‘What did this bastard just say?’

He was Lee Gun. So what the hell was this? He didn’t recall ever taking in a disciple.

The appraiser, who was impersonating as Lee Gun’s disciple, spoke with great pride, “Amongst the disciples Lee Gun-nim took under him, he treasured me the most.”

‘I never nurtured a disciple like this man.’

The appraiser remained oblivious as he continued to praise Lee Gun. “You can’t be Lee Gun-nim’s direct disciple considering your age, but you’re pretty good. You almost fooled me with this item”

‘Should I sue this man for being a charlatan?’ Lee Gun thought whether he should punch the man or drag him out by his feet when...

“There’s a problem, Appraiser-nim!” An employee burst into the room.

The appraiser angrily replied, “I’m in the middle of an important conversation. Can’t you see that?”

“But... Outside...”

“Get out! I’m talking with an important guest.”

In the end, the employee was chased out of the room.

Lee Gun limbered up in the meantime. ‘I should get decent data from hitting an SS rank appraiser, right?’

The appraiser started looking for something. As Lee Gun walked up behind him, he brought out an unexpected item. “I received this when I was accepted as Lee Gun-nim’s disciple.”

Lee Gun was surprised at the sight of a familiar item. It was a pocket notebook, one that he had used in the past. The only problem was...

‘I lost it a long time ago.’

Lee Gun realized that he might have met the appraiser before. ‘There’s no way. Is he the kid who was crying after being dumped by a girl?’ Lee Gun had once traveled to China after receiving a commission. There, he had met an annoying boy, who had chased him around.

The appraiser continued, “He had an excellent eye for appraising items, and he thankfully passed on some of his knowledge to me.”

That was true. Lee Gun remembered that the dirty kid had continued to follow him, so he had cussed out the kid in annoyance. He remembered chastising the kid.

“Then, he disappeared after leaving this in my quarters.”

‘I wondered where I had lost it. Did this bastard steal it from me?’ Lee Gun thought.

“I cannot read his penmanship, but this is a notebook where he jotted down his ideas. I was able to receive such a precious item.”

It was just a list of people Lee Gun wanted to kill at a later date. The appraiser’s name might be in that notebook too, but he didn’t volunteer this information.

Anyway, it wasn’t as if Lee Gun didn’t know him. The kid he had met in the past had become an SS rank appraiser; it was something to congratulate. However, Lee Gun refused to do so. ‘This bastard dared to keep my item.’

He was about to extend his hand when...

“I like you, so I’ll let you have this. I’ll give you free merchandise from the store too,” the appraiser said.

Lee Gun’s hand froze in the air.

“You are a Maker, right? If you see any ingredient you like, you can take it all for free.”

A smile instantly appeared on Lee Gun’s face. “Your teacher was that awesome?”

Sometimes people misrepresented facts, and that was fine.

Lee Gun patted the appraiser’s shoulder with a pleased expression. The appraiser tilted his head in puzzlement, but Lee Gun just put on a smile of contentment. It was to be expected. The notebook held his kill list, but he had also hidden designs within it. He had beaten up the constructs to learn how to make holy items.

‘It helped me a lot when I started out making holy items.’ It was akin to his first textbook, so the loss Lee Gun had felt had been acute. ‘This is great.’

He would have to deal with the appraiser’s misrepresentation of facts at a different date. Lee Gun took back the notebook when it happened.

Flash!

Something surprising happened to the notebook. The worn brown leather of the notebook changed its shape.

[The sleeping notebook is reacting to its owner’s magical energy]

[The notebook has been influenced by the Serpent Bearer’s magical energy. It has evolved into a holy item]

The notebook turned black, and a familiar symbol appeared on it. It was the shape of a snake. The shape was engraved as if it were branded by fire.

The appraiser, who had been fixing his glasses, expressed his surprise. “It is a memory-type holy item. Looks like Lee Gun-nim placed this skill on the item when he was alive.”

The fact that this was Lee Gun-nim’s will made the appraiser that much more excited.

Lee Gun discreetly made moves on the appraiser. “Alright! This is Lee Gun-nim’s will. You should pay five times the original price for the wooden doll.”

“Don’t be so stingy in its valuation. I’ll give you ten times the price.”

As the conversation between the two men dragged longer, the appraiser’s employee became more anxious. “Can you hear me, appraiser-nim?”

“What now! I said I’m not seeing any more customers today!”

“The Saintess is outside!”

“!”

* * *

Tap! Tap! Tap!

The Saintess looked at the clock as her finger tapped every second.

“My god! It is the Saintess!”

“It really is Sophie-nim!”

A commotion occurred inside the small pawnshop.

Sophie Mardi! She was from a new country established in Europe. She was the Saintess who represented the European Union.

When Chun Sungjae and his guard saw her, they couldn’t keep their mouths shut. They reacted like everyone else.

“S-she’s the real deal.”

“Wow! I’ve never seen her in person...”

Everyone’s eyes became fixed on her beautiful face. Her hair was bright blonde, and her skin was extremely fair as if it hadn’t been exposed to the sun even once. Everything about her was beautiful.

Above all else, there was an aura around her that differentiated her from the others. It was a special aura that made normal people not even dare to approach her.

All of the twelve Saints were like that, but it was especially true for those with powerful gods.

Even though the Saintess had stolen his gaze, Chun Sungjae was very confused by her presence. “The Saintess never leaves her holy ground unless there is official business. I heard her temple is very particular about her leaving the country.”

The threat of her being kidnapped was real. Some coveted her healing power.

However, the guard dismissed it. It wasn’t odd to see her here. “This is the auction where Lee Gun’s holy item will be sold. I can understand why she would come here herself.”

Chun Sungjae’s eyes twinkled. It was rare for his guard to speak highly of Lee Gun.

The guard clicked his tongue in response. “Do you know why I followed you here? You might have come here as a fan, but many famous Users have come here today, aiming to acquire Lee Gun’s holy item. If things go south in the auction, fights between temples might erupt.”

Chun Sungjae praised Lee Gun-nim’s item, but the guard clicked his tongue again. “Even if it’s Lee Gun’s item, another Saint gave it to him. Lee Gun’s items and buffs were all loaned from the other Saints. If I were to receive that much support, I could become an SS rank... Hey. Are you listening to me?”

The fanboy completely ignored his words.

The guard inwardly felt anxious, all thanks to meeting Lee Gun earlier. ‘There is no way he’s the real Lee Gun...’

If he were, Chun Sungjae would leave his current temple. Chun Sungjae didn’t know it, but in his entrance test, his potential was measured to be of SS rank. Moreover, he was the king of getting things done. An A rank disciple leaving a temple was a blow to a god, and that blow would be heavier if that disciple were a genius like Chun Sungjae.

However, that was a problem to solve at a later date.

“I can’t believe I get to see the Saintess’s face. I’m glad I followed you here. She is this era’s mother Teresa.” The guard melted when he saw the Saintess’s benevolent smile.

Of course, the Saintess felt differently. ‘Why are these lowly assholes staring at me?’

She didn’t like being stared at by everyone. However, it couldn’t be helped.

‘It’s always like this when I come out.’ Sophie had no idea why people thought so highly of Lee Gun.

Of course, there were good reasons for his popularity. At one point in time, the calamity had spread at a speed so terrifying that talks of sealing off several countries had begun. In one incident, people were in danger of being buried alive; they had begged for help. However, the Saints had ignored them.

The Saints thought that it was more profitable to help the large countries instead of the smaller ones. However...

[What? Lee Gun went in there by himself?]

At the time, the US had ordered a premature burial for political reasons. Soldiers had blocked access to the people with guns. However, all that was futile in front of Lee Gun.

[Open it before I throw you in there!]

[Kuh-huhk!]

Lee Gun had drop-kicked an American General in front of everyone. The footage of that incident was still in the top ten most viewed videos on youtube to this day.

Lee Gun had disposed of the coward and cleared the nest of the calamity by himself, something the world had given up on accomplishing. Of course, he had received support from the Archer Saint, but all the other Saints knew the score.

[In truth, he did very little.]

[...!]

In the end, they had become the eleven idiots who had been able to do nothing.

That wasn’t all. Lee Gun was the brute who had messed up the Saints’ hustle. The twelve Saints slow-walked everything to extract the highest rewards. However, it was all for naught.

[You idiots are too slow. I’ll take care of it]

The Saints received a single message each day as Lee Gun continued to steal all their commissions. Their requests for him to stop fell on deaf ears. His skills were like a slap to their faces.

Above all else, Sophie also had a personal vendetta against him.

‘You want to die?’ Lee Gun’s low voice had been terrifying, and his face monstrous. His name had been forever poisoned for her. Whenever his name was mentioned even now, she couldn’t react properly.

‘That ugly-ass orc...’

Sophie’s guard saw Sophie’s face harden and said, “It seems you need a break, Saintess. Your complexion...”

“No.” The Saintess was curt with her words. ‘I can’t mess this up because of the Golden Lion.’

It was a given that the Leo Saint would once again try to collect Lee Gun’s holy item. Even if Sophie wanted to concede the item, she couldn’t. ‘That item is...’ That was why her current situation was vexing.

She said, “I want to speak to him face to face”

“Saintess!”

‘How dare he appraise a holy item from our temple at one dollar?’ This appraiser was a SS rank disciple under a different god, so she had been lenient. However, when the time came, she would get rid of him.

Nevertheless, she had to see him right now. Yet, his employee didn’t let her through and said, “He’s with a guest. Even if you’re the Saintess, I doubt he will meet with you...”

The holy maiden and her guard were both flabbergasted.

‘How important is the guest that he won’t meet with me?’ The movers and shakers of the world would cancel their schedule to meet with her. They would run out to her without bothering to put on their shoes. She was the most desired face in the world, yet he didn’t want to meet with her! Sophie felt an odd sense of humiliation bubble up within her.

“Saintess.”

“Open the door!” Faint killing intent appeared in her voice.

In the end, the employee quietly opened the door. The pissed-off Saintess glared at him.

‘Who...’ The Saintess suddenly came to a stop as soon as she entered the room. A bit far away, she saw a man handsome enough to jump-start her heart. He stole her gaze. She unconsciously tried to approach him.

However...

‘...!’ Her expression suddenly changed.

“S-Saintess?”

Sophie’s hands started to tremble. She failed to reach the place where the appraiser was standing. It was because of the man standing next to the appraiser

‘What is that magical energy?’ The magical energy surrounding that man was dreadful enough to be scary. Sophie could clearly see that magical energy. The man’s broad back was emitting waves of wicked magical energy. The shape of the energy wave looked like a snake. The rusty green magical energy formed into the shape of a slithering snake. It looked like the snake would pounce and swallow her at any moment.

That wasn’t all.

“...” She felt like she were standing in front of a door leading to hell. Sophie didn’t know why, but she had a feeling that if she moved any closer, she would die. A chill ran down her back.

The man was facing another direction, but Sophie’s body moved on its own. It refused to get closer to him. This was instinct. “I-I have to get out of here.”

“What?”

The pale Sophie started walking backward. “Let’s get out of here quick.”

Her guard was taken aback. The Saintess had come here looking like she wanted to bite the appraiser’s head off, so why did she want to leave?

Sophie placed a hand over her mouth. “I’m feeling nauseous.”

Suddenly...

“If you’re feeling nauseous, should I give you some medicine?”

Sophie flinched when she heard the voice.

It was Lee Gun’s voice. Lee Gun stood up.

Clank!

“Saintess!”

The surprised Sohpie quickly exited through the door.

* * *

The appraiser saw Sophie run out of the store and was taken aback. “What the hell? Why did she leave? She even dropped her badge.”

Lee Gun looked toward the direction where the Saintess had run away with an odd look in his eyes.

[Someone under the control of a different god dared to approach the Serpent Bearer from the back.]

[Your opponent’s soul has become more alert.]

[Current Divine Status: 35%]

[If it falls below 20%, activating your abilities will become more difficult. You need to recharge it.]

[You can use your construct to steal your opponent’s Divine Status.]

-Construct Currently Available for Use (1)

(Low-Rank Enslaved Subject / Hungry)

– Ability: Gluttony (It eats anything that makes its stomach full, including treasures and power.)

[Will you like to send out your construct?]

The Serpent Bearer’s magical energy crawled over Lee Gun as if it were trying to protect him. The power was suppressed, but the energy was familiar to him. Therefore, Lee Gun asked as he took out the blade he was investigating. “Was she the Saintess, the woman who tried to come in here?”

“Who else in the world would be called the Saintess except her?”

Lee Gun, who had an odd expression on his face, furrowed his brows. “Didn’t they say the Saintess was a beautiful woman?”

“Can’t you tell by her looks? She’s worshipped for her beauty. She’s regularly discussed in columns about the twelve Saints.”

“I haven’t looked them up at all.”

Why the hell would Lee Gun search up positive articles about those bastards? On top of that, he hated seeing his pictures from twenty years ago, so he purposefully avoided those topics even more.

“So she’s discussed in columns about the Saints? Is she affiliated with them?” Lee Gun asked.

The appraiser looked at Lee Gun with a surprised expression. “She’s one of the twelve Saints!”

“!” Lee Gun took out his phone. He searched for a term that he usually didn’t.

– Saintess

Since he hadn’t been interested in these matters, he had never tried to search her up...

Paht!

Lee Gun’s eyes turned round when the image search brought up results. Then he laughed at the silliness of it all.

‘Ah! She’s the Saintess?’