At that notification, Lee Geon frowned.
It was definitely that same notification that had warned him a while ago.
[Upon reaching Level 10, you will undergo a special trial.]
[A special quest will be triggered based on your accumulated tendencies.]
[Awakening of the Serpent Bearer (SSS-Class)]
It was the thing he’d assumed was just a simple awakening because of the name.
At the same time, he realized why it was called a trial.
[Until you pass the trial, you will gain no experience.]
[Until you pass the trial, combat skills will be disabled. (Locked)]
[Time limit to clear the trial: 239 hours 58 minutes 12 seconds.]
[Warning: A penalty will be imposed if you fail the trial.]
In short, it meant: don’t use your ultimate moves for 10 days, and clear it with your own strength.
‘Well, I can’t even use it that often anyway.’
It wasn’t a cooldown issue.
The ultimate move instantly pushed his physical abilities and combat power to their very limits.
But in Drakma, he’d learned the hard way when he used it against the constellation of Leo.
‘It’s probably a deification skill.’
It might be the only skill capable of opposing the Holy Gods, but the price it exacted was enough to make you swear.
[Abnormal Status: Full-body paralysis, fibromyalgia, muscular dystonia, neuralgia, back pain … sprains, arteriosclerosis, internal bleeding. (Remaining: 23h 47m 31s)]
[Your body is still under too much strain to use .]
[You must upgrade your body.]
[Current Body Status: A sturdy hatchling that has absorbed a small amount of Divine Energy.]
Until he grew stronger, it basically meant that a human body couldn’t handle divine power.
That time, he’d been bedridden like a vegetable for a full 24 hours because of it.
‘Good thing I have Super Regeneration.’
Otherwise, he would’ve kicked the bucket ages ago.
Anyway, since it was a skill he couldn’t use often in the first place, Lee Geon didn’t mind having it locked for a while.
‘Well, as long as the Holy Gods don’t set their sights on me in the meantime.’
A bunch of saint skulls weren’t a problem even without the skill.
And this trial was the same. Just because it was a trial didn’t mean it was all bad.
[Rewards]
- Serpent Bearer’s exclusive follower god (SS)
- Body upgrade
- Exclusive awakening skill (SSS)
- Serpent Bearer’s exclusive divine artifact (SSS)
Naturally, there were rewards.
‘They’re probably things I can only get through this trial.’
If he was lucky, he might even be able to upgrade his body.
Of course, the penalty for failure was pretty severe, but the trial content itself didn’t look that hard.
[Must pass 3 trials.]
First, the first one seemed like no problem at all.
[Exterminate the God-Devouring Demon Beast (SS) (0/1)]
He wasn’t sure what kind of demon beast it was, but a trial of strength—monster hunting—was his specialty.
The real issue?
‘I wonder how strong SS-grade is.’
The grades inside the Tower were completely different from outside.
If it was outside-level SS-grade, it would be no big deal. But if it was Tower-level SS-grade…
A rare tension flickered in Lee Geon’s eyes.
But it was fine.
‘No matter what it is, hunting’s my thing.’
Come what may, just pick up a weapon and clash with it.
And the second?
[Rescue the Scribe (0/1)]
- A recorder is needed to chronicle the Serpent Bearer’s deeds.
This didn’t really matter either.
‘Whatever. I’ll just steal one from Taeksu or something.’
What’s a good friend for?
‘Or I could just shove that guy into the scribe position.’
Hugo, whose eyes met Lee Geon’s, flinched for no reason.
“I don’t know what that is, but I’m not doing it!”
Lee Geon completely ignored him.
Anyway, strength and intelligence weren’t issues.
The real problem was the last one.
[Add a Human Follower (Saint) (0/1)]
- Recruit a human follower of the Serpent Bearer.
He’d felt it was necessary, and he’d had a feeling something like this would happen.
Then, a voice spoke up, as if it knew what was on his mind—or didn’t.
[Choose your believer carefully. If they are not at 100% when taken as a follower, your prestige will decrease.]
‘Damn. Where am I supposed to find a mutant with 100% faith?’
Still, figuring out who was at 100% wasn’t hard.
Proof of that: Lee Geon glanced sideways at Hugo’s subordinates.
And then, something different from before appeared before him.
[Faith]
It was a change that occurred after upgrading his skills with points.
One of the upgraded skills was .
Thanks to that, things he couldn’t see before became visible.
For example, this.
[Sagittarius Faith: 85% (Extremely Loyal)]
Interesting.
But the interesting part didn’t stop there.
[Constellation Faith (Affinity)]
[Sagittarius Faith: 81% (Very High)]
[Capricorn Faith: 20% (Very Low)]
…
[Gemini Faith: 19% (Dislikes)]
[Leo Faith: 15% (Dislikes)]
He could even see faith levels for other constellations.
It was probably belief and favorability toward those constellations.
And…
‘I heard the standard level is around the 50% range.’
That was the baseline, and faith rose and fell from there.
And it was said that it rarely dropped below 10%, no matter how low.
Lee Geon discreetly scanned his surroundings.
[Sagittarius Faith: 96% (God’s Contractor)]
[Leo Faith: 3% (Hatred)]
[Aquarius Faith: 1% (Hatred)]
…
[Gemini Faith: 2% (Hatred)]
He was shocked by Hugo’s data.
Not for any other reason.
‘Even a saint-level can’t hit 100%?’
Shocked, Lee Geon hastily checked the vulgar Yang Wei.
[Aries Faith: 90% (God’s Contractor)]
[Aquarius Faith: 81%]
[Capricorn Faith: 50%]
[Gemini Faith: 30%]
…
[Leo Faith: 9%]
‘Damn.’
Of course, he could roughly understand why Yang Wei’s numbers were like that.
‘The high faith ones are all the money-making constellations.’
How typical of a shallow saint.
But even Yang Wei, even Hugo—neither of them reached 100%.
‘And these are the saints with the highest faith among humanity?’
Especially since Hugo’s loyalty to the Holy Gods was notably high among the twelve.
That’s why he said:
‘I’m screwed.’
There’s no way anyone has 100% faith in the Serpent Bearer. But it was too early to give up.
“Geon?!”
Lee Geon suddenly dashed toward the archery range in the next room.
Bang!
“Eek! Lee Geon-nim!”
What he wanted was the female saint of Sagittarius.
A fan, first and foremost.
Naturally, her faith in him would be high.
‘If it’s over 90%, it’s manageable.’
But.
[Eun Yerin]
[Sagittarius Faith: 80%]
[Serpent Bearer Faith: 81%]
Lee Geon despaired.
So close.
As a fan club member, it was high enough to make her a saint leader, but still far short.
‘100%, huh.’
If a fan is only at this level, could there really be a weirdo who breaks 100%?
Of course, there were a few likely candidates.
‘Yuha and Seongjae.’
Though even if Yuha was at 100%, it might be a bit troublesome.
‘If I bring Yuha, Taeksu will go berserk.’
But who cares?
‘Let’s check both first.’
Cheon Seongjae first. Frankly speaking, the chances were higher than with Yuha.
‘Of course they are, right?’
Given his past behavior, they had to be.
But even as he thought that, Lee Geon broke out in a cold sweat.
‘But still, he’s human. Maybe 100% is too much.’
He shook his head.
‘No. It’s 100%. It has to be 100%. At worst, 99%.’
No, it had to be.
And it was exactly when Hugo tilted his head, watching Lee Geon agonize, that—
Slam!
“Uncle! Huge news!”
“!”
Cheon Seongjae burst in. Lee Geon hastily activated his magic power.
‘Of course it’s 100%!’
[Activating God’s Gaze.]
[Retrieving information.]
The numbers appeared.
But Lee Geon seemed shocked by them.
His face said it was absurd.
* * *
[Sagittarius: 0% (Dislikes)]
[Gemini: -10% (Hatred)]
[Libra: -99% (Killing Intent)]
[Capricorn: -15% (Hatred)]
[Aries: -20% (Hatred)]
…
[Leo: -10% (Hatred)]
“……!”
All negative, except for Sagittarius.
Insane numbers. It made you wonder if this was really a believer in a society ruled by gods.
But the truly astonishing part was the Serpent Bearer.
He never imagined it wouldn’t be 100%.
[Serpent Bearer Faith: 200% (Zealot)]
It had blown past 100% long ago. Even the great Lee Geon was stunned.
‘I-is that even a possible number?’
He’d thought it wouldn’t be an ordinary number, but wasn’t this beyond all expectations?
That made him worry about Yuha too.
‘Honestly, I was ready to be grateful just for 100%.’
Terrifying.
Lee Geon was dumbfounded, but it didn’t matter either way.
‘Still, he qualifies.’
That was what mattered now.
But whether he knew it or not, Cheon Seongjae rushed over.
“Uncle, look at this.”
“?”
Cheon Seongjae held out a newspaper article.
Seeing the Europe-related article, Hugo thought, Oops.
If it was that matter, he knew about it. After all, on the day Lee Geon returned, he’d been in England on a mercenary request.
“It’s in Western Europe. That was probably the request I received back then. Though I just came back after hearing your voice message.”
“Eolssigu, you threw away a request for me? You really love me, huh? You total pushover, Oh Taeksu.”
“What nonsense! This is real!”
Anyway, the West.
Europe was the domain of Aries, Leo, and Sagittarius. Especially the combat constellation, Aries, was the undisputed 2nd among all 12 constellations.
Hugo frowned.
‘Well, there’s a ruler dominating the West there, so I figured they didn’t need me to go…’
That wasn’t all.
“Even if I had gone, taking this down might have been impossible.”
“What?”
Hugo was staring at a spot in the newspaper Seongjae held out.
“It’s obvious. They’re the same type as the things that appeared in Drakma.”
“Ah.”
Without a doubt. That beast that wrestled with Leo’s bone golem in Drakma.
‘Only Geon’s weapon could damage it, for sure.’
An unidentifiable rare species that attacks couldn’t touch.
In other words, an ‘Unassailable-Grade’.
But then.
As Lee Geon flipped through the on-scene photos, he frowned.
“Ah.”
“Geon, what’s wrong?”
“These are the ones I caught when I was trapped in the Tower.”
“…What?!”
Lee Geon pointed at a mud-like mass that seemed to be roaring at the sky.
Cheon Seongjae spoke up.
“This mud mass is a problem too, but there’s another troublesome one you can’t even see the form of. They say Virgo got taken down by that one.”
“Virgo was taken down?”
“Yes. According to Virgo, it’s ‘a monster that devours anything’…”
Lee Geon’s expression changed as well.
‘A monster that devours anything.’
From the intel alone, it wasn’t the creature he’d caught before.
But could it be the one that popped up in my quest?
No harm in confirming.
And anyway, the saints he’d been targeting were in that direction too.
‘The prime suspects who dropped me into that trap are right there.’
His original weapon, the one that caught the—. He had to go there to find it anyway.
‘Didn’t they say Virgo had it?’
But just then.
Cheon Seongjae pointed at the newspaper and hurriedly said,
“Actually, these monsters. The European Union government has put in a request! For you to subjugate them, Uncle!”
Hugo was unusually surprised.
“No way, them? With their own saints around?!”
It was far above the British government agency that had commissioned him.
And there was no way the current European Human Alliance would ever send a request to another country, especially Asia.
‘Because that’s where the 1st and 2nd ranked constellations are.’
They were guys who usually looked down on everyone else.
At that moment, Cheon Seongjae picked up a slime.
“There were government officials in front of the office, but this little guy suddenly ate the official document they were supposed to give you.”
As if he understood, Lee Geon picked up the slime.
“Anyway, here’s the real huge news. They said that if this request succeeds, Virgo will return the item of yours they’ve been holding! It’s one of your 8 great holy artifacts, they said!”
“Oh.”
Of course, request or 8 great holy artifacts, whatever. That wasn’t important right now.
“Seongjae.”
“Yes?”
“You like Uncle, don’t you?”
His tone was the kindest and most gentle it had ever been.
A sickeningly sweet tone, like a kidnapper luring a child with candy.
The startled Hugo seemed to sense something ominous.
Of course, when Lee Geon used that sweet tone, it usually meant something bad was about to happen.
And sure enough.
“Seongjae. Do you want to become Uncle’s saint?”
(Continued in the next episode)