"What?"
"Is that true?"
Exclamations erupted in the terrestrial broadcasting newsroom.
PDs who encounter thousands of breaking news stories a day, and even the announcers about to go on the news desk, couldn't shut their mouths.
It was because of an urgent breaking news item that had just come in.
"Did that tower really break apart?"
"Apparently, there are even signs someone came out from inside?"
Then the youngest PD who had brought the news shouted.
"That's what I said! The whole world is in chaos right now! Journalists have already headed to the tower!"
"CNN and BBC have already run headlines asking if it's Lee Geon!"
At last, even the poker-faced bureau chief dropped his pen.
That's right.
The world today was a society where ability users blessed with power from gods were active.
A society where ability users, called , defended their nations.
And today, Yoon Siu, the ace of Korea's number one raiding party and famous as a chaebol family heir, had just been promoted to an A-rank Saint and was already a huge topic.
That was understandable—though he wasn't S-rank, Korea was a forsaken land without divine protection.
The appearance of another precious high-rank Saint had the mainstream media ready to fawn over him endlessly.
Tonight's main news was supposed to be that. But now, toadying to some spoiled brat wasn't what mattered.
No, even if the highest rank suddenly sprang from the ground right now, it would be buried.
Why?
'Crazy, it's Lee Geon!'
He was a member of the legendary raid and a hero who helped humanity overcome its worst crisis.
He was one of the thirteen known as the first awakened.
Of course, now, twenty years later, awakened ones, who had numbered only thirteen at the time, had increased by thousands or tens of thousands per country, but well.
'They don't compare to the first awakened.'
At present,
those called 《The 12 Saints》 of the Zodiac were living heroes, stars, and now wielded power greater than heads of state.
No, they were tyrants and rulers.
And Lee Geon had stood shoulder to shoulder with them.
That was Korea's hero.
Anyway, a globally famous mausoleum that would go down in human history, Lee Geon's tomb, had been smashed?
In any sense, the world would be in an uproar.
Thankfully, there was no word of monsters emerging from within.
"Could it be not Lee Geon, but the work of terrorists?"
"What?"
"That tower is famous as a monument to the 12 Saints, and these days there are many factions opposing the twelve."
"That's right. It could be an attempt to draw attention, or just a simple happening."
"Then what are the twelve saying?"
At that, the PD checking the news shrugged and said,
* * *
"No comment."
China, a luxury resort.
Yang Wei was frowning.
He was one of the twelve who had entered with Lee Geon in the past, and now the highest of all Saints, .
And among them, the Saint of the Aries, the Ram, he could only grind his teeth.
There was no other reason.
Upon hearing the incident in Korea, he felt like a parrot.
How many dozens of times did he have to repeat the same answer to this matter!
But meanwhile, reporters swarmed again, and Yang Wei simply vacated the premises.
"Damn."
Surely the others were in a similar situation by now. But more than anyone, he couldn't understand this situation.
Of course, the tower breaking wasn't his concern.
Korea had plenty of vicious monsters, so it could be the work of nearby monsters, or as the media said, the work of awakened terrorists.
That wasn't all.
'There are even occasional sightings of Lee Geon's followers in that area.'
It could be an incident caused by reckless young people who didn't value their lives entering the tower. Anyway, the tower wasn't something that would be affected by such things.
So the tower itself wasn't something to worry much about.
'The problem is,'
The headlines being churned out madly around the world, as if the bastards had lost their minds.
How could they even think of writing such trash?
'Are they insane? How could anyone survive in that tower for twenty years?'
He wasn't some Count of Monte Cristo.
They knew best of all how terrifying that tower was.
'There were at least tens of thousands of monsters in there.'
Its interior was hell.
Truly, coming out with just the red eye was a miracle.
Even that day, hadn't they erased the door, leaving the tower's monsters trapped inside?
That was for twenty years.
'He would have become monster food long ago and still be digesting!'
There's no way he's alive.
But his hand trembled slightly.
That was understandable, because Lee Geon was the strongest among them.
'If it weren't for that weakness, he would have been the absolute strongest.'
The world thinks it was thanks to them, but he was the one entirely responsible for conquering that red eye.
'If he really returns, it's over.'
However, he soon shook his head. Because in this world, there are possible things and impossible things.
'A man with severed arms—how could he handle all that?'
Even they couldn't do that.
But whether they knew it or not,
- Hey, Yang! Are you listening?
The Chinese special envoy, currently visiting Korea, was incensed.
- If Lee Geon is alive, taming Korea becomes difficult. To think we finally put a nose ring on that small horse country!
The anger on the phone was palpable.
- Didn't America's already join hands with the Japanese Alliance and swallow Korea and Southeast Asia? This time too, we must act before Japan's Shinza beats us to it.
In the end, Yang Wei shook his head as if annoyed.
"Don't worry. That tower area is a place of frequent happenings, and do you seriously think I, the great hero of China, would lose to such things?"
- But Lee Geon!
"There's absolutely no way he's alive."
Yang Wei cut him off sharply and laughed.
He said this because he knew Lee Geon better than anyone in the world.
Why?
'Lee Geon is only half a man, after all.'
Lee Geon was certainly strong, but he had a fatal weakness.
'His body breaks down the more he uses his power.'
Why?
'Lee Geon has no god to protect him.'
All twelve heroes had gods who protected them and made them stronger.
And those were precisely the twelve gods called .
But Lee Geon was a being who appeared unexpectedly in history, which should have been the twelve heroes.
In other words, he was a spontaneously occurring mutant superhuman from the thirteenth seat, where no god manifested.
But.
'Without a god to serve, the recoil of his abilities hits his body directly.'
It was only natural.
How long do you think an ordinary human body can withstand an ability that transcends physical laws?
'Lee Geon was a superhuman of sorts, so he was sturdier than ordinary humans, but still.'
Compared to them, who received divine protection and whose bodies didn't break down, it was a fatal level.
Indeed, photos of Lee Geon that appeared on TV news were proof of that.
- Breaking news. Twenty years ago, the last presumed image of Lee Geon, who sacrificed himself for his comrades...
A man who looked to be in his fifties.
Though the photo was from twenty years ago, it was unmistakable.
Monstrous burn marks, for starters. His face, nose, and lips were completely distorted, a hideous monster-like appearance as if from failed plastic surgery.
All diseases and risks from being unable to borrow divine power.
'He even had to use his own energy and lifespan to activate his abilities.'
In short, the more he used his power, the more his body was wrecked.
'That was that ugly man's only weakness.'
He was originally strong and showed miraculous abilities in the Devil's Tower, but by then, Lee Geon's body was already at its limit. His innate combat sense and dexterity were truly a waste.
And so, it was pathetic.
'That shabby, ugly old man.'
Ah, he was twenty-five, so not quite an old man.
Compared to that, look at themselves. They had become gods incarnate, enjoying not only every wealth and glory but actual power.
"It was excessive just to compare Lee Geon with the 12 Saints in the first place."
- Exactly.
"Yes. There is no way he is alive. I could stake my wrist on it."
They curled their lips.
* * *
But at a snack shop on the outskirts of Seoul.
The ones who had brought the living Lee Geon here were gaping open-mouthed.
Slurp. Slurp.
At the end of the hunters' gazes was none other than one table.
The chewy noodles soaked in sweet and sour sauce were snapped cleanly. The rice balls mixed with mayonnaise, tuna, and seaweed flakes gave off a savory aroma each time they were stirred.
And the pork cutlet drenched in demi-glace sauce proudly crunched inside the gimbap and slid down the throat.
Eventually, when the stack of empty plates beside the table could almost measure his height,
"Ah, now I feel like I'll live."
As Lee Geon finally patted his stomach, the boy dropped the pork cutlet he was eating.
And then,
"...Is it real that the bill at Gimbap Heaven came out to two million won?"
The mouths of the two hunters were gaping wide enough for flies to fly in.
'One person ate a hundred twenty servings...!'
But Lee Geon simply grumbled and poured water.
"You said you had no money, so I ate in moderation."
"That's moderation?!"
The man clutched the back of his neck.
"I've lived all these years and never seen anyone eat two million won worth at a snack shop!"
"Ah, why. You said you'd pay for it all. Ah, add ramyun for dessert here."
"Hey!"
Then the shop owner's daughter, who had even heated up instant food, giggled.
"What's the big deal? They said you saved them from monsters. To a life-saving benefactor, this is cheap. Ah, customer. Would you like more water?"
The man was dumbfounded.
"Why are you so friendly today? Anyway, are you really revealing your face."
"Why? Compared to the grumpy-looking ahjussi, this side is better in any way. So what kind of person are you? A God-rank? A Saint?"
As the shop owner's daughter kept sneaking glances at Lee Geon's face, Lee Geon let out a hollow laugh.
'What a peculiar taste.'
It was understandable, since his face was the kind that would get disciplined on broadcasts. A body he himself hated so much he kept it tightly wrapped.
He had even forgotten the existence of mirrors.
It was strange how calmly she was looking at him, but actually, that wasn't what mattered now.
'The arm is attached.'
He had clearly thought it was severed in the tower, but it was fine.
'Was it a dream that my arm was cut off?'
That was plausible, since such a miracle was something even those damned twelve heroes, and the wretched 12 Star Gods they served, couldn't achieve.
Lee Geon immediately stretched out his hand and used his ability first.
Woong!
A familiar light swirling in his palm.
Soon, a luminous sphere appeared, and Lee Geon clenched his fist tightly to extinguish it.
'No problem using my ability either.'
So it was strange, even strange. He thought he had died, yet he was alive and well.
'I had given up thinking the bastard might actually get the future right this time.'
When he was about to go strangle that quack friend of his first,
"Goodness, even for a growing boy, you have to eat sensibly..."
The man grumbled as he pulled out his card. But Lee Geon doubted his own ears.
'Growing boy?'
Well, he could let it slide that they didn't recognize him. With his beggarly appearance, they might not know.
But growing boy?
So when Lee Geon tried to catch his reflection in a spoon, he flinched.
And then,
"!"
Lee Geon became serious.
"Hey. Mirror."
People were puzzled, but the shop owner's daughter handed him her hand mirror. And Lee Geon, after checking the mirror, was rarely surprised.
'What is this!'
In the mirror, there was no hideous monster. No middle-aged man who looked older than his years.
What was there was a rejuvenated figure that, if you rounded up, looked early twenties—at youngest, late teens.
That wasn't all.
'Face.'
That's right. There was his original handsome face, before his body had been ruined!
The original appearance he had desperately wanted to regain, even making humiliating deals with the twelve Zodiacs!
'This is definitely the old me.'
At that point, he hurriedly stripped off his gloves and lifted his long shirt. The shop owner's daughter, seeing his abs, gasped in alarm and blushed.
But that wasn't what mattered.
All the wounds that had been gouged, ruptured, and damaged to the point of barely breathing were completely fine.
'No wonder.'
He had thought the usual aching parts weren't hurting!
He had thought it was because his senses hadn't fully returned and he wasn't feeling pain, but that wasn't it.
'I've been regenerated.'
No, at this level, it was safe to say his body had been reborn.
'Just how did this happen?'
But it was then.
Lee Geon doubted his own ears.
[You have experienced death.]
[Conditions have been satisfied.]
[Existing stats are being inherited to the new body.]
[You can now use the power of the Serpent Bearer.]
(Continues in next chapter)