“Hey.”
“Not doing it.”
“Hey. I haven’t even said anything yet….”
“Yeah. Not dueling with bows again. You suck, Dad.”
*Twitch.*
Hugo glared at Igeon.
But the culprit just checked his own records with satisfaction, whether Hugo glared or not.
[You defeated the saint of Blazing Leo and humiliated the master of Blazing Leo]
[You gained a significant amount of Divine Seat experience]
[You gained fame]
[Your followers’ morale rises]
Igeon was already good with a bow, but that alone wasn’t what won it.
S-rank
- Material item
- 70% accuracy increase even in extreme situations
- Hardly ever breaks (tenacity grade) S-rank
That was it.
In truth, even during the bow duel with Hugo, he’d been testing this.
He’d secretly woven it into the bowstring.
His archery skill was acknowledged even by Hugo, but no matter what, fighting barehanded against the top long-range constellation’s saint is a fool’s errand.
Of course, he’d only started using the heavily stacked data from the middle onward.
‘Well, as expected of a saint’s data.’
Igeon was thoroughly pleased.
Though the one concerned was fuming because his own son had dissed him.
[The master of Blazing Leo is agonizing over unbearable humiliation]
[Claiming that this match was unfair]
[Insisting on another match with Blazing Leo’s treasure on the line]
“Hey! Are you listening to me? I said let’s fight once more!”
But Igeon ignored him completely and started making something with the thread that contained Hugo’s data.
A rope.
‘Anyway, I’ve finished prepping all the materials from the exchange.’
The bones had been quenched too, so after about three days, he’d be able to properly craft a weapon.
‘Now the only thing left is fire.’
Simply put, a forge’s fire.
Right now, the Creation Workshop only had a workbench; there was no furnace.
And ordinary fire wouldn’t do—he needed a special flame from a monstrous beast.
‘It needs to be at least A-rank or higher.’
In simple terms, what they now called the Red Zone grade.
‘But the Red Zone is too far away to be bothersome.’
Just as he was thinking maybe he should boss Hugo around to summon a constellation’s flame 24/7—
“Fine! The duel is off for now anyway!”
Hugo pointed at the desk, veins bulging on his neck.
“Do something about that!”
“!”
What Hugo pointed at was the office phone.
*Bzzz.*
*Bzzzzzz.*
*Bzzzzzzzzzz.*
And under that bombardment of calls, Hugo felt like he was losing his mind.
“You know? That’s already the 200th call just during lunch!”
“Yeah, yeah, I get it, you’re an insider. I’m an outsider, so I’m jealous.”
Hugo’s blood boiled.
“It’s all because of you! The government is going crazy right now! Demanding to know if we’re hiding you! Saying if we are, bring you in immediately!”
“Really? Must be tough having a famous friend. Well, no need to thank me.”
Hugo seriously considered cutting ties.
“Fine, so first just show your damn face!”
“No. I’m still a long way from max level.”
“Hey!”
Hugo bit back a curse. He knew too well that getting angry only got him swept up in that brazen pace.
But whether he did or not, Igeon spoke.
“Whatever. You go withdraw my offerings for me.”
“What? Offerings?”
“Why? They said twenty years’ worth piled up under my name.”
“Ah…!”
Now that he thought about it, that was a thing.
After Igeon died, people’s support turned to the Twelve Saints. Of course, plenty of donations and tributes also poured into the dead Igeon’s account.
It was the heart of those who owed Igeon a debt.
But the other Divine Seats had tried to snatch that up as naturally as breathing.
So he’d gotten pissed and made a huge scene ten years ago, yelling about who gave them the right to lay hands on it.
‘Even now, they’re all burning with greed to take it.’
Especially Japan’s Gemini, China’s Aries, and America’s Leo, who were deeply tied to the Korean government, were persistent. The rest were drooling over it too.
But now, the rightful owner had finally appeared.
Igeon smiled.
“I hear a special item came in there.”
He understood the meaning, but Hugo was dumbfounded.
“Then you can just go yourself. It feels like just the day before yesterday that you declared war saying you’d storm the government.”
At that, Igeon grimaced as if disgusted.
“If I go, I’ll have to listen to those bastards I can’t stand the sight of, talking shit. It’s neither helpful nor anything special, just a waste of time. I’m busy.”
“So it’s okay if I waste my time?!”
But Hugo, who’d been angry, suddenly grinned for some reason.
“Still, without you, the government won’t believe it anyway. Do you know how many fake Igeons are swarming the government agencies right now to claim that fund?”
Come to think of it, he had seen an article like that.
Hugo smirked triumphantly.
“Now you’ve got no choice. You’ll have to show that precious face of yours too….”
“Fine. Then for now, meet me like this and say it’s me.”
“……?”
Hugo’s gaze followed Igeon’s fingertip, and he was shocked.
“?!”
There, Igeon was standing.
With a hideously crumpled face, fierce eyes. Scars and wrinkles.
He was a broadly built muscular man, but anyone would call him an ugly brute.
And that appearance was unmistakably Igeon from twenty years ago.
Igeon’s slime had transformed.
Igeon grinned proudly.
“My proud holy artifact. With that, they’ll definitely be fooled, right?”
“Huh.”
Hugo looked on in utter disbelief.
The slime, as if saying ‘leave it to me,’ struck poses Igeon would never do.
Well, if it didn’t do anything weird, it did seem like they’d be fooled…
“Why’s its hair so thick, though?”
“What?”
“Twenty years ago, you were definitely ba….”
“Shut up!”
“Ack!”
Hugo got hit.
[You obtained data]
[Tactless mouth (aggro +10% increase)]
It didn’t matter anyway.
He’d said he was sending Hugo to the government because it was a hassle, but in truth, he had more important business himself.
“Anyway, take care of it while I’m gone.”
“Where are you going?”
Well, the final destination was Sophie’s press conference, but if he said that, it’d get noisy.
“Nothing much, just a blind date.”
“A blind date?”
Hugo thought, what kind of bullshit is that?
And it made sense, because Igeon disliked even facing other people, let alone women.
Partly due to his eccentric personality, but also because hearing things he didn’t need to hear due to his looks had been a daily occurrence.
And now a blind date?
But he let it slide. Right now, no matter how you looked at it, wasn’t he a face that could get phone numbers on the street?
“Well, I don’t know who you’re meeting, but try to charm her prope….”
“Ah, Seongjae. Where’s your sister?”
Hugo almost spat out his coffee. Choking on it was a bonus.
“Wha, what?! Sister?”
The daughter-obsessed dad shot to his feet in shock.
“Cough… wait, the person you’re meeting… don’t tell me my daughter!”
But Igeon, who was on the phone, didn’t even pretend to listen and walked outside.
Hugo immediately went after him but soon sat back down. It wouldn’t be mature.
‘Right. Besides, if it’s Yuha, she’ll be fine anyway.’
His daughter wasn’t as much of an Igeon fanatic as his son.
On the contrary, she was the reliable daughter who had severely scolded Seongjae for buying a limited-edition Igeon figurine, asking if he knew how much it cost.
So Hugo felt relieved and looked at the slime Igeon.
Anyway, it seemed like taking this guy to meet the government officials would work, but…
[don’t worry~ chu chu! ♪]
[I’ll call you oppa oppa oppa ♪]
Looking at the slime Igeon watching an idol music video and dancing along, Hugo’s face crumpled.
Is this really not going to get found out?
* * *
—hk989: Plunging into Leo’s Red Zone, super fun lol
—qqq33: I heard he’s skydiving into the Black Zone, not the Red Zone
—King@Jeha: LOLOLOLOLOLOLOL is he even still alive?
┕qqq33: Don’t disrespect Leo. He won the bid on a 1-billion-dollar weapon.
┕King@Jeha: That guy’s already dead T_T
—LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL
—vita: Serves that racist right. I wanted to kill him when he used Korea as bait before.
—stuki: But they say Igeon dropped that.
—joy: Why Igeon????????
—pasan: Has Igeon really come back?
—ffkg: But they say the culprit is super handsome
—clio: Then it’s not Igeon
—fai: Not Igeon T_T
—kon: ㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ
—King@Jeha: Shit LOL if it’s Igeon I’ll set my hand on fire LOLOLOL
—stuki: No, still, it’s very possible. The writing left for Aquarius’ saint is Igeon too.
—fai: Then why did he kidnap Aquarius? Honestly, even if Igeon’s crazy, he’s not immoral.
—ㅇㅇ: There’s definitely something up.
The world was in an uproar.
And in this situation, Sophie was having a truly miserable time.
It was all because of the reporters who had gleefully swarmed the hospital.
“Was there another reason twenty years ago that Igeon couldn’t come out of the tower?”
“Did you confirm the message left by Igeon that was in the article?”
“What does the message ‘Who killed me?’ mean?”
“You’re holding a press conference today about the Devil’s Tower incident from twenty years ago, we hear!”
At the reporters’ shouts, Sophie nearly cursed.
A press conference about something from twenty years ago, my ass!
That’s how it was.
The reporters were going wild at the word that Sophie was holding a press conference.
But as if she’d be crazy enough to gather reporters herself.
‘That incident is something to be hidden as much as possible!’
But the situation had turned out this way for a good reason.
[Please gather the reporters. I have something to say about the truth from twenty years ago.]
Someone had contacted the reporters using her name.
But it was not Sophie’s doing.
‘That damn man.’
Clearly, while she was unconscious, Igeon had done something with her phone.
It was without a doubt pressuring her.
‘Did he spare me just to do this?’
Sophie trembled.
Above all, the world was in chaos over the news of her press conference.
‘And it’s even being broadcast live worldwide…!’
Already people on the streets, the news, and even variety shows unrelated to the news were announcing it as breaking news.
People were gathering around the press conference venue.
But what good was any of that?
If she told the truth, there was no way the other saints would stay quiet.
‘I could be killed.’
But if she tried to cancel the press conference as if it never happened…
‘People will find it even more suspicious.’
What if she tried to say something else? Even racking her brain was useless.
Why?
—You remember what I fed you, right?
Sophie clutched her throat, trembling with fear.
There was still no reaction, but Igeon had definitely fed her something.
‘It was like a ring.’
In the end, Sophie, who had gone pale, turned on her phone.
She had no choice now.
‘I’ll use the rental skill.’
Sophie smiled as if making a huge resolution.
Anyway, Igeon wasn’t here. He wouldn’t know whatever she did.
Just as Sophie was about to do something with her phone—
*Bzzz.*
“?!”
Seeing the screen, Sophie screamed and threw her phone.
[Pissypants♡ has registered you as a friend]
[Pissypants♡ has started following you]
[Pissypants♡ sent you a message]
Notifications as if blatantly monitoring Sophie’s every move.
[Tonight at 7 p.m. If you don’t hold the press conference, I’ll kill you.]
There was no need to check who it was.
(To be continued)