The Return of the Disaster-Class Hero

The Divine world was turned on its head.

Many gods had been about to head toward the earth under orders. However, they then heard the news that Kunlun had made ties with the snake god.

“Does that mean we have to cancel our plans to turn the earth into a colony?”

Gods were beings who managed all lands as colonies. Colonies were equivalent to their powers. The earth was a land filled with high-quality disciples. Therefore, the gods would never leave this land alone.

The system was set up in such a way that gods kept stealing colonies from each other. However, the earth was the snake god’s colony.

“If there is a marriage alliance with Kunlun, we’ll be antagonizing Kunlun!”

“The earth will then be possessed by Kunlun.”

“…!!”

Was Kunlun trying to take earth through such a method?!

“With the snake god’s ranking in mind, it would be better for him to be absorbed into Kunlun—”

At that moment…

“Hey! Did you see it?!”

“See what?”

“The Zodiac ranking!”

“What about the Zodiac Ranking?”

Several gods flinched when they heard the conversation about the ranking. They were the ones who had heard about it beforehand from the civil servants. They knew about Lee Gun’s ranking.

‘I have no idea why he was designated as a pillar god rank by the Divine world.’

‘He’s considered to be the top amongst the pillar gods.’

The ranking had been released to the public. This could shock everyone. Rumors could be started that the snake god was a Great Spirit-rank being. It’d be like the past, where the ninth great faction might be formed.

The gods who knew this immediately spoke up.

“He was lucky. He acquired the power of Cycle.”

It meant the snake god had risen above the other pillar gods only because of his Divine status, which had belonged to the King of the Gods.

“Anyway, there is no reason why he should be ranked higher. At best, he’s at the pillar god rank—”

The gods screamed when they saw the newly updated display.

“What the hell?”

They rubbed their eyes when they saw the figure that had moved up.

***

Oohng oohng!

An enormous whirlpool of light swirled underneath the door. The whirlpool was a connection tunnel, which was connected to the earth!

It was like looking into the eye of a storm. Hugo blanched at the sight.

‘I’m glad I left my daughter in Virgo’s care!’

Although Hugo didn’t remember everything about Yooha, she was his precious daughter. He didn’t want her to travel using a tunnel that looked like a meat grinder!

After the door had been opened, he had seen objects get shredded to pieces while they were swept into the whirlpool. Hugo almost cursed.

Lee Gun didn’t seem to mind. Limbering up his body, he said, “What are you doing? Why aren’t you jumping in?”

“Jump… You really want to use this tunnel?! Just touching it might kill us!”

“It’s fine. If you turn into chunks of meat, I’ll piece you back together.”

“#*$&*!” Hugo regretted rejecting Virgo’s offer to sneak him out and not exiting via the safe route, like Yooha.

‘Or maybe I should have gone with Hailey, who went to see Scorpio.’

Lee Gun snorted as if he read Hugo’s thoughts. “If you went to meet the Scorpio, you would’ve been eaten. A hundred percent.”

“What? Why?”

Lee Gun scoffed as if he couldn’t believe Hugo was unaware of it. “You didn’t notice it while you were next to Hailey?”

“What?”

“Scorpio, who protects Hailey, wants you dead.”

“????”

Hugo looked at Lee Gun as if he was spouting nonsense. “You must be mistaken.”

“Are you discounting what I saw?”

Lee Gun had seen it for himself. When he had been on the earth, gods existed far away, so he hadn’t been sure. However, now that he had visited the headquarters of the gods, he had a different opinion.

‘Scorpio looked at Hugo as if he was a mortal enemy.’

Unlike the other Zodiacs, Scorpio never appeared in front of Lee Gun while Hugo was by his side.

It also seemed Scorpio disliked Sagittarius. This was especially evident when Taeksoo had come back from the goddesses of fate.

The only thing that happened to Taeksoo is that he had swallowed a Divine status. This was why Hugo was that much more mystified.

Lee Gun had a passing suspicion that Hugo was hated, but what had he actually done to the Scorpio to deserve the threat of death?

Lee Gun clicked his tongue when he saw Hugo’s expression. “You probably caused an accident while I was gone.”

“I didn’t!”

Scorpio had been like a benefactor to him. Why would he cause trouble for Scorpio? In fact, he should have been nice to Scorpio!

Lee Gun clicked his tongue. “Or it might be something obvious.”

“Obvious?”

“While I was gone, you were dumb enough to get bullied by the twelve Zodiac Saints, and if that’s not bad enough, a hospital was rented out for Miss Jiwoo for over ten years. It might have to do with Hailey… What if it doesn’t like you since you were a bother to its Zodiac Saint?”

Hugo wondered if a god was really that petty, but then he was reminded of Sagittarius. There was no rule that prevented a god from being petty.

‘However, putting Scorpio on the same level as Sagittarius is a disservice.’

So what had caused it?

‘Did I commit a faux pas?’

It didn’t matter in the end.

“That’s why you should stop complaining and follow me. You’re the safest by my side.”

“…”

Lee Gun said it while laughing, but Hugo\'s expression soured. “You might try to act cool, but it’s obvious. You’re telling me to follow you so that you can fill up your Divine power.”

As if he felt a bit guilty, Lee Gun’s eyebrows twitched. However, he soon kicked Hugo. “Whatever. Go in, asshole!”

“Ahhk!”

Receiving a ruthless kick, Hugo fell toward the light that looked like a meat grinder. He screamed like Tarzan as the light swept him up. Lee Gun followed him.

A dizzying wave hit them. The flow was repetitive and constant.

Hugo was in so much pain that he found it hard to breathe. At that moment, he thought about his beautiful daughter. If the daughter he loved so much were here, she would have told off the mean Lee Gun for him.

Some time passed like that.

Boom! Boom!

“Kuh-huhk!”

They were dropped off somewhere. Hugo groaned as he got up. Then they heard a familiar voice.

[You have returned to the earth.]

[While you passed through the Dimensional crack, a time difference has formed.]

Time difference? Hugo looked at his surroundings as he asked, “How much time difference is it, Gun?”

“Who cares? Where the hell did we fall?”

They had come to consciousness within a building, and they could hear the sound of a crowd outside.

“It looks like a museum….”

There was no mistaking that. It was unclear as to which country this was, but they could see exhibits and signs. This was clearly…

“Isn’t this your museum, Gun?”

“!”

Lee Gun’s eyes turned round. Now that it was mentioned, he saw his pictures and items all over the place. There was even a life-sized wax figure.

Moreover, it wasn’t just the picture before his return, when he looked like an orc. The pictures of him after his return were here too.

He knew the Zodiac Saints had museums in various countries, but from what he remembered, he didn’t have his own museum.

“What the hell? Does that mean it was built while I was gone?”

“You must be loving it? This is almost on the same level as the Louvre museum.”

Lee Gun always talked about wanting a museum. Now that his friend’s wish was granted, Hugo smirked as he said, “It means a couple of years passed at the very least. There is no way a museum of this size could have been constructed in a couple of months.”

While looking at his surroundings, Hugo seemed to have located something. He laughed. “Look here.”

He found a ticket from the merchandise store. As if to confirm admission, the ticket had a stamp. The date was printed there.

[2044]

“Twenty years have passed.”

“What? Twenty years?”

Lee Gun clicked his tongue. “Tsk. Do I have to use the Time ability?”

“Wait a moment. You might incur Karmic debt if you use the Time ability. Your Construct went to get the Permission Ticket (Exoneration). Just wait a bit.”

Lee Gun furrowed his brows at those words. “Why are you so excited?”

“Isn’t it obvious? I’ll get to see your kids here!”

“What??”

“Why not! If twenty years passed, you’re probably married. You’ll have a wife!”

“…!”

Enough time had passed for this to be possible. The past and the present were connected.

While Lee Gun might have been oblivious and had no interest in a woman, twenty years would be enough for him to have a wife. There was a chance that he had kids!

‘Who became Gun’s wife?’

That was Hugo’s main interest.

Although Hugo was curious about his own family, he was the most interested in Lee Gun’s family.

“Is it Miss Yeonwoo or Hailey?!”

“W-What?”

“Who do you like more?”

“What the hell are you—”

“What? Is there a third candidate?!”

Lee Gun’s expression was a sight to behold.

Dying from curiosity, Hugo turned around. “It’s fine. I’ll find it out myself.”

“Hey!”

Who was Lee Gun’s wife? Did he have a child? Was it a daughter or a son?

“I’m sure of it. His children will be like mine. They’ll praise and follow their Uncle Hugo.” Hugo spoke of his dream scenario as he tried to exit the museum.

Of course, he took a Lee Gun key chain from the merchandise and filled his pocket with other goods.

“From the language used in the museum, this place seems to be Europe… We should head toward Kevin.”

“Are you sure this is a museum? Why are there no people within the museum?”

“It must be because they haven’t opened it yet. Can you hear the voices outside?”

Lee Gun dubiously looked outside, but it did seem like voices could be heard from outside…

‘What is that energy….’

“Let’s go.”

Lee Gun furrowed his brows. “Hey, we aren’t from this era. Should we do nothing before we head back to our time?”

It was only twenty years. There couldn’t have been too much change. They were gods.

“What if someone recognizes us….”

“Alright. I’ll go right after we see your wife.” Hugo spoke as he picked up an orc-like mask of Lee Gun from the merchandise store.

Lee Gun looked dumbfounded, but Hugo spoke as he opened the door. “I don’t know which country this is, but I bet it’s full of people wanting to see you—”

As soon as they exited through the door, their faces hardened.

“That’s…!”

Everyone was dead outside. That wasn’t all.

“Gun! Look at those vines!”

Unknown vines surrounded the museum.

‘The vines are alive.’

When they cut down the vines, they realized the truth.

“These bastards are the ones making the human voices!”

There was no mistaking it.

‘They are mimicking the voices of the humans that they have eaten.’

The situation outside the museum of Lee Gun was horrifying. It was as if a monster had appeared outside, and people had run away to live. As if this place was the last beacon of their hope, people had gathered here. It was like people heading toward a church or shrine for refuge.

It didn’t matter which monster had invaded, Lee Gun always made everyone feel that they would make it out alive. That was why those people had come here looking for Lee Gun.

In fact, a dead child was clutching a figurine of Lee Gun.

Hugo looked at the dead child with pity.

‘They’ve been dead for more than a couple of days.’

At the very least, the bodies had been left like this for several years. The unknown vines were the only reason they hadn’t become skeletons yet.

Hugo quickly exited the museum. Corpses were strewn everywhere, and a city in ruin could be seen. It almost looked haunted.

‘I don’t sense any life.’

The earth had been wiped out.

It didn’t take them long to figure out the identity of the plant.

‘This is an item of the Divine world.’

What if they were truly in the future? It meant…

‘In just twenty years, humanity was wiped out?’

The unknown plant seemed to be the culprit.

When Hugo realized this, he was about to say something.

Flash!

However, a never-before-seen power emanated from Lee Gun’s body.

“Gun!”

This wasn’t the power of Death or Life.

‘Is it his power as a Creator?’

The power started imbuing new life into the ruined buildings. The grass killed by the gods grew again. The water evaporated by the sun started coming back in an instant.

Surprised, Hugo continued to watch this.

With an angry expression, Lee Gun said, “Hey. I know what the future is like. Let’s head back to our original time.“O-Ok.”

This was the future that would happen if they weren’t present on the earth. It seemed the future had unfolded this way because they were trapped within the Dimensional crack.

Lee Gun’s eyes flashed in anger. “I went through so much trying to keep the earth alive.”

The unknown civilization had invaded the earth, and he had protected his planet even as his body was destroyed. As if to make things worse, he had been betrayed by the gods and Zodiac Saints, and he had rotted away inside the tower. When he came back alive, he had eradicated all the monsters at the source.

He had thought he wouldn’t have to deal with the gods once he left the Divine world.

“Those bastards killed what I saved?”

This drove Lee Gun nuts, and he immediately used his power.

Flash!

[You used the power of Time, which you have brought.]

The power of Time could mess with the order of the universe. Unlike the renegades such as the monarchs, gods were rulers. They ruled over the residents of the colonies, so their powers came with responsibility. They couldn’t use powerful abilities at will.

[Master! We scraped together all the Permission Tickets (Exoneration) we stole from Kunlun!]

[You can use that power!]

His Constructs took out the Permission Tickets from the bag containing Kunlun’s wedding presents(?).

When Lee Gun grabbed them, light exploded forth.

[You have used the Permission Tickets stolen from Kunlun. You will go back in time as far as possible.]

The visions of Hugo and Lee Gun shifted.

“Kuhk!”

They fell in the same location, but there were no museums this time. They saw only a large plot of land, where construction was being planned.

At that moment…

“Kyahhk! Lee Gun-nim!”

“!!”

“Lee Gun-nim!!!”

“Wait a moment! That’s Lee Gun!”

The ruckus from a large crowd reached their ears. The people walking down the street were shocked when they recognized Lee Gun. Hearing that Lee Gun was here, a crowd rushed toward him. Of course, the crowd brought out their cameras and phones.

“Are we sure this isn’t a Lee Gun impersonator?”

“Lee Gun-nim!!”

Hugo, who had been next to Lee Gun, was pushed away by the ground. He felt aggrieved. “We seem to have come to the right time, but why do they recognize only you? What about me??”

“Why else? It’s the difference in the faith and the good deeds I did.”

“What?!”

In truth, it was because Hugo was still in his spirit state.

‘My phone works now.’

Lee Gun took out his phone, and he saw that it had a signal. He laughed.

[Roaming (+Paris)]

[11/09/2026, 1:15 PM]

‘I guess around half a year has passed.’

That should be enough.

“He cut it a bit close, but this is fine. We came back before your third child is born.”

“What??”

“Anyway, I don’t have any money right now. Let’s summon the nearest Zodiac Saint, and let’s get going.”

Lee Gun used his phone. He was about to call his subordinates when cheers erupted among the crowd, and a familiar phrase reached Lee Gun’s ears.

“Uh! It’s the Zodiac Saints!”

“They must have come here after hearing the news about Lee Gun-nim”

Lee Gun and Hugo snorted. Only a few Zodiac Saints were left, yet to their credit, they had come knowing Lee Gun had returned.

“What has gotten into you guys? You came promptly—”

However, odd expressions appeared on their faces when the two of them turned their heads.

“Welcome, our Zodiac. Welcome, our master.”

“The Zodiac Saints greet the great master for the first time!”

“!”

The ones who had shown up weren’t Stevens and Kevin. Moreover, these newcomers’ words were unexpected.

“Please do not be surprised. We are the new thirteen Zodiac Saints, who serve the Serpent Bearer.”

“Thirteen Zodiac Saints?”

“Yes! Kevin-nim and Stevens-nim, whom you are looking for, have passed away. When the other remaining Zodiac Saints left, we took their seats.”

“It’s an honor to meet Lee Gun-nim in the flesh!”

“…?”

Lee Gun’s eyebrows rose when he saw them. What the hell were these guys?