On Hiatus: God's Personal Reasons-Chapter 179: #God Tutorial (2)

“Fuck.” The first word they uttered upon waking up was profanity.

The man, seemingly in his late twenties, was covered in wounds, with his right foot in the worst condition. Dark liquid oozed from the festering, roughly wrapped wound. As a former firefighter, he knew how dangerous his condition was.

“Ugh! Shit, shit!”

There was a man with healing powers in the group, but he died three days ago.

I miscalculated! I should’ve kept him alive until the end!

Former firefighter Lee Won-Gi gritted his teeth, remembering how he had left the man to die as he screamed for help.

Then, he stared at the charred corpse of a woman lying nearby. He’d burned her using his skill, Carnage Flames of God.

“You crazy bitch! This is all your fault!”

Since she was a mother and his type, he had tried to keep her alive. Who would have guessed that bitch would repay him by attacking him?!

It happened the night they spent together. While he was fast asleep, she bit his Achilles tendon! She must have lost it after her child was used as bait to escape. After that, she clung to him like gum, even offering herself to him. Thinking she had chosen to be his woman to survive this hellhole, Lee Won-Gi eventually let his guard down.

“Aaargh!! Bitch, are you insane?!”

"Heeheehee! How does it feel?! You can't escape! No matter how much you scream, those bugs will eat you—just like they did to my son! Heeheehee!"

“You crazy bitch! Die! Carnage Flames of God!”

“Kyaaaa!”

Lee Won-Gi crouched down before her corpse, ripping his hair out. How did it come to this?! He used to be a respected firefighter—a man of honor! Just how did he get dragged into this whole mess?!

I don’t deserve any of this!

The only act he’d done that could be considered a sin would be watching some sex trafficking videos on Telgram. How could he be condemned to hell for that—especially when thousands of others had seen them too?

Thud! Thud thud!

Just then, the sound of a sledgehammer slamming against the door echoed from beyond the cave’s darkness.

“Fuck!” Lee Won-Gi broke out into a cold sweat.

It was coming. Just as the survivors felt relieved that the bugs were no longer a threat, it appeared, as if mocking them.

Ding!

-Break time is over.

-Starting the tutorial.

As usual, the voice was as bleak as it could be. But to Lee Won-Gi, it sounded like the voice of a grim reaper.

Tzzz!

At the same time, the invisible barrier surrounding the cave was lifted.

Overwhelmed with fear, Lee Won-Gi began hyperventilating. He staggered, gritting his teeth with a venomous look.

“Alright, come at me, Monster!” Not like he could run away with this leg, anyway. “If I’m going to die anyway, I’m going to fight until the end!”

Baaaam!

His resolve was snuffed out as soon as the monster revealed itself. Despite looking like the red ants that had been attacking them so far, its size was on another level. It was twice the size of a bull!

Rather than degenerated eyes and antennae, it bore a crown of horns on its head. Struck with inspiration, the bespectacled biology student called it the Emperor Giant Ant.

Crazy bastard! Why bother naming a monster that's just going to eat you alive?!

Crack! Craaack!

The ant monster bumped its pointy pincers, making a bizarre noise. Was it a declaration of war? Soon, the swarm of red ants behind it charged forward.

Shaaa!

Lee Won-Gi burned a horde of ants to death, but there was simply no end to them.

“I’m fed up with these ants! Die! Carnage Flames of God!”

Kwaaaa!

Upon activating his power, he was engulfed in sizzling flames all over. A wave of fire poured out from his outstretched hands, the power reminiscent of an S-rank Hunter.

Kyaaak! Kyaak! Kieeek!

Deafening screams erupted from the ants, and the swarm that attacked Lee Won-Gi was instantly reduced to ashes. But he couldn’t even celebrate that small victory.

-Kiiieee!

Ruuumble!

The ground shook as if hit by an earthquake. The Emperor Giant Ant ran toward Lee Won-Gi, taunting him ferociously, as if trying to avenge the deaths of its minions.

“Damn it! Don’t come near me!”

Afraid, Lee Won-Gi increased his power. After hesitating for a bit, the Emperor Giant Ant casually strode toward it. The color drained from Lee Won-Gi’s face. His ability didn’t work.

The Emperor Giant Ant's carapace was so thick that it was immune to his abilities. In fact, that was how the rest of the survivors met their demise.

-Kiiieee!

The Emperor Giant Ant was right in front of him. It opened its hideous mouth, about to eat him.

“Waaah! Bugs! Stay away! I hate bugs! Mummy, save me—Aargh!”

Flashbacks of the child eaten alive by the monster appeared in Lee Won-Gi’s mind. Would he meet the same fate?

Crack!

“Fucking hell! As if I’m going to die in such a place!”

Clenching his jaw, Lee Won-Gi leaped at the giant ant, delivering an uppercut with his right arm deep into its mouth. For a split second, his opponent was caught by surprise, but instinct took over and it gnawed on his hand.

Craaaack!

This chapt𝓮r is updat𝒆d by ƒreeωebnovel.ƈom.

Lee Won-Gi howled like a demon as his flesh tore and his bones shattered.

“Aaaargh! Carnage Flames of God!”

-Kiiieeek!

Kwaaaa!

Raging flames poured out like flamethrowers from every crevice of the giant ant.

Plop!

“Haa! Haa!” Lee Won-Gi fell to his knees, exhausted.

The very first thing he did was burn the stump that used to be his right arm to stop the bleeding.

“Ugh!”

Despite the hellish pain, the relief and joy of being alive washed over him.

“Keke. You deserve it, you monster!”

Lee Won-Gi grinned triumphantly at the monster’s burning carcass. His gamble paid off. Although its carapace couldn’t be burned, its insides could.

Then, he looked up at the ceiling and shouted, “See? I told you I’d win! Now send me back home!”

There wasn’t the slightest doubt in his mind that the Emperor Giant Ant was the boss of this batshit tutorial.

“C’mon! I beg of you! Send me back! You bastards!”

But no matter how much he screamed, there was no answer.

With his remaining arm, Lee Won-Gi clawed at the floor, gasping for air. “Why?! Why is nothing happening?!”

There was no way he could survive with only one good arm left! After gaining such an amazing ability and defeating the fearsome Emperor Giant Ant, was he really going to die like this?!

Riiip!

Just then, fist-sized spheres poured out from the belly of the ant.

“What’s this?”

He discovered that they were ant-shaped fluids, alive and writhing.

“A-are these eggs?”

He'd heard that cockroaches lay eggs before they die, but he didn't expect this monster to do the same.

Maybe this is why the tutorial is still ongoing?

It was a possibility.

“Stupid nerd. Emperor Giant Ant, my ass. It’s a queen ant. Alright, why don’t I send you to your mother? Carnage Flames of God!” Lee Won-Gi roared, unleashing his flames onto them.

Unable to withstand the heat, the eggs cracked and burned, disintegrating.

W-what’s that?

Something else shook him. Among the hundred eggs, there was one that didn’t burn.

“Die! Die!”

With utter dread and trepidation, Lee Won-Gi added more power to his flames. It looked like he was using a flamethrower, yet not even a scratch appeared on that last egg. Lee Won-Gi was terrified.

Ding!

Suddenly, messages from the tutorial rang out.

[Congratulations. You have successfully activated the Young Parasitic God.]

[You have obtained the skill Feeding, unique to the Queen Ant’s Child.]

[Feeding is a skill that absorbs the powers or abilities of consumed opponents. The original 50% chance is now increased to 100% due to the Young Parasitic God’s power modifier.]

[Your resurrection increases the number of current survivors to 2.]

Cold sweat streamed down Lee Won-Gi’s face. He didn’t understand what the hell was going on, but he was certain that the messages weren’t addressed to him.

Crack!

Like a joke, the egg cracked out of nowhere, and a tiny ant, the size of his thumb, crawled out of it. Could this even be called an ant? It had a bizarre form, as if it was half human and half insect.

He shuddered, the ant’s face sent a chill down his spine. It looked strangely familiar.

“W-why, you...?”

It bore the face of the child who was eaten alive by Queen Ant a few days ago.

The child opened its mouth, which was a grotesque mix of human lips and an ant's mouth.

“I hate bugs.”

Surprisingly, it spoke human language. Lee Won-Gi’s hair stood on ends. Back then, he’d despised and regarded this child’s ability as trash.

“N-no way... You can’t be serious, the power of the Parasitic Young God is...”

The child said nothing, glaring at Lee Won-Gi with eyes more insect-like than human, and raising a hand that seemed a blend of both.

Ding!

[Activating Carnage Flames of God, which you have obtained through Feeding.]

Crackle!

Flames burst from the child’s hands, but they didn’t consume him, just like Lee Won-Gi’s skill. Previously, Queen Ant had devoured Lee Won-Gi’s arm, before being eaten by the child. The power was absorbed by the child through its mother’s blood.

Realizing what was happening, Lee Won-Gi screamed, begging the child, “Wait! Wait a...!”

But why should it listen to an insignificant bug—especially one that had burned its mother to death?

“Burn, insect.”

Flames roared from the child’s hands, engulfing Lee Won-Gi.

“Gaaaah! S-save m—Aaaaargh!”

Bloodcurdling screams echoed in the cave.

Moments later, Lee Won-Gi’s skeleton was shattered under the child’s hand.

Ding!

-There is currently 1 survivor.

The sole survivor, a child—or something that had once been a child, looked up into the sky with hollow eyes.

Murmur—

The ants that had survived the fire swarmed over, their antennae twitching.

-Krik krik?

They were puzzled for a while, but they recognized the pheromones on him. Then, they bowed in submission, recognizing him as their queen’s only heir.

The Emperor of Antrinia.