On Hiatus: God's Personal Reasons-Chapter 305: #Epilogue (2)

“Haaa! Muuuuscles!”

Hearing that yell alone would make anyone’s gloominess vanish instantly.

Emperor Health Club

Il-Ho was working out diligently, showing off his explosive, tanned muscles.

A cute, white-haired girl smiled bashfully while handing Il-Ho a towel. “Il-Ho, wipe your sweat while you workout.”

Unbefitting of his bulky muscles, Il-Ho blushed shyly, accepting the towel with both hands. “Ah! T-thank you, Ms. Anty!”

Just then, a handsome man in a classy white suit appeared, accompanied by a purple-haired female secretary.

“Hm, I see that you’re hard at work.”

“Ah! Chairman Kim Hwang-Je! You’re here!” Il-Ho looked up to see Ant Emperor, quickly bowing respectfully.

Ant Emperor had become Il-Ho’s sponsor, allowing him to compete in Mr. Olympia, a world-renowned bodybuilding competition.

“...Drop the title.” He frowned slightly, then placed his hand on Il-Ho’s shoulder. “I have high expectations of you...”

“Il-Ho will definitely win! I'm sure of it! He’ll become a world-famous Hillywood star like the previous champion, Reynold Schwarzenegger!” Anty shouted enthusiastically, clenching her fists.

“Hoo... Manager Anty. You have quite the ambition. Well, I don't necessarily dislike ambitious people. If Il-Ho wins the competition, he could star in the upcoming Hollywood blockbuster series, Space God.”

“Wow! R-really?”

“I never renege on my promises. Manager Anty, Il-Ho. Just ask Secretary Arachne if there’s anything you need. I promise to offer you my best support.”

“Just leave it to me. Emperor Corporation will provide you with the best support.” The beautiful woman next to Ant Emperor nodded, adjusting her black glasses.

“Thank you, Chairman Hwang-Je!”

“Thank you, Mr. Kim Hwang-Je!”

After showing immense gratitude, the two then left the training room. Ant Emperor and Arachne waved lightly at them.

“Chairman truly has outstanding eyes for talent! With Il-Ho’s presence, our victory is basically guaranteed!”

“Even though we’ve taken the top spot in the sports industry, this is just the beginning. I’ll use Il-Ho to take over Hillywood, then go into electric vehicles and the space industries. I aim for true world domination!”

“As expected of my emperor.” Arachne gazed at him with eyes full of respect and affection.

Wow, my friend is still burning with passion even on Earth. But he’s making another movie? I do want to see Il-Ho in it. Would Esméralda be in it as well?

“Hmm?”

Just then, Ant Emperor looked up into the sky, his gaze sharp as an eagle. I couldn’t help but flinch when our eyes met.

“What’s wrong?”

“I feel like someone’s watching me.”

“Pardon? But there’s nothing there.”

Gosh! He’s quite sharp too!

I even made sure to conceal my presence this time by turning invisible. Stealthily, I moved away, making sure that he wouldn’t notice.

I went on to see the people I loved and my followers. The Hunter Academy had become a regular arts high school. And in the principal’s office were Choi Kang-San and Ko Sa-Deuk, playing a round of Go.

“J-just let me take back one move!”

“Kiki. You cannot take back a move once it's made. Go get us lunch as agreed.” The black-robed Ko Sa-Deuk laughed and fanned himself.

“You damned skeleton! I let you off last time!”

“Hm, did you, really?”

“You old fool! Have you gone senile?!” Choi Kang-San ground his teeth in frustration, but burst into laughter when he stared behind Ko Sa-Deuk.

“Oh, is that sister-in-law? Ah, Myeong-Ji is here too!”

“Hmm? My pretties are here?” Ko Sa-Deuk’s face lit up, turning around in surprise.

Choi Kang-San took advantage of that moment and overturned the Go board.

“Oops! My hands slipped!”

“Y-you bastard! How dare you trick me!”

“You told on my daughter that I drank the last time too!”

The two old men grappled each other by their hair as they started their fight.

Gosh, grow up already, I thought while shaking my head.

Then, I switched locations. My first fanatic, Sword Demon, had become a model young man. He was teaching kendo at his friend—Shin Yoo’s—company.

Hmm, something seems amiss.

“I will definitely show you the tip of this sword!”

Still, the way he wielded the sword lived up to his title, Sword Demon.

Meanwhile, Regressor Kang Woo opened a cafe with Da-Hye, the owner of the secondhand shop, HyeJa Trading. The image of a middle-aged barista with an apron suited him quite well, if I did say so myself.

Lin XiaoMing had become the boss of a triad, ruling the underworld.

In Paris, France, Jeanne Lehman was shopping happily with her son, who resembled Sam-Shin.

Designer Gal Joong-Hyuk crafted robot figurines at a PLA-Model company, and Johan had finally passed the civil service exam.

There was also Yi-Ho, who had become the emperor of the Gayami Empire, bestowing benevolence to the people. Unlike their previous life, everyone lived prosperously and happily.

Ding!

“Praise the grace of Emperor Yi-Ho, who bestows benevolence, and to the nameless god who was said to have saved the world~ Puck puck~”

...I didn’t want to see Baek-Ho screaming at the top of his lungs while playing the lute out in the square. His singing hadn’t improved at all.

After looking around the world, I finally arrived at a small garden.

Lush Rose Garden

“Hello?”

A woman ran toward me like a puppy summoned by its owner. She was beautiful, with short, rose-colored hair. A tank top and shorts adorned her.

“Sir?” She hugged me tightly. “Welcome! We have a guest! Finally!”

“Oh my! Our shop finally welcomes its first guest!”

Behind the short-haired woman was another woman in plain clothes and a straw hat. Their styles were a stark contrast of each other.

“What are you looking for, our dear guest?”

Despite her simple attire, her beauty didn't pale in comparison to the woman hugging me.

Her golden hair shone like sunlight, her eyes blue as a lake, and above all, the word abundance that fitted her perfectly...

I cleared my throat and said, “I’m looking for saplings to plant on the hill behind my house.”

“Sure, please come in.”

Following the two women, I entered the garden. It seemed like a small shop from the outside, but its interior was surprisingly spacious. Countless flowers and trees filled it like a forest. Cute fairies with vibrant wings flew among them.

The blonde lady smiled gently and said, “Feel free to browse and look for what you want.”

Looking for something in such a vast forest felt akin to searching for a needle in a haystack.

I sighed softly and took a step forward.

“Hey, aren’t you tired? Why don’t you have a rest and enjoy a cup of tea? We happen to have some good rose tea.”

I made another step.

“We also have cookies made with freshly harvested oats.”

“Yeah! They’re so sweet you’ll fall in love with them once you have some!”

The two beautiful sisters followed me around, constantly trying to get me to do something.

“We can do something fun now if you come with me. Come on, just join me!”

“N-no!”

Despite their multiple interferences, I didn’t stop walking, and finally, I found it.

Hidden in a corner of the vast forest was a sprout. Compared to the flowers and trees, it was like a pebble next to a jewel.

“I’ll take this.”

The short-haired woman turned pale, while the blonde woman appeared as if the world had crumbled.

With a heartbroken look, almost bursting into tears, the blonde woman cried, “Don’t go, stay here for a little longer...”

“You know I can’t.” I smiled awkwardly, reaching toward the sprout.

It came out of the ground in the shape of a flower pot and floated toward me. I carefully held it in my arms.

“Goddesses, I’ll leave everything else in your hands then.”

“Hic, hic... No... No... Darling...”

“We will... never forget you.”

Though most of my existence had disappeared, they seemed to recall me, perhaps because they were Top-tier gods. It was comforting, somehow. I left the two crying women behind, kneeling with their hands clasped in prayer...

Taking my final step, I woke up from my dream.

***

My eyes fluttered open.

Someone said this before: life was like a fleeting dream.

In fact, less than a second had passed since God of Destroyer divided itself to wreak havoc across countless worlds.

What I'd just witnessed was the reality that’d unfold after I disappeared.

Staring at the small flowerpot with the sprout, I said, “Thank you.”

Life and death were an endless cycle.

As God of Destroyer perished according to the law and cycle of creation and destruction, what surfaced was the true God of Creator’s return. Perhaps unable to witness the world’s destruction, God of Creator lent me his power. I clasped my hands together.

“Creation.”

Shaaaa—!

One after another, the seeds of destruction gathered in my hands. And no, I didn't use the skill to create the world.

Opening my tightly clenched hands, I found a small caterpillar cocoon in it.

Crack crack—

The cocoon split open, and a butterfly with dazzlingly beautiful white wings emerged. It looked around in confusion for a while. When it saw the sprout floating before us, it teared up in surprise.

“Go to your companion.”

Struggling to flap its wings, the butterfly slowly took flight. However, as if repelled by magnets of the same pole, the sprout moved away from the butterfly.

Creation and destruction, life and death—perhaps, this was the reason for the reaction. Regardless, I believed that the butterfly would reach the sprout one day.

Psss...

As a side effect of the skill usage, I began to crumble. Now that I'd exhausted all my existence and life force, I was disappearing from this world.

Sss—

Two small seeds sprouted from my hands, and I scattered them into another world.

They were Yi-Shin and Sam-Shin.

“Go on. And thank you for everything.”

After sending them off, I closed my eyes quietly in the vast universe.

Now, this is where my story ends. Just as all living things die, I too will disappear.

To be honest, I’m scared. What will happen to me now?

Still, I’m grateful that my existence could save everyone..

If there were one regret, it would be that I had so much more I wanted to write about, yet I couldn’t share it with my readers.

Psss...

My consciousness disappeared along with my form, dispersing like crumbling sand. With that, I, Yu Il-Shin, ceased to exist.

...

...

...

Or at least it was supposed to end that way.

-Krrr...

-Rooooooar!

I opened my eyes to the jarring sounds, and the first thing I saw was the rooftop of an ordinary building.

“Huh? Huuuuh?”

What just happened? I was supposed to have ceased to exist, yet here I was, alive and well.

-Krrrrrrr!

-Rooooooar!

The sound only grew louder. I crawled to the railing to see its origin...

“Huh?! What’s that?!”

It was a scene straight out of a zombie movie. Living corpses were swarming like ants, roaming the streets. It was a far cry from my image of the afterlife.

Ding!

As I stood there watching in shock, the familiar God-Maker notification rang out.

[Your existence that had disappeared with Creation has now reached a certain threshold!]

[The resurrection quest begins now!]

“Huh?”