A month had passed since Hugo’s training had started.

“Ooh-ahhhhhhhh!”

Hugo was screaming as he vomited blood. He truly was living hell on earth.

One day, Lee Gun wanted to eat shaved ice, so Hugo was told to climb Mt. Everest. On another day, Lee Gun suddenly wanted to drink coffee; in the dead of the night, he made Hugo swim in the ocean and told him to go to Papua New Guinea to acquire coffee beans.

On another day, Lee Gun said he couldn’t fight a monster because its breath was terrible. He tossed Hugo into the monster’s mouth and told him to brush its teeth.

On another day, Lee Gun didn’t want to walk. Hugo had to put Lee Gun and the food ingredients in a rickshaw, then pull the rickshaw across mountains and borders.

And for today’s request from Lee Gun, Hugo was digging into the ground for all his worth. The reason was...

- I want you to make Disneyland for me.

- ... What do you want me to make?

- Disneyland.

- What do you want me to make?

- Disneyland.

- So what do you....

- I want you to make an amusement park that can fit ten thousand people!

In the end, Hugo couldn’t even give a rebuttal. He started digging into the empty land that had been cleared of monsters. He moved the monsters’ bones and the rocks that weighed several tons. Then he started in earnest.

After creating a waterway, he built something similar to a log ride. He laid down train tracks and created something that resembled a train.

Hugo was doing a job that would need several thousand workers. He went at it for a week, and in the end, he finally finished the amusement park.

Hugo roared toward the sky. “I finished it, Teacher! It’s done!”

Lee Gun picked his ear as he looked at the finished Disneyland (?). “It looks decent.”

“Right? I put a lot of work into making it!”

“Alright. You did well. Now, you can destroy it.”

Yes!! Understoo— What? What do you want me to do?”

“I want you to destroy it. I got a good look at it.”

Hugo’s face was a sight to behold. “Wait a moment... You want me to destroy it? You don’t want me to bring civilians to this place?!”

“Civilians? Why would we call civilians here?”

“What do you mean, why? Didn’t you ask me to make this for that purpose?!”

“Why?”

“All entertainment facilities were destroyed by the monsters... I thought you were looking out for the children.”

“Are you kidding me? These are rides made by an amateur. They are dangerous. Why the hell are you thinking about making people ride them?”

“What?! Then why did you ask me to make these?”

“I did it just for the hell of it? I've never been to an amusement park before. So I was curious what it would feel like.”

Hugo despaired.

This was how Hugo was trained like a dog.

“Ooh-ahhhh. Teacher! I’m at my limit! I can no longer emit fire without burning my hands! How long do you want me to do this?”

“Continue it for eight more days.”

“Ahhhhhk!!”

Currently, Hugo was emitting flame from his hands and melting the bone of a monster. Hugo was an awakened being capable of handling fire.

Lee Gun referred to him as a high-performance blast furnace. He sometimes used Hugo to melt ingredients needed to make weapons. That wasn’t all.

“Your speed is suffering. Do a proper squat.”

“Kuh-huhk! If you squeeze my neck with your legs... I... I can’t breathe...! Kuhk!”

While Hugo did his work, Lee Gun sat on his shoulder and made him do squats. Lee Gun didn’t want Hugo to slack off in strength training.

Of course, Lee Gun sat on Hugo’s shoulders as if he were sitting on top of a sofa. He was also reading a manga.

At the end of the day, Lee Gun’s training seemed effective.

“Ggoo-ahhhhhhhhh!”

After a month, Hugo arm-wrestled with Lee Gun again to gauge his strength. This time, he was finally able to move Lee Gun’s arm.

“Alright. You moved it by 0.01 degrees. Good job!”

“T...Thank you....” Hugo cried because he was barely able to budge the arm, but Lee Gun was satisfied.

‘He is still lacking.’

However, the reason for this result was that Hugo's opponent was Lee Gun.

‘The ones who ignored him will be shocked when they see what he can do now.’

Lee Gun was looking forward to that. He laughed triumphantly. Of course, one issue still bothered him.

“Oh right. I am curious about something,” Lee Gun asked.

“Yes!!!”

“What’s your name?”

Hugo went silent. What did you just say?”

“What is your name?”

Shocked, Hugo screamed, “Teacher!! You didn’t know my name all this time?!”

“Your name was none of my business.”

“My name should have been mentioned on the TV a lot

“Not at all. You aren’t even mentioned alongside the others.”

Hugo despaired. Since he was known as the weakest among the awakened beings, the reporters and the civilians no longer held an interest in him.

Hugo cried as he said, “My name is Hugo Otis!”

Hugo’s sadness lasted only a moment. “Ah! Are you going to call me by my name? You weren’t doing so because you didn’t know my name...!”

As Lee Gun looked at the happy Hugo, a sour expression appeared on his face. “Hugo? I don’t like it. It somehow makes you look better than you are.”

“W-What?”

“It’s fine. I’ll just call you maggot.”

“No. That is a bit...!!”

“What about Oh Taeksoo?” Lee Gun asked.

“T-Taeksoo??”

“Yes. I converted Otis into Oh Taeksoo. What? You don’t like it?”

“It isn’t like that!”

“Then....” Lee Gun was about to say something else, but...

“Koohk...!”

When Lee Gun clutched his chest, Hugo was surprised. “Teacher! What’s wrong? Are you hurting somewhere?”

Lee Gun told Hugo not to worry. “I sometimes have chest pains. I’m fine”

“D-Do you have a chronic illness?”

“I don’t... Before I met you, I used all kinds of methods to heal my body. It might be a side effect of that.”

After awakening, Lee Gun had been like Hugo. He didn’t know how to fight at all. This was why his stomach was pierced daily. His bones were crushed, and his innards would fall out. He had suffered a hellish existence every day on repeat.

𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺

‘The bodily pain might be a side effect of using my abilities

Well, it didn’t matter. Lee Gun looked at his scars. Despite it being summer, he had to wear long sleeves because of them.

“I don’t mind the chest pain, but I wish I had something that could regenerate my skin. It doesn’t matter which medicine I use. I can’t heal them. I might need proper treatment for them.”

“Ah! Would you like to come with me? It’s nearby.”

“What is nearby?”

* * *

H-Hugo!!”

Sophie was beside herself when she met Hugo.

It had been a while since he had visited the Cathedrale Notre Dame.

Hugo scratched his cheek. It was for no other reason.

“Y-You should have sent word if you were coming here!”

“Ah, yea. I’m sorry about that. Also, could you let go of my hand

Sophie was unable to look away from Hugo.

‘Who built you up like this?’

After receiving training from Lee Gun, Hugo had transformed from looking like a nerd to looking very manly. His narrow shoulders had widened, and hard muscles had appeared on his arms and legs.

‘In just a short while, he became dashing

Sophie had an ulterior motive in hugging Hugo. Of course, it looked as if the Saintess was giving a benevolent hug to Hugo by patting him on the back.

“You must have gone through a lot of trouble to travel so far! You grew a lot in the meantime!”

She almost drooled in Hugo’s arms.

‘It doesn’t look like it, but Hugo’s body is quite hard...!’

Enraptured, Sophie lifted her head. “I want to greet you on your return— Kuhk.”

However, Sophie froze when she looked up. She hadn’t met eyes with Hugo. The one in front of her was a frowning Lee Gun.

“Who the hell is this perverted lady?”

“Kyahhhhhk!!!”

Yes, the one Sophie had hugged was Lee Gun.

Sophie almost foamed at the mouth when she saw Lee Gun’s face. “Ahhhk! Monster! Monster! Ahhhhk!!”

“???”

Lee Gun was taken aback when Sophie was frightened out of her wits.

Before she could run out of breath, she screamed, “Ahhhk!! Get off me! Get off me right now, monster!!! Where do you think this is? H-H-Holy water! Where’s the holy water?!”

“Sophie-nim! That person is...!”

“Ahhhk!!”

Sophie was close to fainting as she took up a chalice with holy water. She tossed it toward Lee Gun.

Lee Gun got angry since he had been greeted by water as soon as he met her.

Hugo froze in place. “T...Teacher!!!”

“Damn it! Just my luck. She’s the one who hugged me first. That came out of nowhere.” Lee Gun’s expression was a sight to behold as he swept back his wet hair.

When Lee Gun emitted a chaotic murderous intent, Sophie fell on her butt.

“Hugo!! What is that monster?!!” she asked.

“What? He’s not a monster. He’s my teacher

“What?! That can’t be! How can that be the face of a human?!!”

‘What is wrong with my face?’

Lee Gun became angry.

‘It isn’t that bad

However, given the voices he heard around him, his opinion didn’t matter.

“Ahhh! What is that monster?”

“He’s so scary!”

“D...Don’t look at him! It is bad manners!”

There was no ill intent behind their actions, but Lee Gun got angry when those people turned their gazes away in surprise.

‘My face... It shouldn’t be bad enough where people would avoid looking at me

At that moment, Lee Gun turned his head and met eyes with a particular beauty. It was none other than Hailey, who was sitting inside the cathedral and pretending to be a disciple.

As soon as she met eyes with Lee Gun, Hailey turned her gaze away.

“!?”

Lee Gun flinched. The final nail in the coffin was the girls who were screaming as they looked at Hugo.

“Kyaa! Are you really the Archer Saint? You look much more handsome in real life!”

“I don’t remember you being this great when I met you last time!”

“Kyaa! You’re so cool! Please sign this for me!”

“Heh he he! Thank you. I’ll work harder,” said Hugo.

In the end, Lee Gun exploded. “Hey, maggot!!! Who told you to flirt around? Get back to training!”

“W-What?! You said I can rest today since we are meeting the Saintess.”

“Stop speaking nonsense! Run right now!! Or should I make you do it myself?!”

“Ahhhk!”

* * *

“Oooh-ahhhk!!!”

Lee Jaewon turned his head from side to side when he heard Hugo’s scream. And when he saw Lee Gun fuming, he tilted his head in puzzlement. “Lee Gun-nim... Why are you wearing a mask?”

“Shut up! I always wear it when there are a lot of people.”

“There aren’t that many people here

“Shut up!” Lee Gun pouted as he pulled down his mask further. Then he suddenly came to a stop. “Hey, why do you keep following me?”

Hailey, who had been following Lee Gun, was startled. She reflexively took something out of her pocket. It was the skin healing poultice for Lee Gun, which she had bought from Sophie.

Since Lee Gun had no way of knowing this, he looked at Hailey. “Why do you keep following me? You’ve been following me for a month straight."

“W-What are you talking about? I’ve never followed you around.”

“You have been following me. You left me food to eat. You left me washing tools and blankets.”

“That’s Hailey was on eggshells as she tried to disappear.

Lee Gun furrowed his brows. “I’ll use it well, but have you been following me to monitor me?”

“!”

Lee Gun remembered what Sophie had said earlier.

- W-We have to put surveillance on him right now! I’m sure he’s a monster!

Still, he had thought people were going too far in treating him like a monster. So he asked, “What were you mixing in with the food that you gave me? What is your motive?”

Hailey realized something had gone wrong. She stopped herself from running away. “I meant nothing by it!”

Lee Gun fiercely furrowed his brows. “What? You meant nothing by it?”

“That's not what I meant! I thought you were working hard teaching him, so...”

Lee Gun’s fierce gaze relaxed a little. “Since I’m teaching him...?”

Hailey’s face turned red as if she was confessing something. “Yes. I’m sure it’s extremely tough to teach an awakened being

Lee Gun finally realized why Hailey had been following them.

‘It had to do with the maggot.’

It was understandable since Lee Gun had seen the reaction of the Saintess and the civilians.

For the first time, Lee Gun realized that maggot was popular. He felt a bit aggrieved, but he accepted the answer and nodded. “Mmm. Alright. I’ll pass this on to him. Don’t worry about it.”

???”

Lee Gun’s eyes flashed.

For some reason, Hailey got an ominous feeling.

The next day...

“T-Teacher? What is this?” Hugo froze when he saw the item before him.