Chapter 68 – The Ranker (4)  

“What is it?” Gi-Gyu, on his way out, looked back.

Tae-Shik replied, “I think an unofficial ranking match is still necessary.”

“Pardon?” Gi-Gyu asked, genuinely confused by Tae-Shik’s answer. Didn’t Tae-Shik just say he was officially a ranker now since the association acknowledged him as one? So why was he suddenly talking about a ranking match? Gi-Gyu thought hard, but he just couldn't understand.

Tae-Shik scratched his cheek, remembering he never explained the proper process. “Ah! I guess you don’t know. Do you really think the other rankers will be okay with an association-appointed ranker? They each spent so much effort for that position, so what do you think their reactions would be if the association deemed a random player a ranker? It definitely won’t be ‘I understand. Have a nice day.’”

Gi-Gyu shook his head. Now that he thought about it, he realized Tae-Shik was right. He hadn’t been putting much thought into this whole thing, but now, he could understand how annoyed the other rankers would feel.

‘After all, the rankers and the high rankers took great pride in their position.’

There was no way the other rankers would accept Gi-Gyu just because the association ordered it. Tae-Shik explained, “That’s why an official ranking match must occur. You must battle an existing ranker with at least three other rankers as witnesses. An official match calls for at least three rankers and an audience; your match will be officially unofficial since it will be in an undisclosed place without any audience.”

“Hmm…” This setting helped Gi-Gyu hide his identity, so he was okay with this “unofficial” match.

“All right,” Gi-Gyu replied since there was no way to avoid this match. Besides, he was easing up to the idea of public life. Maybe life wouldn’t be so bad even if his identity became public. Tae-Shik announced quietly, “Then I will let you know once I decide on your opponent.”

Gi-Gyu left with a nod.

***

Gi-Gyu felt drained, and his fatigue wasn’t something potions could fix. By the time Sung-Hoon dropped him off at his home, he could barely keep his eyes open. The exhaustion from Death and creating a new gate manager took a bigger toll than expected.

Gi-Gyu slept for two days straight, not even waking up for meals. It worried his family, but they didn’t wake him up. When he finally woke up, Yoo-Jung asked in shock, “Are you Snow White or something, Oppa?”

“What? What are you talking about?” Gi-Gyu, at first, thought he just slept deeply for an hour or two. However, Yoo-Jung’s comment told him he slept for much longer. He looked at the clock before his sister could answer him and murmured, “I only slept for two hours, so what are you talking about?”

Gi-Gyu remembered returning home at 11 a.m; it was now 1 p.m., which meant he had only slept for two hours. Wasn’t calling him Snow White for that a bit much?

Yoo-Jung shook her head and replied, “That was two days ago.”

“T-two days?” Gi-Gyu stammered in confusion. He quickly took out his cell phone, confirmed the date, and murmured, “What the heck? How could I have slept that long?!”

The span of Gi-Gyu’s beauty sleep bewildered him, so Lou and Brunheart explained.

-Death is harder to control than you think.

-Managing my gate takes a lot of energy too, Master!

‘I thought my stamina has increased significantly because of the elixir and the increased stats, but I guess it’s still not enough.’

This reminded Gi-Gyu of how difficult controlling Death would be. When he seemed concerned, Lou reassured.

-Don’t worry. Once you get used to them, it won’t waste so much of your stamina.

-An average player couldn’t have endured it at all! It only took you two days to recover because of your stats and the elixir, Master!

Gi-Gyu shook his head, still feeling frustrated. Worried, Yoo-Jung looked at him and asked, “Oppa, are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine,” Gi-Gyu replied lightly and put on a jacket. He checked his phone and saw that Tae-Shik and Sung-Hoon had called him earlier. Yoo-Jung continued, “Mom’s worried about you too, Oppa. She said she had never seen you sleep this much before. And what’s with your face? Are you angry about something?”

“What are you talking about? I’m fine, really.”

After saying that, he left home again.

***

When Gi-Gyu arrived at the association building, Sung-Hoon greeted him, “Is it true? Did you seriously sleep for two days straight?”

“Yeah… I was surprised too,” Gi-Gyu replied lightly and headed toward Tae-Shik’s office. He was about to open the door to Tae-Shik’s office when Sung-Hoon asked worriedly, “By the way… Are you angry about something?” Gi-Gyu looked at him in confusion and replied, “No. Why?”

“Hmm…”

“I swear. I’m excellent.” Gi-Gyu hadn’t looked in a mirror today, so he wondered if something was wrong with his face. Both Yoo-Jung and Sung-Hoon had asked the same thing, and Gi-Gyu couldn’t understand why.

Sung-Hoon replied, “Well, I’m glad if you’re feeling okay.”

“...”

Sung-Hoon bowed and walked away. It was an odd situation, so Gi-Gyu considered asking Sung-Hoon why he asked such a question; in the end, he dropped the idea in favor of asking Tae-Shik instead.

“Hey.” Tae-Shik greeted calmly. Gi-Gyu laid down on the sofa and looked at the older man. He still felt a little dazed, probably because he woke up after such a long sleep.

Tae-Shik announced with a blank look, “I have one regular news and one bad news. Which one do you want to hear first?”

Then, Gi-Gyu realized that perhaps Sung-Hoon already knew about this bad news. And that was why Sung-Hoon asked if he was okay. Sitting up, Gi-Gyu asked with a grin, “What’s the point?”

Tae-Shik wasn’t even offering good news with bad news, so why bother picking one over the other? Still a little tired, Gi-Gyu didn’t argue and first asked for the regular news.

“Your match opponent has been decided,” Tae-Shik replied.

“Who is it?”

A ranking match was like a spar between two players, i.e., killing was prohibited. So, Gi-Gyu wasn’t worried about his life; he was just curious about his opponent.

Tae-Shik answered, uninterested, “Shin Yoo-Bin.”

“Who’s that?”

“She’s the guild master of the Gypsophila Guild. She’s a well-recognized and liked player whom everyone considers a powerful rookie ranker. She is the perfect opponent for you. You’ll fight her in three days, and the old man, Suk-Woo, and I will act as the witnesses.” Gi-Gyu nodded, realizing Tae-Shik did everything in his authority to make this match comfortable and convenient for Gi-Gyu.

‘Three days…’

That was more than enough for Gi-Gyu to get ready. His eyes shone brightly, his violet one looking especially sinister. Shivering, Tae-Shik said, “Hey, don’t look at me so creepily.”

“Pardon?” Gi-Gyu was just nervous about hearing the bad news, so why was Tae-Shik calling his look ‘creepy?’

Tae-Shik asked, “Are you angry or something?”

“Does my face look weird today? Why did you ask me that question? Yoo-Jung and even Sung-Hoon said the same thing.” When Tae-Shik asked the same question, Gi-Gyu found his confusion peeking.

Tae-Shik pointed at the mirror on the wall with his chin and replied, “Go have a look.”

Curious, Gi-Gyu walked to the mirror; when he saw his reflection, he stammered, “W-what the?!” The mirror reflected a man with bloodthirsty eyes and a face-length angry frown. The man, Gi-Gyu, had no idea he was going around with such a menacing look. After looking at his reflection, Gi-Gyu finally understood why everyone asked him if he was angry.

Tae-Shik suggested, “You should control your violent aura.”

“But I wasn’t doing it on purpose!” Gi-Gyu screamed in confusion. While staring at his reflection, he tried to control his emotions. Slowly, the fury in his eyes dissipated, and his face returned to normal. He murmured, “What the hell was that?”

“I heard you slept for two days straight. Did you have a nightmare or something?”

‘A nightmare…?’

Gi-Gyu felt like he could almost remember the dream, but his head began to pound, so he gave up.

Gi-Gyu replied, “No, I don’t think so.”

“All right, fine. Now, here is the bad news.” After Gi-Gyu’s face returned to normal, Tae-Shik continued with a sigh, “Iron Guild is creating a branch in Korea.”

The bloodthirst Gi-Gyu managed to control just now burst out with full force.

***

“I’m sorry,” Gi-Gyu apologized after finally regaining control over his fury. Tae-Shik pressed his temples as if in pain and replied, “Get a grip over your emotions. I mean, really. If not, you’ll get in trouble.”

“I know,” replied Gi-Gyu dryly.

Shaking his head, Tae-Shik continued, “You have no idea how much work this single news bought me. Anyway, the Iron Guild is planning on establishing a branch in Korea. Its branch master will be…” Tae-Shik rubbed his forehead before murmuring, “Rogers Han.”

“...” The rage broke out with greater fervor, but Gi-Gyu tried to control it by biting his lower lip and clenching his fists. His fingernails dug into his palms, and his lip began to bleed, but Gi-Gyu didn’t care.

Tae-Shik pleaded, “We tried our best to stop this. We really did since we know you can’t face the Iron Guild just yet.” Tae-Shik seemed genuinely apologetic because Gi-Gyu was an association mercenary and a close acquaintance. Being helpless to protect him frustrated Tae-Shik greatly.

“The Iron Guild made this request to the Global Players Association.” Tae-Shik explained, “The old man had some say in this, of course. So, he would've stopped it if it were just the Global Players Association, but…”

When Tae-Shik fidgeted a little, Gi-Gyu knew there was more to this story, so he focused on Tae-Shik’s words.

“The Angela Guild has also gotten involved. The Global Players Association and the Angela Guild requested the Korean association to allow the Iron Guild branch into Korea. The old man could’ve dealt with the Global Players Association, but the Angela Guild…”

Tae-Shik clenched his fists and apologized, “I’m really sorry about this, Gi-Gyu.”

“...”

A short but heavy silence fell inside Tae-Shik’s office. Soon, an eerie smile appeared on Gi-Gyu’s face, and he said, “Actually, this is perfect.”

***

After hearing the Iron Guild news, Gi-Gyu's whole focus turned toward researching the Iron Guild. He used all of his resources to learn about the Iron Guild, including its overall strength, the number of agents it had sent to its other branches, Rogers Han’s current condition, and Ironshield himself.

“Hmm…” Gi-Gyu murmured as he looked over the documents Sung-Hoon handed him. Yes, the association helped him get much of this information.

“What do you think?” Sung-Hoon asked.

Gi-Gyu asked, “So you’re saying Ironshield hasn’t appeared in any public event for a long time.”

“Yes.”

From their research, they learned that ever since Ironshield left the Maze of Heryond, he hadn’t appeared in public, much less participated in hunts.

Sung-Hoon added, “And Rogers Han barely survived.” After getting stabbed in the neck, healing potions alone weren’t enough to treat him: High-level healers had to use medical magic to keep him alive. Now, Rogers was back in the field, but he still suffered a huge side effect.

“In terms of strength, their Korean branch would be comparable to the Phoenix Guild,” murmured Gi-Gyu as he shook his head. It would be just one of Iron Guild's many branches worldwide, but it would still be comparable to a top ten Korean guild. This reminded Gi-Gyu of just how strong his enemy was.

Gazing at Gi-Gyu with worry, Sung-Hoon asked, “What are you going to do?” During the last three days, Sung-Hoon has witnessed a glimpse of Gi-Gyu’s quiet rage and resentment. After seeing the extent of his anger, Sung-Hoon couldn’t help but worry.

Gi-Gyu asked, “Will the association really do what I ask?”

Sung-Hoon replied without hesitation, “Yes. The president, as well as everyone else, is with you on this.” After taking a deep breath, Sung-Hoon added, “We will do our best to hide everything and anything you do, Player Kim Gi-Gyu.”

“That’s a strange way of saying things. You’re making it sound like I’m about to do something illegal,” Gi-Gyu grumbled. Saying the association would help would’ve sufficed, but Sung-Hoon said they would do their best to “hide” everything Gi-Gyu did.

Sung-Hoon grinned and replied, “General Manager Oh Tae-Shik wanted to kill Rogers Han himself, but the association cannot openly refuse and fight the Global Players Association and the Angela Guild. And if the association makes a big fuss about this, you might get involved in something even worse.”

Gi-Gyu smiled and answered, “I know. The association is already doing more than enough, so I’m not complaining.”

Just then, a familiar voice called his name, “Gi-Gyu!”

It was Suk-Woo, so Gi-Gyu waved his hand with a grin. Suk-Woo exclaimed, “You’re finally a ranker too! Congrats!”

“Well, I need to win this match to become an official ranker. So I think it’s too early for you to congratulate me,” Gi-Gyu replied playfully.

“You’re right. Shin Yoo-Bin is strong, and that’s why everyone calls her the strongest rookie ranker. Don’t let your guard down.”

“I know. Don’t worry,” Gi-Gyu reassured. After hearing about his opponent from Tae-Shik, he made sure to do his research on Shin Yoo-Bin. He had learned more about this rookie ranker than the Iron Guild so far.

Suddenly, Gi-Gyu heard loud bickering from the door.

“Gosh, old man! I told you I got this!” Tae-Shik insisted.

“You said you got it, yet you got nothing done!” Tae-Gu screamed in return.

“I’m going to marry the woman I love, so just stop this already!”

When the two men noticed Gi-Gyu, they waved their hands and greeted him.

“Hey, Gi-Gyu. You’re here early,” Tae-Shik said to Gi-Gyu.

“Long time no see, Young Man,” the association president greeted Gi-Gyu. Everyone related to the ranking match was here except for Shin Yoo-Bin. Currently, they were inside a secret sparring room, similar to the one Tae-Shik and Gi-Gyu battled in, located within the association building. Since it was an unofficial match, it couldn’t occur within the Tower or any other public place.

After a few minutes, the door opened again, and Shin Yoo-Bin walked in.

“I’m so sorry I’m late. Something urgent happened in my guild, so I had to take care of it. I sincerely apologize.” When Shin Yoo-Bin bowed deeply, Gi-Gyu smiled. Looking at her familiar face warmly, he greeted, “It has been a long time.”