Meanwhile, at Igeon’s (Sin-gung-jwa) Holy Territory.
“What?! Mom is pr, pregnant?!”
The Cheon siblings were flabbergasted by the unexpected news.
There was no other reason.
“Y-you’re saying we’re getting a younger sibling right now?”
“For real?”
“Yeah, three weeks.”
They were gaping at Cheon Ji-u, who was acting as shy as a young girl.
The Cheon siblings had been at Igeon’s (Sin-gung-jwa) Holy Territory, both nursing I Jae-won and receiving reports from the other god-seat holy cities.
And the news of a new sibling was something to be celebrated immensely.
They themselves were overjoyed as well.
However.
‘Still, at this age...’
‘I never thought we’d get to see a younger sibling.’
The Cheon siblings were 20 and 16, respectively.
A niece or nephew a few years later seemed far more realistic than a sibling.
“Ah, anyway, the two of you get along so well. That’s a relief….”
“Mom’s amazing too, but Dad is seriously unexpected. He’s totally different from the old sacred idol.”
At Cheon Seong-jae’s words, the Jagyeolsajuin who was lodging in the holy territory became sad.
He still hadn’t received any treatment.
But regardless, they were utterly astonished by the news of their parents’ pregnancy.
‘Well, it wasn’t impossible.’
Hyugo, who was originally a sacred idol, and his wife Cheon Ji-u were in positions that received abundant divine blessings.
Hence, whether judging by appearance or biological age, weren’t they both in their thirties?
And now that they had become the holy saints of the Baemju-injwa, weren’t they even younger?
‘They rejuvenated into their twenties.’
‘It’s not strange that they’d have a child.’
Moreover, it wasn’t just any rejuvenation.
‘Dad got Uncle’s buffs aplenty, after all.’
They’d killed the Jagyeolsajuin, but conversely, Dad had been vigorously spared and his power had grown, they heard.
As proof, Cheon Ji-u was still squealing in joy.
Well, that wasn’t the important thing.
“Whether a son is born or a daughter, either way, they’ll be a fanatic follower of Igeon-nim.”
“Yeah.”
The holy saints of Sajajwa, who had come to report the situation to Igeon, expressed disgust.
But regardless, I Jae-won smiled contentedly, and the Cheon siblings fell into worry.
“So what should we name them? Mom, have you decided?”
At Cheon Yu-ha’s words, Cheon Ji-u shook her head, saying not yet.
“I tried asking your dad too, but I can’t get hold of him. Maybe his work isn’t finished yet.”
Cheon Seong-jae’s eyes flashed at that.
“Ah!! Then I’ll name them! The youngest’s name is Igeon-nim! MegaUltraCapsicumShiningMoreBrilliantThanTheSunLovelyIgeon-nim!”
The Sajajwa holy saints listening coughed dryly.
“B-Baemju-injwa Seongju-nim. That name seems unlikely to work….”
“That’s right, young master. A baby’s name is limited to five characters, excluding the surname.”
“Hey! I Jae-won! Is that really the issue right now?!”
But regardless, I Jae-won was grinning from ear to ear. He was undoubtedly as delighted as if it were his own family growing.
In the end, as the Cheon siblings kept suggesting bizarre names until they veered off into names from Andromeda, the Sajajwa holy saints screamed.
“Excuse me! Madam! At this rate, your child’s name really will become strange!”
“Shouldn’t you step in and stop them?”
“Oh dear, why? They’re such good names. We owe Igeon-nim a great deal.”
“Excuse me?! Madam?”
“Hohoho, I’m kidding.”
The Sajajwa holy saints shook their heads.
“Guess we just have to leave the child’s name to the father of this house….”
“Right. At least then it’s less likely to be something related to Igeon-nim.”
Then I Jae-won sneered.
“What do you mean? Hyugo-nim is the most dangerous of all.”
“…What?”
Sipping his citron tea, I Jae-won wore an expression of enlightenment, as if recalling the past.
It must have been when Seong-jae was born.
‘A son! A son has been born!’
‘S-Seongju-nim?’
‘Good! The son’s name is Igeon!!! Cheon I-geon!’
‘Seongju-nim?!’
It had been the same with Yu-ha, but Hyugo had been overjoyed when his second was born.
And the day after Seong-jae was born, Hyugo, having been served alcohol at an important event, immediately rushed to the community service center to submit the birth registration.
‘My son’s name is Igeon!!’
Well, Cheon Ji-u would have agreed too, and Hyugo, exhilarated, submitted his son’s name.
‘Excuse me?! Legally blocked? The name Igeon?!’
‘Uh, yes…! There’s a temporary risk of misuse...’
‘Then what about Cheon Geon-ie!!!’
‘Th-that’s also a bit….’
‘Why not!!!’
‘F-first, please come back tomorrow! You might regret it!’
‘I won’t regret it!!’
Thanks to the quick-witted civil servant, fortunately, the incident of Seong-jae becoming Igeon-ie didn’t occur.
But the person in question wailed upon hearing that story.
“Why!!! Why did you block it!!! Why!! My name!! It was my chance to have the same name as Uncle! Whyyyyy!!!”
“…….”
As Cheon Seong-jae beat the ground and wailed, the Sajajwa holy saints decided to keep their mouths shut.
And it was at that moment.
“What’s with all the racket.”
“!!”
A familiar face appeared in the Sin-gung-jwa Holy Territory.
“Uncle!”
Everyone was surprised by Igeon’s entrance.
Igeon was entering with Goteu. The unidentified tripe stalk slung over his shoulder was a bonus.
“Jae-won, how’s your body?”
At his words, I Jae-won, who was wearing a hospital gown, smiled.
“Yes, thanks to you, Igeon-nim.”
He had been treated by Igeon and safely revived, but the aftermath of being directly struck by (the enemy) remained.
“Take care of yourself. The side that got hit by (that guy) will be unusable for a while.”
“Yes.”
As expected of someone who had reached the Sovereign level, even super-regeneration hadn’t been able to heal the aftermath. Probably, one would need to be at least at the 5th stage of Life to heal without leaving any aftereffects.
It didn’t matter anyway.
“Seong-jae, can you create a human?”
Everyone was surprised at Igeon’s question.
Especially Cheon Seong-jae was the most surprised.
“A human, you say?”
“Why. As (that guy’s) sacred idol, you gained your ability, and you made my face and all sorts of my clones quite well, didn’t you?”
“??!!”
As everyone shot him a look asking if that was really true, Cheon Seong-jae screamed.
“N-no, I never did such a thing….”
“What do you mean you didn’t.”
No sooner had he finished speaking than Igeon swung Cheon Seong-jae up and shook him off.
“Aaaaack!!”
Then, countless pieces of merchandise tumbled out of Cheon Seong-jae’s body!
They were keychains, eerily all resembling Igeon to a frightening degree.
The skin expression, the hair strands, and even the Igeon uniform by generation, famous among fans.
That wasn’t all.
From a bag made for storage, preposterous items spilled out.
And that was a 1:1 scale figure of Igeon, even matching his height!
“Aaaaack!!”
No, that wasn’t a figure.
“Igeon-nim?!”
“That thing is a human body!!”
Indeed. Its composition was even identical to a real human’s.
Because of this, everyone was horrified, and Igeon, who saw the 1:1 scale human body, had his eyes flashing.
“Seong-jae. What did you make this with? You didn’t just create it out of imagination, did you?”
“Uh, um... The truth is, while Uncle was sleeping, I plucked a few strands of Uncle’s hair and made it…!!”
“Hair?”
At the unexpected word, Igeon’s eyes flashed, and Cheon Yu-ha also grabbed her sibling.
“Hey! How could you!! Not just anything, but that!”
“Uwaaah, Uncle! I’ve committed a crime worthy of death! Originally I was trying to make keychains for missionary work, but when I used the hair, that thing suddenly came out! I’m sorry. I’ll dispose of it immediately….”
“No. You did well.”
“…As expected, I’ve done wrong… Yes?”
This was a visit for confirmation, just in case, but Igeon, having touched the 1:1 scale human model, smiled as if it were sufficient.
“Seong-jae. Hand over the blueprint you used to make this. Even if you don’t have one, hand it over.”
“What?!!”
“Anyway, so if you have DNA or a body part, you can make a human like this, right?”
Goteu seemed to immediately catch on to Igeon’s plan. After all, he had heard from Hyugo that Igeon needed Yeon-u’s physical body.
‘Igeon-nim intends to personally create Yeon-u-nim’s vessel!’
One that anchors far better than paper dolls or the like!
And while Cheon Seong-jae had managed it through immense obsession, Igeon was a genius of creation.
He would create a carving more real than the real thing, crafting a vessel identical to an actual human.
Like the Pygmalion effect.
“But Yeon-u-nim’s body doesn’t remain…! So how!”
“No. It does.”
“!!”
Igeon took out (the dagger).
“Cheon-gong-i was made with Yeon-u’s bone as the base, you see.”
“?!!”
Everyone who caught on to the meaning of those words turned pale.
“U-Uncle! Then you’re breaking Cheon-gong-i?!”
“Ah…!!”
“No. No way.”
Igeon, who had entered the kitchen, picked up a whetstone.
“If Seong-jae’s principle is right, we just need to grind a little off.”
“G-grind?!”
Igeon scraped the hand axe, still in its 1st stage state, against the whetstone.
And he used the Creation Workshop skill!
At the same moment, light burst forth.
[ (Cheon-gong-i) feels refreshed as if it’s shed its old skin ]
[ (Cheon-gong-i) feels incredibly refreshed ]
Igeon also diligently scraped near the core.
And then.
[ (Cheon-gong-i) says that spot is ticklish ]
[ (Cheon-gong-i) asks to be gentle ]
And it was at that moment.
“Good. Ready with this.”
Igeon raised the corners of his mouth at the sparkling substance scraped off onto the whetstone.
* * *
And around that time.
“What?! Pregnant?!”
8 PM.
Hyugo, who was out in the city briefly for an errand, gaped.
“Right now, Ji-u is pregnant? So it’s our third?”
—Yeah. So quit wandering around and come quickly.
At Igeon’s phone call, which sounded like he had waited as long as he could, Hyugo couldn’t close his mouth.
He was beside himself at the unexpected news.
It felt like receiving a gift unlike any other in the world.
Perhaps it was because his voice alone betrayed the joy he couldn’t hide.
—Are you that happy?
What kind of a question was that.
“Of course I’m happy. You saved my brother-like subordinates too, and thanks to you, we even gained a new life.”
Hyugo laughed frankly.
“Now if anything happens, I just need to look for Igeon-nim. If I die, you’ll bring me back like the kids, right?”
—What are you talking about. Even I can’t bring back a divine-level being. So for you, if you die, it’s over.
“…What, so you’re this incompetent?”
—If you don’t want to kick the bucket, buy a gift for Ji-u and come. I’m calling ahead because I thought you might show up empty-handed out of the blue.
“Alright. I’ll buy something expensive and go.”
—Augh! Dad, don’t buy weird stuff!
The Cheon siblings’ shouts rang out, and at Hyugo’s hint of going overboard, Igeon sneered.
—Hey. Don’t be too happy. No matter what, your third will be my fan anyway.
“Screw off, you brat! At least for the third, whether it’s a son or a daughter, I’m raising them to be a daddy’s child!”
He hung up the phone roughly.
Though he said that, Hyugo was genuinely grateful to Igeon.
Sending Igeon away, then sending away his cherished subordinates like brothers and his beloved wife—
he’d thought he would never have reason to smile again.
‘I should buy a present for Geon-ie too.’
But at that very moment.
“…Cough!”
Hyugo suddenly coughed up blood.
Horrible pain.
An unfamiliar hand was piercing his heart from behind.
When the horrified Hyugo turned around, he was terribly shocked.
[We meet again?]
Someone who shouldn’t have appeared had appeared.
(Continues in the next episode)