Chapter 291: #Destroy’s Picture Journal (2)

The World Tree.

Like the one in Antrinia, it was a sacred tree that emanated divine energy. Its origin traced back to God’s Cradle, created by God of Creator in a world where chaos only existed. It was also a place where seeds of High-tier gods, like Infinite Abundance and Silently Crawling Nightmare, were grown.

So, what was the difference between a world with a World Tree and one without? The existence of a god. In a world with one, there lay a possibility for a new god to be born.

Unexpectedly, the Seeds of the World Tree existed in the worlds within the Tower of Gods. After Yu Il-Shin and his alter egos found those seeds, they’d entrust the World Tree’s cultivation to the Fairy Queen and other gods who followed them.

The horrendous insect was gnawing away at the World Tree overseen by Fairy Queen Aran.

Clasping her hands, she earnestly asked for Sam-Shin. “It may be incomplete, but I’m sure it’s God of Destroyer’s fragment. They’re far too dangerous and strong for us to deal with. Please help us, God Sam-Shin.”

Sam-Shin nodded. Piece of cake! Besides, he was starting to get hungry.

He turned to Seong-Yeon and said, “Destroy. (I'll be back soon, so just wait here for me.)”

Then, Sam-Shin pointed at the scene of the insect gnawing at the World Tree.

Swoosh!

Shortly after, Sam-Shin arrived at the Eighty-Ninth Floor, where the affected World Tree was. Seong-Yeon stared at the screen in awe, as if her uncle had stepped into the very movie they were watching at the cinema.

-

Kieee?

The insect turned its head at his sudden appearance. Sam-Shin stared back at it. Their blood-red eyes glowed menacingly, reflecting each other like mirrors. Though they seemed different, they shared the same origin. Without hesitation, the two opened their mouths wide at each other.

Whiiiir!

A typhoon—no, a gale blew past, and the world on the Eighty-Ninth Floor shook violently. The two were in a standoff, their eyes burning with bloodlust and hunger. The scene was reminiscent of two black holes trying to swallow each other like some cosmic disaster. However, victory ultimately went to Sam-Shin.

-

Kieeeeek!

Tzzzz!

With an agonizing scream, the insect was reduced to black smoke and sucked by Sam-Shin. He let out a burp as he patted his stomach.

The fairies watching the scene clapped with their wings, cheering for Sam-Shin’s victory.

“

Waaah!

God Sam-Shin has defeated the evil God of Destroyer!”

“He didn't have much muscle, but he's still an amazing god!”

“Long live God Sam-Shin!”

Even Seong-Yeon was proud of Sam-Shin's achievement. That was her uncle after all!

Swoosh!

After completing the task, Sam-Shin returned to Fairia. However, he seemed slightly off. A dense, black aura seeped out from him. Not only that, his eyes seemed to glow redder and more menacingly than usual.

“G-God Sam-Shin? What's wrong?” Aran asked cautiously, but she didn’t get a response.

God of Destroyer’s fragment, which had yet to be digested, secretly whispered to him.

-Kid, I’m nowhere near enough to fill your bottomless hunger, right?

Grrrrr!

Sam-Shin’s stomach growled like thunder rumbling. Indeed, it wasn’t enough. If anything, his hunger only became much stronger after eating the black insect. His hunger grew exponentially by the minute, as if he’d turned into a baby ghost from hell,

The insect within him snickered, and Sam-Shin’s eyes were covered with antennas.

-Look, there's so much food here. Don't all of them look scrumptious?

It was referring to the fairies cheering for Sam-Shin. In particular, Fairy Queen Aran, who was at least of Mid-tier godhood, seemed much more delectable.

“G-God Sam-Shin?” Aran shivered and retreated slowly, sensing the change in Sam-Shin's attitude.

Sam-Shin asked God of Destroyer’s fragment in his stomach,

Will my hunger go away if I eat them?

-

Hohoho!

Of course. Devour them all! Then, return to Earth and devour all the other alter egos, including the main body. Not only will your hunger go away, you’ll also become the beacon of despair across all worlds. You’re the true god of gods, inheriting the almighty God of Destroyer’s blood! Yu Il-Shin and the other alter egos are no match for you! Now, let’s start with these annoying fairies!

Listening to the demon in him, Sam-Shin gave in to the honeyed temptation. As the hunger slowly drove him mad, he opened his mouth at the fairies.

“G-God Yu Il-Shin! O’ Eternal Seeker! Please protect us!” Sensing the animosity, Aran quickly gathered her divine power.

Tzzz!

A brilliant golden protective barrier surrounded her and her people. However, like fire against the wind, Sam-Shin’s darkness crunched down on Aran’s power. Then, he sucked in everyone like a black hole.

Just then, Sam-Shin stopped in his tracks. His red, glowing eyes turned to the little girl clutching his hand tightly—it was Seong-Yeon.

She seemed excited by the turn of events as her cheeks had turned red. She shook his hand wildly, yelling, “

Waaah!

Uncle Sam-Shin! You're so cool! You look like a hero in the movies!”

Fascinatingly, the maddening hunger and impulsiveness Sam-Shin felt earlier were quelled.

“Des...troy? (Really...? Even more than the others?)”

“Yes! Uncle Sam-Shin is the coolest!” Seong-Yeon nodded vigorously, showing him her brightest smile.

To Sam-Shin, she was blinding and as beautiful as a gem.

The reason for him spending thousands of years in the Tower of Gods with Yu Il-Shin and the other alter egos was to see Seong-Yeon's smile again.

Sam-Shin then pushed her away lightly.

“Uncle Sam-Shin?”

“Destroy. (It's dangerous, so step aside for a while.)”

Pzzz!

Sam-Shin focused divine power in his eyes and red sparks flew from them.

Ruuuumble!

Meanwhile, Fairia began to shake violently, terrifying Fairy Queen Aran. His destructive power was enough to obliterate a world, and if it was directed at Fairia, everything would be over.

However, unlike Fairy Queen Aran's worries, Sam-Shin's destructive beams weren’t directed at them.

Sss...

God of Destroyer’s fragment within Sam-Shin was no longer a black, hideous insect, but a woman sitting cross-legged on a chair. She was clearly a beauty, but Sam-Shin found her to be much more repulsive than when she was still an insect.

The woman, Despair, smiled while shaking her head. “Oh my, it didn’t work? A shame, really. I wanted to watch you guys fight. Did I push this scenario too hard? Well, it doesn’t matter. This is just a small form of entertainment. Here comes the real deal.”

Despair pointed to the air. “Now, look.”

Ssss!

A certain scene showed up before his eyes.

-

Kieeeeek!

-

Kyaooooh!

-

Krrrr!

The howls of ferocious, ravaging beasts shook the universe.

There was a gigantic eyeball monster with ten thousand tentacles wriggling unpleasantly. Then, there was also a colossal snake of unknown length, resembling a certain living organism’s large intestine.

These bizarre and terrifying monsters existed solely to devour and destroy worlds with only their mouths. They were all fragments sealed by All-Cutting Heavenly Sword in Yu Il-Shin’s past life.

Just a single one of those monsters was enough to destroy a world, yet there were more than a hundred of them, all charging ravenously toward Earth.

-

Hoho

, did you despair at last? You don’t have much time left. I’ll give you one last chance. If you don’t meet to tragic death, come under us quietly—

“Destroy! (Get lost.)”

Flash! Baaaaam!

Sam-Shin's destructive beam engulfed Despair, erasing her existence from within him. Nevertheless, it didn’t mean that he was unscathed.

Tzzzz!

Back in reality, red steam billowed from him as he fell to the ground helplessly.

“

Kyaaak!

Uncle Sam-Shin! Are you alright?”

***

Beep! Beep beep beep!

The apartment door unlocked, and in came Seong-Yeon's mother, Yu Shin-Ja. She had been busy with academic seminars the entire day.

“Sorry for coming home so late!” In her hands was a shopping bag filled with gifts for her younger brother—who had helped babysit her daughter—and toys for her daughter as well. “Guys, I'm back. Is no one home?”

That’s weird...

She thought they were in since the lights were on. Then, she found Seong-Yeon and Sam-Shin sound asleep on the sofa, holding each other's hands.

“Oh my, who’s this boy? Doesn’t he look exactly like Il-Shin when he was younger?”

Laid out in front of them was a set of coloring pencils and Seong-Yeon's picture diary. Recently, Seong-Yeon grew an interest in keeping a diary, and began drawing the interesting events happening in her life. Yu Shin-Ja carefully took a peek at it.

Where is this?

The picture looked weird. The two children were holding hands in what appeared to be a kingdom of fairies.

Did they go to a theme park?

Curious, Yu Shin-Ja continued to read Seong-Yeon's journal entry.

...Today, I went to Dysneiland and the kingdom with lots of fairies with Uncle Sam-Shin. There, Uncle Sam-Shin fought with bad insect monsters biting the trees. He was so cool, like Superman in the movies.

But Uncle Sam-Shin turned weird after defeating the bad monster, he had red smoke coming out from him, and he fell to sleep. I was so scared and cried for a while, but the fairies helped us and brought Uncle Sam-Shin and me back home. The Fairy Queen healed Uncle Sam-Shin. She said he wasn't badly injured, so he would feel better after a good sleep. I'm so glad.

I like Uncle Sam-Shin. I really think that he's the coolest in the world. Uncle Il-Shin is the kindest person in this world, so even if I say Uncle Sam-Shin was the coolest, he shouldn't feel sad, okay?

Hehe, I want to go out and play with Uncle Sam-Shin again.

So this little boy's name is Sam-Shin? His name is... kind of weird.

She couldn’t relate it to her or her younger brother's name.

W-what’s this?

At the end of Seong-Yeon's journal entry were a few scribbles in red—it clearly wasn't Seong-Yeon's handwriting.

Yes, me too.

A childlike smile appeared on the sleeping Sam-Shin's face.