[A reward has been prepared.]

[You have destroyed the gate.]

[A bonus reward has been prepared.]

Gi-Gyu found himself inside a gray room; seconds later, several bronze and silver boxes appeared in front of his eyes. This was his first time inside a reward chamber. 

“I guess the silver boxes have the bonus reward,” Gi-Gyu murmured and opened the bronze box first. A bonus reward was given when a certain condition was met. Perhaps finding El was one such condition. 

[30 purple crystals]

“Not bad.”

A purple crystal was the lowest quality crystal found inside the gates, but earning 30 of them wasn’t a bad deal. After all, this was only an F-Class gate. 

“This is the main prize,” Gi-Gyu murmured expectantly as he moved on to the silver boxes. Since this was a bonus reward and encased in a silver box, there was a good chance this would be an equipment item.  

“Huh?”

[Protection Talisman]

[The carrier of this item will gain protection. A non-player can also carry it and gain the ability to resist various illnesses and diseases.]

After reading the description, Gi-Gyu excitedly picked up the small necklace from the silver box. 

***

On his way home, Gi-Gyu felt quite heavy-hearted. He said, “Wow… So the gate was destroyed. Was this an exceptional gate? Or is it because I found El?”

Thankfully, the gate perished long after Gi-Gyu left, so no one suspected him. 

‘I better keep quiet about this.’

The consequences would’ve been dire and simply ineffable had anyone found out about it. Gi-Gyu decided to keep the incident a secret. When he thought about his first gate hunt, he realized his gains were way more than what he could’ve ever imagined. After all, he earned two equipment items, 30 purple crystals, some additional crystals from killing zombies, and El. But, Gi-Gyu felt uncertain about many aspects of this journey.

‘I wonder who they are.’

Gi-Gyu pondered about the true identities of Ha Song-Su and Ha-Rim, but he quickly shook his head. Most players who hid their identities tended to be dangerous. Even if they weren’t, it was never a good idea to probe into someone who wanted to remain anonymous. 

His own safety had always been on top Gi-Gyu’s priority list. He was getting stronger with each passing day, but that didn’t mean he would kick every hornet’s nest he saw. Gi-Gyu was smart enough to recognize that he was just strong among the amateurs—not the rankers and high rankers of this world. 

‘And then there’s that devil… Just what is it?’

El explained that the creature it locked away was a devil. When he synced with El, the seal imprisoning the devil was broken. What were those blood-red eyes he saw before leaving the gate? 

‘El, do you know anything about it?’

A white ring with medusa’s face for its center stone adorned Gi-Gyu’s middle finger: This was El. Just like Lou, El had an accessory function. He was aware of what it did this time, so he immediately activated it after leaving the gate.  

-I can’t remember much. It feels like my head is filled with fog. All I remember is that someone ordered me to protect the devil’s seal. That’s all, Master.

‘And who ordered that?’

Lou suddenly butted in before El could answer.

-What a stupid question! She obviously doesn’t know. 

-...

Gi-Gyu didn’t like Lou's rudeness, but he agreed. He touched his head and murmured, “Things are getting so complicated lately.”

Getting stronger every day was all well and good, but Gi-Gyu wasn’t particularly enjoying all the messy situations he was a part of now. Unfortunately, the past couldn’t be changed. Since he knew worrying about it wouldn’t change anything, all he could do was prepare for the possible consequences.

For a player, that line meant getting stronger. And that happened to be exactly what Gi-Gyu wanted for himself, to begin with. 

‘El, let me have a look at your status screen.’

Gi-Gyu was looking through El’s stats earlier when he found the accessory function. It made him go off-track, so he never got the chance to give her stats a thorough vetting. Back then, he checked Lou's stats to learn about him; it was time for Gi-Gyu to learn more about El.

-Yes, Master.

El calling him “Master” felt a bit awkward, so Gi-Gyu just whispered, “Hmm.” He had already told El that there was no need to call him that, but El refused to listen. 

‘Calling me master isn't a good reason to teach El some manners like Lou, right?’

El's status screen appeared in front of Gi-Gyu’s eyes and broke his train of thought. 

[El]

[Level 2]

[Power: 2]

[Speed: 2]

[Stamina: 2]

[Magic: 2]

[Accessory: Enabled]

This looked very similar to what he saw when he first met Lou. The levels were the only noticeable difference. Gi-Gyu murmured, “I thought you would be much stronger since you were responsible for protecting the devil’s sea—”

-Master, I have been protecting the devil’s seal for so long that I lost all of my power. Even if you hadn’t synced with me, the seal would’ve broken eventually, and I would’ve perished.

Gi-Gyu nodded quietly. He felt a little better after hearing El's explanation.

***

“Oppa!” Yoo-Jung greeted Gi-Gyu when he returned home. 

“How’s Mother?” Gi-Gyu asked.

“She’s sleeping.”

“I’ll wash up first.”

“Okay! I’ll get your dinner ready!” Yoo-Jung offered brightly. After patting her head, Gi-Gyu headed to the washroom. After a quick shower, he changed. As soon as he walked out of the washroom, Yoo-Jung asked, “Oppa! Dinner’s ready, so why aren’t you eating yet?”

Gi-Gyu rummaged through his bag as he murmured, “I need to get this to Mother first.” He took out the talisman and walked to his mother. Yoo-Jung watched with curiosity; without an explanation, Gi-Gyu quietly hung the talisman around his mother’s neck. When Yoo-Jung saw what it was, she exclaimed, “Isn’t that a ‘protection talisman?’”

“Shhh! You’ll wake her up,” Gi-Gyu hushed her.

“Wow! Where did you get such an expensive item from?” Yoo-Jung asked with excitement.

Protection talismans were one of the few items that even non-players could use. It increased the user’s life force while protecting them from minor illnesses. This couldn’t heal their mother, but it could give her some health benefits. 

Gi-Gyu muttered to Yoo-Jung, “I think it’s time to have Mother stay in a hospital.”

“What?”

Gi-Gyu was told that recent medical advancements provided treatment options for even patients with total body paralysis. There was no guarantee of complete recovery; he wanted to try it if there was even a slight chance of recovery. Until now, the treatment cost wasn’t something Gi-Gyu could afford. But since he was becoming financially stable, he felt it was finally time to take his mother to a hospital. 

“I’ll look into the hospitals,” Gi-Gyu offered. 

“Are you sure this will be okay?” Yoo-Jung asked hesitantly. 

“Yeah,” Gi-Gyu replied and patted her head one more time. He appreciated the fact that his little sister was looking out for him.

***

For now, Gi-Gyu decided against advancing to the next floors inside the Tower. To increase Lou’s stats, which required the sword to absorb monsters’ blood, he had to hunt as many of the same kind of monsters as possible. This meant that he had to spend a lot of time killing monsters with higher levels than Lou and El. It was a time-staking task, but the result was satisfying. Although Gi-Gyu’s ascension was slow, he was becoming stronger at a much faster speed in comparison. This was what really counted since a player’s level mattered only because it came with corresponding abilities and skills. 

“El, you’ve leveled up a lot too.”

-Thank you, Master. 

El was already at Level 6. One disappointing aspect was the fact that, unlike Lou, El couldn’t absorb monsters’ blood to become stronger. Although El's stats only had a unit change with each level up, Gi-Gyu was still thankful for being its master. 

“This is unbelievable,” Gi-Gyu muttered. El didn’t have Lou’s special ability, but she had a special ability of her own: every level up in her stats reflected in Gi-Gyu’s stats. In other words, Gi-Gyu’s stats changed with El’s stats. Owning Lou and El was akin to owning two special abilities. 

“Egos tend to level up slowly, but it’s very consistent.”

Unfortunately, ever since he synced with El, the level-ups of his two Egos had slowed down significantly. He suspected that it was either because of the increase in the experience points requirement or the experience points were being shared between the two of them. But Gi-Gyu wasn’t too bothered by this. After all, he was hunting like a lunatic lately and he rarely felt tired, so this didn’t seem to matter so much.

“I better find more Egos later.”

After he obtained El, Gi-Gyu was once again reminded of the Egos’ power. If he could get another one, he knew he could get stronger at a much faster rate. 

“But if I get more Egos, I will never experience peace again,” Gi-Gyu moaned. Of late, his head had been filled with the ramblings and arguments of the Ego duo, so he couldn’t imagine how much more noise he would have to endure if he owned more Egos. But this was the price Gi-Gyu had to pay to become powerful, and he was only too happy to pay it. 

-What?!

-Master, I will try to be as quiet as I can.

Gi-Gyu was glad El was such a respectful creature.

***

“I really think I’ve to hunt more inside gates,” Gi-Gyu thought out loud. His quest to level up Lou had brought him to the ninth floor. The Ego duo had leveled up significantly; Lou’s improvement had been truly amazing. Yet, Gi-Gyu couldn’t help but think about gates. 

The main reason behind why he couldn’t hunt in gates was that he couldn’t find suitable hunting groups. The last time he found a hunting party was because of the website that advertised available groups. However, he still remembered the uncomfortable position he was forced into the last time, so he wanted to avoid such an event at all cost. Unfortunately, he didn’t belong to an established group or a guild. This meant that there weren't many other ways Gi-Gyu could hunt inside the gates. 

“Why isn’t a solo player allowed inside the gates?” Gi-Gyu muttered in annoyance. A capable player shouldn't have any problems clearing an F-Class Gate, but the association didn’t allow it. Players were considered an important asset, and it was the association’s duty to control the players’ vanity and arrogance. If a player ended up dead after a failed hunt, the loss could be too damaging.

“Maybe I need to make my own group,” Gi-Gyu pondered. Many monsters like the zombies only appeared inside the gates, so gate hunting was necessary to strengthen Lou. 

‘But I don’t want to be in a group.’

Sadly, being in a group had its own cons. Gi-Gyu feared the other players more than the monsters. He sighed, “Haa… I better get down first. Mom is finally moving into a hospital today.”

Today was the day Gi-Gyu’s mother was being admitted to a hospital. Tae-Shik helped in choosing the best place for her. It was a famous hospital in Seoul, so it was expensive, but Gi-Gyu wanted his mother to have the best care possible. 

***

“You must be so busy. You didn’t have to come,” Gi-Gyu protested. 

“Today is the day your mother’s being admitted to the hospital, right?” Tae-Shik replied. 

“Thank you so much,” Gi-Gyu replied earnestly. Tae-Shik was visiting to help Gi-Gyu with his mother. Tae-Shik reassured him, “You can trust this doctor, Gi-Gyu.”

“I’m sure I can. After all, you introduced him to me. If he can’t be trusted, you’ll have to answer to me,” Gi-Gyu teased, making Tae-Shik smile and grumble, “You’re such a jerk.”

Tae-Shik asked, “Are you doing well?”

“Everything’s going great. Someday, I’m going to be strong enough to take you down, Hyung.”

Although Tae-Shik looked like a slightly sharp middle-aged man, he was actually a ranker. In the past, he became famous as a high ranker; one day, he retired and began working for the association. Recognizing his talent, the association was willing to help Tae-Shik climb up the corporate ladder faster, but all he wanted at the time was to run the guide department. 

‘It’s nice to see that he’s finally where he’s supposed to be.’

In Gi-Gyu’s eyes, Tae-Shik’s new position suited Tae-Shik better than working at the guide department.  

Gi-Gyu said, “There is actually one problem I have right now.”

“What is it?” Tae-Shik asked with surprise. 

“I’m having difficulty finding a group.”

“A group?”

“Yes. I need to tour the gates, but I can’t trust anyone to accompany me. And since solo hunting is illegal, I am torn,” Gi-Gyu explained.

“Y-yo-you! I told you not to go inside the gates, so what are you talking about?!” Tae-Shik exclaimed.

“To be honest, I already tried hunting inside an F-Class Gate. Killing the monsters was easy, but dealing with the other players was so tricky,” Gi-Gyu complained.

“Haa… You’re so stubborn. But you found monster-hunting easy? In an F-Class Gate?” Tae-Shik asked as he contemplated. Gi-Gyu, on the other hand, waited quietly for Tae-Shik to answer. There was a reason Gi-Gyu mentioned his problem to Tae-Shik. 

Tae-Shik was now a prominent figure inside the association. So, Gi-Gyu was hoping Tae-Shik could perhaps find a solution. And thankfully, it seemed Tae-Shik had already forgotten about how Gi-Gyu entered the gate against his wishes. Instead, Tae-Shik seemed more interested in the fact that Gi-Gyu found hunting F-Class monsters easy.

Tae-Shik finally offered, “I think there might be a way.”

“I knew it!” Gi-Gyu exclaimed.

“Why are you so excited? You don’t even know what I’m about to say,” Tae-Shik retorted; with a playful smile, he continued, “Why don’t you obtain the player credential?”

“Gosh! What the heck! Do you really think I didn’t think of that?” Gi-Gyu yelled in frustration as he felt his hopes crashing down. 

Player credential was a classification system similar to that of the gates. It was done in alphabetical order, and it measured the players’ strength. High-ranking players were allowed to go solo hunting inside the gates, and Gi-Gyu was already aware of this. 

However, the problem was the classification process. An item made from the gate crystals was used to measure a player’s power. Of course, the trouble here was that Gi-Gyu was still a Level 1 player. On top of that, all his abilities stemmed from Lou and El. Based on the current method, he would never be powerful enough to get the credential. Gi-Gyu had no doubt he would be labeled F-Grade. Them not even considering him a plyer wasn’t out of the realm of possibility either. 

Gi-Gyu murmured, “I guess I better think about this…”

But perhaps it wasn’t such a bad idea to just try it. If he got lucky, he could cheat with Lou and El’s help. 

“Oh, and…” Tae-Shik began as if he was about to say something important. “There was an accident where a sustained gate in Guri City perished. I don’t know if it suddenly turned into an exceptional gate or something, but… Just be careful, Gi-Gyu. After becoming just a bit stronger, players tend to get into trouble because of their arrogance.”

Gi-Gyu scratched his head to hide his guilt.