On Hiatus: God's Personal Reasons-Chapter 233: #Despair and Nightmare

Ding!

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

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[---]

A female human. Around for 29 years.

Special note: She was lovey-dovey last night.

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My skill activated on its own.

Ugh, “lovey-dovey”? Too much info!

“May I sit next to you?”

On top of being pregnant, she looked exhausted, with beads of sweat trickling down her forehead. How could I possibly say no to that?

Tap tap—

Brushing off the falling leaves on the space beside me, I said, “Sure, please go ahead.”

“Oh my, thank you.”

She was a cheerful woman. With such beauty and a radiant personality, it was no wonder she received that special note. Her husband was a lucky man.

“Hm~ hm~”

Humming, the woman plugged in her earphones, which played some classical music, and pulled out her e-reader.

Was she reading a prenatal education book? But instead, I spotted a familiar-looking cover.

Hey, that’s my novel!

No way, could she be my fan?! That editor-in-charge lied to me! I was pretty popular!

I felt a little thrilled and worried at the same time. My novel was in no way a good prenatal education subject... While I had those mixed thoughts, the pregnant lady frowned slightly, and began tapping on her device.

Huh? What’s wrong?

Out of curiosity, I checked to see if there were new comments on the platform.

New!

Dydrkfks: Ha, where’s this story going? Sigh, the protagonist is giving me cancer! xxx xx — —]

Gosh, she’s actually an anti-fan?!

Seeing how the text was censored, there must be profanities in it! She was swearing at me, all while wearing a sweet smile! As they said, “don’t judge a book by its cover.”

Sensing my distrustful gaze, the pregnant lady took out her earphones and looked at me. “What’s wrong?”

“N-nothing...”

Feeling a deep sense of betrayal, I continued to work on my manuscript.

Hic, hic, let’s get back to work.

Suddenly, the pregnant lady glanced at my screen and flinched in surprise, checking her device.

“Huh? Wait!” Her eyes widened in shock. “Wow! Are you Yu Il-Shin?! The author of God-Gamer God-Writer?! I’m a fan!”

What a liar. You just dissed me.

However, the sight of her protruding belly made me swallow my true feelings.

“Ah, yes. Thank you...”

“Please sign this for me!”

“Ah, okay...”

I gave her the autograph I’d been practicing in my diary.

She clutched it tightly, smiling brightly. “Hehe, I have to show this to my husband! But Mr. Yu, what are you working on? This doesn’t seem like the manuscript for the next chapter.”

“Oh, I’m just preparing the manuscript for a paperback edition print.”

“Wow! So it’s true! Mr. Yu, I’ll be sure to buy the paperback edition when it’s out!”

“Thank you...”

Inwardly, I muttered, “Yeah, because it’s totally something you can just buy. Just so you know, they’re only going to print a few copies! ...Gosh, I feel sad all of a sudden.

After that, the pregnant lady chattered away endlessly as if we were old friends reuniting after ten years. One of the topics was about her husband, which was especially cruel for a single man like me.

I should’ve just stayed home instead of suffering here. I’m regretting my decision already...

I closed my laptop and stood up from the bench. “I have an appointment, so i’ll be leaving first.”

“Oh, already?”

“I’m sorry, it’s quite urgent.”

Actually, I didn’t have any. Suddenly, she tugged on my sleeve, causing me to turn around.

“Mr. Yu, I’ve been reading your work and there’s something I’m really curious about.”

Huh? What did she want to know?

“Sure, go ahead and ask.”

“When the protagonist first got hold of God-Maker, he thoughtlessly killed bugs and gained Godcoins from it, right?”

I couldn’t say anything in return. A wave of guilt and dizziness washed over me as I recalled those times. I didn’t know those insects were inhabitants of a lower-ranking world, just like us humans. No matter how clueless I was back then, ignorance was a sin.

The pregnant lady continued, “The comments were awful then. I don’t get them. How could killing a bug—an 8-bit one from a game, no less—be considered pathetic or cruel? I’m sure you were also annoyed at those comments!”

“No...I...”

My palms became sweaty.

“But Mr. Yu, what baffled me more was when the protagonist saved the Saintess and the weaker ants right after. What made them any different from the ones he killed? I’m honestly at a loss.” Her eyes pierced right through me. “Could you please tell me, Mr. Yu Il-Shin?”

Briefly, her gaze, which was full of curiosity, suddenly became cold and cruel. Was I mistaken?

“Ugh!”

Suddenly, another wave of dizziness and nausea washed over me.

How strange. Why was I feeling this way? According to my skill, this woman should’ve been an ordinary person, whose name didn’t even appear...

“Oh, no! You look so pale. Are you feeling unwell, Mr. Yu~?”

Giving me a look of concern, she pulled out a handkerchief and reached out to my face.

I got goosebumps all over.

W-what’s this? This instinctive feeling of fear...

Swoosh!

Suddenly, the sky turned black.

“Haaa! Muuuuscles!”

Baaaam!

A muscular half-human fell from the sky like a giant meteorite, landing right in front of us.

Flexing his chocolate abs, he shouted, “Here you are, O’ great and merciful Lord Yu Il-Shin! An esteemed guest has visited your abode!”

Correct, it was Il-Ho. Thanks to him, the unpleasant feeling that had been looming over me vanished in an instant. I looked around me.

She’s gone!

The pregnant lady was nowhere to be seen!

“Il-Ho, did you see the woman next to me? She was pregnant...”

Il-Ho tilted his head to the side. “Pardon? You were alone, Lord Yu Il-Shin.”

I could hear ghosts wailing. Was I hallucinating? ...No, it couldn’t be!

“Il-Ho, wait a moment.”

A blinding white light engulfed me.

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

I scanned the park, using my divine power to expand my field of vision as much as I could.I could see everyone in the park, all the way down to the bugs on the ground.

I can’t find her!

I even extended the range to tens kilometers, yet still no luck. Even I, a High-tier god, couldn’t find her. Who on earth was she? Aside from myself and my alter egos, there were four gods on Earth: Il-Ho, Royce, Allohym, and Masked Clown—whom I’d never met yet suspected to be Despair.

Could that lady be Despair?

However, I didn’t sense the same ominous power I had felt when encountering other followers. In fact, she was like an ordinary human. Was I overthinking?

“Who are they?”

“S-should we report this?”

“Is he a Hunter? Hey, go check the Hunter Association’s site.”

Before I knew it, we were surrounded by people. A half-human hunk and a man in a pink tracksuit, floating mid-air with glowing eyes—definitely an odd combo.

“Il-Ho, time to go!”

We scurried off from the park.

I returned home, still nagged by unresolved doubts. Then, I was greeted by the VIP whom Il-Ho had mentioned earlier.

Kang Woo bowed respectfully toward me, “Welcome back, Mr. Yu Il-Shin.”

Behind him stood SSS-rank Hunter Royce—also known as God of Sword and Magic—as well as Allohym. Royce had been killed by Ant Emperor. Fortunately, because she’d been split into two entities for a long time—Jack White and Royce—she could still be resurrected, albeit at the cost of her divine powers. As for Allohym...

“Peng-hi!”

She still had the penguin mask on, making her a walking copyright violation.

“Isn’t that bit getting old? Maybe it’s time to ditch it and lose the mask.”

“P-Peng-hi...” She hesitated for a moment before carefully removing the mask, revealing a beautiful young elf with sickly, pale skin.

“Hello. This is the first time we meet face-to-face. How are you?”

“Yes... Yes...” She fidgeted as she bowed, making eye contact with me.

The timid and frail-looking beautiful elf was in fact the God of Harmony’s heir. During my confrontation with Ant Emperor, she’d helped me immensely by becoming my follower and lending me the power she’d amassed while on Earth.

“Do you need something? If you want your power back, I’m afraid I can’t return it right now.”

After all, I still had powerful enemies to defeat.

“No.” Royce shook her head and respectfully dropped to one knee. “Allohym, myself, and the elves in our service have come to turn to you. Yu Il-Shin the Earth God, who's duly assumed God of Harmony’s power, please accept us.”

Swoosh! Swoosh!

Just then, a rift opened in the space nearby, and elves flocked around me. Following Royce, they dropped to their knees before me.

“Yu Il-Shin the Earth God, please accept us.”

What? Why?

***

My head spun from the information overload. Nightmare and the Gods’ Sacrificial War, the mysterious pregnant woman, and now the elves. I heard the elves had strong ties to America, so I doubted they’d respond well to this. Also, huh? I inherited God of Harmony’s power?

Kang Woo said, “Actually, after you became a High-tier god, God of Harmony’s Scales stored in my inventory were destroyed. Do you feel any difference?”

“Not sure. I feel like I’ve gotten much better at controlling my divine power.”

Could it actually be due to Allohym’s power? In Kang Woo’s previous life, it was mentioned that they needed the artifact to awaken Allohym, so that didn’t sound too far-fetched.

“Haa...” I let out a deep sigh and held out ten of my golden statues to Kang Woo.

“What are these?”

“Kang Woo hyungnim, can you get me a house with these? Preferably a spacious one.”

The most urgent issue right now was moving. There was no way I could accommodate my family and guests in such a small abode.

“Oh, I was also thinking that your current place was too shabby for you. Please leave it to me.”

And so, I sent the disappointed guests away. My alter egos went off on their respective training and dessert tours.

It’s been a while. Why don’t I check in on Antrinia in the meantime?

Now that I was left alone, I launched God-Maker for the first time in a while. Anty, the empress of Gayami Nation, was hard at work. With my help, she should be able to stabilize the situation much faster. I also wanted to pick up the pieces of the fallen empire—that was the least I could do for the emperor.

“Huh? Why am I feeling so sleepy...all of the sudden...”

Despite being a High-tier god, I couldn’t resist the strong rose scent that pervaded my nose. My eyelids fluttered shut, and when I opened them again...

“Hello, Darling~”

Nightmare smiled brightly like a rose before me.