On Hiatus: God's Personal Reasons-Chapter 185: #God Trainer Yu Il-Shin Returns (3)

A man stood in the Hunter War Director’s office, statue-like with crossed arms. Standing two meters tall, his rock-hard muscles, tough enough to deflect a K2 rifle's bullet, covered him like armor. Moreover, his arms, as thick as logs, could dismantle a tank in seconds. He was none other than Gal Joong-Hyuk, the second strongest Hunter in South Korea after Choi Kang-San.

For the past two months, Gal Joong-Hyuk had been pushing himself over the limits, clearing over ten S-rank dungeons. He was bold enough to embark on overseas expeditions without any equipment.

Other Hunters were stunned to see him clearing dungeons with sheer strength. They couldn’t understand why he decided against participating in the upcoming Hunter War. Even without his signature armor, Lazenca, his prowess hadn’t diminished in the slightest.

Gal Joong-Hyuk closed his eyes, recalling the past.

...Lazenca.

He had discovered the soul armor in a bizarre dungeon with an interior resembling a battleship wreckage.

-Gal Joong-Hyuk, please use your honorable soul and will to guide soul armor NT2512R-1004 to reach the ultimate state—Machine God. In exchange, I’ll gladly offer you my body and soul.

Tzz!

A hologram of a beautiful woman in gold armor etched with mysterious symbols appeared. With sparkling eyes, she reached out to Gal Joong-Hyuk.

-Would you establish a contract with me, Master?

Gal Joong-Hyuk was glad to have her. To him, Lazenca was more than armor—she was a comrade in arms.

“P-Partner! I promise to work harder! Please, don’t abandon me!”

-Our journey together is over, Mr. Gal Joong-Hyuk. Our contract ends here.

“W-wait! Wait, Lazenca!”

-Don’t call me by that name. My codename is NT2512R-1004, you dumb nerd!

Recalling how Lazenca had abandoned him at the drop of a hat, a single tear trickled down Gal Joong-Hyuk’s expressionless face.

Alright, Lazenca. I admit that I’ve been too dependent on you and neglected my training!

As they often said, absence made the heart grow fonder. Gal Joong-Hyuk had indeed been too complacent and lazy, only relying on Lazenca’s power. No wonder the hologram woman got disappointed and left.

But things are different now!

He could confidently say that he’d become stronger after this period of hellish training. He even thought he could hold his own against the former winner of the Hunter War and the world’s strongest Hunter, SSS-rank Hunter Royce. However, that wasn’t why he trained so hard.

Il-Ho, that bastard!

The one who stole Lazenca right under his nose! Gal Joong-Hyuk gritted his teeth as he remembered the ridiculous three-head tall, bald, muscular man.

I’ll definitely get Lazenca back from you!

Yes, from the start, he only had one goal in mind. Gal Joong-Hyuk anxiously tapped his thick forearm.

But why isn’t he coming?

Upon hearing about Yu Il-Shin’s return, Gal Joong-Hyuk had requested a meeting with him. Still, after two hours, the man was nowhere to be seen! Gal Joong-Hyuk had personally invested time and effort in inquiring about Il-Ho, but to no avail. As such, he had no choice but to contact Yu Il-Shin.

“I can’t wait any longer!”

Gal Joong-Hyuk stormed out of his office, prepared to look for Yu Il-Shin himself.

Just then, alarms went off in the building.

—Anomalies have been detected in various parts of the city center!

—All Hunters currently on standby at the Hunter Association are requested to report at the location appropriate to their ranks immediately!

A holographic map of Seoul appeared in the center of the training room. Blue, red, and white dots flickered all over the map. Red indicated C-rank monsters, blue indicated B-rank monsters, and white indicated A-rank monsters and above!

“Oh my goodness...”

“There’s more than 10 A-rank and above monsters this time!”

“I-is this a Monster Wave?”

The training Hunters were struck with fear once they saw the screen. There were over twenty monsters descending at once, and at least half of them were A-rank or higher! Even Gal Joong-Hyuk was stunned.

Is this really a Monster Wave?!

A Monster Wave referred to the sudden descent of a large group of monsters. He had heard of a recent one in America, but such anomalies were usually rare. Yet, this once-in-a-decade phenomenon had already occurred twice this year. Even Miracle’s dungeon gate prediction system, with over 90% accuracy, was growing increasingly unreliable!

Could this be an ominous sign signaling an even greater disaster? Gal Joong-Hyuk thought, but soon dismissed it. Too nonsensical. He had to focus on the matter at hand.

“We’ll be dispatching all of you to different regions! A and B-rank Hunters, please go to the red and blue zones in groups of four! Sung Mi-Ri, Ko Myeong-Ji! Have the new S-rank Hunters pair up and head to Jamsil first! I’ll go to the white zone near the National Assembly Building and make sure the area is clear before I support you guys!” Gal Joong-Hyuk gave out instructions to the Hunters and was about to hurry to the scene himself.

“Huh?” The Hunters stopped in their tracks. “W-what is happening? The dots suddenly disappeared...”

Sure enough, the dots on the holographic map rapidly disappeared like candles in the wind. Did the Hunters in the area slay the monsters without their help? The speed at which it happened made that impossible.

“What happened? Was it a system error?”

“Well, it wouldn’t make sense for a Monster Wave to happen here anyway.”

The Hunters felt a wave of relief. Meanwhile, Gal Joong-Hyuk expressionlessly picked up his phone and called the control center. He had requested to be connected to the CCTVs of the impacted areas. Moments later, the hologram screen changed.

「Awooooo!」

The image of a giant black wolf howling atop an overturned dump truck appeared.

“It’s a Battle Wolf! It’s not a system error after all!” one of the Hunters exclaimed in horror.

The Battle Wolf, an A-rank monster resembling Fenrir from Norse mythology, stood five meters tall and weighed a massive one ton. Its ferocity and overwhelming combat power rivaled that of the A-rank Spiky Rhinoceros! Gal Joong-Hyuk bit his lips, determined to head to the location.

Swoosh! Swoooosh!

Suddenly, two figures cut through the screen. It was a blond man alongside another in a training suit and a black helmet.

Sung Mi-Ri exclaimed joyfully when she saw the men on the screen. “Oh! It's Mr. Yu!”

She grinned widely. Yu Il-Shin was wearing her helmet!

「Kekeke! Bong-Shik~ Stop there~!」

「Aaargh! Don’t come near me! Spare me!」

Grrr!

The Battle Wolf’s eyes glinted. Unlike the average humans, these two exuded a delicious aura. The Battle Wolf’s mouth watered as it stood in the men’s path.

「Graaaah!」

It spread its jaw open, ready to devour both of them alive.

「Stupid dog! Get out of my way! Boom Hand!」

Swoosh!

Special bombs rained down on its mouth, confusing the Battle Wolf.

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Baaam!

The bombs exploded simultaneously. They were custom-ordered bombs filled with Mana Stones, designed for large monsters.

Pwoosh!

The Battle Wolf's head exploded, spraying black blood as its lifeless body collapsed.

Yu Il-Shin clapped in delight.

「Wow! Bong-Shik is so cool! A true a Hunter!」

「Save your fake praise! Stop chasing me!」

Choi Bong-Shik shrieked exasperatedly and teleported away again. Yu Il-Shin looked up for a moment, seemingly making a guess. Then, he smirked and snapped his fingers.

「Where are you going~ Wait for me~ Bong-Shik~」

Swoosh!

Yu Il-Shin disappeared as well.

D-did they?

Gal Joong-Hyuk then requested from the staff in the control room, “Connect the CCTVs from the area near the National Assembly Building.”

Tzzz!

The screen switched in the next moment.

“Huh?!”

“N-no way! Aren’t those monsters from S-rank dungeons?!”

Exclamations of horror, incomparable to when they saw the Battle Wolf, rang through the training room.

「Graaaah!」

A one eyed green giant tore off the roof of the National Assembly Building. The Mountain Ogre, a powerful S-rank monster, stood over 30 meters tall and weighed a hundred tons. Not even S-rank Hunters stood a chance against it.

Swoosh! Swoooosh!

Both Choi Bong-Shik and Yu Il-Shin appeared there as well. Yu Il-Shin marveled at the Mountain Ogre as it glared at them menacingly.

「Waaah! Bong-Shik! Look at how big that thing is! It’s my first time seeing a monster this huge!」

Meanwhile, Choi Bong-Shik shook like a leaf.

「A-a Mountain Ogre? No way! What is that thing doing here when it should be in the Northern America dungeons?!」

「Bong-Shik! What are you waiting for! Kill it!」

「W-what are you talking about?! You need a party of S-rank Hunters to kill that monster!」

「C’mon, Bong-Shik. Think of the people! You’re a Hunter, aren’t you?」

「Fuck! You're a Hunter too—kill it!」

「Gwaaaah!」

Annoyed by their noisiness, the Mountain Ogre swung part of the roof toward them.

「Aaargh!」

Choi Bong-Shik screamed, teleporting away.

Grrrr, baaaam!

Choi Bong-Shik reappeared overhead, looking down at the ruins below, where clouds of dust were rising.

「D-did he die?」

No Hunter, no matter how monstrous, could survive that. He broke into the biggest smile of his life.

「Equip malevolent title: Brutal Killer. Crushing Forefinger of God.」

Like an erupting volcano, a burst of black flame soared into the sky, melting the roof of the National Assembly Building in an instant. Out came Yu Il-Shin, covered in dirt and dust. Red eyes peeked out from his shattered helmet, looking right at Choi Bong-Shik.

「Bong-Shik, did you just curse at me?」

Yu Il-Shin pointed his middle finger, still flickering with black flames, at the younger boy.

「Wanna die?」

「N-no! I misspoke!」

Choi Bong-Shik and the Mountain Ogre trembled at the sight of Yu Il-Shin’s tremendous black flames. If any of them were hit, they'd be obliterated instantly!

Pointing his middle fingers at both of them, Yu Il-Shin gave an order.

「Keke. Both of you, fight. I'll kill the loser myself.」

「Y-you’re joking, right? You want me to fight that thing all by myself?」

Yu Il-Shin let out a sigh.

「Bong-Shik, as my follower, you’re too weak. You need to train.」

Then, he directed his middle fingers at Choi Bong-Shik.

「Either fight or die. Your choice.」

Choi Bong-Shik shook his head in fear.

「N-no! I’ll fight! Hiiic! Come on, Mountain Ogre!」

「Graaaah!」

The Hunter and monster began fighting for their lives.

“Amazing,” the Hunters back at the Hunter Association exclaimed in awe.

「Darn it! Meteor Shower!」

Boooom!

Choi Bong-Shik summoned bombs that rained on the Mountain Ogre like a meteor shower.

“Wow, what an incredible skill he has...”

“And here I thought he was just a lazy skirt chaser... No wonder he got scouted by the association.”

S-rank Hunter Steve Choi fought evenly against a Mountain Ogre, a beast that ideally required a party to hunt.

“Come to think of it, I heard a rumor that Steve Choi stopped a Monster Wave in America. It must be true!”

Someone watched with crossed arms before finally pointing at Yu Il-Shin.

“By the way, who is that helmet guy?”