Chapter 50
The Calm Before the Storm
「TIP: Demons and gods are beings that cannot coexist!」
「TIP: Your accomplishment is truly extraordinary!」
「TIP: It is far more astonishing than water mixing with oil, as remarkable as light and shadow joining together, and even more unbelievable than the moon rising in broad daylight...」
The status-window messages were appearing so rapidly that they practically covered the entire screen.
It was difficult to read them all.
‘It’s better if everyone gets along.’
Surely this was preferable to annihilating every demon he encountered without asking questions.
Lee Shin scratched his head and read the message left by Lilith the Dream Demon.
「[Lilith♥]: Please let me know whenever you need my help.」
Just as with Blue Star, a message had been left through the community.
There was one difference between messages from gods and those from demons: the interface for his conversation with a demon was completely black, as if dark mode had been activated.
It somehow felt as though it would be good for his eyes.
Lee Shin had become capable of exchanging messages with Lilith thanks to the Mythic-rank reward he had received for his latest achievement.
「Reward: Community Feature Expansion」
「You may now communicate with [All Beings].」
According to the status window, Mythic-rank rewards were supposed to be extraordinary. The [Guardian Angel] skill he had previously received had also been a Mythic-rank reward.
‘Are these really on the same level?’
Even before this, Lee Shin had never made much use of the community feature apart from communicating with Blue Star. Compared to [Guardian Angel], which had helped him overcome a crisis immediately after he obtained it, this reward inevitably seemed rather unimpressive.
「TIP: This is an extraordinary authority!」
「TIP: A god must ordinarily pay a variety of prices to communicate with a demon. Moreover, gods and demons are not the only transcendent beings within the World of Stars.」
「TIP: Becoming capable of forming bonds with such beings is an incredible achievement! You have already received a great deal of help from the connection you formed with [Blue Star], haven’t you?」
The status window had a point.
Blue Star, the friend he had met through the community, had helped Lee Shin many times. Had he remained entirely alone without Blue Star’s assistance, he probably would have stumbled more than once.
‘If it says this is a good reward, then I suppose it is.’
Hadn’t the status window always been right?
Lee Shin nodded without giving it much further thought.
“God.”
In any case, there was something even more encouraging.
“We have decided... not to hibernate.”
The Vast but Indolent World.
“Jude told us... there is something... we can help with.”
Having newly become Lee Shin’s believers, the dinosaurs no longer spent all their time lazing around and napping.
Their will to live had been rekindled, and [Self-Reliance], a doctrine of Lee Shin’s faith, was beginning to influence them.
“What... should we help with?”
Just looking at the dinosaurs made him feel reassured!
At last, they had properly joined his side.
However...
‘The children from the small world will be frightened.’
These beings were dragons by nature.
No matter how kindhearted they were—even if they were druids incapable of killing so much as an insect—the dwarves of the small world were bound to tremble in terror before them.
Keeping them together would undoubtedly place the dwarves under tremendous stress.
「TIP: There is a solution!」
Fortunately, the status window offered one.
「TIP: Your current [Interference] value is extremely high.」
「TIP: Through [World Interference], you can alter the appearance of the inhabitants of your third world, the [Vast but Indolent World].」
Lee Shin’s Interference had indeed increased explosively.
He had recently overcome several trials, raised the level of his trait, and continued exerting his influence upon the worlds.
Things were different now from the days when all he could do was toss them a few bottles of water or crush motorcycle-riding unbelievers with his finger.
With his current Interference value, he could exercise genuinely divine authority.
「Activating [World Interference].」
Lee Shin followed the status window’s instructions.
Brilliant light erupted.
「The inhabitants of the [Vast but Indolent World] have acquired the shared trait [Shrink].」
Rex was the first dinosaur to use the trait.
“Oh.”
After using [Shrink], Rex was no longer an enormous dinosaur. He had transformed into a tiny creature that might appear in a children’s cartoon.
His terrifying, serpentine eyes became adorably round, while his arms and legs grew so short that he had to waddle around.
Instead of a wingless dragon, he now resembled a walking dinosaur plushie that children would adore. If Lee Shin took him outside, he would undoubtedly attract the attention of every child on the street.
‘I want to take him home.’
Rex appealed perfectly to Lee Shin, whose hobbies included watching animal videos on NewTube and admiring cute things.
He felt as though hugging Rex in bed would help him fall asleep instantly.
“Wow.”
“I’m... smaller.”
“My eyes... are at the same height... as Jude’s.”
Despite being dragons, none of them took pride in their enormous bodies or disliked their new forms for looking undignified.
They were druids at heart, after all!
As beings who loved peace, they seemed quite satisfied with their tiny bodies.
‘But will this really overcome the natural fear between them?’
Of course, he still needed to confirm it.
Even if their appearances had changed, the dwarves might still possess a genetically ingrained fear of dragons. Lee Shin had heard in a NewTube video that mice fled in terror at the mere scent of cat urine.
The dwarves might react similarly.
That was why Lee Shin summoned Eve first.
Her reaction?
“Gasp... My God, my God! Are these adorable creatures the friends you prepared for me?”
No aversion whatsoever.
“They’re the friends who gave you those plants and fruits before.”
“What? Then these brothers are... those dragons?”
At Eve’s words, Rex waddled toward her.
Then he deactivated [Shrink].
His body expanded in an instant.
In other words, he was a transforming dinosaur who could return to his original form whenever he wished.
Back in his true body, Rex tilted his head slightly.
“Aaaaaah!”
Without a trace of a guardian angel’s dignity, Eve collapsed onto the ground and screamed.
Embarrassed by the sudden change in her reaction, Rex used [Shrink] again.
“So cute!”
Her expression immediately melted again.
Rex deactivated [Shrink] once more.
“Aaaah!”
After watching her reaction change back and forth, Rex remarked,
“...Dwarves are funny.”
“Please don’t tease her too much.”
This one was no ordinary character either.
In any case, Lee Shin had gained a group of dependable believers.
“Are you all right? I heard something happened to you last time!”
It had been a while since Lee Shin had seen Choi Bom.
She spoke in a worried voice.
“It was resolved without any trouble.”
“No, how did something happen immediately after I warned you to be careful...?”
“Maybe everything turned out all right because you warned me beforehand.”
“Stop acting so carefree about it!”
Choi Bom muttered in frustration.
“I’m telling you, it’s genuinely dangerous. Do you have any idea how many hunters have fallen victim to China? You probably don’t, since all you ever watch are animal documentaries, but Korean hunters get caught up in incidents all the time.”
“Don’t worry too much. Some good people are protecting me.”
Lee Shin grinned.
“And I have a new guardian angel.”
As he spoke, Lee Shin pointed toward Eve.
“Ah, yes! Please don’t worry! Eve is guarding our God around the clock. If anyone even slightly irreverent tries to approach him, I’m ready to send them straight to hell!”
Her tone was playful, but she meant every word.
That only made it more frightening.
“Eve...? Oh, so this is the person your father mentioned. But Lee Shin, didn’t you say Eve was smaller than a water bottle?”
“She grew recently.”
It was an impressively simple explanation.
“...Hmm. Is that so?”
“Yeah.”
Choi Bom gave Eve a long, appraising look before nodding.
“Well, as long as you’re safe.”
“Ahem! No one could be safer than our God while I’m around!”
Eve puffed herself up proudly.
The more confidently Eve behaved, the more suspicious Choi Bom seemed to become. Then again, judging by appearances alone, Eve did not exactly look like someone capable of protecting anyone.
In truth, however, none of Lee Shin’s believers possessed abilities better suited to protecting someone than Eve—especially in modern society.
Thanks to her authority over steel and flames, every modern firearm became useless before her. On top of that, she possessed enough healing power to revive someone on the brink of death, as well as the saintess’s authority, which rendered most attacks ineffective.
In terms of practical combat ability, she ranked among the finest believers in Lee Shin’s faith!
“If you’re that worried, you can protect me yourself later.”
“W-Why would I protect you? Once I g-graduate from the Academy, I’m going to become a hunter, you know? I’ll be entering r-rifts to hunt monsters!”
“We can travel together. I can enter rifts too.”
Choi Bom apparently liked that idea, as a smile appeared on her face.
“No, thank you. Don’t start entering rifts as if you’ve actually become a hunter. You’re already doing far more than enough by helping people from behind the scenes like you do now. The instructors said Korea should be grateful just to have you here—even if all you do is sit still and breathe.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. They said anyone else with an ability like yours would have left for China or the United States long ago... These days, some Korean hunters respect you so much that they post proof on social media that they’ve joined the Church of Lee Shin’s Salvation.”
“...Seriously?”
“Yeah. Hunter Seong Chanyang posted proof of joining too, remember?”
...That was news to him.
Why in the world had Hunter Seong Chanyang joined?
“Anyway, be careful. It’s contract-renewal season for hunters now that everyone’s preparing for the fifth cycle. It’s the off-season market... Everyone will be competing fiercely to recruit even one more high-ranking hunter, so you’re bound to receive a flood of offers too. Be careful so nothing strange happens to you, all right?”
“All right.”
“You’re always so good at answering, at least.”
Choi Bom chuckled.
“Still, it was satisfying to watch China fall into chaos after messing with you. They must have thought they could quietly sweep everything under the rug again, but apparently the situation has become pretty serious.”
“Really?”
“Dawn Management brought the incident to public attention, and it seems the United States and the United Kingdom are supporting them. This is the time of year when hunters have the most influence, and even S-rank hunters are stepping forward. They’re putting enormous pressure on China, saying that targeting Lee Shin is completely unacceptable and that they’ll refuse all future cooperation with China.”
“Oh...”
“If they did something wrong, they should be punished. Who do they think they are, trying to wriggle out of it?”
It appeared Manager Kim Dong-seok had been telling the truth when he said things would be different this time.
Dawn Management had taken full responsibility for the response, so Lee Shin had not known how the situation was developing. This was the first he had heard of it, through Choi Bom.
‘I have been focusing more on the small worlds than reality, after all.’
The crises facing his small worlds were not over.
Enemies still remained.
‘Fortunately, we have some breathing room right now.’
There was no harm in preparing thoroughly.
Hadn’t he overcome every crisis precisely because he had always prepared in advance?
Lee Shin hoped the same would hold true this time.
Privately, he also believed they would be able to overcome whatever came their way.
And then...
“Things always felt so frustrating before, but this time it’s genuinely satisfying—”
Choi Bom’s chattering voice abruptly stopped.
A sudden silence descended.
At the same time, Lee Shin’s world turned black and white.
Every color vanished, and the world froze as if it had been carved from stone.
Choi Bom.
Eve.
Even the people going about their ordinary lives in the background.
“Are you having fun?”
An unfamiliar voice soon reached him.
It came from very close by.
“You appear to be playing quite an enjoyable game.”
Tap.
Lee Shin heard the sound of a cup being set down.
The seat beside him had been empty only moments ago.
Now a man sat there.
“Then again... how could something as insignificant as light possibly comprehend the depths of darkness?”
The man appeared middle-aged. He had a wrinkled face, neatly slicked-back hair, an elegantly groomed mustache, a perfectly tailored suit, a pitch-black fedora, and an equally black coat.
He slowly turned his head and regarded Lee Shin with endlessly dry eyes.
“There was no need for me to take the time to come and see you.”
“You cannot defeat that child, transcendent one who has yet to become a star.”
The man exhaled softly and raised his cup.
It contained coffee as black as night.
“Hope is the worst of all calamities. Nothing prolongs the suffering of living beings more than hope. Because of the paltry hope you bestowed upon them, the dwarves living in your small world will now meet the worst possible end. Death beneath the sun is always more dreadful than death beneath the moonlight.”
“What are you...?”
“The three insignificant worlds you possess will be shattered and erased in the most wretched manner imaginable—by the greediest evil god, who has now experienced having something taken away for the first time. That child will destroy everything you possess, seize every soul you cherish, and tear them all to pieces.”
The man spoke impassively.
He did not sound as though he were predicting something that would happen in the future.
He sounded as though he were describing something that had already occurred.
“What an excessive destiny for such a lowly soul to bear.”
“......”
“I respect the destiny you possess, so I shall offer you one piece of advice. Fear what is to come. A being without fear can never survive in the end.”
“......”
“This is my gift to you—not because I like you, but because your destiny pleases me.”
The man slowly rose from his seat.
His face remained entirely expressionless.
Then the status window appeared.
「You have encount#%ed the most ■■.」
「The difference in exis... &^@.」
Unlike usual, the status window was broken.
It resembled shattered glass.
A piercing ringing filled Lee Shin’s ears.
As a violent headache surged through him, he looked at the man again.
Lee Shin could read nothing in his eyes.
It was as though nothing existed within them at all.
And then—
“...It was so satisfying! I finally felt like all that frustration had been washed away!”
The man disappeared, and time resumed.
Color returned to the world.
Lee Shin stared at Choi Bom as she continued chattering. The frozen people began moving again, and their peaceful, ordinary lives continued as though nothing had happened.
Still dazed, Lee Shin looked beside him.
A cup of coffee rested there.
Pale steam curled upward from the black coffee.
“What’s wrong, Lee Shin? Why are you acting like that?”
“Huh?”
“You suddenly look pale. You’re sweating too...”
Choi Bom spoke worriedly.
But Lee Shin had no time to answer.
「WARNING!」
A sharp alarm rang in his ears.
“......”
「Another god is approaching your world!」
「Another entity is interfering with your world!」
「You cannot resist.」
More status-window messages appeared.
And then—
「A World Collision is beginning!」
「Earth No. 444, the [Small but Deadly World], is colliding with Earth No. 22, the [World of Chains and Shackles].」