Chapter 362 – G.o.d of the Sky (6)
[Are you going back now?]
Asked the G.o.d of Hope.
“Don’t talk to me.”
The G.o.d of Hope bit his lip again.
The more I saw it, the more strange it was.
[… What do you want me to do?]
What can you do?
You need to explain.
In the deal with the G.o.d of Hope, there was also the requirement of giving information.
I wanted to receive information from the G.o.d of Hope.
However, if the information of the G.o.d of Hope is wrong, what kind of damage will be done?
[The G.o.d of Order… He shouldn’t have an ego]
The G.o.d of Hope explained.
[It is too great of a power to be given to beings with ego. When the Hundred G.o.ds Temple was first created, the system existed only as a system. It gained divinity over time, but that was all.]
The divinity acquisition of beings without an ego is understandable.
It is more common than you think.
In ancient beliefs such as totemism, things were often sanctified.
Stones, skulls, jewelry, as well as civilizations and artworks from the previous era can be sanctified.
What comes to mind right now is Earth.
Although it has no ego, it has acquired divinity through the indirect faith of humans for a long time.
Then, the power was extracted by the rulers.
Probably not just Earth, but countless planets.
However, Earth did not acquire ego until the end.
The only intention that Earth could express was an apology for all beings that gave their divinity meaninglessly.
On the contrary, the system, the G.o.d of Order has transcended those limits and has a self.
He has realized his desires and is expected to be able to act arbitrarily.
[If the G.o.d of Order had a high level of intelligence, he would have been hiding that fact. Isn’t that natural?]
“Why?”
[That’s because the G.o.ds will change the system.]
Replace.
It is the role of the G.o.d of Order to keep the Hundred G.o.ds Temple and Pantheon G.o.ds from getting out of the system.
But if they replace the system with a new system instead of editing the system.
It could be an action within the order that is allowed for them.
“Then it has come to light now.”
[Well.]
To the G.o.ds.
The G.o.d of Order was even hiding the fact from its apostle, the G.o.d of Hope.
I didn’t think that he had shown that he had an ego by my provocation.
Rather, it is more correct to say that he had announced himself.
[I don’t know if he has self-a.s.surance.]
“What kind of self-a.s.surance.”
[a.s.surance to not to be replaced.]
He was to not be replaced.
It was ambiguous.
“How would the other G.o.ds react if they realized that the G.o.d of Order has an ego?”
[It will be crazy. G.o.ds usually hate someone above them. Even the system was like that, but if the system was a G.o.d with reason, it would cause madness.]
It was.
I think so too.
So it will be possible to replace it as well.
If most of the G.o.ds reject the G.o.d of Order with an ego, the system will be replaced or renovated through the voting of the entire Hundred G.o.ds Temple and the Pantheon.
Suppose he is confident to stop it.
How is it possible?
[First of all, it is impossible to block voting through politics and power wars.]
“Why?”
[How is it possible? The G.o.d of Order has no power. Right now, you don’t have to see the Pantheon, where several forces are intricately entangled, just by looking inside the Hundred G.o.ds Temple. The Sky that formed one axis will be weakened by this event, but Adventure and Slowness are still there, and I am too.]
The end is a little weird.
Maybe the G.o.d of Hope overestimates himself too much.
Showing off?
[… no.]
“What about using the loopholes of the system?”
[Impossible. The G.o.ds of the Pantheon were too much for me. As soon as I got weak, they ended up talking to each other. Apart from the discipline of the system, new rules arose between them.]
He is showing off.
[More than anything else, the G.o.d of Order cannot do such a thing. Opening the loopholes of the system itself is contrary to the divinity of the G.o.d of Order, and just supporting that fact will weaken its power… Hmm.]
“Why again.”
The G.o.d of Hope was silent while talking.
When I asked why, the G.o.d of Hope replied with an unpleasant voice.
[I wondered if this was the reason why the G.o.d of Adventure made me an apostle of the G.o.d of Order.]
* * *
[Should I go catch the little punk here?]
Asked the G.o.d of Hope.
I have to go catch it.
That’s why we set foot on this planet in the first place.
Pursuing a sub-G.o.d who was called by the G.o.d of the Pantheon and tried to rebel against me.
[Should…….]
I should go.
I.
We were now down to the planet’s ground.
To be precise, on the streets of a bustling city.
I had to go back a bit because I promised the G.o.d of the Sky that I would try to avoid damaging the planet and the believers as much as possible.
The place where I could feel the energy of the lower G.o.d was the hillside that I looked up at from my distance away.
An unusual building was built on the hillside.
It seems to be a temple of a lower G.o.d.
It was not a high mountain, but it could be seen from anywhere in the city.
It was a good location.
There was a needlessly powerful barrier.
In order to invade from the outside, you would need a pretty big impact to spread to the surrounding area.
However, if you follow the road through the city to the main gate of the temple, you are not caught in the barrier.
It is probably the way believers come and go there.
The streets were lively.
It was a good place, as Ahb.o.o.boo who was sealed in the subs.p.a.ce said.
There seemed to be a lot of food.
“I want to eat that one.”
As I was looking around the street, Seregia’s voice interrupted me.
When she changed to human form again, she stood next to me and pointed to a kiosk stand.
“I have no money.”
“Shall I steal?”
Seregia asked naturally.
She had a voice full of confidence, as if she was going to take care of it on her own.
Good people walking through the streets approached the stall before experiencing the rare event of being pickpocketed by a G.o.d who wanted to eat grilled skewers.
Seregia picked up a skewer from the kiosk and started eating it before ordering anything.
Fortunately, the stall owner didn’t pay much attention.
I asked while checking the look of the currency used by people on the street.
“How much?”
The owner simply answered four.
The currency here is divided into coins of various colors, such as white, yellow, and red.
The problem was that I couldn’t figure out which four coins to give.
[You can pay for it with yellow coins.]
There was advice from the G.o.d of Hope.
I pretended to take it out of my pocket, made four yellow coins in my hand and handed it to the owner.
It was an illegal act equivalent to counterfeiting currency, but it was made so elaborate that it would not be noticed, so there will be no problem.
“How did you know he was asking for yellow coins?”
[Of course I should know. Hope can be presented only when people understand their most basic desires. In a world where the market economy is active, capital always stimulates people’s desires, and the basis of which is always money.]
I don’t know what you mean.
“Come to think of it.”
The stall owner, quietly grilling skewers, said abruptly.
“Are you faithless?”
Not really.
I have a religion.
Even I am the G.o.d of that religion.
“Would you like to believe in the G.o.d of Earth? Then I’ll give you a few skewers for free.”
Although Seregia almost became a believer of the G.o.d of Earth, I managed to get her out of it.
* * *
“You were born~ to be loved~”
It was definitely a song I heard from somewhere.
It was a song with beautiful lyrics with an upbeat pitch.
“And you are receiving that love through your life now~ G.o.d of Calmness~”
“Yes, get off.”
If it weren’t a song for missionary work, I would have listened to it without much thought.
[T/N: Yes, it is a real contemporary Christian song in Korea! t.i.tled ‘당신은 사랑받기 위해 태어난 사람’ or ‘You Were Born To Be Loved’.]
And if they hadn’t been singing while holding hands around me, I wouldn’t have gone so far as to tell them to shut it off.
No, why are they doing this in the middle of the street?
Is it a type of shame play?
Is it a new type of bullying?
It can’t be.
People were trying to preach to us with all their heart.
“Seregia!”
In the distance, Seregia was being tempted by an uncle chef with food that looked like kebabs.
I don’t know what kind of G.o.d the kebab uncle believes in.
The start of the incident was that uncle grilling skewers made a fuss.
From then on, everyone on the streets realized that we were faithless.
And the endless missionary work began.
The way of preaching was not unpleasant or dangerous.
It was like giving food for free, trying to give a bouquet or candy, or singing a song like they just did.
The problem was that I had no intention of turning to another religion.
Seregia seemed a little different.
Eventually, I had to take Seregia off the street.
I climbed onto the roof of the visible building.
People started to murmur because of us who suddenly disappeared, but they decided to just ignore it.
“Why are they doing that?”
The G.o.d of Hope, who was giggling at me in trouble, explained.
[Because you are faithless. People here distinguish religion with a badge on their chest. For reference, the ratio of religious persons on this planet is over 99%. It’s a social structure where you can’t help but have a religion until your adult age.]
Looks like so.
Everyone will have a religion if they are shamed on the streets whenever they are found to be faithless.
[That’s not it. The G.o.ds here are actively giving out to the believers. It is a compet.i.tive field where various religions are mixed, and because the population of this planet is so large, it is a market with fierce compet.i.tion.]
So naturally, they give as many benefits as possible to the believers.
As a result, there is no reason for people to be non-religious.
It’s a bountiful market.
[If an adult is not wearing a badge, it may have been accidentally left behind.]
“Left behind?”
[It means you have recently abandoned your religion.]
Abandoning religion?
What does that mean?
[Whether you had discord with the priest in charge, or are looking for a different religion that gives you better benefits.]
It was a more trivial reason than I thought.
[Therefore, everyone has embraced their religion.]
It was a bizarre society.
It was somehow a worrisome experience.
[There are several places like this. Where compet.i.tion among the G.o.ds is overheating. Excessive benefits are poured out to the believers, and the priests try to attract even one more believer.]
At first glance, this may be the reason why this planet has too high a happiness index compared to its development level and is bustling.
The G.o.ds and temples will be in charge of their lives.
When I thought about it, I thought it would be comfortable for the people here to live.
A life in which the G.o.ds take care of both safety and food, clothing, and shelter.
You won’t be desperate, and you will be able to pursue what you want with your extra effort.
There will be no utopia.
It would be frustrating because their share of G.o.ds rarely increases.
It would be a very desirable social system for believers.
“It’s okay.”
[Do you really think so?]
I really thought so.
I have seen many worlds.
In tutorials and outside.
In the tutorial, I have seen worlds where no G.o.d saves anyone.
Some people struggled and tried to survive on their own in the pit of doom.
In front of overwhelming despair, we could see even humans losing hope and despair.
It was a dead world.
Conversely, after the Tutorial, I have seen worlds ruled by only one G.o.d.
These were mainly the holy lands of the G.o.ds.
It was the same even when I thought of the G.o.d of the Sky.
He is a G.o.d of the Sky who treats believers well and has a good management system and doctrine.
But what about in the holy place?
Everyone will be equal under the G.o.d of the Sky.
It may be the ideal form of socialism and egalitarianism.
However, in that world, the desire to go to a higher place through development and achievement will be intensified.
Equality, but everyone is always everyone.
You can be the same self as everyone else in the world, but you won’t be respected for your own personality that is different from anyone else.
From a point of view, it was also h.e.l.l.
The holy land of the G.o.d of Hope was a shock to me.
They were confining believers in gla.s.s tubes, forcing them to live and die, and exploiting the hope arising in the process.
I wasn’t shocked and angry because I felt rejected by the inhumane treatment.
My shock was that I was reminded of my holy land in the holy land of the G.o.d of Hope.
For victory.
The world of giants who struggle and overcome themselves only for victory.
The giants had to endure the harsh and cruel acts repeatedly to the point that victory over themselves would be established.
Of course, it was what the giants wanted themselves.
Like I did in the past.
But that wasn’t what a normal world looked like.