On Hiatus: God's Personal Reasons

Chapter 124: Crocodile and Spider

The apostle of the God of Destroyer, Gustav, had given birth to a hundred eggs. Just in case, he left them in a remote, untouched swamp in Amazon.

-Krrr!

-Krr krr!

There, a group of crocodiles emanated murderous intent. Unlike ordinary crocodiles, they had limbs as thick as sturdy as logs, and walked like humans.

Moreover, some of them were equipped with legendary armor and weapons, like a full-fledged soldier—all thanks to one spider.

Krik, krik.

The Goddess of the Empire, Arachne, pulled at the webs in each of her six hands.

“Ah, ah, ah.”

“Ah, ah.”

The humans connected to those webs responded accordingly.

“Open. Hunter. Shop.”

Then, the Hunter Shop’s interface appeared, visible only to them. Before the Creation-type Hunters were a mountain of dazzling gold, which was unexpectedly brought by a swarm of ants.

-That’s it! Pile the shiny stones here as per the Goddess’ command!

Even now, the red ants were coming through a small gate in the air, each holding a grain of gold in their mouths.

“Yes, this will do.”

Krik krik—

Arachne tugged on the spider webs again, making the Hunters select some items from the Hunter Shop.

Psss—

At the same time, the pile of gold disappeared, and a massive spear, crafted from the bones of a beast, materialized in its place. The spear, Gae Bolg, used to belong to a legendary Celtic hero, Cú Chulainn, and boasted a perfect accuracy rate.

Growl!

Sensing the overwhelming ominous power coming from the spear, Arachne smiled with satisfaction.

“Excellent.”

Truly, a spear worthy for a king!

Then, Arachne turned to look at the Creation-type Hunters she’d enthralled. Their skulls were cracked open, revealing their cobwebbed brains. Now, they were nothing but puppets who could drool and salivate. Getting her hands on them was an unexpected accomplishment on her end.

In order to increase Alpha’s power, they planned to sacrifice some S-rank Hunters by launching a sneak attack on them. That was when they stumbled upon the Creation-type Hunters. Disappointed by their lack of combat prowess, Alpha had wanted to devour them in one fell swoop. However, naturally sensitive to divine power, Arachne instinctively recognized their abilities.

Those Hunters were like her, blessed by the gods. The Hunter Shop ability was only accessible to a small percentage of Creation-type Hunters, while the system itself was similar to how priests made offerings to gods to receive things in return.

“Ohoho! To think I can obtain treasures with such meager stones.”

The empire had no shortage of stones like these. Originally, Arachne was a goddess who traversed between gods’ worlds. That was how she could open gates to amass the empire’s gold, and equip Gustav’s children with armor.

Thus, Arachne rode on Gae Bolg.

“Everyone, send this to Alpha.”

After bowing respectfully to her, the crocodiles carried the spear to their leader, Alpha, who sat on a throne of rock.

Alpha, who was twice the size of other crocodiles, was clad in black scale armor.

“No. Run, Brother.” Alpha closed his eyes while communicating with his brother, whom he had sent to Kang Woo.

However, his brother was adamant. Instead of retreating, he took out his best artifact, intending to self-destruct...

Slash!

But then, his brother’s head was severed just like that. Yu Il-Shin grinned as if he’d just ripped the head of an insect, and subsequently burned the corpse.

“That bastaaard!”

Flash!

Alpha’s eyes flew open, blazing with fury. He turned to Arachne. “Spider! Is that our enemy?!”

“Correct! He was the evil god who killed the God of Destroyer’s apostle and massacred my empire!” Arachne exclaimed, her voice thick with anger.

Alpha gritted his teeth. A part of him wanted to fight his brother’s killer. But his objective, logical reasoning calmed his raging impulse.

“This won’t be easy.”

He figured he had about a fifty percent chance of winning against Yu Il-Shin. Moreover, if other humans were involved, he’d be put at a disadvantage. He had to level the playing field and avoid making the same mistake as his mother, who’d underestimated humans.

Holding the spear, Gae Bolg, Alpha felt a surge of power run through his body.

“Impressive spear, Spider. We need more equipment. Bring more of those shiny rocks.”

Using the Hunter Shop required immense gold.

Arachne said, “In return, I’ll need your cooperation, like I previously mentioned.”

“Very well. Let’s work together.”

Arachne’s violet lips twisted into a smile as she bowed politely.

“Hoho. That’s a wise decision.”

***

We returned to Kang Woo’s suite. Sword Demon kept watch by the door like an actual bodyguard. Kang Woo and I sat awkwardly on the sofa. Needless to say, I was full of regrets. It felt similar to the regret one had after drinking like a dog the night before.

“Serve me.”

I had uttered those words while playing with Kang Woo’s beard, updating my glorious collection of dark history. What the hell was I thinking?! It felt as if I had no filter on my behavior after equipping the malevolent god title!

But, as if that wasn’t enough...

“Keke. If you serve me, I’ll grant you a single wish.”

I’m not some genie in a lamp!

He was filthy rich!! What kind of wish could I possibly fulfill for him?!

“What you said earlier...Did you mean it?”

After a long, awkward silence, Kang Woo finally spoke.

Ding!

[You have a Follower Quest.]

-----

[Follower Quest]

Grant Kang Woo’s wish and show him the might of god.

Target: Kang Woo

Quest rewards: Kang Woo’s faith

-----

A quest appeared at the same time. Kang Woo’s gaze was filled with longing, like a wanderer looking for an oasis in the desert. I couldn’t ignore that look and said that my words earlier were just a joke?

“Before that, could you listen to my story?”

“Go ahead...”

Then, the regressor Kang Woo began.

[The innate power Blind Eyes of God has been activated.]

Tzzz.

Thus, his life before regression flashed before my eyes.

***

In his past life, Kang Woo used to be a C-rank Creation-type Hunter.

Clang! Claaang!

He was hammering away in his workshop, which lasted until late into the night. Unlike other Creation-type Hunters, Kang Woo couldn’t craft items with his ability. To better understand the craft, he even took apprenticeship for ten years under an unconventional, famous master blacksmith. As a result of his efforts, Kang Woo’s crafts were highly regarded despite him being a C-rank Hunter.

Although incomparable to the ones crafted by high-ranking Creation-type Hunters, at least no Hunter of the same rank could match him.

Clang! Claaang!

How long had he been at it?

-...notice.

Suddenly, a faint whisper reached his ears, stopping his activity.

Again?

Whenever he was working earnestly on his craft, he’d often hear that mysterious whisper. He even went to a doctor to get himself checked, yet they couldn’t find anything wrong with him. Eventually, they suggested he cut back on his workload, but this was something Kang Woo couldn’t compromise on.

Thump thump!

His heart wouldn’t stop pounding for some reason. He felt like a student with an upcoming exam—or rather, like a mouse running away after sensing an impending earthquake. Hence, to get his frantic pounding to subside, he’d work on something.

He kept feeling a sense of urgency, as if he had to prepare for something. He didn’t know what it was, but he had to...

Riiing! Riiing!

Just then, his phone rang. Kang Woo scratched his head as he checked it out.

Ah, is the deadline already?

He was supposed to deliver goods to one of his regulars today. Kang Woo stopped working, and carefully loaded the armor he had crafted into his jeep.

HyeJa Trading

His jeep stopped outside a shabby shop at the corner of Jongno shopping street.

Clink!

As he walked in, he saw a woman in her mid-twenties with a ponytail, wiping the dust off the shelves. She turned around in delight and greeted him.

“Ah! Welcome, Hunter Kang Woo!”

“Hello, Ms. Da-Hye.”

She was the owner of HyeJa Trading. She dropped out of the university to take over the business from her widowed mother. However, the world hadn’t been kind to her. Bounty hunters often plagued her business, looking down and even scamming her.

Thud—

Kang Woo slammed the cases in both hands on the table.

Her eyes sparkled behind her glasses. “Wow! You brought so many today! Thank you so much!”

Da-Hye bowed deeply at him, expressing her gratitude.

“You’re welcome. Thank you for always purchasing so much from me.”

“It’s because your equipment is so popular!”

“Haha. It doesn’t change the fact that they are made by a C-rank Hunter,” Kang Woo replied modestly.

Nevertheless, it was indeed a fact that his business was still running thanks to the high-quality equipment he delivered. Kang Woo's craft was like a B-grade item sold at the price of a C-grade. B-rank Hunters often came to him through word of mouth. @@novelbin@@

“Please wait here for a moment! I’ll bring you some refreshments!”

“Ah, it’s okay—”

“No, I insist! I just brought in some great snacks yesterday!” Da-Hye hurried back.

Kang Woo smiled softly at her, his heart fluttering with a pleasant excitement instead of the usual sense of urgency.

He scratched his head.

Don’t be silly.

Perhaps, it could be called a crush. However, considering the age gap between them, he had no further intentions of pursuing her. As such, merely watching her was enough. He hoped that she’d find her own happiness one day.

Clink!

Just then, more customers walked through the door. A dwarfish man with snake-like eyes, along with two muscular men. Recognizing them as well-known scammers in the neighborhood, Kang Woo’s expression twisted. Apparently, Da-Hye had fallen into their trap before as well.

“Is this where you got the armor?”

“Yes, that’s right, Mr. Johan.”

But something was different this time. They had company, a delicate young man with dull eyes. The leader of the group, Park Chan, a C-rank Fire Combat-type Hunter, was groveling at the man’s waist.

“Hmm.”

The young man, Johan, looked around the shabby shop, seemingly unimpressed. But as soon as he locked eyes with Kang Woo, his eyes widened in shock.

“No way!”

As if he’d found a precious treasure, he hurriedly grabbed Kang Woo’s hand.

“I can feel the grace of god in you!”

That was the beginning of Kang Woo’s first nightmare.