On Hiatus: God's Personal Reasons

Chapter 160: #Love Blooms in the Universe Too, But That’s Kinda

God of Harmony's Scales...?

I didn’t know what kind of item it was, but since regressor Kang Woo recommended it, it must be out of the ordinary. I pored over the map carefully. The location seemed unusual, but I figured it’d be fine since I had to clear an A-rank or higher dungeon once every month as an S-rank Hunter. Afterward, I kept the map securely in my pocket.

“Thank you for the food, Mi-Na noona.”

“I enjoyed the food. That was some good meat.”

“Hoho, I enjoyed the food. Korean food definitely lives up to its name.”

“Grr, shut up... you freeloaders.” Sung Mi-Na gritted her teeth as she paid for the meal.

All five of us finished a hundred servings of Hanwoo in one sitting. It was so ridiculous, I couldn’t tell if I was eating beef or if the beef was eating me. I must’ve had around thirty servings of it.

Did becoming a god improve my appetite? Anyway, I definitely had stuffed myself.

After today’s feast, I thought I could survive on instant rice and soy sauce for a week.

“Alright, Lin Xiaoming. I’ll leave it to you.”

“Ah, you’ve finally given me a mission! This Lin mei will make sure to complete the task to perfection, even if it means my life is forfeit!” Lin Xiaoming tearfully clutched my hand tightly.

“Uh, calm down, there’s no need to go that far.”

I assigned her to be Kang Woo’s bodyguard like Sword Demon. Her screw was a bit loose, but she was still capable, so I was sure she’d be able to protect him well. Moreover, with this, she’d stop visiting my place randomly.

“Hmm~ Hmm~” I head back home, humming happily after lining my stomach with a layer of delicious oil.

“Oh.” Reality hit me as I saw the huge gaping hole at my ceiling. “I had totally forgotten about this.”

I pondered over how I should fix it until the sky turned dark.

Hmm, the money I had received from Shin Yoo was donated to the village where Xu Zhu’s mother lived. I also couldn't ask my sister for money like before. I better find some ways to earn some money...

Now that I had become an S-rank Hunter, I could probably receive an exorbitant down payment from any guilds out there, but I didn’t want to be tied down.

I heard that going into dungeons can rake in some cash? Should I look into other dungeons before going to the one mentioned by Kang Woo hyungnim?

According to the news, Mana Stones dropped by monsters in the dungeons could be sold for a price. Moreover, if I was lucky, I could even get my hands on artifacts or weapons. But where should I start looking? The discovered S-rank dungeons were highly sought after; guilds had to enter bidding wars to secure entry clearance.

Diriririri!

Just then, my phone rang.

Mighty Editor-in-charge

Yikes! Why would he call me?! Is he rushing me on my next deadline? N-no, it couldn't be. I should have some stockpile left! I don't want to be canned anymore!

I prepared myself briefly, shut my eyes and answered the call. “He...llo? What is this about?”

—Haha

“Huh? F-for what?”

This man, he didn’t call me after learning that I had obtained my S-rank Hunter license today, did he? As I withheld my suspicions, his next sentence caught me by surprise.

“R-really?”

***

“Hehe!” I snickered every time I recalled the news from my editor.

-You seem to be in an extremely good mood today, Lord Yu Il-Shin! Did something good happen?

Anty asked when she heard my laughter.

I nodded. “Of course! Don’t be shocked, Anty! It’s still in the planning stages, but they said my novel is going to be turned into a webtoon!”

Webtoon serialization—indeed, my novel was in the talks of being turned into a comic! This was a common indicator of a successful genre novelist. Of course, whether or not the webtoon itself would be a flop was another story, but it was still a considerable feat! Although it was still in the planning stages, this was the first time I’d received this offer in my ten-year-long career.

I felt like I was finally being recognized as a writer.

-Wow! Congratulations, Lord Yu Il-Shin!

Anty jumped in joy at the news, and seeing her share the joy made me even happier. But, did she even know what it meant for me?

-Forgive my foolishness, but I don’t really understand what it meant, but seeing Lord Yu Il-Shin so happy, I’m sure it’s a good thing! Your happiness is my happiness!

She beamed.

Oh dear, she’s such an angel!

Alright, let’s use this motivation to start working.

“Anty, could you make a pose for a second?”

-By pose... do you mean like this?

Anty placed her chin on top of her palms, mimicking a flower, smiling brightly.

“Oh, that’s great!”

Tadak tadak!

I typed away furiously on my keyboard, creating Anty’s profile. I was working on a synopsis and character profile for the webtoon planning meeting.

<Webtoon Planning — Character Profile>

Saintess Anty

Gender: Female

Age: 16

Height: 53.3mm

Weight: Estimated to be 2g

Background: A termite with the title of Saintess among the Black Tribe ants, she is the first in Antrinia to worship Yu Il-Shin. Later, she is named Anty and evolves into a human form, becoming a member of the Gayami tribe.

Character Design: ...

I drew a draft of Anty’s pose in the “Character Design” field, and soon her character profile filled up an entire A4 paper. Finding it slightly incomplete, I added one last important field at the end.

Shareable Skill

Villainize: Changes her title of Saintess into Fallen Saintess, allowing her to borrow the powers of the Malevolent God Yu Il-Shin.

MP: 8,950

“The more detailed a profile, the better.”

I wasn’t sure if it was because my Appraisal skill got upgraded, or due to the bracelet incident at the S-rank appointment ceremony, but I could now see MP values and available, shareable skills of my followers.

“Alright, next up.”

I prepared a write up for the next character, the protagonist of my novel! The symbol of indomitable courage, determination, and power! I accessed the channel linked to Il-Ho, who was climbing the Tower of Warriors.

Tzzz!

Huh? What’s with the landscape?

The screen displayed an endless darkness—the vast expanse of space.

[Long ago, in a galaxy far, far away, an evil, world-devouring God of Destroyer had appeared. He was broken into thousands of pieces by a knightly Sword God who worshipped the moon. However, after thousands of years had passed, his apostles resurfaced to threaten the peace of the galaxy. Just then, Princess Esméralda, leader of the Great Cosmic Alliance, summoned her warrior once again using an ancient, forgotten magic...]

What’s this?

A wall of text, like those in sci-fi movies, scrolled before me.

Flash! Flash! Baaam!

Flashes of lights and explosions occurred all across the area. I quickly scrolled past them, and found Il-Ho in Soul Mecha Lazenca, engaged in a fight with a monster.

-Kiiieee!

He was battling a horrifying skeletal beast with eyeballs the size of Jamsil Stadium and tens of thousands of tentacles squirming across its body.

-Vile creatures! Take this! Muscle Mecha Cannon!

-I stand corrected. It’s Soul Mecha Cannon, Pilot Il-Ho.

Boooom!

A golden beam of light shot out from his dragon-shaped gauntlet, piercing through the monster like a laser cannon. A distance away from them was an octopus with a ribbon on its head, resembling the alien from a certain cartoon.

-Warrior Il-Ho, please save the Great Cosmic Alliance. I, Princess Esméralda, will offer my body and soul to you if you do.

The octopus wept as it watched the ensuing fight.

Ugh...

My head throbbed.

...I’ll pretend I hadn’t seen that.

I’d just write Il-Ho’s profile later. I quickly shifted my attention back to Gayami Nation. Although hyperrealism was the main focus of my novel, I didn’t want to add a romance story with an octopus princess.

I don’t know if the readers would want that. Actually, are there any readers out there with such bizarre preferences?

Then, I went through the people of Gayami, looking for those whom I could use to create another character profile.

Wow, why are their MP values so high?

I was amazed at the combat power of the Gayami Nation as a whole. The guards I named had an average MP of over 1,000, roughly the level of a C-rank Hunter. Then there were Baek-Ho and Cheon-Ho, both at B-rank Hunter level, with MPs in the 3,000s.

Were these ants some sort of warrior race? I was most surprised by the follower named Cheon-Sa. Despite being clad in shabby rags and praying fervently at the temple, their MP was over 5,000, equivalent to an A-rank Hunter.

-I thank the grace of the great and merciful God Yu Il-Shin for allowing this humble soul to live on. Huhuhu...

Should I comfort this follower?

Roooooll! Ruuumble!

Just then, I saw a black ball of spikes rolling at a terrifying speed through the castle. I was nervous, thinking it was an attack.

Screech!

But in the next second, It stopped in front of Anty, and cute little limbs popped out from it.

Oh, it’s Rollie.

It was the hedgehog who had recently joined Gayami Nation. Anty’s face lit up as she bowed politely.

-Ah, it’s Ms. Rollie. Hello~

-Anty~ Let’s have some fun~

-Huh? But I’m supposed to attend to some official business...

-B-but, Tohsoon and Owly are waiting for you too! Do them later and play with us, won’t you? Come on~

Rollie urged, tugging at Anty with her short arms, but a burning gaze fell upon them. They soon spotted Akdol hiding behind a wall nearby, glaring at Rollie. He was the very embodiment of jealousy!

Come to think of it, Akdol deserved huge credit in the last event. Alright, let me add him to the list of characters.

I used my Appraisal skill on him.

...Hold on, why is his MP so low?

Akdol only had 500 MP, which meant terrible combat power. Even Anty and Rollie had over 1,000 MP! I still couldn’t believe he managed to wipe out his siblings. Then, I read the shareable skills he had...

Shareable Skill

Dead Dragon: Merges with the guardians under Yu Il-Shin’s command to become the ultimate dragon that could even threaten gods.

Awakening into a dragon that could even threaten gods?

“So, this was a shareable skill?”

My heart pounded as I felt a sudden, intense urge.

I’m itching to use this skill!