Chapter 49: He Acts like Lee Gun (3)

Lee Gun let out a bright smile.

For some reason, Sophie got an ominous feeling. She rarely saw Lee Gun laugh that way. 

Of course, Lee Gun always wore a mask that covered half his face in the time they had known each other. The only visible thing was his deformed skin. So, it was almost impossible to read his expression. However, one thing was the same every time. His eyes were narrowed as the edges of his eyes pulled back.

‘He probably laughed like this behind his mask.’ Moreover, his current appearance was a problem. Seeing that smile, Sophie felt her heart almost tremble.

However, she remembered who he was. ‘W…what is he thinking? How can he laugh when a missile is heading toward us? Moreover, the missile is powerful enough to destroy this country!’

This made Sophie speak loudly. Afraid, she stumbled backward on instinct. “Hey man. Did you hear what I just said?”

“Yes. You’re being noisy.”

“It seems you don’t know this, but the missile was created by the Goat Saint for dealing with large monsters!”

The missile was nicknamed the Guinea Pig. The Goat Saint was a Manufacturer, and he had installed this Divine weapon on each continent. The missile was powerful, but it was terrifying for another reason.

‘You’ll become the Goat Saint’s guinea pig.’

When both humans and monsters got exposed to the powder created by the explosion, they turned into experimental soldiers for the Goat Saint. The Goat Saint was called a Manufacturer, but he was capable of materialization. He could materialize skills and apply effects to items.

Moreover, it wasn’t as if Lee Gun could take on a missile.

It was unclear as to how Lee Gun took her explanation, but he let out a terrifying smile. “Yes. It’s fine. Your inherent attribute will be enough.”

“…!” Sophie felt her heart sink. She had an idea about what Lee Gun was thinking.

Lee Gun was indeed having a treacherous thought.

. Like racial attributes, each Saint had unique attributes. These were innate abilities they had received from the gods. 

The Aquarius Saint’s Divine attribute was <Material Liquefaction>, <Innate Cup>, and <Water Generation>. Material Liquefaction was especially useful. It was a neutralization skill that liquified anything she touched. 

In the past, when Lee Gun had been unable to acquire that skill, he had become sad. If he could liquefy the materials that couldn’t be melted, he would be capable of creating truly special items. In any case, Sophie’s ability would be able to liquefy a missile. Lee Gun was sure of this.

As expected, Sophie realized his plan and immediately turned her back to him. 

“Hey, Why are you running away?” However, Lee Gun grabbed her. 

Sophie became apoplectic. “Are you nuts? You are thinking about throwing me toward the missile. I know it!”

“I’m not. You just need to let me hit you a couple more times, and it won’t be a problem.”

‘What?’ She looked at him. ‘What nonsense is he talking about?’

Lee Gun again let out a bright smile. “Don’t worry! I’m a kind person. I won’t beat you like a dog in front of the crowd.”

“…?” That wasn’t the problem! Sophie was about to scream but…

Bbah-gahk!

The Saintess was sent flying as her scream escaped her mouth. The frontal bone of her skull felt like it was about to break. It was so painful that she was unable to scream.

“S-Saintess-nim!”

The generals in charge of protecting the Saintess were shocked. They ran toward the Saintess. Thankfully, she hadn’t passed out.

After inflicting a monstrous flick to Sophie’s forehead, Lee Gun clicked his tongue.

[You have acquired Data.]

[Divine Attribute <Innate Cup>]

“Fuck! It’s the useless one. Hey, I need to hit you one more time.”

“…!”

“What? I went easy on you. Hurry up and give me your forehead.”

Sophie felt aggrieved. His flicks didn’t feel like flicks! Sophie felt like she was going to die. She yelled out loud, “What are you all doing? Hurry up and stop him! I’ve already paid you!”

The high-rank disciples in charge of guarding the Saintess looked at each other. Normally, they would’ve carried out their assignment, of course, but they were hesitating right now. Taken aback, they looked between Lee Gun and the Saintess.

The young man in front of their eyes was none other than Lee Gun. If he was really Lee Gun…

‘I’m totally his fan…’

‘He was my idol growing up…’

Sophie froze when she observed their reactions. At that moment, Lee Gun wagged his finger. He was telling those people to get out of his way. The high-rank disciples saw that and slowly backed away.

“Well?”

“…!” In the end, Sophie’s face turned pale.

The disciples clenched their eyes shut.

Bbah-gahk!

[You have acquired Divine Attribute! <Material Liquefaction>]

[You have acquired Divine Attribute! <Water Generation>]

[You have acquired data]

[You have acquired data]

…

[You have acquired data]

In the end, Sophie was rendered unconscious. Lee Gun had extracted data from her as if he would never meet her again. He then laughed. “Yes. This is how it should be.”

He had only three minutes left. Grabbing Sophie by the collar, he looked in a certain direction.

* * *

“This is nuts.” The general of the Gemini temple of Korea, Choi Sunghyuk, muttered with a surprised expression.

It was to be expected. ‘She sent the Guinea Pig missile.’

That missile was a weapon supposed to be used only when the unknown civilization conducted a surprise attack. So why was that missile heading toward Korea?

‘We can’t send the missile away using the teleportation spell.’ 

The missile had been purposefully designed in a way spells couldn’t sabotage the weapon. At this rate, the entirety of Korea would be blown up. Of course, the disciples of the Gemini Saint had access to teleporters, so they could run away to foreign lands. 

However, there was no way he could abandon his country as a general, and this made Choi Sunghyuk restless. ‘I can’t even get in contact with the Gemini Saint…’

Suddenly…

“Hey, General airhead.”

“!” Choi Sunghyuk’s face crumpled when he heard the voice. As expected, a familiar face appeared behind him. 

The man had a cheeky expression on his face. “I hope you didn’t forget about the special provision in my contract.”

“…!” Choi Sunghyuk looked like he had a lot to say. He had tried to scout Lee Gun starting from their meeting at the auction house, even going as far as to bend over backward for him. Of course, he was at fault for not realizing it sooner. 

Still, a person should have some scruples. ‘He’s Lee Gun, yet he was shameless enough to bad-mouth himself. He pretended not to be Lee Gun…’ It was clear by the look in Choi Sunghyuk’s eyes that he considered Lee Gun a swindler.

Lee Gun laughed. It wasn’t the time to discuss that anyway. “Since you’re a general, you have access to the teleportation spell, right?”

As if he knew what Lee Gun wanted, Choi Sunghyuk cut him off. “That’s not possible. A magic barrier is placed over the missile. We can’t remove the missile with teleportation—”

“Idiot! I’m not talking about the missile.”

“What?”

“I want you to teleport me.”

‘What?’ The expression on Choi Sunghyuk’s face was a sight to behold.

“What? I heard you are ranked number two in Korea. You’re an S-rank User, yet you can’t even teleport a single person?”

Choi Sunghyuk looked to see if Lee Gun was joking or not. “The missile is moving at Mach speed. Even a superhuman will die if he’s placed on top of the missile!”

“Right. However, I’m different from you guys. I’ll be fine.”

“…!”

At that moment, an alert rang out.

“We have two minutes left before the missile arrives above Korean airspace!”

The plaza descended into pandemonium.

Lee Gun wagged his finger. “What? Are you going to break the terms because I’m an enemy of the Gemini Saint?”

The air became tense as the two of them looked at each other.

Choi Sunghyuk, who had been hesitating up to this point, touched Lee Gun’s hand. Then, something surprising happened.

Lee Gun disappeared in a flash. He had been teleported. Of course, finding the missile’s coordinates wasn’t too hard. Choi Sunghyuk had rented a skill from the Archer Saint, who was the epitome of tracking and absolute accuracy.

Sophie was shocked, but she grinned. She had pretended to be unconscious while watching the scene unfold. ‘I don’t know what he’s planning to do, but it’s suicidal.’

When Lee Gun disappeared, the subordinates of Choi Sunghyuk turned pale. The reporters couldn’t believe what General Choi Sunghyuk had done.

“You really teleported him to the missile?”

“He’ll die!”

“How do you expect him to stop the missile…”

Cold sweat ran down Choi Sunghyuk’s face. He had no choice, so he had teleported Lee Gun. As for what Lee Gun planned to do, he had no idea. Suddenly…

“Kyahhk!”

Sophie, who had been pretending to be unconscious, disappeared.

The reporters were surprised by the sight. The disciples were surprised too. ‘The teleportation spell didn’t work on the Saintess before. What changed?’

The subordinates of the Saintess had tried to evacuate her, but it had been impossible. The disciples of the Gemini Saint knew of this.

<Teleport Ban>

So, what happened to her couldn’t be the teleport spell. However, what else could explain the sudden disappearance of the Saintess?

‘Is it Lee Gun’s ability?’

The disciples of the Aquarius temple screamed as they desperately tried to use their tracking skills to locate their Saintess.

“Kyahhhk! The Saintess-nim is high above in the sky!”

“Wait a moment! Is she located near the missile?”

“…!”

They now had a good idea about where the Saintess had gone. They had no idea how she got there, but at the very least, they knew what Lee Gun planned to do.

‘Aquarius’s Material Liquefaction ability.’

The Saintess might be able to liquify the missile. However, the risk was high.

“Ah! If he planned on doing this, I could’ve tethered the Saintess to a tracking missile. I don’t like Uncle doing something risky.”

“…!”

The Chun siblings stepped up. Their uncle had ordered them to help the civilians evacuate.

“My Manufacturing skill is high enough to make a tracking missile. I could use Dad’s skill to get the coordinates.”

Choi Sunghyuk and the other disciples looked at the two siblings in shock.

‘That child dares to treat the Saintess like that…’

The older sister rapped her brother on the head. “Stupid! Then Uncle won’t be able to gain abilities.”

“Ah! That is true.”

Cold sweat erupted on the disciples’ backs. ‘These kids are terrifying.’

* * *

They were in the sky as the rough winds buffeted them.

“Kyahhhk!” Sophie’s scream rang out. She was about to lose her mind as she looked down at the sight below her.

“Alright, bedwetter. Are you ready?”

“Ahhhk!”

Lee Gun was holding her by the collar. He had used <Get Hit Instead of Me> to summon Sophie. Right now, they were floating above the missile. To be precise, they were above the launching mechanism.

It seemed the Goat Saint’s missile was an enormous machine controlled by an automatic system. The missile had come from a neighboring country, and it came to a stop to get ready to bombard the surface. The missile had no problem locking onto its target. It even possessed a backup mechanism that fixed its position in the air.

[Position fixed! Complete!]

[Starting the launch!]

[Launch in 50 seconds!]

The mechanisms started to move. 

An item resembling a shell lay around thirty meters below them. When the cylindrical-shaped item appeared from the head of the missile, Lee Gun lifted Sophie. 

Sophie reacted in fright. “Wait a moment! Is this really what you are going to do? Weren’t you going to get rid of it?”

“I’m not crazy! You’ve had your fun for the past twenty years. You have to work now.”

“?!”

“Fight!” Lee Gun immediately threw Sophie toward the missile. His plan could turn out to be a miss, but that was ok.

Sophie screamed as she fell.

[The owner of the Chalice is trying to protect his Saint.]

[The Divine attribute <Material Liquefaction> has been activated stronger than ever.]

As the voice rang in Lee Gun’s mind, light erupted from Sophie’s body. Then something amazing happened.

Kwahng!

This was beyond Lee Gun’s imagination. With overwhelming power, the missile got liquified in an instant. He muttered, “Oh! As expected of the Saintess who is beloved by her god.”

It seemed the god had thought Sophie would break her bones if she made contact with the missile.

The liquified missile dispersed into the air as water. Even though the Saintess had almost zero offensive skills, this one was quite useful. 

As she was plummeting toward the ground, Sophie asked for help. “Lee Gun! Catch me!”

[The owner of the Chalice requests you save his Saint.]

Lee Gun ignored the voice. However, it seemed the god was desperate as he heard the voice once again.

[The owner of the Chalice will give you a holy item if you save his Saint.]

“Whatever! The stuff I make is better than yours.”

In the end, Sophie squawked as she fell toward the ground. She was falling from a similar height as the Leo Saint. 

The next moment, a rock appeared from within the melted liquid and flew toward Lee Gun. Surprised, Lee Gun used his superhuman speed to grab the stone.

Tahk! Tahk! Tahk!

[You have discovered a part of the core containing the Goat Saint’s magical energy]

[It may explode if you touch it wrong.]

<Goat Saint’s Explosive Core (Damaged)>

Lee Gun laughed. Basically, this core was a part of the bomb. As the missile liquified, the powder that created the Goat Saint’s experimental soldiers had gone away.

Suddenly, Lee Gun had an idea. He took out the badge he had received from Sungjae. At a glance, the object looked like a mirror. When he touched the badge a couple of times, he heard something.

[You have activated a rental skill]

[You have activated the Archer Saint’s skill <Absolute Coordinates>]

Lee Gun touched the small bomb, his target the mainland of Japan.

[Have you set the coordinates regarding the relevant item?]

[It is now flying toward the Gemini Saint’s holy ground.]

This was an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.