On Hiatus: God's Personal Reasons

Chapter 37: Too Many Sadists are After Me

-Young god, the hour of your death has finally arrived!

Following the skull’s announcement, the cells in my body began shutting down like extinguished candles. The blood that stained my cheeks felt terrifyingly cold. Soon, my sense of touch also disappeared.

Is this how death feels like? No, I’m scared. Someone save me!

“Mr. Yu Il-Shin!” Sung Mi-Ri screamed as she ran to me.

Meanwhile, Baldie took that as a chance to press the detonator. Just like in action flicks, I saw his actions in slow motion. In that fleeting moment, I also witnessed his thoughts.

Apostle Johan said it’s best to reap the victims after sufficiently terrifying them, but I have no choice! In return, Thunder Emperor will be made into a sacrifice! I’m sure he’ll forgive me!

How dare this imbecile think of harming her!

Sss—

Drawing my last breath, I raised my forefinger, aiming it at Baldie.

“Crushing... Forefinger of God.”

The sensation that I felt then was similar to when I was a giant crushing the puny insects in God-Maker.

“Gasp!”

Baldie instantly went white. The fact that he was sweating buckets was highlighted by his shaved head. His pants were also soaking wet. As he mumbled in horror, his fearful eyes found me.

“W-who are you? A-are you... the God of Destroyer...?”

“Ms. Sung Mi-Ri... now!”

As I glared at Baldie, who was spouting nonsense, I yelled at Sung Mi-Ri, who was coming at me.

Flash!

Sung Mi-Ri came to her senses on time and lunged at Baldie.

“Gasp!”

The flash of light caused Baldie to reflexively mash the detonator.

Click! Click!

“Argh! Why?! Why did nothing happen?!”

Of course, because I had turned it “off” earlier with the Crushing Forefinger of God.

“Away with you!”

Baldie was in too much panic to dodge Sung Mi-Ri’s punch, and her fist connected to his stunned face.

“Aaargh!”

With a furious thunderclap, Baldie was slammed into the hospital floor. The security guards rushed in, swiftly removing the bombs from the foaming Baldie.

“W-we’re saved!”

“Thunder Emperor! Thank you!”

“Kyaa! Unnie!”

The people cheered and surrounded Sung Mi-Ri.

“W-wait! Please let me through! Mister! Are you alright!” Sung Mi-Ri shouted anxiously.

Soon, she found me lying on the floor, and began sobbing.

I looked terrible. My pale face was sunken in a puddle of blood, my eyes rolled back, and my tongue fully stretched out. I looked just like a corpse.

“Waaaaaah! Mister! Don’t die on me!”

Suddenly, the supposed corpse, Yu Il-Shin, stood up.

Phew, I thought I was going to die there...

I almost crossed the Jordan River. I was only alive thanks to the quest completion.

-----

[Quest: Save others if you want to live]

The lives of others are as precious as your own. O sick patient, if you wish to live, save 100 other humans with that motivation. Only then will I cure you of your illness.

Number of humans saved until quest completion: 1,238/100

Duration: Unlimited

-----

[You have exceeded the number of humans saved required for the quest.]

[Congratulations! You have completed the quest: Save others if you want to live!]

[You have been rewarded Yuanhua’s Pill from the quest.]

[The owner of the Classic Green Satchel is pleased with your good deeds.]

[His divine power has been imbued in you as an additional reward.]

A refreshing taste, similar to Eundan[1], filled my mouth. The pill dissolved almost immediately, and its contents were absorbed into my body. I was resurrected, and my body was recovering slowly but surely.

I wasn’t sure how all of this happened. But apparently, I had successfully prevented Baldie from blowing the whole place up, saving everyone in the area.

“What’s with that guy?”

“Wasn’t he supposed to be dying? Was it an act?”

A few survivors murmured among themselves, watching me quizzically.

Right, they suspected I was in cahoots with Baldie. I'd better leave as soon as possible!

With my phone in hand, I waved at Sung Mi-Ri, who was surrounded by people, reassuring her.

After mouthing the words, “I’ll call you later,” I fled the scene.

Ohoho, that sure was dangerous, but look! I don’t have to pay any hospital bills!

Little did I know, this incident would lead to a bunch of sadists targeting me.

***

A few days after the bomb threat at the hospital, Thunder Emperor became a hot topic on all media channels for saving the day. The Hunter Association saw this as an opportunity to calm public opinion after the appearance of the Second Moon, and thus promoted her.

Meanwhile, in the office of the guild leader of the Brilliance Guild...

A man with long, curly hair watched the CCTV footage of the hospital from a few days ago. On the screen, Thunder Emperor could be seen apprehending the terrorist. In response, the terrorist pressed the detonator, but it didn’t go off.

When he saw that, the guild leader’s mouth instantly went dry. After all, he was the one who prepared those bombs. Immediately, he sank to his knees with a thud.

“A-Apostle Johan! I have checked the bomb several times. Teh-Beom must’ve made a mistake somewhere...!”

“Shush.”

Johan held his index finger up to his lips, signaling the guild leader to keep quiet. After replaying the CCTV footage a few more times, Johan seemed to figure something out. He smiled and stood up, still not wearing any clothes.

The guild leader didn’t say a word about his state of undress. He knew that the Apostle was a lunatic to begin with, especially considering a certain incident. If only he didn’t know, maybe he wouldn’t be so scared right now.

Only half a year back, Johan had blown off the upper half of the previous guild leader, who was an A-rank Hunter at the time. In fact, that was how the position fell into the current guild leader’s lap. It was nothing to be happy about.

“Guild Leader.” Johan’s blood-red lips parted.

“Y-yes!”

“Everyone makes mistakes. Sometimes, these mistakes become stepping stones that bring us to a higher place.”

Instantly, colors returned to the guild leader’s face.

“Thank you! I won’t disappoint you next time, Apostle!”

“Of course you won’t, because there won’t be next time.” Johan smiled gently. “I’ll give you three days.”

“Sorry? What do you mean...?”

Johan pointed at some people on the screen with his long and slender fingers. First was Thunder Emperor, then the dying man lying in a pool of blood in the corner.

“Kill that girl and bring that man to me.”

The guild leader could see why Johan wanted Thunder Emperor dead. She had put a damper on their plan. Even if she had just risen to Rank A, it wasn’t impossible to kill her. Yet, he had no idea why the Apostle wanted that man alive.

“Apostle Johan, why do you want that man alive...?”

Johan shook his head slowly.

“Sigh, what a dunce. See, this is why you aren’t favored by god. How can you be blind to the value of this man? He’s shining so brilliantly among all those worthless cretins.”

Johan pushed his face toward the screen. Reflected in his eyes was the scene of Yu Il-Shin awkwardly getting up from the puddle of blood on the floor.

“Aah, I can see it. I can see the favor of god within your body.”

Johan licked the part of the screen where Yu Il-Shin was, his member standing upright, swelling with desire.

“Kukuku, I’m looking forward to the time when we meet.”

The guild leader watched the entire scene unfold in horror.

***

“Uuh, so cold.”

Chills slowly crept up all over my body, making me shiver.

Hadn’t I recovered already? Was there a mistake? Believing in Hua Tuo’s reputation, I paid 50,000 Gcoins and even completed the quest, but the medicine still didn’t cure me.

“When is this coming off?”

The skull tattoo was still on my forehead. It had faded quite a bit since I first saw it, but still looked quite shady. My hair stood whenever I recalled the sinister announcement of the skull.

“Is there any tattoo removal medicine in the God’s Shop?”

I opened the God’s Shop and was about to browse the shop catalog when...

Ding!

[A Gayami follower, Il-Ho, is desperately looking for you.]

Il-Ho? Was it the one training at the Training Ground that day? I accessed the Training Ground and saw Il-Ho sprawled on the ground.

“Huh?”

In just a short period, the once scrawny Il-Ho became packed with muscles! Even though he used to be skin and bones, like a classic refugee! Mhm, exercise was important after all.

“So, you were looking for me?” I spoke in a low tone, trying to act like a god, causing Il-Ho to shudder.

He couldn’t even raise his head as he shouted, “Lord Yu Il-Shin! I have received the secret potion! As expected, the effects were amazing! The sick will be fully healed, while the old revitalized!”

Huh? What did I give him? Oh, I remember now.

After seeing how hard he trained alone late at night, I gave him a bottle of Blessing of the Growth God. Apparently, what was merely a Bacchus-F to me became a panacea to him.

“P-please forgive me, Lord. But could you give me more of that secret potion?” Il-Ho then pleaded.

“Sure, why not.”

It wasn’t a difficult request.

[You have purchased 100 bottles of Blessing of the Growth God.]

[You paid 100,000 Gcoins.]

Ding! Ding!

[Eternal Seeker is very pleased with this pushover. He is planning to put a new product line up in the shop soon. He hopes that you will come again.]

My frustration at being called a pushover aside, the hundred vials I had purchased appeared in God-Maker’s world.

Thud! Thud thud thud!

In no time, the Training Ground was filled with huge vials that were many times larger than Il-Ho. Il-Ho stared at me with a mixture of gratitude and disbelief.

“Alas, M-My Lord...”

“Do you need anything else?”

100,000 Gcoins were nothing to me now. Pfft, was this how squandering money without a care in the world felt like? I might be dirt poor in Korean won, but I was filthy rich in Godcoins.

“Hic, hic! Thank you for your grace, Lord Yu Il-Shin! I, Il-Ho, will absolutely repay you for your compassion!”

Aigoo, for an ant, he sure has a way with words.

“Okay, just don’t overdo it,” I nodded as my ears tingled, and replied dryly.

Il-Ho might've acquired human form, but he was still the size of an ant. At least in the game, anyway. What else could he do for me? I then turned off God-Maker.

“Ugh, I’ll have to take some tonics tomorrow.” I tucked myself under the covers, drifting off to sleep.

Snore, snore.

And just as I was deep asleep, I had a strange dream in which I was surrounded by a thick fog.

Click clack, click clack.

An unusual-looking figure riding a black horse was approaching.

Haha, a skeleton?

Even as a fantasy genre writer, this dream was just too much. Was this an occupational disease? But for some reason, the skeletal figure looked familiar?

The skeleton glowered at me with red eyes.

-How dare you! I, the Leader of the Horrible Plague, shouldn’t be made to descend like this! Do not rest easy yet, Young God! You haven’t escaped death!

1. A kind of candy that makes one's mouth feel refreshed with its smell. ☜