"You are going to die tomorrow," the fortune-teller spoke with a grave expression on his face. He resembled a doctor giving a dreadful prognosis.

However, when the person in front of him heard this warning of an untimely death, he doubled over with laughter. "Why do you always want to see me dead?"

The fortune-teller spoke again, "Hey, Gun."

Lee Gun threw popcorn at his fortune-teller friend for the nonsense talk. It was quite noisy outside the tiny pub. "If your predictions really worked, I would've gone on numerous dates with the Grim Reaper by now. If the police compiled the many ways you said I would die, they would've accumulated several volumes' worth of reports." 

Lee Gun then steadily moved his hand toward a box of fried chicken and took out a plump golden chicken drumstick. This was already his second drumstick. He continued, "If you insist on making predictions like that, you should just get a job at a weather center. The weatherman today said it was supposed to flood all over the country, but look at this. It's a sunny and dry day instead."

Lee Gun was almost unkillable. This was a sentiment everyone shared, and it was a testament to his strength.

The fortune-teller angrily snatched the chicken leg from Lee Gun. "You should have faith in me! Also, they only give one chicken leg per serving. This is the reason you will die!"

“Really? You're predicting that your best friend will die because he took your chicken leg? Then, what are you going to say if I eat all the wings? Will you say that my arms and legs will be cut off before my death?"

“I’m not joking! You will really die this time around! It may not be tomorrow, but you will surely die!" The fortune-teller's eyes held a considerable amount of sincerity. 

Seeing this, Lee Gun asked in a sober manner, “What are you going to say this time? Are you going to say I’ll die while having sex?”

In the end, the fortune-teller threw a piece of chicken at Lee Gun. “Hey! Can’t you take this seriously?”

“Why should I? If I’m going to die, I would prefer to go out that way.”

“Ah! You really are...”

Lee Gun uproariously laughed. Of course, he wasn’t being prideful; he was cautious by nature. However, things were different this time around. He couldn’t back out even if he believed his friend’s prophecy. The upcoming mission was vital for the survival of mankind.

<US gives up national sovereignty! Powerhouse nations surrender in succession!>

<Monsters have captured 52,545,748 people!>

<Unknown civilization states, “If you want to live, hand over your sovereignty, territory, and people.”>

Lee Gun was a so-called awakened being. This world only had thirteen awakened beings, and Lee Gun was Korea’s sole representative among them.

“The leader of those bastards created a nest for itself in Korea.” Lee Gun couldn’t back out from this mission. He laughed as he chewed on the Korean pickled radish. “Still, wouldn’t my country bestow a gold medal of honor if I die in the battle against the boss monster?”

“What the hell? Each time the politicians have tried to give you a medal, you've thrown it into their faces. Also, you better put that down. Be a bro, and leave the wings for me.”

“No way! Also, at that time, they had called me in saying it was a perilous situation, but they actually wanted me there to take photos for their election campaigns. It was because of this bullshit they tried to pull that I threw the medals into their faces,” Lee Gun explained.

“Ah! The political dog and pony show annoyed you?”

“Not really! I got angry because they kept me busy without giving me food.”

“…”

It didn’t matter. At the end of the day, Lee Gun had to go to the base of the invaders. He had to clear the Devil’s Tower. However, he didn't pay attention to the prophecy that said he would die. After all, his friend's prophecies never came true. His friend was a charlatan. This was why Lee Gun never thought he would die.

But...

What the hell happened?

“Wait a moment! What happened to Mr. Lee Gun? Why did only the twelve of you return?”

“I’m pretty sure thirteen people went into the Devil’s Tower! Lee Gun! What happened to Korea’s awakened Lee Gun!”

All the people who had been waiting for news regarding Lee Gun despaired. The reason for this reaction was the bitter words from the other twelve people who had accompanied Lee Gun.

“Our thirteenth member chose death of his own accord.”

This revelation shocked the world.

<The main monster that was driving humanity into extinction is now dead!>

<Lee Gun’s Shocking Death!>

<The thirteenth member voluntarily jumped into a trap for humanity!>

<He allowed his teammates to escape for the hope of humanity!>

Humanity became overwhelmed with grief. It had overcome its greatest crisis thanks to the awakened beings' efforts. This moment was a touching one that would be etched into history. However, people shed tears for the hero they believed in.

The hero's twelve comrades, who had shared his last moment with him, also shed tears.

“We successfully cleared the tower, but our thirteenth member basically sacrificed himself for us.”

Unlike Lee Gun, these twelve people were special awakened beings who had received power from the twelve Zodiacs. Several of them were so distraught that they couldn’t even raise their heads while crying.

“We will never forget his noble sacrifice. He died for all of us.”

“The terrible monsters have yet to be wiped out. However, do not worry. Even without Lee Gun, we will recover the remaining lands of humanity!”

They thought they could regain the dignity of humanity without Lee Gun. They believed they were special, unlike Lee Gun. There was no way they could fail where Lee Gun had succeeded.

“We will not let Lee Gun’s noble sacrifice go to waste. Lee Gun fought hard, and we intend to continue this fight in his place. Please trust us, and leave it up to us!”

“Lee Gun took five years to regain half of humanity's lands. However, there are twelve of us!”

“One year is enough time for us to accomplish that!”

Despite these words, even after twenty years, humanity couldn't recover even one percent of the land that was taken from them.

* * *

In the humid summer of late August, a heat wave overtook Seoul. Some swears exploded forth in a location that had burned to the ground.

“Ah! This is why I said we shouldn’t come here!”

“Shit! Who knew this would happen? There was no alert today!”

“Even if we had to pay more money to the adults, we should've gone to a safer region!”

Two men were cursing because of the sudden appearance of a group of monsters.

Seoul was already under the control of an unknown civilization, but it was a relatively safe region. Normally, only the lowest-rank monsters roamed this place. Moreover, these two people were known as relatively talented awakened beings. Therefore, this region shouldn't have caused them any trouble. However, something was different this time.

“This is nuts! Why must a disaster occur here out of all places! They are high-rank monsters!” 

“Ha ha! I have no idea, but we're screwed! My fortune-teller had told me that I’d meet a monster I shouldn’t mess with. He was right.” 

“What? A monster you shouldn’t mess with?”

“Yes! He was probably talking about these monsters. I should've written a will.”

The young man let out a sigh as he looked up at the nearby tower. It was a castle that pierced through the clouds high up in the sky. If the Babel tower from the distant past still existed, would it look like this tower? This castle was the impregnable tower where Lee Gun had lost his life. It was a lair of monsters that even the highest-rank awakened beings were afraid to visit. It was the worst dungeon known to humanity, a place crawling with unkillable monsters, and a place where humanity’s strongest hero had died. This tower was the burial grounds of humanity's strongest hero and a memorial tower for all humanity who missed Lee Gun.

“Shit! The world wouldn’t have devolved into this mess if Lee Gun were alive.”

All this while, humanity had to gnash its teeth. They had barely been able to maintain the status quo, let alone recover their lost land. Therefore, the absence of Lee Gun was felt much more acutely.

“Ah! Whatever! If I’m to die here, I would rather die a hero like Lee Gun!”

“Hell yeah! It's an honor to die in the same place as the first hero of Korea! Let’s put our names in the newspaper—”

The man couldn't complete his sentence as...

Koo-goo-goohng!

“!”

Both men screamed, but it wasn’t because the monsters had attacked them.

Kwahng!

Accompanying an ear-splitting sound, the tower split into two. The tower that was supposed to be the indestructible lair of monsters had broken!

“What... what the hell! What’s going on!”

“The... the tower!”

An incredible amount of magical energy exploded forth from the tower. It was enough to chase away the wolves rushing toward the two men. This was the reason the two of them were terrified. After all, monsters never gave up on their prey. However, this explosion had made the gluttonous monsters scatter and leave the two men alone. It didn’t take the two of them long to realize why the monsters had scattered.

“Ah! This really sucks!”

The monsters had run away because someone had exited the tower.

“Those bastards really left me behind and ran away by themselves!”

The two hunters couldn’t believe their eyes. At the same time, they had a realization. It was clear this being was the monster the fortune-teller had warned them about. It was the one that they shouldn’t mess with.

Since this being looked like a wild beast, the two men didn’t recognize him at all. However, this being was Lee Gun, the strongest person among the thirteen awakened beings and a person who had died twenty years ago.

“You're going to pay for this, you sons of bitches.”

The hero, who was thought to be dead, had returned.