-So you’re just going to do a half-ass job like this?
When Lou grumbled in frustration, Gi-Gyu argued, “It's because I don’t know what to do!”
-Master, I don’t want to see you get hurt. Please don’t show any kindness to that demon.
-Master! Please don’t get hurt… I’ll be so sad if you do…
El and Brunheart begged. Gi-Gyu’s reply to Lou was sharp, but he couldn’t do the same to his other Egos since they were just worried for him.
“Haa…” Gi-Gyu sighed, took a step back, and poured more magic into Binding to trap the flame giant.
“What should I do?” Gi-Gyu murmured in frustration. The flame giant, Old Man Hwang’s son and Min Su’s father, was just a brainwashed pawn. If possible, Gi-Gyu wanted to avoid killing him and suppress the flame giant in any way he could.
But…
“At this rate, it’s going to become very dangerous. I can’t let this go on any further.”
Drip.
A drop of blood trickled down Gi-Gyu’s arm. A clear sign of his accumulated damage increasing at an alarming rate. Even before the man transformed, he was about as strong as Gi-Gyu. However, the battle slowly became one-sided after his transformation. Gi-Gyu knew it was hubris to believe he could subdue this monster alone.
“Haa…” Gi-Gyu had no choice but to give up his wish to capture the flame giant alive.
-Fucking idiot!
Lou’s curse made Gi-Gyu frown. “Your tone has been very disrespectful lately, Lou.”
-Can you blame me? Why do you believe suppressing him is the only solution here?
“Isn’t it obviou—” Gi-Gyu stopped mid-sentence, abruptly realizing Lou was right.
‘Why am I so fixated on suppressing that? If that isn’t an option, just gotta employ the second-best option.’
Gi-Gyu grumbled, “Thanks.” All the shocking info about the other world and such had seemingly muddled his brain because he usually read such situations faster and better.
“It’s normal for humans to make mistakes from time to time.” Gi-Gyu grinned and patted Lou’s handle.
-Idio—
Lou tried to protest in embarrassment, but El and Brunheart solicited attention before he could.
-Master.
-Master! Pat me! Pat me too!
Gi-Gyu smiled wide again and grasped Lou and El.
“Death,” he muttered when he saw the flame giant’s fist coming toward him.
Kaboom!
The violet smoke from Lou gave rise to an explosion; Gi-Gyu used that to plunge Lou into the flame giant’s fist promptly. “I can purify him with Death.”
***
The battle wasn’t an easy one, since Gi-Gyu was just beginning to get a handle on Death. If he had perfect control over this skill, perhaps he would’ve had an easier time. Unless he plunged Lou into one of the fatal spots, delivering a critical hit would be tough. However, Death was an incredible skill and a secret weapon that even Lucifer praised; ultimately, the flame giant fell to the ground.
The violet smoke corroded the flame giant on the ground slowly. Soon, his body cracked, and the original human form returned.
“Haa… Haa…” Old Man Hwang’s son, now naked, panted on the ground. Gi-Gyu asked, “Are you back now?”
Gi-Gyu didn’t let his guard down since he wasn’t a soothsayer. Suddenly, the naked man on the ground began to mutter his name. “My name… is Hwang Chae-Il… My alias is…”
Hwang Chae-Il was seemingly trying to remind himself who he was. Gi-Gyu listened quietly as the man continued, “Paimon’s descendant…”
-I knew it.
Lou smirked and muttered,
-Ask him about Andras.
“Sir, can you tell me about Andras?”
When Gi-Gyu asked urgently, Hwang Chae-Il whispered, “Andras! Go find the Caravan Guild! That’s where Andras…”
The last flames on Hwang Chae-Il’s body were going out, so Gi-Gyu hurriedly ran to the dying man. “I’ll see you later, Sir.”
“W-what do you mean…?”
Stab!
Lou pierced Hwang Chae-Il’s heart in a single thrust; Min-Su’s father begged, “P-please take care of Min-Su…”
“You can take care of him yourself later,” replied Gi-Gyu. Hwang Chae-Il died, and Gi-Gyu heard the system announcement.
[Cannibalism is being activated.]
[The flame giant is being absorbed.]
[The flame giant is being egofied.]
[Egofication of the flame giant has succeeded.]
“It worked,” Gi-Gyu smiled brightly. However, sadness filled his face a second later. Feeling his heavy heart, his Egos became quiet.
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“I guess I killed the father and son today with my own hands,” murmured Gi-Gyu. What Old Man Hwang and Hwang Chae-Il experienced today probably couldn’t be called true deaths, but this didn’t change that Gi-Gyu ended their lives. Gi-Gyu wondered what Min-Su would think if he came to know of today’s proceedings.
‘Probably a mountain of resentment.’
“This is becoming so complicated.” Gi-Gyu decided he had to untangle this messiness as quickly as possible.
“Ranker Kim Gi-Gyu!” Suddenly, he heard a familiar voice and turned around to spot Sung-Hoon.
“Sung-Hoon?” A confused look appeared on Gi-Gyu’s face since he didn’t expect to see Sung-Hoon here.
“Just what happened here…?” Sung-Hoon trailed off. Both men looked around their surroundings to find it was scorched as if it had just suffered heaven’s wrath.
Feeling awkward, Gi-Gyu scratched the back of his head and replied, “I needed to take care of something personal, and it kind of happened… I had no control over this.”
“Haa…” Sung-Hoon sighed deeply and stated, “The association will take care of this place for now. We were all shocked to find a barrier on this floor. How could something like this happen… Do you have any idea who was behind it?”
His eyes turning sharp, Gi-Gyu replied, “Caravan. I was told that it was the Caravan Guild.”
Sung-Hoon tilted his head since he had never heard of this guild before. “Well, I obviously don’t know every single guild in Korea. Shall I investigate this Caravan Guild for you?”
“Yes, that would be helpful.” When Gi-Gyu answered, Sung-Hoon nodded and asked, “May I have a quick look around?”
“Yes, of course. I don’t think the others can enter this place yet anyway.” Gi-Gyu nodded and walked toward the ritual site. It was such a familiar place that he couldn’t forget it even if he tried.
It was a small cave Gi-Gyu lucked out and discovered a long time ago. After that, he visited this place for the next five years, hunting a single goblin every day.
“It has been a long time since I came to my old hunting spot,” murmured Gi-Gyu.
“Kirrrk.” Suddenly, a goblin sneaked out from the tiny crack of the cave.
“Hmm?” Gi-Gyu looked down at his worn watch and nodded: The goblin still appeared at the same time; it still just roamed around without ever leaving the area. Gi-Gyu felt glad to see the goblin for some reason. It was like meeting an old friend.
“Squeak!” After feeling Gi-Gyu’s overwhelming magic, the goblin screamed and ran away from him. The spectacle made Gi-Gyu grin in satisfaction. Lately, all his opponents had been very powerful, so he had forgotten how strong he had become. He could barely hunt and kill one goblin in the past, but the same monster was running away from him in fear. It made Gi-Gyu understand the extent of his recent growth.
Slice.
Gi-Gyu felt strangely refreshed after Lou slew the goblin. While he was studying the area, he caught something.
“What’s this…?” The cave from which the goblin came flashed a golden light; the light vanished before he could look closer.
***
After asking Sung-Hoon to wait for him a while longer, Gi-Gyu touched the outer wall of the cave. But no matter what he tried, the cave remained the same. He didn’t see a second golden flash no matter how long he waited. It remained the same cave he had seen for five years while working as a guide.
‘What was that light?’
Gi-Gyu felt certain it was an Ego light.
“Lou, do you know anything about this?”
-Hmm…
Among Gi-Gyu’s Egos, Lou helped him the most in situations like this. El had been keeping quiet for some time now, while Brunheart wasn’t exactly a good source of helpful information. For now, Lou was Gi-Gyu’s most trusted and knowledgeable companion. However, Lou was having a hard time answering this one.
-I might have known before I lost my memory, but I don’t really know at this point.
“But you still know a lot. There are times when I feel like you haven’t really lost your memories,” replied Gi-Gyu. Just earlier, Lou had suggested he might know more after he saw Andras and the flame giant. Lou also gave surprising information to Gi-Gyu from time to time while he chatted with Baal.
Lou explained,
-I did lose my memories. It’s just that some things can trigger my faded memories.
Lou’s explanation sounded very complicated. Gi-Gyu asked again, “So you can’t think of anything?”
-If that door leads to the place that I’m thinking about… That door itself might have a special power…
Quite unlike his usual confident self, Lou was uncertain. Gi-Gyu could only nod as he replied, “Well… This cave isn’t going anywhere, so I better return home and talk to Baal or Soo-Jung first.”
-I’m not sure if things will work out the way you think.
Without answering Lou, Gi-Gyu left the area. After he was out of sight, the golden light flashed again.
***
As usual, the association took care of the incident's aftermath. The association was partly responsible for it because it happened on the first floor. Creating such an enormous barrier was a big task, so the association should’ve caught it sooner. The association also had no excuse for allowing suspicious masked players to roam freely on the first floor.
The first floor of the Tower was where the most novice players practiced. The newbies would’ve been powerless to protect themselves had something gone wrong.
The association was still very busy dealing with the Iron Guild situation. The agents were already on edge, so they spent much effort investigating the Caravan Guild. Unfortunately, they could not locate this particular guild. It wasn’t registered in the association’s official guild database, and no one could locate anything with the name Caravan either. Like a ghost organization, the Caravan seemed to be nonexistent.
Finally, Gi-Gyu remembered where he had heard the name before.
‘I’m certain Tae-Oh said he was joining the Caravan Guild.’
When Gi-Gyu’s power first awakened and he was focusing on hunting, he remembered bumping into his guide friend Kim Tae-Oh. At the time, Gi-Gyu thought his friend’s personality seemed to have changed a little.
Tae-Oh had said to him, “I’ve decided to join the Caravan Guild.” He explained that this was why he was quitting the guide job. Finally, Gi-Gyu found a clue to this mystery. If he found Tae-Oh, he would find out about the Caravan.
After relaying this information to the association, Gi-Gyu returned home. When he told Soo-Jung about his findings, she asked tensely, “What did you just say…?”
Baal, who was listening nearby, also didn’t look very happy. Wondering if he had done something wrong, Gi-Gyu repeated, “I said that the Caravan players tried to open the door to the other world. And I think Andras is their leader.”
After a long silence, Soo-Jung replied, “You need to come with me to meet someone.”