When Lee Jaewon was in high school, he had been the weak young man who worked as a miscellaneous worker under Lee Gun and Hugo. He had followed Lee Gun and Hugo as if they were his big brothers.
However, things had changed after the incident within the Devil’s Tower.
[Humanity’s hero Lee Gun died within the Devil’s Tower.]
[No one helped him. He was the only one not able to exit the Devil’s Tower.]
As a young man, Jaewon had felt guilty. He lacked power and had been unable to be of help to Lee Gun.
This was why he grew his power. He couldn’t protect Lee Gun, but at least, he wanted to protect Hugo. So he became the chief of staff for the Sagittarius temple.
And he had recently reached level nineteen in his abilities.
[Congratulations! With the foundation of your high faith, outstanding skills, and achievements, you have become level 19!]
[You aren’t too far away from reaching level 20! You just need to work a bit harder! Fighting!]
[You will get a taste of a new world when you reach level 20!]
“…?”
It seemed everything he had worked toward paid off when this invasion happened.
Lee Jaewon had been surprised when he had suddenly heard a scam-like notification spoken in Lee Gun’s voice thirty minutes ago. He had no idea what levels meant, so why did it matter that his level had increased?
He wondered what could realistically change, but…
“…?”
Lee Jaewon looked at Hahn Jimin with an odd expression
‘What is it?’
Jaewon had heard Hahn Jimin was Sungjae’s best friend. He had seen this kid a couple of days ago, but he hadn’t felt this sensation…
‘What is this weird energy?’
Lee Jaewon was at the cusp of reaching level 20, and his senses were changing. However, he soon shook his head from side to side.
‘It might be because this is a messy battlefield full of monsters.’
Monsters were creating mayhem at various locations, so it was understandable.
‘However, something feels very off.’
Therefore, Lee Jaewon activated one of his skills.
[Every Movement (SS)]
– Every movement of a designated target will be monitored in secret for 24 hours.
– All the data of a body will be tracked (location, heart rate, number of steps, number of blinks, etc.)
Lee Jaewon had possessed this skill since his days as a miscellaneous worker. He had developed this skill because he had been touched by Sagittarius’s magical energy in his youth.
Moreover, it had been an F-rank skill, yet he had evolved it until now. He used to check if his enemies had been killed and also to check if Lee Gun and Hugo had any abnormal statuses.
‘This should do the job for now.’
Lee Jaewon quickly moved after placing the monitoring skill over Hahn Jimin. The appearance of the zombie humans wasn’t good news, but it didn’t matter in the end.
‘There will be no problem if Young Master uses his Life skill.’
It was why they would be able to defend this region by themselves if no more monsters showed up.
‘If Lee Gun takes down the remaining three monsters, it’ll be a victory for humanity…!’
It was as if Hahn Jimin was making fun of that idea. The ground shook as he laughed.
Koo-goo-goohng!
An enormous monster appeared at the heart of the city.
[Koo-ooh-roohk!!]
People became surprised at the sight of the monster that was as big as a hundred-story building.
“What the hell is that?”
“What is going on? I thought monsters could no longer show up here. We activated the dome again!”
“I have no idea— Kyahhhk!!”
When screams erupted from all directions, Chun Sungjae yelled urgently. “Everyone, change the target! Its level isn’t that high, but it’s huge!”
The extent of damage it caused was large.
“Yeorin Noona and Jihoon Hyung can stay here at the evacuation shelter! You can maintain the skill over the evacuation shelter!”
Hahn Jimin quickly yelled, “Sungjae! I’ll stay here at the evacuation shelter! Since I won’t be of any help to you guys, I’ll use my defensive abilities here! Every S-rank should go and fight the monster!”
“Alright! I’ll leave it to you!”
Finally, all the fighters ran toward the monster. Since they received the blessings of the Serpent Bearer, it was handled swiftly.
Kwah-jeek! Kwah-jeek!
They were able to accomplish such feats because Lee Gun had taken care of the four great calamities.
– This is amazing! Lee Gun is killing the monsters that are trying to disperse!
– He is decapitating them!
– With the death of the monsters, the disturbances occurring around the world are decreasing!
– My god! The entire world is renting his skill! It should be a daunting situation, yet…!
The news about Lee Gun was being spread across the world.
[Kee-ehhhhhhk!!]
“…!!”
Lee Jaewon flinched as he applied a fatal blow to a monster. The reason was the skill he had placed over Hahn Jimin.
Hahn Jimin had left the evacuation shelter and was heading toward an unexpected location, a location near the dome.
‘What the hell? Why is he going there?’
If Lee Jaewon were being charitable with his thoughts, Hahn Jimin could be going there to save the people stuck in that region. However, it wasn’t a place where a C-rank awakened being could go in such a leisurely manner.
Moreover, this dome was a dome made from the power of Lee Gun.
‘What if he is trying to destroy it?’
It would endanger Lee Gun since Lee Gun was connected to the dome.
In the end, Lee Jaewon furrowed his brow. “Ben. Can you hold this place down for a moment?”
“I guess so? Where are you going?”
“It’s nothing. I’ll be back in no time.” Lee Jaewon stealthily shadowed Hahn Jimin.
At that moment, Goat suddenly felt a sense of unease. He didn’t know why, but it was the same feeling he had felt ten years ago, when Lee Jaewon and Chun Jiwoo had gone missing.
* * *
A while before Lee Jaewon had disappeared…
The world was in a state of panic. Everyone had put their faith in Lee Gun, yet he had been eaten by a calamity.
“Lee Gun-nim!!!”
It wasn’t as if he was just eaten.
“Ahhhk!! Help!”
“It’s dangerous, idiot! Get out of my way!!”
“Lee Gun-nim!”
Yes, instead of letting people get eaten, Lee Gun had instead let himself get eaten by the calamity.
Moreover, it seemed he was overburdened because he was letting the whole world use his defensive and regenerative abilities.
“My god! Red Eye under Lee Gun-nim is…!”
Red Eye had been receiving power from Lee Gun, and it was currently being crushed by its sibling named Death.
War roared toward the sky since it had swallowed Lee Gun.
[I finally ate him!]
It was an enormous roar that shook the world.
[You guys are next]
“…!!!”
The feeling of intense pressure made everyone tremble. They were having a hard time staying on their feet.
‘Shit…!’
‘How was Lee Gun able to even exchange gazes with such monsters…!’
In the end, the disciples stood up as they raised their weapons. Normally, they knew they had no chance against such monsters, so they would run away. However, it was different right now.
“Shit. We have to rescue Lee Gun-nim!”
“It’s our turn to save him!”
While his temper was terrible, Lee Gun had not hesitated to protect humanity, even if it caused damage to his body. This was true twenty years ago, and it was true even now!
“Save Lee Gun-nim!”
“W-Will it be possible? He might have been digested already!”
“Who cares! Cut it open! Lee Gun-nim sacrificed himself for us…!”
[Kahhhhk!!]
“!!!”
Suddenly, War started to scream. Flames erupted from War’s mouth, like that with Torch.
The people wondered if War was generating the flame, but that didn’t seem to be the case.
[Ahhhk! You crazy bastard!]
War vomited blood as the flame of the Divine status of Death roiled in its stomach. That wasn’t all.
A voice reverberated alongside the flames, and people had a hard time believing their ears.
“Ha ha ha ha!! This is good! As expected, I knew your gullet would be useful!!”
“?!!”
It seemed Lee Gun didn’t get eaten! He had purposefully entered the calamity’s body!
A kid shot out from the calamity’s mouth.
Kwah-jeek!!!
“L…Lee Gun-nim!!!”
“A…Are you ok… Ahhk! What are you holding in your hand?!”
“Baby gift!”
“?!!”
Lee Gun had ripped out something that looked like an unknown part of the intestine.
[Death has gained EXP.]
[Death’s power has become much stronger.]
[Death’s power is at the cusp of stage 5.]
[Warning! Life will automatically be extinguished when Death reaches stage 5.]
Lee Gun furrowed his brow at the notification. He was storing EXP in his temple to delay the growth of the Divine status of Death. However, his opponents were like superfoods in growing Death.
‘Tsk! It’ll be a shame if Life disappears.’
He was sure there was a way that would allow him to use both of them. Of course, Yeonwoo and Junwoo were in charge of Life and Death, respectively. But Lee Gun couldn’t use the solution of splitting himself. Why?
[It takes at least a hundred years to transfer a Divine status again.]
[It is a period of instability, so the Divine status might disperse while the transfer is occurring.]
It had been only twenty-four years since the Divine statuses had been transferred to him.
‘It’s too short of a time.’
He also remembered what Leo had said to him.
– The power of Life and Death that you are using is the power of the thirteenth original owner.
– Is that so?
– Anyway, the thirteenth was special even amongst the original owners. Despite all of them being original owners, the thirteenth was on a different level. You were temporarily given the Divine status of Asclepius, which is only life. However, you developed the divine status of Death. That is why you have crazy abilities.
– !
– The thirteenth was full of talent, so he could make living weapons. However, his real talent was in Ability Creation. He was able to create any ability, and he could imbue the ability to a weak Construct or an inanimate object.
Leo seemed to have been close to the thirteenth, so it had all kinds of stories about him. However, that wasn’t the important part.
– I’m not sure about Yeonwoo or Junwoo, whom you mentioned. However, the original owner was able to use both Divine statuses at the same time.
– Is that so?
– Of course, those powers weren’t ordinary. Even that annoyingly talented being had a hard time doing it.
Anyway, he was sure since he had heard it from Leo.
‘There is a way that’ll allow me to awaken both Life and Death.’
Of course, he didn’t know what that method entailed.
[You cheeky little thing! I’ll kill the humans that you are trying to protect!]
After having its gullet ripped away, War used its power to control the civilians. It ordered the people of the world to kill Lee Gun.
The eyes of Lee Gun, who had been watching his enemies, flashed. It seemed he had an epiphany. It was as if he had realized how he could use Life and Death at the same time.
‘Yes. That is it.’
* * *
When Chun Sungjae had gotten rid of the monsters that had suddenly appeared…
“Huhk! Huhk! It’s done over here!”
Chun Sungjae was barely able to keep his breathing in check.
“You did well, Zodiac Saint-nim…!”
However, he soon looked at his surroundings and realized something was off.
“Uh? What happened to Jaewon hyung? He was here a moment ago.”
“Ah! Jaewon hyung went toward the dome.”
“Is that so? Did he go there to repair it?”
[Kyaa. Baby snake-nim took care of two calamities!!!]
When the monsters were all killed, the Virgo Constructs stole the TV from the disciples, and they were blushing.
[As expected of Baby snake-nim…!]
[Uh? Wait a moment! What is this? Baby snake-nim’s appearance changed a little.]
Chun Sungjae had been listening from afar, and it caused him to wail. He didn’t know what had happened, but he was sad that he didn’t get to see his uncle’s exploits live.
He had resisted the urge to watch the TV because it would make him want to go there more! “Ahhk! I want to see it live too!”
It seemed the Virgo goddesses felt sorry for Chun Sungjae, who was an otaku for his uncle. They spoke as they approached him.
[If you want, I can change your appearance. I am confident that Lee Gun-nim won’t notice!]
“What?! Really?!”
[Yes. I am confident …!]
However, Chun Sungjae pouted. “It’s fine. While I desire it, I won’t do something Uncle doesn’t like.”
[Are you sure?]
“In fact, this is to my benefit. This is like sealing myself off and training. It’ll allow me to level up. I won’t fall behind my friend when it comes to this”
[Uh. Your friend? Are you talking about Jimin-nim?]
“Yes. Jimin.”
[How will you fall behind him? Isn’t he a C-rank disciple? Sungjae-nim is an SS-rank, so why would you say you will fall behind…]
Chun Sungjae’s eyes flashed. “No! I will fall behind. When Uncle appeared in our house for the first time, I tried to chase him out. Jimin was the one who brought Uncle home. In fact, he even broke the statue by chance. He helped us catch the Gemini Saint.”
Chun Sungjae poured. Moreover, he was able to smell something that Sungjae couldn’t!
“When Uncle came to our house for the first time, Jimin said he smelled something very good from uncle. It is the smell that emanates from the gods.
“Anyway, he believed Uncle was Lee Gun-nim from the start. In terms of faith and fandom, I am completely at a loss to him.”
The Constructs had odd expressions on their faces when they heard his words.
[A good smell… Was it before Lee Gun-nim fully awakened? A human was able to do that?]
“Yes. He said it when Uncle came to our house for the first time. That is why I asked Uncle to give me his hand so that I could try smelling it. However, I had no idea…!!!”
Chun Sungjae was about to get angry because he lost to his friend in terms of fandom.
[Wait a moment.]
The voice of the Virgo Construct hardened in an instant. The goddess looked at Chun Sungjae with a hardened expression on her face.
[That’s odd. The only ones able to smell it before his awakening should be monsters.]
“What?”
[Do you not remember the fight between Lee Gun-nim and Abyss at Drachma? It was before Lee Gun-nim awakened as a Zodiac rank. Abyss said Lee Gun-nim smelled good like Taurus and wanted to eat him.]
“!”
[Those are words spoken by monsters, who see gods as food.]
“…!” Chun Sungjae’s face froze. Of course, he knew what that implied.
At that moment…
“Ah. I found you, Sungjae!”
Chun Sungjae’s face hardened when he heard the familiar voice.
The young man grabbed Chun Sungjae’s shoulder as soon as he approached him. “I’ve been looking for you for a while. You were here?”
Chun Sungjae’s face was frozen as he turned to look. It was Hahn Jimin.
