-Gyu’s eyes met. Rogers lowered his head of his own volition, free of anger and pride. Actually, his fury was directed elsewhere now. 

‘I will be your dog. Just give me a chance.’ Rogers tried to project his thoughts to Gi-Gyu. He was desperate for a chance to kill Ironshield. He now knew that Gi-Gyu wasn’t a helpless rookie player—He was a beastly player with monsters under his command. There was no limit to how much Gi-Gyu could grow. 

‘If I can borrow Kim Gi-Gyu’s power, I know I can get my revenge against Ironshield.’ This was what Rogers Han believed. Unfortunately, his beliefs came from a muddled mind, unaware that he was just Gi-Gyu’s pawn. 

***

Lou explained,

-Andras’ main abilities include fire, sword, and psychic attacks. 

Gi-Gyu swung his sword like an automated machine while listening to Lou. 

[Lou has absorbed the beholder’s blood.]

[Lou’s immunity against psychic attacks has increased.]

The system announcement followed Lou’s comment. 

Gi-Gyu replied, “All right. I’ll remember that.”

While Lou absorbed the monster’s blood, Gi-Gyu decided to take a short break with the hundreds of crystals littered around him. 

“Open,” Gi-Gyu announced after ensuring no one was around him. The skeletons left the gate and retrieved all the crystals. After crystals were stored inside the gate, most were absorbed by the gate monsters. The remaining were kept to be sold for cash later. Thanks to the improvements made to the gate, Gi-Gyu now had a consistent stream of income. 

“Grrr!” Just then, Bi returned with a mouth full of beholders. 

“Good job.” When Gi-Gyu patted the wolf affectionately, Bi swallowed the beholders along with the crystals. Recently, he learned that Bi could also increase its stats by ingesting crystals. It was not the most effective level-up method, but he still allowed it. Bi also liked eating crystals, so he enjoyed giving them to the wolf as a reward. 

Gi-Gyu suggested, “Go hunt some more. Or you can bring more beholders if you want.”

“Grrr!” Bi growled again before sprinting. Gi-Gyu began eating his lunch as he looked around. His skeletons collected and transferred the crystals into the gate while a strange-colored wolf flew around the Tower, munching on the monsters. 

Chuckling, Gi-Gyu muttered, “If someone saw me like this, they’ll think I’m the boss monster.” 

After all, Gi-Gyu was using his monsters for hunting floor monsters. Who else but a boss monster or a high-level monster could achieve a feat like this? 

After eating his lunch, Gi-Gyu stood up. Now, he only had to hunt a few more monsters for Lou to reach the maximum psychic attack immunity level. After that, he would ascend the Tower and hunt monsters that specialized in psychic attacks. 

Slowly but surely, Gi-Gyu was preparing himself to battle Andras. 

“Grrr!” From far away, Bi returned with another mouthful of beholders. 

“Let’s hunt.” Gi-Gyu vanished from his original spot and reappeared on top of Bi, slaying countless beholders nearby.

***

[Lou has reached Level 100.]

[Lou has satisfied the qualification to evolve.]

[The necessary conditions for Lou’s evolution will appear.]

Gi-Gyu suddenly stopped swinging his sword in midair. His entire body was covered in beholders’ purple blood; the unpleasant smell seeped into his nose.

“Haa…” Gi-Gyu had been hunting monsters non-stop for hours, so he took a tired breath and asked, “Evolve?” The latest system notification baffled him. 

-My body feels strange. It feels hot… I feel weird…

Lou sounded calm, but Gi-Gyu could feel his confusion. After ordering the skeletons to start collecting the new crystals, Gi-Gyu opened the system screen. 

[Lou’s first evolution]

[Part of Lou’s physical body: 1/1]

[Ego fragment: 10/10]

[Egofied souls: 3/3]

[Demon fragment: 1/1]

[Monster blood: ???/???]

“What’s this?” Gi-Gyu was surprised to see that all the necessary conditions for Lou’s evolution were already met. He was also shocked to see the many needed materials: He obtained those after much effort. One of them was a part of Lou’s physical body that he obtained as a reward for clearing the 30th-floor test. 

“This means…” Gi-Gyu suspected that El’s physical body would appear on the 40th-floor test. 

-How terrible.

Lou commented, but El didn’t say anything.

-...

Was this because she could guess her fate? Or was there another reason? Gi-Gyu couldn’t tell. 

“Ten Ego fragments…” Gi-Gyu murmured in awe. He would have to clear at least ten gates to recollect ten fragments. Physically, this wasn’t a difficult task. But there were only a limited number of gates, and all guilds were greedy for them. So, if the next evolution also had an ingredient list this extravagant, he wondered if he could even get all the necessary material. 

“And what’s up with those three egofied souls? Isn’t that just asking for too much?!” Gi-Gyu scratched his head in frustration. 

Egofied souls, as the name suggests, were souls that Gi-Gyu egofied. For example, Gi-Gyu recently egofied Hwang Chae-Il’s soul. He had already used a few Ego souls and fragments, so he now only had four Ego souls left: Rhodes, Hwang Chae-Il, Choi Min-Suk, and Kersetu. 

Kersetu was the boss monster Gi-Gyu successfully egofied in one of the gates he cleared during his gate-clearing spree. Kersetu was a steel giant; Gi-Gyu's victory over the powerful monster was hard-fought.  

“But I still don’t know all the conditions for a successful soul egofication process,” Gi-Gyu murmured in concern. He was worried he would fail to egofy another soul in the future. He had the same worries for Cannibalism since its conditions were also hazy. However, he had an idea.

‘I think it might be all about the victim’s evil nature.’

There was no question Choi Min-Suk and Rhodes were evil, but it wasn’t as clear-cut with Chang-Gyung, Hwang Chae-Il, and Kersetu.  

-I think evil creatures have a higher chance of egofication, but it’s not guaranteed even for them. I think it’s just a random process.

“I agree,” Gi-Gyu replied. “Perez, the fourth-floor guardian, must be the demon fragment, but what’s with the monster blood? Are all those question marks because you absorbed too much blood?”

“Haa…” Gi-Gyu sighed deeply. The things he needed to use for Lou’s evolution were priceless.

“Sigh… I guess Lou’s evolution is even more important.”

-Hmph. 

Lou harrumphed as if embarrassed; Gi-Gyu’s lips curled up in amusement. After a short silence, he ordered, “Go ahead with the evolution.”

[Lou’s evolution will now begin.]

1. Beholder is a type of monster. ☜