Chapter 67 – The Ranker (3)

The faint glow circled Gi-Gyu a few times before entering his chest.

-M-master!

When Brunheart stammered in surprise, Gi-Gyu nervously asked, “Brunheart! Are you okay?”

-Master…

Brunheart’s voice faded away slowly. Gi-Gyu began to panic and was about to deactivate Combination when he suddenly heard the system’s dry voice.

[You’re being transferred to the gate.]

Then, everything turned dark.

***

𝒻𝑟ℯℯ𝑤𝑒𝑏𝑛𝘰𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝒸𝑜𝘮

“Where am I…?” Once Gi-Gyu regained sight, he immediately realized where he was: Inside Brunheart’s gate.

“What is going on here?” Confused, Gi-Gyu murmured; then, he heard an abrupt exclamation,

-Master!

It was the same cute and immature voice.

“...” Gi-Gyu looked up in the air, but Brunheart didn’t say anything more.

[Brunheart and the Ego’s fragment have successfully combined.]

[The Ego fragment may affect Brunheart’s gate.]

Gi-Gyu was standing in the middle of a graveyard. It was the same place he captured the gloomy and rude lich before it turned into the boyish and playful Brunheart. When he looked up, he saw a golden light high up floating toward the crypt.

“Am I supposed to follow that?” As if being swayed by an unknown force, his instinct made him follow the light. When he touched the crypt, another system announcement rang in his ears.

[This gate does not have a manager.]

[You can use the Ego fragment from Combination to create a gate manager.]

[Please set up a gate manager.]

Several monster figures popped into Gi-Gyu's mind. It was such a strange situation, but it didn’t surprise him; for some reason, it gave him a feeling of déjà vu.

Slowly, he studied each monster.

‘Zombie goblin, skeleton knight, and…’

Since most were from the undead category, Gi-Gyu assumed it was due to the characteristic of Brunheart’s gate. He glossed over many options before he finally found two suitable candidates.

‘Lich and…’

One of them was a carbon copy of the lich he hunted before.

‘...death knight.’

And the other was a death knight with black armor and helmet and a flaming sword. Gi-Gyu remembered reading about this monster in an encyclopedia: A long-dead high ranker created this monster.

Gi-Gyu contemplated, ‘I really like the death knight.’

The lich he fought back then was much weaker than he anticipated. On the other hand, even high rankers found killing a death knight hard.

“But…”

After a moment of hesitation, Gi-Gyu announced, “I choose the lich.”

[Lich has been selected as the gate manager.]

[The entire Ego fragment has been consumed.]

[From now on, the lich with manage this gate.]

Then, the crypt, the one Gi-Gyu touched, began effusing a blue smoke.

-Why did you pick the lich?

The death knight was actually the strongest monster Gi-Gyu could think of right now. So, his decision would leave anyone, let alone Lou, confused and curious. He explained, “Because I was choosing a manager. I’m not sure if the gate manager will ever be involved in a battle. Besides, I lack magic, so I thought it would be better to pick someone smart and of the magic category... ”

Gi-Gyu trailed off, unsure, but he didn’t regret his decision. Since he wasn’t selecting a general or a fighter, he firmly believed that the lich was a better fit for the job.

Soon, a lich with a fluttering robe materialized before Gi-Gyu and greeted, “Greetings to you, Grandmaster.”

Amused by the monster’s polite behavior, Gi-Gyu laughed. It seemed like only yesterday when he battled a lich; today, he had one being all respectful to him: It felt weird.

“Umm… So you’re the new manager?” asked Gi-Gyu.

“Yes, I will be managing this gate from now on,” the lich replied with a bow.

“Then…” Gi-Gyu rubbed his chin before continuing, “Does that mean you also manage every monster inside this gate? They will follow your order?”

The lich’s answer was unfortunate and unexpected.

“No, that won’t be the case.”

“Why not? You’re the gate manager, aren’t you?”

‘How can a gate manager not control the monsters inside its own gate?’

“Please give me a moment.” The lich waved his hand, and a small status screen appeared in front of Gi-Gyu’s eyes.

[Gate control level: 1%]

The lich explained, “The current control level is too low for me to dominate the monsters inside. The control level will increase as you, the grandmaster, and I battle the monsters inside this gate. Once the level reaches a certain level, you can summon and control the monsters at will.”

Gi-Gyu nodded in understanding: He had to clear the gate one more time to get full control. The lich said that it could do it alone, but with Gi-Gyu’s help, things would go much faster.

-I must say that your idea is very sound.

When Lou commented, Gi-Gyu smiled and replied, “I told you I’m not stupid.”

Turning toward the lich again, Gi-Gyu asked, “Then do you have any other abilities or skills?”

“Not yet… I apologize for my inutility, Grandmaster…” The lich trailed off shyly—it didn’t suit his gruesome outer appearance. With a smile, Gi-Gyu offered, “Then I better help you get stronger.”

***

Gi-Gyu asked the lich to follow him outside the graveyard, but it explained that it could not move until it was given a proper name. Since they were inside Brunheart, Gi-Gyu first thought to name the lich Brun, but both Lou and El adamantly opposed it. In the end, the lich was named?Hart.

.

After naming it, Gi-Gyu could check its status screen; he skipped this step and walked out of the graveyard.

The first thing he did was hunt the durahan that protected the graveyard. Despite becoming stronger thanks to all the crystals Gi-Gyu fed the gate, the durahan was no match for Gi-Gyu. Once he killed this monster, the gate control level went up to 3%. Seconds later, the?durahan regenerated and bowed deeply to Gi-Gyu—it was now in Gi-Gyu’s control.

After Gi-Gyu and Hart hunted together for what seemed like days, he murmured, “Hart, I can’t believe how useless you are.”

“I-I apologize, Grandmaster…”

When they hunted together, the lich was useful as a knife in a gunfight: Gi-Gyu had to take care of everything. He finally decided to test the lich’s hunting skill, so he let Hart and the newly regenerated durahan battle the skeletons.

Hart turned out to be a stick in a gunfight. Gi-Gyu murmured, “So it’s clear the durahan is much stronger than you.”

“I’m sorry, Grandmaster…”

The durahan growled in pleasure, “Grrrr!”

From what Gi-Gyu had seen, he concluded that the lich’s strength increased with the gate control level. Since it was still low, the lich was a toothpick in a gunfight. Thankfully, as they killed the countless skeletons and formed their army, the gate control level increased quickly.

Within two short days, Gi-Gyu achieved a 100% gate control level. He announced in pleasure, “Now you’re much stronger and useful. Don’t you agree, Hart?”

“This is all thanks to you, Grandmaster,” Hart murmured. Gi-Gyu worked like a donkey during the last two days to help Hart get stronger. There were moments when Gi-Gyu thought he saw tears in that lich’s hollow, bony eye sockets. In the end, everything worked out, and it was a now little stronger than when Gi-Gyu first fought it.

Gi-Gyu asked, “So you’ve complete control over this gate now?”

“Yes. The gate doesn’t have many skills yet, but the monsters inside are now in our control, Grandmaster.”

Gi-Gyu frowned before asking, “And how do I leave this place?”

“You just need to ask Master Brunheart,” replied Hart.

To the lich, Brunheart was the owner of this gate. Therefore, Brunheart was its master, while Gi-Gyu, Brunheart’s master, was the grandmaster. Gi-Gyu nodded and announced, “Let me out, Brunheart.”

[I’ve been waiting for you to say that, Master!]

Brunheart’s voice rang in the form of a system announcement as Gi-Gyu was once again surrounded by total darkness.

***

“I gotta check one more thing, and then we’ll leave. Combination took so long that I forgot about Lou’s new skill for a second.” Gi-Gyu frowned as he looked down at the worn, old watch on his wrist. He had spent two entire days battling those skeletons: Way more than what he would’ve liked.

Lou insisted.

-Don’t forget about Grant. We need to try it out too.

“I know that.” After replying to Lou, Gi-Gyu yelled, “Open!”

Slowly, Brunheart, embedded in Gi-Gyu’s chest, began to rotate. The gate door opened, and the skeletons jumped out one by one.

“Uwahhhh!” Gi-Gyu exclaimed in excitement. Previously, they attacked Gi-Gyu on sight; now, they just stared in confusion.

Suddenly, lich Hart jumped out and roared, “How dare you stand so tall in front of Grandmaster? Bow, you morons!”

Then, dozens of skeleton soldiers simultaneously kneeled and bowed deeply to Gi-Gyu. His eyes widened in surprise, and he asked Hart, “You can leave the gate too?”

Gi-Gyu didn’t know that even the gate manager could leave the gate. The lich explained, “I can do this now because of the gate’s stockpile energy from the crystals.”

Gi-Gyu promptly ordered, “Then shouldn’t you be returning immediately?”

“Of course, Grandmaster…” Hart turned around obediently.

“You’re wasting the crystals just by being outside the gate, right? I’ll call you later if I need you,” explained Gi-Gyu. He was satisfied with everything he had learned so far. He now had full control over the monsters inside the gate, and he could even call for the gate manager. Once all the monsters returned to the gate, Gi-Gyu closed it.

“This is basically…” murmured Gi-Gyu. He had been so busy increasing the gate control level that only now did he see the parallels.

“...a gate break!” ?He just realized two things: He controlled a disaster, and he would never sell another crystal again.

***

“Did you just leave the Tower?” Tae-Shik asked when Gi-Gyu entered his office. Tae-Shik had something to discuss, so he had been patiently waiting for Gi-Gyu’s return for the past three days.

Gi-Gyu replied, “Yeah. I had to familiarize myself with a few things. Actually, I still have a few left to learn about.”

When Gi-Gyu sounded disappointed, Tae-Shik smiled and told him, “I’m sure you can check those things later. You’re already strong enough. It could be a problem if you become too powerful too fast.”

Gi-Gyu nodded and laid down on the sofa, utterly spent. He entered the Tower after the sparring match with Tae-Shik without taking a rest. And after two days of battling the skeletons, Gi-Gyu needed sleep.

Also, Death’s aftereffects were especially long-lasting.

‘Definitely not something you break a pi?ata with.’

However, Death, as a skill, could deliver a fatal blow to his enemies, so he had to master it somehow.

“So, how did it go?” Gi-Gyu went right to the point. He wanted to return home and rest, so there was no time for chit-chat.

“What do you mean? You’re a ranker now, of course.”

“That’s it?” Gi-Gyu asked in shock, surprising Tae-Shik with his shock. Tae-Shik explained, “What did you expect? I did tell you there were two ways to become a ranker, right?”

“Yes.”

One way was to fight another existing ranker to steal his ranker status. The other was to take over a dead ranker’s position with the association’s help. Tae-Shik chose the second method for Gi-Gyu, so Gi-Gyu didn’t have to do much to get this prestigious title.

Gi-Gyu murmured, “I feel a little empty now…”

Every player’s dream was to become a ranker. Yet, he became one without much effort, so he found this whole deal a bit surreal.

Tae-Shik explained, “For now, your face is registered only in the Korean association records. Depending on the situation, we may have to release your identity. But the old man has been implementing new policies to clean up the association, so I don’t think you have to worry about your safety.”

“All right.” Gi-Gyu wasn’t worried at all. He knew Tae-Shik and the association president were doing their best to protect him. Besides, Gi-Gyu felt like he was now strong enough to protect himself even if his identity became known. Of course, he wanted to avoid being a public figure at all costs.

“Well, I’ll see you later then,” Gi-Gyu announced. He was so tired that he only desired the warmth of his bed now. He was about to leave the office when Tae-Shik yelled, “Hey! You still have to do one thing before it’s official!”