Chun Sungjae was flustered. In his sixteen years on this earth, this was the most awkward position he had been in. Why?
[What’s up with this little kid?]
What’s up? He wanted to ask the same question, too.
Standing in front of him right now were spirits wearing helmets. Of course, it had started ten minutes ago when he was crying from happiness. What happened?
[You have become the Serpent Bearer’s high-rank disciple.]
[Since you became the Serpent Bearer’s disciple through <Missionary(special)>, you will be given a reward.]
[Reward]
– Special Awakening (Application Complete)
– Private Data (Possible to use in weapon production)
– Serpent Bearer’s Present (In Use)
[Your attributes have soared through the Special Awakening!]
This deeply moved Chun Sungjae. He was sobbing as he heard the voice from the empty air. This voice was that of Lee Gun. The only difference was that the voice had a speech pattern different than his uncle’s. Moreover, the voice was overly nice(?) compared to his uncle’s voice, but it didn’t matter.
[You have acquired the Serpent Bearer’s first <Divine Attribute>.]
[Serpent Bearer’s Divine Attribute: Conditional Regeneration]
[Your pre-existing attributes will be revised to fit the characteristics of the Serpent Bearer.]
[All attacks will become critical hits. You have gained Poison Resistance and Morale Resistance!]
These were undoubtedly the “Disciple Notifications.” Only disciples could only see and hear these notifications. One would also hear that voice if one rented a skill from a Zodiac.
Of course, these notifications could be normally seen in or heard from the disciple’s badge. If one had to make a comparison, it was like a phone’s AI. It gave notifications from time to time and contained the user’s records.
Normally, hearing this voice without a badge was impossible. Moreover, although Chun Sungjae had become a disciple of the Serpent Bearer, he didn’t have a badge yet. Yet, he could hear the notification, and that too in his uncle’s voice!
‘The Gemini notification spoke in a weird middle-aged man’s voice!’
The notification voice coming from the badge differed depending on the Saint. Why?
[A Saint’s Construct is usually in charge of the badges.]
The low-rank gods of each Saint were responsible for providing the notification. The Constructs of Chun Sungjae’s father were crows, and he had seen him feed them to get them to work. Of course, he had seen this when he was three years old. The Constructs looked down on humans in general, so Chun Sungjae had vivid memories of the crows attacking him.
Anyway, Chun Sungjae sobbed when he heard Lee Gun’s voice.
Lee Gun’s face had indeed been a problem in the past, but his voice had always been silky smooth. Even Hollywood directors coveted his voice for a narrator role. The only problem was that Lee Gun used more swear words when he spoke in English, so he was useless as a narrator for the most part.
Of course, some brave director had used this to his advantage. He had dubbed Lee Gun’s voice over an evil boss monster.
In any case, the voice speaking the notifications was a very kind(?) version of Lee Gun’s voice!
‘He has a rare voice!’
To Chun Sungjae, a Lee Gun fan, this was akin to a blessing like no other.
‘This is a voice that my sister doesn’t even know about!’ That wasn’t all. ‘Uncle will baptize me himself!’
“Baptism” was an official ceremony that designated someone as an official disciple. It was also an important ceremony that would determine one’s skill and decide one’s fate. However, that didn’t matter to Chun Sungjae.
‘Uncle will baptize me!’
Since his uncle was the Saint, this was a given. Therefore, the young man had been dancing with joy. However…
Flash!
[What the hell? This little human smells like his mother’s tits!]
[Why would Master send us to him?]
Dreadful battle-type Constructs appeared in front of Chun Sungjae. One of them had worn a cape and a helmet that didn’t show its face. Another was a monstrous giant. The last was clad in black metal armor and a wolf-shaped helmet.
They were Eeny, Meeny, Miny.
The Archer disciples reared back in fright.
“What the hell! Why would Constructs show up here?”
The more baffling part was that these three were the most violent battle-gods. Chun Sungjae and Chun Yooha recognized them.
‘The Nordic Warrior King, the King of the Giants, and the Berserker!’
These were the high-rank Constructs that had pledged fealty to Lee Gun. Then there was also Piggy Bank.
[Boo-ohhhhhhhh!]
Chun Sungjae had been wondering why they had shown up when the voice rang again.
[Disciple Chun Sungjae has been given a new role.]
[Discipline the 88 Constructs!]
“…?!”
Chun Sungjae froze. He couldn’t believe his eyes. Of course, all disciples received roles, such as roles for cleaning, missionary work, education, etc. This allowed them to raise their contribution points. Chun Sungjae had also expected to be assigned a role. However…
‘I never expected to be in charge of the Constructs!’
Even Saints were unable to make Constructs submit, so how could he…
However, something more shocking happened afterward.
[Mission: Tame the Constructs]
[Mission Rank: SSS]
[P.S. – If you can’t do it, you get hit!]
Chun Sungjae turned into a statue. This was an SSS-rank mission!
‘Isn’t the highest level of difficulty the SS rank?!’ He had never expected this to exist!
The Constructs looked at Chun Sungjae, revealing brutal murderous intent.
[It seems Master was referring to this human.]
[He said he left his first disciple to oversee us.]
[What? This human smells of his mother’s breast milk. He’s a little kid who hasn’t received an official baptism from Master.]
[How could Master leave this pipsqueak to discipline us?]
[Well, it doesn’t matter.]
The next second, a blade rushed to Chun Sungjae’s neck.
“?!”
[Master said we could kill him.]
The surprised Chun Sungjae wanted to say something, but…
Swheek!
One of the Constructs cut off his hand at the wrist with one blow.
“Sungjae!”
Everyone reacted in fright. However, the next moment, a green light surrounded the region where the severed hand used to be. Chun Sungjae’s arm regenerated. His bone grew, then muscle and flesh quickly covered the bone. This was clearly the skill of the Serpent Bearer. It was also the limited-use reward Sungjae had received from the mission!
[Caution! The reward <Serpent Bearer’s Present(SS)> from Missionary(special) can be used only one more time.]
[Then, you’re really dead.]
As Lee Gun’s laughing voice rang in his mind, Chun Sungjae screamed.
“Ahhhk!”
The Constructs raised their weapons high, making the Archer disciples scream too.
“Wait a moment!”
“Sungjae is Lee Gun-nim’s disciple! If you do this, the Zodiac… I mean Lee Gun-nim will intervene…”
[Bullshit!]
[Lee Gun-nim said we could kill him!]
“?!”
The words left the Archer disciples dumbfounded. Of course, they knew Lee Gun had a nasty spartan method of training others; they had heard this from Hugo.
‘Lee Gun-nim! Even if you prefer the Spartan training, there should be a limit!’
‘What kind of Saint would let his disciple go through such a horrible experience!’ It was like asking a rabbit to train a tiger with its strength.
When Chun Yooha saw this, she tried to help, but Sungjae refused her help. He said, “No! If I can’t do this, I’m not worthy of being Uncle’s disciple!”
“Sungjae!”
As her crying brother was about to run away, something surprising happened.
Shweek!
The space around him became distorted, and then Sungjae disappeared into the winds. It was the Gemini temple’s Teleportation spell!
This freaked out the Archer disciples.
“No way! How can Sungjae still use that?”
“Didn’t Sungjae leave the Gemini temple?!”
The Teleportation spell was the Gemini temple’s money-maker skill. Since Chun Sungjae had left the Gemini temple, it should’ve been a skill he could never use again.
So how could he still use it? He had even used the high-rank version of the skill that only the generals could use.
“Is it because he brought the Fairy Monarch with him?”
Or it might be a byproduct of Chun Sungjae’s talent. In the first place, Chun Sungjae had learned magic without a fairy. Whatever it was, this was incredible news.
‘He’s a disciple of the Serpent Bearer, but he can learn the Gemini magic!’
It was an incredible merit to Lee Gun’s Zodiac.
Chun Yooha felt envy toward her brother. She looked at the location where he had disappeared. Although she had wanted to become Lee Gun’s first disciple, she knew it was impossible. Why?
In truth, entering the temple was something her uncle would allow or disallow. It wasn’t something she could dictate. She had given her brother a hard time in part because she was jealous.
Despite her disappointment, she had prepared a tonic from the Leo temple for her brother.
At that moment…
[Breaking news! The legendary sparring match will be recreated at 5 pm local time!]
[It has been 23 years since that legend took place! How will the Leo Saint vs Lee Gun re-match turn out!]
[This is the second coming of a legend! We will witness the conclusion today! See it for yourself!]
The sound coming from the lobby surprised Chun Yooha. ‘Uncle and the Leo Saint will fight?’
She quickly contacted her colleagues at her temple and received unexpected news.
[Can you believe it? General Oliver set it up!]
[The whole world is betting on the match! It’s a circus!]
[Of course, an overwhelming number of them are betting in favor of our Saint-nim!]
Chun Yooha’s eyes turned sharp when she read the messages. ‘Oliver?’
That man was one of the ten SS-ranks in the world, and she had stolen a spot on the Ten Stars from him. Oliver might have been the one who had sent her to the Scorpio Saint’s holy ground out of a grudge. Of course, Chun Yooha didn’t care about that.
Although she didn’t mind being put in harm’s way, Oliver had dared to inconvenience her uncle. Moreover, his plan was obvious. After pondering what to do next, Chun Yooha got busy on her phone.
* * *
<Fight between Saints! Stevens vs Lee Gun!>
<Massive worldwide betting is going on for the match!>
<Overwhelming odds for the Leo Saint to win!>
The baffled Hugo looked at his phone. In just a short period, this event had ballooned to that size. At the end of the day, Lee Gun’s name carried a lot of weight. However, Hugo focused on something else.
<All the Generals around the world are getting ready to mobilize!>
[Are they aiming for Chun Sungjae for the <Faith Destroyer> skill?]
“What the hell!”
They were aiming for his son? What was this all about?
The one who had caused everything nonchalantly picked at his ear. “I heard there’s a skill that can be acquired if you kill a first disciple. Ah! Can I acquire it too?”
“Hey!”
Hugo grabbed Lee Gun by his collars, but Lee Gun was nonchalant. “Hey, hey! I trust your son. He had his arm cut off, yet he’s doing fine.”
Lee Gun could tell the status of his disciple since a notification window had popped up in front of him.
[Disciple 1 had 80% of his right arm damaged(severed).]
[Disciple 1 has cleared his mission(Kill all enemies in front of you). The conditions have been satisfied.]
[He has gained Job EXP.]
[Disciple 1’s arm has regenerated due to the <Serpent Bearer’s Present!]
“His mental fortitude is tens of thousands of times better than yours.”
Hugo couldn’t hear anything else. His face turned pale. “His arm was severed?”
“Ah. It’s fine. It was reattached.”
However, Hugo was unable to hear Lee Gun’s reply. He was close to foaming at the mouth. “I want you to make him quit being your disciple!”
Hugo grabbed the back of his neck. “He doesn’t know how to fight at all! He can’t even hold a sword properly! He’s all bones! His constitution is weak!”
Lee Gun grinned. Was that really true? Everyone thought this of Sungjae, but in truth, they had been wrong about how they developed his talent.
“He’s a power magician.”
Lee Gun’s words surprised Hugo. Power? Sungjae was a paper magician who couldn’t even get close to a monster.
‘Of course, Gun is never wrong in such matters, but…’ Hugo was originally an agility-based archer who aimed for vulnerable spots. However, after being beaten up by Gun, he had transitioned into a power archer. Anyway, that didn’t matter right now.
“Are you really going to go there?” Hugo looked at the arena on the other side of the street.
It was the battle arena of the Leo temple.
Lee Gun had come here, following the person who had come searching for him. Why?
‘We have to get through the Leo Saint’s territory if we want to enter the Scorpio Saint’s holy ground.’
Above all else, he possessed the fountain pen that had a connection to the secretary. Lee Gun had to fill up its special ink, and he could get this ink in this place only.
‘That cat bastard gathered a lot of my items.’ Lee Gun was sure the Leo Saint had the ink.
Even if it wasn’t there, the main ingredient for the ink was the blood of Constructs. Lee Gun could kill two birds with one stone by recovering his items and hunting down Constructs.
‘There’s something I covet in the Leo Saint’s main palace anyway.’
Hugo, who had kidnapped the Constructs from the Virgo Saint’s holy ground, laughed.
When Lee Gun entered the arena, the Leo disciples who had come out to greet him flinched. This had to do with how Lee Gun carried himself, but the main reason was the weapon strapped to the man’s back.
‘That is Heaven’s Punishment!’
They recognized it. The weapon was in a case, so they couldn’t be entirely sure. However, they had gotten a glimpse of its handle. This had confirmed their guesses. It was the item that epitomized Lee Gun.
Everyone had seen Lee Gun dominate the battlefield with that weapon. A rumor said that Lee Gun had acquired this weapon after beating a boss monster. Another rumor said that a Zodiac had given that to him.
Anyway, the Leo temple was well-informed when it came to weapons. At the very least, this weapon was ingrained in everyone’s mind. After all, it had cut monsters into pieces.
Even if Lee Gun was said to have received buffs from the Zodiac Saints, his weapon was legendary. This weapon had turned into a myth in their minds.
Since they knew how oppressive that weapon could be, the Leo disciples were surprised.
“We can lend you our weapons for your match with Saint-nim. Or would that be bad manners?”
The disciples let out embarrassed laughter.
“I’m guessing he will be using that weapon in the match!”
“Of course, he will!”
Lee Gun, who had been listening to their conversation, tilted his head. “Weapon?”
He looked at his ax. Then, he tossed it to Hugo as if this were no big deal, treating Hugo like a porter carrying his bag. “I don’t need it.”
“What?”
“I don’t need a weapon.”
What… what the hell?
