Book 1, Epilogue 32 - Making a Fanatic (1)
Hugo and Chun Jiwoo’s marriage happened under a great deal of secrecy. Hugo didn’t want information about Chun Jiwoo to be spread through the media. However, despite no information about the bride having gotten out, rumors about his marriage slowly spread.
The world was undoubtedly surprised.
- Kuhk. I thought the Archer Saint became dejected after Lee Gun died? I thought he became an alcoholic pig.
-ㄴㄴㄴHe returned to his normal selfㅠㅠㅠㅠ If he overcame it by meeting his spouse, it’s a relief
-There is a rumor that he married the daughter of a wealthy supporter
-No ㅠㅠㅠㅠ Not our oppa
- Aren’t they breaking the speed limit?ㅋㅋㅋ
-ㅋㅋㅋThat is an awkward position to be in if he did marry someone like that. Still, I’m looking forward to their kids.
- No one knows who the mother is. There is no way she is pretty.
- If an awakened being has a child, would the kid be an awakened being?
- Are we sure the marriage is legitimate?
The media was also in disarray. If anyone tried to look into Hugo’s personal life or marital status, Hugo acted like a ghost as he stole away his wife and disappeared.
Only one group of people was sure that Hugo had gone through with his marriage.
“Hoo-uhhhhhhng. Hugoooo. Hugooooooo….!!!”
The Cathedral Notre Dame.
Sophie was crying ever since she had heard the news about Hugo. “I kept telling her that I wouldn’t let her do it! I told her to get away from him! Wehhhh!”
The rest of the Zodiac Saints didn’t need to hear or read the news. They were sure of it when they saw Sophie sobbing.
‘That bastard did marry.’
‘He did it.’
‘He’s married.’
Otherwise, there was no way Sophie would cry until her eyes were puffy. She wouldn’t be lamenting at the top of her voice.
Moreover, him deciding to marry when there were uncertainties with the monsters meant...
‘That bastard made an accident.’
‘He had it.’
‘He had an accident.’
It was unclear if Sophie knew this or not, but she couldn’t stop crying. She had Hugo stolen(?) from her.
“Hoo-uhng! Men are all the same! He pretended to be uninterested in women! Yet he fell head over heels for a pretty face! Hugo is a stupid idiot!! Ooh-uhhhhng!”
When Sophie was about to convert all the water in her body into tears, Stevens and Ivan became angry.
“Shut up, bedwetter! Hurry up and give me the liquid medicine I ordered! We didn’t come here to hear your story about being dumped.”
“If you were going to cry so much about it, you should’ve just killed that woman! How the hell did a Zodiac Saint lose to a civilian? Aren’t you embarrassed?!”
When the other Zodiac Saints gave her similar looks, Sophie felt more aggrieved. She cried harder.
“But that woman was too scary!! She had such a delicate face, yet harsh words kept pouring out of her! Also, what kind of person pours water over someone’s head?! Her eyes were so fierce that she looked like a predator! Ooh-uhhhng! Our innocent Hugo will be eaten by her! I’m sure of it!”
In the end, the Zodiac Saints sighed as they covered their ears to block out Sophie’s wailing. However, they were surprised.
‘Despite how she’s acting right now, Sophie is the Zodiac Saint of the Aquarius temple.’
Of course, Yang Wei and Sophie were the two weakest and the most cowardly Zodiac Saints. Still, she was a representative of her god. Someone like that felt pressured by a regular person?
‘It makes no sense.’
If one had to make a comparison, a Zodiac Saint was a tiger, and a civilian was a rabbit. Even if the tiger was cowardly, it was a tiger. A single roar from it should make a rabbit shake in fear.
In truth, Sophie was also surprised that she felt pressured by the other woman.
“Something is different about that woman. It felt as if I would die by her hands if I slipped up! It felt as if she was going to erase my existence!”
Chun Jiwoo’s spirit had a connection to the power of the Secretaries. However, the other Zodiac Saints merely snorted at Sophie’s claims.
“Hmmph. That is why she is called ‘bedwetter.’ She gets scared at the sight of monsters.”
“You’re being rude! I didn’t wet myself! How long will you believe Lee Gun’s lie…!”
“So? Is she really pretty? I bet she looks plain compared to Hailey and Heiji, right?”
Sergeyevich’s words made Sophie grumble. She called him a hedonist.
“She wasn’t that pretty. Also, even I’m on the plain side when compared to the Scorpio Saint and the Gemini Saint!”
“Hmmph. It seemed she was pretty enough to make him give in.”
Sophie shook her head from side to side when he dared make such a comparison. She also became angry at the reactions of the other Zodiac Saints.
Their interest always seemed to linger on either Hailey or Heiji. While she was always interested in it, their presence made her become more interested in her appearance. At the end of the day, it didn’t matter.
The Zodiac Saints ground their teeth when they heard the news about Hugo.
‘That damn Hugo dared end his relationship with us, yet he’s going out on dates as if nothing is wrong.’
The situation was already at a point where the world was looking at them with extra scrutiny. Were they really the ones who had killed Red Eye? Would they be able to recover the land of humanity?
These were the current topics of discussion.
‘Damn it! Lee Gun is being raised higher and higher…!’
‘Isn’t it a bit too much to prefer a dead man to us?’
The Zodiac Saints had once come across Hugo by coincidence when they visited a government facility. They were barely able to keep him in place long enough to ask for help. However, his response wasn’t what they wanted.
- Really? I thought you guys killed Red Eye. Why would you look for someone who exited the tower? Why don’t you guys do it yourself since you guys killed Red Eye?
In truth, they were shocked since they hadn’t expected Hugo to come at them in a cockeyed manner.
‘That damn Hugo. He has a grudge against us because we left Lee Gun behind.’
Anyway, Hugo ignored their request for help and got rid of the monsters by himself, which increased Hugo’s esteem in the world.
“At this rate, we’ll be crushed under Lee Gun’s shadow!”
Those words made someone laugh.
“Then we’ll have to erase Lee Gun’s existence, right?”
“!”
The one to speak was none other than Giselle.
Surprised, the Zodiac Saints looked at her. Giselle let out a chuckle as she approached Sophie.
‘It won’t be easy to erase the mighty Lee Gun.’
He was that big of a deal, and bringing Oblivion was too risky right now. Moreover, brute-forcing it and erasing his presence right now would be useless.
Why?
‘The Zodiac Saints are too weak.’
They were too lacking to become the stars of humanity. Of course, the Zodiac Saints weren’t weak even from Negligence’s point of view as a monarch. The only problem was that Lee Gun had been way too strong.
‘Then there’s the plan enacted by the monarchs.’
Half of the reason the Zodiac Saints were having a hard time against the monsters after Lee Gun’s death was that the monarchs had stolen the Data of the Zodiacs.
‘There are the ones that I stole, and Time also stole a lot of it.’
She had no idea how Time was able to gather so much data belonging to the twelve Zodiacs, but she assumed it was related to his ability.
Anyway, the data was used in a way where the attacks of the Zodiacs didn’t work well against the monsters. As the Zodiac Saints received more power from the Zodiacs, this put them at a disadvantage.
In other words, it was as if the Zodiac Saints were fighting a bugged mob.
‘Even if one takes that into consideration, Lee Gun was too dominant.’
Lee Gun was gifted with natural senses, mental strength, and guts. He was a crazy person who could roll through a steel wall created using a bugged mob. Of course, it didn’t matter in the end.
In fact, Lee Gun’s presence had been a blessing for her.
‘With his DNA, I might be able to make living weapons greater than him.’
Sophie was crying as he took out the liquid medicine.
Giselle took this opportunity to sit behind Sophie. “Sophie. You have Lee Gun’s biodata, right?”
“Kyaaaaa!!”
Sophie shook in fear when she heard Giselle’s whisper.
When she turned her head, she saw Giselle smirk and look like a goody two shoes.
“Hand it over. Lee Gun’s data…”
“I won’t!!!”
“!”
When Sophie started looking at her surroundings, Giselle continued to whisper to her.
“I-I’m already hated by Hugo because of you guys. What more do you want from me?!”
“Don’t you feel resentment toward him? He ignored your feelings and married someone else.”
“No…!”
“Did you already forget what you did at the tower?”
“…!!!”
Sophie froze.
“I heard the liquid medicine you gave Lee Gun had poison in it.”
“T…That’s…!”
“You’re no different from us. You threatened a regular person because you fell for a man.” Giselle snickered as she touched the hiccuping Sophie. “If you don’t want me to reveal everything, you should hand over Lee Gun’s DNA.”
In the future, this DNA would become the key ingredient used in making Carly.
* * *
“What? You want me to teach you how to fight?!” Hugo was surprised by Lee Jaewon’s words.
At the time, Chun Jiwoo was five months pregnant.
Hugo had been busy buying food that she wanted to eat. He looked at Lee Jaewon in surprise. “Are you being serious?”
“Yes. I want to be a fighter like Lee Gun-nim and Hugo-nim.”
After entering college, Lee Jaewon suddenly wanted to become an awakened being. Hugo was taken aback. In his view, it was something that had no precedent.
At that time, there had been no awakened beings aside from the thirteen. No one even thought such a thing was possible. However, Lee Jaewon was serious.
“Hugo-nim, many countries are calling you for mercenary work, but you have to protect your wife and the child. I’ll go on the raids instead of you.”
“But…!”
Of course, it wasn’t as if Lee Jaewon was unqualified. He had traveled with them and studied the tendencies of the monsters. Above all else…
‘It’s faint, but Jaewon does have the power of an awakened being.’
Hugo didn’t know if it was caused by Cancer, but while Lee Jaewon had been running away from the battlefield when he was young, the power of the Zodiac had brushed up against him. Unlike normal people, he possessed other forms of power.
While his body was akin to that of a normal human being, he could read the presence of other beings. He could also hide his presence. It wasn’t a coincidence that he possessed this power.
Lee Jaewon said, “Back then, a different Zodiac’s power brushed up against me for a moment. What if I receive a good amount of Sagittarius’s power? Wouldn’t I be able to develop new powers?”
“No! You will regret it. You might become crippled or die…”
“It doesn't matter! When Lee Gun-nim passed away, I was filled with regret for not being able to help you guys!!”
“…!”
One could tell by looking into Lee Jaewon’s eyes that he was being sincere. If he could fight like an awakened being, Lee Gun wouldn’t have left him behind.
It didn’t matter if Hugo had left the tower or the other Zodiac Saints had abandoned Lee Gun. Lee Jaewon wondered if he could have saved Lee Gun if he was there.
Hugo raised his hands in surrender when he saw the look in Lee Jaewon’s eyes. “Just don’t die.”
Then he let his Zodiac’s power descend into Lee Jaewon.
Flash!
Until this moment, the Zodiacs hadn’t known how to increase the number of their disciples. It was why Jean-Louis had taken an interest in a young Lee Jaewon when the latter had developed his odd ability.
Of course, Sagittarius did warn them that this would be dangerous.
“Ahhhk!!”
But Hugo believed in Lee Jaewon. He imbued Lee Jaewon with the power of his Zodiac.
Instead of pouring the power directly into Lee Jaewon, Hugo channeled the power through his body, as that would be a bit safer.
“Just endure it a little longer, Jaewon!”
Lee Jaewon was in excruciating pain, but the attempt seemed to be well worth it.
[M-My god…!]
The Constructs were surprised. It truly was a historical moment that shook the fabric of human society.
[A-Aside from the apostles, a new follower of the god has been born!]
“…!!”
This was how Lee Jaewon became humanity’s first awakened being. He was also the first human disciple, and he became the first general of a temple.
Soon, another notable thing happened.
“Weh! Weh!”
After a couple of months, a daughter was born between Hugo and Chun Jiwoo. It was a beautiful daughter that looked like her mom.
Having become a father, Hugo was moved as he looked at the child. He shouted, “Alright. Your name is Gun from now on!”
Shocked, Lee Jaewon tore into Hugo to stop him. “Zodiac Saint-nim! What kind of name is Gun for a girl?”
“What? I like it!”
“You cannot do that!!”
“W-What about Gunsoon! Your name is Gunsoon— Kuh-huhk!!”
Bbah-gahk!!
“Gunja— Kuh-huhk!!”
Bbah-gahk!!
“How about Gunsook— Ehhk!!”
“Please!! That’s enough!!”
Lee Jaewon beat Hugo down to the ground.
After a hard and desperate affair, in the end, the name “Yooha” was chosen and defended.
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