The Player that Can't Level Up

Sung-Hoon caught the sudden change in Gi-Gyu’s expression, so he called out, “Player Kim Gi-Gyu?”

“Yes?” Gi-Gyu woke up from his thoughts and announced, “Oh, I better get inside the Tower now.”

“Pardon? Oh, of course.” Before Sung-Hoon could say much, Gi-Gyu entered the Tower. Sung-Hoon noticed the change in Gi-Gyu’s demeanor, but the swarm of reporters soon pulled his attention back. He had no idea what he had to do to fix this problem.

***

-Answer me.

Another message entered Gi-Gyu’s head when he didn’t respond.

-Are you his master?

Gi-Gyu needed a safe place to have this conversation. He quickly ran to the Tower, and once inside, he heard the voice again.

-Are you—

“What are you?” Gi-Gyu asked as his eyes darkened. This being, whoever it was, was relaying its message directly into Gi-Gyu’s head. It could mean only two things: It was either a powerful player or an Ego.

But the question it asked was if Gi-Gyu was “his” master, not “a master.” Gi-Gyu couldn’t understand the question due to the odd wording.

-I’m the great… Umm… My name is… Huh…?

The being’s voice, solemn and staid before, sounded confused.

-Bru…nheart… That’s my name.

Its voice sounded so grand that Gi-Gyu expected another devil or one of his enemies, yet it seemed that it was just his new Ego, Brunheart. Gi-Gyu released a sigh of relief and felt the tension leaving his body.

“You asked for a name, so I gave it to you not too long ago. How could you have forgotten it already?”

-...

“And what do you mean if I’m ‘his’ master? What the heck are you talking about? And where are you, by the way?” Gi-Gyu asked in confusion. He wasn’t wearing “Brunheart” at the moment; he didn’t even know what it was supposed to look like. The voice inside his head answered promptly,

-Call my name.

“Brunheart,” Gi-Gyu’s calm voice rang inside the Tower. He was only on the first floor, and he chose a remote place before speaking with Brunheart. Gi-Gyu could also tell there was no one nearby based on his enhanced senses.

He had no idea what calling out this new Ego’s name might do, but he was sure he could handle the consequences. After all, this wasn’t his first time interacting with an Ego.

[The nonphysical form of Ego Brunheart has been summoned.]

Along with the system announcement, a black sphere began materializing before him.

“N-no!” Gi-Gyu yelled nervously; thankfully, nothing happened, except for the appearance of Brunheart’s nonphysical form.

“Huh…?”

In the past, when Lou appeared in his nonphysical form, he sucked in everything around him to produce his physical form. However, Brunheart’s nonphysical form did no such thing. Was it because Brunheart was different, or…

“Is it because I’m stronger now?”

Since nothing happened, Gi-Gyu felt embarrassed for shouting like a lunatic; at the same time, he also felt relieved.

[Brunheart’s physical form hasn’t been decided.]

[Please choose Brunheart’s physical form.]

A different system voice made the request. Gi-Gyu deduced that he was too weak even to decide Lou’s form in the past. That was why the system chose a random form for his Ego at the time. But now that he was stronger, Gi-Gyu finally got a say in his Ego’s physical form.

But…

“How am I supposed to decide?”

Gi-Gyu slowly walked toward the black sphere and tapped it gently. But the sphere remained immobile; it just continued to float in the air. After contemplating for what seemed like hours, Gi-Gyu gave up and asked El for help.

“El, what am I supposed to do?”

-Please place your hand on the sphere and imagine the shape you would like for it to take. Brunheart will transform according to your wish.

“I see.”

El had been like a passive observer from the very beginning, so she never actively offered comments like Lou and only spoke when spoken to. All this was a telltale sign of a quiet personality.

After patting El for a moment, Gi-Gyu placed his hand on the sphere and murmured, “Brunheart.”

There was a reason why he named his newest Ego Brunheart. Gi-Gyu hoped that giving the new Ego his old armor’s name would transfer the experiences he shared with the armor.

Gi-Gyu was thankful to the old Brunheart and missed it terribly. Although it couldn’t speak, Gi-Gyu felt certain that his armor was alive at the time. Sadly, Brunheart ended up being used and abused before getting killed to save Gi-Gyu.

Bzzz.

Slowly, the sphere began to rotate and transform into its new form.

***

-Masterrrrr…

-Masterrrrrrrr…

-Masterrrrrrrr.

-Master…

When someone called out to Gi-Gyu desperately, he replied, “Yes?”

-I’m so happy that I get to be with you again, Master!

It was Brunheart.

Gi-Gyu couldn’t hide his surprise when he learned of the newly formed Brunheart’s personality. It was very unexpected, especially considering what the Ego sounded like in its nonphysical form.

‘I was expecting Brunheart to be more of a silent knight type who’s always there to protect me…’

-Master! Does that mean you hate me? I… But I’m your Brunheart!

There was no doubt: Brunheart’s sounded like a kid. His quivering voice made Gi-Gyu think he would start crying at the drop of a hat. Gi-Gyu shouted, “No! Of course not, Brunheart! I like you a lot!”

Gi-Gyu was still inside the Tower. So, his sudden proclamation attracted quite a few curious eyes. Thankfully, they quickly lost interest because oddballs inside the Tower were as usual as fights in a bar.

Blushing visibly, Gi-Gyu began to walk fast.

-Hehe, I like you too, Master.

“Phew…” Gi-Gyu sighed and patted his chest where a black sphere was now embedded. He murmured, “Got the arc reactor. Just lacking the billions now.” Much like the American hero movie, Gi-Gyu now had a black, metallic sphere stuck on his upper abdomen.

Brunheart seemed very different from the other Egos he possessed. While it was transforming into its final physical form, Brunheart suddenly jumped onto Gi-Gyu and began to assimilate with him. Gi-Gyu didn’t feel any pain, and when he accepted it, Brunheart found its place in the center of his torso. The sphere felt odd to Gi-Gyu, perhaps even a little uncomfortable, but he expected to get used to it in no time.

‘He feels like an extension of my body.’

Gi-Gyu’s biggest weakness was that he was powerless without his Egos. Drinking the elixir helped a little, but just that couldn’t help him fight powerful foes.

Thankfully, his newest Ego became part of his body. It meant that there was no way anyone could take it away from him. Unlike Lou and El, Brunheart would stay with him for the rest of his life.

‘I guess the old Brunheart made my wish come true.’

Gi-Gyu had been praying to get Brunheart back, so he felt his prayer was answered. Now, he had something that could always protect him.

-Did I do well, Master?!

“Yeah, you’re great,” Gi-Gyu murmured as he rubbed his stomach.

‘I know I must look like a pervert, but it can’t be helped.’ Gi-Gyu knew what constantly rubbing his body would make him look like, but he couldn’t help it.

-Hehe.

Brunheart seemed happy with the pats. With a smile, Gi-Gyu announced, “I must first analyze your abilities, Brunheart.”

-Of course!

Gi-Gyu opened Brunheart’s status screen.

[Brunheart]

[Grade E]

[Gate Ego]

[Power: 30]

[Speed: 30]

[Stamina: 30]

[Magic: 30]

-Abilities-

[Bodily Incorporation]

[Reflect: A portion of all damage received will be reflected toward the enemy.]

[Absorption: Can absorb other gates to become stronger.]

[Control: Can absorb and thereby control gates of lower grade.]

[Open: Can open a gate.]

[Close: Can close a gate.]

[Ego with inherited memories]

“Uwaah…” Gi-Gyu was genuinely impressed. Like his other Egos, Brunheart’s status screen included the descriptions of his skills; his new Ego had an array of fancy skills.

But there were also a few differences.

“You don’t have a level,” Gi-Gyu murmured. Was it because it was a gate Ego? Instead of a numerical level, Brunheart only had a grade. Gi-Gyu also noticed that Brunheart’s abilities were all equal. And lastly, Brunheart had Bodily Incorporation instead of Accessory. Being an Ego with inherited memories, the new Brunheart also retained Reflect.

“I love it.” Gi-Gyu was glad to have the amazing reflection skill back, but more importantly, this proved that he really did get the old armor back.

-Hehe, I love you too, Master.

“But what are these other skills? Absorption? Control?” Gi-Gyu wondered out loud. He had never heard of these skills before. Based on the names and the descriptions, he could make an educated guess of what they were, but it was hard to believe such functions really existed.

-It means I can absorb other gates and control them! Of course, I’m talking about just the ones you get to possess, Master.

Brunheart replied in an insecure voice. He didn’t seem confident in his own skills, but all Gi-Gyu could do was gape in surprise. With all these skills, only one word could describe Brunheart's potential: Unlimited. But Gi-Gyu was still confused about Control. What did it mean to control a gate? What were the parameters of his control? And so on. He decided to test it out if he ever got the chance in the future.

“Open?” Gi-Gyu only meant to ask what this skill meant, but suddenly, the sphere embedded in his body released a flash of light.

“W-what’s happening?” Gi-Gyu was stammering in confusion when a skeleton soldier abruptly appeared from the light.

Rattle.

Without hesitation, Gi-Gyu swung El, and the skeleton crumbled down to the ground helplessly.

“Close!” Gi-Gyu yelled in panic. Since he could open a gate, he could also close them. And to his relief, the black sphere absorbed the light back.

“Ha… Haha…” When Gi-Gyu laughed in surprise, Brunheart asked,

-What’s wrong, Master?

“I’m just ecstatic!” Indeed, Gi-Gyu couldn’t believe his incredible luck.

***

It had been almost a week since he began hunting inside the Tower again. Lou was still in the midst of awakening, i.e., he remained silent, but the sword could still absorb monsters’ stats. Hoping the added strength might help Lou, Gi-Gyu didn’t stop hunting.

Currently, he was on the 28th floor. He could climb this fast because he never left the Tower, not even to sell the crystals he gathered along the way. Hard jerkies became his staple food, and his now bearded face made him look like a handsome barbarian.

“What do I do now? If I leave the Tower right now, it will be hard for me to return with all those reporters outside,” Gi-Gyu wondered as he rubbed his unkempt beard. In front of him was a field of crystals. It almost looked like the crystals were magically growing from the field, but they were actually from all the monsters Gi-Gyu had killed earlier. His bag had built-in expansion magic, but even that couldn’t hold this many crystals. He didn’t bring an extra bag with him, so he had no choice but to leave these crystals behind.

“But I don’t want to waste them like this.” Gi-Gyu was now rich beyond his wildest imagination, but old habits died hard. On top of that, these crystals had to be worth a fortune. Gi-Gyu felt comfortable throwing away that much money.

Feeling stuck, Gi-Gyu looked around in concern.

-Master! Me! Me!

“Hmm?”

Brunheart yelled in his childish voice,

-Me! You can store them inside me!

“Hmm…”

The gate Brunheart could open was the same gate Gi-Gyu closed in Yeosu. The problem was that he had no control over the monsters inside. Through Brunheart, Gi-Gyu could only open and close the gate; he couldn’t control the monsters' regeneration. In summary, neither Brunheart nor Gi-Gyu could control this gate’s skeletons. It meant that if he stored the crystals inside, they could disappear or be lost.

“But I guess it would be better than throwing them away like this.” In the end, Gi-Gyu decided to follow Brunheart’s suggestion. First, he gathered all the crystals in one place. This process didn’t take long because he used the acceleration skill, Accelerate. After creating a small hill of crystals, Gi-Gyu yelled toward it, “Gate open!”

Blue light flashed from Gi-Gyu’s chest and swallowed the mound of crystals whole.

And…

[The gate has gained experience points.]

[The monsters inside the gate are becoming stronger.]

[The gate’s grade will increase after gaining enough experience points.]

An unfamiliar system voice announced.