Chapter 177: #Dungeon Raiding Il-Ho (2)

A week had passed since I entered the God of Harmony’s Ruins.

At the moment, Il-Ho and I were in the embrace of half-naked women. They were all curvaceous beauties, with appearances on par with celebrities. Any man would’ve envied us, if not for a couple of issues.

Firstly, the lower halves of their bodies were those of snakes, covered in black scales.

-

Hohoho!

How lucky! We caught two men this time!

Secondly, they saw us as food.

-

Mm~

you look more tender than your companion~

The red-haired beauty ensnaring me complimented my physique, but I wasn’t happy at all.

-Wait. Don’t forget to collect their precious seeds before killing them. They’re the first humanoids we’ve caught in decades.

-

Ugh,

this armor is getting in the way. Darling~ shall we remove this before starting our hot night?

One of the snake women let out a ragged breathing as she began to strip me naked.

N-no! Don’t!

“

Muuuuscles!

”

Just then, a deafening roar came from Il-Ho, who they piled up on.

-W-wait...!

Eeeeek!

A terrifying scream rang out, accompanied by the sound of my armor tearing and popping. Covered in blue blood, Il-Ho trudged toward the snake woman that was undressing me.

“Bastard! Unhand my brother!”

-How dare you!

-We don’t need his seed! Kill him first, Sisters!

Kiiieeek!

The snake women parted their jaws widely, easily capable of devouring an adult human, and pounced on Il-Ho.

“

Keke!

Brother! How about snake meat for dinner?”

Moments later, the snake women had been reduced into chunks of meat.

“Il-Ho, you’re also not nice to women...?”

“

Huh?

What did you just say?”

“N-nothing.”

“Are you hurt anywhere?” Il-Ho asked anxiously as he checked me for injuries.

“No, it’s all thanks to the armor you gave me.”

Even though the snake woman’s tail was stronger than an anaconda’s, Il-Ho could subdue her easily.

“

Keke!

Thank goodness! I’m glad you put on the armor!”

“...Yeah. But it’s damn heavy.”

I was wearing the Soul Armor that I’d stolen from S-rank Hunter Gal Joong-Hyuk. Worried about my weak muscles, Il-Ho forced it upon me—to

someone

’s utter dismay.

-Both spirit and body are the lowest G-rank... Pilot aptitude... zero... Impossible to equip under normal circumstances...

A faint, displeased female voice came from my helmet. It was the armor’s AI.

“Lazenca, don’t be like this. It’s just for a while, I’ll return you to Il-Ho later.”

-Don’t call me...Lazenca... You trash...

Otaku

...

“Oi, Tin Can! Be honest with me! You aren’t an AI, right?!” I snapped and fumed, but all I got in return was silence. Either she’d used up all her energy, or didn’t want to engage in a conversation with me any longer.

Dammit! You don’t even need to tell me that?! I’ll remove this heavy as fuck armor as soon as I get my powers back!

Not just my divine powers, all my other abilities couldn’t be used in this dungeon at all. Even the soul armor had turned into an ordinary one, only capable of uttering a few words here and there. The same went for Il-Ho. Most of the blessings he’d obtained from the Tower of Warriors were rendered useless.

“

Hmm?

Why are you looking at me like that?” Il-Ho asked as he wiped the blood off him.

“

Haha

. I just thought that you have nice muscles.”

Gosh, look at those rock-hard muscles.

The loss of blessings didn’t affect Il-Ho too much because he was a weapon on his own. The dungeon was full of snake women and other terrifying monsters, but they didn’t stand a chance against him.

Hearing my compliments, Il-Ho chuckled. “Don’t be so jealous, Brother! You’ll soon be able to have muscles like mine. Now that the distractions are gone, let’s resume our training!”

“A-again?” I shuddered.

“Of course! You eat three meals a day, don’t you? The same goes for muscle training!” Il-Ho picked up the dumbbell sword lying nearby and handed it to me.

“Il-Ho, can’t I at least take off this armor before I start? It’s too heavy.”

Il-Ho seemed devastated, as if the world had ended.

"A-are you trying to cut weight for training now—of all times?! You’re basically asking to kill your trained muscles! What kind of inhumane act is this?!”

Seeing Il-Ho act hysterical made me feel like a mass muscle murderer.

“Alright. They’ll stay on...”

His expression brightened as he smirked in satisfaction and placed the dumbbell on my shoulder.

“

Argh!”

My body shuddered under the weight. “

Gosh!

How many kilograms is this thing? Why did this become so heavy all of a sudden?!”

“It’s only one hundred kilograms, Brother. If you’re indeed a follower of the great and merciful God Yu Il-Shin, shouldn’t you be able to lift this much?”

Madness! It’s twice as heavy as this morning!

“Il-Ho. My abilities are sealed right now, so this is a bit much. C-can’t we reduce it a bit?”

Seriously, this weight was killing me! Before, I could’ve easily done a thousand handstand push-ups!

Il-Ho frowned at my words. “What kind of muscles rely on abilities?! Look, Brother! Although this strange dungeon has sealed my powers, it doesn’t matter! Such is the power of naturally built muscles!”

That’s why, Il-Ho. You’re in the naturalist club.

“Muscles trained with blood and sweat will never betray you! This time, let’s try doing squats with the dumbbell on your shoulders! This is a great exercise for your entire body, especially your thigh muscles!”

“

Huh?!

You’re telling me to do barbell squats?!”

Il-Ho clapped his hands. “Oh, barbell squats? What a short, catchy name. Now, since you’re a beginner, let’s just do a thousand first.”

“A-a thousand?! Do you want me to die?!”

“Keke! Don’t worry! You won’t die from this!”

This was how my hellish training started.

“

Oomph!”

“Now, deep breaths and unleash all the potential of every single strand of muscle in your body! Brother, just ten more! Let’s go!”

“

Haa! Haa!

Il-Ho, didn’t you say there were ten left earlier too?”

“You misheard it!” Il-Ho shook his head sternly.

No! Pretty sure he said it was the last ten!

“Il-Ho, please stop. I’m dying...”

Il-Ho clicked his tongue disapprovingly, looking down at me. “...Such weak muscles. Brother, aren’t you ashamed to share God Yu Il-Shin’s name? Alas, God Yu Il-Shin would’ve been able to do this with one hand—no, one finger!”

And I’m that Yu Il-Shin, dammit!

Unnecessary sadness surged within me. I gritted my teeth, pushing myself to my breaking point.

“

Eeek!

Fine! I’ll do it!

Aaaargh!

”

“Oh! That’s right! Brother, let’s go! Fine muscles await you!”

Il-Ho grinned widely, pumping his fists.

***

“

Ugh

...”

“

Keke.

You just gotta do it, right? You’re indeed worthy of God Yu Il-Shin’s name!” Il-Ho chuckled as he carried me on his shoulders

I was beat. I had no doubt he’d forced me to do over a thousand barbell squats.

Il-Ho, you should become a gym trainer when you come to my world. I think that career path will be a great fit for you.

As much as I was glad to have met him, for the sake of my muscles, I should escape this hell as soon as possible.

Damn you, Il-Ho! Just you wait, when I return, I’ll cut down the amount of sugar I gave you to half.

While I was planning my revenge, Il-Ho looked at me with a smirk.

“W-what’s wrong?”

Surely, he wasn’t planning another training regimen for me?

“I enjoy spending time with you, Brother. I don’t know about you, but I feel like I’m with my late father. Strange, isn’t it? I’m supposed to be older than you.” Il-Ho asked with wistful eyes, reminiscing about his past.

"If I had been as strong as I am now in the past, then I wouldn’t have lost my precious family. Brother, it might be painful right now, but I can guarantee that the muscles you train will save you and your loved ones in times of crisis, so don’t hate me too much.”

Even though his skills were sealed, I wondered if it was because he was my follower?

“Il-Ho...”

Since I was indeed younger than him, it’d probably sound weird, but I considered Il-Ho as my child. Was it because I was writing his story in my novel? It felt more than just a simple god and follower relationship—it felt like I was meeting the protagonist I’d worked so hard to create in real life.

So, I confessed my true identity to him. “Il-Ho. I’m actually the real Yu Il—”

Crack!

Il-Ho stopped in his tracks.

“Who...is there?” Uneasy laced in Il-Ho’s voice.

I saw it too. I didn’t know since when, but a strange girl stood before us. She had ash-colored hair and wore a bloodstained, tattered dress, with a black and white scale in her hands.

“Identify yourself, girl!” Il-Ho set me down in a hurry and pulled out his dumbbell sword. Even though the girl was barely half his height, his eyes were filled with fighting spirit.

Sss—

The little girl looked up. Her glassy, pupil-less eyes looked at us hollowly, and her purple lips parted.

-Where there is light, there is darkness.

-Where there is life, there is death.

-Where there is creation, there is destruction, and all things are in harmony.

-But with creation lost, only destruction remains

—

a beast that devours all things.

The balanced scales began to tip slowly toward darkness.

Creeeeak!

At the same time, a horrifying cry rang out.

“

Argh!

”

“

Ugh!”

As the noise dug into our skulls like an awl, Il-Ho and I both fell to our knees, clutching our heads in pain.

-Young god and warrior. How dare you defile my tomb! Let me unveil the great adversary beyond the scales that will reduce you to ruins!

She spoke again desolately.

Tzzz!

My vision distorted as another figure began taking shape.