Chapter 8 – Some strange bastard appeared (1)

The expressions of Mr. Hwahng and the young man were a sight to behold. ‘This bastard offered to take us home so that he could spring this on us?

“You!”

“You don’t have to thank me! I already know,” Lee Gun said.

Mr. Hwahng massaged his forehead when he saw Lee Gun’s mischievous grin. He had found it out of character when the bastard had kindly offered to escort them home.

‘That was his goal from the start!’ Mr. Hwahng quickly whispered into the ears of the young man, “Hey, are you sure about this? He looks a bit dangerous.”

The two of them had seen Lee Gun kill the wolves, then they saw how he dealt with the couple earlier. When Lee Gun had read some random article, they had to stop him from rushing toward Cheongwadae, which they barely accomplished.

“Then there’s that incident at the karaoke. Do you remember what he said his name was?” Mr. Hwahng said to the young man.

“Ah!” The young man recalled the news.

“Do you remember that troublesome Lee Gun cult the news reported? They are famous, and everyone says to avoid them.”

“But…” The young man looked toward Lee Gun. While they were talking, Lee Gun stood in front of the villa’s entrance, looking at a machine.

It was a vending machine.

The young man, who had been monitoring Lee Gun, was in a bind. “Honestly, I don’t mind! My roommate—”

“Ah! That’s right!” Mr. Hwahng felt relieved. “Your roommate is a famous high-rank disciple, right?”

“Ah, yes!” the young man replied.

“Your roommate might kick him out immediately. He won’t put up with him if that man isn’t Lee Gun.” Mr. Hwahng pounded the young man’s back. “Anyway, it seems the streets are in a lot of unrest because of the news about Lee Gun. Be careful! If something happens, contact me. I’ll call the police.”

“What? He doesn’t seem like a bad person...” the young man said.

Kwahng!

“Ahk!”

The two of them yelled out in fright when the sound of destruction rang out once again. Chips were pouring out to the ground. After kicking the vending machine, Lee Gun mischievously laughed. This time, he had damaged a snack vending machine the Archer Saint owned. “Hell yeah! I acquired some late-night snacks.”

Mr. Hwahng and the young man didn’t respond to him.

“You said he’s not a bad guy? Him?” Mr. Hwahng asked the young man.

“…”

It seemed they might have to call in the police.

* * *

“Who did this?” An angry shout rang within a room in one of the university-affiliated hospitals in Seoul. The loud shout made the nurses squeeze their eyes shut.

A patient lay on top of the hospital bed, wrapped up like a mummy. It was none other than the rich kid who Lee Gun had beaten to a pulp for smoking in the street. Standing beside this injured kid was an old man with furrowed brows. The old man asked, “Who put my grandkid in this state?”

A Korean man sighed in response to the loud voice. “Chairman, please do not worry about your grandson. Our temple will take responsibility. We’ll look after him.”

This man was an officer for Korea's first-rank Gemini temple, Min Sunghoon. When Min Sunghoon had gotten the call, as an S rank disciple nicknamed Frost, he had wondered if he heard wrong. Someone had beaten a person affiliated with a temple directly managed by the Gemini Saint, Korea’s first-rank Gemini temple, in full daylight. However, that wasn’t important right now.

“Chairman, as you’ve probably heard, the culprit stole a very important item. It was stolen alongside the other items,” Min Sunghoon said.

“So what?”

“It looks like a Rank-A Divine item, but in truth, it's an S-rank item. It's an important item that the Saint of Japan treasures.”

“Who cares?” the old man yelled.

Min Sunghoon kept the emotion off his face, but his face twitched. 'Who cares?' This old man's grandson had lost an item more valuable than a national treasure!

It seemed the old man could read his eyes. The stout old man let out a sneer. “We gave you a composite sketch, yet you haven’t been able to find the culprit. You want me to recompense before he is caught?”

Min Sunghoon almost let out a burst of sarcastic laughter. He was willing to find the culprit; he had to find the criminal anyway. However... “Do you really want me to believe that a regular civilian beat up your grandson?”

The place where the rich kid had suffered the attack was under the jurisdiction of China’s Aries. There were no reliable witnesses, and the CCTV hadn't captured the incident.

‘He probably got beaten up by people from a rival temple. This is a story he concocted to save face.’ Min Sunghoon thought. Even if the testimony of the chairman's grandson was true, why did he have to say a Lee Gun imposter beat him up?

‘The news about our temple already got buried today because of Lee Gun!’ Min Sunghoon wanted to ask the grandson why he had to get beaten up by a Lee Gun imposter of all people. The words almost came out of his mouth, but at that moment, the mummy scoffed. “How dare you claim that you're a first rank temple. Hey, can’t you see my face and legs right now? All the holy artifacts you gave me for protection were useless!"

Min Sunghoon was baffled. “Are you sure you really used the holy artifacts? You were given those items just a while ago, so you might not be used to using them.”

“What are you implying? I used it correctly! Charlatans!”

Min Sunghoon burst out laughing. He didn’t know the identity of the suspect, but how could anyone break the holy artifacts the Zodiacs gifted to them? “Even the twelve Saints wouldn’t dare to break those protection devices. Moreover, you're insinuating that the Lee Gun imposter pretty much ignored the power of the holy items. You're saying he broke your bone by flicking you with his finger. That means he would have to be on par with the Zodiacs who made those holy items!”

“What?”

“Moreover, you said you didn’t feel any energy of the Zodiacs from him. That means he follows no Zodiac, so he's a normal person. How does it make sense that a normal person could break through the powers of the holy artifacts? Even if you're going to write a story, you should make it believable.

“Maybe, you're the ones who gave that imposter the means to break through the items!” Min Sunghoon didn't hold back

“You little!”

“Stop it you two!” When the chairman angrily yelled, the two became silent. “You guys are fighting at an important time where we have to determine whether Lee Gun is really dead or alive!”

“!”

The chairman was frustrated. Every temple and country around the world was tense. Even the heads of the large corporations were waiting for news about Lee Gun. The current era was a dangerous one where because of monsters and natural disasters, everyone would be in peril, if not for the protection from the Twelve Zodiac Saints. Lee Gun had been comrades with the twelve Zodiac Saints. No one knew what role he might have in this era. He might be the key to solving their current problem.

Lee Gun’s existence was that important. All the countries around the world thought the same way. ‘If he’s alive, we have to be the first one to take him in using every trick in the book. If that’s not possible...’

“Whatever! I want you to give this message to your temple. I want you to unleash the generals of your temple to take care of the bastard who made my grandson this way!” the chairman demanded.

“What? You want the generals? Are you out of your mind?” Min Sunghoon was surprised.

Aside from the twelve Zodiac Saints, the generals were the strongest Users. If one had to make a comparison, the twelve Saints were the pope, and the generals were the cardinals, who were below the pope. Of course, they were all S-rank, but the generals were beloved by the disciples and the believers.

This old man wanted the generals to do what?

Min Sunghoon asked, “Do you know what kind of people they are?”

“Do you want me to take back all the donations your temple took over the years?” the chairman rebuked.

“…” Min Sunghoon’s face grumbled in an odd manner. ‘Business tycoons like you are nothing in this era.’

The rich could act strong only because they bought protection from the Zodiacs. Still, Ming Sunghoon had to keep in mind that the family in front of him was the second biggest donor to his temple. That was why he had come here even though he was an S-rank User. He had come in place of a general.

‘I want to ignore them, but they are guests of the twelve Zodiac Saints.’ He could see no downside in doing this. “Alright! We’ll take care of the culprit.” ‘We have to recover the stolen S-rank holy item anyway.’

The fact that his opponent was a Lee Gun imposter was a good reason in itself to beat up the criminal. In the first place, his temple held no love toward Lee Gun. ‘Lee Gun’s only an outdated relic that became deified.’

Min Sunghoon had to take care of this problem before the Saint of Japan found out about it. He could contact the general, but the general didn’t need to lift a finger for this. Ming Sunghoon could take care of the problem since he was also S-rank like the general.

Min Sunghoon exited the hospital as he thought about it. ‘It's only a Lee Gun imposter. It won’t take us long to take care of this matter.’

Of course, he was under a great delusion.

* * *

“Ah! My hair was so itchy that it was killing me.”

Only half a day had passed since the Devil’s Tower was destroyed, yet the world had been turned on its head. The subject of the world’s interest right now was cutting his hair in the bathroom. The villa was small, but its bathroom was clean and it also had a bathtub. It was the type of place that Lee Gun liked. Of course, any place was paradise compared to the hellish tower.

After he cut his hair, he pulled at his hair in satisfaction. His reaction was normal. ‘I can’t believe I have a thick head of hair.’

Lee Gun had to sacrifice a lot of things regarding his body. One such thing had been his hair. The world didn’t know about this, but every time a clump of his hair fell off after he used his abilities, blood and tears were shed. However, things were different now.

[The hair loss and the M-shaped hairline have been fixed under the influence of Super Regeneration!]

[Healthy hair is growing now!]

“I don’t know what it is, but the Super Regeneration skill is the best.”

At the same time, he looked at the video playing on the handphone. He had left it running to gather more info. It was a very old youtube video, one probably taken after his death. The people in those videos were his enemies, yet Lee Gun was having a good time right now. He even cackled. The reason was simple.

- Are you aware of this? After Lee Gun went missing, you have lost for three years straight!

- As if to make matters worse, the Leo retreated before he could swing his sword in a recent battle!

- Are you sure you are the heroes who killed Red Eye? Some people want refunds for the donations they gave you guys. Please speak to this matter!

Lee Gun cackled as he replayed the video.

- Please tell us why you lost to a monster that Lee Gun could kill on his own!

- I said we aren’t taking any questions!

‘Replay. Replay.’ The expression on the Leo’s face was so funny that Lee Gun pressed the replay button around fifty times. He felt especially great since the twelve Zodiac Saints had run away from the monsters he had killed before. He only thought of one word. ‘Idiots.’

It seemed they really thought Red Eye was the only enemy they would have to face?

This was why Lee Gun was happy. It was to be expected. The twelve Zodiac Saints had sold him out to reach the top, so the fall would be very delicious. He wondered if they could withstand the storm that was coming toward them.

Of course, twenty years had passed, so they would have changed. Also, there were the Zodiacs. It would be best if he could develop some special powers. Suddenly…

“Holy crap!” The young man entered the bathroom and yelled, “Did you cut your hair, Hyung? Wow! That’s crazy! You are really handsome!”

The young man, who had brought a change of clothes into the bathroom, was impressed. Lee Gun no longer looked shabby. In fact, his looks were on par with celebrities' looks. “I didn’t know earlier, but you are really handsome”

Lee Gun laughed. There was no way he would be mistaken as a monster now. “Did you order the chicken? I want it for dinner—”

The young man abruptly interrupted him, “H-hyung! Hurry up and run!”

“?”

The young man turned pale as he looked behind Lee Gun. A heinous smoke was rising up from behind Lee Gun.. At the same time, a loud sound akin to a fire alarm rang out.

Beep beep!

Lee Gun stood still, and the frightened young man tried to lead Lee Gun away. “Don’t just stand there and look at it! Run! The person who lived upstairs died yesterday because of—”

Lee Gun suddenly snatched something in front of the young man’s nose.

Pahng!

“Ahhk!”

The noise sounded like pressurized air exploding. Lee Gun unfurled his clenched fist, frightening the young man.

A crushed insect monster fell from Lee Gun's hand. At a glance, it looked like a mosquito. Lee Gun said, “You don’t have to run away now.”

“…!” The young man turned his head in surprise and found the black smoke dissipating. This surprised him.

‘He... he killed it with one blow?’ The man in front of him hadn’t used a Divine skill. He had just moved on reflex. ‘Even the professional exterminators went away because they couldn’t kill it.’ Moreover, Lee Gun had caught something invisible!

“How did you—” the young man wanted to ask, but...

“I don’t care about that. However....” Lee Gun extended his hand toward the young man with an annoyed expression.

The expression on Lee Gun’s face frightened the young man. It looked as if Lee Gun was about to hit him.

“Ahk! I’m sorry! I don’t know what I did wrong, but don’t hit—” the young man mumbled.

Lee Gun snatched something above the young man’s head. “This!”

“Ahh!” Seeing the angel sculpture Lee Gun took out of the top drawer, the young man became very uncomfortable for some reason. It was to be expected.

“Didn’t I tell you to get rid of everything like this?” Honestly, Lee Gun had broken various items around the house earlier.

‘Hey, what's this?’

‘That? Ah! As expected, you have a good eye! That's a limited-edition holy item of the twelve Zodiac Saints. I bought it on sale for thirty-nine thousand and nine hundred Won on a home shopping network.’

‘Throw it away!’

Clank!

“Ahhhk!”

Lee Gun had ruthlessly destroyed the holy items from the twelve Zodiac Saints. Those items were junk items that used mixed shamanism and superstition. This item was the same. However, as if he were sorry for his actions earlier. Lee Gun didn’t break the item. “Hurry up and throw it away. In fact, these items make it more likely for a monster to emerge.”

“What? These are high-rank holy items developed by the Saints. Moreover, a famous and beautiful Saint even kissed it!” the young man explained.

“Jeez! That’s foul.”

Crack!

“Ahhhhk!” The young man cried out in despair when Lee Gun ruthlessly threw the sculpture.

Lee Gun looked for detergent as he clicked his tongue. “Trust me! Throw it all out. They are all fraudulent goods.”

There were other ways to exterminate trespassing monsters. However, the twelve Zodiac Saints were selling shaman-rank items as a ward against evil.

“Listen to me carefully. This mask is a holy item that monitors the person who purchased it.” Lee Gun spoke.

“What?”

“This music box has a skill that collects personal data of the purchaser.”

“What?”

“Also, this clock actually calls forth monsters!”

“Really? Why are you throwing away the model figures of the twelve Zodiac Saints?” the young man pleaded with Lee Gun.

“Who cares! They are modeled after trash, so just throw them away as well!”

“?!”

Clank!

When Lee Gun destroyed all the evil items, something appeared in front of his eyes.

[The attribute of the 'Man Who Pounds on All Creations' has been activated.]

[Will you like to confirm the attribute?]