CH 215

Gi-Gyu sat on a giant comfortable sofa, leaned back, and closed his eyes.

‘Leviathan, Ha Song-Su, the Caravan Guild, Andras, and the Iron Guild.’

He unhurriedly organized everything he knew about his enemies, as they were opponents he would face someday.

‘Then there is Kim Sun-Pil, Choi Chang-Yong, and the rest of the guilds in Korea and in the world.’ 

Gi-Gyu was alone in the room. Even El and Lou were absent. Truly alone for once, he remained seated and spent some time thinking in peace.

Knock, knock.

There was a knock on the door, and a melodious voice announced from outside, “I’m coming in, Master.”

The door opened, and El walked in. As usual, she began healing Gi-Gyu’s wounds. And since he was used to it by now, he remained still and continued to think.

“You’re healing quickly, Master,” El mumbled.

Gi-Gyu smiled and replied, “I’m glad.”

He opened his eyes and saw a blushing El.

“El.” Gi-Gyu leaned back and looked up at El.

She stood behind him, massaging his shoulders and healing him with Life. Gi-Gyu was less experienced in using Life, so it was more efficient for El to heal him.

El thought, ‘His body is damaged… I have to ensure he doesn’t use Super Rush from now on unless absolutely necessary.’

Gi-Gyu was in bad shape. He looked fine from the outside, but the insides were a mess. His muscles were badly torn and…

‘His muscles… are so hard.’ 

As El felt Gi-Gyu’s hard torso muscles, she couldn’t help but blush again.

“El.”

“Huh? Oh, I-I apologize, Master. Did you say something?” El stuttered.

“What were you thinking so hard about?” asked Gi-Gyu.

El couldn’t answer Gi-Gyu’s question.

Looking curious, he continued, “I want to ask you something.”

“Please go ahead, Master.” El’s face turned calmer as she looked down at him.

“It’s about Leviathan. Had our fight continued… Do you think I would have won?”

It had been a week since Gi-Gyu battled Leviathan, but that water dragon seared into his memory. At the time, Leviathan seemed invincible, but the event had taken such a sharp turn that he was having difficulties remembering the details.

El smiled and asked, “Didn’t you already ask Lou this several times?”

El didn’t know much about this hell king. Lou was the expert, so Gi-Gyu had already asked him the same question many times.

“Well, I haven’t heard your opinion… I want to know what you think,” explained Gi-Gyu.

“I…” El pondered for a moment before answering, “I do not think you would have lost. But, it also wouldn’t have been an overwhelming victory on your part.”

Her answer was different from Lou’s. When Gi-Gyu had asked Lou the same, he replied, “You better be grateful that you’re still alive. I know it’s hard to believe, but you were fighting the real deal. It was no avatar or a weaker version. Still, I’m impressed by how strong you’ve become. You should be honored and proud that you lasted that long.”

Gi-Gyu and his group had never expected someone with Leviathan’s power to enter the gate in their original form. Somehow, Leviathan had succeeded in stealing Kim Dong-Hae’s body and using its real strength. Lou had predicted that Gi-Gyu would have lost had the battle continued. This was also why Lou had rushed to Gi-Gyu when he first felt Leviathan’s presence.

“Then…” Gi-Gyu hesitated a little before asking, “How about Ha Song-Su?”

‘Ha Song-Su...’ Gi-Gyu still couldn’t figure out exactly how strong Ha Song-Su was. But one thing was certain: He would have been defeated if he had fought Ha Song-Su.

But, there was one strange thing.

El seemed to feel the same way because she didn’t answer Gi-Gyu immediately. Finally, she replied, “I’m not sure.”

“Right?” Gi-Gyu seemed to understand why El sounded hesitant. He continued, “Something felt odd. I felt I shouldn’t even try to attack him at the time. My instincts told me I'd die if I fought him. But, now that I think about it, something doesn’t add up.”

“Did you feel like… you saw a ghost, perhaps?” asked El.

“Yes, exactly!”

El had Gi-Gyu had felt the same thing. When Ha Song-Su first appeared, Gi-Gyu didn’t notice anything. But, on reassessing, he realized that it was as if Ha Song-Su’s real body was absent.

When Ha Song-Su had seen Gi-Gyu, he said, “We meet again.”

Was Ha Song-Su referring to the time they had met inside the gate?

Or…

“Master. You should rest for now.” El’s hands continued their massage.

Feeling relaxed, Gi-Gyu decided to take a short nap.

***

Gi-Gyu had been spending most of his time alone, recovering. And now that he was feeling better, the first person he met was Kim Sun-Pil.

“Hyung,” Kim Sun-Pil mumbled.

Gi-Gyu waved his hand and replied, “It’s fine. Have a seat.”

Kim Sun-Pil glanced around nervously before sitting down. Gi-Gyu’s room was very extravagant, showing Old Man Hwang’s luxurious taste.

“Have your injuries healed?” Gi-Gyu asked nonchalantly as if nothing had happened between them.

Kim Sun-Pil flinched before nodding. The injuries Kim Sun-Pil had suffered were mild. However, during the Leviathan fight, something mysteriously changed in the air, which made all the evacuees feel a sudden burst of jealousy. The jealousy turned into hostility, and they began fighting among themselves.

“What about the guild members?” asked Gi-Gyu.

“They’re okay.”

The change had made the Blue Dragon Guild and the Morningstar-Child Guild members fight viciously among themselves. If Gi-Gyu’s creatures hadn’t stopped them, there might have been numerous fatalities.

“I see. I’m glad,” Gi-Gyu answered. Currently, all the players were spending time inside the gate, getting treated for their injuries.

Drip.

Large sweat drops rolled down Kim Sun-Pil’s forehead, which he wiped away. While Gi-Gyu had been out of sight, healing, Kim Sun-Pil thought he would die from stress. He knew this day was coming, but now that Gi-Gyu knew what he had done, Kim Sun-Pil found waiting to be the worst.

“Hyung…” Kim Sun-Pil looked at Gi-Gyu like a prisoner waiting for his execution.

Gi-Gyu studied Kim Sun-Pil’s face and asked, “Why do you keep looking at me with that face?”

“...”

“I already told you that I forgive you.”

Kim Sun-Pil flinched.

Gi-Gyu asked, “Did you think I lied? But I told you before fighting Leviathan that—”

“No, I know you weren’t lying, but…” Kim Sun-Pil couldn’t believe how easily Gi-Gyu had forgiven him. No matter what the reason was, he had betrayed Gi-Gyu. Kim Sun-Pil knew he should have protected Gi-Gyu’s family with his own life; instead, he sold them to the enemy.

Kim Sun-Pil clenched his fists. His body shook from the helplessness, guilt, and fury.

Gi-Gyu explained, “If I were in your situation, I would have done the same thing. That’s why I mean it when I say I forgive you. So stop looking at me like that.”

Gi-Gyu stood up slowly and continued, “But this doesn’t mean you can avoid the punishment. There are consequences for every action you take. It doesn’t matter if the action was done under duress.”

Kim Sun-Pil looked up at Gi-Gyu, who had his back on him.

“But I will take into consideration the difficult situation you were in. So, for now, go and rest. Things will get hard from now on,” Gi-Gyu announced before leaving the room.

When the door closed behind him, tears began to roll down Kim Sun-Pil’s eyes.

“Hyung…” He felt so many emotions, including relief and guilt, but the dominant one was gratitude.

“Thank you, Hyung.”

***

Two men sat across from each other. Both remained quiet and focused on one another. While one looked worried for some reason, the other looked relaxed.

“How long are you going to make me wait?” Choi Chang-Yong couldn’t stand the silence anymore.

Choi Chang-Yong, a high ranker and Blue Dragon Guild’s guild master, looked impatient. The man sitting across from him was Gi-Gyu.

“I was about to begin,” replied Gi-Gyu, a relatively new face in the player world and the most wanted man in the world.

‘Dammit.’ Choi Chang-Yong swore silently. No matter how hard he tried, he just couldn't figure out who and what Kim Gi-Gyu was.

“Did you rest well?” Gi-Gyu asked with a smirk.

“Did I rest well? Are you serious? I guess you haven’t changed at all. What a jerk. Sure, fine. Yes, I rested well thanks to you,” Choi Chang-Yong answered harshly. He knew his life was in Gi-Gyu’s hands very well, but he still didn’t bother speaking politely.

Gi-Gyu smiled. This was why he liked Choi Chang-Yong.

Well, perhaps like wasn’t the right word. It was more like…

‘He’s easy to read.’ Gi-Gyu thought. Choi Chang-Yong was so simple-minded that his motives were never hard to read.

Gi-Gyu and Choi Chang-Yong didn’t meet under the best circumstances. Their first meeting was quite unpleasant.

They had first met inside the Gangnam Gate; coincidentally, it was also where everything started.

Choi Chang-Yong had been a typical player in power filled with arrogance and entitlement. On top of this, he was also corrupt and cruel.

Choi Chang-Yong asked, “Did you find my gift?”

“Yes. The wounded of the Blue Dragon Guild and the Morningstar-Child Guild you abandoned are being treated separately now.”

“So you’re finally giving me some information,” Choi Chang-Yong muttered.

Choi Chang-Yong’s gift was the wounded players he had abandoned at the beginning of their journey. They mostly belonged to the Iron Guild.

“Did you kill all the Iron Guild Members?” asked Choi Chang-Yong.

“...”

“I guess that was a stupid question,” Choi Chang-Yong whispered. A sympathetic look flashed in his eyes, revealing he felt something genuine toward the players.

Choi Chang-Yong sincerely said, “This is a battle between powerful beings. Please try not to sacrifice too many of us weaklings.”

Gi-Gyu could tell that Choi Chang-Yong wasn’t acting. He sniggered and replied, “You didn’t seem to mind sacrificing your guild members when we were inside the Gangnam Gate. You are acting differently now.”

Choi Chang-Yong smiled bitterly and answered, “I had no choice at the time.”

Gi-Gyu muttered, “No. There is always a choice.”

Choi Chang-Yong smiled, and Gi-Gyu looked at him in confusion.

“Everyone has a choice? You’re still very young, aren’t you?”

“...”

Choi Chang-Yong explained, “It’s true I’m not the type to treasure other people’s lives, but I do care about my guild members. You may not believe me, but inside the Gangnam Gate, I really didn’t have a choice. I had to ensure that my guild came out the gate a hero.”

“And you truly believe that sacrificing your players for that was justified?”

Choi Chang-Yong looked straight into Gi-Gyu’s eyes and replied, “Yes, I do. Someone powerful like you would never understand this. But to us, it makes sense. By sacrificing them, we managed to save others. To be honest, I always thought you were the worst.”

A strange fury appeared in Choi Chang-Yong’s eyes as he continued, “If you are this powerful, you should have gotten involved earlier to fix this situation. Haven’t you heard? With great power comes great responsibility. You watched us die while doing nothing. You think we’ll be grateful if you come at the last moment to save us?”

Choi Chang-Yong sighed and said, “Haa… But what does it matter now? I know that you also had no choice. After all, your life must be your priority. And this world isn’t a great place, to begin with. It’s not worth sacrificing your life for. And you didn’t know us or the gate well either. So I understand why you did what you did. I would’ve done the same thing.”

Choi Chang-Yong turned toward Gi-Gyu again and added, “See? You had no choice, just like everyone else.”

Gi-Gyu thought Choi Chang-Yong’s argument was misleading, but he couldn’t refute it. And he didn’t want to either. So, another awkward silence fell.

After a short pause, Choi Chang-Yong murmured, “I want to say something to you.”

El had already told Gi-Gyu that Choi Chang-Yong had shown interest in allying. Gi-Gyu was interested in this idea as well. This was exactly why he had used Rohan to get the Blue Dragon Guild to enter this gate.

Gi-Gyu had purposefully made Choi Chang-Yong wait a whole week. It made Choi Chang-Yong nervous and allowed Gi-Gyu to make a more favorable deal.

Gi-Gyu began, “If you want to talk about the alliance—”

To Gi-Gyu’s surprise, Choi Chang-Yong asked something unexpected, “Are you sure you and the Caravan Guild are enemies?”

Gi-Gyu decided to change his opinion of Choi Chang-Yong. It appeared that Choi Chang-Yong wasn’t an easy man to read.