Chapter 200 - What Did You Just Say? (3)
It was a meaningful smile.
When the Secretary saw Hugo’s smile, she laughed alongside him. That smile held hate. She was sure of it.
‘The Switch entered him.’
It meant the move was a success. However, she couldn’t let her guard down yet. While they looked like mortal enemies from the outside, Hugo and Lee Gun were comrades in arms who shared both joy and sorrow.
In some ways, they were closer than a married couple. They were bonded close like a pair of cockroaches.
As if to show this, Hugo said, “He’s my friend. How can you talk about killing him?”
The Secretary hoped Lee Gun wouldn’t notice these words. She pulled Hugo to the corner and whispered, “Don’t forget it. Your life went to shit because he showed up.”
“!”
“If not for Lee Gun, you would be respected as one of the twelve Zodiac Saints. You would have received wealth and fame.”
She had wanted to hit the final nail in the coffin, yet Hugo’s voice changed. “Does that mean I will betray Lee Gun like them?”
The mood changed in an instant. It became uncomfortable as Hugo looked down at her. The Secretary started to sweat. She hadn’t meant it that way.
‘Damn it! I only saw him nagging Lee Gun, so I never saw this side of him.’
The Secretary had never known Hugo could make such an expression. Unfortunately, she had antagonized him by mentioning the twelve Zodiac Saints, whom he hated.
Therefore, the Secretary apologized, trying to appease Hugo by saying she hadn’t meant it that way. “I’m saying it because you’re treated too much like a pushover from an objective point of view.”
“?”
“Think about it. You said you cleaned up after Lee Gun even twenty years ago.”
Hearing those words, Hugo flinched, then coughed. “Well… I learned a lot from him.”
In truth, he had fallen for Lee Gun’s skills when Lee Gun had rescued him. Lee Gun didn’t want to do it, but Hugo had followed him around. After begging for a month, Hugo had barely been able to become Lee Gun’s student.
Of course, he had felt bad for forcing Lee Gun into teaching him, so he had treated him that much better. “As a student, I can’t do that to my teacher…”
“Huh? Teacher? He taught you only a few fighting techniques, yet he worked you almost like a slave. You even nursed him when he was sick. That’s a very difficult thing to do. Has he ever thanked you for it?”
Hugo flinched again.
The Secretary laughed when she saw the look in his eyes. “I know you feel thankful toward him, but that’s all there is to it. He taught you techniques so that you could work for him. It was your job to kill monsters. Lee Gun just needed another worker. That’s why he helped you grow. He didn’t teach you those techniques because it was in your best interest!”
“…!”
“What? You think I’m wrong? After you became his disciple, didn’t he make you work harder? For example, didn’t he send you out to hunt while he watched drama shows?”
“…”
Did she see what happened in the past?
When the Secretary saw his expression, she spoke as if she was about to demonstrate her point. “It doesn’t matter which company you join. All of them teach you what to do. Do those companies still pay them a salary while they learn the know-how?
“From that perspective, he worked you like a slave. In recent days, I heard he was talking some nonsense about you paying him money for the techniques that you learned in the past, right?”
Hugo flinched, yet he still protested. “It’s all thanks to Gun that I—”
“In the first place, you would have become stronger even without Lee Gun. You’re a battle-type Zodiac Saint. You would have become stronger by yourself. Lee Gun probably thought he had found money when you asked him to be your teacher.”
Hugo contemplated the matter. If he thought about Lee Gun's personality, the Secretary was making a good point…
“Do you realize how much Sungjae boasts about his uncle? You know how much the Zodiacs work their Zodiac Saints, right? If it weren’t for Lee Gun, Sungjae and Yooha would have entered the Sagittarius temple.”
Hugo’s eyes flashed at those words. An odd energy started to emanate from the necktie pin. The cockroach, who was hidden inside the Secretary’s pocket, cheered at this development. The reaction was expected.
[Hatred toward Lee Gun is 101%.]
The hatred was over 100 percent! They were sure of it now.
[He’s the perfect ally now! We can 100% kill Lee Gun with this.]
They had succeeded in driving a wedge between Hugo and Lee Gun.
Hugo picked up the butter knife from the table. When the Archer Saint’s magical energy entered it, the butter knife turned into a deadly weapon.
The Secretary was inwardly impressed with his power.
‘As expected, he’s strong.’
Hugo was the leader of a small temple, yet his temple held its own against the larger temples. Moreover, he seemed to be trying to make sure Lee Gun didn’t feel his killing intent. The magical energy he had infused into the knife disappeared in an instant. It was almost a perfect camouflage!
This made the cockroach ecstatic.
[He’ll be able to stab Lee Gun in the back with it!]
Suddenly…
“What the hell? What kind of odd combination is this?” Lee Gun walked toward Hugo, who was at the cafe terrace. “Are you guys having a secret love affair? You guys aren’t usually close.” Lee Gun looked at them with suspicion.
The Secretary flinched, then yelled, “He came here to ask me about the bible since Miss Jiwoo is a Secretary like me!”
“Is that true?”
“Yes. I asked her to see me.” The tip of Hugo’s butter knife headed toward Lee Gun’s body.
The Secretary and the cockroach felt it. That was killing intent.
As soon as Lee Gun approached him, Hugo planned on stabbing Lee Gun in the stomach. They were sure of it. And as expected, Hugo raised the blade.
However, Lee Gun then stood next to Hugo! “Oh yeah! I wanted to eat some chicken, so I bought some. Do you want to eat too?”
“…!!” Hugo flinched as if he had heard something shocking. “C-Chicken?”
“Yeah! Chicken.”
The Secretary and the cockroach were baffled by the exchange taking place at such an important moment. Why the hell were they talking about chicken? The two of them looked at Hugo with an expectant gaze, wanting him to stab Lee Gun. However…
“You’re going to give me the chicken you bought with your money?”
“Yeah! You don’t want it?”
Hugo seemed to be in a deep state of shock. After all, Lee Gun was conceding his chicken to him.
[Hatred toward Lee Gun is 101%.]
When the situation started to eat away at the hatred, the cockroach was shocked.
[What the hell? It is only chicken! Why the hell is the hatred going down?]
However, it was different for Hugo. Normally, Lee Gun would never do such a thing. It wasn’t his personality. That was why the gesture itself had moved Hugo. That wasn’t all.
“Oh yeah. I’ll give you the chicken legs, too.”
[Hatred toward Lee Gun is 30%.]
The cockroach screamed.
[Why the hell would such a thing bring down the hatred so much!!!]
That made no sense. A person’s hatred shouldn’t go down in such a baffling manner. Of course, this wasn’t simply about the chicken leg for Hugo. He just knew something about Lee Gun.
Lee Gun wasn’t one to concede the chicken leg to anyone; he would eat everything, including the wings.
This was why Hugo was moved for a moment. However, it didn’t take him long to scrunch up his face. “Be honest with me. Did you do something wrong against me?”
[Hatred toward Lee Gun is 40%.]
Lee Gun sounded surprised. “What? I can’t do something for my friend? Whatever. Just eat it. I’m giving it to you with you in mind.”
[Hatred toward Lee Gun is -100%.]
The cockroach screamed.
Hugo massaged his face as if he had been knocked out. The murderous intent infused within the butter knife was long gone.
The Secretary was baffled. When one’s hatred reached 101% for a human, one would immediately develop a grudge that would lead to murder. How could such trivial words negate such a feeling?
‘It isn’t possible unless he has incredible goodwill…!’
Anyway, she couldn’t let this be. She quickly headed toward Hugo. But the Secretary became irate when she discovered something. “What the hell! This is boneless chicken! There are no chicken legs here! Are you trying to pass it off to him because you made the wrong order?”
“Ah! You found me out.”
The eyes of Hugo, who had been knocked out, flashed again.
[Hatred toward Lee Gun is 50%.]
However, Hugo was understanding as he took the boneless chicken. The intent behind the actions didn’t matter; in the end, it was a present from Lee Gun.
[Hatred toward Lee Gun is 10%.]
“Thank you. However, I have something to say before that.”
When Hugo looked at the Secretary, the flustered Secretary desperately grabbed at Hugo as she whispered, “Hey. If you let it go here, he won’t just be your friend! He might become your son-in-law!!”
Hugo snorted. “Yooha is already….”
“No! I saw it?!! Yooha was looking at wedding magazines! When her uncle was sleeping, she put a blanket over him, and she kissed him on the cheek!”
Of course, the kiss was a bald-faced lie. However, the effect was perfect.
[Hatred toward Lee Gun is 150%.]
The hidden cockroach was shocked by the Secretary’s Information Distortion ability.
[My god! I’ve never seen it go that high!]
This percentage also allowed the monarch’s power to be activated in full.
[“Murderous Intent” cultivated by Abundance]
Hugo’s necktie pin turned black, and this power started to infuse itself into his magical energy. His eye color changed oddly. Moreover, the magical energy emanating from the pin was the power of the monarch.
‘!’
Hugo summoned his bow and aimed it at Lee Gun. Lee Gun looked at his friend as if he had lost his mind. “What’s wrong with you?”
“I want you to abdicate the seat of the Zodiac. Yooha and Sungjae have become strange because of you. It’s all your fault!”
When Hugo manifested an arrow, Lee Gun flinched. In the beginning, he thought Hugo was going berserk because of his children. However, Lee Gun realized something was different. Hugo’s attack contained murderous intent.
Lee Gun unconsciously uncrossed his arms and raised his guard. If Hugo really felt this way, Lee Gun couldn’t look at this lightly.
If he were careless, he could lose.
Suddenly…
[Baby snake-nim!]
The Virgo Constructs appeared in front of Lee Gun.
[We succeeded in the mission you gave us. We were able to swipe the Libra’s royal Constructs!]
[Kevin has them.]
[You’ll find them if you go to the holy ground.]
However, the goddesses seemed to have come for another reason.
[There is a problem. Kevin… Master’s servant isn’t in a good condition. Please heal him…]
“What? He got hurt again. I understand. Let’s go to the holy ground…”
The cockroach, who had been listening in, flinched at these words.
‘No! Lee Gun cannot join up with them right now.’
Lee Gun would be able to acquire the Libra’s precious royal Constructs. Those were the highest-ranked Constructs that even the monarchs coveted.
‘They were supposed to be the monarch’s possession.’
The general wanted to recover the stolen royal Constructs. The cockroach could feel the presence of the general heading toward the holy ground. It could feel the desperation coming from the general, so it quickly jumped out.
Appearing atop the Secretary’s shoulder, it used its ability directly on Hugo. This monster used the power of abundance that grew the attack power!
As a black magical energy wave swirled around, the cockroach yelled at Hugo.
[Servant of the monarch! Use your deadly attack to kill the Virgo Saint and his servants! You have to steal the Libra’s royal Constructs before Lee Gun goes there…]
Pahng!!
The Secretary’s eyes turned round before she could speak. An arrow flew past her face. The arrow disappeared after it pierced through the cockroach.
At the same time, the hidden monsters flinched.
[What the—!]
Hugo’s eyes flashed. “Ah! I finally found you cockroaches.”
As soon as he spoke, the arrows flew to various locations around the building.
Kwahng! Kwahng!
The heads of the monsters exploded!
[The Archer’s arrows have executed the intruders trying to infiltrate the holy ground.]
Hugo yelled, “I don’t know why, but I couldn’t find them even if I could sense their presence.”
“Y…You…!”
“Gun, she wanted me to kill you. You should keep a better leash on your subordinate.”
The monsters were taken aback by Hugo’s yell.
[Why is the monarch’s power not working?]
[His hatred went up to 150 percent!]
The Secretary flinched. “If your hatred is 150%, it would eat away at the faith. It’ll become negative…!”
Lee Gun burst out laughing as if he was baffled. Hatred of 150 percent? Eat away at his faith? He didn’t know what that meant, but…
“It’s still 400% even if you include that factor.”
That was Hugo’s faith.
“……!!”
This was the reason Lee Gun had found it absurd. For some odd reason, he had sensed murderous intent from Hugo.
Hugo’s faith was still high, so something odd was going on. Therefore, Lee Gun had gone along with everything.
The Secretary was baffled when she heard those words. “His faith was cut in half!!”
“Ah! It recovered that day when I gave him some alcohol”
“??!!”
It didn’t matter in the end.
Kwahng! Kwahng!
[The power of the absolute marksman has destroyed part of the forces of the Abundance Monarch. They were located ten kilometers out.]
[It has been converted into Temple EXP.]
[An agent of the Abundance can be felt nearby.]
Lee Gun was amused by the energy he felt. “Hey, Guisoon.”
The Secretary, who had been about to run away, froze in place.
The Serpent Bearer let out a cold laugh. “Let’s have a brief chat. Ok?”
