“Ahhhk!” The PD screamed in fright. His scream rang throughout the broadcasting station.
“PD-nim! Are you ok?”
“What’s wrong?”
People from the entertainment division and other divisions unrelated to the newsroom rushed toward him. The top stars who had come to improve the image of the twelve Zodiac Saints blinked.
In the end, the frightened PD pointed at the box. “S-snake!”
A snake slithered out of the box. Moreover, it wasn’t a garden variety snake; it was a King Cobra. People wanted to run away, but their panic lasted for only a moment.
“Uh...uh?”
The snake had something in its mouth, a gray plastic envelope. Looking annoyed, it slammed its tail on the desk. The scene seemed as if the snake was threatening to bite these people if they didn’t quickly take the envelope.
Everyone reared back in fright.
“PD-nim!”
In the end, the trembling PD extended his hand. As soon as he grabbed the plastic envelope, the snake opened its mouth in joy.
“Ooh-ahk!”
As though its business here was done, the now-happy snake went toward the booth's exit. However, the snake suddenly came to a stop. It remembered a warning from its owner before he had placed it in the delivery box.
‘Do you understand? Just deliver the item. If you change into something else inside the box, you're dead.’
“…!” Cold sweat appeared on the skin of the fearsome King Cobra. It rolled its small eyes to assess its surroundings. The next moment, something surprising happened.
Puhng!
The King Cobra transformed in shape. A slime with the consistency of a pudding appeared in its place. The slime happily rushed out of the room as if it had pulled off the perfect crime.
Soon, screams could be heard outside the building.
“Kyahhhk! What the hell is that?”
“Is that a monster?”
People became frightened when they saw a pudding crawl across the ground. That wasn't all. For some reason, the slime seemed to travel underneath the skirts of K-POP idols. It seemed to like that kind of thing.
***
“Call security!”
Pandemonium broke out inside the broadcasting station. Of course, the booth within the newsroom turned chaotic for an entirely different reason.
“P-PD-nim. Something's written on the envelope.”
“It says to send this out to the world!”
“Hurry up and open it!”
The PD quickly opened the envelope. He and his colleagues were surprised when they saw the envelope's content.
“This is…”
Inside the envelope was a picture.
“My god! Isn’t that a picture of the Sheep Saint?”
“You're right! It's Yang Wei! He dropped off the grid when the Spider Queen appeared in Korea!”
“He falsely stated that he had killed the Spider Queen. Since his lies resulted in damages to Korea, wouldn’t Korea want some sort of a recompense?”
“You're correct. He routinely took a lot of protection fees from Korea.”
“Many witnesses say that he tried to bury the evidence.”
“I’m pretty sure he had gone missing...”
This was why everyone’s face turned pale. It was to be expected. The picture showed a problematic scene. There was no way the Sheep Saint would send them this photo unless he had lost his mind.
“PD-nim! Something is written behind the photo.”
“What?”
When they saw the back of the photo, everyone yelled. The words were written with a broad pen, and there was power behind them.
“This is…”
Only one sentence was written on the photo's back.
Kwahng!
“P-PD-nim?”
“Let’s go live right now!”
“What?”
“What are you doing? Send out the notice for breaking news! We’ll also run a special feature during prime time!”
“Uh? We're running a special on the twelve Zodiac Saints at that time slot—”
“Who cares about the twelve Zodiacs!”
“What... what will be the title of the show?”
“Message sent by Lee Gun! This is an exclusive!”
“What?”
* * *
While the broadcasting station was in turmoil thanks to Lee Gun’s antics, Hugo became surprised by the item Lee Gun took out. “Hey! That’s...”
The crate emitted chaotic magical energy, shocking Hugo into action. He immediately used his ability.
Paht!
The door shut as Hugo released a large amount of magical energy.
[The barrier around the Archer’s holy ground has been activated.]
[<Archer>’s holy ground. It is the Sagittarius's Pit of Hell.]
[Holy Ground Characteristics: Scorching Heat, Foresight, Hero Training, Hero’s Grave]
[Caution! You may receive burns if you are not careful.]
[The Serpent Bearer’s holy ground is needed to protect you.]
[Your qualification and level are too low to make this corresponding area into the Serpent Bearer’s holy ground.]
[You feel the energy of an envoy.]
Hugo put up a barrier to stop the power from leaking out of the crate. He then grabbed the back of his neck. His reaction was warranted. “Hey! Why the hell would you steal a Saint’s treasure?”
That was right. The golden crate in front of him was an SS rank holy item called <Imperial holy item>.
“That’s one of the treasures touted by the twelve Zodiacs!”
Lee Gun sneered. “What? I found out Oh Taeksoo is poorer than I thought. I’m going to use this as my wallet instead of taking resources from the Poverty Saint.”
“What? Why am I the Poverty S…” Hugo tried to glare at his friend, but he understood why Lee Gun had stolen this particular item. It was an item Lee Gun coveted in the distant past.
Why?
‘It's a holy item that multiplies other items.’
<Multiplication Storage> The Sheep Saint’s Imperial holy item could increase gold, skills, and soldiers.
‘This is a treasure even other Saints covet. How did he get a hold of this.'
“Also, I think something is already in here.” Lee Gun shook the box as he laughed. “Anyway, I’ll open this and multiply the ingredients. Then, I’ll use it to screw over everyone.”
“How?” Hugo asked.
Lee Gun confidently laughed. “I heard most of the twelve Zodiac Saints are receiving funds from the asshat. That's why...”
“How are you going to pull that off? There’s no one here who can activate this holy item,” Hugo said.
A momentary silence ensued in the room. Lee Gun furrowed his brows as he looked at his friend. “What? You can’t use this?”
“Dude, I’m the Archer Saint!”
Not anyone could use a holy item. In short, Saints were humans blessed by the gods. This meant the holy item of the Sheep could be used by only humans the Sheep god favored. As for the low-rank holy items sold on the market, they had a general use contract.
‘Of course, some gods allow anyone to use their holy items.’
An SS rank holy item was a treasure that represented a god’s pride. There was no way anyone could use these items.
‘Well, this guy is an exception.’
Lee Gun had never revealed how he had done it, but in the past, he had nonchalantly stolen and used SS rank holy items of the twelve Zodiacs. Hugo had been no exception to this. He had to come up with some bullshit excuse to his God saying he had lent the item to Lee Gun.
Since Lee Gun could use items of other Saints, was he assuming Hugo could do the same? It seemed that was the case.
“Why can’t you use it?” Lee Gun couldn’t understand why Hugo was unable to do it, and this made Hugo’s eyebrows twitch.
“Why are you trying to make me use it?” Hugo asked.
“It uses a crap ton of magical energy.”
'This bastard is trying to use me as a battery for magical energy.' Hugo had a baffled expression, but Lee Gun remained shameless.
Saints received magical energy from their gods, but Lee Gun’s magical energy came from himself. If he used this item, he would fall over from exhaustion. He would be crazy to use it.
“You're the only one of the twelve Zodiacs who I recognize and accept. I don’t know why you're incapable of doing something so easy.” Lee Gun looked at him.
“Your standards are insane. Are you never going to admit that?”
In the end, Lee Gun raised the crate as if to show that Hugo was useless. However, a fierce rebound suddenly knocked his hands away.
Boom!
[Intruder! You aren’t a disciple accepted by the Sheep god!]
An unfamiliar voice rang out as the crate emanated red magical energy.
Hugo quickly summoned his auxiliary bow. “Gun! Get back!”
Despite the warning, Lee Gun smirked. There was no way he would back off. He imbued powerful magical energy into the item.
Flash!
Lee Gun’s personal characteristic called <Perverted Eyes> allowed him to mimic another person’s technique and magical energy to a certain extent. He had used this skill to develop holy items and nonchalantly borrow the holy items of others.
In the past, he had to be mindful of not stepping on the toes of others, but there was no need for that now.
‘The god of wealth ran away, so what's he going to do?’
Kwahng!
Two incredibly huge magical energy waves clashed against each other. Lee Gun was trying to brute force the crate by destroying the barrier set by the god.
Was it because the god of wealth had gone into hiding? Whatever the reason was, the wind pressure generated by the rebound dissipated in no time. Lee Gun quickly retracted his hands in desperation. It was to be expected.
‘My hair...’ The wind blew off several strands of Lee Gun's hair, surprising him. At the same time, he heard a familiar voice.
[Your hair will be sacrificed when you use the Sheep’s holy item.]
[Warning! If you pursue wealth too much, you might become bald.]
“…!” Lee Gun bit his tongue.
When one borrowed the power of a god through a holy item, one needed to give a tribute or fulfill a requirement. It meant payment had to be paid for borrowing the power. Of course, the rental fee differed depending on the Saint. Some gods gave power to the humans who needed it. However, some liked to put their own amusement above all else.
‘No wonder that asshat had thinning hair!’
It seemed Hugo was also shocked by this scene. The disciples of his god also had to pay tributes, but it wasn’t this type of thing. He wondered if the disciples of the Sheep knew about this.
Soon, Lee Gun’s eyes flashed in anger. “Are there any disciples of the Sheep nearby?”
Hugo looked fed-up as he gazed at Lee Gun. “Is losing your hair that big of a deal?”
Lee Gun grumbled. Of course, it mattered. “I’ll have to kidnap one from nearby.”
Hugo held Lee Gun back. Even he couldn’t bury the story if Lee Gun kidnapped someone. “You're asking too much in the first place. It's an SS rank item. You need at least a Saint to use it!”
Lee Gun grumbled as he pointed toward the trunk with Yang Wei’s corpse. “Are you sure he’s dead?”
Hugo burst out laughing. 'Isn’t it obvious?' “You used your ignorant power to pierce his heart! Even I would be dead!”
This remark caused Lee Gun to lash out in anger once again. “He’s a Saint! Why's he so weak? How could he die from just that attack?”
Hugo was dumbfounded. “He’s not weak! You're the weird one for expecting him to live after being stabbed like that!”
“Whatever! Just bring him back to life, Taeksoo.”
“Hey!” In the end, Hugo groaned. “Even if the rental fee is fully paid, you need the secret code to use the crate to its full potential.”
“Secret code?”
“Yang Wei had a distrustful personality, so he put secret codes on many of his holy items,” Hugo explained.
“Secret code?”
Hugo let out a bitter laugh. He seemed like a father looking at a troublemaker of a son. “I understand what you must be feeling right now, but you should give up on it. You won’t be able to use it.”
Suddenly, Lee Gun kicked Yang Wei's corpse in anger.
[You have acquired special data.]
“!”
