[Alright. I choose you.]

That day, twenty-five years ago, Hugo had never dreamed he would become the servant of a narcissist.

Unaware of this, Hugo awakened to his power for the first time.

“Koo-oohk...!”

His eyes widened as he saw the black sphere around him destroyed.

‘The monster’s attack is...gone?’

However, he didn’t even have time to be surprised.

[Idiot servant. Look behind you.]

“!”

Hugo was shocked to suddenly hear a voice. When he turned his head, a scream escaped his lips.

“Ahhk!! Get out of the way!!”

“Ahhhk!!”

Screech!!

A taxi was moving toward him at an extremely high speed. The eyes of the taxi driver were rolling back with fear. He had planned on driving past Hugo, who sat on the road.

“Get out of the way, idiot!!”

The people who had been running away screamed in fear.

“Ahhk! Look out!”

Hugo didn’t even have time to dodge as the taxi crashed into him.

Kwahng!!!

“Kyahhhk!!”

Everyone clenched their eyes shut when they heard the incredibly loud sound.

“Ahhhhk!!”

When they reopened their eyes, they almost fainted for an entirely different reason.

Hugo was unscathed. In fact, the car had been crushed instead!

“K...Kuh-huhk...??!!”

“Kyahhhk!! What the hell is he!!”

The one most shocked by this was Hugo himself.

‘Why was the car sent flying to the side when it rammed into me?!’

The car had slammed into him at 120 kilometers an hour at the very least! However, he was merely bleeding a little from a contusion?!

At that moment...

[Look above, my lowly servant.]

‘L...Lowly?’

Dumbfounded, Hugo looked at the sky. Soon, he had no choice but to grit his teeth.

Kwah-jeek!!

“Koo-oohk...!!!”

An enormous monster tried to stomp him into a pancake.

[Kee-ehhhhhk!]

“Ooohk...!”

Hugo reflexively blocked the monster’s feet by extending his arms. He felt like dying as he felt the strain.

‘Damn it! This is on a different level than being hit by the car...!’

It felt as if he were holding up the weight of a building!

‘I’ll be crushed at this rate...!’

Hugo clenched his eyes shut, but...

[Idiot servant. What are you doing?]

“????”

He heard the bizarre voice once again, and the voice started saying words that sounded like nonsense.

[Hurry up and worship me. Then a lowly being like you will be able to use my great power.]

Worship? What kind of nonsense was that?

[I am Sagittarius. Hurry up and worship me.]

“Damn it!!” Hugo got worked up when he realized he was going to be crushed to death. “Oh great Sagittarius-nim! Huzzah, huzzah, huzzah!!! I love you! I’ll do whatever you want!”

The next instant, something surprising happened.

Ssssss...!!!

“!!”

It sounded as if meat was being cooked on a metal plate.

Hugo’s hands, which were staving off the monster, roiled as if they were lava. Then a scream rang out.

[Kee-ehhhhhk!!!]

The monster that was stepping on Hugo suffered a severe burn wound on its foot. It fell backward.

Koohng!

Hugo looked at his hands, confused. Surprisingly, his hand was red as if he were holding bright red lava. The light was blazing. It was like looking into the core of the sun.

This made the nearby humans panic.

“Huh...!! T...That person isn’t human!”

“I...Is he a monster too?”

However, they soon started to cheer when they realized they had been saved.

“That person saved us!!”

“What is he?!”

Hugo ground his teeth.

‘Shit! I have no idea what is going on, but

Hugo charged toward the monster. After he had awakened, most attacks could inflict only superficial wounds on Hugo. His strength, senses, and reflexes had become much better than that of normal humans.

Of course, his movement and experience were that of a normal civilian, but it didn’t matter.

“Koo-oohk!”

When he ran, his form was a sight to behold; he looked clumsy like a high schooler doing a physical fitness test.

This was why all the attacks and the building debris that flew toward him successfully hit him. “Ooh-oohk...! It hurts like hell!”

However, it didn’t matter since his body had reached superhuman status.

Bbah-gahk!!!

[Kee-ehhhhhhk!!!]

Hugo put all his strength into his fist as he swung. A powerful flame engulfed his fist and detonated against the monster.

Kwahng!!!

Of course, he experienced side effects. “Ahhhk!! My arm!”

Was it because he wasn’t properly trained? Hugo moaned as he clutched his broken shoulder.

Someone snorted when he saw Hugo’s actions.

[Where the hell did you see such a thing? Why would you do something so dumb?]

“What did you say, you bastard? Are you badmouthing the superhuman of the south!! He’s a man’s man!”

Well, it didn’t matter right now.

“Noona! Father! Mother!”

Hugo desperately ran toward his family.

* * *

The hospital was full of people. Normally, it was filled with patients’ cries and moans, but today was different.

“We are from ABC!”

“We are from the Herald Sun!”

The hospital was filled with reporters, all of them here for Hugo.

“Another superhuman has appeared?”

“Could it be that he brought along the monster?”

“That person is the devil!”

People treated Hugo as if he were the devil, and he had almost been dragged away to prison.

However, everything was cleared in one go when a particular person appeared in front of them.

“He is a superhuman like us.”

“!”

At that moment, Hugo had been in front of the surgery room, close to being dragged away by the police.

He turned his head in surprise. His and his sister’s mouth fell open when they saw who it was. “T-the Saintess of the West!”

“Didn’t she say her name was S-Sophie Mardi? She is incredibly famous right now...!”

Yes, the one before them right now was the twenty-year-old Sophie Mardi, who would become the Zodiac Saint of the Aquarius temple in the future.

“I’ll go heal your parents.”

“!”

Sophie was interested in Hugo.

‘That person was chosen by Sagittarius. He’s the superhuman of the south.’

However, Sophie’s eyes turned round when Hugo ran toward her.

‘He is incredibly handsome...!’

The man was a bit dirty right now, but Sophie felt her heart pound at the sight of his face.

Of course, Hugo had no way of knowing this. He laughed as he held Sophie’s hand. “Thank you very much for saving my parents!”

Sophie’s heart felt like it was about to explode. She felt like dying. “W-Wait a moment! It’s too early to become complacent! The wound inflicted by the monster is severe! It...It was also contaminated, so it’s a matter of time before the wound worsens!”

“No! Saintess-nim! I’m extremely grateful for what you have already done!”

!!!”

In truth, Hugo’s parents would die not too long after, but at that moment, Hugo was thankful to Sophie.

It made Sophie anxious.

‘I’m only here because of my Zodiac...!’

It was for no other reason.

When she had heard this, she had come to treat the victims as well as greet her comrade. Yet...!

‘My god! I never expected him to be such a magnificent person...!’

Sophie fiddled with her fingers before she shyly brushed a strand of hair behind her ear. “I...If you don’t mind, would you like to have some tea with me

However, Sophie scrunched up her face when she turned.

“Hee hee. If you will have me, I would love to

“?!”

Yes, the one shyly laughing in front of Sophie right now wasn’t Hugo. It was a journalist who had come to collect news. Sophie screamed.

Around that time...

“What did you just say?” Hugo had walked up to the hospital’s roof following the mysterious voice, and he was surprised. He had been told eight more superhumans will show up. That in itself was surprising, but...

“I’m your servant?? I want to become an author! I’m shocked that I was able to defeat the monster! Now you suddenly want me to work for a god...!”

The voice didn’t seem to care about Hugo’s opinion.

[You are the servant that I personally picked. That’s why you have to work as an apostle for me.]

So why was he a servant?

‘Also, he placed a contract on me without consulting me.’

Well, it wasn’t all bad.

‘A god specifically chose me.’

He had been chosen among countless people. Hugo made a fist. “I’ll protect anyone near me no matter what happens. It seems you chose me because you saw my potential. I promise to work very hard!”

[Potential? What the hell are you talking about?]

“What? I thought the Zodiacs were looking for representatives who would allow the Zodiacs to use their power through them? In other words, you chose me because I have enough potential to handle such power

[What nonsense are you spouting? I chose you only because of your face.]

“What?”

[You will be the human who’ll represent my temple. You are a figurehead, and such a person needs to be a looker. It’ll allow me to grow the number of my disciples. Also, you will be my apostle, whom I’ll be seeing every day. The idea of someone too ugly is...]

What the hell did he just say?!!

“What a crazy god...!!!”

Hugo had been wondering why he had been chosen. It was for a trivial reason!

[Whatever. Go get some alcohol. Prepare a feast for me.]

“Hmph. Why would I set up such a thing for you?”

[I lent you your abilities. You have to pay the price, and you have to continue paying the price if you want to use more of my power.]

“Ah. It’s fine. I don’t need it! Find someone else— Koohk!”

A stigmata appeared on Hugo’s shoulder before he could speak any further. It was Sagittarius’s stigmata!

!”

However, it was incomplete. It was split into five sections, and only one was letting out a light. In other words, among the five levels, he was on the first.

Poo-doo-doohk!

At that moment, a crow appeared alongside the flames and called forth a bow.

[The Sagittarius temple is a temple that uses flame and the bow as weapons! I will give you your basic weapon!]

“Excuse me... I have no plans on doing this!”

[Whatever. Hurry up and prepare a feast for me! Also, I want you to create a song for your exalted master! I want food that is considered a delicacy in this world! I want you to prepare rings and gems befitting your master!]

Hugo became angry as soon as he received the bow. “W...Wait a moment. This is a child’s toy!” It was an arrow with a suction disk at the tip.

[You are a lowly servant who can’t even use your power! This bow goes well with you! If you want to receive something better, work harder!]

“There is no way I’ll do this!!”

[If you don’t do this, I’ll make sure you live the rest of your life as a baldie!]

“Damn it!!”

This was how Hugo became Sagittarius’s apostle... No, he was forced to become a slave.

Anyway, it would be one year after this incident when he would meet Lee Gun again.

By then, all twelve superhumans had appeared, and his stigmata had reached stage 4.

Also, half a year had passed since the thirteenth awakened being, who shouldn’t exist, had made his appearance.

“Shit...! Is this my limit...!” Hugo had been captured by a monster, and he was dying.

‘Damn it! Stevens and Ivan gave up on clearing this place despite being the highest ranked among us....’

The location was Saudi Arabia, which had been sealed because of the monsters.

Several superhumans had been called in, but even the strongest level 5 superhumans had to retreat. They clicked their tongues as they retreated from this location.

“What kind of affinity does it have? If we fight against it, we’ll be killed.”

“But...! It took a hundred humans!”

“We paid a small price if it went away after eating only a hundred humans. How many lives do you think our lives are worth?”

!”

Hugo had gnashed his teeth when he heard the laughing Taurus Saint and rushed into the sealed region.

“Hey! Archer! Come back! It only took a hundred people! If we let it eat them, it’ll fall asleep from being full!”

In the end, Hugo was punished for entering the place despite their objection.

‘Damn it! Am I being penalized for being a know-it-all as a level 4?’

It was the day when Hugo had met him.

“Who the hell is this idiot?”

!”

“You aren’t dead yet, so why do you look like all is lost?”

Unlike a year ago, the thirteenth awakened being had a different air around him. The look in his eyes and his entire face was different. He was now a being that even the gods would never be able to forget.