On Hiatus: God's Personal Reasons

Chapter 38: First Floor of the Tower of Warriors - Trial of Rock

In the world of God-Maker, Antrinia...

What appeared to be a termite was dangling from the ceiling, cocooned in pure white thread.

Drip, drip drip!

Its bodily fluids trickled into a golden goblet encrusted with jewels right beneath it. When the goblet was almost full, a handsome man with leopard-printed wings carefully retrieved the goblet.

He trod down the dark and desolate hallway, which resembled a cave. When he reached a door engraved with a spider design, he knocked.

“Your Grace, I’ve brought your meal.”

“Buttor, is that you? Enter.”

In response, a voice that sounded like fluttering jade beads came from within. Buttor proceeded to open the door with courtesy.

Inside was Arachne, lying indolently on a bed made of silk threads. Her elegance, reminiscent of a bellflower, paired well with her decadence. Indeed a beauty worthy of the affection of the cold-blooded demigod, the emperor.

Buttor swallowed hard. Deep down, he knew that she was more than just a ravishing beauty. Arachne was a natural predator. Many men had fallen prey to her charm, becoming a part of her. In spite of that, he found it difficult to suppress his desire to be eaten by her.

“What’s the matter?”

“No, Your Grace looks so beautiful that I couldn’t help myself...”

“Am I? How can I possibly compare to your wings?” Arachne chuckled.

“Compared to your beauty, my wings are nothing but rags, Your Grace.”

“Hoho. You sure have a way with words. Come closer, Buttor.”

Buttor bowed slightly, approaching Arachne. Arachne’s eight pairs of eyes feverishly took in Buttor’s leopard-printed wings.

“Everyone is vying for your wings. Little did they know, they contain a deadly poison that can kill tens of millions.”

“My poison wings belong solely to you, Your Grace. Give me your words, and I’ll see that the malevolent god succumbs to my poisonous powder.”

Despite his flamboyant appearance, Buttor was also one of the Ten Swords of the empire.

“There’s no need for you to step up, Buttor.”

“But if the curse of the Leader of the Horrible Plague didn’t work on that evil god... His Majesty... will be furious.”

Arachne caressed Buttor’s beautiful wings, whispering, “Hehe. Don’t worry. The Leader of the Horrible Plague is a very relentless and greedy god. He won’t let any of his prey escape.”

***

The skeleton, Leader of the Horrible Plague, jutted out his tongue, which resembled a black heat haze, and licked his teeth.

-Ahaha! Do you think you can cheat death with those petty tricks of yours? You’re mine. Every ounce of your divine power is also mine... What are you doing, punk?

Can’t you see? Oh, right, the skeleton has no eyes.

I was spreading a blanket on the ground. Since this was a dream, I only had to will it into existence. It was a piece of cake for me, who had mastered lucid dreams since young. dIt may be unconventional, but the method I used to wake up from lucid dreams was to go to sleep.

-B-bastard! What are you planning! Hey, I’m speaking to you! How dare you ignore me?! I’m the great malevolent god of the 7th Realm! You insolent young god!

Ugh, why is this skeleton making so much fuss?

“Skeleton, shut up already. Let me sleep.”

The skeleton was so furious that he was rattling all over.

-Kehehe. I haven’t suffered such a humiliation in a thousand years. Just you wait. I’ll use you as a pod to cultivate diseases! You’ll suffer from all manners of illnesses in this world! Eventually, you’ll beg for me to end your suffering, weeping until your tears dry up! But by that time, it’ll be too late! You’ll live on for eons in torment!

Yes, yes, whatever. What a noisy skeleton.

I turned my back and the skeleton and did my best to wake up from this dream quickly.

Crack!

The skeleton gritted its teeth, growling.

-O’ Scythe of Death, sever the neck of that arrogant young god... Huh? Aren’t you Nightmare? How are you...!

Whiiir! Grab!

The skeleton suddenly sounded flustered.

[Night Rose’s vines coiled around the Leader of the Horrible Plague’s skeleton.]

[Silently Crawling Nightmare is adamant that Yu Il-Shin is hers.]

Rattle rattle!

[Night Rose’s vines ripped Leader of the Horrible Plague’s skull.]

-W-wait! I wasn’t informed of any of this! You had eyes on hi—aargh!

Crackle!

[Leader of the Horrible Plague’s skull has been sucked off by the Night Rose.]

[All-Cutting Heavenly Sword watched with regret as the spectacle unfolded, and eventually left the skeleton lying motionless on the ground.]

Rattle rattle!

“Nyam nyam, I can’t eat anymore.”

Ignoring the bone-crushing sound, I continued sleeping peacefully in the cradle of nightmares.

***

“Mm, what a nice sleep I had!”

The next morning, I woke up early. I felt awesome and refreshed, probably because I had slept well. More importantly, the skull tattoo on my forehead was gone! I didn’t even know how I got it in the first place. It vanished as suddenly as it appeared.

“Actually, who am I kidding? Pretty sure it’s because of this shitty God-Maker.”

I was no longer surprised by anything that happened to me. Did I always have such a mentality? Having a brush with death a couple of times might’ve desensitized me to everything. In that case, things must’ve gone from bad to worse lately.

Ding!

[Il-Ho desperately pleads for salvation from God Yu Il-Shin.]

“Il...-Ho?”

When I saw Il-Ho’s salvation request, I immediately launched God-Maker. But he wasn’t in the Training Ground. I looked around the city I had developed, and my gaze eventually fell on the macabre tower at the center.

I clearly remembered barricading the entrance of the tower with a bunch of debris. But now, that mess had been cleared somewhat.

“Don’t tell me...”

Ding!

[Il-Ho desperately pleads for salvation from God Yu Il-Shin.]

Sure enough, I found Il-Ho inside the tower. He was lying on the floor, half his body crushed, on his last breath.

***

“Muscles! Muscles!”

Il-Ho never stopped training in the Training Ground. Without any sleep or rest, he endlessly and recklessly trained like a madman. As a result, not only was he sweating blood, all of his muscles were bursting. Even if the Gayami was an inherently strong race, there was still a limit.

Plop!

“Urk...”

Collapsing to the ground, Il-Ho crawled toward the giant crystal pillar in the center of the Training Ground.

Pop!

Barely making it, he popped open the bottle cap, then chugged the yellow liquid inside. And to his surprise...

[Blessing of the Growth God enters Il-Ho.]

[Eternal Seeker remarks pleasantly that muscle ruptures are the norm for gym rats.]

Il-Ho jumped to his feet. His muscles weren’t not only healed, but also became stronger and firmer than before.

“Ooh, Almighty God Yu Il-Shin!” Il-Ho praised their god, overwhelmed with joy.

The divine drink bestowed by God Yu Il-Shin completely erased his fatigue, so he didn’t even need to rest.

“Muscles! Muscles!”

Il-Ho picked up several more rocks that were much larger than himself, before running laps around the Training Ground. Just as he did so, the statue of Yu Il-Shin on the Training Ground spoke.

[Experience points of Il-Ho have met the conditions to obtain a class.]

[Il-Ho has been promoted to a Soldier.]

[Il-Ho has been rewarded with +2 on all armed-related stats.]

“...?”

While Il-Ho couldn’t comprehend the unintelligible words, he could feel the change in him.

Tzzz! Clack! Clack!

Il-Ho’s entire body burst with power, and at the same time, gleaming metal armor appeared on him.

“Ooh, Almighty God Yu Il-Shin. Thank you.”

Il-Ho could tell that he had become much stronger than before. However, he still wasn’t satisfied. He recalled the overwhelming strength of the ruthless emperor and his army. He still had a long way to go if he wanted to stand on equal footing with them.

Then, he recalled the nightmare where his fellows were being devoured alive by them—so vividly, as if it had been yesterday.

Il-Ho glanced at the Tower of Warriors in the middle of the city. If not for those boulders at the entrance, he’d be able to brave the tower.

After a few hours of work, Il-Ho finally stepped into the Tower of Warriors.

Step!

The inside of the tower was unlike anything he had expected. The vast space spanning several hundred pyeong was filled with nothingness.

A passageway?

Il-Ho was looking around the place when he spotted a large, diagonal passageway. It led upward, and could probably fit around ten people. As soon as he stepped in the passageway...

[Challenger Il-Ho takes on the Trial of the Warrior.]

[First floor: Trial of Rock]

[Clear conditions: Go through the passageway to reach the second floor.]

[The trial starts now.]

Then, a dull, bleak sound rang.

Ruuuumble!

A boulder the size of a human rolled down the passageway.

“Gasp!” Il-Ho reflexively dodged to the side.

Bam!

The boulder that whizzed past him crashed on the first floor.

Ruuumble!

But that was only the first one. Whenever he went up the passageway, boulders would roll down.

“Now!”

After being promoted to a Soldier, Il-Ho was able to dodge them with ease!

I can still take on such trials!

Soon, Il-Ho realized how sorely mistaken he was.

Ruuumble! Ruuumble!

A boulder so large that it seemed to fill the entire passageway rolled down, dashing Il-Ho’s hope.

“Oh, Lord...”

Bam! Squash!

***

“...UuuUuuh.”

Il-Ho was tragically crushed by a huge boulder. His bones and flesh were ruptured all over. If it weren’t for the armor bestowed on him, he’d have died instantly.

Drawing his last, he finally understood why God Yu Il-Shin had barred entry to this place. Il-Ho cried in despair. How foolish and weak he was! Why did he do something so reckless?! He let the fact that he’d gained a little strength go to his head.

“Haa... haa... P-please save... Yu Il-...” With a mangled body, Il-Ho cried out.

But did he have the right to ask for salvation to begin with?

Ruuumble!

Another boulder, even larger and heavier than the previous one, came tumbling down. It rolled with such a terrifying force, threatening to finish him off.

Il-Ho tightly shut his eyes. He was going to die. If only he could see God Yu-Il Shin, along with the fair and just Saintess for one last time...

Oh, Almighty God! Please protect the Saintess and my tribe in my stead!

Ruuumble!

The massive boulder rumbled loudly, about to crush Il-Ho. But...

Tzz! Tzzz!

The space before Il-Ho split open and a huge finger appeared!

Bam!

Il-Ho struggled to open his eyes at the thundering sound. A miracle had happened. The giant boulder was stopped by a finger.

“Oh, Lord Almighty...”

Tears rolled down as Il-Ho looked up at the owner of the finger.

There was Yu Il-Shin, who looked down at him with mercy and compassion.