Chapter 229

Chapter 229. The Meaning Behind Gypsophila

“This won’t be an easy decision,” Gi-Gyu replied.

El nodded in agreement.

The situation was tricky because the Elixir was the best option, but the chances of Gi-Gyu finding it were very slim.

And the other options…

“If we break their shells, we might end up losing them both,” Gi-Gyu commented.

And if he turned them into his Egos…

“The result might not really be them. They won’t return the same.”

Everyone who had experienced the egofication process till now had become unconditionally loyal to Gi-Gyu. They all adored him, and this wasn’t always a good thing.

So far, only one Ego had retained most of his old personality.

Gi-Gyu announced, “I better go see Old Man Hwang. Until I return, please take good care of these two.”

“Don’t worry, Master. I will do my best,” replied El.

If worst came to worst and Gi-Gyu was forced to take the last option, he would need Old Man Hwang’s help.

El watched silently as Gi-Gyu left the room.

***

Things were hectic inside and outside Eden.

An Iron Guild player asked Rohan, “Are you saying you can’t get a hold of our guild master?”

The Iron Guild, with Rohan as the head, was in charge of the Bukhan River area. The whole world—Korea, in particular—was anxious about what was happening here.

Much time had passed since the Bukhan River became a gate. Not too long ago, numerous monsters had stormed out of it; ultimately, they didn’t reach areas beyond the Bukhan River area. And it wasn’t because the Iron Guild or any other guilds’ players had stopped them.

The Iron Guild players had barely survived their fight with the monsters. However, the public didn’t have to worry for a second, as the monsters never left the Bukhan River Gate’s perimeters.

However, the Bukhan River Gate was still like a ticking bomb. With Lucifer joining Eden, which the whole world feared the worst.

Unfortunately for Rohan and the Iron Guild, they had to take the brunt of this anxiety.

Rohan replied, “That’s correct.”

Even though the situation was worsening rapidly, the Iron Guild’s master, Ironshield, and the Caravan Guild’s head, Andras, were nowhere to be found. This wasn’t bad since Rohan held all the authority within Korea. But the problem was, this also meant that he was responsible for everything.

‘Just when will they show themselves?’ Rohan looked anxious. One of the reasons for this whole charade was locating Andras and Ironshield. He was desperate not to disappoint Gi-Gyu.

“Haa… You’re dismissed. As soon as I get in contact with our guild master, I’ll let you know,” Rohan ordered.

“Yes, Sir. And…” The player scratched his cheek awkwardly. He paused briefly before adding, “There is a rumor going around in the headquarters.”

“A rumor?” Rohan asked. The Iron Guild’s headquarters were located in the US. Rohan was the deputy guild master, but his authority was limited to Korea. His power within the headquarters and the other branches was minimal. Consequently, even lower-ranking members like the player before him might hear certain rumors more quickly.

Rohan’s subordinate replied, “Apparently, they are going to appoint a new deputy guild master.”

“What?”

“And… I’ve heard that he will be dispatched to Korea. But this is just a rumor. I’m sure you know better than any of us, Deputy Guild Master.”

The player had an odd expression on his face, making Rohan frown. Rohan waved his hand to dismiss the player.

“Fine. You may leave now.”

His subordinate left the room.

Finally alone, Rohan rested his chin on his hand and thought aloud, “A new deputy guild master…”

He had a bad feeling about this. He hoped that this was just an unfounded rumor, but…

“Dammit,” Rohan swore quietly. It seemed like Ironshield was still actively running the headquarters without contacting Rohan.

“I better tell Master about this.” Rohan closed his eyes and focused on contacting Gi-Gyu.

***

Gi-Gyu grasped the pen in annoyance and muttered, “Why isn’t that bastard contacting me?”

He wondered if Go Hyung-Chul had betrayed him. He sent the player paparazzo out to find out about the hell kings’ whereabouts, but he hadn't heard anything so far. Because Go Hyung-Chul wasn’t his Ego, there was only so much Gi-Gyu could do to get in contact.

“First, I better organize my thoughts,” Gi-Gyu said and began writing on paper. He was listing all the changes in his situation and arranging them in the order he needed to resolve them. He was taking this time to sort things out.

“So by killing Asmodeus, I obtained a piece of Satan’s body, which Lou took,” Gi-Gyu mumbled. The reward Gi-Gyu got from killing his very first hell king was given to Lou to reinforce his body.

Gi-Gyu had wanted Old Man Hwang to upgrade Lou’s physical body with that corpse piece, but Lou refused adamantly.

Lou had said to Gi-Gyu,” Are you an idiot? When I didn’t have a body, I had no choice but to have someone else work on it, but now, I can do it myself.”

Lou was currently working with that piece from Satan’s corpse with Baal.

“As for egofying Asmodeus…”

That was the main problem. He would become much more powerful if he could egofy Asmodeus, but Jupiter had consumed a part of Asmodeus’ power. So, Gi-Gyu now had to use a bit of his power to completely egofy Asmodeus.

‘But I also don’t have a free body strong enough to handle Asmodeus.’ Gi-Gyu thought with a troubled look. He could only think of that Satan piece, but Lou needed that.

Gi-Gyu scratched his neck in frustration. He decided to ask Hwang Chae-Il to look into this. He felt that Project Adam might be the answer to his problem.

Suddenly, a woman with hair more fragrant than most flowers barged through the door. She asked, “What are you doing?”

“Hello to you too, Soo-Jung.”

“What’s wrong? Are you worried about something?” Soo-Jung asked as she plopped down on the sofa before him and crossed her legs. Her seductive aura was enough to make Gi-Gyu look away.

“…”

Soo-Jung began throwing out guesses when Gi-Gyu remained silent. “Is it because of Lim Hye-Sook and Shin Yoo-Bin?” She looked calm.

Gi-Gyu replied, “Yeah. I have to save Advisor Lim Hye-Sook and Yoo-Bin. The problem is… I don’t know how.”

“Hmm…”

“Do you, by chance…” Gi-Gyu seemed to have remembered something. He gulped loudly before asking, “Do you happen to have any of the elixir left?”

“Are you serious?” Soo-Jung looked at Gi-Gyu as if he was being ridiculous. She muttered, “Are you asking for my elixir vial to save some other women?”

“Y-you have it?” Gi-Gyu stood up suddenly. It sounded like Soo-Jung still had her elixir. If this were true, his issue would be fixed in no time. He would have to pay a great deal for it, but…

“I did,” replied Soo-Jung.

“…”

“But I used it all up,” Soo-Jung announced.

Gi-Gyu sat down again.

Soo-Jung shrugged and explained. “I was wounded in the battle with Ha Song-Su, so I had no choice but to use my last bottle. I don’t have any secret stash anymore.”

Noticing Gi-Gyu’s prolonged silence, she asked, “So what are you thinking about?”

Defeated, Gi-Gyu looked up at Soo-Jung and whispered, “I… might have to use my egofication skill.”

Soo-Jung became tense as she listened to Gi-Gyu.

“If I fail to find another way, this will be my only option. But if I egofy them—”

Gi-Gyu couldn’t finish his explanation because Soo-Jung interrupted him.

“They won’t return as their old selves. It can’t be helped. The power of resurrection isn’t something just anyone can use.”

“Resurrection?” Gi-Gyu asked.

“Yup. Of course, your egofication skill is different from his power. Anyway—”

“W-wait! You’re saying there is someone who has the power of resurrection?”

“Yeah.” Soo-Jung nonchalantly continued, “That guy’s ability lets him resurrect others. But I’ll tell you about him later.”

It sounded like Soo-Jung didn’t want to talk further about this player. Gi-Gyu wanted to ask more questions, but he couldn’t for now.

Soo-Jung continued, “Anyway, you not being able to resurrect them back to their human selves makes sense. A perfect resurrection is impossible. Not even god… Actually, I wonder if god could do it.”

“…”

“So that’s what you’re scared of, right? That even if you save them by egofying them, they won’t retain their personality.”

“Exactly.” Gi-Gyu continued wearily, “And I’m worried about something else too.”

“About what?”

Soo-Jung waited patiently when Gi-Gyu didn’t reply immediately.

After a pause, Gi-Gyu answered, “Coming back as something different… Is that what they would have wanted? Are they okay with becoming my Egos?”

‘To fall asleep a human but wake up an Ego… Do they want this?’

Soo-Jung stated, “Well, who knows?”

“…”

“So why are you just sitting here?” Soo-Jung stood up and suggested, “Go ask them.”

“What?”

Soo-Jung grinned and turned away from him. On her way out of the room, she repeated, “I said you should ask them yourself.”

Gi-Gyu was confused, so he just followed Soo-Jung.

***

“Hmm… This is worse than I thought.” Soo-Jung commented after examining Lim Hye-Sook and Shin Yoo-Bin.

Gi-Gyu and El were standing beside her quietly.

El watched Soo-Jung with displeasure on her face. Apparent and obvious displeasure.

Soo-Jung shrugged and said to her, “Why are you glaring at me like that? I won’t bite your master if that's what you're worried about. So don’t worry.”

Gi-Gyu turned to look at El, but her expression didn’t change.

Soo-Jung added, “Well, whatever her reason, I think your loyal angel missed something.”

“What?” asked Gi-Gyu.

Soo-Jung answered, “Their condition is worse than you think.

“Your lady angel might be an expert in using Life, but this is my area of expertise. If you leave them the way they are right now…

“They’ll die very soon. Three days at best, and their shell will most likely shatter before that.”

“What?”

“You mentioned that one of the options was breaking their shells, right?” asked Soo-Jung. El had suggested this, and Gi-Gyu had explained this to Soo-Jung earlier.

Soo-Jung explained, “You can forget about that option. Their current state won’t allow you to do that. If you even attempt that, their psyche and body will be ruined. They’ll definitely die.”

El seemed to agree with Soo-Jung because she remained silent.

“If we had the elixir, we could have easily saved them, but… there is no way to find it now. We have no idea when a maze gate will open; even if one does open right now, we won’t make it back in time. Also, there is no guarantee that we’ll find two.”

Soo-Jung’s explanation left only one option.

Gi-Gyu muttered, “So you’re saying that the only way to save them is to… egofy them.”

“Yeah, basically,” Soo-Jung apathetically replied.

Finally, Gi-Gyu requested, “Then please go ahead and do it.”

Soo-Jung had come here to see if communicating with Shin Yoo-Bin and Lim Hye-Sook was possible to learn their opinion. This was something Gi-Gyu, El, or even Lou hadn’t thought of.

‘A way to communicate with unconscious players with broken shells…’ thought Gi-Gyu.

It appeared that Soo-Jung had more abilities and knowledge than Gi-Gyu had thought.

“Come here.” Soo-Jung waved at him.

With Gi-Gyu behind her, Soo-Jung explained, “This is actually very simple.”

“…”

Gi-Gyu was curious about how Soo-Jung would accomplish this.

She stated, “I will be lending my physical body to these two. You’ll get at most 30 seconds, so you need to hear their answers within that time. Remember this, okay? I won’t be able to do this twice.”

“What?”

Before Soo-Jung had even heard Gi-Gyu’s confused gasp, she placed her hand on Lim Hye-Sook’s chest. Lim Hye-Sook began to shake, and Soo-Jung suddenly looked down at her hands in surprise and whispered, “W-what is happening…?”

Soo-Jung mumbled, “T-this Soo-Jung’s body.”

“Advisor Lim Hye-Sook?” asked Gi-Gyu.

“Yes, that’s right.” Lim Hye-Sook replied and didn’t ask any more questions. Gi-Gyu couldn’t tell how, but it looked like Lim Hye-Sook knew what Soo-Jung did to make this happen.

Gi-Gyu quickly explained the situation, and Lim Hye-Sook, in Soo-Jung’s body, looked down at Shin Yoo-Bin.

“I…” Lim Hye-Sook hesitated before replying, “Please do what Yoo-Bin wants to do. If Yoo-Bin wants to do whatever it takes to live, do it. But if she wants to die…”

Gi-Gyu nodded.

Suddenly, Soo-Jung smiled and announced, “Good. You got the answer, right? I’ll go right to the next one.”

It appeared that Soo-Jung had returned to her body. And again, she had made her move before Gi-Gyu could say anything. She placed her hand on Shin Yoo-Bin’s chest, resulting in Shin Yoo-Bin shaking like how Lim Hye-Sook had.

And…

“Oppa.” Shin Yoo-Bin sounded even calmer than Lim Hye-Sook. Even before Gi-Gyu could say her name, Shin Yoo-Bin begged, “Please kill me.”

Shin Yoo-Bin sounded calm, yet Gi-Gyu felt like he suddenly couldn’t breathe.