“What? He’s the thirteenth?”

“His name is Lee Gun?”

“My god! The one we thought was missing or dead was catching monsters all this time?”

“I thought the thirteenth wasn’t an awakened being?”

“How can he not be? He killed those monsters in public! Look at the footage!”

In the summer of 2001, the name “Lee Gun” spread across the world like wildfire.

Until now, the thirteenth was called a mutant and a one-off awakened being. However, things had changed.

- It seems Lee Gun is a proper awakened being like us. His abilities are beyond reproach.

The Leo Saint Stevens, who was famous as the superhuman of the north, gave an interview that surprised the world. The world learned about Lee Gun’s existence through him.

Stevens said,

- The thirteen of us will work for all of humanity. Please call for us. It doesn’t matter where you are. We’ll go there and help you.

- Stevens! Stevens!

- Please cheer for the new thirteenth apostle.

The other apostles started to show great interest in Lee Gun. While the twelve Zodiac Saints were independent, they were united in how they felt as they looked at Lee Gun.

In fact, the Cancer Saint Jean-Louise couldn’t tear his eyes away from the TV despite being very busy.

“He is the thirteenth? That’s interesting.”

It didn’t matter if they were the apostles, countries, or society at large; everyone was interested in Lee Gun.

However, one person found the apostles’ interest in Lee Gun problematic. It was Hailey, and her reaction was understandable.

“Oh. He’s really cool. His face is a bit scary, but he’s bold.”

The Gemini Saint Heiji Grey (25) seemed to fancy Lee Gun. Of course, over half of the twelve Zodiac Saints were men, but none of them had caught her eyes.

Yang Wei was a pig who liked only money. The Cancer Saint was a good-looking man with smarts. However, something was creepy about him. Heiji found him off-putting.

Hugo had a cute face, but he was the weakest. He was like a paper doll.

The Zodiac Saints did have strong men, such as the Taurus Saint and the Leo Saint. However, Heiji found the Taurus Saint narrow-minded and the Leo Saint domineering.

In contrast, although Lee Gun had a ghastly face, she could overlook it since his face bore wounds of honor. Above all else, he was extremely skilled.

“How can I not fall for him when I witnessed how competent he could be?”

Heiji didn’t care if the other person was a woman or a man. She liked someone strong. It didn’t matter if the person was strong of heart, strength, or knowledge.

When she saw Lee Gun, she became sure of it. He possessed the nerve to act without hesitation and excellent judgment that allowed him to move in a way that minimized damage.

Lee Gun possessed the intelligence to discern the weak point of the monsters, and he could kill monsters using the least amount of power possible.

He even had knowledge about anatomy, which allowed him to butcher monsters in one blow! Moreover, he possessed an overwhelming power that tied everything together!

So, Heiji bought two drinks from the beverage stand. Putting on a friendly smile, she then approached him. “Your name is Lee Gun, right? Do you mind having a short conversation with me? I have a question to ask you.”

“You want to ask me something?”

Sparks flew from someone’s eyes when she saw this. It was Hailey, who was hiding next to the beverage stand.

Heiji handed over a beverage to Lee Gun. She was about to drink her beverage when...

Pahng!!

In the blink of an eye, Hailey flicked her finger. It was as if she was shooting something with her fingers.

At the same time, something small shot into Heiji’s beverage cup.

Splash!

However, Hailey had hidden well, so no one noticed what she had done.

As soon as Heiji drank the beverage...

“K...Kuhk...!?”

She clutched her stomach.

“Ah... M...My stomach...!”

The politicians and their bodyguards, who had invited Heiji, reacted in surprise.

“Z-Zodiac Saint-nim!”

“W...We should hurry and take her to the hospital!”

In the end, Heiji was transported away by a black van.

Hailey’s eyes flashed. She had used the Royal skill of the Scorpio temple, Poison Manufacturing, to create a drug and had slipped it into Heiji’s drink.

With this skill, she could make a variety of drugs, ranging from a simple sleeping draft to a poison that could kill a monster with a single drop. The skill allowed her to create any poison that existed in this world.

For Heiji, she had created the “Extra Special Laxative.” It was supposed to be used only on monsters, and Heiji wouldn’t be able to leave the restroom for around three days.

Anyway, Hailey had gotten rid of Heiji. The next person was...!

Hailey’s eyes headed toward her second target. Her gaze landed on Kevin.

Kevin was stuck close to Lee Gun. To be precise, Kevin was hanging onto the enormous Heaven’s Punishment, which Lee Gun was holding over his shoulder.

Anyway, Kevin looked like a koala. He had taken such a fancy to Lee Gun that it seemed as if a spirit were haunting Lee Gun.

Lee Gun shook Heaven’s Punishment in annoyance, but the koala-like Kevin refused to fall off.

At this time, Kevin was 162 cm tall and skinny. He really was bite-sized. Despite this physique, Kevin was very strong. He was like an immovable rock if one tried to push him away.

In the end, Stevens couldn't watch it any longer. He came over to peel Kevin off Lee Gun. “Stop being an inconvenience to him! I came here for you! Let’s go!”

To pull Kevin off, Stevens had to use a significant amount of power. “Damn it! She’s small as a mouse, so why is she so strong? Hey! Get down from— Ahhhk!! That bitch bit me!!”

Stevens became angry when Kevin drew blood from his hand. “Hey, why the hell do you act as if you’re a wolf? You’re only a small girl!”

“Why the hell do you keep saying that, idiot?”

“Ahhhk!!”

The angry wolf boy bit Stevens’s arm again. “I’m not a girl!”

“?!!”

Stevens, as well as the other Zodiac Saints gathered there, were surprised. Hailey, who had been hiding near the beverage stand, also blinked.

Stevens scoffed. “Are you playing with me? Why would the Virgo Saint be a dude?”

These words pissed off Kevin. He climbed down from Heaven’s Punishment and grabbed Stevens’s arm. “If you don’t believe me, you can check it yourself, you muscle-brained idiot!”

“??!!” Stevens despaired when he felt something he didn’t want to touch. “This is crazy!! Why do you have that between your legs?”

“!”

The others were shocked too.

“Why would the Virgo Saint be a male?”

“I-Is such a thing possible?”

According to the Zodiacs, they picked the apostles based on how well the apostles got along with the Zodiacs.

Virgo was a cruel goddess who didn’t allow men to approach her. Men were forbidden from becoming disciples of the Virgo temple, so why???

At that moment, Leo spoke to Stevens, who was having a mental breakdown.

[If he’s male, he’s extremely lucky! All the Constructs of the Virgo temple are women!]

In fact, they were all beautiful, and they were very capable. This was why the other gods coveted the Constructs of the Virgo temple.

[He’ll be surrounded by goddesses. They’ll serve him.]

It seemed Hugo had heard something similar from Sagittarius. His mouth fell open.

“He’ll be surrounded by goddesses....”

“They’ll serve him....”

They were incredibly jealous of Kevin. However, this also brought up a question. It was something they couldn’t understand.

“Ahhk! They can all die! Both the Zodiacs and the Zodiac Saints can die!”

“He was blessed. So why is he acting this way?”

“I have no idea. If possible, I would love to switch Zodiacs with him.”

When Hugo pouted, both Sagittarius and Kevin became angry.

“Blessed? Did you say I was blessed?”

“?”

Kevin looked aggrieved. He grabbed Hugo by the collar of his shirt, and one could feel the urgency in his eyes.

“Do you know this?? The Zodiacs are psychopaths. I was about to spend my first night as a man when Virgo suddenly kidnapped me. She said I have to maintain my virginity for the rest of my life! In fact, she said I can’t even hold hands with the opposite sex!!! If I go against that rule, she’ll make me die through sickness!”

!?”

“Moreover, my sex changes if I use her abilities! So why did she choose me? She said my looks were to her taste!” Kevin was about to spit fire from his mouth. “Die!!! Die Zodiacs!!”

Lee Gun, Hugo, and Stevens finally understood why Kevin had turned out like this.

Hugo and Stevens had also been chosen for some of the flimsiest reasons.

‘You looked the best among the bunch.’

‘You look like you’ll be able to debone fishes the best.’

They felt a weird sense of kinship with Kevin. Kevin was still young, yet he would not even be able to hold the hand of the opposite sex. They truly felt pity for him.

‘Since it’s a stipulation made by Virgo

Each of the apostles followed their own god, and each of them had things they were forbidden from doing. They would not want such a ban placed on them.

Lee Gun was hostile against all the apostles, so he didn’t show any signs of going easy on Kevin. In fact, Kevin had tried to turn all of them into fellow(?) eunuchs, so Lee Gun glared at him.

Of course, Kevin no longer attacked him, but he had attacked him before. However...

“I’ll cut him some slack.”

“?!!”

In the end, Lee Gun turned around as if he was disinterested.

This made Stevens aggrieved. “You tried to stick me into the lava. Why not him?”

“He’s basically a eunuch.”

“??!!”

Dumbfounded, Stevens turned to look at the hostile Kevin. “What about you? Why leave him alone? You said you’ll make all the apostles be like you!”

“It’s fine. He’s already like me. He looks like someone who’ll never get laid.”

Lee Gun, who had been walking away indifferently, suddenly came to a stop. Then he coldly turned his head. “What did you just say?”

“There is your face, but I can also tell that you’ve never dated before.”

Lee Gun felt a surge of anger. Kevin was right. Yet Lee Gun got furious for some reason. “I’m not someone who’s forever alone! I have experience!!” Lee Gun threw aside Kevin.

His statement surprised Hailey, and Kevin, who had been thrown aside, looked stunned.

“You aren’t? Really?” he said.

Hailey’s ears perked up when she realized that Lee Gun might be talking about his ex.

Of course, Lee Gun was bluffing, but Kevin was too young to realize this. His mouth fell open. He had developed respect for Lee Gun as a whole package.

“Hyung! I’ll serve you as my teacher!”

Another rival had appeared for Hailey and Hugo.

* * *

Several days later, in Greece...

“Teacher!!”

Lee Gun had traveled through the land to reach the coast, and he was scrunching up his face. The reason was Hugo, who was chasing after him.

“Teacher— Kuh-huhk!”

“I told you not to show yourself in front of me. I said I’ll kill you if you do.”

“I...It isn’t what you think!” Hugo felt aggrieved. He wanted to resolve the misunderstanding between them.

But as soon as he approached Lee Gun, an attack came flying toward him.

Kwah-jeek!

“!?”

The attack had come from above the tree!

“That bastard...!” Hugo was surprised. The one sitting atop the tree like a sloth was Kevin.

“Don’t get close to Hyung, asshole.”

“W...Why is he here... Ahhk!” Hugo was busy dodging the attacks.

He was truly in danger, but then...

“Come here!”

“!”

Someone hiding in the bushes yanked Hugo toward her.

“!”

It was none other than Hailey.

“That was dangerous.”

Hugo was surprised.

“Why are you here, Hailey-nim? I thought you were going north.”

“Why else? I

“Ah! Could it be? You also came chasing after Teacher

Those words startled Hailey, and her face turned red. “No! It isn’t like that!”

At that moment, a young man appeared in front of Lee Gun. “Please buy this, Hyung.”

“!”

His name was Lee Jaewon (16). In the distant future, he would become the general of the Sagittarius temple, but currently, he was a swindler.