Book 1, Epilogue 3 - Let me be your student (3)

Hugo had heard about the existence of the thirteenth around half a year ago, in January 2001.

“What?! Korea is looking for mercenaries?”

Seoul was overrun with monsters, so Hugo had received a request for support.

“Damn it! Hey! In my current predicament, how the hell would I get there?!”

[You idiot!]

“What?! You and the Zodiac told me to come this way!”

After receiving the message through the raven, Hugo furiously shot his arrows. He was in Africa, surrounded by monsters.

Because of the several monsters gathered there, he was unable to leave the cave for several days.

However, Hugo soon let out a sigh of relief when he received a piece of news.

[The other heroes have decided to go to Korea!]

“Really? Thank goodness…!”

However, the thirteenth awakened being had appeared in the location where the heroes were scheduled to arrive, shocking the heroes and the Zodiacs alike.

[My god! It’s the thirteenth apostle! This should be impossible!]

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[There should be only twelve heroes! Ominous! This is ominous!]

Normally, Sagittarius was busy ordering Hugo around, but at that moment, he was silent. The fiend was frantic and restless. The other apostles were probably going through the same thing.

However, something unexpected happened. Hugo heard no further news about the thirteenth.

The other heroes also asked around for the thirteenth, but the thirteenth seemed to have appeared and vanished too quickly. This was why this person couldn’t be located.

Therefore, one of the twelve heroes spoke up after the thirteenth had gone underground for half a year.

- What about the thirteenth? At the end of the day, he’s a civilian. He was probably exposed to the power of the Zodiacs by chance. That’s how he acquired his power.

- Also, why hasn’t he revealed himself? It’s because he’s already dead.

- There is no way there can be thirteen superhumans.

- I understand that you’re looking forward to meeting him. It’s understandable that you’re interested in him, but that person isn’t an apostle of a god.

- You shouldn’t needlessly show too much interest in him. The disappointment will be bigger if you have high hopes.

This was how everyone spoke about the thirteenth. The heroes had heard from the Zodiacs that the thirteenth could never exist, so they knew better than anyone else.

No one had caught sight of the thirteenth after that incident, so everyone assumed he was dead. But…

Poo-hahk!!!

“Huh-uhk…!!”

Hugo shook when he looked at the scene before him. He was in the middle of the ruined city.

Hugo had been captured by the monster that had been attacking the nearby resident; he was inside its mouth, and the monster was about to swallow him.

“What’s up with this idiot?”

Hugo was about to die when he heard a voice. This person had opened the monster’s mouth with their bare hands.

Hugo scrunched up his eyes since the sun was behind the person.

“You aren’t dead yet, so why do you look like you gave up on everything?”

“…!”

Hugo shook as he looked at the person looking down at him.

‘That person is….’

It might have had to do with the fact that Hugo felt faint and the light in the background was dazzling, but Hugo couldn’t tell if this person was a man or a woman. His ears were ringing, so he couldn’t tell it by the voice either.

The only thing he could make out was something that resembled long hair and a blazing fire around it. However, he saw one thing clearly.

“This bastard should try to differentiate between what it can eat and what it cannot.”

The next instant, Hugo saw the monster’s upper jaw being ripped away.

Kwah-jeek!!

[Kee-ehhhhhk!!!]

The monster’s upper jaw was sent flying, and Hugo, who was rolled up inside its tongue, looked up with wide eyes.

The person with the sun behind their back held a weapon bigger than Hugo, and they cut off the monster’s arm with it.

Poo-hahk!!!

It was a bizarre weapon. Hugo couldn’t tell if it was an ax or a greatsword. Its head looked like a flaked stone tool in the shape of a blade. The handle was very long, like that of an ax.

However, the surprising part was that this person could move quickly while holding something so large. The person held it as if it were as light as a feather and moved at a speed not visible to the naked eye.

‘My god!’

Hugo thought this person wasn’t human. As a speed-based archer, Hugo was considered the fastest among the twelve heroes.

‘His movement is on a different level.’

The twelve superhumans were considered the hope of humanity. They were supposed to save the world.

In truth, the other eleven superhumans were very strong, but they all worked on their own. Hugo could count the number of times he had met the others on the fingers of his hand.

However, he felt the difference in their levels when he saw their exploits. It was to be expected since they had reached level five, unlike him, who was at level four.

This was especially true of Stevens, who was called the superhuman of the north, and Ivan (Taurus), who had been the last to appear. Ivan possessed destructive battle capabilities.

The apostle of Virgo was called a prodigy and a genius. Then there were the magicians, who were called the ultimate weapons of humanity.

These eleven were superhumans that the world had high hopes for. Every country was clamoring to scout them.

‘I can’t even hold a candle to them.’

Hugo was level four, so it wasn’t something he should be saying. However, the difference between him and the other superhumans was too large. It was like comparing a human trying to act as a superhuman to gods.

Koohng!!!

Hugo gaped as watched the scene before him. He couldn’t hear the roar of the monsters or feel the poisonous gas sting him.

He just watched the god of light descend from the heavens and rip apart the monsters.

It was unclear as to how long had passed.

“Hey, are you ok? Are you alive?”

Lee Gun approached Hugo, who was about to faint.

Hugo looked at Lee Gun, who was surrounded by a bright light, and unconsciously mumbled, “God.”

“What?”

“God-nim.”

Lee Gun’s expression was a sight to behold. “You must have lost your mind. Hey, get a hold of yourself. This is water. Hurry up and drink it. Ah! Your innards are spilling out. I wonder if you should even be drinking any water? Whatever. Just drink.”

Lee Gun took out a water bottle and shoved it toward Hugo’s mouth.

It allowed Hugo to come to his senses, and he coughed. He then clutched his stomach, where his innards were falling out.

While doing this, he grabbed a firm hold of Lee Gun. “Let me…”

“What?”

“Let me be….”

Hugo was about to ask this person to take him in as their student when…

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[Kee-ehhhhhk!!!]

A monster dove toward them. It was a monster bird that looked like a black eagle. Despite being in a befuddled state, Hugo shook from fear when he saw the enormous monster.

‘That’s the Neck Snapper…!’

This monster was considered one of the most dangerous monsters to have appeared until now. It was an unwelcome guest that appeared from the sky and decapitated its prey!

‘Damn it! There is nothing we can do if we are the target of its attack.’

But…

“Ah! That thing is really annoying,” Lee Gun said and picked up an item. This item wasn’t a weapon, but a frypan!

Lee Gun brought down the frypan on the head of the unwelcome guest.

Boohoo-gahk!!!

[Kee-ehhhhk!!]

The monster bird’s head was blown away, and its body fell to the ground.

Lee Gun calmly parted the monster bird’s stomach and took out an egg. “The monster is inedible, but its egg seems edible.”

“….” Hugo was speechless.

‘T-this person killed the unwelcome guest with a single swing of the frypan.’

Moreover, this person was in the midst of a battlefield, where food could be scarce. Yet, they had easily created their own provision.

Lee Gun said as he took out the eggs one by one, “So? What did you say before?”

“Marry me!”

“What?”

Hugo suddenly grabbed Lee Gun’s leg. “Please marry me!!!!! I’ll do anything you want!”

With his innards hanging out of his stomach, Hugo clung to Lee Gun.

It made Lee Gun angry. “Hey! Let go!”

“Please marry me, big sis!”

“Have you lost your ever-loving mind?”

Bbah-gahk!

* * *

Lee Gun had a dream. It showed a scene of him losing his family.

- Help. There is someone here!

- Mom! I want to get out of here…!

- Be a bit patient. They said it’ll be more dangerous if we head outside. We just have to wait a little more, and the heroes will be here.

Their surroundings were a raging inferno. Within the flame, Lee Gun kept hearing voices that tormented him.

- People are still alive. Are you sure we shouldn’t be going out right now?

- It’s fine. If we drag our feet, the Korean government will get more desperate. They’ll up their offer. We just have to follow the orders of our apostles.

- Ha ha! Are you sure about saying those words here?

- It’s fine. One has lost his hearing, and the other one is dead.

- I guess there is no hope for the other floors either.

- Are you sure the other apostles will come here?

- No way! The monsters appearing in this place are the strongest ones we’ve ever seen. They know it’ll be certain death if they come here. Certain death.

- What? Then why did they tell everyone to evacuate into this building?

- That’s…

Then the voices would disappear, and Lee Gun would always see Yeonwoo being eaten by a monster made out of a fog. The nightmare ended as he watched Yeonwoo get ripped apart in front of him.

Lee Gun once again had the same dream. He rapidly breathed as he woke up. “Damn it.”

He was inside an abandoned building. It was a ruin that he had temporarily borrowed to treat Hugo.

Lee Gun furrowed his brows. Hugo, who had been knocked out until now, was causing a great disturbance.

“Ahhk! My stomach! My stomach! Why are there needle marks here?!”

Lee Gun let out a sigh. He approached Hugo, who was lying down on the bed. “Are you up? Your innards were falling out. Since it was an emergency, I did surgery on you.”

“Surgery??!!!”

“You don’t have to worry about it getting infected. I experimented on my body, so I’m good at it now.”

Hugo’s eyes turned round when he saw Lee Gun. “Uh. Who the hell are you?”

Lee Gun lashed out. “You don’t recognize the person who saved you?”

“You were a man?”

“I’ll forgive you since you’re a patient.”

Hugo accepted it as a fact. Earlier, he had been out of his mind, so he had thought Lee Gun was a woman because of his long hair.

‘It wasn’t hair. He was wearing the leather of a monster…’

Lee Gun also had the build of a normal man.

‘He’s a scary person. He doesn’t laugh at all.’

His face, which had burn wounds, was terrifying. However, it didn’t matter in the end.

“I’ll do anything you want!! Let me be your student!”

“!!”

Lee Gun was taken aback by Hugo’s sudden declaration. “You really are…”

Hugo didn’t seem oblivious as he kowtowed. “Please take me on! I am lacking in skill, so I’m unable to kill monsters well!”

“Monsters? …civilian…why….”

“Civilian? Ah, you’re right! I am lacking so much compared to the other eleven that even a civilian is surprised!”

“Eleven?”

“Yes! Ah!! However, I’m confident about my speed! The other apostles can’t win against me in terms of speed…!”

“You are an apostle?” Lee Gun’s voice was cold enough to freeze the air.

Oblivious to the change in the mood, Hugo let out a bright smile. “Yes! I never expected to meet the famous thirteenth here—”

Hugo couldn’t finish.

“Ahhhk!!”

A terrifying ax flew toward his neck.

Kwah-jeek!!

“Damn it! What an unlucky day. I couldn’t feel the energy of the Zodiac from you, so I was tricked.”

“M-Mr. Thirteen?!! Why are you suddenly—”

“Whatever. You can die again.”

“What??!!!”

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