***

Today’s meal appeared.

It was a meal that was no different from the usual.

Ho Sung Lee didn’t like to call anything a feast and raise his expectations only to be criticized.

Min Sung liked that about him.

In any case, it looked like a good meal, and he wanted to quickly go back to earth so that he could have a meal at a typical restaurant.

He wanted to escape from the endless fighting.

He would fill his belly and carry on.

Today’s dinner was hot pepper paste pork belly.

The red pieces of pork belly were placed on a pretty plate, and beside it was vegetables, white radish, and Kimchi stew.

There weren’t many side dishes, but Ho Sung Lee’s meal appeared to be plentiful.

It was harmonious and abundant.

I smell something spicy.

Min Sung focused on the menu. He wiped his hands with a wet wipe and picked up a piece of pork belly with picked up a piece of lettuce with his other hand.

He put rice on top of the lettuce followed by a thick piece of pork belly, as well as some garlic and spicy paste.

He then wrapped it up and put it in his mouth.

He opened his mouth wide and chewed the mouthful of food.

The refreshing flavor of the lettuce along with the spicy pork belly and the garlic blew his mind.

Min Sung was certain that his spicy pork belly would taste good even after it was cold.

Gulp!

After swallowing a piece of lettuce, Min Sung proceeded to the next step.

He wrapped another piece of spicy pork belly with garlic and white radish and put it into his mouth.

The sweet and crispy radish and the spicy pork belly mixed together, and along with the scent of the garlic, the flavors gave off a different charm.

It was delicious.

After eating his second wrap, Min Sung decided to eat it on its own.

He placed a piece of spicy pork belly on rice.

This was the best way to experience the flavor of the spicy pork belly alone.

As soon as he got a taste, the sweet and spicy flavor of the hot pepper paste tickled his nose.

Sweet and thick piece of spicy pork belly.

The dinner was so perfect that it was worthy of being his last meal if need be.

Min Sung forgot about all his troubles and continued to wrap his meat in a piece of lettuce.

***

The 12 signs arrived in the city of Horn.

Before meeting with Min Sung, they gathered at the meeting room in the Horn Castle.

And Harmonic, who was in charge, told them about Min Sung’s personality ahead of time.

“He tends to have a very offensive nature, but when it comes to the world, there’s something very dark about him. He has a lot of power, but he doesn’t use it in a political sense. Since he is the isolated type, if we go along with what he says without irritating him, we can resolve this easily,” Harmonic explained to the 12 signs.

“Then is our plan to simply lead him to the low-ranking god?” Horn, the owner of the castle, asked Harmonic with big eyes.

He was asking if there was another intent.

“Of course not.”

“…?!”

Harmonic laughed at the 12 signs, and that was when the 12 signs realized it.

That Harmonic had a different plan in mind.

“But it’ll only be possible if you agree to it.”

Horn tapped on the table as he waited for him to continue.

“Go on and tell us.”

Harmonic saw the urging eyes of the 12 signs and showed a twinkle in his eye.

While he fights the low-ranking god, we will target his back. We must kill him. That was how we pay him back for making us break our taboo.”

Upon hearing Harmonic’s plan, one of the 12 signs with a bald head opened his mouth.

“But if the low-ranking god finds out we were involved, he won’t leave us alone.”

“We’ll prepare an excuse. Something that he’ll be convinced by. That’s what we have to do today in this meeting. An excuse to convince the low-ranking god.”

“Hm…”

The 12 signs looked into the distance and thought deeply.

Their faces contained suspicion of whether the plan was rational.

As a result, Harmonic continued, “I’m sure you’ve all seen how powerful this new player is. If we don’t do this, do you really think there’s a way to get rid of him without shedding blood?”

“…”

“You must get rid of your suspicion.”

Harmonic urged them, but some of them still couldn’t agree to the plan.

“But… rather than breaking the taboo of messing with the low-ranking god, it might just be better to let him into our territory,” said one sign.

“We can’t do that because it would cause two problems,” replied Harmonic with stern eyes.

“Two problems? What do you mean?” A sign close to Harmonic asked.

“First, if we let him into our territory, it’s possible we will become the target of high-ranking players.”

“Groan…”

What Hamonic said made sense, so the other signs simply groaned.

“Second, if we try to let him in, it’s possible that new players will target us as well for our reputation. I don’t know if we can handle that harm.”

“…”

The meeting room turned still.

Harmonic was saying there were risks that couldn’t be avoided.

For that reason, throwing the new player at the low-ranking god was the best way to avoid risks.

That was because gods reduced their physical involvement in the human world as much as possible.

So as long as they didn’t show signs of malicious intent toward the gods, such problems could be resolved without trouble, and the other 12 signs agreed.

Their thoughts didn’t extend further.

They all accepted that Harmonic’s plan was for the best.

All 12 signs nodded at the same time.

Harmonic’s proposal was accepted.

“Let’s talk about how we’ll calm down the low-ranking god.”

They proceeded with the rest of the meeting.

***

The next morning.

Ho Sung Lee woke up much earlier than Min Sung.

He barely got any sleep.

He closed his eyes for just a moment, but he might as well have stayed up.

The reason was that he was nervous about the thought that the 12 signs would lead them to find the weapon that they could use to cut down the Iris Tree.

Ho Sung Lee smoked while looking out the window with a troubled look on his face, and all sorts of thoughts crossed his mind.

Following the dreadful moment, someone knocked on his door.

When he opened the door, there was a woman in a maid uniform letting him know that it was time.

Ho Sung Lee put out his cigarette. He sighed and walked out.

It was time to fight a god.

In order to wake up Min Sung, he took Bowl and Ssol to his room.

As soon as he knocked and opened the door, Min Sung was enjoying a warm cup of tea.

He didn’t seem to be fazed by the fact that he had to fight a god.

He was impressed by Min Sung.

He should’ve been used to Min Sung by now, but he was someone who was hard to get used to.

He wasn’t someone he could read so easily.

Ho Sung Lee didn’t think the 12 signs were cowardly or foolish.

They were powerful with a strong will to survive.

That was the only reason they could become so powerful and secure the position of one of the most powerful in the inner continent.

And since they were so powerful as a group, they resolved problems so efficiently.

Despite being powerful, they made wise choices to protect something even if it hurt their pride.

As a result, Ho Sung Lee was worried.

No matter how powerful Min Sung was, the idea of bringing the weapon that could cut down the iris tree was an idea proposed by the 12 signs.

Nothing came that easily.

If this was a shortcut that would allow him to skip the ranking war, it was bound to come with bigger risks.

But Min Sung probably knew that as well.

And the fact that he still made the choice meant that Min Sung had his reasons.

Ho Sung Lee decided he didn’t know until he saw the outcome.

“The 12 signs have gathered, and they will depart as soon as you come out.”

Ho Sung Lee informed Min Sung of what he had heard.

Min Sung put down his tea glass. He got up from his sofa and stretched.

Bowl ran over to Min Sung. He hopped into his pocket and went inside.

And then…

“Let’s go,” Min Sung announced.

Ho Sung Lee breathed in and out before following Min Sung out.

***

As soon as they left the castle, the 12 signs were waiting.

They showed off a presence that was not to be underestimated.

It was clear that every single one of them were more powerful than Krok, whom they fought before coming to Horn.

And there were 12 of them.

Ho Sung Lee held his breath from the tension, but Min Sung’s face looked as relaxed as usual.

Min Sung walked toward them.

The 12 signs scanned Min Sung.

There was no greeting with respect, but there were no looks of malice either.

They were simply there to accompany him.

Nothing more, nothing less.

“We’re going to open the portal to Heaven, and we will lead you to the low-ranking god. That’s all we are here to do,” explained Harmonic.

Min Sung nodded as a response.

“Then we shall proceed.”

Upon Harmonic’s remark, the 12 signs opened their item windows and took out the items required to create the portal.