The Player that Can't Level Up

“What is happening?” Gi-Gyu asked in surprise.

-I don’t know! I’ve never heard about a monster transforming into an Ego!

Everything was new to Lou—no surprise there. Gi-Gyu asked El, “How about you, El? Do you know anything about this?”

-No, nothing. I apologize, Master.

“Hmm…” Gi-Gyu sighed and sat down on the ground. His mind was still tired and drained from the long battle; thanks to the cannibalism skill, his stamina had recovered. He murmured, “Egofied… Does that mean Chang-Gyung’s Ego now belongs to Lou?”

-Nope. Not me.

Then what? If neither El nor Lou had anything to do with this, where did Chang-Gyung go? And who did it belong to? Filled with doubts, Gi-Gyu decided to check his status screen.

[Level 1]

[Job: Ego’s partner]

[Unique Ability: Sync]

[Skill: Assimilation]

[Retained Ego: Chang-Gyung]

“Huh?” Gi-Gyu gasped when he saw the new line at the end of his short status screen. He wondered out loud, “So… how do I use this retained Ego?” Now that Chang-Gyung was his retained Ego, there had to be a way to make use of it. So, quite like the time he got Luo, Gi-Gyu tried yelling “Ego,” “Sync,” “Chang-Gyung,” and more words of the same verity. Again, quite like that time, nothing happened.

“Maybe I can’t use it yet?”

He tried everything he could think of; when nothing happened, he came up with two possible explanations. First, retained Egos weren’t meant to be functional. Or, the second one, he had to satisfy some unknown, preset condition to make this work.

He murmured, “I would love nothing more than to use it right now, but I guess I’ve to take my time learning about it. I’m just happy we figured out how the cannibalism skill works.”

-Yeah. I had no idea cannibalism could be used to do something like that. Egofying a monster… I don’t know if this was possible because of you, Master, or because cannibalism is a special skill.

Lou was his usual, confused self when Gi-Gyu announced, “Let’s just get out of here first.” After bagging the navy crystal Chang-Gyung left behind, he searched the area for anything more. Unfortunately, he came out empty-handed.

“I guess there isn’t a bonus item here,” Gi-Gyu muttered in disappointment. In the Guri City Gate, he obtained the Dagger of Paralysis, but this gate was a dud. There was no doubt Gi-Gyu earned a lot here, but he couldn’t help being greedy. After all, Gi-Gyu was always hungry for more. Then again, gate items weren’t cabbages: they were very rare. Demand for them was higher than ever, but their supply was severely lacking; consequently, their bank-breaking price was actually reasonable.

Feeling fully recovered now, Gi-Gyu stretched his arms and got ready to leave the gate. But suddenly, he gasped as he whispered, “W-wait…” He had this fleeting feeling that he was forgetting something; soon, it struck him. He stammered, “I-it’s not here.”

-What isn’t?

-What is wrong, Master?

“Chang-Gyung’s corpse disappeared because of cannibalism! Inside the gates, players have to touch the keeper’s corpse if they want to be transferred to the reward chamber!” If there was a second way, Gi-Gyu hadn’t heard of it. Gi-Gyu murmured in frustration, “I don’t know what to do.”

He could return home by turning around and going back to the gate entrance. But, he wouldn’t get the rewards he earned today if he did that. Also, would the gate even be considered clear if he walked out like this? Since the gate now lacked the boss monster, it didn’t seem like any other groups or guilds could clear the gate either. Did that mean a gate break would still occur after a month or so?

Gi-Gyu’s mind went into overdrive, trying to come up with a solution. In the end, he couldn’t figure it out, so he muttered, “Guess, I gotta look for the reward chamber, myself.”

Unfortunately, he came up with zilch after multiple searches. But, Gi-Gyu still suspected that if there was another way into the reward chamber, it had to be located within the boss’s room.

So Gi-Gyu continued to roam the vast grassland alone.

***

By now, Gi-Gyu had spent three days inside the gate that formed in front of his home. Reaching and killing the boss took the first two days, and he wasted the third day looking for the reward chamber.

“Hyung must be so worried,” Gi-Gyu murmured in concern. Given how deeply Tae-Shik cared about Gi-Gyu, he had to be worried sick because Gi-Gyu still hadn’t left the gate.

Gi-Gyu knew the only reason Tae-Shik hadn't come looking for him was the five-day promise. Gi-Gyu guessed that Tae-Shik was probably dying to enter the gate by now. He couldn’t tell if Tae-Shik was being overprotective because Tae-Shik still thought of him as a weak Level 1 player. Or perhaps Tae-Shik didn’t care about his newfound strength at all. Either way, Gi-Gyu felt both thankful and burdened by Tae-Shik’s fatherly behavior. Tae-Shik wasn’t related to him by blood, and it wasn’t like Gi-Gyu had known him all his life. Yet, Tae-Shik seemed to care about Gi-Gyu like family.

“Let’s just eat,” Gi-Gyu announced as he sat down and took out a piece of jerky. Thankfully, he still had plenty of food left.

-Why don’t you just go outside and ask for help?

-It’s heartbreaking to see you suffer, Master.

“No, I can’t leave like this. I need to find a way on my own no matter what.” When Gi-Gyu replied, Lou asked in annoyance.

-Why do you refuse to ask for help? The other humans might not be able to help you, but how stupid is roaming around this prairie alone? Is this necessary?

“If I leave the gate like this, people will find out that the boss’ corpse disappeared. Remember how the Guri City Gate perished after I entered even though it was a sustained type? It happened long after I left, so nobody suspects me so far, but if this gate turns out to be another special case, people are going to become suspicious of me.”

Suspicion had a nasty habit of turning into unwanted interest, and that kind of interest could be poisonous. Consequently, Gi-Gyu couldn’t leave the gate and ask for help.

Gi-Gyu suggested, “Let’s try killing every monster inside this gate.” Even inside the sustained gates, the monsters didn’t regenerate until the gate was cleared. The same had to be true for this gate, so Gi-Gyu thought a solution might appear if he hunted every monster that inhabited this place.

With this plan, Gi-Gyu began to move.

***

On the fourth day.

Because the gate wasn’t big, eliminating all the monsters inside didn’t take Gi-Gyu long. During his hunt, El and Brunheart leveled up. However, after a certain point, Lou stopped gaining any more of the wolf monsters' agility.

Now, the gate was free of all its monsters; Gi-Gyu confirmed this by checking every nook and cranny of this gate. But despite killing every wolf here, he still couldn’t find a way to the reward chamber.

“I only have one more day left,” Gi-Gyu murmured worriedly. Tomorrow, Tae-Shik would enter the gate and find out there was no boss monster.

“Arghhh!” Gi-Gyu screamed as he scratched his head in annoyance. Things were becoming too complicated.

-Something feels strange.

“What is?” Lou’s sudden announcement was met with Gi-Gyu’s sparkling, hope-filled eyes.

-This space’s energy is being focused on a single spot.

-I can feel it too. It’s as if this gate’s entire energy’s being sucked in.

“What? To where?!”

Finally, he seemingly had a clue to reaching the reward chamber.

-The place where the big, blue wolf was!

-It’s where the gatekeeper was found!

Lou and El answered at the same time. Gi-Gyu exclaimed, “The prairie!” He immediately began running toward the boss’ room. With his enhanced abilities and agility stat, Gi-Gyu was much faster than before. When he was first trying to find the boss’ room, he didn’t know the way. He also had to kill monsters as he went along, so it took much longer the first time. But now, the path to the boss’ room was pretty straight, so Gi-Gyu reached it in no time.

“What's this?” Gi-Gyu asked in confusion when he entered the boss’ room. The spot where Chang-Gyung died was now acting as a congregation point for a bunch of golden beams.

Lou murmured quietly.

-Fragments of an Ego…

-This can’t be. Why are Egos so common in this world?

Without replying to his Egos, Gi-Gyu walked toward where Chang-Gyung died. There, the lights converged to form a small marble. Soon, the light beams disappeared, leaving behind a small marble, which Gi-Gyu picked it up wordlessly.

[You have obtained a fragment of an Ego.]

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

The gate was finally cleared.

***

“Good job. Twenty-four hours. Had you been any later than that, I would’ve charged in,” Tae-Shik said. Gi-Gyu, who had just walked out of the gate, said playfully, “I’m pretty strong, you know. Except for the boss monster, I killed all the monsters with just a swing or two.”

Gi-Gyu’s tone was teasing, but Tae-Shik’s expression became grave as he asked, “Did something happen?” Tae-Shik had known Gi-Gyu for a long time, so he could tell Gi-Gyu was worried about something.

Gi-Gyu replied, “Can we talk after I take care of the follow-up procedure?”

“Sure.”

“General Manager! The association president is looking for you!” a man yelled as he ran toward Tae-Shik. But, Tae-Shik replied firmly, “Tell that old man I’ll see him later.”

“B-but General Manager!” the man stammered in shock at Tae-Shik's disrespectful tone.

Ignoring the messenger, Tae-Shik reassured Gi-Gyu, “Let’s take care of this place first. I’ll get the crystals, the gate clear rewards, and all the other stuff sorted out for you immediately.”

Sadly, the gate Gi-Gyu cleared appeared to be a one-shot type rather than a sustained one. But the reward he earned was still pretty significant. Whenever a gate was cleared, the association sorted out the crystals and the rewards quickly. Since Gi-Gyu cleared the gate, he was entitled to the prize money the association offered. Because the payment office was run by the association, Gi-Gyu could also sell his crystals on the spot.

Gi-Gyu quickly opened his bag and took out numerous purple and navy crystals. “Please wait a moment!” an association employee said to Gi-Gyu. Then, he quickly returned with a reward check for 10 million won and the settlement for the crystals. Gi-Gyu counted it and found that combined, he received about 50 million won.

When he obtained the Dagger of Paralysis, he ended up with over 100 million won. But something like that was a rare occurrence. Even this time, the only reason Gi-Gyu earned over 50 million won was that he successfully solo cleared a gate.

The association employee congratulated Gi-Gyu, “Congratulations on completing your first solo hunt. I’ve noticed you don’t have the player credential yet. Is there a reason for that?”

“I’ll take care of that, so don’t worry about it. You did well, so you’re free to leave now,” Tae-Shik interrupted the employee. The association employee found it odd that Gi-Gyu didn’t have the player credential; when Tae-Shik took over, he had no choice but to leave without an answer.

Since the gate was now closed, the association members moved around busily to take care of the aftermath. Tae-Shik offered Gi-Gyu, “Let’s go to my car.” It seemed Tae-Shik brought his car here while Gi-Gyu was hunting inside the gate.

Gi-Gyu protested weakly, “But I don’t want to get inside your car…”

“Why not? My beautiful panther[1] is every man’s dream!” Tae-Shik laughed out loud, and Gi-Gyu followed meekly.

***

“Will you be going to the hospital now?” Tae-Shik asked.

“Yes. I need to go see Mother and Yoo-Jung,” Gi-Gyu replied. The two men were sitting inside a tiny pink Tico.[2] Tae-Shik, who was over 190 cm tall, was squatting while holding the handle, and Gi-Gyu, who was over 180 cm tall, sat in the passenger seat in a similarly uncomfortable position.

Tae-Shik had a strange fetish for pink things. He asked Gi-Gyu, “Let’s talk while I drive you to the hospital. So firstly, why did it take so long to clear the gate?”

“Umm…”

“You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to. I just thought that with your skills, you should've been able to clear it in two days tops. So I’m just curious why it took you so long.”

‘I knew it!’

Gi-Gyu now knew for certain that Tae-Shik understood he wasn’t the weak Level 1 player anymore. It was obvious that Tae-Shik expected him to clear the gate easily, yet he still worried for no reason.

Anyway, Tae-Shik guessed the timing very accurately; maybe it was because he was a ranker. After hesitating for a while, Gi-Gyu replied, “I got stuck in a situation where I couldn’t move to the reward chamber.”

“...”

“So I walked around to find a way to get to the reward chamber. I ended up killing every monster inside the gate, and…” Gi-Gyu explained as the car stopped at the red light. He continued, “And that was when I found an Ego’s fragment. I could finally enter the reward chamber after picking it up.”

“What are you talking about?” Tae-Shik asked, but it seemed he had already guessed what Gi-Gyu would say next.

“I think the gate was an Ego,” Gi-Gyu answered. It had been five years since he became a player. Although only a few months have passed since he could finally call himself a proper player, Gi-Gyu’s intuition suggested that the gate was giving him small clues to its secret.

1. 애마 팬더 literally means 'my favorite panther', which is a common expression in Korean referring to one's favorite vehicle with reference to the Pink Panther's car. ☜

2. Tico is a compact car produced by an automaker GM Daewoo between 1991 and 2001. ☜