<Lee Gun! His overwhelming skills allowed him to kill Red Eye!>
<The world cannot be protected if Lee Gone is gone!>
Dumbfounded, Hugo looked at today’s newspaper. ‘What the hell is this ?’
The newspaper carried a picture of Lee Gun’s face.
‘It’s a full-page .’
It wasn’t just the newspapers. Famous portal sites and outdoor s had done this too. On top of all this were the most expensive s, the tv s shown during prime time.
These s had been spread to change the narrative about the rumors regarding Lee Gun. Of course, Hugo was focused on that.
‘My god! Someone put up an in Times Square, New York?’
Times Square was the costliest place to advertise in the world, yet someone had made this a fixture there.
Needless to say, Hugo was well aware who was paying astronomical figures to run these s.
‘I thought that bastard couldn’t stand Lee Gun taking on all the spotlight.’
Yes, the advertiser spending millions of dollars to put out these s was none other than the Virgo Saint Kevin. Of course, that attention seeker had only one reason for doing so and correcting all the existing rumors about Lee Gun.
[Let’s fight, Lee Gun!]
[Yes. I will fight you.]
[Really?]
[Yes. However, I want you to put out some s. Then I will fight you.]
[Alright. I’ll agree to that.]
Kevin was a simple man.
‘He didn’t even consider the possibility that he was being used.’
Lee Gun had used Kevin, who wanted to fight him. Why?
‘It seems he got annoyed at seeing Stevens’s face plastered everywhere in the US.’
This was normal as the Leo Saint was very popular. Lee Gun would run into s about Stevens in every street he went to, and that pissed him off.
‘Kevin leased locations where Stevens’s s are rarely shown, so Gun should be satisfied.’
Of course, Hugo realized there was more to this move. ‘He wanted to kill all the false rumors.’
Thanks to Lee Gun sending the Leo Saint flying with one blow, the vicious rumors about him had been swapped out with high levels of expectation.
However, the twelve Zodiac Saints were popular for a reason. Numerous extremists would appear to act as shields for the Saints. These extremists claimed interpersonal fighting between Saints differed from killing monsters. They were like the worst kinds of hooligans. No words got through them, so even Hugo loathed dealing with them.
[In the end, the one to kill Red Eye was Stevens-nim!]
[The other Zodiac Saints killed it!]
[All the results couldn’t have been known until Red Eye was killed!]
[There’s no way a new Zodiac Saint can compare to the twelve Zodiac Saints!]
‘Gun will just laugh it off.’
Lee Gun’s believers also existed, but it didn’t matter in the end. Lee Gun just laughed, saying the truth would come out when they had to go out on expeditions. However, Hugo was unsatisfied.
The European coalition and some of the more powerful countries were discreetly powering the order of extremists.
If the legend of the twelve Zodiac Saints crumbled, the countries that had put these Saints to the forefront would fall in an awkward position. Therefore, it was understandable why they would try to talk down Lee Gun.
‘They need to see something like the real Red Eye showing up and the Zodiac Saints running away.’
There was no need to bother about the matter anymore.
Hugo spoke on his phone, “It was you, right? You were the one who took out the original text of the Sagittarius temple.”
The person on the other end scoffed.
– A tiny place like the Sagittarius temple has the original text of a bible? I guess a Zodiac does reside there.
Hugo’s eyebrows twitched at the arrogant laugh. He wanted to give a rebuttal, but the person on the line possessed a billion disciples. His temple was considered second in the temple rankings. “Whatever. You took it, right?”
– Hmmph! You aren’t even the Serpent Bearer, so why would I take yours?
“Then who…”
– You can’t even take good care of your bible despite receiving a bow from Lee Gun.
“No! I’m sure you took the bible ten years ago…”
– I can’t believe you’ve eaten meals with Lee Gun.
“What?”
– You even bought Lee Gun a late-night snack yesterday. You don’t deserve it, Archer Saint.
“…” Hugo was sure of it. Although Kevin pretended to be Lee Gun’s rival, he was, in fact, a Lee Gun fanboy.
“Anyway, the original text of the Sagittarius was supposed to be inside my holy ground, yet the Secretary had it. I don’t know why you invaded my holy ground, but are you sure you didn’t steal it at that time?” Hugo asked.
Kevin clicked his tongue as if he was annoyed.
– Fuck off, Archer. I have no interest in you. I don’t know why Lee Gun has chosen to be friends with you since early times. You are the last-place Saint.
“Ah-oh! Are you sure you didn’t take a horse-shaped sculpture?”
– Ah! That’s right. I remember. I thought it would make a good footstool. I took a bunch of them. What? I shouldn’t have?
As expected, this bastard was the culprit. Thanks to this man’s action, Hugo had suffered a plethora of insults from the Secretary.
Hugo clenched his fists. He was doing nothing because Lee Gun had told him to monitor Kevin. However, right now, he wanted to assassinate Kevin at night.
Oblivious to Hugo’s thoughts, Kevin spoke.
– Anyway, you’re going to the Scorpio Saint, right? Be careful!
“Why? Do you think I’ll get crushed under her heels?”
– That’s not it.
Kevin became serious and silent. This silence was out of character for him, but it didn’t last long.
– Archer. Do you remember what happened at the tower?
“What? What are you talking about?”
– In truth, I don’t remember anything. I don’t remember anything that happened within the tower.
“…!” This bewildered Hugo. He had heard similar words from the Leo Saint. Of course, the Leo Saint had poor memory regarding things he didn’t consider important. So, his lack of memory could be overlooked. However…
– I remember right up to the point where I entered the tower. However, when I opened my eyes, I was in the forest outside the tower.
The words left Hugo surprised. Was this why Gun wanted him to monitor Kevin? Was the matter related to this?
It seemed Lee Gun didn’t seriously consider Kevin an enemy.
‘In fact, he laughed when he saw the answers written on the questionnaire.’ Hugo had no idea what answers Kevin had written, but the answers could have been made up.
– Anyway, you guys are heading straight toward the Scorpio Saint’s holy ground, right? Let’s join up soon. I’ll guide you. I know the layout of her holy ground.
Hugo sneered as if to say Kevin was on a fool’s errand. “We don’t need you to guide us. We already met her.”
– What? You met whom?
“We already met the Scorpio Saint. She’s right here.”
– The Scorpio Saint is there?
“Yes! After we encountered the Secretary—”
– That damn woman!!!
Click!
Hugo was annoyed as Kevin ended the call before he could finish what he had to say. “Shit! That fanboy attention hog!”
* * *
Around that time.
“Hey.”
Inside an empty office space within the hospital, Lee Gun and the Scorpio Saint were sitting down facing each other.
Lee Gun furrowed his brows as he looked at Hailey. “Hey, are you listening to me?”
“Yes. I am.” The Scorpio Saint confidently yelled, “I’m listening, so hurry up and speak!”
The disciples watching this scene were sweating bullets. Their reactions were expected. The Scorpio Saint was acting weird while she sat in front of Lee Gun. Her body was facing Lee Gun, but her head was turned toward her back.
It was an odd sight. Her neck was turned so far that one wondered if she had dislocated her neck bones.
‘Is her neck going to be alright?’
The disciples wondered if she knew how she looked right now.
“I said hurry up and speak! You called me here, so why aren’t you saying anything?” Hailey yelled.
The baffled Lee Gun replied, “Hey! I’m not over there. I’m over here. Why don’t you look at me as you speak?”
Hailey flinched. At those words, she slowly turned her head as if she was scared. Her neck was turning stiffly, almost robotic in its movement.
She finally turned her head toward Lee Gun. “It… It has been a while, Lee Gun. I’m sorry for not looking you up sooner!”
Lee Gun scoffed.
‘Her eyes are stuck to the ceiling.’ This angered him. Why?
“You really must hate me! You don’t even want to look at my face,” Lee Gun said.
“!”
Taken aback, Hailey quickly looked into Lee Gun’s eyes. “No! That’s not it! I don’t hate you—”
However, when she met Lee Gun’s eyes, she looked like she was about to die. She turned her gaze away.
‘No! I can’t make eye contact with him!’ She felt like her heart was about to explode. ‘I… I’ve never been this close to him!’
Hailey was just thirty centimeters away from Lee Gun. ‘My god! I’m so close to Lee Gun!’
She was close enough to see the pores of his skin even if he didn’t have any. She had never imagined this to happen.
She would rather look at a monster. Meeting eyes with Lee Gun took too much courage. Therefore, Hailey’s eyes looked toward the back as if her neck bones would snap. She then said, “I’m comfortable like this! Let us speak like this!”
In an odd move, her chair moved backward by one centimeter and then two centimeters. Was it because she was so close to Lee Gun? Hailey’s face turned red as she squirmed.
Hugo and Chun Sungjae couldn’t shut their mouths as they witnessed this.
‘She has it real bad!’
They finally realized what Lee Jaewon had seen to come to his conclusion. The Secretary was having a mental breakdown as well.
Unable to look at this any longer, Lee Gun burst out laughing. “Really? Are you sure you don’t hate me?”
His eyes turned cold. “It seems you feel guilty about a lot of things. You can’t even look at my face.”
“…!” The flustered Hailey wanted to say something, but she soon closed her mouth.
She knew she wasn’t in a position where she could hold her head up high. Of course, she had never tried to harm Lee Gun. However, her position meant she couldn’t help him even when he was having a tough time. At the time, she could only take steps to make sure he wouldn’t die.
Therefore, Hailey’s shoulders slumped a bit.
“Whatever. What are your true intentions?” Lee Gun asked.
“What?”
Lee Gun’s eyes turned sharp. “Why are you playing dumb? The billion-dollar bone that the cat bought at the auction. You put it up for sale, right?”
“?!”
The mouths of the surprised disciples fell open. This was the first time they were hearing this.
“In many ways, that bone became a legend…”
At the time, Goat had been on a mission. However, the story about the Leo Saint and the bone had become a famous story by now.
Back then, the world had been abuzz when a whale had put the bone up for auction.
“The Scorpio Saint put it out there?” Chun Sungjae was honestly surprised. Is that the reason the money from the successful bid was pledged to be given to Lee Gun?
On the other hand, Lee Gun laughed as if he wasn’t done. “Moreover, you sent me the fountain pen through Yooha. What are you up to?”
Hailey flinched. She had sent out the bone to lure the Leo Saint in front of Lee Gun. As for the fountain pen, she had done so because she knew Lee Gun needed a secretary.
‘If it’s Lee Gun, I thought he would make good use of the Secretary’s existence.’
The Secretary had blindly tried to attack the Zodiacs. So, she had no choice but to imprison him.
In the end, Hailey gulped as she pretended to be calm. “It’s nothing. You were the owner of those items, so I just wanted to return them. I did it on a whim.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes. There were no evil intentions behind it. Anyway, the bone and the fountain pen are items without many abilities.”
For some reason, Lee Gun smirked. “Is that so? Alright! I want you to prove it.”
“What?”
Lee Gun took out a paper, making the disciples wince. The disciples were sure it was the same questionnaire that Hugo and Kevin had received.
“I want you to answer these questions truthfully,” Lee Gun said.
The questionnaire surprised Hailey.
[Q. What do you think about Lee Gun?]
[Q. What do you want to do about Lee Gun?]
“What? You can’t answer them?”
Hailey laughed as if he were speaking nonsense. “What the hell? These are simple questions.”
Then, she took out a pen from the pencil holder.
The Secretary turned pale when he saw the pen Hailey grabbed.
‘No!’ Of all the pens she could choose, why did she have to pick that one? The flustered Secretary surged to his feet. “H-Hailey-nim! That pen is— Oohp!”
Chun Sungjae covered the Secretary’s mouth and kept him in place.
Lee Gun laughed. Yes, Hailey had picked up the “Wooden Fountain Pen That Cannot Write Lies.”
Of course, the pen looked different. After Lee Gun had strengthened it again, its outer appearance had changed.
Unaware of this, Hailey used the fountain pen to answer the questionnaire. She wrote one-line answers.
[Q. What do you think about Lee Gun?]
-> Comrade
[Q. What do you want to do about Lee Gun?]
-> Cooperate depending on the terms.
“Here. I hope this is enough.” Hailey handed over the questionnaire to Lee Gun.
Hugo sighed when he saw Lee Gun thoroughly reading the answers. “Gun. Whatever answer the Scorpio Saint gives—”
Suddenly!
“What…”
“Gun?”
Lee Gun was seriously looking at the paper, his expression a sight to behold. “Hey, Taeksoo.”
“Yeah?”
Lee Gun looked like he couldn’t make heads or tails of something as he glared at the fountain pen. “I think I messed up in its enhancement. I think I broke it!”
