[Lee Gun took care of the monsters invading Seoul.]
[A monster assumed to be a Monarch has been killed.]
[The Red Zone in Europe has transformed into an empty land.]
[The Red Zone has changed into a Green Zone.]
[Humanity holds a big festival. “Humanity recovered its land in 20 years.”]
[“The problem stemming from the lack of land is solved?” Lee Gun’s popularity has increased in various locations. He is being called the “Hope of Humanity”!]
[Will the Serpent Bearer take the newly vacated land?]
The world was in an uproar.
With the elimination of Abundance, the lands that were Red Zones had turned into Green Zones. The reason was that the barrier ruled by the power of Abundance had disappeared.
Thanks to Lee Gun, humanity was able to recapture its territory, but there was one more step to execute.
That Green Zone land was in the middle of the Black Zone. The monsters under the other monarchs were drooling as they approached the fertile land. Humanity had to plant its flag before those monsters reached that place.
Also aware of this truth, Lee Gun was making equipment suitable for the job.
* * *
Back to the present…
“Uncle huzzah! Huzzah!!!” The moved Chun Sungjae was shedding tears. For some reason, he had his fists clenched as he wailed in joy.
Chun Yooha and Guisoon overlooked it. As for the baffled Leo Saint Stevens, he just looked at Chun Sungjae.
Their group was on the flying castle, Drachma. Drachma was the suspended castle where Lee Gun had kicked off Stevens toward the territory of the unknown civilization.
The reason for this group’s visit to the flying castle was to conduct a Physical Examination. The Physical Examination wasn’t that big of a deal. It happened once every fall.
Humanity hosted huge events at Drachma. One of them was the Battle of the Zodiac Temples, where the Zodiacs and their temples pitted their strengths against each other. Another event was the Physical Examination.
In simple words, Physical Examination was an event where one’s abilities were checked. The evaluation determined what kind of equipment and weapons one would receive as an upgrade.
The Battle of the Zodiac Temples was more than a battle between temples. Captured monsters from the unknown civilization were hunted down. It was a place to compare superiority between temples and for one to showcase one’s skills to the world.
At this event, numerous disciples transferred between temples; they were scouted here. It was also an event that was held in preparation for a raid to the unknown civilization.
Anyway, the Physical Examination occurred on the eve of the Battle of the Zodiac Temples.
Chun Sungjae was wailing in joy after coming back from the site of the physical examination. “I grew! My height! I tried everything, yet my height never grew before! But I grew taller this time!”
Dumbfounded, Guisoon looked at the wailing young man.
The Battle of the Zodiac Temples happened only once a year, and it was the only time when all the twelve Zodiacs and Zodiac Saints gathered in one place. It was humanity’s biggest festival day.
Moreover, the problem with Abundance’s land needed to be taken care of, so Chun Sungjae had come as a Zodiac Saint. He would participate in the Conference, and since he was already here, he had taken the physical examination.
“Uncle huzzah!! This is the best record in my life!”
Guisoon scoffed at him. “You grew only three centimeters.”
“What? As a man like me, you know the sorrow of being short!”
The Secretary flinched.
“It’s a full three centimeters! The front digit changed! I’m 160 cm tall now! As expected, Uncle is great!”
Lee Gun had given Chun Sungjae a Chalice that allowed the young man to grow in height. This was why Sungjae was sobbing in joy.
He had bowed toward the Chalice and reverentially drank from it every day for a week! And in that period, he had grown by three centimeters! It was enough of a reason to sing praises.
[Faith toward the Serpent Bearer has increased by a lot.]
[Life is satisfied by its Zodiac Saint’s happiness.]
[Faith toward the Serpent Bearer has increased by a lot.]
Guisoon, who had been standing next to Sungjae, opened her notebook in surprise.
[The Bible’s Psalm of Sungjae has grown by 100 pages.]
Guisoon despaired when useless pages appeared in droves.
Chun Sungjae didn’t care for her reaction. He cheered in joy. “I want to grow as tall as Uncle! I want to grow in another place like Uncle, too!”
At that moment, someone spoke in derision. “You’ll be the size of a child even if you do grow.”
“!!”
It was one of Sungjae’s old comrades. His old comrades were passing by this place after finishing their physical examination. They were the generals of the Gemini temple from the Korean branch, Japanese branch, and Chinese branch.
These magicians under the Gemini temple were displeased with Chun Sungjae. When he was in their temple, Chun Sungjae had been a mere A-rank. Naturally, his becoming a Zodiac Saint displeased them.
“A shorty like you became a Zodiac Saint. I bet you became one because you sucked up to Lee Gun-nim.”
The guard in front of them reacted in fright.
“Eiji-nim!”
This guard was Chun Sungjae’s old guard, Hwang Young. Lee Gun had met him when they had gone to meet the Appraiser.
“He’s a Zodiac Saint now! You can’t treat him with such disrespect!”
The magicians of the Gemini temple just snorted.
“This little shrimp is a Zodiac Saint?! Also, how can he be the Zodiac Saint of Life? Do you remember his bizarre skill record? All of his attack skills were S+ rank, but all the healing skills came up as F rank!”
“That is true, but….”
“You should be the Zodiac Saint of Death! It’s a joke that you’re under Life! The Zodiac Saint of Life is a title befitting someone like our Saintess!”
Chun Sungjae got angry. Saintess, my ass! She was the one to steal his uncle’s data, which resulted in a strange daughter! That Saintess was a thief!
When Chun Sungjae remembered Carly, sparks flew in his eyes. The damn Saintess was the main culprit! She was probably here today!
The young man said, “If she is the Saintess, I’m the Paragon!”
“Huh? Paragon? Can you even use a healing skill?”
Chun Sungjae’s eyes flashed. “Of course. I can even revive someone.”
Along with the other disciples, Chun Yooha and Guisoon were hearing about this for the first time. Their eyes turned round. It was to be expected.
The Aquarius was known as the only healing Zodiac, yet it couldn’t pull off a miracle like a revival. That was why even Stevens was shocked.
‘The Serpent Bearer can do something even Sophie can’t?’
Did Lee Gun reach such heights already?
“It was said that the Serpent Bearer is on a higher level than the Saintess of the Aquarius temple. That seems to be true.”
At this moment, a notification rang.
[The Serpent Bearer’s reputation has increased.]
The magicians of the Gemini temple were taken aback when they realized they had suddenly increased the reputation of the Serpent Bearer. They stuttered.
“Revival? You’re a rookie compared to Heiji-nim, yet you can revive someone? Even Heiji-nim can’t do something like that—”
Tuhk!
Laughing, Chun Sungjae grabbed the magician’s arm. “Did you get hurt anywhere in recent days?”
“What? Why do you want to know that?”
“Why?” At that moment, Chun Sungjae’s eyes flashed.
[“Wound” Revival]
“Ahhhhhk!” The magician foamed at the mouth as he fell over.
His pain was being revived. The magician clutched at his body. He felt like he was dying. Of course, someone loved this.
[“Life” is elated.]
[“Life’s” EXP has increased.]
[As Life grows, any related Personal Attributes will get upgraded.]
[It will be applied to the Zodiac and the disciples.]
The magician looked at Chun Sungjae, as if he had lost his mind. “Y… You bastard… When you meant revive— Ahhhk!”
Chun Sungjae grabbed the magician’s arm and said in a sympathetic voice, “The wound that you suffered not too long ago must be acting up. I’ll fix it right now for you.”
[Pain Revival (Stage 1)]
“Ahhhhhhhhk! Hey, Chun Sungjae!”
It couldn’t be seen, but a sharp pain was spreading throughout his body. The magician screamed as if he were about to die.
Soon, Chun Sungjae used Super Regeneration. Then, something surprising happened.
[The faulty healing has healed properly.]
[The strange wound has completely healed.]
[“Life” is overjoyed, saying this is a great understanding of Life.]
[It says the Serpent Bearer has a great Zodiac Saint.]
[“Life’s” EXP has increased.]
From the beginning, Chun Sungjae had sensed something was off through the Eyes of Discernment.
‘It doesn’t look as if the Aquarius Saint healed the wound. What is it?’
Then, using Eyes of Discernment, he saw where the wounds were. It seemed the wounds hadn’t been healed properly. It seemed as if skin had been put over the wound to make the wound look like it was healed.
‘Did he go to some quack healer?’
[You can sense the energy of the unknown civilization.]
It didn’t matter in the end.
“I healed you. I want thirty million won. You can deposit it to the Serpent Bearer’s temple.”
“Your temple is charging highway robbery.”
In the end, the magician fainted from the pain.
Chun Sungjae merely brushed his hands off. Of course, everyone else didn’t know how the pain came to be. They just watched the man’s wound flare up once again and Chun Sungjae heal him.
‘I didn’t need to revive the pain, but he was being an asshole.’
Chun Yooha raised her thumb in approval. Guisoon looked sick and tired of the two siblings.
However, the siblings’ actions were understandable. Why?
‘The Serpent Bearer’s temple is new, so they are poor(?).’
Yes, after becoming Zodiac Saints, the siblings had been stunned to find that their temple was poor.
The Leo temple and the Gemini temple were rich. But the newly established temple of the Serpent Bearer was different.
[Serpent Bearer’s Talent: 10]
[Sagittarius’s Talent: 3,789,900]
[Virgo’s Talent: 198,944,840,000]
Talent(Currency, Chance) was the money used by the gods. The tributes and the donations given by the normal disciples were converted to the currency used by the gods. All tributes given by humans held certain values.
Talent in the form of Points could be given to the disciples as salaries. Constructs used Talent to keep up their respectability. It was used as a development fund for the temple and also for trade between temples. It was used in all facets.
This also meant there was a divide between rich temples and poor temples. The siblings had heard Lee Gun mention all this when he was raising his new skills.
‘Talent? Oh! You need Talent for intermediate skills?’
The Chun siblings were in charge of running the Serpent Bearer’s temple. So, aside from EXP, they coveted wealth.
The Gemini temple was flush with cash thanks to selling the Teleport spell. The siblings’ father was an honest person and worked as a mercenary.
In many ways, the disciples had to diligently work for the Zodiac.
‘Uncle is making something important right now.’
Lee Gun had said that to fulfill the requirements needed to grow Life, an aspirational figure was needed for humanity. Therefore, he was making something related to the hope of humanity; it was a necessity to recover the stolen human territories.
Anyway, the two siblings’ actions seemed to bear fruit.
“Wow! The Serpent Bearer’s temple is good. As expected, it’s a healing-type temple!”
“Will the Serpent Bearer’s Zodiac Saints fight other Zodiac Saints in the Battle of the Temples?”
“Are you sure they are doing it this year? The invasion made it so that the Zodiac Saints will have a meeting beforehand. It’s about the raid, and it looks like they will be exiting the dome in earnest.”
“You’re right, but the Battle of the Temples has to be held for the special land of the gods to be summoned. There is no way the Zodiacs will give up on that. It is their opportunity to grow.”
“Uh! Does that mean the Zodiac Saints of the Serpent Bearer will take the field?”
“I hope Lee Gun-nim comes out as a special guest.”
“Kyaa! If Lee Gun comes out, the whole world will be abuzz!”
[Serpent Bearer’s reputation has increased.]
[Serpent Bearer’s reputation has increased.]
The Chun siblings were satisfied.
“Let’s use this opportunity to look for disciples.”
“Absolutely”
However, they still seemed worried about the person Abundance had changed into.
‘We still have a lot that we don’t know about Uncle.’
Despite not knowing the full story, the siblings knew their uncle had enemies he was aiming for.
‘We have to work harder for Uncle.’
They wanted to be of help to Lee Gun.
At another place, someone was just scratching his cheek while the people around him were abuzz.
‘He is amazing.’
It was Chun Sungjae’s roommate and long-time best friend, Hahn Jimin.
‘The gap already felt large between the C rank and the A rank.’
Now that Chun Sungjae had become a Zodiac Saint, it felt as if he were on a different planet. Of course, Hahn Jimin knew his friend wasn’t someone to distance himself from him.
– The Zodiac Saint of the Serpent Bearer is odd. There are levels to it. I can’t believe a Zodiac Saint is hanging out with a low-rank awakened being.
However, the people around them didn’t think the same. But that wasn’t important right now.
“Will it be ok, Sungjae? I heard the Genius Workshop is in an uproar because of Lee Gun-nim.”
“What? Because of Uncle? Why??”
“It has to do with the weapons he made?”
“Weapons??”
* * *
Around that time.
[“Lee Gun’s weapons are a million times better than the weapons of the Genius Workshop?” It is blowing up amongst the battle-type temple community.]
[The rumor is widespread. The Genius Workshop is directly under the supervision of the Capricorn. The craftsmen there are angry.]
[“Lee Gun is an excellent fighter, but he’s an amateur as a manufacturer. He cannot be compared to the master craftsmen of the Capricorn temple,” said an elite master craftsman of the Capricorn temple.]
[“Capricorn made Heaven’s Punishment for him.”]
[It is like a brand name. There is no substance. Their worth is inflated.]
[If there is an opportunity, we would like to invite Lee Gun to do a demonstration. We will compare the weapons.]
Hugo clicked his tongue as the articles started popping up again. “Jeez! I was wondering why the disciples were in an uproar the last time, when Seoul was invaded.”
The commotion was rooted in the weapons made for the disciples of the Sagittarius temple. Some were asking if Lee Gun really knew how to manufacture. They wondered if he was trying to deceive others. It was a total mess.
Anyway, the rumors circulating recently said that Lee Gun’s weapons were better than the weapons from the Genius Workshop. Since those within the Genius Workshop were a prideful bunch, this had caused an uproar.
‘That is what you get for flaunting your arrogance.’
Hugo’s temple had been completely ignored by the workshop since it didn’t have money. Even a Zodiac Saint like him was turned away.
But their current reactions were understandable.
‘Yes. Who the hell would think Gun is a manufacturer when seeing his fighting ability?’
As the head of a battle-type temple, Hugo became angry.
‘The Serpent Bearer’s temple is being called a battle-type temple right now.’
They knew Lee Gun’s profession was manufacturing, but just saying it out loud made them feel a deep sense of shame.
‘Well, I was hoping the Scorpio temple would do well in the Battle of the Temple, yet this mess happened.’
Even if Lee Gun did have excellent manufacturing skills, no one thought he would be better than the Capricorn, who was known as the Maker Zodiac.
In the end, people had to see it for themselves.
“Gun, give me a couple of the weapons that you made. The Genius Workshop is doing a demonstration. I just have to toss them a couple of your weapons.”
Lee Gun nodded in an easygoing manner and told Hugo to take a couple of them.
“Gun?”
However, Lee Gun didn’t care about that. He looked at the body of the Abundance monarch that he had scraped together. “It really is there.”
“What is?”
Lee Gun used his skill.
[Reaper Summon!]
Suddenly, someone appeared in the room.
Hugo reared back in shock when he saw this person.
