Hugo screamed as he snatched his wife away. He moved at the speed of lightning while yelling indecipherable words at Lee Gun. “Hey what#**&!”

Was he trying to say, “What the hell are you doing, you bastard?”

“You son of a*$*&&!”

“Speak human words. Human words.”

“How could #*&$#*!”

Hugo was about to howl as if to say, “How could a friend do this to me?” when…

“Oh my! It seems I fell asleep again.” Chun Jiwoo opened her eyes. She acted bashfully.

These words surprised and puzzled Hugo. “You were asleep?”

“Yes. For some reason, I keep falling asleep often. The doctor said it’s a form of narcolepsy, but…”

Hugo felt relieved. He cupped her cheeks as if he was enraptured by her.

Chun Jiwoo continued, “It seems my wish of being hugged by Lee Gun-nim was fulfilled. Although, I don’t remember it well…”

Lee Gun readily opened his arms. “I’ll fulfill your wish once more.”

“Oh my!”

“Hey!!!” Hugo acted as if his wife wouldn’t go to Lee Gun in the first place. However, the shy Chun Jiwoo discreetly tried to go toward Lee Gun.

This shocked Hugo, so he got in between his wife and Lee Gun. He desperately tried to stop his wife, then rushed toward Lee Gun as if he wanted to kill him. “Really? Is this how you’re going to act? You are honestly trying to swindle me!”

“What? You said your wife wasn’t my fan.”

Hugo flinched. “Uh… That’s right! She isn’t! Jiwoo is my fan.”

“Jeez, Hugo! Please get out of the way! I can’t see Lee Gun-nim.”

Fuck! Hugo put his wife over his shoulder when she tried to move him and whined. Chun Jiwoo was small in stature, so it was easy to take her with him.

“Anyway, Jiwoo isn’t your fan! She’s not!”

Lee Gun looked at Hugo with a dumbfounded expression.

Chun Jiwoo struggled as she hit Hugo’s back. She said she didn’t know when she would see Lee Gun-nim again. She asked Hugo to turn her toward Lee Gun as her small hands hit his back.

Hugo felt aggrieved. “Wow! I can’t believe you want to see your husband’s friend more than your husband. Aren’t you worried about how I’ve been? Also, I just came from a dangerous fight. Please worry about me!”

Chun Jiwoo replied as if he were speaking nonsense, “Lee Gun-nim said everything is fine. If Lee Gun-nim says it's fine, everything is really fine. You said I can trust whatever Lee Gun-nim said.”

“…” Hugo wanted to slam his head through the wall. His mouth was the problem.

Chun Jiwoo laughed. “Also, there’s no way you’ll lose no matter which monster comes out. You’re strong.”

“…!” For a moment, Hugo’s heart choked with emotion.

“Also, I don’t have to ask how you are doing. I can tell just by your face and voice.” Chun Jiwoo hugged Hugo as if she had wanted to see him. 

Hugo’s heart felt full. Her warmth and voice were the same as ten years ago. It almost made him cry. He had never thought about giving up on her, but it had been ten years.

‘I thought I would never see her again.’ After losing his closest friend, Hugo had lost the person that he loved the most. It hadn’t been easy for him.

As if he couldn’t believe his eyes, Hugo took in his wife with his eyes again and again.

Chun Jiwoo cuddled up to him. “You’re the best. You really are wonderful.”

“More than Gun?”

Chun Jiwoo playfully laughed when her husband made the comparison as if he were a child. “Of course! Why would you ask…”

Lee Gun looked at them with contempt. He decided to ruin the mood. “Miss Jiwoo. Didn’t you say you wanted my signature?”

“Oh my!”

“Should I sign the cup you used?”

“Oh my! No! Wait a moment! There is something I’ve stored away!” Deeply moved, Chun Jiwoo tried to run into her hospital room.

“While we are at it, let’s take a picture of us shaking hands.”

“Oh my!”

Seeing his wife blush, Hugo desperately grabbed her as if she were going the wrong way. “I’ll do it! I’ll give you mine!”

“Jeez! I don’t need yours.”

“You said I’m cooler than him!”

This made Chun Jiwoo bashfully laugh. “No way! How could I compare you to Lee Gun-nim?”

“…!!!”

His wife bashfully disappeared toward the hospital room.

Since Lee Gun had used a cheat code, Hugo glared at his friend. “Really! Are you trying to pick a fight with me?”

However, Lee Gun didn’t pay attention to him. He just extended his hand as if Hugo’s ire was an annoyance. “Whatever! I want you to answer the questions I gave you before. Hurry up! You’re the only one who hasn't filled it out.”

The dumbfounded Hugo looked at Lee Gun’s hand. What? Questionnaire?

Of course, Lee Gun had handed him a questionnaire before they came here. He was talking about that odd survey…

“Hey! This isn’t the time to fill out a questionnaire!”

“You’re being noisy. You have to use the fountain pen I loaned to you to answer the questionnaire. Do this quickly, and hand it over.”

“#$&*!” Hugo shook as he brought the questionnaire out of his pocket.

Then, he took out the fountain pen Lee Gun had told him to use and violently wrote the answers.

[Q. What do you want to do about Lee Gun?]

- I want him to go back to the tower!!!

[Q. What do you want to do about Lee Gun?]

- Also, I hope he doesn’t come back out alive!!!!!!

“Go to hell, you bastard!”

Hugo tossed aside the questionnaire and the fountain pen. Then he cussed out Lee Gun with a devil-may-care attitude.

“That’s right. Let’s do this!”

Lee Gun burst out laughing when he saw the questionnaire.

It was to be expected.

[The <Fountain Pen That Cannot Write Lies> has been activated.]

[The Devil’s Ink has reacted to the fountain pen’s function.]

[Only truth will be revealed instead of lies.]

The content of the questionnaire Hugo answered changed. The letters he had written using the fountain pen automatically changed.

No matter what lies were written, this fountain pen revealed only the truth. Therefore, Lee Gun laughed when he checked Hugo’s answers. “Yes. I understand how you feel now.”

When Lee Gun tried to keep his laughter in, Hugo looked at him as if he had lost his mind. He had written that Lee Gun should go and die, so why was Lee Gun reacting that way?

“Hey, let’s do this.”

“Yes. All right.”

Lee Gun folded the questionnaire. He had already received the answer sheet from Virgo Saint Kevin as well. Just now, he had purposefully provoked Hugo to get him to answer the questionnaire.

Lee Gun laughed as if everything had gone to plan. ‘As expected! The fountain pen’s ability works the way it was intended.’

His preparation was complete. As if to prove this, he brought up the main topic. “Hey, Taeksoo.”

“?”

“Bring out that bastard you captured.”

Hugo’s eyes turned round. “The bastard I captured?”

As he wondered what nonsense Lee Gun was talking about…

Boom!

“Uncle! He’s here! Over here!”

They heard a familiar voice from not too far away. It was Chun Sungjae. 

Lee Gun laughed when he saw Chun Sungjae. Chun Sungjae’s clothes were ripped and splattered with blood. His face was sooty. As he stood there, he looked like a mouse.

“You must have had a very hard time.”

“!”

Chun Sungjae felt a surge of emotions. It was to be expected. He had seen his uncle the first time after becoming the disciple of the Serpent Bearer. This reminded him that he had become a servant to a Saint in Lee Gun.

“Uncle!”

“Yes! You did well.”

“!”

Lee Gun’s words stopped Chun Sungjae from speaking. The young man wailed from happiness. The fact that he was in the same temple as his uncle had already made him happy. On top of that, his uncle had personally complimented him!

“Now I can die without regrets!”

“It seems your life is quite cheap.”

Hugo was dumbfounded.

Lee Gun laughed as the father looked taken aback. “Go heal your wounds. Uncle will baptize you.”

When Chun Sungjae heard those words, he fainted on the spot. He had expected it, yet he was absolutely loving it. His fandom of Lee Gun could no longer take this.

It seemed the young man would need some time to regain his consciousness.

‘Well, he did overwork his body.’

At that moment, a grunt rang behind Chun Sungjae.

“Sheesh! Why is this so heavy?” Goat was grunting as he dragged something along.

This sight surprised Hugo. “That’s…”

“Oh. It’s here.”

“You were looking for that?”

“To be precise, I’m looking for what it ate.”

“!”

That’s right. Goat had dragged along the slime.

The slime was enormous. Having eaten something, it couldn’t be bothered to move. Therefore, Goat had to drag it along. The slime was heavy even for an SS-rank. 

Therefore, Goat found something odd. ‘Lee Gun-nim usually carries this on his head?’

He was sure of it. Lee Gun was out of his mind. Of course, Goat wasn’t alone in dragging the slime.

“Hey! Push it properly!”

“!”

That’s right. His helper was none other than Puffin, the disciple of the Leo temple. Puffin was one of the three disciples that Lee Gun had done missionary work against through his good words.

Puffin had been pushing the slime from behind with a complicated expression on his face.

‘What am I doing here…’ He already felt aggrieved for being unexpectedly scouted by Lee Gun. Then, he also had to suddenly act as a guide. Now, he was being used as a luggage carrier?

‘If Saint-nim or Oliver-nim find out about this, I’m dead.’ Puffin was the first string tanker of the Leo temple.

Lee Gun tilted his head in puzzlement when he saw Puffin. “Why are you alone? What happened to the other two?”

Puffin looked embarrassed. “Ah… Those two fainted after being hit by Deputy-General Chun Yooha.”

“Oh!”

It seemed Chun Yooha had already tested the three disciples from the Leo temple. The test consisted of enduring her attacks. As proof, Puffin’s face was swollen.

However, this surprised Lee Gun. ‘He endured Yooha’s attack?’

Lee Gun was well aware of Yooha’s skills. ‘In terms of strength, Yooha is already on the Saint rank.’

There was no way any of those three disciples stood a chance against her. ‘I picked them up on a whim, but it seemed I picked better than expected.’

“What about Yooha?”

“If you allow it, she would like to use her full power against her brother. She wants to become your first disciple.”

Chun Sungjae was unconscious, yet his body shook on instinct.

Lee Gun laughed. “Yes. I’ll allow it.”

“…!”

Puffin’s face turned pale when Lee Gun let out a hearty laughter. He had already taken a beating from Yooha.

Chun Yooha had not used her full power against them. She had used only ten percent of her power to send two tankers of the Leo temple to the hospital. It would take them thirty weeks to do a full recovery. Puffin had suffered to this extent.

She’d attack that young man using her full power? The young man was like a paper doll with no muscles. Moreover, Chun Sungjae was a magician. He had nothing to do with martial prowess. Puffin knew about Chun Sungjae’s abilities as Chun Sungjae was a famous disciple.

‘He… He might really die.’

In terms of battle-type disciples, Chun Yooha was considered top-three. Would he really be ok? It didn’t matter in the end.

Lee Gun stood in front of the slime. “Open its mouth.”

The disciples who had dragged along the slime flinched.

Hugo stepped forward as if he was worried. “Are you sure it’ll be ok, Gun? The guy inside was really dangerous.”

“That’s right. Lee Gun-nim might not know much about them, but he’s a Secretary. Secretaries are troublesome to deal with!”

Hugo became desperate. There was only one reason Lee Gun was trying to see the Secretary. ‘He’s trying to tame a Secretary.’

However, this was impossible considering the size of Lee Gun’s temple. The other Zodiac temples knew the cost of going against the Secretaries. In the past, over several hundred Constructs had to be mobilized to eradicate the Secretaries.

“The Secretaries were a threat to the Zodiacs. It was why they were wiped out. They can destabilize a temple even without a bible!”

“You are being noisy! Just open it.” Lee Gun looked at the slime.

[The target of your last trial is here.]

<Trial of Intelligence>

[Acquire a Secretary (0/1)]

- You need a record writer who will record the Serpent Bearer’s achievements.

[Caution! Your opponent is vicious.]

[Your opponent is capable of threatening your temple.]

Lee Gun didn’t really need the warning since he knew this person had troubled even Hugo. It was obvious that this person would be hard to tame.

‘I’ve made preparations.’ Lee Gun grinned.

“One.”

“Two!”

“Three!”

Finally, Goat and Puffin pried open the slime’s mouth. Then, something popped out.