The Player that Can’t Level Up

Gi-Gyu found several odd things once the overwhelming sadness gave him a bit of leeway.

“The Tower isn’t stupid,” Gi-Gyu stated. He resented the Tower for having so much power over Lou and El, but he had to admit it was always fair. Unlike when he passed the 30th-floor test, he got two diamond boxes this time which he put on the table.

“Oh! So these are the infamous diamond boxes.” Old Man Hwang stared at them with interest, and Gi-Gyu opened the first box with a smile.

“I knew it,” he whispered as he picked up the content. Inside was a feather made of some never-seen-before metal.

[El’s Token]

The pop-up notification proved that it was indeed one of the ingredients required for El’s evolution. This very reward was the reason Gi-Gyu found this situation strange.

For El to evolve, he needed a bunch of stuff, including El’s Token. So why would El die in a test that rewarded Gi-Gyu with this Token? This didn’t make any sense.

With this thought, Gi-Gyu opened the second box.

“Huh?”

“This is…?”

Both Gi-Gyu and Old Man Hwang couldn’t hide their confusion when they looked at the box’s content.

***

When Gi-Gyu removed the items from the boxes, the diamond boxes disappeared. Looking at the badly damaged El, Gi-Gyu announced, “I am certain now that we can revive El.”

No, perhaps the word “revive” wasn’t accurate. After all, El wasn’t really dead, to begin with.

Lou explained.

-The only thing El’s ability Calleon could do was prevent your immediate death. However, it couldn’t undo the fatal damage you suffered. Calleon wasn’t as great as it sounded when you think about it.

Lou continued,

-Your survival should’ve been brief, and you were supposed to die. You said you saw the grassland, right?

“Yes.”

-That was El’s spirit world. You entered it because you and El were still connected at the time. El and I are equals: I can control Death; she can control Life. However, she wasn’t fully awakened: At best, she was at 50% of her max power. So, she had to sacrifice herself to save you. The power it took to bring you back from the dead wasn’t small.

Gi-Gyu continued to stare at El as Lou added,

-El ended up losing her Root, which is why she looks like that now.

“So you’re saying that if we find her Root, we can save El?”

-Exactly.

Lou replied coldly. At the moment, Lou was angry at both El and himself.

“And what did you mean that it was for the best?” Gi-Gyu asked. Lou stated that perhaps Gi-Gyu’s death was for the best when his heart was stabbed. It didn’t sound like Lou said this just because he knew Gi-Gyu wouldn’t die.

Lou explained,

-After you died, your shell expanded. Once a creature dies, their shell shatters; if they are brought back to life, the pieces of their shell are sort of glued together. This “gluing” process leaves a few gaps behind, which can expand the shell if used wisely.

“So you’re saying my shell was successfully expanded?”

-The power of Death you received from me made it possible. Your current shell is definitely bigger than the one you had before your death.

Gi-Gyu nodded. Lou’s explanation made sense to him.

-And…

Lou added.

-This will be key in reviving El.

***

According to Lou, getting El back wasn’t something that could be accomplished in an hour or two. The first thing that had to do was repair El, the sword. Luckily, Old Man Hwang was the man for this job.

“Oh! This isn’t the type of sword I can make myself, but I would love to work on it. I’m glad I studied Nine before,” Old Man Hwang exclaimed. Knowing how miserable Gi-Gyu felt after losing El, the elderly man tried his best to subdue his excitement. However, true to his “Born a blacksmith” persona, he was beyond ecstatic about getting to work on El.

Knowing Old Man Hwang didn’t mean to offend him with his excitement, Gi-Gyu asked sincerely, “This sword is very precious to me. She’s more than a sword; she’s a friend. Please take good care of her.”

“Of course I understand! Every sword is precious to its master!” Old Man Hwang replied before he asked, “By the way, did you take my gift?”

“Ah!” Gi-Gyu realized he never told the blacksmith he had taken all the luxury gifts found in the storage. “Yes, I’ve put everything in a safe place.”

“Hmm… What did you think of them?”

“I love them all.” With a smile, Gi-Gyu added, “I had no idea you liked to collect things like that.”

“Of course! What man doesn’t love cars? I don’t care how you use them since they are yours now, but”—Old Man Hwang’s voice turned into a whisper— “please let me borrow them from time to time. I collected them, but I never got the chance to drive them. As you know, I… was trapped in that workshop for so long…”

“Of course, Sir,” he replied promptly. Gi-Gyu wanted to ask the blacksmith how he collected all of them if he couldn’t leave, but he chose not to. Old Man Hwang was acting so boyish today, which made Gi-Gyu smile.

Old Man Hwang asked, “And could you get me some rare materials from that storage? I’ll need them to fix your sword.”

“Of course,” Gi-Gyu answered quickly and opened his gate. He was about to order his skeletons to bring the materials when Old Man Hwang asked in surprise, “Hmm? That’s…”

“This is my gate. It’s part of my Ego’s power,” Gi-Gyu explained as he patted Brunheart on his chest. A sharp pain would shoot through his body whenever his finger accidentally brushed the area near his heart. Thankfully, the pain wasn’t crippling.

-Hehe.

Brunheart giggled happily.

“Oh, I remember. You have a gate, right? The magic within that space seems unusually powerful. It’s definitely thick and familiar,” Old Man Hwang murmured as he raised his hand to reach inside the gate.

“Would it be okay for me to work inside your gate?” When Old Man Hwang asked, Gi-Gyu couldn’t hide his surprise.

“Pardon?”

However, he was willing to do whatever it took to resurrect El, so he promptly replied, “Of course.” Old Man Hwang seemed very satisfied because he packed his tools and hurried into the gate.

Gi-Gyu ordered Hart, “Take good care of him, Hart.”

-Of course, Grandmaster.

“If he needs anything, please get it for him. If you don’t have it, let me know.”

-Your wish is my command.

Hart’s voice rang like an echo from inside the gate.

With this, the first step toward getting El back was done. Gi-Gyu believed that if anyone could mend El’s sword form, it would be Old Man Hwang. Hwang Ji-Chul was the greatest Ego expert Gi-Gyu knew. Moreover, Old Man Hwang was a rare player and an Ego who received incredible blacksmithing skills from the other world.

“Now, I guess it’s my turn,” Gi-Gyu murmured after closing his gate and stretching his body.

***

The second step to getting El back was about to begin, so Lou warned,

-It won’t be easy. And although there is a way to resurrect her, there is no guarantee. I would go as far as to say it is nigh impossible.

Old Man Hwang’s presence near him was a pure stroke of luck that increased the chance of getting El back. However, the second step was complicated because it entailed Gi-Gyu handling the life force. He had to expand his shell further and place a new life into it.

-This is possible in only a theoretical sense… I can’t believe we get to try it for real.

For a long time now, Lou had been at the top of his game, the field of black magic. He prided himself in knowing the most about black magic, but even he hadn’t tried something like this before. Well… at least as far as he could remember. Since he lost his memory. But Gi-Gyu suspected that Lou was right about it.

“To handle both Life and Death… I can’t believe it,” Gi-Gyu stated in awe. Wasn’t this the very definition of god?

-Don’t be so vain.

Lou grumbled. Clearly annoyed, he continued,

-Just thinking about trying it should’ve blown you into smithereens. This is supposed to be impossible, you understand? A mere human… No, it’s not just humans. No creature can accomplish something like this. This is crazy. I never expected a day when I would have to explain this process to someone.

Suffice to say, Lou also found this situation surreal.

-If this really works…

There was a little excitement in Lou’s voice as he continued,

-Who knows? Maybe an unprecedented existence would be born.

Even Lou seemed excited and lost in joy.

Wizards and mages.

All the players of the magic category who knew a skill or two had two things in common: Curiosity and inquisitiveness. They were always thirsty for new experiences since they knew they led to new abilities.

Gi-Gyu could do this process standing, but he sat down for the added stability: He wouldn’t pass on anything that could increase the chances even by a fraction.

“Is this called the lotus position?” Gi-Gyu murmured as he sat down with his legs crossed. He had only seen this position in martial arts books, and this was the first time he had tried it. He thought this position might help him focus, but all he felt was awkwardness because he wasn’t used to sitting this way.

Gi-Gyu closed his eyes and tried to peer at his shell. Until now, Lou or El had told him about its relative size; he hadn’t actually seen it before.

Lou announced,

-Firstly, you must learn to look at your own shell. That will be the beginning of everything.

“Got it,” replied Gi-Gyu lightly.

He was ready to spend however long it took to peer at his shell. Even if he failed the first few times, he would be okay since he was doing it for someone precious.

***

“Dammit!” An annoyed scream rang throughout the basement. Gi-Gyu yelled so loudly that the whole basement vibrated.

“Oops… I will wake up mom,” he whispered as he looked down at his watch. It was 4:35 in the morning, so his mother and Yoo-Jung should still be asleep. He had no idea how much time he had spent trying to peer at his shell; unfortunately, he made no progress. So, he couldn’t help feeling annoyed as the time passed so quickly.

-Did you think looking at your shell would be easy?

Lou smirked.

Gi-Gyu felt an explosion of frustration at his Ego’s words, but he didn’t reply. He knew this would be hard since only powerful beings like El, Lou, Baal, and Soo-Jung could do such a thing.

Still, he didn’t expect it to be this hard.

Gi-Gyu murmured, “I’m so stressed out.”

Reflecting on his inner self all day while sitting in the lotus position was no easy task. It was especially hard for a player like Gi-Gyu, who was used to getting consistent experience points from killing monsters. He could always see and feel himself becoming stronger with each hunt. Never did he have to invest an undermined amount of time in an undetermined result: It was torturous not knowing how long he would’ve to meditate.

“Haa…” When Gi-Gyu sighed, Lou said to him,

-You’re so ungrateful. You are already stronger than most players, Lucifer helped you use your powers efficiently, and you still have an ocean of untapped potential left inside. If you succeed in doing this, you’ll become stronger since it’s equivalent to leveling up. I can’t believe you’re complaining about the time you need to invest in this.

Listening to Lou, who was in the ring form, Gi-Gyu nodded. He could feel his distance from the shell hadn’t changed, but he had to admit that he could feel more of the power hidden deep inside: He was becoming more aware of his inner self.

“Well, I guess this is even more important since I can’t level up,” replied Gi-Gyu with a smile.

-Then get back to work. Haaah…

Lou yawned.

“All right.” Gi-Gyu closed his eyes again.

Turned out all wasn’t for naught since he could now block all external noise and peer at his magic when he closed his eyes and focused. Inside, he saw thin threads connected to an unknown source pumping magical power.

‘This must be the connection. The sync.’ The threads were the links he had with his Egos and the ones responsible for delivering their powers to him. He watched the threads and the direction of the flow. The magic streamed into his arms, legs, torso, and heart. He studied the flow of magic for a long time, but he found nothing special.

Time passed by in boredom.

‘El…’

During his contemplation, Gi-Gyu remembered El’s tears. She had been with him for long, but he never appreciated her as he should. Now that she was gone, he felt a great emptiness.

Gi-Gyu considered Lou, El, and all the other Egos his colleagues. He felt much closer to them than any other players he knew.

‘If you come back, I’ll treat you right, El. So please come back.’

Gi-Gyu smiled as he imagined El’s resurrection.

‘Huh?’

Suddenly, he saw it for the first time. He could see a giant magic storm around his chest where Brunheart was embedded. Beside it was his heart that was stabbed not too long ago. Gi-Gyu could tell that there was an unknown space inside it.

-Hmph.

Lou smirked as he announced,

-You were faster than I expected. Well, since you’re my master, I shouldn’t have expected anything less from you. Anyway, have a good look.

Gi-Gyu laughed at Lou’s words.

-That’s your shell.

Gi-Gyu hadn’t slept or eaten in the past two weeks and three days. He had been meditating all this time; he finally saw his shell one early morning.