On Hiatus: God's Personal Reasons-Chapter 290: #Destroy’s Picture Journal

Choi Bong-Shik arrived early at a famous coffee chain, Starbiggs Cafe. He nervously smoothed out the creases in his clothes.

My first blind date in South Korea!

As a Korean American living more than half his life on foreign soil, Choi Bong-Shik had a certain fantasy about South Korea. It was all thanks to the Hallyu wave that had been spreading like wildfire across the globe! Even Korean dramas and movies were taking over the world’s leading streaming platform, Netflicks!

Choi Bong-Shik was deeply inspired after consuming those contents, and even decided that he’d marry a Korean lady!

Amid all of this, Yu Il-Shin’s call earlier was like a refreshing rain during a drought. He had always regarded Yu Il-Shin as his nemesis, but the man had offered to set up a blind date for him. To a student from the Hunter Academy, no less!

“I actually pondered over this for quite a while. In the end, I decided that it’s best to at least let you guys meet once. But, Xu Zhu is still a student, so don’t go overboard okay? Or I’ll kill you!”

Choi Bong-Shik was speechless. What kind of image did Yu Il-Shin have of him this entire time?! Despite looking like a blonde gangster who’d just done some tanning, Choi Bong-Shik thought of himself as a romanticist. He’d willingly wait a year for his soulmate!

Since she’s still a student, she might look young, but we only have a six-year gap.

In this era of a hundred-year lifespan, their age gap was nothing. At least, that was how Choi Bong-Shik justified it internally. Indeed, he was sly.

She should be here anytime soon...

He sneaked a peek at the Rolex on his wrist. It was ten minutes past their agreed meeting time.

Bam, bam!

What’s that sound?

Was it the sound of his heart beating nervously?

Bam, bam, bam!

The bizarre sound only grew louder. He noticed the cup of coffee on the table began to clatter. Strange, wasn't South Korea safe from earthquakes?

Sss!

While Choi Bong-Shik sat there still puzzled, a bulky shadow loomed over him from behind.

“Hello. Are you Mr. Choi Bong-Shik?”

A clear and cute female voice. Choi Bong-Shik looked up, striking the coolest pose possible.

“That’s right! I am Steve Choi...!”

In the next moment, he couldn’t help but gasp in shock.

Xu Zhu was the name of a legendary general who served Cao Cao during the Three Kingdoms. Standing before him was a girl humongous as the legendary general.

“Mr. Yu said you’d treat me to something delicious if I came here. Is that true? I purposefully skipped breakfast to eat my fill!”

Xu Zhu wiped the saliva at the corner of her mouth with her thick arms. She looked like she could even capture a cow on her own.

Recalling how Choi Bong-Shik had been in love with Xu Zhu in his previous life, Yu Il-Shin arranged this date out of goodwill. However, it was foolish of him to do so at this point of time, since Choi Bong-Shik was in love with the cute and slender version of Xu Zhu.

Yu Il-Shin, that fucking bastard!

Unbeknownst to him, he had just offered silent prayers full of Faith.

***

Meanwhile, in WcDonald's at Disneyland...

“Wow, look at those kids.”

“Aww, they're so cute!”

“Are they siblings?”

“Oh! I saw them yesterday too!”

“But, are they going to finish all that...?”

Everyone has their attention on Sam-Shin and Seong-Yeon, along with a mountainpile of burgers before them.

Chew chew! Gulp!

Seong-Yeon nagged at Sam-Shin, who was busy devouring the burger without removing the wrapping.

“Hey, Uncle Sam-Shin! Remove the wrapping before eating them!”

“Destroy?”

Seong-Yeon helped me tear off the wrapping with her tiny hands, then handed it back to him. “Here. Aah~”

“Destroy~” Sam-Shin opened his mouth wide, and took the entire burger into his mouth.

“Do you want another?”

“Destroy!”

Sam-Shin was inhaling the burgers like a vacuum cleaner.

“Ehehe.”

Finding it fun, she continued feeding Sam-Shin more burgers without stopping. They hit a hundred burgers in no time, but Sam-Shin had a look of dissatisfaction as he smacked his lips.

“Uncle Sam-Shin, do you want more?”

“Destroy. (No, it's enough.)” Sam-Shin declined.

Filling the stomach with just one food item wasn’t good, and neither was being a picky eater. For the sake of his health, he had to eat a variety of food.

“Shall we have ice cream then? Chocolate and strawberry ice cream!”

“Destroy! (Great idea!)”

Sam-Shin grabbed her hand and they moved to the desert shop. Similarly, after finishing a hundred ice creams, he didn’t forget to give a tip to the shop owner. Meanwhile, their allowance given by Choi Bong-Shik was slowly gone...

Yet, Sam-Shin’s stomach was still growling. He could still eat, much like the legendary Coach Hiddink, who brought South Korea into the World Cup's semifinals.

“Uncle Sam-Shin, are you still hungry?”

Hearing the loud growl from his stomach, Seong-Yeon handed him the strawberry ice cream she was enjoying.

“Do you want this?”

Sam-Shin shook his head. He shouldn't steal his growing niece's ice cream. Of course, others only saw them as close siblings instead of uncle and niece.

Ding!

[The World Tree’s guardian, Fairy Queen Aran, has sent you a request. Would you accept? (Yes/No)]

The quest came to Sam-Shin.

“Destroy?”

He was quite taken aback, as such things would usually go to the main body or the other alter egos.

Tzzz—

His eyes glowed red, and he observed the situation the others were in.

-Mm, I hate deadlines...

Yu Il-Shin seemed to have fallen asleep on his laptop while working on his manuscript.

-Hahaha! Are you at your limit, Old Man?! The entire continent should know that you’re no War God!

-Aaargh! Far from it, you greenie!

Yi-Shin was still in a fierce battle with War God. Although Sa-Shin was also an alter ego, he was quite an eccentric kid, so Sam-Shin couldn’t really see what was going on with him.

Sam-Shin thought that this quest came right on time.

He turned to Seong-Yeon. “Destroy? (There’s something I have to do, so can you go home first?)”

Seong-Yeon flinched, then gazed at him like a wet puppy. “Uncle Sam-Shin, can't I go with you?”

Sam-Shin thought over for a moment, before eventually nodding.

There probably wouldn’t be any harm in bringing her along. Besides, the quest shouldn’t take long, and even if anything happened, he was confident that he could keep her safe.

Sam-Shin held Seong-Yeon's hand tightly, then whispered to the air, “Destroy.”

Riiiip!

As if a gate had opened, the space before them ripped apart, its size barely large enough for them to pass through.

“Destroy? (Shall we go?)”

Seong-Yeon hesitated briefly at the strange illusion, but nodded vigorously. “...Okay!”

As long as she was with Uncle Sam-Shin, she wasn’t scared of anything. Holding hands, the pair headed into the rift. With a single step, reality transformed into a fantasy-like world.

“Waaah!” Seong-Yeon was surprised by the sight that unfolded before her.

Beneath a crescent moon ten times larger than Earth’s, a glittering castle stood like something straight out of a fairy tale! Moreover, tiny, adorable, Tinkerbill-like fairies were flying around the castle.

“Waah! Fairies! They're so pre—” Seong-Yeon was about to comment on how pretty they were, but quickly stopped herself.

Only after seeing them up close did she realize that they were all bulked up.

“Muscle God said that a clear mind grows strong muscles!”

“Muscles! Muuuscles!”

On top of that, some of them were sweating profusely as they lifted dumbbells and barbells made of pine cones. Before them was a stone statue of a muscular man wielding a dumbbell sword. They were a stark contrast to the description of fairies she was used to. fɾeeweɓnѳveɭ.com

Shaaaa—

A beautiful fairy flew toward them, and Seong-Yeon's eyes grew wide. The fairy had a golden corolla and wore a gorgeous, princess-like dress, appearing much more beautiful than her precious Barbie doll! Plus, she didn’t have those horrendously bulky muscles!

Actually, she did have them. Fortunately for Seong Yeon, they were covered by her dress. She was none other than the fairy saved by Il-Ho in Yu Il-Shin’s previous life, the baby fairy Aran.

In the Tower of Gods where time flows differently, she had now grown into a respectable Fairy Queen.

“Oh? T-this time it's God Sam-Shin?”

His eyes glowed red upon seeing how disappointed Fairy Queen Aran was.

Why, can't I be here?

“Hoho. Of course not. Oh my, we have a cute guest here too.”

“Destroy. (Yes, this is my niece. Her name is Seong-Yeon.)”

Fairy Queen Aran's eyes grew wide. Clutching the hems of her dress on both sides, she bowed down respectfully.

“Greetings, Ms. Seong-Yeon, successor of the great and merciful God Yu Il-Shin. We sincerely welcome you to Fairia, a world of dreams and fantasy.”

“Hello, Ms. Fairy!” Seong-Yeon raised her voice, mimicking the fairy.

“Destroy? (Anyway, what's that? She was in shock because of that.)” Sam-Shin pointed at the stone statue and the group of muscle fairies breaking out in sweat.

Fairy Queen Aran then puffed her cheeks and replied, “Hmph. I’d say it’s quite well done. Although we couldn't perfectly capture Eternal Seeker's beautiful and majestic muscles.”

History changed, and the existence of Eternal Seeker Il-Ho had disappeared in this life. However, Fairy Queen Aran had inherited the divine blood of a High-tier god. She still had a sliver of the memory of him saving her in her past life. Recalling his teachings, she revived Eternal Seeker’s Faith in her kingdom.

“Muscles! Muuuscles!”

“As stated in the Muscle Bible, men don't cry! You will lose your muscles!”

“The early bird gets the bulkiest muscles!”

“Do you have worries? Just workout!”

The fairies did their training as per his teachings...

Eternal Seeker statue’s teeth seemed to sparkle. Sam-Shin and Seong-Yeon looked away at the same time, as if seeing something they shouldn't have.

Sam-Shin shook his head, and asked Fairy Queen Aran, “Destroy. (So, why did you call?)”

Frowning slightly, she replied with a serious look, “We've detected a change in the World Tree on the Eighty-Ninth Floor of the Tower of Gods.”

Fairy Queen Aran clapped her hands together.

Tzzz!

A scene unfolded in the space before them, showing a gigantic World Tree, with rainbow-colored leaves hanging from its branches.

A black, hideous insect was gnawing away at it.

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