On Hiatus: God's Personal Reasons

Chapter 173: #Picture Diary of Chaos(?)

Swoosh!

Malevolent Yu Il-Shin returned to the hospital in South Korea.

“Ugh...” He staggered for a moment before setting Seong-Yeon down on a nearby park bench.

He had exerted himself during the short battle. Then, he looked down at the cute little girl sleeping soundly. One would think it was uncharacteristic for an evil god to protect anyone, but in truth, it was only natural. He was a god, the master of this world. Everything—whether it was this child or the pebbles at his feet—belonged to him.

“Kuku. I’ll kill anyone who dares to touch what’s mine.” He’d crush them like bugs, including that damned God of Destroyer!

Ding!

[Silently Crawling Nightmare watches with an entranced look while rubbing her bruised face with Abraxas Eggs.]

Yu Il-Shin looked up into the sky with a frown.

“Aren’t you the highest-ranking god? Who handed your ass to you?”

[Silently Crawling Nightmare snapped, asking who do you think she was?! As if anyone could ever get the better of her! She added triumphantly, puffing her chest, saying if she was in this state, you can only imagine how bad Cowtits has it.]

“Yeah, yeah, sure. Stop bothering me. If you’re bored, go pester that fool instead.”

[Silently Crawling Nightmare lets out a ragged breath, saying that bad boys are the best.]

Ignoring Nightmare’s words, Malevolent Yu Il-Shin’s frown deepened. He assessed his own physical condition.

The power is releasing soon. I’ll have to master the sword this time.

He thought of returning to his mind space and resuming his training. So, he decided to send Seong-Yeon back to Main Yu Il-Shin.

Baaaam!

The lid of a nearby sewer exploded out of the blue. Black tentacles shot out from it with terrifying force, quickly wrapping around Yu Il-Shin and pulling him down underground.

“Argh!” He was uncharacteristically caught off guard.

He should’ve calculated the possibility! Of course, those malevolent gods would send their minions to where the Main Yu Il-Shin was! Not only was he running out of divine power, but the duration of the Proliferating Thumb of God was also about to end. He only had a few more minutes left.

“What is this doing here?!”

Crack, craaack!

“I am the Malevolent God Yu Il-Shin!” The tentacles that restrained him were suddenly torn apart. “Hmph, did I just enter a space warp?”

The place he was dragged into seemed far too huge to be a sewer, overflowing with eerie darkness that squirmed with life.

Riiip!

Yu Il-Shin tore off a piece of the tentacles that clung to his body, ripping his clothes in the process and revealing his muscular, bare body.

[Silently Crawling Nightmare salivates as she watches you like a voyeur.]

Veins popped on Yu Il-Shin’s forehead. He vowed to beat up that crazy stalker bitch someday. Yu Il-Shin stifled a surge of irritation as he glared in the darkness.

“Come on, you filthy insects. I’ll kill you like the rest of them.”

Sss—

His enemies, the monsters sent by Beast of Deceit and Rapacity that attacked him at Dysneiland, appeared through the darkness.

Despite being outnumbered, Yu Il-Shin exuded the same aura as them.

“...?”

Wriggle wriggle!

On closer inspection, he realized they were already dead. They were wrapped in tentacles, dried up like meat jerky. And the owner of those tentacles wriggled grimly as it stood before him.

“Hoo... what is this?”

It was a huge, hideous octopus, emitting a foul stench.

-Gwaaaah! God! Eat me as per the contract!

It howled at Yu Il-Shin.

A contract? Things couldn’t get more ridiculous than this...

Seeing how he had no recollection of this octopus, something must’ve happened recently while he was disconnected.

-Eat me! Quick!

Yu Il-Shin retreated as the octopus approached. Not only did it look repulsive, it also had a foul stench! How could he ever eat it?!

Yu Il-Shin held his nose and said, “C-calm down, Monster! I didn’t make a contract with you! It’s the other guy!”

Ssss—

Dozens of eyes opened on the octopus’ head, staring at Yu Il-Shin.

-Don’t lie! I’m sure it’s you, God!

Roooooar!

A dark, murderous aura erupted from the octopus.

-If you won’t, then I’ll eat you instead!

Swoosh!

Hundreds of tentacles reached for Yu Il-Shin, emitting a fetid stench that made him scream in terror.

“Fuuuuck!”

-Gwaaaah!

Krrr— Baaang!

***

“Huh? Is that an earthquake?” The faint shaking of the ground made me look up.

Haa, right, the news did say that South Korea wasn’t exactly an earthquake-free zone.

“Aaaah! Phew, today is close.” I managed to complete the manuscript before the deadline. As anyone might’ve guessed, I wrote the soap opera love story between the Octopus Princess Esmeralda and Il-Ho. But since it was set in the universe, should I call it a space

My editor, who was proofreading my work in real-time, sighed deeply at the part where asteroids were raining down, echoing majestic beats.

“Haa, Mr. Yu. Were you on drugs? We’re on a tight schedule today, so I’m letting this slide, but please don’t add in developments like these in the future.”

But I had no choice! I had decided to write my novel based on my reality!

If you have any complaints, take them to Il-Ho!

By the way, I thought Il-Ho had advanced to the next floor, but my alter ego took my phone away, so I couldn’t verify what happened next. At least, I prayed that the next trial would be normal...

Anyway, the deadline was met and I had sent off my editor. I was a free man—at last! I could finally enjoy my much-anticipated dinner.

Gulp—

“Looks delicious.” I looked hungrily at the dishes laid out before me.

Spicy stir-fried octopus and bulgogi, a fantastic harmony of land and sea meat. I dug a huge spoonful of it and mixed it with the glossy white rice.

“Mm~ A reward for meeting the deadline~ Enjoying a delicious dinner~ Delicious stir-fried octopus and bulgogi~” I hummed a tune, about to take a big bite from the mixed rice.

Drrr! Bang!

The door to my ward violently flew open and someone stepped in. I was so shocked that I flinched, almost dropping the spoon in hand.

“Sheesh! Be gentle with the door, you punk! You could have gotten me into trouble!” I yelled after realizing that it was my alter ego. Since my name was Il-Shin, then my alter ego would be Yi-Shin.

“Did you have fun with Seong-Ye—Blegh! What’s that smell!” I held my nose in a hurry.

What the hell was he doing outside?!

My alter ego had returned half-naked, covered in filth, and smelling like death. He glared at me and my food with bloodshot eyes.

“Asshole! I’m out there working my ass off, and here you are eating comfortably...!”

I was furious.

“Hey! I worked my ass off on the manuscript! Also, humans need food to survive! Just so you know, this is my first meal of the day! I almost died of starvation!”

“Really? That’s rough.” His tone was strangely unnerving, like he was really worried about me.

“H-huh? That’s right. But Yi-Shin, why are you getting closer? Can’t you go wash up instead?”

“Come to think of it, didn’t you say something about how we’re one? Sharing pain and burden together? Keke. Right. Awesome.”

Yi-Shin strode faster toward me, his foul stench growing sharper.

“Hey, I’m not sure what happened, but let’s talk it out.”

“Shut up and open your mouth.”

“Huh? Why?”

I finally noticed the thing wriggling in his clutches and let out a loud gasp.

“T-that is!”

Like a malevolent god, he grinned wickedly and grabbed my face.

“Open up.”

“W-wait! N-no... Aaaargh!”

A horrible scream rang from my ward.

***

Yu Shin-Ja, Yu Il-Shin’s older sister and Chae Seong-Yeon’s mother, was one of South Korea’s leading professors in art psychotherapy. Due to a packed seminar schedule, she had entrusted her daughter to her younger brother’s care. Now, she was on her way to pick up her daughter from the hospital. Though her brother was supposed to be discharged today, a bad stomachache from something he ate delayed his discharge by a few days.

Upon arriving, she saw her daughter touch the seemingly unconscious Yu Il-Shin.

“Seong-Yeon, did you have fun with your uncle today?” she asked.”

“Yup-yup! It was sooo much fun! The best!”

...Huh. What interesting and fun things could they do at the hospital? But since her daughter seemed happy, that was all that mattered.

As soon as they arrived home, Seong-Yeon rushed to her room. With a flushed face, she took out her color pencils and began coloring.

“Mommy! I’m going to write my diary! Don’t interrupt me, okay?”

Seong-Yeon had recently stuck to the idea of keeping a picture diary. She’d immediately draw them whenever something interesting happened.

“Alright.” Yu Shin-Ja smiled, staring at Seong-Yeon from behind. Her daughter must’ve inherited her artistic traits!

For dinner, she prepared Seong Yeon’s favorite stir-fried potato and octopus-shaped Vienna sausages. She delivered them to her daughter's room, carefully opening the door.

“Seong-Yeon, it’s time for dinn—Oh? She’s asleep?”

Yu Shin-Ja found her daughter fast asleep, lying face down on the desk. She was drooling, so she must’ve enjoyed herself. Yu Shin-Ja pondered for a while, before laying her gently on the bed. She was about to turn off the lights and leave when her eyes fell on Seong-Yeon’s diary.

“Let me see...”

Children had no privacy. She had been curious about the fun events her daughter had experienced at the hospital that tired her out so much. Thus, she carefully read the entry.

I love Uncle. It was even more fun with two Uncles!

I had ice cream, took photos, and rode fun rides at Dysneiland with horned Uncle...

Yu Shin-Ja agonized while reading the first few sentences.

“Two Uncles”? She went to Dysneiland with “horned Uncle”? Despite being an art psychotherapy, Yu Shin-Ja couldn’t make sense of her daughter’s drawings. Children these days, especially her daughter, seemed to have vivid imaginations.

But horned Uncle stuffed unhorned Uncle’s mouth with octopus.

I laughed because it was so funny.

I hope I will have more uncles in the future.

“Il-Shin, that punk! Did he have raw octopus in the hospital today? Is that how he got sick?!”

But why were there two uncles? Looking at the drawing of a devilish uncle shoving an octopus into the mouth of an angelic uncle, Yu Shin-Ja contemplated what happened between her daughter and younger brother.

***

Meanwhile, back at the Hunter Association in America...

Choi Bong-Shik shuddered as he looked at the female elf before him. Usually, the term was used figuratively to describe a woman with otherworldly beauty, but this time, it was literal.

She was a beautiful woman with ebony hair and pointed hairs. SSS-rank Hunter Royce, an alien from another world who came to America through a gate, and was now the strongest Hunter on the planet.

Ssss—

Royce held out a blurry photograph to Choi Bong-Shik.

“So, Steve Choi.”

It was a zoomed-in photo of the man who massacred the monsters in Dysneiland.

She asked in a frosty-cold tone, “Who the hell is this man?”