Novel Bin Book 2, Epilogue 1 - Return of the Hero(?) (1)
Book 2, Epilogue 1 - Return of the Hero(?) (1)
Hugo still couldn’t forget what Lee Gun had said to him three years ago. Lee Gun was voluntarily choosing death by leaving the earth.
“What? Have you lost your mind? You really plan on going to the World of Emptiness?”
“Yes.”
“Why would you go there? Do you plan on dying a lonely death there?”
The World of Emptiness was a world where sinners were sent. The sinners would become the slaves of the Universe and work eternally.
In other words, one’s status didn’t matter there. It was a prison camp where one was tortured for the rest of one’s existence.
It was so bad that even the highest-ranked gods like the Great Spirits would decide to perish instead of going to that world.
Hugo knew what kind of place it was, and there was no way he would let Lee Gun go there. He was steadfast in stopping Lee Gun.
However, Lee Gun laughed as he said, “Don’t worry about it. I’ll be back.”
“Gun.”
“When I meet you next time, I’m going to ask for a lot of things from you.”
Leaving behind those words, the hero disappeared from the world. It was as if he had never existed in the first place.
And three years passed just like that.
“Will Lee Gun-nim be able to really come back?”
“I’m not so sure. The chances of returning from the World of Emptiness is said to be less than 0.001%….”
“Still, it’s Lee Gun-nim we’re talking about.”
“!”
“That’s right. Also, the other goddesses went to the World of Emptiness to look for Lee Gun-nim.”
Everyone who remembered Lee Gun earnestly prayed for his return. This was the same for Hugo, who was indebted to Lee Gun.
‘Gun.’
Lee Gun had saved a sinner like him. Hugo was resolved to wait for Lee Gun’s return until his life was over.
‘Please, just come back. That’s all I want.’
It didn’t matter if Lee Gun would break his back by asking for a lot of things from him. If Lee Gun came back, Hugo was willing to do anything for him. He was willing to overlook any of Lee Gun’s actions.
At least, that was what he had promised himself.
In the present…
[Hugo!!!]
“?!”
Hugo shook when he realized someone was looking for him by screaming his name. He wondered who was screaming when he saw a flock of frightened ravens flying toward him.
They were the Constructs of the Sagittarius temple.
[Hugo!!! Are you listening? This is bad!]
[Lee Gun-nim is…! Lee Gun-nim is…!!]
Hugo’s face turned pale when he heard the name. He stood up from the dining table. “What? What’s going on? What about Gun? Did he destroy a room this time? Did he kill someone? Did he burn someone? What did he do?”
[No! He opened the wrappers to the chocolates!]
“W…What?”
[He opened the poisoned chocolate that you made to kill the cat!]
“What?!”
[He even opened the liquor-filled chocolates! They contain vodka!!!]
Hugo screamed. “Ahhhk! I put them in the safe so that he wouldn’t be able to eat them!!! How the hell did he get to it?”
Hugo almost cursed, but he knew he didn’t have time to dawdle. He immediately headed somewhere. He ran to the attic, which contained the safe.
The safe contained weapons. It also contained all the tributes Hugo had gathered and planned on offering to Sagittarius.
It was a treasure warehouse with all kinds of superb items. However, the treasures weren’t what was important.
“Ahhhk! Gun!!” Hugo quickly entered the room with the safe.
A baby who hadn’t even reached his first birthday was eating something. The baby had destroyed the safe into dust. Chocolate wrappers with skulls and crossbones printed on them were lying around him!
At one time, Sagittarius had worked Hugo without paying him. Hugo had detested Sagittarius so much that he had created poisonous chocolates. He had planned on mixing them into the tributes so that Sagittarius would get a stomachache.
Hugo almost lost his mind when he saw this. He picked up the small baby, who was the size of his forearm.
“Gun! No! Spit it out!! Ptooey!!!”
However, the baby had eaten it all. The baby’s soft cheeks were full like that of a hamster. To make matters worse, both his hands were grasping chocolate that contained alcohol!
Hugo turned pale from fright. He grabbed the baby’s soft cheeks and squeezed them. “Spit it out, Gun!!! It’s way too early for you to eat this!! You’re a good boy, right? At the very least, you should eat it after you get your ID. Ok?!”
The baby completely ignored him. He started swallowing everything in his mouth, making Hugo and the ravens scream.
[Ahhk! He swallowed it!]
[Get the doctor!!!!]
“Honey!!! Look what Gun did!”
Familiar faces appeared when they heard Hugo’s screams from the second floor.
“What’s wrong?”
“Hugo-nim!”
“Dad!”
They were Chun Jiwoo, Goat, Lee Jaewon, and the Chun siblings.
Seeing his family, Hugo shouted as he fought the baby using his strength, “Yooha! Sungjae! You guys have Time’s Data left behind by Gun, right?! Bring it here! I have to make it spit it out!”
Chun Jiwoo immediately realized what was going on. She laughed. “Ah. It’s fine. The outer packaging is still the same, but I swapped out all the contents already.”
“W-What?!”
“There is no way Lee Gun-nim would do something wrong. He’s merely a one-year-old child without any of his memories.”
“…!”
Yes, it had happened half a year ago. Lee Gun, who had disappeared into the World of Emptiness, had come back to the earth.
In the beginning, no one thought it really was Lee Gun. This was to be expected since a newly born baby had appeared in front of them. However…
‘He does act like Gun.’
His return had been very noisy since he had set off the alarm for Red-zone-rank monsters. Due to that, the baby had been mistaken for a monster. This was why Hugo had a hard time taking Lee Gun back to his place.
Anyway, it didn’t matter in the end.
- It’s Uncle!!!!
- Lee Gun-nim!!
Everyone shed tears of joy when Lee Gun made his return. Of course, they weren’t sure if the baby was Lee Gun in the beginning. However, they became more sure as they took care of the child.
Whether it was the ears, eyes, mouth, or nose, the baby had Lee Gun’s features.
Hugo wailed as he spoke.
- That’s right, Gun. I’ll raise you well! I don’t care if you break my back! You can spend whatever you want! Just grow up healthy! You can do whatever you want now!
Hugo and his family were happy to take on Lee Gun’s infant care… But the infant care was…
“Excuse me, Hugo-nim. Are you ok? What about this month’s living expenses?”
“….”
When Goat whispered those words, Hugo grabbed the back of his neck. His friend had returned with an angelic face, and it was great to have him back. However, this didn’t change the fact that the baby acted like the damn Lee Gun.
‘How much do I have to spend a month on feeding him?’
He was a baby who hadn’t even celebrated his first birthday! He should be eating baby food and a baby-like portion!
- Ahhk! Hugo-nim! Lee Gun-nim ate all the Korean beef inside the fridge!
- Kyahhk! Hugo-nim! Lee Gun-nim just tried to open the bottle of alcohol!!!
- Ahhk!!! Hugo-nim! Lee Gun-nim drank all the formula! We refilled a hundred servings yesterday…!
Lee Gun had always been a big eater. Since he recharged his own magical energy, he ate several times more than the others.
‘The rate at which he’s eating is no longer in the realm of a human.’
Sometimes, when Hugo lost track of Lee Gun, Lee Gun would display bizarre behavior. He would try to stuff raw meat into his stomach. That wasn’t all.
‘He’s very picky about what he eats.’
Hugo was entirely in charge of Lee Gun’s infant care. Whether it was baby food or powdered milk, Lee Gun would somehow know if the food contained inferior ingredients. He would torture Hugo by abstaining from eating or drinking those products.
In fact, Hugo had tried to lower his food bill. He had bought lower-quality formula and baby food containing low-quality meat. He had tried to feed it to Lee Gun.
- Ptooey!!!
- ?!
- Ptooey, ptooey, ptooey!nove(l)bi(n.)com
- Hey!
- Ptooey!!!!!!!!!!!
Lee Gun spat it all back out as if he wouldn’t even entertain eating the cheaper stuff!! He even glared(?) at Hugo for daring to feed him such food and slammed his small hand on the ground!! Then he slammed the small bowl shaped like a bird’s nest on the ground in protest!!
‘Damn it! He’s acting like this despite being still wet behind his ears!!’
Moreover, Lee Gun refused to wear cheap clothes or diapers!!!
To cut back on child-rearing expenses, Hugo had bought clothes that wore out quickly and cheap disposable diapers.
But, as soon as he wore them, Lee Gun kicked the diaper bag and the garments. It was as if he was complaining about Hugo cutting corners.
That was why Hugo ground his teeth as he forced himself to buy baby suits made with quality fabrics and high-quality diapers.
Of course, Hugo’s bad name had been cleared thanks to Lee Gun, and his earnings potential had grown. He had less monetary stress in his daily life. He could afford to pay these infant care expenses, but this was too much!
‘He’s merely a baby, yet he wants all the good stuff.’
Lee Gun was reborn as a baby by going through inheritance.
‘Since he’s newly born, there is no way he remembers us.’
Therefore, Hugo couldn’t treat Lee Gun as usual. He had to hold back his temper.
Gnashing his teeth, Hugo thought about what he had gone through in recent days.
It seemed the Chun siblings had read his thoughts. The Chun siblings, who had come running when they heard their father’s scream, grumbled.
“That’s why I said I’ll look after Uncle.”
“I’m confident we’ll do a much better job in raising him, Dad.”
“!”
When Lee Gun had been mistaken for a monster, Hugo had a very difficult time bringing the baby into his household.
In the beginning, the Chun siblings had stepped forward in their desire to raise Lee Gun. Their mother was too busy taking care of their youngest sister Jisoo, who was three years old. The Chun siblings didn’t want their father or someone else raising Lee Gun, so they volunteered themselves.
However, Hugo went wild in chasing them away.
- There is no way I’ll let you guys do that!!!
He went far as to bar them from approaching the baby. Everyone wondered why Hugo refused to let the two take care of raising the child.
Hugo’s answer was simple.
“Since it’s Uncle, didn’t you say he’ll grow into an adult faster, right?”
“!”
Yooha had been standing near the doorway. When she heard Chun Sungjae’s words, her eyes twinkled.
“I’m confident that I can raise him by myself. I’ll raise him into someone who won’t be able to marry anyone except me.”
“?!”
“No. I can raise him as a daughter. Or maybe I can make myself a young girl. I’ll be his childhood friend. I can steer Uncle’s ideal type to being his childhood friend…”
“There is no way I’ll leave him to you guys!!! The fact that you guys are saying such things ensures it!!!!”
Hugo became angry at his children’s impure intentions(?).
This was why Hugo hadn’t entrusted Lee Gun to them.
‘Even now they are trying to brainwash(?) him whenever they get the chance.’
He was most worried about his son, who was twisted(?) in the head.
Anyway, Hugo felt bad about letting his busy subordinates take care of Lee Gun. This was why he chose to raise Lee Gun since he had a lot of experience raising children. That was all well and good, but…
“I give up.”
Yooha hadn’t caused any trouble as a child. Sungjae might have been fussy, but Hugo knew Sungjae’s one soft spot…
Moreover, anything related to Lee Gun held both their interests. He was like the final boss that made them docile!
This was why Hugo and Jaewon had reached peak levels in raising a child. Due to this, Hugo had thought raising an infant wouldn’t be too hard.
However, for the past half year, Hugo had gone through hell in raising the child. No, it was a torment worse than hell.
‘It would be easier to kill a monarch than to raise him’
On the other hand, everyone’s eyes turned round when Hugo expressed those thoughts.
“Lee Gun-nim is fussy?”
“He is. He’s very picky about his food, and he won’t even look at anything cheap. He likes only meat. Even if there is a hint of vegetable in his food, he’ll throw it away. He throws a tantrum if it isn’t to his taste. Can’t you tell by looking at his temper tantrums? I’m sure you guys are having trouble too…”
Everyone looked all the more puzzled.
“Really? That’s odd. He eats whatever we give him…”
“W-What?”
“There are some times when Hugo-nim lets us look after him. When you told us that he was a picky eater, we were worried. However, those worries were for nothing. We had to make the baby food in haste, yet he ate it all.”
“That’s right. He didn’t complain about the food at all. He was such an angel…”
“What the hell?!!”
Unable to believe it, Hugo entered the kitchen with the baby in his arms. He had already prepared baby food made out of spinach and potato.
Hugo had planned on teaching Lee Gun a lesson(?). He would feed vegetables to Lee Gun since Lee Gun needed the nutrients. Hugo had made the food with the resolve that he would be going into a bloody battle against Lee Gun.
Hugo gave the spoon to Jiwoo. “Here. Try feeding him! He’s so picky about his food that he throws it away if he gets a whiff of vegetables in it. You have to see how nasty his temper is….”
However…
“Oh my!” Chun Jiwoo touched her face as if she was surprised.
The baby Lee Gun ate from the spoon that Chun Jiwoo held up. He ate the spinach baby food as if it was delicious.
“He's asking for more.”
Hugo was dumbfounded. His mouth fell open. “Hey!!! When I gave you the same thing, you kicked the dining table! You destroyed the gas stove!?”
Lee Gun acted as if he had never done such a thing. He ignored Hugo as he ate the baby food that the others gave him.
“Oh my! He’s too cute!”
Everyone was dying from happiness. They started fighting each other to feed Lee Gun.
Hugo shook as he snorted. “It seems he’s willing to eat anything since he’s hungry. Let’s see when it comes to his nap time. He’s a demon.”
“When you put him down for a nap?”
“That’s right! His true nature comes out! He doesn’t like to sleep at all. It doesn’t matter what I do! He only complains!”
Everyone once again looked puzzled.
“…really? We just need to sing one lullaby to make him fall asleep…”
“What? That’s nonsense! If I could have solved it with that, I wouldn’t have gone through so much trouble in the past six months! Look! He becomes most tyrannical right after he eats—”
Hugo couldn’t believe his eyes when he saw Lee Gun.
“Oh my! Lee Gun-nim is taking a nap. He must be full.”
“?!!”
This was more than sleeping. Lee Gun had an angelic expression on his face.
Feeling a great sense of betrayal, Hugo grabbed Lee Gun by the collar(?), “Hey!!! Wake up!!”
“H…Husband!”
“You aren’t normally like this!! No matter how full you are, you never go to sleep!! Hey!! Wake up! I tried everything to make you go to sleep for the past half year. I couldn’t even go to sleep at night!!”
“Zodiac Saint-nim!!”
“You also never stay still when I change your diaper!!!”
Everyone’s eyes turned round when they witnessed Hugo’s anger. The reason for their surprise was one word.
“Diaper?”
Everyone looked at Hugo as if he was being weird.
“Why are you looking at me like that? What’s wrong with using diapers?”
“We’ve never changed diapers for him.”
“W…What?”
“Oh my! It really is true now that I think about it.”
“Is it the same for you, Madam?”
“Uh? It’s the same for us.”
“That’s odd. Why does he never go potty when we look after him?”
“He is such a mild-mannered and kind person, so why…”
They murmured among themselves as they looked at Hugo.
On the other hand, Hugo’s expression was a sight to behold. At this point, he realized the truth. “You little shit. Did you act that way toward only me??!! You complained about the food and the naptime with only me?! You went on a power trip and screwed with only me?!”
“M…Maybe?”
“H…Hugo-nim?”
An enraged Hugo grabbed Lee Gun. “Hey. Say something! Don’t act like you don’t remember anything! In fact, is it even true that you don’t have your memories?! Hey! Answer me!”
The baby pretended not to hear anything. Lee Gun had an angelic expression on his face as he slept, making Hugo scream.