Chapter 27
Low-Rank God Lee Shin (4)
“Were you surprised by the posts on the Community? There are a lot of nasty ones here! Tsk, tsk. A new god is born, and instead of properly helping them settle in, all they do is act spiteful.”
“They’re just jealous of you. You were born with three Destinies, so they’re afraid you’ll shoot straight up the ranks in no time. Souls born with great Destinies have always become powerful gods.”
The girl, Blue Star, chattered on by herself even when Lee Shin barely responded.
Unlike the posts on the Community, Blue Star was openly friendly toward him, which put Lee Shin somewhat at ease.
Lee Shin gave a small smile and asked,
“What exactly are these three Destinies?”
“You wouldn’t know if you came from humans. Still, you should at least have eyes capable of reading destiny... Ah, I see. You can’t see your own destiny, can you? And that cute little status-window administrator hiding behind you probably doesn’t have enough Interference Power to explain it either.”
Blue Star smiled brightly.
“It’s difficult for me to tell you directly. The gap between us is too large, so the penalty I’d have to bear would be enormous. I like newbies, but helping one at the cost of taking a massive loss myself is a bit much. You understand, right?”
“Of course.”
“Talk casually! This is the Community.”
Blue Star grinned.
Even so, Lee Shin found it difficult to treat her casually.
His ability to see what others could not was still functioning, and to his eyes, Blue Star’s true form was very far removed from the innocent-looking girl before him.
“Ah, don’t try looking too deeply. I use this avatar partly because I want to look cute, but also for your sake. Whatever Destinies you possess, coming face-to-face with my true soul right now would be pretty painful for you. I’m kind of an old-timer, you know.”
Blue Star was probably telling the truth.
The status window had warned him about exactly that earlier.
“Anyway, I requested a one-on-one chat partly because I was curious about a new human-born newbie... but also because I wanted us to become secret friends.”
“Secret friends?”
“I hate how stagnant the Worlds of the Stars have become. It’s boring when the same generation just keeps going forever without any turnover. There’s no progress either. That’s why I like newbies. Looking after them so they don’t get taken out by the nasty ones and disappear is one of my hobbies!”
Ahem.
Blue Star puffed out her chest proudly.
“I heard you’ve only been picking up abandoned worlds, right? It’s probably because you came from humans and don’t possess any authority related to Creation, but managing ruined worlds is really difficult. I bet you even invested your Divine Power in weird ways. So I’m going to teach our little newbie the basics. A tutorial, basically!”
“...”
“But in return, I have one tiny favor to ask.”
“A favor?”
“You moved up to Low-Rank when you unlocked the Community, right? Then the number of worlds you can possess should’ve increased to at least three. If you’ve got an empty slot, I want you to take one of my worlds.”
She wanted him to accept one of her worlds.
That was Blue Star’s request.
“It should be good for you too. To me, it’s a world with no real value that’s just taking up a slot, but for someone like you who’s been collecting abandoned worlds, it should be a pretty decent offer. Most destroyed worlds have no production capacity, so maintaining them is basically pouring water into a bottomless pot. Restoring one to a normal state takes an enormous amount of resources.”
She was right.
The second world had only undead, so it had no need for food or water, but the dwarves in the first world still could not sustain themselves without Lee Shin.
His father had pointed out that problem as well.
“Normally, top-tier gods like me extract enough Divine Power from a world, and the moment we decide it’s no longer profitable, we abandon it. But I don’t like the idea of throwing away people who’ve lived their whole lives trusting only in me overnight. So I want you to take it. In return, I’ll thoroughly look over your worlds for you. How about it?”
Lee Shin could see no falsehood in Blue Star’s attitude.
After being criticized and unwelcome everywhere else, such an offer felt genuinely welcome.
And now that his level had risen, he needed to accept a third world sooner or later anyway.
At that moment, a status-window message appeared with a ding.
「TIP: The god ★Blue Star★ has never once lied in the Worlds of the Stars. She is also genuinely favorable toward newly born gods.」
「TIP: This is an extremely good offer! In fact, simply having the opportunity to become acquainted with Blue Star is a tremendous opportunity in itself.」
Even the status window was saying so.
Lee Shin nodded.
“Okay.”
“Yay! A fresh, brand-new newbie!”
“...?”
「TIP: At present, every world you are capable of accepting is an abandoned world whose owner has disappeared. No matter which world you choose, the probability of resolving your current inability to achieve self-sufficiency is extremely low... TTTT」
「TIP: (i^i)」
「The transaction has been established.」
「Under the Laws of the Stars, actions that cause mutual disadvantage or destructive interference between the involved parties are strictly prohibited. We wish you a pleasant exchange.」
After Lee Shin accepted the proposal to become secret friends, Blue Star hummed cheerfully as she looked through his worlds with him.
“Jude’s side should be fine... Actually, there’s no way there can be a problem there, right? Everything there got completely swept away until there was nothing left but ashes. Just kidding.”
“...”
“The real problem should be the dwarf world. It was actually a pretty good world, but it had the bad luck to get caught by some particularly nasty demons and got wrecked. An evil god even attached itself to the place because it wanted to strip out the technology, then sent a bunch of governors in.”
“Hmm.”
Blue Star examined Lee Shin’s world.
Then—
“...Huh? What is this building tech tree?”
“Did I build it wrong?”
“No... I’ve never seen a layout like this either. You don’t have a single Sacred Relic, and you’ve covered the place entirely in efficient buildings? What is this? Why is your technological growth so fast? You shouldn’t even have any usable Authorities yet.”
Blue Star’s eyes widened.
“You stopped two governor armies in this state? Did you use Divine Punishment or something? No, there’s no way you could’ve used Divine Punishment while you were still Lowest-Rank... Two Hero-grade souls? What? What is this?!”
“I got some rewards....”
“And why is their faith this high? These are numbers you’d normally need to nurture carefully for at least several years to achieve. It’s not like you went down some fanaticism build either. Wow, seriously... If this got posted on the Community, there’d be absolute chaos. You’re really lucky you met me.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. If the evil gods saw this, they’d definitely come after you. They’d tear you apart before you could properly grow your weight class. Those things are pests who don’t care about the ecosystem of the Worlds of the Stars and spam apocalypses whenever they please.”
Blue Star let out a sound of admiration.
“At this rate, the next governor army is going to get completely shredded. If you can just solve the food issue, you could seriously drive out the invaders, invest in the right Authorities, close the rifts, and you’d practically be on track to revive the old Dwarf Space Empire....”
“At this point, I’m not the one who should be teaching you. I should be learning from you!”
Blue Star gave him a big thumbs-up.
“You’ve got talent!”
“Haha....”
Strictly speaking, it was Lee Shin’s father who had handled all that, but Lee Shin saw no reason to mention it.
After examining his worlds, Blue Star rested a hand on her chin.
“Hmmm....”
“Then there’s nothing for me to help with! Jeez, I came here planning to help out some collapsing worlds and show off how cool I am. There’s nothing more fun than helping newbies who are completely lost. Though watching a newbie grow beautifully all on their own is the most satisfying thing of all!”
“Am I doing well?”
“Very! And what I like most is that everyone is smiling.”
Blue Star smiled softly.
“You’re a good god.”
It was sincere praise.
“Then I can feel safe leaving my world in your hands. The principle is that once you entrust a world to another god, you stop interfering with it, but a creator naturally hopes their people can still be happy even in another god’s embrace.”
“I suppose so.”
“Good. Then I’ll help you in another way.”
Another way?
Lee Shin tilted his head.
“I’ve heard rumors that quite a few demons have been humiliated because of you. Those prideful bastards aren’t going to just let that slide, so I’ll protect you for a while. I’ll make sure things like a rift suddenly opening over the dwarf city or a plague breaking out don’t happen.”
“I’d be really grateful if you did.”
“Heh, that’s nothing to me. If anything, I’m the one getting the better deal here. I’ve already met and become secret friends with a god who obviously looks like he’s going to grow like crazy!”
“But why secret friends instead of just friends?”
At Lee Shin’s question, Blue Star giggled.
“Because if people find out you became friends with me, you’ll have a hard time interacting with other gods from now on!”
“...?”
“I’ve beaten up way too many of them.”
Blue Star smiled awkwardly.
“Anyway, it was an honor to see such a wonderful world. Of all the worlds I’ve seen over the past hundred years, yours was the most beautiful. No one was sad, everyone was living passionately, and everyone was smiling.... It was beautiful. Like the ideal world the Supreme God of Genesis once spoke of.”
“I’ll organize my world and separate it off for you soon so it can be useful to you. I’m sure it’ll be a great help to those dwarves.”
Blue Star began preparing to end the one-on-one chat.
Watching her, Lee Shin asked,
“What’s the name of that world?”
The name of the world.
At those words, Blue Star answered,
“Large but Lazy World.”
Large but Lazy World.
It was the world that would become Lee Shin’s third world.
After saying that, Blue Star slowly shed the avatar of a young girl and began to leave.
Then another question suddenly occurred to Lee Shin.
“Then what’s the name of the largest world you own?”
It seemed like the answer would touch upon the very essence of ‘Blue Star.’
Hearing Lee Shin’s question, Blue Star smiled softly before answering.
“The World That Never Disappears.”
***
After returning to her own world, a status window appeared before Blue Star with a ding.
It was a message from the administrator who had served her all this time.
「TIP: Are you truly planning to give him that world?」
「TIP: Although it does conflict with your theme of immortality and eternity, it is still a world with considerable potential. If you sold it on the Community’s Trade Board instead, you could obtain quite a large amount of Divine Power....」
Blue Star looked at the message and spoke.
But instead of the bright, refreshing voice her girl avatar had used, her words came as a mental wave that crackled like electrical sparks.
[It’s fine. It’ll make a good gift.]
As she said that, Blue Star looked down upon the worlds she ruled from the highest reaches of the heavens.
Eternal worlds that no one in the Worlds of the Stars dared covet.
As she gazed at her creations, beings formed from blue light, Blue Star murmured,
[No one beneath me ever smiles.]
[I want those children to smile.]
[I think they’ll be able to do that beside my secret friend.]
Of course, that was not her only reason.
[Still, the rumors were wrong. They said that no matter how great his Destiny was, being trapped in a human body would make it insignificant.... It was all nonsense.]
Just as Lee Shin had managed to glimpse a fragment of Blue Star’s true essence, Blue Star had also seen the dazzling essence hidden deep within Lee Shin.
A brilliance so radiant it seemed capable of illuminating the entire universe.
[The Destiny of the New Millennium, the Destiny of the Name... and especially that final ‘Destiny.’ It was more beautiful than any Destiny I have ever seen in all my existence.]
A power that might one day be capable of bringing order to the Worlds of the Stars, which had become stained by struggles over influence and authority.
For the first time in a very long while, Blue Star had seen a glimpse of that possibility.
[A lot is going to change.]
[So very much.]
***
After closing the Community and returning to his original world, Lee Shin watched Small but Deadly World steadily develop under his father’s guidance.
As all kinds of buildings sprang up, the residents of the Red City of Gepetto were more motivated than ever.
His father said,
“Even if you’re turtling, you still have things you need to do. Send scouts out so you know what the enemy’s situation is and when they’re planning to attack. And if you spot an opening, you strike first. You said there are other guys being held at some workshop, right? If you rescue them, you’ll hurt the enemy and increase your own population at the same time.”
“....”
“And if they can’t pressure you properly, you could even throw down another expansion out front. No, maybe that’s taking the game analogy too far.”
For some reason, his father was having the time of his life and kept coming up with strategies for Lee Shin without even being asked.
Meanwhile, another incident occurred.
Somehow, management agencies and reporters had discovered Lee Shin’s home address and began gathering around his house.
Dawn Management offered to provide him with a separate residence and suggested that he move there.
They were not asking him to permanently abandon his current home. They would simply give him an additional house, so Lee Shin decided to accept rather than refuse.
The new home he moved into because of the crowds had facilities so impressive that they left him speechless.
He also brought [Eternal Protection], which could create a safe zone, with him.
“If you tell us what you plan to do from now on, we’ll handle the rest accordingly. You don’t have to engage in Hunter activities just because that’s what the public expects. Dawn Management will fully respect your wishes, Mr. Lee Shin.”
With public attention and excitement showing no signs of dying down, Lee Shin said he would think about it for the time being.
Manager Kim Dong-seok said he would wait for his answer and left.
No other strangers came to visit Lee Shin’s new house afterward.
At most, Choi Bom or Seong Chan-yang would occasionally stop by.
And then—
「[★Blue Star★]: I’m all ready! I’m sending it now!」
The time had come to accept his third world.
「A world that once prospered beneath an eternal and immortal god, but grew weary beneath a perfected paradise of dreams, now welcomes a new master.」
「Moving to Earth No. 7,777, [Large but Lazy World].」
Unlike the previous two cases, where the wishes of believers had reached across worlds and established a connection, this time Lee Shin was receiving a world directly from Blue Star.
Apparently, that meant he would have to win over its inhabitants himself.
With a floating sensation, Lee Shin closed his eyes and opened them again.
He found himself standing in the middle of an enormous grassland.
Unlike any of the worlds Lee Shin had seen so far, this one was astonishingly abundant.
And there, in the middle of the rich and fertile land—
were the inhabitants of this world.
「TIP: ...」
“....”
「You have been transferred ownership of another god’s world. Since this world contains none of your believers, you must earn their recognition solely through your own greatness. Even for you, the greatest, noblest, and most absolute of beings, this will not be an easy task.」
「Third World.」
Lee Shin.
The status window.
Both of them were left speechless.
Why?
“Uh... new... master.”
“Yaaawn. Hel... lo.”
Because the inhabitants here were far too large.
‘Dinosaurs?’
Across the vast grassland—
there were an enormous number of dinosaurs.
“Nice... to... meet... you....”
They spoke while opening their mouths wide and yawning.
Ding!
「A resident of a world blessed with abundance, so steeped in laziness that it wishes never to move at all.」
「Name: Rex」
「Lineage: Druid」
「Overall Assessment: Originally a dragon that soared through the skies, but flying became too bothersome, so it spent its days rolling around until its wings eventually atrophied. The dragons that came to crawl upon the ground found hunting bothersome as well, and began living solely by grazing on grass. The Blessing of Abundance dwells within their souls, causing grass and grain to sprout even from barren land simply from their rolling around.」
「TIP: F-For now, shall we try complimenting him?」
「TIP: “Wow, you’re really big!”」
「TIP: (≧▽≦)b」