On Hiatus: God's Personal Reasons

Chapter 24: I’m the Secret Trainer, Yu Il-Shin

Next morning, I went to the park dressed in a training suit. Alongside me was Thunder Emperor, Sung Mi-Ri, standing at attention with full military discipline. I sighed heavily, like a weight pressing into the earth. Finally, I spoke, “Alright, Ms. Sung Mi-Ri, shall we begin the lesson?”

“Yes! I’m ready, Mister!”

Okay, let’s put a brief pause to this. Why were we having a lesson out of the blue? Let me tell you, a complicated adult situation was at play here. To give more context, it all began when I used the Skill Share function and blew up the ceiling of my studio. At that time, I could envision my future being as pitch-black as the night sky of Seoul.

But then, a hand of salvation reached out to me. Sung Mi-Ri offered to cover all the repairs. So, angels did exist.

Nevertheless, I still had a conscience as an adult. I couldn’t just blindly accept financial aid from a teen? Above all, she was my benefactor, who had saved my life thrice. Thus, I decided to help her grow stronger to the best of my abilities.

Of course, there was also a catch.

“But Mister, may I ask you a question?” Sung Mi-Ri asked nervously.

“Sure, but please be gentle—I’m more used to softballs than curveballs!" I tried making a dad joke to lighten the mood, but she didn’t reply.

With a serious look, Sung Mi-Ri pointed at the young girl sleeping soundly in my arms, asking, “Who is she?”

“Oh, she’s my niece. My older sister told me to babysit her since she’s busy. If you find it too distracting, we can always do the lesson another time.”

“Ah! Isn’t she the girl from before?! No, of course not! I found her adorable, Mister!”

“Right?”

Hehe, Seong-Yeon is adorable indeed. Her cuteness became top-notch when she was sleeping. So please don’t wake up.

“Okay, so where do we start?” asked Sung Mi-Ri. Her eyes sparkled like a baby bird waiting to be fed.

Oof. Looking at her pricked my conscience.

“Well, why don’t we warm up for a bit? Let’s run a few rounds around the stadium until you feel tired.”

“Okay!” she replied enthusiastically, without the slightest hesitation, and began running laps.

Swish swish!

She finished an entire lap in less than ten seconds without using ability. Before I knew it, she had run over twenty laps. I was sure I told her to “warm up”?

Wow, high-ranking Hunters are something else.

Then, I offered her an energy drink. It wasn’t anything special. It was just an ionized drink, easily absorbed by the body, mixed with a certain something that I bought from the God’s Shop.

“Ms. Sung Mi-Ri, please have some of this.”

“Okay.”

Even after running over a hundred laps, she didn’t show any signs of exhaustion besides a few huffs. “This tastes similar to the potion you gave me.”

Of course, since I added the Blessing of the Growth God, you could also say that it tastes like Bacchus-F.

“Now that you’re all warmed up, let's move on to strength training.”

I pointed at the dumbbells we had prepared in advance. Although they looked like small ones meant for dieting, they were actually Hunter-exclusive equipment that weighed over 30 kg. I found myself struggling bringing them over. By the way, Sung Mi-Ri paid for them.

“Okay!”

Not only did she lift them up easily, but she also did shadow boxing with them.

“Hap! Hap!”

Swish! Swish!

I didn’t make those noises. While she was working out, sweating profusely, I went back to make more of those energy drinks.

Gurgle gurgle.

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“Ms. Sung Mi-Ri, have some of this.”

“Okay! What should I do now?”

“Hm, what about squats?”

“Okay!”

She really did as she was told, without any questions. Despite feeling guilty, I didn’t put her up to do all this for nothing. I had been reading books about training, and I also had a trump card up my sleeves.

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

After she became a follower, I was able to learn more about her.

-----

[Sung Mi-Ri, Yu Il-Shin’s First Earth Branch Follower]

Around for 19 years.

S-rank Hunter, Lightning Combat-type (Sealed)

Special note: Extremely electrifying. She is an A-rank Hunter, with part of her abilities sealed.

-----

Thanks to the Druid’s Ring, Sung Mi-Ri rose from Rank B to A. And yet, the information visible to me claimed that she was an S-rank Hunter. The special note also stated that some of her abilities were sealed.

Imagination was a writer’s livelihood. They’d glean for the most useful and plausible things from all sorts of delusions, before selling them to the mass.

I recalled my first meeting with Sung Mi-Ri, when she saved my niece and I from the Spiky Rhinoceros. I had one question. How did she manage to kill a monster stronger than herself?

That was where my imagination came in. What if she was an S-rank Hunter to begin with? Wouldn’t that explain why she could easily defeat it?

I watched as she continued with her squats.

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

I concentrate fully on her, as if scrutinizing her under a microscope, hoping to gain more detailed insights. My eyes looked past her physical body and into her mind. At last...

Pzzz! Pzzz!

I spotted a gigantic and fierce monster in her, clad in lightning.

-Kyaaaa!

Bound with unidentifiable chains, the monster screamed in agony.

I kept applying my full concentration on her.

-----

[Sung Mi-Ri’s Essence (S)]

Sealed for 10 years.

Special note: Bound by SS-grade sealing chains

-----

Surely, that was the true form of her innate power? Of course, this could all be just in my mind. Still, I didn’t stop my imagination from running.

How did she manage to defeat the Spiky Rhinoceros that day? How did I succeed in revealing the counterfeit armor altered by the scammers? How was I able to break free from the special chains? Was my innate power, Blind Eyes of God, simply an ability to kill ants or turn appliances on and off?

No. My delusion went on. What if its nature was “On/Off”? Now, all that was left was to test it out and see if it worked.

I raised my forefinger, then pointed it at the chains binding the monster within her.

“Crushing Forefinger of God.”

Click! Creaaaak!

Cracks began forming on the chains.

Tuduk! Tududuk!

“Uncle! Uncle!”

My concentration was broken by the small hand urgently shaking me.

“Hmm?”

“I! I need to pee!” Seong-Yeon frowned and fussed around.

When did she wake up? Also, Dear Niece, could you stop pulling on my hair? It was as delicate as It was precious.

“Huff, huff!” Sung Mi-Ri was still squatting diligently.

“Ms. Sung Mi-Ri, do you feel any different?”

“Huh? What?”

“Hmm.”

Apparently, it was still too early for any effects to show. Besides, I hadn’t broken all the chains yet. It might take some time, given how tough they were.

But why was it sealed, and not to mention, by SS-grade chains?

“Hiiing! Uncle! It’s coming out!”

“Gasp! No! You must hold it in, Seong-Yeon!”

In a flash, I picked up my crying niece and dashed for the toilet.

***

“I’ll see you tomorrow then, Mister.”

“Okay. Make sure you drink the potion I gave you before you sleep.”

“Bai-bai, Pretty Unni.”

“See you next time, Seong-Yeon.”

I felt happy seeing how well they bonded in their first meeting. After wrapping up my training with Sung Mi-Ri for the day, I sent Seong-Yeon back to my older sister, before heading back. Such a rewarding day it was.

[Silently Crawling Nightmare is watching you sadly.]

[All-Cutting Heavenly Sword is glaring at you resentfully.]

...Right, I forgot about this. Also, the names sounded familiar?

One was the bastard who spammed me on Katalk, whom I blocked after a while. As for the other, wasn’t it the owner of the fruit knife I’d looted from the mantis?

They had been trying to reach me in the last few hours, confusing and annoying me.

[Silently Crawling Nightmare demands to correct that she’s a bitch, not a bastard.]

[All-Cutting Heavenly Sword is yelling that his blade isn’t a fruit knife but a divine sword that can kill even gods.]

Wait, do they read minds too? Also, isn’t the vibe of Silently Crawling Nightmare quite different from the Katalk messages?

[Silently Crawling Nightmare confesses shyly that she thought she should showcase the magnificence of god during your first encounter back then.]

Well, who cares?

Other than being slightly annoying, it wasn’t like they were harming me in any way. They’d probably get tired after a while. I, Yu Il-Shin, had received countless negative comments throughout my ten-year writing career, honing my mental skills. Nothing could phase me anymore.

“Sniff sniff. Blergh, I haven’t worked out in a while, and I smell like sweat.”

What kind of workout did I do, you ask? Need I remind you of how I made sure my niece’s bladder didn’t burst?

Alright, time for a shower. Then, I’d head to bed early. I had another training session scheduled with Sung Mi-Ri again tomorrow morning.

Swaaaa!

Hoo, I could feel the fatigue of a day’s hard work getting washed away.

Ding ding!

[Silently Crawling Nightmare stared at your thing and marveled at several aspects!]

[All-Cutting Heavenly Sword sneered, your thing is nothing compared to his sword!]

“Arrrgh! Seriously, these stalkers!”

***

What are gods?

According to the dictionary, they are an object of religion, believed to have supernatural powers and would bestow blessings upon humans. They were also a symbol of omnipotence.

I used to be an atheist. However, the recent encounters made me rethink about the existence of gods. Being omniscient meant having awareness of every action. Had I remained ignorant, I might be able to shrug it off, but now I couldn’t.

“Look here, Stalkers. How long are you going to keep this up?” I glared at God-Maker, with a towel wrapped around my lower half.

[Silently Crawling Nightmare requests to unblock her on Katalk.]

[All-Cutting Heavenly Sword requests you to return his divine sword.]

I could unblock the former as long as she stopped sending me nonsense. As for the latter, I almost died because of that divine sword! As if I’d let it go just like that!

[All-Cutting Heavenly Sword offers to return the 2.2 million Godcoins he had received from the sacrifices in exchange for the divine sword.]

So that's where the remaining Godcoins went!

[Silently Crawling Nightmare snickered, finding the situation absurd. She signals that she’d give you Godcoins if you give her the sword.]

[Silently Crawling Nightmare offers 10 million Gcoins.]

Ooh, not too shabby. That’s quite generous of her.

With that, I could purchase an appropriate low-level innate power or item from the God's Shop. I could also bulk-purchase potions for Sung Mi-Ri.

[All-Cutting Heavenly Sword feels uneasy about the bid with Silently Crawling Nightmare.]

[Silently Crawling Nightmare snorted, commenting that All-Cutting Heavenly Sword is a beggar.]

[All-Cutting Heavenly Sword sniffled, adding his power into the offer.]

His power? Also tempting.

“What kind of power?”

[All-Cutting Heavenly Sword reveals his innate power: Sword Devotion]

[By using his innate power, no sword master would dare to be your match.]

“Sword Devotion?”

That name sounds kinda cool.

Although there weren’t many chances for humans to use a sword, it still pandered to the fantasies of men. Even more so when I had aspired to be a murim author before.

[Silently Crawling Nightmare scoffed, offering you her innate power, Night Rose.]

[You can easily overpower your opponent without a fight.]

Oh, being able to win without fighting was probably the best. But... Night Rose? What kind of name was that? The ability sounded useful, though, at least according to the description.

“Oof, what a dilemma.”

Didn't they always say to stop fighting and start haggling?

Unlike with Sung Mi-Ri, I wouldn’t feel guilty ripping off these annoying stalkers. I wasn’t holding any grudges or anything!

“Any more offers?” I forced a smile.