On Hiatus: God's Personal Reasons

Chapter 46: #Even Fanatics Need God’s Salvation

Mole Cricket recalled the harrowing moment.

Beeeeeeeep!

As he looked at the divine artifact in the hand of the malevolent god, an awful, bizarre sound resounded through the air.

He had never heard something like that in his entire life! What was that?! An ultrasound that transcended the auditory realm?!

“Without entering my ear, that abysmal sound rang straight inside my head like the scratching of countless needles! Our gallant troops suddenly went mad and turned against each other. But alas! It was only the beginning! With a single tap of his forefinger, the malevolent god caused a thick poisonous fog to rise from the ground, swallowing us all! Aah, the screams of the fallen were akin to the tolling of doom, heralding hell on earth...”

Mole Cricket clenched his heart with a groan.

“My unit was at the rear. We didn’t even waste a second to hold our breaths, yet the poisonous fog killed anything it touched! Despite the burning pain all over my body, I did my damnedest to run away. ‘I must survive!’ I desperately thought, leaving my comrades behind to rot.

“Then, that abominable butcher’s finger emitted a blinding light. Instinctively, I buried myself underground. A deafening roar was heard behind me as massive lightning engulfed the area. When I resurfaced a few hours later, the Bird of Paradise Troop was no more. Nothing remained of 300,000 of them, except for ashes...”

Mole Cricket’s gaze was hollow, while his feet twitched as if he had fallen into a swamp.

“Everyone, do not go against that malevolent god. Run... just run, until your wings and feet give out... That’s the only way to survive, even if just for a bit longer... Cough! Blerghhh!”

As Mole Cricket desperately mustered his last words, black blood oozed out from all his crevices. He died shortly after.

“Gasp!”

“Aargh!”

All of a sudden, the soldiers who brought Mole Cricket in began convulsing madly, and vomited black blood one after the other. Arachne held her breath as she withdrew from them.

“S-stand back! It's the malevolent god's curse!”

“Hyiieee!”

Everyone stepped away from them, their eyes filled with dread. Those soldiers eventually met their demise as well. But nothing could prepare them for the sheer terror that was to come.

Sizzle!

Their remains crumbled into sand and disintegrated, transforming into a black circular mass of metal. An ominous skull mark was engraved on it, emitting a sinister aura.

[You have been rewarded 3 Dark Gcoins.]

Swoosh!

Along with the unintelligible sound, the mass of metal disappeared as well.

“W-what’s that...?”

“...Oh, dear lord. Does that mean you won’t leave anything behind if you perish to that malevolent god?!”

Even the most seasoned warriors and higher-ups of the empire were aghast. Arachne was no exception, as she felt a chill that made all her hair stand on end.

How preposterous!

She couldn’t believe it. How could a sproutling god have such power?! Not only was he capable of emitting soundwaves that drove people into a frenzy and spewing lethal fog, he could also command lightning! Wasn’t that a feat exclusive to heavenly gods?! And that dreadful sight they’d witnessed earlier!

He’s only going to get stronger. We must take care of him before that could happen!

What if that malevolent god decided to amass faith and rise through the ranks? That could very well threaten the existence of this iron-blooded empire that the emperor had spent five hundred years developing!

“Summon all the Ten Swords and great generals scattered across the continent right away!” Arachne commanded with a severe look on her face.

“Pardon? B-but Milady, the underwater demons are lying in wait at our borders, waiting for an opportunity to attack...”

“Who cares about such trivial matters!” Arachne furiously slammed her fist against the table. “His Majesty is in the process of ascending the god throne and will soon achieve it! We must offer the head of that malevolent god to him! Unless you want to incur the wrath of His Majesty, do as I say!”

“Y-yes, Milady!”

Arachne gritted her teeth as she watched the higher-ups move busily. No matter how strong the malevolent god was, he stood no chance against their overwhelming number!

Shiver—

And yet, she shivered helplessly as an unconquerable fear rose from the depths of her heart.

Meanwhile, outside the conference room, a handsome man chewed his lips as he watched Arachne. He was the Poison Sword of the Ten Swords, Buttor, who had been unable to attend the meeting.

“That insolent malevolent god! His followers are just as impudent! How dare they upset my enchanting goddess! They’ve committed unpardonable sins!”

Buttor bowed respectfully toward Arachne’s direction.

“Please forgive me for leaving without uttering a single word to you. I know leaving is the last thing you'd want, as you cherish me greatly, but I’m crossing the line this time. Do not worry, and await news of my victory. I, Poison Sword, Buttor, will be sure to eradicate the malevolent god and his people!”

Indeed, Buttor had also witnessed the power of the malevolent god earlier. In spite of that, his eyes were fearless. The malevolent god could wield a gazillion bizarre powers, yet none of it would matter as long as he was out of reach.

“Malevolent God, your lowly and puny followers will go down first.”

God and their followers were closely connected. By wiping out their followers, the malevolent god would lose a huge chunk of his power. With a fiery gaze, Buttor spread his tiger-striped wings and flew up north to the forest where the malevolent god was.

***

[You have been rewarded 3 Dark Gcoins.]

[You have accepted 300,123 refugees of the Termite Kingdom into the territory.]

[You have accepted 131,302 prisoners of the Aphid Kingdom.]

[Through the propagation of Saintess and Priestess Anty, the refugees and prisoners are being converted into “Yu Il-Shinism.”]

[Current progress 69%...]

[Experience points of Anty's have reached the maximum threshold!]

[Anty has been promoted from a Priestess to a Bishop. She has obtained the Bishop’s exclusive skill: Descent]

[Congratulations! The Ninth Floor of the Tower of Warriors: Trial of Darkness has been cleared.]

[Experience points of Il-Ho have reached the maximum threshold.]

[Il-Ho has been promoted from an Aspiring Warrior[1] to Rookie (Muscles) Warrior.]

[Challenger Il-Ho challenges the Tenth Floor of the Tower of Warriors: Trial of Poison.]

[Experience points of Yi-Ho’s have reached the maximum threshold.]

[Yi-Ho has been promoted from Soldier to Spearman.]

[Experience points of Sam-Ho’s have reached the maximum threshold.]

[Sam-Ho has been promoted from Soldier to Archer.]

...

[Experience points of Baek-Ho’s have reached the maximum threshold.]

[Baek-Ho has been promoted from Soldier to Field Musician.]

“Phew.”

Pop!

I opened a bottle of Bacchus-F, Blessing of the Growth God, while reading the messages from God-Maker.

“The ultrasonic repellent sure is handy.”

I put down the instrument hanging around my neck on the table. Technology must’ve been advancing quite a bit, seeing how we could repel insects using ultrasound. In principle, it emitted high-frequency sounds that only insects could hear to manipulate them.

Honestly, I’m not exactly sure how it works, but it’s definitely useful in exterminating them.

“Also, I can Skill Share with Ms. Sung Mi-Ri roughly three times.”

While exterminating the insect empire, I took the opportunity to test out Skill Sharing with her. Currently, among my followers, only Sung Mi-Ri and Il-Ho were available for Skill Share.

Il-Ho’s Strong Body had a skill duration, while Sung Mi-Ri Lightning ability had a limit to the number of uses. Using it once was fine, but more than that, I began to feel worn out and dizzy. I had also tried to see if I could use both their skills simultaneously...

[Warning! Insufficient divine power!]

[As a Lowest-tier God, your body might break down if you Skill Share with followers stronger than you!]

However, the vicious warning from God-Maker stopped me.

Doing so will cause my body to break down...? Seems like sticking with one person at a time will be best for now.

Still, something stood out to me.

“I’d understand if it’s Ms. Sung Mi-Ri, but how is Il-Ho stronger than me?”

Well, compared to when he first entered the Tower of Warriors, there was no denying that Il-Ho had become much stronger now. After all, I had spent tons of Godcoins on the series of Blessing of the Growth God just for him.

But still, isn’t he originally an ant? Lately, I’ve also been training hard...

As both a human and a god, it hurt my pride to be seen as weaker than an Il-Ho.

No way. There has to be a mistake.

I suddenly thought of Il-Ho.

Oh, right, wasn’t he challenging the tenth floor? Seems like he managed to clear the ninth floor without any trouble.

The Trial of Darkness on the ninth floor required him to safely navigate the passageway in pitch-black darkness and reach the tenth floor.

It might sound easy, but there was a huge obstacle on the way: an immense, endless rift. It stretched from the start of the ninth floor to the next, roughly 1 km long if measured against the height of an adult male.

At the same time, there was something akin to bridges across from it, in the form of small peaks. They were the size of Il-Ho’s head, with about 30 meters of space around them. Although they might serve as footholds, it was hell to navigate in the dark. And of course, Il-Ho slipped.

“Aaaaargh! Oh, Lord! I'll be going aheaaad!”

“No! Il-Ho!”

“...Muuuuucles!”

Il-Ho fell into the bottomless rift, leaving behind such a bizarre will. No words could describe how hard my heart pounded as I watched that.

Ssss—

However, moments later, a haggard-looking Il-Ho returned to the starting point. Apparently, as long as he survived the fall, he’d be respawned at the starting point.

“Healing Ring Finger of God!”

Ding!

[You paid 1 Gcoin for the healing.]

As he caught his breath, I rushed to cast my healing skill on him.

“Thank you, My Lord! I will make sure to succeed this time!”

As soon as his body was healed, he took on the challenge again and suffered another fall. He couldn’t make use of the footholds with those stubby legs. Not to mention, to step on them, he needed to be able to see them first.

[Warning!]

[Only the challenger can clear the warrior’s solemn trial!]

But when I tried to illuminate a path for him with a torch, a warning came and extinguished it right away.

Thus, Il-Ho fell again and again. After he had almost fallen a hundred times, Il-Ho began doing something weird. Instead of attempting to cross with the footholds, he threw himself into the rift.

“Hey! What's wrong with you! Are you crazy?”

“Interestingly enough, my muscles and bones feel stronger every time I’m healed after a fall! Surely, this is a new epoch to muscle training, My Lord!” Il-Ho replied seriously.

Il-Ho grinned like a batshit Lego. That side of him honestly terrified me.

“Ah... I see... Hmm, I have something urgent to tend to, so I'll be away for a while. Be good while I'm away and don't jump down by yourself. Got it?”

“Yes! I've just discovered my momentum, so you don't have to worry!”

Then, while I was away, Il-Ho managed to clear the trial on his own without issues.

“Isn’t the tenth floor the Trial of Poison?”

In Korean, the word “godok” did not refer to “solitude” like in Solitary Gourmet[2], but rather poison. It was a type of ancient curse, which required him to fight against countless other poisonous insects Battle Royale-style.

“That kid, Il-Ho... will be fine, right?”

I was slowly getting worried. I blamed the name of that trial. I launched God-Maker, raising my ring finger just in case I needed to use my skill right away.

Ding!

[The Tenth Floor of the Tower of Warriors: Trial of Poison.]

The scene on my phone had changed to what seemed like part of an Amazon Jungle. Then...

-Kieeeek!

“Muuuuucles! Stay still, dammit!”

Rumble!

Glowing faintly, Il-Ho pulled out the head of a centipede many times bigger than him.

“Hahaha! Another tribute to offer to God Yu Il-Shin! I’m sure he’ll be happy!”

Around him were small piles of countless headless monsters he’d slain. What was he? A stray cat I had brought back home? Was he trying to repay me by bringing back the corpses of whatever insects he could catch?

Il-Ho, I didn’t know you have that kind of side, too!

Alright, let’s pretend I never saw that.

I carefully turned off God-Maker, then drank the white fluid, Special Blessing of the Growth God Ver. 2.

“Shall I wrap up my training then?”

Just as I was doing my warm-ups, God-Maker rang again, surprising me.

Thinking Il-Ho was trying to offer tributes, I launched the APP. But it turned out not to be the case.

Ding!

[An emergency quest has occurred!]

[Follower Salvation Quest]

[Target: Sword Demon (Fanatic)]

[God Yu Il-Shin, do you wish to save your fanatic Sword Demon from a life-threatening crisis? (Yes/No)]

1. He was a soldier before, so he probably leveled up off-screen ☜

2. From 2012 TV show: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kodoku_no_Gourmet ☜