Chapter 370: Seoul (20)

“Ladies and gentlemen, we are now crossing a zone of turbulence. Please return to your seats and fasten your seatbelts…”.

The in-flight broadcast came out.

“Hyung, they want you to buckle up.”

“What about the belt?”

Instead of wearing the seatbelt, Hochi used his powers to adjust the surrounding climate.

The aircraft, which had been shaking earlier, immediately became stable.

“… Huh?”

Yong-yong, who was dozing off, raised his head.

Yong-yong, who had fallen asleep as if nothing had happened, looked around and rubbed his eyes in reaction to Hochi using his power.

“It’s nothing. Go back to sleep, Yong-Yong.”

As Hochi patted his back, Yong-yong, who had been blinking for a while, soon closed his eyes again and went back to sleep.

It was a new feeling; he felt, as he looked out the plane window and held Yong-Yong, who was fast asleep.

For Hochi, Korea and Japan were so close that it seemed like you were merely crossing a stream, one where you could cross and return at any time.

However, he felt a sense of satisfaction when he faithfully completed his duties and returned home by flight according to the protocol.

“By the way, when are we going to eat?”

He heard some nonsense somewhere, but Hochi ignored it.

Instead, he asked Lee Jun-seok.

“Aren’t we going back too late?”

“Uh… Well. At this rate, yes we are … .”

In fact, it was too late to return home.

It was a return after almost two months.

Hochi wanted to get the job done “well” just as Lee Ho Jae asked.

He did his best to fulfill the numerous requests of the Japanese government as much as he could.

As soon as the Japanese government realized that Hochi was cooperative as the Japanese government did,they filled his schedule with jobs that weren’t planned but somehow seemed really necessary.

Of course, it was to delay his return as much as possible and try to recruit him in the meantime while he was in Japan..

But, it didn’t work.

Thanks to this, Lee Jun-seok, who wanted to return to Korea as soon as possible and receive his items, had to worry about it every day.

“But aren’t you hungry?”

“Didn’t you just eat the in-flight meal earlier?”

Eventually, Hochi couldn’t stand it, and he replied to the Mantis.

The Mantis was lying on the bed in the box, and pouted.

“I’m still hungry.”

“Shut up.”

This guy had evolved into a new race because it couldn’t adapt to life in the box.

From a mantis, to a carnivore.

All-day long, it just thought about eating something.

At first glance, it looked similar to Seregia, but in Seregia’s case, her interests were extremely limited, and snacks were one of her interests.

The Mantis was only thinking about eating or sleeping.

“Oh, I’m hungry.”

Like a wasted man in his room, lying on a bed in the box, scratching it’s stomach and saying, ‘I’m hungry.’

No matter how the Mantis behaved, it didn’t matter much to Hochi, but it was still unsightly.

“If you shut up until we arrive, then I’ll buy you something delicious.”

“Really?”

The Mantis was delighted and clapped its hands.

In the meantime though, the Mantis did not budge from the bed.

Hochi was grumpy because he didn’t like that.

“Stand on your hands until we get there.”

“Yes!”

Hochi sighed as he watched the Mantis beginning to do a handstand and thought,

‘I shouldn’t do that.’

Not long ago, Hochi himself was equally aimless, and he loved being lazy.

In fact, it wasn’t much different now.

However, looking at the Mantis, he decided that he should not become someone without goals.

* * *

An uninvited visitor came first thing in the morning.

The visitor was Japanese.

She was told to go home after finishing her tasks, but she tried to meet with me and told me about Hochi, who had not gone back in 2 months.

“So the God of Balance intervened on Earth. You came to tell me that?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

A Japanese woman called Hisano answered calmly.

Her tone was polite, but something in her mannerisms irritated me.

It felt like a parrot talking to a city hall official who only answered with “yes” or “no”.

Hisano started talking, saying the God of Balance had something to tell me.

The story went like this:

In the midst of the chaos in Japan, the God of Balance intervened on Earth.

It was something that I also knew about.

The woman named Hisano spoke to me as if to inform me of that fact.

And that was it.

The God of Balance intervened in my realm, Earth.

But did he just send her to inform me about it without apologizing or compensating me for it?

I stopped yawning because it was embarrassing.

I knew quite a bit about the God of Balance.

He was one of the Hundred Gods that showed interest in me.

I remember he was a pretty good god at first.

When he saw that I was satisfied with the way I was willing to kill my enemies, I thought that all the gods in the Hundred Gods Temple were also different.

Still, among the gods of the Hundred Gods Temple, he had the most common sense.

Anyway, the God of Balance is a god who gives back the same thing as what was given to him.

Notifying me that he violated my territory and returning without mentioning any compensation for it?

Given that this is the God of Balance, this was like a declaration of war to me.

Rather, if he didn’t inform me about it, then I wouldn’t have taken it like that.

“I don’t know why the God of Balance told you this.”

Hisano replied in a somewhat disgruntled tone.

“Anyway, that’s what you should know. The God of Balance has a purpose, so I’m sure he wants it delivered.”

“The God of Balance isn’t like that.”

The God of Balance, as I know him, doesn’t do things this way.

I put great importance on the divinity of the gods.

Since the beginning of the tutorial, I have done so.

With the divinity of the gods and their character in the message, I tried to analyze the gods even a little more.

That’s why I was pretty sure that the message from the woman named Hisano was not the God of Balance.

“No, the God of Balance told me to tell you that.”

Hisano spoke with a sharp voice, but she was visibly embarrassed.

What is the problem?

“Did you miss anything? The god must have said something else other than that.”

Hisano looked hurt by my harsh words.

“The God… You know… Heuk…. Keuk…….”

Hisano, who was trying to raise her voice, immediately began to shiver and tremble when I pressed her down with force.

The God sent her, so I had to deal with it.

At times like this, it was necessary to use force to squeeze out information.

“Did you leave anything out of what the God of Balance said?”

It seemed more likely that the woman did not convey the words of the God of Balance correctly, rather than the God of Balance did not even offer an apology or a reward.

Unless the God of Balance really intends to declare war on me.

“Tell me. The truth.”

Hisano trembled and stuttered.

“Th, the compensation for intervening on Earth… He said he’ll pay…….”

Yeah, that’s right.

He is the God of Balance, after all.

By the way, there was a reason why this woman was not appointed an apostle even though she had received power.

Considering the divinity of the God of Balance, he would prefer you to execute the instructions received without error, rather than for you to omit words to preserve his honor.

“Is there any more?”

“… He said he would meet you in person and apologize… … .”

Ah, yes.

That would be awkward to convey from a god-worshiping standpoint.

[Can I come in?]

I heard a voice from outside.

It was a divinity manifested.

I felt the energy at first, but since there was only one deity that would appear at this timing, I knew that it was the God of Balance.

“Come in.”

At the same time as my permission, the space in the room began to distort.

After a while, when the distortion of space ceased, the God of Balance appeared.

The God of Balance was in the form of an old human man.

“I think this apostle candidate will be insufficient as your apostle.”

I said, looking at Hisano who collapsed on the floor trembling.

Instead of affirming my words, the God of Balance shook his head with a smile.

“No. My explanation wasn’t enough, so I could have made a mistake.”

The God of Balance defended Hisano.

Meanwhile, he breathed some power into Hisano, who was being pressed down with my power.

I did not expect that the God of Balance wouldn’t disapprove of her.

Hisano was released from my pressure by the God of Balance’s power , but she didn’t get up from the floor properly.

“Now then, tell me what you want.”

* * *

“Is this enough?”

Asked the God of Balance.

Of course it was enough.

The God of Balance neatly apologized to me for invading my territory.

It was just a word of an apology, but that was enough.

The God of Balance not only apologized, but also paid sufficient compensation.

First of all, he cleared the quest, and gave me the dimensional coordinates of the common area of the Hundred Gods, so the price for a slight intervention in the earth was enough.

“Of course.”

He laughed as if he was fortunate to be the God of Balance.

Unlike the God of Duel, which had a geek-like side, the God of Balance really looked like an ordinary human old man.

Maybe he’s from human origins?

Do you have a deep understanding of humans?

“Thank you for understanding. Although. Even though it was an urgent situation, I thought it might get bigger if I didn’t apologize because I intervened without permission in the realm of another god.”

It is true that the Earth is my realm, and that the God of Balance intervened without permission, but I was a little angry that he sent a message to one of the Awakened who had a relationship with him to run away.

If Yong-Yong hadn’t blown up the space in time, it would have been clear that Hisano, who was actually lying face down, would have died without leaving any bones.

Maybe he thought it was fortunate that things went well, but the God of Balance smiled brightly.

I had a long conversation with the God of Balance.

Whether he liked me, or if he thought I was a little short of reward, the God of Balance gave me some valuable information.

“As you say, it is true that there are factions amongst the Hundred Gods. However, apart from the factions, most of the gods choose to judge their own right. Of course, the actions and choices of the gods are often forced according to their divinity.”

“Maintaining the incarnation within the Hundred Gods takes quite a lot of power. Just being in the Hundred Gods’ Temple and having to leave the incarnation there at all times is a big constraint.”

“So, the gods of the Hundred Gods Temple often compare their superiority with each other with the power of their incarnations. The God of Hope, who fought with you not long ago could barely maintain his incarnation in the Hundred Gods Temple with the little power he has..”

“The God of Adventure was the leading god at the time of the establishment of the Hundred Gods Temple.”

“Interesting, of course…. It’s better not to care.”

“The God of Slowness and her followers are too dangerous. The God of Hope is the only one who’s been running around but….”

This was the information I received.

Thanks to that, I learned more about the Hundred Gods.

I was also happy to hear once again that the God of Hope had suffered a devastating blow.

The God of Balance asked me one last request.

It was a little surprising.

“I want to take that child as my apostle in the near future; however, she still wants to live with her family in her hometown. Will you allow me to summon her from time to time while living here?”

I see.

After all the apologies and rewards, he still shared more information.

He was hoping for more.

I pondered for a moment, and then I replied.

“If you receive a favor, then you should return just as much. You may summon the apostle Hisano anytime. I am also allowing her to return to Earth.”

The God of Balance was greatly pleased with my answer.

It seemed like a good idea to maintain a proper friendship with this kind of god.

Since he is a god who returns whatever he is given, there is less risk of being stabbed in the back.

The God of Balance went back after our little chat.

I also got up from the sofa and prepared to return to the temple, when I saw Hisano standing up awkwardly…

He didn’t take her with him.

“Hey.”

“… Yes, yes!?”

Hisano replied in a daze.

It was a huge contrast to her previous manner when she informed me in a clerical tone.

Her hair was a mess, and her eyes were bloodshot.

The drool that dripped earlier dried up around her mouth and her eyes were puffy.

The God of Balance gave her some strength earlier, but it would have been difficult just to be around me and the God of Balance.

In fact, it was amazing that she was able to endure it without losing consciousness.

My first impression of her wasn’t that good, but she’s quite useful.

No, she was very useful.

An apostolic candidate who is cherished enough that the God of Balance came and made a deal with me in person.

However, she is not yet an apostle.

And she still lives on Earth, my territory.

I secretly blocked off access to the outside and told Hisano,

“Work with me.”

The God of Balance is an honest god who can’t stab me in the back first.

But of course, I am a god who can stab anyone in the back first.