“Yoo-Bin?” Gi-Gyu whispered in confusion. He thought he had misheard her, but…

“Please kill me, Oppa.” Yoo-Bin’s answer remained the same.

A few seconds passed by. Knowing he only had 30 seconds, Gi-Gyu yelled, “What are you talking about?!”

He needed to know exactly what Yoo-Bin wanted. As his face crumpled sadly, Gi-Gyu whispered, “How could you ask me to kill you…?”

“I heard what happened. I don’t know how, but I heard everything. I heard the worry in your voice, and…” Yoo-Bin, in Soo-Jung’s body, turned to face El, making her flinch.

Yoo-Bin quickly turned back to Gi-Gyu and asked, “This happened because ‘it’ took over my body, didn’t it?”

“What?”

“I can still feel it. I feel cold, Oppa. That thing that possessed my body… It’s still inside me. If you save me, and I live, it will reawaken. Oppa…”

Yoo-Bin closed her eyes and begged, “So please kill me. I don’t want to burden you anymore. The only way I can help you is—”

Soo-Jung’s eyes flew open. She had returned to her body and stated, “That’s it. That’s all I could manage.”

“...”

An awkward silence fell. Lim Hye-Sook and Shin Yoo-Bin were back in their bodies.

Watching the two players on the bed, Soo-Jung announced, “It’s time for you to make the decision.”

***

“It looks like her shell cracked when she became Asmodeus’ vessel. Those cracks absorbed a piece of Asmodeus. He would have died even if you hadn’t killed him,” Soo-Jung explained seriously.

Shin Yoo-Bin’s shell couldn’t hold Asmodeus. The enemies probably thought she was powerful enough, but it didn’t work out. Even if Gi-Gyu hadn’t separated Asmodeus from Shin Yoo-Bin, he would have been forced to return to hell in time, leaving Shin Yoo-Bin’s dead body behind.

El looked guilty as she murmured, “I failed you, Master. I failed to gather all the related information; I sincerely apologize, Master.”

“No, it’s okay, El,” Gi-Gyu consoled El.

Watching the two, Soo-Jung explained calmly, “There was no way your gorgeous angel could have sensed this. Anyway, I guess we avoided a huge disaster.”

Turning toward Shin Yoo-Bin, Soo-Jung continued, “If you had egofied her, the Ego thus formed wouldn’t have been Shin Yoo-Bin. You probably would’ve created a monster. A gallimaufry of Asmodeus and Shin Yoo-Bin. I’m not even certain you could’ve successfully completed the egofication process.”

Gi-Gyu thought for a moment before asking, “Is there a way to remove that Asmodeus piece from Yoo-Bin’s shell?” The question was directed at both Soo-Jung and El.

Soo-Jung replied first, “It’s not possible. To do something like that to a shell… Only God can do that, and even that’s questionable. Don’t even think about it. If you try it, it will just obliterate her shell.”

El agreed with Soo-Jung. “She’s right, Master. All I can do is restore a tiny crack in a shell. There is no way I can work on a shell that has been damaged this badly—” She abruptly stopped talking.

Gi-Gyu realized Soo-Jung and El were staring at him.

Gi-Gyu asked in confusion, “Why are you two looking at me like that?”

El and Soo-Jung simultaneously suggested, “But you might be able to do this.”

***

“So are you telling me that the other you, that stupid jerk, didn’t get this done right?” Lou ridiculed.

Gi-Gyu didn’t bother replying.

Lou continued, “Well, I guess I should’ve expected this. I mean, you’re a moron, and the other you… Dammit! This is so fucking annoying.”

“Haa… Did you finish whatever you were working on with Baal?” asked Gi-Gyu.

It had been a while since Gi-Gyu last saw Lou. He could tell that there was something different about his Ego. Lou’s aura seemed different.

Lou replied, “Sort of. I have almost completely absorbed that Satan piece. It’s still an ongoing process, so it’s not perfect, but my body is definitely more stable now. Still, I have to limit how much power I can use.”

Lou clenched and unclenched his tiny fists a few times.

Just then, the door burst open, and Soo-Jung walked in. Walking toward Lou, she exclaimed, “Oh my. Who is this adorable little gentleman?”

“...”

Soo-Jung smiled nastily and whispered, “My, my…”

Suddenly, she grabbed and hugged Lou tightly.

“Let go of me!” Lou screamed. He flailed to escape Soo-Jung’s grasp, but it was pointless.

Lou yelled, “Dammit! I can’t use my power right now! Of all times…!”

Still hugging Lou tightly, Soo-Jung asked, “What is the little guy saying?! Hmm, Gi-Gyu…”

She glanced at Gi-Gyu before looking down at Lou again. With another grin, she asked, “Could it be that this is your son?”

Khoff!

Gi-Gyu coughed up the water he was drinking. He yelled, “What are you talking about?! You’ve seen him with Baal recently, haven’t you? It’s Lou!”

“I know.” Soo-Jung placed Lou back on the floor and smirked. “I was just kidding. After all, when will I ever get another chance to treat the king of hell like a child?”

Soo-Jung looked at Lou, her eyes glowing brightly.

“Bitch,” Lou spat out the word in annoyance before plopping down on the sofa. Turning toward Gi-Gyu again, Lou asked, “Anyway, you’re saying that you want to extract Asmodeus’ piece from that woman’s shell?”

“That’s right.”

“Hmm…”

“Jupiter,” Gi-Gyu said.

Lou paused.

Gi-Gyu elaborated, “Do you think he might be able to do this? I want to hear your opinion, Lou. You saw the whole thing, right? Jupiter separated Asmodeus from Yoo-Bin and ate him.”

“...”

“So tell me.”

Lou looked into Gi-Gyu’s eyes and replied, “There is no need. You should be able to do this without Jupiter’s help. In fact, Jupiter's involvement will only increase the risks in this case.”

Gi-Gyu remained quiet as Lou continued, “I know what method Jupiter used to separate Asmodeus from Shin Yoo-Bin. I’ll tell you that, so you can try it. And if it doesn’t work, then that’s that.”

Soo-Jung mumbled, “Jupiter…?”

Lou and Gi-Gyu turned to face Soo-Jung, who whispered, “You guys have met Kronos, haven't you?”

Gi-Gyu’s eyes widened.

Ignoring his shock, Soo-Jung continued, “We’ll talk about this another day. For now, you gotta take care of the pressing issue.”

Gi-Gyu remembered Soo-Jung’s promise to tell him certain secrets once he had cleared the 50th-floor test. She had to be referring to this just now, and this made Gi-Gyu’s heart beat fast.

Lou said to Gi-Gyu, “Go meet Old Man Hwang. Get some advice from him, and then meet me where Shin Yoo-Bin is resting. I’ll be there soon.”

Gi-Gyu looked at both Soo-Jung and Lou and replied, “All right.”

Once Gi-Gyu was out of the room, Soo-Jung turned toward Lou and asked playfully, “Oh my! Did you have something to tell me, Your Highness?”

“Baal told me,” Lou—the itsy-bitsy guy—replied drily. Because he still hadn’t absorbed Satan’s piece completely, he couldn’t use his power fully. Yet, Soo-Jung could feel the former hell king's undeniable majesty, loneliness, fury, and haughtiness.

Soo-Jung prolonged silence prompted Lou to say, “Shouldn’t we talk about your code name, Lucifer?”

“I suppose we should.” Soo-Jung shook her head with a smile. It was only for a moment, but she had tensed up from fear. She tried to shrug it off and change the subject. “But about that creature… El, is it? I’m talking about that angel. Are you sure things are okay the way they are right now?”

It was Lou’s turn to become quiet. Without saying anything else, Lou and Soo-Jung looked at each other.

***

“Is everyone here?” Gi-Gyu asked, and everyone nodded.

Lou, El, Soo-Jung, Old Man Hwang, and Baal were in the room. Beside them, Lim Hye-Sook and Shin Yoo-Bin were still lying in their beds.

“Shin Yoo-Bin should be your priority. Her condition is direr than Lim Hye-Sook’s. At this rate, if that Asmodeus piece awakens, it will be even more problematic.” Soo-Jung’s tone remained light, but Gi-Gyu could hear the urgency in her voice.

Soo-Jung added, “It’s only a piece of him, but if he wakes up, he will absorb Yoo-Bin’s shell completely.”

It seemed that Soo-Jung was worried about Asmodeus waking up.

Lou stepped forward and stated, “We don’t have much time, so I’ll explain.”

Turning toward Gi-Gyu, he continued, “You will study Shin Yoo-Bin’s shell like how you did Yoo Suk-Woo’s. And then, you will have to meddle with it. I gotta warn you that this will be more complicated than what you did with Yoo Suk-Woo’s shell. Most of all… This isn’t something you can do without ‘it.’”

Lou smiled before adding, “I’m talking about the Chaos.”

“...”

“You must use Chaos to isolate and consume Asmodeus’s piece.”

Gi-Gyu nodded.

Lou anxiously continued, “You probably already know this, but… You get one shot at this. One mistake means definite death. Shin Yoo-Bin will die because her shell will crumble down, and you’ll die because you’ll be in a crumbling building. You’ll both die, okay? So are you sure you want to do this?”

“We have no other choice,” Gi-Gyu replied. He couldn’t egofy Yoo-Bin the way she was right now, and he couldn’t break her shell as El had initially suggested.

There was only one option left. Shin Yoo-Bin had begged him to kill her, but…

‘There is no way I would ever do that.’ Gi-Gyu thought grimly. He could tell that Yoo-Bin didn’t really want to die. She had only begged for it because she didn’t want to burden him anymore. When he had seen her eyes, he knew instantly that Yoo-Bin wished to live. He could feel her desire for life.

Lou urged, “Get started already before it’s too late.”

Gi-Gyu slowly walked up to Shin Yoo-Bin. Before he began, he suddenly asked awkwardly, “Umm… do I really have to do this part?”

“What? What are you talking about?”

“Well… Do I have to put my hand on her chest?”

Just then, Gi-Gyu felt someone glare at him.

‘El?’ 

It was only for a moment, but El had cringed when Gi-Gyu asked this question.

Lou sighed and replied, “Of course. You must connect directly to her shell. You can’t be getting excited about touching her boobs. Or… Are you? You know she’s unconscious, don’t you? And this is just medical treatment. So don’t be—”

“Of course, I’m not thinking that!” Gi-Gyu yelled and took a deep breath. After a brief bout of hesitation, he finally placed his hand on Yoo-Bin’s chest.

Fwoosh.

As Gi-Gyu’s eyes slowly turned gray, Lou muttered, “It has begun. I can’t believe we’re stuck with so many complicated problems. I just hope this works.”

Gi-Gyu’s consciousness was already being absorbed into Shin Yoo-Bin’s shell. Now, there was nothing anyone else could do to help him.

Suddenly, Lou called out, “El.”

Everyone in the room turned toward El. She seemed apprehensive and incensed as she clenched her fists.

Lou came forward to represent everyone in the room. He announced, “We can’t procrastinate any longer. Everyone is worried about your current state.”

El’s clenched fists shook visibly.