CH 12

It wouldn’t take a genius to figure out Song Byung-Hoon’s intentions. Gi-Gyu didn’t want to take unnecessary risks; with a hardened face, he said, “What are you talking about?” 

“Oh, come on. Why are you acting so stern?” Song Byung-Hoon asked as he tapped Gi-Gyu’s arm playfully. By now, Song Byung-Hoon was acting too familiar with him. Gi-Gyu’s face clearly showed his displeasure, but it didn’t seem like Song Byung-Hoon cared much. 

Song Byung-Hoon continued, “I mean, let’s be honest here. Gi-Gyu, you did all the work here today, didn't you? Dae-Oh and I, being ethical men, aren’t interested in that equipment item, but did you see Ha Song-Su and that woman? How could they even think about rolling the dice?”

“Haaa…” Gi-Gyu sighed, finding Byung-Hoon’s suggestion ridiculous. There was no way Gi-Gyu would participate in such a complicated situation, but it seemed Song Byung-Hoon mistook Gi-Gyu’s silence as interest in his suggestion. Byung-Hoon continued excitedly, “What we are gonna do is pretty simple: Dae-Oh and I will simply pressure them into handing the item to you. And if we do this, I’m sure you’ll help us out too in return, won't you?”

Unlike an average item made by players or regular humans, an equipment item like that usually fetched a sky-high price. So, this sounded like an attractive offer at a glance; Gi-Gyu practically had nothing to lose and everything to gain. In return, all he had to do was go hunting with Song Byung-Hoon and Choi Dae-Oh in the gates a few times. But… 

Gi-Gyu asked, “How would you pressure them?”

“Don’t worry about that. We’ll make it happen, so all you need to do is go along with it, Gi-Gyu,” Song Byung-Hoon explained. 

“...”

Once again, Song Byung-Hook took Gi-Gyu’s silence for something it wasn’t. While humming a merry tune, Song Byung-Hook returned to the group. With a troubled look, Gi-Gyu also headed toward where his group was waiting.

***

“Now that I’ve emptied my bladder, shall we take care of the equipment item?” Song Byung-Hoon announced, making the female player frown a little. But he didn’t seem to care as he continued, “Just bring it over here first, Dae-Oh.”

It appeared Choi Dae-Oh had decided to follow Song Byung-Hoon’s lead because he replied obediently, “Of course!” 

The equipment item was placed in the middle of the group. The reward for killing Talon was a dagger: the Dagger of Paralysis. Something like that was definitely worth a big chunk. 

‘It must be worth a fortune since it can consistently paralyze an enemy upon a successful attack.’

It certainly was a desirable item. Equipment items already fetched a good price, but those with paralysis ability sold for even higher. 

“Then I’ll take out the dice,” Ha Song-Su announced as he put his hand in his pocket. 

“Haa!” Song Byung-Hoon suddenly yelled as he jumped to grab the Dagger of Paralysis. He then plunged toward Ha Song-Su with the weapon. 

Ha Song-Su was an archer; right now, he didn’t even have his bow close by. So, he was in a very vulnerable state. 

Whap!

But before Song Byung-Hoon could reach Ha Song-Su, Gi-Gyu grabbed him. As Song Byung-Hoon screamed till his face went red, Dae-Oh took a few steps back with a confused face.

‘Just now…’

Song Byung-Hoon continued to shriek loudly, but Gi-Gyu zoned out everything apart from Ha Song-Su and the female player. Ha Song-Su didn’t flinch for a second even when the dagger was millimeters away from him. As for the female player…

‘She’s fast.’

Had Gi-Gyu not grabbed Song Byung-Hoon’s arm in time, there was no way of knowing what might have happened. 

‘Didn’t she specialize in magic?’

Flash!

A dagger’s glare struck Gi-Gyu’s eyes, and only then did he realize that the female player was holding a dagger. He suspected that if he hadn’t stopped Song Byung-Hoon, she would’ve amputated this idiot’s arm.

“Gi-Gyu! What do you think you’re doing?! Weren’t we on the same page? Hey! Dae-Oh,” Song Byung-Hoon protested in confusion.

“Stay still,” Dae-Oh replied while staying as far away from Gi-Gyu as possible. Then, Gi-Gyu pushed Song Byung-Hoon down with his arm, making him fall to the ground. 

Clank!

With a rattle, the Dagger of Paralysis also fell to the ground. 

“W-why are you doing this, Gi-Gyu?! I was just kidding!” Song Byung-Hoon tried to make excuses, but the tense atmosphere finally struck him. 

Whack!

Song Byung-Hoon fainted when Gi-Gyu hit the back of his neck. 

‘First time I use this move, and it works? What luck!’

After briefly staring at Song Byung-Hoon, Gi-Gyu looked at Choi Dae-Oh.

“As for you, Choi Dae-O—” Gi-Gyu began, but before he could finish, Choi Dae-Oh knelt on the ground and begged, “He told me he would sell the equipment item and share the profit with me if I did as he asked. That’s the only reason I went along! I had no idea he was going to stab the group leader!”

It didn’t seem like Choi Dae-Oh was lying. Ignoring the trembling man, Gi-Gyu turned toward Song-Su and asked, “What do you want to do?”

“Why are you asking me?” Ha Song-Su asked with a face full of interest.

“He was trying to attack you, so you should take care of him,” Gi-Gyu replied. As soon as he finished his sentence, the female player took a step. Just like what Gi-Gyu had done, she hit the back of Dae-Oh’s neck.

‘I knew it.’

Gi-Gyu's suspicion was confirmed. It was obvious that this girl was much more skilled than he was. Gi-Gyu asked, “Who are you?”

“Don’t you think I should be asking you that?” Ha Song-Su answered with another question. He added, “Anyway, I would like to thank you for what you did just now. Ha-Rim, stay behind me.”

Ha-Rim, the female player, lowered her head and obeyed. Gi-Gyu said to Ha Song-Su, “I’ll take that dagger then.”

“Why?” Ha Song-Su asked, intrigued. 

“Didn’t I just save your life? I think I deserve some reward.”

“Hmm, I think it’s too much…”

“An item like this should be nothing to someone like you, right?” Gi-Gyu asked, making Ha Song-Su stiffen. Ha Song-Su thought Gi-Gyu had found out his identity, but Gi-Gyu actually had no idea, so he explained, “Someone like her is following you around and acting like a bodyguard; you obviously aren’t just any hunter. I’m not interested in you, so I don’t plan on investigating you. I won’t talk to others about you either.”

Gi-Gyu really wanted to take the Dagger of Paralysis. And because of what just happened with Song Byung-Hoon, he now had a legitimate excuse to take the item. After soloing the boss and saving their team leader’s life, he believed he deserved it. 

“Alright,” Ha Song-Su replied and nodded. 

Gi-Gyu picked up the Dagger of Paralysis and declared, “Then I'll leave these two men to you.”

“Do you plan on staying inside the gate longer?” Ha Song-Su asked. 

“Yes, I want to hunt a bit more till the end of our reserved time,” Gi-Gyu replied. 

“You’re leaving me with an annoying cleanup,” Ha Song-Su grumbled, but he no longer looked upset. 

“That’s exactly why I’m dumping them on you.”

“You’re funny,” Ha Song-Su replied and glanced at the female player. He gave her a look, and Ha-Rim jolted. Nervous, Gi-Gyu tightened his grip on Lou; thankfully, all Ha-Rim did was grab Song Byung-Hoon and Choi Dae-Oh’s necks. 

“See you later,” Ha Song-Su said goodbye. He and Ha-Rim then turned around to touch Talon’s corpse before the four of them disappeared from Gi-Gyu’s sight. 

“Phew…” Gi-Gyu sighed deeply. His back and hands were soaked in sweat. 

-You need to be more careful! How could you make a deal with that mad woman?!

“Sorry,” Gi-Gyu apologized to Lou. Lou was screaming nonstop when he was talking with the dangerous duo. He was yelling for Gi-Gyu to run because there was no way they could take on that woman named Ha-Rim. But Gi-Gyu decided to stay because he felt running away in that situation would’ve been even more dangerous. Thankfully, it seemed he made the right call.

-I belong to you, which means I’m your family now! Master, don’t forget that if you die, I die too!

“Sorry,” Gi-Gyu murmured and caressed Lou. Even though Lou sounded selfish, Gi-Gyu knew his Ego was worried for him. It seemed an apology was enough to appease the sword. 

-Just be careful from now on!

“Alright.”

Before leaving, Gi-Gyu looked at where Song-Su and Ha-Rim stood a moment ago one last time.

***

[Lou has absorbed the zombie’s stamina.]

Gi-Gyu had plenty of time to stay behind and hunt because they had cleared the gate quickly. Lou had gained a zombie's ability by the end of his onslaught on this gate’s zombies. 

“Perfect.”

Gi-Gyu was satisfied with what he had accomplished today. By now, there were barely any zombies left inside the gate, so he decided to kill one or two more before heading toward the reward chamber.

“Grrr…” the last zombie groaned as its head rolled on the ground. 

“Phew…” Gi-Gyu sighed. Starting from the lizardmen hunt, he had been hunting continuously for the last three days; the fatigue was finally setting in. He sat down for a moment to rest and regain his strength. When he checked the time, he realized he still had plenty of time to spare. 

“I better leave now,” Gi-Gyu murmured. He had probably taken everything he could from this gate, so there was no motivation to stay behind. Well, he could wait for the zombies to reappear, but how many would he have to kill this time to level up? Gi-Gyu decided that he had enough for now. The smart thing would be to increase his hunting time gradually. 

He stood up and was about to head toward Talon’s corpse when…

“Huh?”

He spotted something sparkling on one side of the wall. 

“What is that?”

Different players had cleared this gate dozens of times, so all the hidden pieces inside had already been retrieved. Also, Gi-Gyu had never heard of a light like this.

“Umm… what is that?”

Gi-Gyu slowly approached it and touched the wall.

Tap… Tap...

When he tapped it, he heard some hollow sounds. 

“It’s empty inside,” Gi-Gyu murmured. 

The inside of the wall seemed empty, which was even stranger. The location where the light was coming from was an easy spot to break during a battle. There was no way all of the previous players missed the hidden piece here. 

“Either it was never found, or…”

Perhaps there was a condition Gi-Gyu satisfied to trigger its appearance. 

Tap… Tap...

When he tapped it again with his fist, he realized the wall wasn't very strong. 

Crash!

Gi-Gyu swung Lou against the wall, which crumbled down with a loud noise. After the wall crumbled away, the light inside shone brighter than ever. 

-Ego?

“What?”

Lou's murmur confused Gi-Gyu.

-I think there’s an Ego inside! I can feel it!

As Gi-Gyu slowly cleared rubbles, the light’s intensity increased even more. When he cleared a large enough area for a person to pass by, he spotted a sword.

“Is that an Excalibur or something?”

A white sword was stuck in the ground. Gi-Gyu walked closer to it and saw a strange-looking sword. He couldn’t tell what it was made of, but the handle at the end of the white blade looked like it was made from wood.

Ba-dum!

Ba-dum!

Suddenly, Gi-Gyu’s heart began to pound rapidly.

‘Does it want me to hold it?’

It was as if the sword was calling for him. Slowly, Gi-Gyu held the wooden handle. And that was when he zoned out. 

***

Gi-Gyu found himself inside a space filled with white light. 

“I guess this is better than what happened before,” he murmured. This felt similar to the space he found himself in when he first met Lou. The difference was that the previous space was filled with darkness, but he was surrounded by brilliance here. However, the luminosity wasn’t blinding; instead, it felt warm.

-Are you my master?

“Are you an Ego? The one inside the sword?” Gi-Gyu asked.

-Yes. I’ve been waiting for my master here. Could you answer my question?

Gi-Gyu chuckled since this meeting was in stark contrast to his first hello with Lou. Also, because this wasn’t his first time meeting an Ego, he was much more relaxed. 

“I'm not your master, but I would like to be.”

Gi-Gyu wasn’t its owner yet, but he would be soon. 

-My name…

“El,” Gi-Gyu answered. 

-El. Is that my name?

“Yes,” Gi-Gyu answered warmly. He could almost hear the Ego, now named “El,” laugh. 

-Thank you. Now please take me away. 

[You have synced with El.]

[El shall belong to you from now on.]

[You can now access El’s information.]

-Thank you, Master. 

Then, the space began to distort around him. 

***

[The devil sealed by El is waking up.]

[The seal has been broken, so the gate will now perish.]

As soon as Gi-Gyu entered El’s space, the gate began to shake loudly. Before long, the ceiling began to crumble, and large chunks of it fell around him. 

-Run!

-Run, Master!

-Who are you?

-And who might you be?

“Shut up!” Gi-Gyu hurriedly pulled out the white sword and ran toward Talon’s corpse. Meanwhile, the gate didn’t stop quaking. Based on how the gate was shaking and considering what the system announced a moment ago, Gi-Gyu knew something huge was about to happen.

“Dammit!|

The ground began cracking. Talon’s corpse wasn’t far away, but Gi-Gyu found it hard to maintain his balance.

Rumble!

Now, even the walls were trembling. Gi-Gyu took careful steps on any intact surfaces he could find and finally reached Talon’s corpse. When he touched the dead body, he heard the system.

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

“Yes!” Gi-Gyu answered and found his vision darken slowly. 

Kaboom!

Before everything turned black, Gi-Gyu got a glimpse of the falling walls and a pair of blood-red eyes.