The Player Who Can't Level Up

“Gi-Gyu! Just where did you find this pretty little lady?” Gi-Gyu’s mother asked with a bright smile.

“I thought you liked men, Oppa!” Yoo-Jung added with a grin. 

It had been a while since Gi-Gyu saw such laughter and glee in his family; sadly, he had the infamous Lucifer Jung Soo-Jung to thank for it. 

In a shockingly honeyed voice, Lucifer replied, “Hahaha! You have such good eyes, Mrs. Lee! Yes, I am indeed gorgeous!” 

‘W-what? When did she become this sweet and girly?! Gotta stop this! Like right now! 

Gi-Gyu walked up to Soo-Jung and murmured, “Umm, Soo-Jung, we should go talk in private for a moment…” When Gi-Gyu tried to take Soo-Jung away, Yoo-Jung narrowed her eyes and asked suspiciously, “Hmm. What are you two planning to do alone?”

Soo-Jung gave Yoo-Jung a knowing smile while Gi-Gyu stammered, “W-what? What? What do you mean?!” Gi-Gyu had never been a part of such a misunderstanding, so he was quite flustered. 

Suddenly, an idea struck him, and he announced, “Oh, a puppy!”

“What?” When Yoo-Jung exclaimed in confusion, Gi-Gyu continued, “I got a puppy for you! Wait here!” 

Gi-Gyu ran out to the garden while Yoo-Jung and their mother followed him slowly. 

“Hehehe!” Soo-Jung chuckled in amusement as she followed as well. 

When he was alone in the garden, Gi-Gyu grabbed his necklace and whispered, “Bi, transform into a miniature version.”

The necklace glowed and gradually transformed into a puppy instead of its usual giant wolf form. Gi-Gyu grabbed it with his hands and turned to look at Yoo-Jung.

“W-what?! Kyaaaa! So cute!” Yoo-Jung’s eyes widened as she dashed forward. Trying very hard not to scare Bi, Yoo-Jung studied it in excitement. She exclaimed in awe, “Uwaaah! What kind of dog is it? I’ve never seen one like this!”

Bi was a wolf monster with a unique blue and red fur combination. In its current form, it also had some faint black fur. 

Yoo-Jung asked, “Oppa! You didn’t dye its hair to make it look pretty, did you? Do you have any idea how bad that is for puppies?!” 

“No, and that’s natural,” Gi-Gyu replied as he handed Bi to Yoo-Jung. Since Bi had unwavering loyalty toward Gi-Gyu, the wolf also felt close to his family and remained docile in Yoo-Jung’s arms. 

“Woof!” 

“Oh my god! He’s so cute!” When Yoo-Jung exclaimed, Bi barked adorably a few more times, “Woof! Woof!” 

Yoo-Jung couldn’t help rubbing her cheek against the cute puppy. Watching with a relieved smile, Gi-Gyu explained, “I already named it.”

“Okay! What is it?” 

“His name is Bi,” replied Gi-Gyu as he patted the puppy’s head, making Bi purr in pleasure. Gi-Gyu’s mother also walked over and patted it as she said, “What a cute puppy!”

***

After using Bi to get out of the embarrassing situation, Gi-Gyu tried to hurriedly usher Soo-Jung to the downstairs basement. Yoo-Jung saw this and narrowed her eyes at him again. Thankfully, when Baal joined Gi-Gyu and Soo-Jung, Yoo-Jung’s suspicious look disappeared. 

When they were finally alone, Gi-Gyu asked, “Why put that show upstairs?”

“What do you mean?” Soo-Jung sat nonchalantly on a sofa and added, “I’m just trying to get closer to my pupil’s family.”

When Soo-Jung grinned, Gi-Gyu sighed deeply, “Haa…” 

Currently, Gi-Gyu’s mind was plagued with worries and questions, yet Soo-Jung was here, delaying his plan. What was the Iron Guild's reaction? What about the public? The association? How did the Cain Guild and the others who helped him fare after the vicious battle? How many didn’t make it from the incident? Was everything being taken care of in Yeoksam? Were there any immediate threats he should worry about?

He had so many unanswered questions, but he had no time to deal with them. 

Oh, and that was after skipping the issues called Nine and Rogers. 

“What are you so worried about?” asked Soo-Jung, uncaring. “Those people who helped you are all professionals, you know.” 

When Soo-Jung raised her hand, Baal took out a teapot and a teacup from his bag and handed them to her. “Just how big was that bag?” some curious fella might ask, but Gi-Gyu didn’t bother asking. 

Soo-Jung continued, “They all chose to help you, which means they’re responsible for their own actions. And it's not like they are getting nothing for playing their part. Besides, I doubt you can do anything to help them.”

“Hmm…” Gi-Gyu understood Soo-Jung’s point. While he was a one-person team and had to take care of everything alone or ask for help from others, his friends had their respective groups to depend on. 

Soo-Jung added, “Whatever they are doing to clean up the mess is something they must do. You, alone, won’t add much to their effort. So don’t worry about it. Your time will be best spent with me right now.”

Soo-Jung’s violet eyes turned tranquil again. She studied him and continued, “What you need to do right now is become strong.” 

‘She is right. Time to put my worries to rest.’

When Gi-Gyu sat down on one of the chairs, an awkward silence fell in the basement. Soo-Jung, Baal, and Gi-Gyu sat together and remained quiet. 

Suddenly, Gi-Gyu realized that he needed to figure out how to address Lucifer. He murmured, “Umm… Miss Soo-Jung…? Or Lord Lucifer? Just Lucifer?” 

Gi-Gyu’s confusion tickled Soo-Jung’s funny bone; she gave him a quick solution. “Hahaha, what the heck are you doing? Just call me Soo-Jung. We’re the same age anyway.”

“What?” Gi-Gyu couldn't hide his shock. Feeling irritated, Soo-Jung frowned and asked, “Why do you look so shocked that I’m the same age? Do I look that old?”

“N-no! It’s just that you seem to know so much more than me, and… You’re so ex-experienced,” stammered Gi-Gyu. Based on just her appearance, Soo-Jung looked younger than Gi-Gyu. However, her demeanor was very mature, so Gi-Gyu always assumed she was older than him. 

“Well, I have a good reason for that. But my earth age is the same as yours, so just treat me like your friend. You may be my pupil, but you don’t have to act all formal and respectful toward me.” 

Feeling more at ease now, Gi-Gyu stated, “All right. Then I’ll call you Soo-Jung from now on.” 

“I like how you switched your tone so quickly,” Soo-Jung replied with a giggle.

Gi-Gyu found this new situation oddly comfortable since he had always feared meeting new people and allowing them into his personal space, but he found Soo-Jung an exception. They didn’t exactly meet under the best of the circumstances, and their relationship was a strange one. So, why did he feel like this about her?

“It’s because our relationship is a strictly business one,” answered Soo-Jung as if she could read Gi-Gyu’s thoughts. 

“Could it be that the evil eye allows you to read my mind as well?” Gi-Gyu asked cautiously. If this were true, it would be a big problem. 

“What are you talking about? I could just read it on your face, that’s all,” replied Soo-Jung quickly. Sure she wasn’t lying, Gi-Gyu touched his face and wondered,

‘Am I that easy to read?’

-Of course. Why is that even a question? 

-Unfortunately, I must agree with Lou, Master.

-That’s right! You’re an open book, Master!

Lou, El, and Brunheart’s voice echoed in his head. Since even his Egos believed this, Gi-Gyu had no choice but to accept it as fact. Another silence fell, but it wasn’t as awkward as the first one. 

Within a few minutes, Soo-Jung announced, “You must have many questions, don’t you? You must be wondering how I appeared at the perfect time back then. Also, why I made that deal so readily as if I already knew everything. You’re free to ask me anything you want.”

Betraying Soo-Jung’s expectation, Gi-Gyu asked something completely different. 

“What’s the evil eye? I thought I had a decent understanding of black magic[1], but I don’t know what the evil eye does.”

The evil eye came under black magic, Lou’s territory, but what Lou knew about it didn’t apply to Gi-Gyu’s evil eye. One day, the color of his right eye changed suddenly; with that, his personality also began changing. So, knowledge about the evil eye took priority over many things for Gi-Gyu.

In a bitter voice, Soo-Jung replied, “It’s a long story”—she sighed—“It has been a long time since I returned to Korea. Can we talk at a cafe or something?”

A deep sadness fell on her face; surprised by her reaction, Gi-Gyu didn’t refuse her request.

***

‘I think I really chose the location of our house well.’ 

The Bukhan River area was known for its numerous cafes. They were inside one of the pretty coffee shops, and Soo-Jung was enjoying the river view while sipping coffee, seemingly pleased with the location Gi-Gyu chose. Meanwhile, Baal remained seated with his usual emotionless look. 

‘Maybe I can ask about Baal’s identity now,’ Gi-Gyu thought expectantly. He had been curious about Baal since the first time they met. Baal undoubtedly had an odd look to him, and Gi-Gyu remembered Jung Soo-Jung telling Lee Sun-Ho that fighting both of them would be difficult.

So who was Baal? 

Gi-Gyu didn’t hesitate long before he asked bluntly, “Is Baal a player?” What he really wanted to know was if Baal was a human, but asking that would be too rude, so he picked his words carefully. 

Soo-Jung smiled innocently at Gi-Gyu, sending a chill down his spine. Lucifer was renowned as the cruelest and most vicious high ranker despite not being a red player. That innocent smile didn’t suit her code name one bit.

“He isn’t a player,” answered Soo-Jung.

“...?” When Gi-Gyu waited for her to give him a real answer, Soo-Jung asked instead, “Why don’t you ask your sword?”

Gi-Gyu flinched at first, but he nodded in the end. Before he even voiced his question in his head, Lou muttered.

-He’s a demon.

‘What?’ Gi-Gyu shouted in his head. 

-I said he’s a demon. And he’s one of the most villainous of them all. In the past, he used to be…

Suddenly, Baal rose, and darkness fell around him like a black curtain. Gi-Gyu worried the other people around them might find this odd, but no one noticed anything. Then, Gi-Gyu realized the darkness was some form of a barrier. 

Baal greeted formally, “The great emperor of all demons… Greetings to his grandmaster.”

Baal kneeled on one knee in front of Gi-Gyu. Soo-Jung’s face remained blank, while Gi-Gyu couldn’t hide his shock. Meanwhile, Lou smirked loudly. 

-Hmph!

Knowing Baal couldn’t hear Lou, Gi-Gyu said to Baal, “He says ‘Hmph!’”

“What? Pffttt! Hahahaha!” Soo-Jung burst into laughter at Gi-Gyu’s words, while Baal maintained his usual calm. Soo-Jung asked after laughing for a bit, “Your new name is Lou, right?”

-Indeed.

“...?” Gi-Gyu gaped in surprise. Soo-Jung talked directly to Lou. He stuttered, “C-could it be…? You can hear my Egos?”

“Egos? Ah, so they’re called Egos, huh?” Soo-Jung had laughed so hard that tears rolled down her eyes. Wiping them away, she replied, “Yeah, I can hear them.”

1. Black Magic is a skill, while black magic is a type of magic. ☜