A strange voice struck Igeon's ears.
Bang!
People looked at him in surprise.
But even though it should have hurt, the person in question was unfazed.
*It’s not a dream.*
It was a woman’s voice.
But it was unfamiliar. Moreover, it was a sound he hadn’t heard even after his thirteenth awakening.
Igeon surveyed his surroundings, but the bizarre voice continued.
[You have broken through the death trap.]
[You have achieved an impossible feat.]
[You have acquired the qualification of the owner of ???]
[All achievements in the tower are being converted to experience points. The amount of experience gained is so vast that it will take some time. …Settlement successful.]
[You have created a God’s Seat skill.]
[The new God’s Seat skill you created is now activating.]
[Your inherent skills and traits have been inherited and evolved.]
No sooner had the words fallen than something astonishing happened.
Flash!
An unfamiliar pattern rose from Igeon’s left palm, accompanied by light.
It looked like a snake entangled in geometric patterns. And as he stared at it, strange letters appeared above the crest.
[Igeon (Human)]
Thirteenth God’s Seat / Ophiuchus Seat
Title
Awakening Name: The One Who Taps All Things
Personal Traits: [Eccentric Genius], [Master Craftsman], [Perverted Eye for Detail], [Masochistic], [Superior Senses ▶ God’s Handicraft]
- Inherent Skills
[Ultra-High Observation (Lv.99) ▶ God’s Watchful Eye]
[One-Room Workshop (Lv.99) ▶ Creation Workshop]
[Superlative Sense (Lv.99) ▶ The Thirteenth Sense]
[Bullfighting Instinct (Lv.99) ▶ War God’s Instinct]
Followers: None
Sanctuary: None
- Active Ophiuchus Seat God’s Seat Skill (1/???)
Super Regeneration (F-Rank) (Insufficient Energy)
-Your body has been newly generated from a terrible state.
-Damaged tissue has been restored to baseline.
-Aged cells have been regenerated to baseline.
-A slight penalty has been incurred for restructuring the entire body.
-Penalty: Physical ability reduced by 50% (Remaining time: 1,032 hours)
When Igeon stopped looking, the pattern and information that had risen on his hand vanished.
So for a moment he wondered what it was, but there was something he could guess.
*Could this be the God’s Seat system that the twelve talked about?*
It was just before humanity was defeated by the unknown civilization. No, perhaps it was the moment when they might have been annihilated.
The ecliptic.
Strange beings appeared from the twelve constellations of the sky.
Those were the Twelve Star Gods.
And those Twelve Star Gods granted power to twelve humans, telling them to fight the monsters with that power.
It was a disgustingly perfect timing.
*Those bastards are no different from the monsters.*
Anyway, people tried to call the twelve apostles chosen by the gods the Star Seats, the seats of the stars.
But, well.
Those bastards called themselves gods and demanded to be called God’s Seats.
So Igeon always just burst out laughing.
God’s Seat, my ass.
*Those morons. They probably misspoke ‘servant’s seat’ (臣座).*
After all, the twelve heroes each borrowed power from their respective Star Gods, and the Twelve Star Gods constantly clung to their apostles, demanding the price of that power.
Thanks to that, the twelve connected to the gods were all hearing special voices.
But.
*Strange. No one said they could see messages too.*
And there was no mention of being able to see such detailed information.
What the twelve could hear was purely one-sided notifications from the gods.
Simply put, they were status updates like “Are you messing with me?” or “I feel like shit,” and coercive orders like “Put out the boat,” “Put out the persimmon,” “Why aren’t you handing it over quickly?” They obeyed the demands of the gods they served.
It wasn’t for nothing that he called them the gods’ slaves.
*Anyway, so that’s why my body changed.*
It was clear that this system looked better than theirs. Even his original skills seemed to have evolved nicely.
But the more he realized that, the stranger it became.
*I don’t sense any presence of a Star God at all.*
He meant the sinister energy of those bastards he always felt when seeing the twelve.
To begin with, he had never even heard of a thirteenth god mentioned in the message.
*What’s going on?*
Only one thing came to mind.
*A hidden seat not included in the twelve zodiac signs.*
Anyway, wondering if he had missed the presence of a god, he focused again, but no.
*As expected, I only sense twelve.*
There was no way he could fail to notice their insidious presence. In that sense, there was probably no Star God attached to him.
Furthermore, the voice he heard earlier.
Didn’t it say that his God’s Seat skill was not received, but rather that he had created it himself?
That’s why it was strange.
*So, I can use a God’s Seat skill without contracting a Star God?*
But Igeon didn’t dwell on it.
He was a case of natural awakening without a Star God from the start.
There was nothing new about it now.
He hadn’t borrowed his abilities or magic from a god like the others.
*What’s certain is that I had died, and that death must have satisfied some condition.*
It seemed he should leave the neck of that quack friend of his alone.
And above all.
*If that’s the case, doesn’t that mean I have no reason to grovel before those dog-like bastards anymore?*
The corners of Igeon’s mouth rose fiercely.
Of course, it looked like he was smiling, but there was murderous intent in that smile. He would probably never forget it easily.
The feeling of being pushed into the trap from behind.
*It’s definitely one of the bastards who were nearby at that time.*
He had suspects in mind.
And now that things had come to this, he intended to make it certain.
*I don’t care about the others, but I’ll deal with the bastard who stabbed me in the back the same way.*
Whether he slit his throat or showed him a hell worse than death, the method was up to him. So first, finding the culprit was the priority.
And the rest of them?
Depending on whether they were accomplices or not, the outcome would differ.
*I’m almost grateful.*
Igeon’s eyes flashed fiercely.
His skin, once hideous with burn scars, had become as soft as a baby’s, and his body felt far lighter than in his prime.
The rejuvenation was a bit unexpected, but his physical age at the time was a whopping seventy.
Since he had already died even in places that shouldn’t die, there was no way he would dislike de-aging.
So, if they weren’t accomplices and simply cooperated.
*Judging by their behavior, I was even thinking about forgiving them as much as a flea’s belly button…*
But that was only for a moment.
“Oh, come on, there’s no way Igeon-nim could be alive!”
“!”
The hunters were shouting while looking at something.
“If there’s a trace of a living creature coming out of there, it’s obviously a monster, you idiots!”
They were sighing as they read an article on their smartphones. Wondering what they were looking at, he craned his neck, and the boy handed him the phone.
Igeon flinched in surprise at the smartphone he was seeing for the first time.
*What is this?*
As a person from 2005, the smartphone was a shock.
But right now, that wasn’t what mattered.
“Hey, you think about it too. Does it make sense to have lived in there for twenty years?”
The person concerned flinched.
Sure enough, the smartphone was filled with shocking articles.
Igeon doubted his own eyes for a moment.
*Twenty years ago?*
He quickly looked outside.
Beyond the Gimbap Heaven logo, the main street was visible. He hadn’t had a chance to look closely since this was where he opened his eyes, but it was summer outside.
Of course, the flow of time inside and outside the tower was considerably different.
That’s why they had taken items to gauge the time difference even before the raid.
And by his calculations, he thought the time that had passed outside the tower was five years at most.
But twenty years?
*That crazy!*
If it had been twenty years, he wouldn’t be just missing—they would have already declared him dead!
It seemed the time he had spent catching the monster was longer than he thought.
But perhaps misinterpreting Igeon’s gaze, the boy asked expectantly.
“Hyung, you never know, right? You came from the tower side too.”
The man scoffed at the boy.
“Igeon might be the hero humanity misses, but this guy is just a sasaeng fan of Igeon. You can’t tell by looking at what he’s wearing?”
“Huh? But…”
“Anyway, the comments have completely exploded, exploded. Only the trash journalists must be thrilled. Well, for someone like Igeon, it’s worth it.”
Igeon scrolled down the article on the phone.
Looking at the contents, it was absolute chaos.
- He probably just slept through it and didn’t know
└222222 lolololololololol
└Roflmao lolololololololololololol calm down with the facts lolololololol
- But seriously, what did those twelve actually do after eating up all the donations?
└Honestly, if Igeon had been there, wouldn’t they have found all the land in the world?
└Yeah, solo play was legendary. He beat all twelve by himself back then too.
└What nonsense. Even so, compared to the real twelve, he’s a total scrub.
└Who’s a scrub?
└No, he’s a scrub for real. No matter how much idiots suck up to Igeon, it was the twelve God’s Seats who caught the Red Eye.
└Yeah, the American Leo Seat cut off the Red Eye’s head.
└Yeah, I heard Igeon GG’d halfway through lol
- But was the Red Eye really that amazing a monster?
└Ah, kid. If they hadn’t caught that serpent bastard, humanity would have all died twenty years ago.
└Anyway, the twelve saints who caught the boss in the Devil’s Tower >>>>>>>> insurmountable wall >>>> Igeon
- But there’s a rumor that the boss was caught by Igeon.
└You believe that? lololololol
└To actually believe tabloids made by Igeon sasaengs lolololololololol
└Why? The tabloids could be real.
└Nope, fact. All twelve came back alive, and Igeon was the only one who died. What does that mean?
└Long live the twelve heroes of humanity who caught the Red Eye, lol
For a moment, it sounded like the phone was about to crack.
“E-excuse me?”
Well, he could let the twenty years slide.
To be honest, even that was quite bewildering, but it was entirely possible.
Rather, considering the years he had been trapped, twenty years was something to be grateful for.
But what the hell?
*Who caught the Red Eye?!*
Sparks flew from Igeon’s eyes.
No, weren’t they the ones who were scared and ran away with their tails between their legs!
*These vermin.*
The boy who had lent him the phone was restless. Anyway, he had a rough idea of the situation.
Of course, it was a rather short time to grasp the situation with such bewildering information. Yet connecting the dots wasn’t difficult.
*So, you bastards stole my achievement and have been parading around as heroes for twenty years, is that it?*
Igeon’s face as he smiled at their audacity was a sight to behold. The person who met his eyes nearly bit his tongue.
But Igeon just smirked as if it were beneath him.
*Fine, this much is just cute.*
It was cute enough.
Rather, since he himself had quite often sold them out and profited, this much could be considered even-steven (?).
*So first, I’ll just break their teeth, make them voluntarily issue a correction article…*
But that was when it happened.
- Korea is currently the lowest-contributing territory and a God’s Seat tribe nation borrowing the power of the twelve zodiac constellations. That’s why the saints are requesting absorption and merger with a neighboring country.
But the situation is rapidly changing due to the theory of Igeon’s survival. Because of that, the whole world is focusing on it, but that’s probably not what the viewers are curious about.
- Then what?
- It’s about Igeon’s assets. Do you remember the will left by the thirteenth back then?
Igeon’s eyes widened at the unexpected story.
A will?
Of course, at that time, his life was one where he didn’t know when he would die. He had prepared a will through his personal lawyer.
*All my assets were to be donated to orphanages and scholarship foundations…*
- “All my assets and items are handed over to the twelve heroes for the sake of humanity. I hope they will be useful for the relief activities of each of the twelve.”
Igeon smiled brightly.
Yes. He had decided.
“Just all of their heads.”
Forgiveness? Who the hell cares about that?
The items could just be retrieved after dealing with them all.
Eyes flashing, Igeon held out the phone.
“Hey, kid.”
“Huh? Me?”
“Yeah. Can you make a call for me first?”
“T-to where?”
“I have one. The first bastard to receive divine punishment.”
A moment later.
When he put the phone the boy handed him to his ear, a familiar ringback tone was heard.
It had been twenty years.
(To be continued in the next episode)