Chapter 18 – A Fragment of an Ego (2)

“Let’s take a break here.”

-You’re such a human.

-You’re being rude to our Master, Lou.

Feeling tired from the continuous hunts, Gi-Gyu sat down after making sure he was safe. After killing nearly all the monsters within his perimeters, he felt he deserved a quick rest. So, he brought out his bonfire kit, started a flame, and began eating a piece of jerky.

“How long has it been so far?” he murmured as he looked down at his old watch. Because electric devices didn’t work inside the gates, most players were used to wearing an old-fashioned analog watch.

“We’ve been hunting for five hours straight.” For that entire span, Gi-Gyu had a one-track mind about going forward. It was no wonder he was tired since he had been incessantly hunting for five hours.

Gi-Gyu learned so far that this gate was inhabited by the blue wolves. These monsters were about as strong as the creatures on the Tower’s 8th floor. The blue wolves were known to have incredible stamina and annoyingly tenacious nature, but…

“Gosh, they are no better than the orcs,” Gi-Gyu muttered. So far, no wolf could survive more than two swings of Lou and El, which made them about as strong as the orcs. It was a testament to Gi-Gyu’s increased strength, but he still felt a bit bitter. The fact of the matter was that all this strength, power, and might wasn’t his. Without the swords, he would be the same “player who can’t level up.”

Gi-Gyu asked his Egos, “If I lose you guys, I’ll return to being a weak, useless player, won't I?”

-...

-You can continue to use our powers within a certain circumference. However, our connection will weaken if we are too far apart. And then, your ability to use our powers will become severely limited.

“I know. Lou already told me.”

Gi-Gyu had asked Lou about this topic back when he wanted to get a player’s credentials. Measuring a player’s power involved getting into a machine powered by crystals naked. Players not only had to remove all their accessories and items but also their clothes. Consequently, Gi-Gyu couldn’t obtain a player’s credentials despite being strong enough. However, he was thankful for his strength and for coming this far.

Gi-Gyu said to his Egos, “I know I can’t use the benefits of owning a player’s credentials, like the tax deductions and such. But, without you guys, I would’ve never even dreamt of hunting like this inside a gate alone.”

-Don’t be so pathetic.

-If you grow your abilities, I’m sure someday you can use our powers regardless of how far apart we are, Master.

It was no big mystery that El was the kind one of the two; she always consoled Gi-Gyu.

“That’s the problem, you see. How am I supposed to grow strong? I’ve gotten a job, some skills, and even a unique ability, yet I still haven’t leveled up. My stats haven’t moved an inch. I thought they would change after I passed the test, but…”

Even after passing the 10th-floor test, nothing changed for him personally. His Egos kept on leveling up and gaining experience points, but nothing made a direct change in Gi-Gyu’s stats. Still, he decided to stop worrying about it. He murmured, “I’m sure things will work out.”

He then opened Lou's status screen.

[Lou]

[Level 17]

[Power: 40]

[Speed: 54]

[Stamina: 50]

[Magic: 34]

[Available Skills]

[Accessory]

[Cannibalism: You can prey on corpses to regain stamina.]

Lou had leveled up significantly, and his stats had increased a lot too. Gi-Gyu murmured, “But how do I make use of this cannibalism skill? Haa…”

Lou had gained this new skill, but how was Lou supposed to prey on the corpses? Did the system want Lou to open his imaginary mouth and eat what they hunted?

Gi-Gyu gave up after mulling over it for a while. Then, he announced, “Let’s just get back to hunting.”

-Your order is my command, Master.

-You’re so fake, El.

Gi-Gyu decided it was better to keep moving than worry about problems he didn’t have solutions to.

***

“Arff!” another blue wolf fell to the ground after being stabbed by Lou. Gi-Gyu quickly pulled out Lou and swung El to behead a wolf sneaking up on him from behind. The headless wolf collapsed to the ground as well.

“Haa… We must be getting closer to the boss monster’s room.” The monsters dying under his blades had been growing stronger; this meant they were approaching the boss’ room. Gi-Gyu increased his pace and hunted the wolves before they could even attack him. So far, his stamina hadn’t suffered much because the blue wolves were too weak.

His lower body and arms had minor scratches because these parts lacked Brunheart's protection. However, his increased stamina stat patched them right up after a quick rest. Lou, El, and Brunheart's combined stamina gave Gi-Gyu nearly 100 points in stamina. Gi-Gyu couldn’t take full advantage of it because of his low level, but utilizing just 30 points wasn’t hard. Remember, a stamina of 30 points was what a tanker would normally possess. So, it was no wonder the blue wolves couldn’t even leave a decent scratch on him.

An abrupt thought came to Gi-Gyu’s mind,?‘Then just how strong is Tae-Shik hyung?’?This made him believe that rankers had non-human levels of power.

Gi-Gyu couldn’t remember how many system announcements he heard about Lou's speed increasing from absorbing the wolf’s blood. After countless hunts, he spotted a giant cave in front of him.

“A cave within a cave,” Gi-Gyu murmured out loud as he sat down. The gates were considered wondrous things because they had these kinds of exotic features. This had to be the boss’ room; even a newbie player could make this guess.

Being the smart thing to do, Gi-Gyu decided to make some last-minute preparations before entering the boss’ room. He muttered, “I haven’t used a single disposable item yet.”

Smoke shells, potion, emergency supplies—all the items he spent much effort to obtain, untouched. The only disposable item he ended up using was the bonfire kit.

Gi-Gyu felt disappointed and upset for all the time and energy he wasted in preparing for this hunt. But, his earnings so far seemed to make up for it.

“I got over 40 purple crystals. Should I get one of those bags with built-in expansion magic?” Gi-Gyu murmured as he looked down at his bag overflowing with crystals. Already having this kind of problem inside an F-Class Gate meant this trouble would just stack up in the higher-level gates. Without a convenient storage option, he would’ve to enter and exit higher-level gates multiple times just to get his loot out. That would be like spitting on the thumb rule regarding gates: Don’t leave them before clearing.

Gate sizes varied from country to country; there were gates in some countries that were bigger than the entire nation of Korea. Therefore, going in and out of the gates multiple times was time consuming and dangerous. Hiring a porter to carry your loads wasn’t a bad idea; because Gi-Gyu worked alone, he wasn’t confident he could protect the porter and himself.

“Well, I can think about this later. For now, I need to buff up,” Gi-Gyu murmured and took out all potion bottles except the red and orange ones; they were for internal and external injuries, respectively. Potion bottles looked like they were made of glass, but the material used was actually elastic, like rubber. These bottles were made of new materials synthesized by utilizing the crystals. Gi-Gyu quickly gulped down the contents of the bottles. He began with the green one, followed by three other colored potions.

[You have drunk the goblin fluid.]

[Your stamina’s temporarily increased by 3.]

[You have drunk the orc’s blood.]

[Your stamina’s temporarily increased by 5.]

[You have drunk the blessing potion.]

[All of your abilities will temporarily increase by 1.]

The names and the tastes of these potions were awful, but their effects couldn’t be denied. Players from the production category could harvest information or blood from monsters. They then processed it to make buff portions like these. Blessing potions, on the other hand, were created by players from the clergy category.

Felling the raw power coursing through his veins, Gi-Gyu exclaimed, “It’s already working!” It might not look like much, but the increase from the potions was equivalent to three levels.

-Don’t make a fuss. I’m so glad we’re at the gate right now. If we were outside, people would’ve thought you’re crazy for talking to yourself so loudly.

-Don’t be so disrespectful to our master, Lou.

Gi-Gyu wondered if it was high time to teach Lou some manners again. However, he decided against it because of the new piece of trivia he had heard: Great animosity between the Ego and its master could decrease the assimilation rate. Also, he realized that he had indeed been talking a little too much with himself ever since he obtained the Egos. So… Gi-Gyu stood up and announced, “It’s time to hunt the boss monster!”

Yes, Gi-Gyu made himself believe he wasn’t talking to himself, but to his Egos. After justifying his new habit, he headed inside the cave.

***

As Gi-Gyu entered deeper into the cave, he could feel the increasing pressure overwhelming his body. This was how the boss monsters showed off their strength.

‘The boss must be pretty strong.’

Talon from his first gate had lost much of its strength because it belonged to a sustained gate that had been cleared several times previously. But this was the first time a player was attempting to clear this particular gate, so the never-been-hunted boss was showing off its intimidating presence.

When Gi-Gyu finally entered the cave, he witnessed surprising scenery. He murmured, “A prairie?” He was expecting an even darker cave at the end; instead, a stretch of grassland greeted him. However, the lack of wind reminded Gi-Gyu he was still inside the gate.

‘There’s the boss monster.’

On a low hill was a giant blue wolf crouching down; it was so big it looked like a small hill on top of the hill it was sitting on. It was this gate’s boss, also called the gatekeeper. These boss monsters were supposed to be as strong as the guardians inside the Tower.

Unlike the weakened Talon that had been hunted multiple times inside the sustained gate, Gi-Gyu had no information on this wolf. In addition, this wolf was at its full power because it had never been hunted before. Realizing he was about to fight such an extraordinary creature, Gi-Gyu felt a little excited. It wasn’t from the prospect of the oncoming battle but from what he might gain after killing this monster.

“Grr…” the giant wolf growled and rose after noticing Gi-Gyu.

-Wow, that’s a pretty strong monster. But of course, that’s in comparison to you, Master.

-Please be careful, Master.

Lou was rude as usual, but Gi-Gyu could tell it was speaking out of concern for him.

‘There isn’t much time left till the effects of the potions run out.’

The cave turned out to be longer than his expectations, so he didn’t have much time left till the effects of the potions ran out. There was always a chance a player could be attacked as soon as they entered the boss’ room, so drinking all available buff potions before facing the boss was a common practice. But, in this case, he ended up wasting the limited time the potions offered.

Gi-Gyu raised Lou and El simultaneously; after spending so much time with them, his form didn’t look as awkward as before. And then there were those five years he spent hunting goblins.

𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶

“Grrrrrr!” the huge blue wolf roared; its breath was akin to a gale inside the prairie.

“Krr!” The monster sprinted toward Gi-Gyu with full force.

“Huu… Huu…” Gi-Gyu calmly controlled his breathing in the face of this massive pressure. And rather than trying to avoid the monster’s attack, he decided to face it straight on. Gi-Gyu gripped Lou hard, making the muscles on his right arm bulge. The blue wolf was getting close with each passing second. Then, when it thought it was close enough, the monster suddenly kicked the ground and jumped to the sky. For a moment, Gi-Gyu thought the world had darkened, but then…

Clunkkk!

The giant blue wolf’s long and massive canine clashed with Lou, causing a loud roaring sound. As the sparks flew, Lou broke a chunk off its fang. Just then, Gi-Gyu’s used his left hand to swing El like a whip.

***

“Haa… Haa…” Gi-Gyu huffed audibly. He couldn’t remember the last time he felt this tired or hurt; every part his body was covered in lacerations except his torso. He suffered so many cuts that one could see his fight plan printed in blood on the ground.

Plop!

Gi-Gyu’s legs had been shaking for a while; in the end, he couldn’t stop himself from squatting down on the ground.

“Grr…”

When the wolf groaned weakly, Gi-Gyu yelled in annoyance, “Shut up, you stupid mutt.”

He couldn’t believe how tired he was feeling all thanks to this wolf. When he checked his watch, he realized he had been fighting this blue wolf for over three hours. Now, the wolf lay in front of him, defeated. From time to time, it cried and moaned quietly, but it could no longer move. After all, its legs were a mess after sustaining uncountable cuts from Lou and El. It also suffered a large gash on its stomach from where its organs were spilling out.

“I got lucky,” Gi-Gyu muttered. Toward the end, the wolf was at an advantage for a moment; it panned on swallowing Gi-Gyu whole. Blaming himself for what was happening, he was prepared to die when suddenly, the accumulated damage inside Brunheart reflected toward the wolf. The monster fell from the force, and Gi-Gyu was able to gain a miraculous win.

“I can’t believe this is how strong an F-Class Gate's boss really is…”

This couldn’t even compare to what Gi-Gyu experienced with Talon from the other gate. To celebrate surviving this day, he decided he would pat Lou and El every day to increase their assimilation level.

Gi-Gyu’s legs still shook dangerously, so he used Lou to help himself up.

-I’m not a cane!

Gi-Gyu grinned and slowly walked toward the wolf. Since it was a boss monster, he knew it was going to recover quickly. Gi-Gyu couldn’t even imagine how he was going to survive if the wolf managed to get up and began fighting again. Even as he wondered that, one of the monster’s legs was bubbling as it healed.

“Thank you,” Gi-Gyu murmured appreciatively. He really was grateful to the wolf for dying in his hands. Then, Gi-Gyu plunged Lou into the middle of the wolf’s head.

[You have eliminated the boss Chang-Gyung.]

[You have gained experience points.]

[Lou is absorbing Chang-Gyung’s blood.]

[Lou has absorbed Chang-Gyung’s blood to gain the agility stat.]

[Lou has absorbed Chang-Gyung’s blood to gain a skill.]

[Strong Will: When suffering unbearable damage, it can provide a quick stamina recovery.]

Because he gained the experience points, Gi-Gyu felt it was safe to assume he succeeded in killing the blue wolf.

[Cannibalism is being activated.]

“Huh?” Gi-Gyu gasped as he watched the blue wolf slowly disappear. As if it was being eaten away by a set of strong jaws, portion after portion of the monster's corpse began to disappear. When the entire monster finally vanished, there was only a navy crystal left in its place. The navy crystals were higher quality than the purple ones; therefore, slightly more expensive. The crystal in front of him wasn’t small either, so Gi-Gyu was happy to realize that it was going to bring him a pretty penny.

Gi-Gyu also felt energized as his stamina recovered.

[Lou has absorbed Chang-Gyung.]

[The blue wolf, Chang-Gyung, has been successfully?egofied.]

Gi-Gyu heard the system’s announcement; suddenly, he realized something new had just occurred.