On Hiatus: God's Personal Reasons-Chapter 306: #Side Story: Series Completed but Continued for Personal Reasons (1)

There was a saying that went like this: “How beautiful is the retreating figure of one who knows when to leave.”

That phrase had been coming to mind a lot lately. To resurrect God of Creator, God of Destroyer self-destructed along with the worlds he had created. And in order to stop her, I used all my power to execute Creation. Though I succeeded in saving the world, I had lost my existence and lifeforce, ceasing to exist. I had returned to nothingness.

Or at least, it was supposed to be that way...

-Krrrrr!

Along with the sound of scraping rust hinges, a man with a half-rotten face, walked past me. Walking corpses, the Living Dead. In other words, zombies. Not just one or two, but a huge horde of them. Watching them swarm the entire city felt like hell.

What’s going on?

As much as I was grateful for not perishing, why did I end up in a place full of zombies?

“Haa...”

I clutched my head, before suddenly locking eyes with a sexy zombie nurse lurking nearby.

“H-hello?” I forced a friendly smile and waved my hand.

-Krrrrrr!

Unfortunately, that didn’t work at all. Letting out a furious scream, the nurse zombie pounced on me.

“Kyaaa! Stop! I don’t want this!” I screamed weakly as she opened her mouth wide, about to devour me.

This was a life-or-death crisis!

Swoosh!

Then, the nurse zombie passed through me.

Thud—

I stopped screaming and looked up.

That was right. I was just acting. When I first fell into this unknown world, all the knowledge I'd gained from watching zombie movies pointed to one thing: I had to survive a brutal apocalypse! However, it was all for naught.

“Zombie noonim, have you considered believing in Yu Il-Shin?” I made an attempt to persuade her, but the nurse zombie ignored me and walked away.

In fact, they couldn’t even recognise or touch me. Without knowing that, I had been sweating bullets trying so hard to avoid them at the start. Basically, I was akin to a ghost in this world. Maybe I should consider changing my name from Yu Il-Shin to Yu Gwi-Shin. Feeling depressed, I exhaled deeply and looked at the God-Maker window floating before me.

-----

[Resurrection Quest]

Bring about a miracle in a world on the brink of destruction and restore your divine title, All Phenomena Author.

Tip: It would be helpful to gain followers.

Number of followers: 0

-----

Despite being put in this situation, it was fortunate that I could still access God-Maker. However, as if the account had been reset, I couldn’t use any abilities from before.

“Apparently, I have to perform a miracle to complete the quest.”

But how?

I twirled All Phenomena, which became an ordinary pen.

It seems like I need followers to do anything, at least according to the given tip...

Well, the problem was, how was I supposed to do that in a world that didn’t even recognize me?!

“Haa...”

My future was bleak. It had already been a week since I came to this world, and I hadn’t made any progress.

“I’ll die at this rate!” Clenching my fists, I stood up. “Let’s find some survivors!”

Besides the zombies, there had to be people alive somewhere in this world!

***

A pair of individuals walked through a forest where blackened trees stood like tombstones. The man had a long, unkempt beard, weighing over a hundred kilograms. A pistol and a blood-stained axe hung menacingly at his waist. In contrast, his companion was a young girl barely half his height. With blonde hair and delicate features, she was an otherworldly beauty straight out of a fairytale.

However, a chain collar around her neck—the kind that one would see on animals—marred her beauty.

“Haa... haa...!”

The man gasped for air as he led the chained girl, swiftly looking around to see if they were still being chased. He seemed especially tense when passing through areas with dense trees.

On the other hand, the girl followed him with a blank look on her face. As the sun began to set in the west, the man spotted a small cave between the rocks. He cautiously entered the narrow entrance, bending over to fit himself.

Traces of dried excrement and small animal bones were scattered everywhere. The cave seemed to have been abandoned for a long time. He concluded that the owner had either fled or been eaten by zombies...

Clang clang!

Driving a stake into the ground, the man tied the girl's chain to it. As always, the girl stood there blankly, offering no resistance. He went to gather firewood around the cave. Zombies were unlikely to appear in a forest like this. Still, it was better to be safe than sorry, especially in times like these. Around ten minutes later, he returned and put down the armful of branches.

The girl remained motionless, just as he had left her earlier. Clicking his tongue softly, he started a fire. As the flames rose, he took a tin pot from his backpack, poured water and dried corn flour into it, and stirred the mixture. As it boiled, a fragrant aroma filled the cave, stimulating the appetite of anyone who got a whiff of it. He took a salt shaker from his pocket and carefully shook it over the pot. Salt was a precious commodity now and had to be used sparingly.

“Have some food.”

He called out to the girl, but she did not respond.

“Eat your food.”

Unable to wait longer, he pulled on the chain, dragging the child to his side. Then, he placed the bowl of corn porridge in front of her.

Sluuuurp!

The man ate noisily from the pot, getting yellow corn porridge stuck to his messy beard. He wiped them off and greedily licked the porridge off his fingers. After finishing his meal, the man belched loudly, licking his lips.

He glanced at the child, seeing that her portion had remained untouched. Sighing softly, he scooped up the now-cold porridge with a spoon, forcing it into her mouth. Briefly, a faint glimmer of life flickered in her eyes.

Her throat moved as she instinctively swallowed the porridge, and finally, her bowl was empty. The man roughly wiped the pot and bowl with a cloth, then set them aside. He pulled out several blankets from his backpack and laid them out on the ground, then put the girl down on them. Like a doll, the girl didn't show any resistance. Whether it was from the food or the warmth of the campfire, the girl’s eyes closed slowly.

The man sighed softly again. Taking care of a child was much more work than he had anticipated. Out of nowhere, he started craving for a cigarette. It had indeed been too long since he had one. Suppressing his desire for a puff, the man wrapped the remaining blanket around his shoulders. He sat down near the campfire and closed his eyes. In his right hand, he clutched an axe with dried black blood on it, still on guard.

***

The man had a dream. He had the same dream hundreds of times before, but whenever it happened, he would always forget that it was a dream. And that was why the man repeated the same cycle of fear and uncontrollable sadness.

Creak creak—

The sound of metal chains being pulled tight pierced his ears as he crouched down. Trembling, the man raised his head. He saw a woman desperately reaching out to him desperately—his beloved wife. Her emerald-colored eyes, which he had once loved, had long since melted away.

Watching the darkness in her empty eye sockets, he muttered blankly, “Why... did you do that?”

-Kyaaaaaak!

Instead of answering, his wife opened her mouth, which was red with hot blood, screaming like a ravaging beast.

The man cowered, covering his head as he sobbed. “How, how could you...”

Behind the wife lay the lifeless body of their child, intestines torn out.

When their child was still alive, they had asked the man, “Daddy, why is the basement where Mommy is locked with a padlock?”

“Mommy is sick, with a very, very bad illness. Daddy is an adult, so I’m okay, but it’s very dangerous for a little kid like you. That’s why we keep the door locked so the illness doesn’t spread.”

“Hic, but I want to see Mommy too.”

“You’ll be able to see her soon, once Mommy gets better.”

“When will she get better?”

He paused briefly before saying with difficulty, “Soon. Very soon.”

That was his hope as well—he had endured until now, hoping that his wife simply caught a bad illness. And that once a vaccine was developed, they’d go back to being a happy family like before.

Grrrr!

Next to the man was Lashie, who bristled and bared his teeth fiercely at the woman. Even then, the woman desperately reached out to him, her bloodied mouth clenched tight.

She wanted him.

However, not for love, but for the hot blood and internal organs under his skin. As if eating her child wasn't enough, she wanted her husband as well.

The man rushed out and soon returned with a logging axe. He raised the axe high above his head, aiming directly for the woman’s head.

Strike! I must strike her! B-but I can’t. I’ve lost my child. I can’t lose my wife too! No... I can’t... Kill her! Kill her now!

His eyes turned bloodshot. Those few minutes of conflict with the axe felt like an agonizing eternity. The weight of the axe and the man’s anguish crushed his arms like lead.

“Kill me, dear.”

The man looked at his wife in shock. She hadn’t changed.

-Krrr!

She was still reaching for him, drooling greedily.

“Oh God... what should I do?”

The man cried out in despair, but God didn't answer his call.

Wasn't God merciful and always watched over humans?

***

“Kyaak! Kyaak!”

The shrill cry of a child cut his struggle and brought him back to reality. The man woke up to see that the bonfire had burned down, leaving only faint embers. It was very dark around him. Faintly, a look of fear flashed in his eyes.

“Where... where are you?!” He turned to where he had left the child.

“Aah, aah.”

He found the little girl trembling, staring directly behind the man. Hurriedly, he pulled out a lantern from his backpack, then shone it in the direction where the child was looking. There, in the darkness, was a zombie crawling silently into the cave. Its empty, black eye sockets and half-rotten cheeks were squirmed with maggots. The zombie let out a weird groan, as if finding the light a bother.

The man raised his axe. Unlike in his dream, there wasn’t a hint of hesitation in his movement.

Thud! Crack!

As soon as dawn broke, the man packed his belongings and prepared to leave the cave. If one had appeared, it’d mean that more could appear any time. While he was getting ready to leave, the child stared blankly at the zombie’s headless corpse. Unlike the night before, there was no fear in her eyes. The little girl knew that this was nothing more than a rotting piece of flesh. The scary things were those that moved—humans or zombies.

Clank!

Now prepared to leave, the man tugged on the chain. However, the young girl didn’t move and stared intently at the empty space. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎

“Could there be a zombie nearby...?”

The child shook her head. It wasn’t a zombie, but something else.

“Let’s go then.”

Relieved that it wasn’t a zombie, the man pulled the chain, urging the child to follow.

***

She definitely saw me!

I shuddered. She didn’t seem normal, but she was still the first human in this world to see me. Gripping the pen in my hand tightly, I chased after the man and the child as their distance grew wider.

And this was how I came to witness their story. The brutal and tragic tale of a zombie-infested apocalypse, a world devoid of dreams or hope.