CH 59

[Cannibalism has been activated.]

[Player Choi Min-Suk is being egofied.]

[Egofication has been completed successfully.]

“It worked?” Gi-Gyu was surprised by the system announcements. He watched Choi Min-Suk disappear slowly, but he didn’t get the time to mull over it since the battle was still ongoing.

When the Smurf Guild members realized Choi Min-Suk was dead, they screamed, “Our guild master is dead!”

“Dammit! Kill everyone!”

The Smurf red players were more excited than shocked by their leader’s death. When Gi-Gyu looked around, he noticed that this excitement had already killed a few Cain members. Currently, Gi-Gyu stood alone in the middle of the battlefield with the Smurf executives closing on him. 

One of the enemies murmured, “I can’t believe he killed our guild master.” 

But there wasn’t fear in that murmur—it had joy. Instead of being afraid, they were a bit tense at best. Several Smurf members announced, “The guild master’s position is now open!!!” Were they tense due to Gi-Gyu or the competition for that seat? Overall, every red player there was interested in becoming the new leader. 

“Whoever kills that bastard gets to be the new guild master. Do you all agree?” When one Smurf player suggested, the rest shouted, “Yes!”

Even as his muscles tensed, Gi-Gyu couldn’t hide his bitter smile. His whole body was throbbing painfully. To charge Brunheart, he baited Choi Min-Suk with everything he had; as an aftereffect, he suffered a lot of fire damage. Now, every corner of his body was screaming in pain, his right vision was blurrier, and he was feeling dizzy. 

“Kill him!” yelled one of the Smurf executive members.

“Blizzard!”  

Gi-Gyu was about to defend himself when an ice magic spell suddenly covered the area. The temperature plummeted, slowing down the red players and easing Gi-Gyu’s burns a little. 

“Our reinforcement is finally here!” one of the Cain Guild members yelled.

“Our guild master came in person to save us!” another Cain player screamed in relief. 

“We’re alive! We’re saved!” Several Cain members cheered together. Gi-Gyu looked up to find a player floating in the air while moving his hands to control the ice skill. Gi-Gyu murmured in annoyance, “You’re late.”

Yoo Suk-Woo, Gi-Gyu’s friend and Cain Guild’s guild master, was looking down at him. Just then, Gi-Gyu heard a system announcement. 

[Strong will has been activated.]

Just like his friend, Gi-Gyu’s skill was also late in its arrival.

***

Yoo Suk-Woo didn’t come alone: He brought 50 of his elite guild members with him. And just those 50 were more than enough to eliminate the entire Smurf Guild. People could concoct stuff like “good always triumphs over evil” to justify the previous statement. However, Gi-Gyu knew the truth. The Cain Guild's power was beyond what the red players could ever dream of as a group. The Smurf Guild was the weakest red player guild, so it couldn’t pose a problem to a top-tier organization like the Cain Guild. 

Suk-Woo came down to Gi-Gyu and asked, “What the heck happened here? And is that really you, Gi-Gyu? Why do you look so different? What happened to your eye?”

“It’s me, Kim Gi-Gyu.” When Gi-Gyu replied calmly, Suk-Woo landed next to him. 

Yoo Suk-Woo was a high-level ranker of the mage category. However, Suk-Woo had countless skills and incredible magical power, so everyone believed he had the potential to become a high ranker. 

‘And I agree.’

Gi-Gyu believed that Suk-Woo had unlimited potential as a player. With this thought, Gi-Gyu asked Suk-Woo, “How did Choi Min-Suk discover your secret?”

“Ah, so you really are Gi-Gyu.” 

Only a few people in the world knew Suk-Woo’s secret. Gi-Gyu explained, “That’s why the Smurf Guild targeted your guild members. I think they were going to take them as hostages and use them as leverage to negotiate with you.”

Yoo Suk-Woo’s face crumpled into an ugly frown. He replied, “I see. Thankfully, everything turned out okay in the end. I received a report that my guild members were fighting the Smurf Guild’s red players with you. So I brought all of my elite players to help.” 

Then, Suk-Woo gave Gi-Gyu a small smile. Meanwhile, the battle was winding down around them. Most red players were still resisting, so the elite players had to kill them. Those who surrendered and let themselves be bound peacefully were left alive. 

Suk-Woo asked his man in charge of the red player hostages, “What’s our damages?” 

“Five dead, and the rest have severe injuries.”

Suk-Woo and Gi-Gyu approached Do Bong-Gu’s group to assess them. They were lying on the ground, and the healers were bustling around to treat them, but most had suffered injuries far too severe for elementary treatment. 

“G-guild master…” Do Bong-Gu stammered as he tried to stand; unfortunately, his body didn’t comply. Gi-Gyu gazed at Do Bong-Gu’s left leg: A very sharp weapon had amputated it. He looked around to see if he could find the guide’s leg, but he couldn’t find it in all the many limbs spread around the area. 

Suddenly, Yoo Suk-Woo shouted, “Search!” A blue light appeared on Do Bong-Gu’s amputation site before flying to a pile of body parts far away. Then, it stopped above a limb that appeared to be Do Bong-Gu’s amputated leg. 

Suk-Woo announced, “Good. You'll be fine if you get the healer to work on that leg right now.” 

“T-thank you. Thank you so much, Guild Master.” Do Bong-Gu bowed over and over again as he murmured. He could’ve lost his leg permanently if it wasn’t for Suk-Woo, so it was no wonder the guide felt grateful.

Gi-Gyu asked Suk-Woo, “Is that a new skill?”

“Yup.” Suk-Woo answered nonchalantly before thanking Gi-Gyu, “Thanks a lot.”

“For what?” 

“Thanks to you, most of my guild members are still alive, and we managed to avoid trouble. If the Smurf Guild took my players as hostages, things would’ve turned out badly," Suk-Woo explained.

“Well, I guess that’s true.” Gi-Gyu suspected Choi Min-Suk planned on using the Cain Guild members as hostages to make a deal with Suk-Woo. If Gi-Gyu hadn’t gotten involved, Choi Min-Suk would’ve probably gotten what he wished. He would’ve tortured the Cain Guild members, and Suk-Woo would’ve caved in eventually.

‘Because I know Suk-Woo cares about his people.’

Thanks to Gi-Gyu, Do Bong-Gu’s party survived until the reinforcements arrived. And they were also able to annihilate the Smurf Guild. 

Suk-Woo and Gi-Gyu hugged each other. Suk-Woo murmured, “It has been way too long.”

“I know.”

After learning about the deaths of five comrades, they couldn’t smile, but both Suk-Woo and Gi-Gyu were genuinely happy to see each other. After Suk-Woo created his guild and Gi-Gyu began getting stronger, they hadn’t had the chance to meet for a long time. However, something unfortunate like this had finally brought them together. 

Suk-Woo watched his guild members before telling Gi-Gyu, “Let’s talk later.” 

Gi-Gyu nodded and replied, “Question the surviving red players and then hand them over to the association.”

Killing anyone registered as a red player was legal inside the Tower. The association even offered many rewards and benefits for bringing in alive red players. Since killing captured and defenseless red players were just amoral, giving them to the association was the best option. 

But before that, Suk-Woo needed to do his own questioning. Gi-Gyu suggested, “Who knows how many people Choi Min-Suk told about your secret? You better make sure none of the surviving red players know.”

“All right. Thanks again.” Suk-Woo nodded gratefully before adding, “Well, let’s clean up here and get out of the Tower.”

“All right.” 

The Cain Guild members had already initiated the cleanup, so Gi-Gyu and Suk-Woo joined them after their quick chat. 

***

On the 29th floor, association agents could be found near the portal. Even though a large-scale battle involving the red players took place just a moment ago, the portal was deathly quiet as if nothing had happened. 

It made sense because the portal was considered a safe zone. Although the association agents protected this area, only a limited number of them were present on this floor. The Tower floors became bigger the higher one went, so the association agents couldn’t protect and control the entire Tower. 

Also, electric devices didn’t work inside the Tower, so firecrackers and flares were the only way to communicate. Guilds and individual players had to protect themselves independently on the higher floors. It was especially true for floors above the 20th since most red players lived there.  

Gi-Gyu and Suk-Woo handed the captured red players to the association agents and left the Tower. The association also helped them get the injured to safety. 

Gi-Gyu murmured to Suk-Woo, “Thankfully, only Choi Min-Suk and a few dead executives knew about your secret.”

After questioning the surviving red players, they drew this conclusion. Choi Min-Suk kept his reason for targeting the Cain Guild a tight secret. Gi-Gyu continued, “But don’t let your guard down. Once a secret gets out, it’s no longer a secret.”

“Yeah, thanks for your advice.” Suk-Woo nodded. 

When they finally left the Tower, Gi-Gyu watched the people around him and exclaimed, “Uwaah! It feels so great to be out and back in the world.” 

“Gosh, you look so awful. We need to talk about what happened to you,” Suk-Woo replied with his face looking a little brighter. Several of his guild members died or were severely injured, but this was actually the best-case scenario. Also, players accepted death and departure facilely since it had become a part of their lives. 

Gi-Gyu proposed, “Would you like to see Tae-Shik hyung before leaving?”

“Ah! I heard Tae-Shik hyung became the general manager!” Gi-Gyu had introduced Suk-Woo to Tae-Shik a long time ago, so they met a few times together in the past. 

After asking Suk-Woo to wait a moment, Gi-Gyu went to the shower room inside the association building. After a quick wash and shave, he changed into a set of clean clothes he stored in the association locker assigned to him. 

When Gi-Gyu returned, Suk-Woo asked, “Umm, who are you?” It seemed that Suk-Woo genuinely didn’t recognize Gi-Gyu.

“What? What the heck are you talking about? Stop joking around,” Gi-Gyu replied with a frown. 

“W-what?! Could it be…”

“...”

“Are you Kim Gi-Gyu?” Suk-Woo stammered in shock, “T-this is crazy. I wouldn’t have even recognized you if not for your right eye color! What’s going?!”

“Stop this nonsense. Let’s just go see Tae-Shik hyung now.” Gi-Gyu tried to change the subject. He knew how different he looked now since even he felt awkward every time he looked in the mirror. 

Even as they walked to Tae-Shik’s office, Suk-Woo couldn’t get used to Gi-Gyu’s new appearance. He whispered, “T-this is just crazy!”

***

“So you killed Choi Min-Suk and destroyed the Smurf Guild?” Tae-Shik gaped in shock. 

“Yeah, it just happened. I was just gonna save the Cain Guild members, but things got out of control and…” Gi-Gyu answered as he scratched his head shyly. Both Tae-Shik and Suk-Woo couldn’t hide their disbelief. 

Tae-Shik argued, “How are you so calm after killing a red player guild’s guild master? And what the hell happened to your eye?”

“Hyung, how did Gi-Gyu change so much?” Suk-Woo asked Tae-Shik, realizing that Gi-Gyu would never give him a straight answer. Tae-Shik shook his head and replied, “Haa… It’s a long story.”

Tae-Shik wasn’t sure if Suk-Woo would believe him even if he told the full story. When Tae-Shik hesitated, Suk-Woo continued, “I mean, I just can’t believe how much Gi-Gyu has changed. I remember you being so stressed because you couldn't level up, but now… I did hear from Sun-Pil that Gi-Gyu became really strong, but to be honest, I wasn’t expecting much. Yet for you to have killed Choi Min-Suk so easily…”

“Oh, that’s right! You’re Sun-Pil’s cousin, aren’t you?” Trying to change the subject again, Gi-Gyu asked. Suk-Woo replied, “What? That’s not the point here.” 

“Haa… Did you boys eat yet?” Tae-Shik asked with a sigh.

“No, I told you we just left the Tower,” answered Gi-Gyu.

“I know you stayed inside the Tower for over a week. How about you, Suk-Woo?”

“I haven’t eaten either.” When Suk-Woo replied, Tae-Shik stood up and announced, “Well then, we should get some food. We can talk while we eat.”

Tae-Shik was a stress eater. Given how much he was insisting on food, it was obvious he was extremely stressed. So, Suk-Woo and Tae-Shik led the way while Gi-Gyu followed. 

“It’s so nice having dinner with you two.” When Gi-Gyu announced with a bright, innocent smile, both Suk-Woo and Tae-Shik shook their heads and sighed.

“Haa…”

“Haa…”

***

“I’m losing sleep because of you, Gi-Gyu.” When Tae-Shik grumbled, Gi-Gyu argued back, “How is that my fault!”

“Gosh, you’re such a brat.”

Tae-Shik, Gi-Gyu, and Suk-Woo were sitting inside a soondae[1] soup restaurant near the association building Tae-Shik frequented. The trio often came here in the past, so it reminded them of many fun memories. 

Tae-Shik shook his head again in disbelief as he stated, “You suddenly went inside the Tower and didn’t come out for days. And now you’re telling me…” 

Tae-Shik paused before mimicking Gi-Gyu’s voice. 

“Hyung! I fought the Smurf Guild! And when I hit Ranker Choi Min-Suk a few times, he just died! And I also killed many of his guild members too! But in the process, I saved Suk-Woo’s guild members! Aren’t you proud of me?!”

Slamming down on the table in frustration, Tae-Shik asked, “Is that it, you jerk?! Is that what you’re telling me?”

“Haa…” When Tae-Shik sighed, Gi-Gyu argued, “But they are such parasites. You know better than anyone how many innocent players die every year because of red players, Hyung. And like you said, Suk-Woo’s guild members were in danger!” 

Tae-Shik sighed again. “You know I’m not frustrated because you killed them.”

“I do. I know what you’re worried about, Hyung.” 

Tae-Shik’s eyes turned serious as he muttered, “As I've said before, the problem is whether you can control yourself.”

Gi-Gyu blurted, “And like I said before, the real problem is whether I need to control it.”

Suk-Woo sighed while watching Gi-Gyu and Tae-Shik arguing.