At that moment, in another place…
“What? The constructs in Korea are gone?”
China’s Yang Wei was one of the twelve Zodiacs, named the <White Sheep>. He was under Aries of the Golden Fleece.
When he received the unexpected news, his expression turned solemn. “Hey, didn’t they make a fuss about Lee Gun coming back to Korea?”
“Yes!”
“Now our constructs in that country have gone missing?” Yang Wei asked.
“Yes. Our Korean branch was also surprised by the development. It seems we’ll have to investigate this matter.”
Yang Wei refrained from massaging the back of his neck. In this era, the unknown civilization had stolen large swaths of territory from humanity. Due to this, the world map had changed in the past, and the borderlines of the countries had lost their meaning.
Instead of independent countries, everyone moved according to their coalition. Replacing the borderlines on a map, domes marked boundaries now. These protective barriers stopped the monsters’ invasion. In this era, they were protecting human civilization itself.
“My god! Aren’t the constructs responsible for maintaining the domes?”
“Some of those constructs ran away?”
Yang Wei let out a small groan when he heard unrest among the disciples. The news about Lee Gun had already spoiled his morning, and now he had to deal with the news about the constructs.
‘Please give it a rest. Uh?’ Of course, the news was shocking.
The eighty-eight constructs were a shadow army directly belonging to the gods. Only the Zodiacs could order them around. Basically, the constructs were not humans, but transcendent beings. Of course, the Zodiacs and the constructs served the same gods. However, the constructs always looked down on humans. Such beings ran away?
‘Why? Who caused it?’
“One of the other Zodiacs might’ve caused him?”
Before cooperating as comrades, the twelve Zodiacs had sniped each other’s EXP. They stole disciples from each other and used the EXP gathered by the disciples to grow the power of their respective god. They were enemies with each other, so of course, they didn’t have a good relationship with each other. It was commonplace for them to attack each other, but…
‘The constructs never ran away before.’ Yang Wei became more and more anxious. ‘We failed to clear the Red Zone, and now this…’
Honestly, there had been an unofficial raid to the Red Zone just a while ago. The matter had been kept a secret. Several of the Zodiacs had participated in the raid; everyone had been confident, but they had failed once again. If this got out, the press would swarm them like ants. Moreover, he could imagine what they would say.
– You needed Lee Gun!
Of course, that phrase was taboo amongst the twelve Zodiacs even after twenty years. Yang Wei thought, ‘Shit! We thought it would be possible to deal with the monsters Lee Gun killed in the past.’
“It’s fine. So what happened there before our constructs went missing?” he asked. As if to make matters worse, the constructs had disappeared in a region near the Devil’s Tower. Of course, this bothered Yang Wei.
“I don’t know the details, but a disciple from the Gemini Temple was robbed in the streets.”
Yang Wei’s heart instantly sank at his subordinate’s words. “Robbed? By whom? Was it perhaps a middle-aged man?”
“No! At a glance, he looked like a high schooler… He could be a college student too.”
Yang Wei finally relaxed. ‘It isn’t Lee Gun.’
“See? Our god is better than the others. Money is the best.”
Yang Wei glanced at his handphone. Texts kept coming in.
[The Archer is still ignoring our attempts to contact him.]
[It’s to be expected. It has been twenty years. Why would he greet us with open arms?]
[What if he’s behind the Lee Gun incident?]
[I doubt it. He took on a mercenary contract for England. How could he cause that mess in Korea?]
In the end, Yang Wei’s brows furrowed. Korea was considered a colony that had relationships with multiple Saints. The Saints fought each other on how to run various cities.
“How should we take care of this, sir?” his subordinate asked.
“Prepare my private plane,” Yang Wei instructed him.
His subordinate became surprised. “You don’t want to call in a teleporter?”
“Why would I do something that would benefit another Saint? Do you realize how much that witch charges for each teleportation?” Yang Wei said.
“I never expected you to go to Korea. You always avoid going to that place.”
“Is this a joke? Do you realize what situation we are in? Our constructs are gone!” Yang Wei angrily said. “Then there’s the story about Lee Gun… Yes. I’ll go to Korea. It’s not a bad idea.”
Normally, Yang Wei hated visiting Korea, because of that damned Lee Gun. However, his heart was light at that moment. ‘He’s no longer in Korea. There’s no downside to this.’
Of course, Yang Wei had no idea who was waiting for him in Korea.
* * *
Lee Gun’s eyes turned round when he saw a message pop up in front of him.
[The attribute of the Man Who Pounds on All Creations has been activated.]
[Will you like to confirm the attribute?]
<Man Who Pounds on All Creations>
– A being that can pound every creation in the world to create what he wants.
– Effect: Classification does not matter. This includes skills, items, buildings, etc. Skill allows one to pound all creations into what one wants.
Lee Gun tilted his head in puzzlement. This was his first time seeing this content. He was not sure, but this content was somehow related to his special attribute. This new skill could be used in battle, but in essence, it was a manufacturing skill. ‘Honestly, battle skills are an application of manufacturing skills.’ For example, cutting up a monster was an application of a meat mincing skill.
[You’ll acquire data from destroying items.]
[The acquired data can be disassembled. You can use it to create or combine skills, items, special attributes, buildings, etc.]
[A portion of the data earned will accumulate to create a new skill.]
When Lee Gun opened his hand, he saw a yellow crystal. This was probably the data. ‘This is interesting.’ Lee Gun used his manufacturing skill as an experiment. Unlike the others, he had to scrap for weapons and defensive gear. It was the reason he had developed these skills.
‘Battle Workshop!’ He willed for it, but nothing happened around him.
[When your body was newly formed, your existing advanced skills were evolved and reset!]
[Battle Workshop (lv.99) ? Creation Workshop!]
[To open the Creation Workshop, you must possess an S-rank manufacturing holy item!]
His original skill needed a manufacturing item to use, so Lee Gun had somewhat expected this. ‘I’ll test it out later.’ He put the data crystal in his pocket with an amused expression.
Anyway, that wasn’t important now. Lee Gun asked, “Those twelve are calling these mosquitoes and other monsters a calamity?”
“Yes.”
When the young man confirmed it, Lee Gun recalled the youtube video he had seen earlier.
– Please pay close attention. Monsters are created from superstition and fear. They are born from the dark thoughts that humans actively shun. They appear in places with a lot of negative thoughts or stress! It gives them the opening to invade or be summoned!
The information about the monsters was interesting. It wasn’t wrong, but… ‘The problem remains that they are telling a mixture of truth and falsehood.’
The twelve Zodiacs had lost the public’s trust when they continued to fail in their raids. This meant the donations started to dry up. In the end, they came up with a scheme, “Saint Skill Rental System.”
The amused Lee Gun operated the young man’s phone. When he pressed the power button twice, a pre-installed app launched.
[Welcome, Hahn Jimin-nim!]
[Daily Divine Skills available for rent]
(Personal /Business)
[Rented Daily Divine Skills: 5 Active]
[Level of Contribution: Need 187p for next level]
[Change Refinement Method]
It seemed those bastards were renting out their skills to countries, businesses, and civilians. In return, they received some form of payment. That wasn’t all.
<Normal people can awaken using the power of the gods!>
<The twelve Zodiacs are intermediaries that connect humans to gods. The Vatican designated them as Saints.>
The Zodiacs awakened people with potential. They cultivated these people for their use, and these awakened beings were called disciples.
‘This is why there are more ability users after twenty years.’ Lee Gun learned of it.
It was a really amazing plan. The Zodiacs couldn’t kill the monsters by themselves, so they increased their fighting power. They went for quantity.
Lee Gun recalled the sales pitch the twelve Zodiacs had made. They used his name after they had tried to kill him.
<“Ultimately, every nation has to receive blessings from the gods. They have to move toward theocracy.” The discussions about the pros and cons are heated.>
– Please trust us like you trusted Lee Gun!
– Calamities can only be exterminated using the power of the gods!
– Your belief and support strengthen the gods! The blessings will get stronger in turn!
– Everyone’s belief and support will lead humanity to victory!
Lee Gun let out a crooked smile. These idiots wanted to make countries into theocratic states. ‘Do they want to become dictators?’
Lee Gun didn’t care if they sold items that were supposed to ward against evil. He didn’t care if he sold their skills. The problem was…
‘Those bastards sold everything I came up with as their own.’ The items they were loaning out were the problem.
<The Twin’s Gemini used his skill to clear the Yellow Zone! It was a resounding success!>
<The Sheep’s holy amulet was very effective against the monsters!>
The amulet looked exactly like the item he had made. Lee Gun watched a video where the Leo claimed that he had come up with a technique. However, Lee Gun was the one who had developed it. Moreover, the Leo received royalty by licensing out this technique.
‘Shameless idiots.’ Of course, money wasn’t the only objective. It wasn’t that simple. ‘Everything they concocted probably helped the gods that they serve.’
The Exp and tribute brought by the disciples probably grew the power of their gods. Of course, it was something Lee Gun would have to be ok with for now.
“Ah. They are so annoying.”
Ddah-ahk! Ddah-ahk!
Lee Gun kept killing monsters as if they were mosquitoes. The situation really annoyed him. He felt like he were watching fruit flies crawling across a fruit. “Fuck! Why do they keep coming out?”
“M-maybe the bad weather is influencing it.” The young man tried to give a reason.
Lee Gun was a toolmaker who created items using monsters. It was a boon for him if ingredients gathered by themselves. However…
[You have gained Divine EXP]
[You have gained Divine EXP]
[You have gained Divine EXP]
[You have gained Divine EXP]
[You have gained…]
“Ah! Who cares about EXP? This isn’t a game, idiot!” Lee Gun unleashed his anger toward the voice. If one wanted someone to do something, one should say it only once. This was especially true regarding Lee GUn, who had much better hearing than others. Also…
[You have…]
“Shut up! I don’t need you to tell me that!” Lee Gun shouted.
The young man went in a daze as he watched Lee Gun continue to kill the monsters. After a while…
The voice said in a discouraged tone.
[You only need a little bit more of EXP to develop a new Divine Skill.]
The downcast voice sounded expectant as if it expected Lee Gun to be interested in its words.
[You do not need much before you develop a new skill.]
However, Lee Gun didn’t pay much attention to it. Something more important was going on right now.
“Delivery! Did you order two fried chicken meals?”
“Yes.” Lee hugged a box of chicken and headed toward one of the rooms.
The voice cussed out the fried chicken.
“I’m going to sleep there. You said that’s the only bed in this place,” Lee Gun said to the young man.
The young man became alarmed when he saw where Lee Gun was heading. “W-wait a moment!”
“What?”
“That’s where the owner of this place lives! It’s best if you don’t go in there! There are really disturbing things in there!”
Lee Gun let out a burst of shrewd laughter. He planned on taking a long trip after resting here for a couple of days. He would recover the items that the twelve Zodiacs stole from him.
‘This is very annoying.’ He didn’t have any money. It would be convenient if those bastards came searching for him, but that wasn’t something he could dictate. Therefore, it was best for him to just sleep at this point. He entered the room.
“Hyung!” the young man cried out.
“It’s fine! I’ve slept next to monster corpses before. The items here can’t be that disturbing.” Lee Gun knew what to expect. It was the room of a young man who had gone through puberty. Moreover, Lee Gun was told that the owner of this room was a high-rank disciple, who made good money. The weirdest thing Lee Gun thought he would find was a life-sized doll.
However, when Lee Gun turned on the light, he came to a dead stop.
“…?!” Even the mighty Lee Gun froze at the sight of the room. He had argued he couldn’t sleep without a bed, yet he quietly walked out of the room. Then, he calmly lay on the living room floor. He spoke, “I don’t need a bed. Yessiree.”
“What?”
Lee Gun was telling the truth.
‘Even if I like museums that’s just wrong.’ Lee Gun almost felt his heart drop to his stomach. It was inevitable. The room was full of figurines modeled after his actual image, and they didn’t number just one or two.
The most terrifying part was that near the wall, he saw ten life-like robots of Lee Gun staring back at him. Every one of those robots was positioned to make a cool pose. This sight had terrified Lee Gun.
‘I’m not that muscular!’ It would have been ok if the faces of the robots were made to look that of a human. However, they were a recreation of his old face and body with all the scars and damage. The sight of them was terrifying.
‘Also, why are they nude! Is this supposed to be a Body Worlds exhibit?’
The young man laughed in embarrassment. “Those are talismans for the house to prevent calamities. Usually, people get figurines of the twelve Zodiacs. However, the brother and sister pair in this house are Lee Gun fanatics. The dolls are nude because the armor they had ordered is not here yet. The scars are very realistic… I didn’t want you to go in because it was scary.”
Lee Gun agreed with the young man. Those dolls looked monstrous. Of course, Lee Gun hadn’t come out of the room just for that reason. The room’s desk also held figurines. The wall was full of pictures and articles that detailed Lee Gun’s exploits in chronological order. One could tell that someone had made a real effort made in gathering that information.
It was a certainty. The owner of this room was his genuine fanboy or fangirl. Even if Lee Gun had nerves of steel, he couldn’t sleep in that room.
‘Those photos were photoshopped too much! Why are my eyes like that?’ Those damned poster makers should’ve gone easy in fixing up his eyes and muscles! As he thought about it, suddenly…
“What the hell is this?!”
Someone entered the house and raged.
