CH 133

Choi Chang-Yong, Blue Dragon Guild’s master, shouted, “Tao Chen?” 

Swinging his giant Green Dragon Crescent Blade, Tao Chen replied, “I’m here to help.” 

The battlefield was filled with raucous sounds of weapons and loud magic explosions, but all the players there could still hear Tao Chen’s smooth voice.   

“I knew some foreign players would be dispatched to help us, but I can’t believe they sent the Beautiful Beard himself,” one of the Blue Dragon Guild members murmured in surprise. However, now wasn’t the time to gawk at the famous player, as they were inside a dangerous gate, and every player had to focus on surviving. Thankfully, Beautiful Beard was here to help them do just that. 

Whoosh!

Tao Chen held his Green Dragon Crescent Blade and swung. Bluish magic spewed from it, massacring the entire herd of chimeras before him. Watching him, Choi Chang-Yong frowned and swung his much-thinner sword as he moved forward. Was it because he felt competitive? Anyway, Tao Chen and Choi Chang-Yong took care of the surrounding chimeras in no time. 

Choi Chang-Yong frowned and muttered, “Dammit, this is too much.” Turning toward his men, he ordered, “Get your injuries checked out and prepare for the next battle!” 

“Yes, Sir!” the players replied. 

Choi Chang-Yong placed his sword in its scabbard and began to walk toward Tao Chen, who hung his giant blade on his back. 

“I didn’t expect someone so powerful like you would be sent here,” Choi Chang-Yong said. Choi Chang-Yong was older than Tao Chen and they had met before, so he felt comfortable chatting informally with the Chinese player. 

“I think it just means the situation is dire,” Tao Chen replied as he studied the Blue Dragon Guild members. According to the info he had got, 100 of them had entered, but he could only count 70 now, which meant they had suffered 30 casualties till now. 

The Blue Dragon Guild was no Iron Guild, but its elites were still the best of the best. So for 30 players to die when the group was still on the outskirts of the gate… 

“Hmph, you know as well as I do that unknown territories are glorified death traps for players,” Choi Chang-Yong commented with a shrug. He was suggesting that this was an unavoidable loss. 

‘Unknown territory…’ Tao Chen contemplated Choi Chang-Yong’s words. The scholars saw anything unknown as an opportunity to learn or explore. But to a player…

‘An unknown is a battle a player must risk his life to fight,’ Tao Chen thought, displeased. Entering a gate without knowing its details was one of the most dangerous things a player could attempt. It was especially the case when the said gate was S-Class or higher. This unknown territory could be the poison that might kill them all. 

Choi Chang-Yong announced, “Anyway, this journey will be much easier now that Beautiful Beard is with us. I would like to thank you for your help officially.” 

“You’re most welcome. Korea has provided great help to China in the past, so this is only fair,” replied Beautiful Beard. An expected answer from someone who valued trust and loyalty. 

Suddenly, Tao Chen frowned and asked, “By the way, why didn’t you tackle this gate with the Cain Guild? I realize it might have taken longer to do so, but you would have been able to decrease fatalities. Don’t you agree?”

This time, Choi Chang-Yong frowned as he answered, “The Cain Guild? Are you talking about those greenhorns? They will be of no help to us. They will only burden us and slow us down. I’ll bet they would have caused us even more damage had we let them join us.”

No mistake, Choi Chang-Yong felt great hostility toward the Cain Guild. He continued, “Besides, what about Kim Gi-Gyu, who thinks he’s superior just because he has the association behind him? I don’t know how or why, but Association President Oh Tae-Gu noticed him. That’s why he has gained a little popularity. However, since we’re the ones risking our lives to close this gate, I have no intention of sharing the glory and honor with that rookie.” 

There was nothing but determination in Choi Chang-Yong’s voice, making it apparent that he didn’t like Gi-Gyu. In his eyes, Gi-Gyu appeared out of nowhere and rode on the association and the media's coattails to become famous. 

Choi Chang-Yong wasn’t fond of Yoo Suk-Woo either, but at least Yoo Suk-Woo led the Cain Guild, a recent addition to the top ten Korean guilds list, and sacrificed himself to scout this gate. 

He resented that the KPA ignored all the top ten guilds and took a rookie like Kim Gi-Gyu to the GPA meeting. Choi Chang-Yong just couldn’t accept this. 

‘And they said he was going to be a high ranker, huh?’ Choi Chang-Yong thought with a snort. If this were true, Gi-Gyu would’ve become well known much sooner. Different players required different amounts of experience points to level up, but it wasn’t an easy task for anybody. So, Gi-Gyu becoming a high ranker as fast as the association claimed made no sense. 

“Obviously, he plans to use us to level up in this gate. I will never allow him to do that!” Choi Chang-Yong smirked and turned around, unwilling to discuss this topic further. 

“Hmm…” Tao Chen caressed his signature long beard and murmured, “Is Kim Gi-Gyu and Morningstar the same player?”

The Kim Gi-Gyu that Choi Chang-Yong was bashing sounded different from the Morningstar Tao Chen met. The gap between the two figures seemed so big that he felt confused. 

“Oh well… Michael went to help the other group, so…” Tao Chen murmured. He figured the other group inside this gate was probably fine. Based on his assessment, Michael and Gi-Gyu didn’t seem weak enough to die easily. With a shrug, Beautiful Beard sat down to rest.

***

“This is still the same gate we entered, right?” Yoo-Bin asked

Lim Hye-Sook, a famous female high ranker in her younger days and the advisor of the Gypsophila Guild, replied, “Yoo-Bin! Take a look in front of you.” 

When Yoo-Bin obeyed, she saw a desolate, empty field. The long gauges on the ground were the only signs that indicated a battle took place here. 

Sung-Hoon walked up to Yoo-Bin and murmured, “Wow! Not a crystal in sight.” 

“I guess we’re the extras in this journey,” Lee Bum-Jun chimed in. 

The Cain Guild and the rest waited two hours to follow after Gi-Gyu and Michael went ahead of them. They couldn’t spot a single monster as they traveled: Gi-Gyu and Michael had killed them all. The duo was moving fast, so where did they get the time to collect the crystals? 

Lee Bum-Jun changed the subject and declared, “I think we should follow Ranker Kim Gi-Gyu’s suggestion and search the outer edges of the gate. Maybe we’ll be able to find our guild master there.” 

Everyone nodded in agreement. There was no point in following Gi-Gyu and Michael. If they moved fast enough, they could join the duo to battle the boss monster, but that was an inefficient way to search this gate. So, Lee Bum-Jun and Shin Yoo-Bin moved quickly to their respective guild members to dispatch the scouts.

Sung-Hoon, left alone, continued to study the marks on the ground left by Gi-Gyu and Michael. “Is this really an unratable exceptional gate?”

His voice sounded light, but his eyes remained serious. He whispered, “Just how strong have you become?”

Sung-Hoon wondered if there was no limit to Gi-Gyu’s growth. Every player had different requirements regarding the experience points they needed to level up; therefore, some could level up faster than others. However, Gi-Gyu was in a league of his own, as him becoming stronger didn’t even seem like a matter of simple leveling up. 

He was growing at an exponential rate, as if…

“This is more like an evolution,” Sung-Hoon muttered. Gi-Gyu wasn’t simply improving or leveling up. It looked like he was evolving into something completely different every time Sung-Hoon saw him.

***

“What are those…?” When Michael asked, Gi-Gyu murmured, “Huh?”

Gi-Gyu and Michael were standing together and studying their surroundings; crystals were littered all around them. 

And…

Rattle!

Skeleton soldiers walked around to collect the crystals one by one. 

With a shrug, Gi-Gyu replied, “They’re just my summoned beings.” 

Gi-Gyu didn’t show Michael the entirety of his gate or Lou’s summoned beings. The only reason he even summoned his skeletons was so that they could move quickly. 

Narrowing his eyes, Michael muttered, “I can’t tell if you’re a demon or a human.” 

Michael had no choice but to hang around Gi-Gyu because of El, but that didn’t mean he was no longer suspicious. Had Gi-Gyu been emanating a full-blown demonic aura, he wouldn’t have followed him even for El. 

What Micheal felt from Gi-Gyu was something odd and unique that he couldn’t put into words. The closest two words that came to mind were life and death. Gi-Gyu’s aura felt cold and dark; simultaneously, it felt incredibly warm and light. 

“Why are you staring at me?” When Gi-Gyu asked, Michael jolted and yelled, “I wasn’t staring at you!” 

“Hmm…” Gi-Gyu studied Michael for a moment before sighing. He murmured, “Something’s not right.”

“What are you talking about?” asked Michael.

“For an S-Class gate, this has been too easy,” explained Gi-Gyu. The chimeras were powerful monsters, but considering this was an S-Class or higher gate, killing them was too easy.  

Michael became very serious as he asked, “Have you ever entered an S-Class gate before?” 

Shaking his head with a blank face, Gi-Gyu replied, “No. Had we known this gate would be this easy, we wouldn’t have made such a fuss and just sent a few rankers to close it. Most of all…” 

Gi-Gyu didn’t finish his thought, but he was thinking about Suk-Woo. Based on the hours he had spent inside this gate, he couldn’t figure out why Suk-Woo couldn’t leave. 

Michael announced, “I have been inside an S-Class gate before.” 

Gi-Gyu’s eyes widened as Michael continued, “Ten high rankers, including myself, went inside. Only three came out alive.” 

Michael was one of these three surviving players since he was right here. “The monsters get stronger as you get closer to the center, but they aren’t impossible to kill. As a player, you must know what the most powerful being is inside all gates, right?”

Gi-Gyu nodded and answered, “The gatekeeper.” 

The gatekeeper, the boss monster, or the gate guardian was considered as powerful as the floor guardians of the Tower.

Michael replied, “That’s right. And the higher the gate class, the stronger the gatekeeper. In S-Class or higher gates, the gatekeeper alone holds 70% of the gate’s magic.” 

Gi-Gyu became speechless. The thick and sharp magic he felt inside the gate was astounding, and now Michael was saying that the gatekeeper held 70% of it. 

And the gatekeeper of this gate would be…

Lou replied,

-A demon, of course. 

Gi-Gyu murmured, “That’s incredible.” 

“No high ranker has ever died because of a mere monster. All those who died… Died at the hands of the keepers, the demons, or other beings with similar power levels,” explained Michael. He became quiet afterward, as if he didn’t want to talk about it.  

While they chatted, the skeletons finished collecting the crystals. Watching his skeletons, Gi-Gyu suddenly asked Michael, “What’s your true intention?” 

It wasn’t an impulsive question. Gi-Gyu had been wondering why a powerful player like Michael promptly followed him when he mentioned his plan to enter the center of the gate separate from the group. This was bound to be a perilous journey, so he wondered why Michael chose to do this. 

What was it that Michael wanted to find out through El? 

Burning fury appeared in Michael’s eyes as he replied, “To kill demons.” 

After a hesitant pause, he added, “And also to find out who I am.” 

Gi-Gyu could feel a kind of longing from Michael. 

Gi-Gyu became quiet because, at the moment, Micheal seemed unapproachable. 

After an awkward silence, Michael announced, “Let’s get going now. Didn’t you say you needed to go save your friend?” 

Michael smirked and opened his wings. Without saying anything, Gi-Gyu began to run as well.

***

[Lou has absorbed the chimera’s blood to gain stamina stat.]

[Lou has absorbed the chimera’s soul.]

As Lou beheaded a monster, Gi-Gyu felt the gruesome sensation of flesh being sliced through Lou.

“Phew.” Gi-Gyu swung El with his left hand with a quick sigh, making the three-headed chimera shriek.

“Kirrrk!” 

“Kerrrk!”

“Tsssss!” 

Blaze!

El, which was lodged in the middle head, acted as the origin and burned the middle head with white flame. To be more accurate, that wasn’t while flame—it was divine light, a lethal weapon against the chimeras with corrupted souls. 

Gi-Gyu muttered in disappointment, “The monsters here are useless.” 

Lou had been diligently absorbing the chimera’s blood and souls, but that wasn’t all that useful. The chimera souls couldn’t be egofied, and their blood could only increase Lou’s stamina slightly.  

“Stop murmuring and look ahead!” Michael, shooting light beams from the sky, shouted at Gi-Gyu.

“I got it,” murmured Gi-Gyu. 

Soon, an entrance to the underground appeared before them. 

Twirling Lou and El, Gi-Gyu mumbled, “This is obviously where the boss lives.” 

The moment he stepped into the entrance, he heard several announcements. 

[You have entered Botis’ territory.]

[You have entered a demon’s sphere of influence.]

[You will be greatly affected by the demonic energy.]

[You are deemed worthy of being a landlord.]

[You obtained the right to proclaim the territory war.]

Then, the system declared.

[The winner takes it all.]

The last announcement sounded unusually cold, but Gi-Gyu didn’t get the chance to ponder over it. 

“Ugh.” Gi-Gyu groaned when he felt thundering pain in his chest. He kneeled on the ground, unable to endure it.