Author's Note:
I'm sorry, there's no image for this chapter.
Message:
Unbalanced games exist.
♦ ♦ ♦
The reason why I made this quest is because it'll be so hard to make an order to a bunch of nameless shadows. Even calling out their ranks won't help either then I might get a wrong shadow to take with me.
And now, I'm here in the first group of shadows who are patiently sitting on the ground and trying not to cross the 145+-year-old line. Then I summoned my cellphone through ˹Selfie˼ skill.
"Mr. Feather, do you have an app to generate names and surnames?"
He bowed and replied, "There is none but let me download it for you."
"Wait. Is there any internet connection here?"
I just simply checked the Wi-Fi connection because Mr. Feather didn't answer my question and to my surprise, my cellphone is connected to a WIFI H4CK3R with full bars. It doesn't even requires a password. When I tried to use the other apps that requires internet, the red window always popped up right in front of my face.
Sorry!
You cannot use this app because of the game difficulty.
There is one word to describe this shit.
Useless!
After a few seconds of downloading and installing the Name Generating app, I thanked Mr. Black Feather before giving the name to a small shadow. I crouched in front of it since it was a Child type shadow. The broadcasting drones hovered beside me and recording it for the Live Stream.
"Since all of you are nameless, naming you all is one of my big projects. So be patient, I'll make this quick as possible."
The Oracle stepped in and said, "Your highness, I'm sorry to interrupt you but naming us can drain your mana very fast and this place's mana particles are very limited."
System: He is telling the truth.
I sighed in dismay, "So my mana recovery is useless in this place. This is big bad news for me."
"Don't worry your highness! We will find a solution to that problem. I'll call a meeting with my fellow Oracles and do some research." The Oracle bowed before he left in a hurry and gathered other Oracles.
Meanwhile, I observed the child and its gender is male then bestowed him a name while my eyes glanced at the cellphone, "Your name will be... Elmer Brian."
-10,000 MP
You've gotta be kidding me. That's a lot of mana consumption by just giving someone a name.
System: That's the lowest mana consumption if someone named a Child type shadow. If naming the other types of shadows it will cost more mana.
System: Once a shadow was given a name, there is good news and bad news.
System: The good news is, the 25% slow knowledge absorption, and the decreasing of INT and WIS stats by 50% every year is no longer a problem but the bad news is... You and your people's growth become slower by 666%.
"Yes! I'm Elmer Brian!" The little shadow jumped in utmost joy.
Then he pulled out a stone tablet from the ground and asked curiously, "But what's the spelling of my name?"
I was stunned and remembered how my 3-year-old son asked me the spelling of his name. The more that scene played in my mind, the more I feel the pain in my chest.
Notification
Zero Emotions neutralized your sadness.
That was so close! I thought I'm going to cry.
My eyes are now focusing on the shadow who's waiting for my response and told him the spelling of his name as he wrote it down on the stone tablet through his index finger.
Notification
Your Oracles discovered the ˹Mana Share˼ skill.
"That was fast. I thought it took them 50 or hundreds of years to complete that research. I guess I underestimated them." I muttered in surprise.
Since the Oracles discovered a new skill, they start to teach the nearby shadows. To those who learned that skill, they raised their right hand and utter the word ˹Mana Share˼ which gave me the half of their mana as I continued naming the first group. Then I remind those unnamed shadows to keep studying because my effort will become a waste.
"I'm happy that this group cooperated but to those who are still waiting, please don't forget to self-study and don't disappoint me," I said sternly and hoping that they understood my intentions.
To be honest, naming all of them took me 587 years and now I'm sitting on my throne.
Naming My People is completed!
Rewards: 1,000 XP, New Update from your Inventory and My People.
LEVEL UP!
You reached level 10.
Now that I reached that level, Crack God will visit me again.
"Krak! Krak! Krak! Krak! Yah miss me?" I heard his annoying voice right beside me.
I rolled my eyes while summoning the cellphone through ˹Selfie˼ skill and playing chess because I don't want to see his face.
"I thought you're dead," I replied in the harshest way as possible but he seemed not affected by it.
"Krak! I never thought you and my creations would progress this so fast!"
Fast in my ass.
"As I remember from the Gaming History, the players who played in Hardcore or higher difficulty are being babied but not all games can do that kind of treatment. And as for me, this game gave me a hellish treatment."
"In short... You are a pro gamer! Kraaaaak! Krak! Krak!"
I grunted and complained, "Zero Emotions couldn't handle my boredom but thanks to Mr. Black Feather, the system, my students and this cellphone, they keep me entertained during my free time because this place is terrible. It's too crowded and the scenery is ugly."
"Don't worry, you'll get used to it."
I continued complaining, "Don't you know how hard to become a Zumba Instructor every morning while I'm adjusting myself with this dress... this long ass cape... and these heels. I can't remove them from my body and they are extremely durable. Plus, the system couldn't answer my question about this problem."
"At least all of you gained a little bit of stat points. Unfortunately, you are already naked but you want to be more naked? Krak! Are you serious?"
His answer took me 3 seconds to process it in my mind but in the end, it confused me.
"Wait... What?"
"You've never played RPG?"
"No. I can't use the other apps that requires internet because of the game difficulty and I only played chess. This is the only gaming app I have."
Crack gasped in horror as if this little problem is too much for him to handle, "That is so KRAK!"
I'm guessing that his 'KRAK' word is translated as 'EVIL'.
"Yeah. The game difficulty is the villain of my life. I should've chose the Ultra Easy game difficulty so this game will end fast."
Suddenly, Crack burst into laughter as if I'm telling him a joke. I don't know what made him laughed so hard. When he stopped laughing, this twerp standing beside me in silence for about 30 minutes and I assumed that he's watching the screen of my cellphone while I'm playing chess.
Okay. This is getting awkward.
"Krak! The answer to your question earlier is..." Crack finally broke the silence.
"Your fancy irremovable clothing and accessories are actually the part of your body just like in the RPG. It means, that is your default appearance without armor and any gears to wear so you are currently naked. Kraaaaak! Krak! Krak!"
I want to kick him out of this dimension because he's just wasting my time.
"Do you want to ask more questions? Don't worry, I'll answer them."
I quickly looked at his unhygienic face and asked, "How did you and your abominations end up in here? How strong your so-called siblings are? Why my disorganized citizens won't answer my –"
"–Woah! Wa-Wa-Wa-Wa-Wa-Wait! Hold on! Just take it easy, old woman!" Crack said as he made an X sign.
"I won't tell you about how we ended up here. It's up to you on how you obtain that information. It'll be so interesting to watch you like that as if I'm watching a detective movie." He answered my first question as his blue and red eyes gleamed with excitement.
To be honest, hearing his dumb idea made me want to kick his face again but I have to be more patient because he's a God of Stupidity after all, "If you have the information about your enemies, you should give it to me. All of it."
"Krak! Krak! Krak! Did you forget the game genres you chose?"
Why did he asked about the game genres?
Does he have the ability to see my memories?
He's just smiling and I assume my guess is right, "I remember all of them including the other three bugged genres."
"There are 8 genres, right?"
"It's supposedly 5."
Crack walks in circle as he starts to enumerate the genres in any order, "SIMULATION... Everything you experience in here feels real, right? Hmm... ACTION... That's sounds cool. Krak! FANTASY world with magic, dragons and other mythical creatures are in there! ADVENTURE! Aren't you excited to explore the unknown? RPG! You already know your role in this game, right?"
"My titles is the answer." I replied as my eyes are focusing at my cellphone.
"Krak! That's not the right answer."
I sighed in exasperation, "You want me to say it?"
"Yup! Come on! Say it!"
"I am a villain."
"Krak! Krak! Krak! Since I'm your God, I am a villain too! Our shadow army are villains as well! In short, we are the villains in a fantasy world known as Octavia!" He said proudly.
"No. We looked more villainous than you are." I teased him.
Crack pouted, "Oh come on! You are sooooo wrong."
Of course, being a villain is not all about monstrous appearance just to look more evil. It's all about vile schemes and motivations to accomplish the obvious goals such as annihilation, conquering countless worlds, etc. Crack might look like a hopeless black guy but he can't be underestimated.
"You didn't finish enumerating the genres, Crack." I reminded him and he cleared his throat.
"Oh yeah! Right... Where was I? Uh..."
He looked hesitant but he said it anyway, "ROMANCE."
After hearing that word made my vision darkened which means I narrowed my eyes and knitted my nonexistent eyebrows, "Delete that shit!"
Crack suddenly shrunk into a size of a bee and he hovered in front of my face, "Sorry! I can't do it! What is done is DONE, right?"
I remained silent as I tried to calm my nonexistent nerves.
"You hate that genre because true love is bullshit. You believe that feeling in love is just an instinct for a reproduction thing, right? So you're always doubtful towards men but it is ironic that you got pregnant without knowing who the daddy of your son is. Blah-blah-blah." His words became inaudible when he mentioned about my flaw.
I sighed in defeat because it'll give me more stress if I try to squash this guy.
"Blah-blah-blah. The End of the bitter story." He bowed theatrically.
If this world is a simulation game, there should be a loophole.
"If you can't delete that genre, then I'll find a way to break it."
He seemed pleased to my idea, "I'm looking forward to see that."
Then he continued, "STRATEGY! Since you are a villain, you need a very fat brain to win in the end of the game!"
"Last but not the least, PUZZLE... You need to solve the mysteries because there are a lot of secrets around Octavia."
"This is so stup–" He cut me off which confirms that this cracked-headed and self-proclaimed god is stubborn.
"For the second question!" Crack exclaimed as he raised his right index finger.
"Hmm... My siblings' strength... How can I say this? Let's call it... BALANCE."
"How is that balance if you're against them? Wait–" I paused and realized why he called it balanced.
"Is it because you are strong enough to fight them? Like... 7 versus 1? But you are defeated? Wow! Seriously?" I asked in disbelief.
He laughed and I assumed that it was a 'Yes' but I don't want to believe it because he might be lying.
"Krak! Why would I lie to you? The answer is already written in your titles' description."
I have no reason to read the descriptions of my titles because I already memorized them all, "Oh really? You want my help to murder your siblings because you can't handle them by yourself. Pathetic! Where is the balance now?"
Crack frowned as he crossed his arms under his chest but he managed to force a strained smile, "I really want to explain everything to you but the puzzle genre is KRAK!"
I'm guessing that his 'KRAK' word means 'CRAP'.
Goddammit! This is fucking stupid!
"Okay, fine! If it is balance, did your dad interfered and beat your ass effortlessly?"
He only smiled in silence and I'll take that reaction as a 'Yes'.
Hmm... Helping him to defeat his enemies...
I don't think this is the part of the contract.
But is this entertainment for him?
Strategy... Or War strategy?
What's the purpose of our army? Do they have armies as well?
Leading those shadows to win the war is what he called my talent?
It all make sense that he put me in this kind of situation.
"Krak! Krak! Krak! And for the last question... I told them not to answer your questions about our past. If they failed to follow my rules... Let's just say... They'll get rebooted. Even if you use your ˹Reminiscence˼... That won't work. You'll never ever see our past. NEVER."
He's sounds serious though but I want to know more about him.
˹Observe˼!
The only thing I saw is a purple capitalized word 'ERROR'. I guess Crack noticed this and he smiled at me.
"Oooh! Someone is peeking! Sorry, you are too weak for this."
Of course, my titles with insane huge numbers didn't boosted my stats as if it didn't work against Crack then I rolled my eyes, "Damn that puzzle genre!"
"Okay! Let's go inside to your Pocket Dimension! I'll show you something new!"
Before I could even react, I and he teleported inside my Pocket Dimension.
"Krak! I know that you already saw these items, right? Everything in these two planets are still the same after you left." Crack explained as his bloodshot eyes gazed upon those two Earths.
"I bestow you another gift and I'm sure you like it!" He said with full of excitement and held his laughter.
"What is it?" I asked in curiosity.
He laughed first before answering my question, "I gave you an authority to DUPLICATE and DELETE things infinitely inside your Pocket Dimension."
My eyes widened in disbelief, "T-That's... UNLIMITED RESOURCES and MANA PARTICLES!"
"Krak! I knew you like it! BUT!" Crack said as he raised his right index finger.
"The foreign objects can't be duplicated. Only the things that already exist in your Pocket Dimension is okay."
"Are you fucking serious?"
He nodded with his usual smile but I didn't show him that I'm happy about the gift. To be honest, I spent 732 years in Chamber of Punishment and it almost made me want to quit the game because this prison is totally sucks. There are a few things to describe this dimension:
1. Lifeless – Without air, normal heat of the sun, nutrients of the soil and water can't create life. Well, except for us. We don't need those elements to survive this hazardous place but this shit results to number 2.
2. Dull and Boring – Without life, there are no living things to make this dimension a little bit interesting but I only see one thing.
Rocks.
They are black and shiny which I assumed they are diamonds or crystals but they're still normal rocks.
With those things and with my people's effort to make something out of it will make this dimension a little villainous such as my throne.
3. No killing for XP – Without the resources such as animals to kill for XP is the additional points to our boredom so that's why I became a Zumba instructor. I forced myself to dance in front of the camera even I'm not good at it but I got better after a few practice.
"That's more than enough for me to help our progress. If you have nothing to say, then get the fuck outta here."
"Krak! The bad news is... My creations hate humans. I'm sure they'll get mad at you."
"They hate humans? How can you explain the shadows from my world? Why they are more neutral from these abominations?"
"Because the shadows that entered your world are just... NEW. Which means they are more stupid and disorganized than your people."
"I see..." I muttered but the flash of memories about the unknown powerful shadow played in my mind.
"What about the shadow that fused with Emmanuel?"
"That one?! Ooohhh... That boy caught that pretty corrupted rose but too bad, it used to be the last red rose and I just ENDED it by using my corruption!"
I frowned at him, "You're not answering my question."
"That's another story! Okay! I see you again when you reach level 20! Bye!" Crack waved his hand as a goodbye before he disappeared.
"That twerp left me hanging," I grumbled.
Congratulations!
You acquired a new title!
[UNGRATEFUL OLD HAG]
Since you don't feel thankful after your God gave you his kindness, you are rewarded with this trashy title but he doesn't mind your trashy attitude. Additional 10,000 LUK.
The name of the title made me want to kill the creator of this game but the Zero Emotions neutralized it and the LUK stat that I have is too much.
"Krak! Wait!" He appeared again.
"What now?"
"I want to see them salute you in their human form. Krak! Krak! Krak!" Then he disappeared in thin air.
You have a new quest!
Salute like a Human Soldier
Teach your people how to salute in their human form. Make it epic okay?
Rewards: 100,000 XP for you and your people.
Time Limit: 03:59:22 Hrs.
Deduction if you failed: -10 levels and -10,000 Loyalty
"Are you kidding me?! The deduction is too much! But the Human form thing..."
I checked the new update of My People and to my surprise, they all have Skill Tree. Their first unlocked skill is ˹Body Shift˼ which allows them to transform their appearance to what they desire.
"Then, how about me?"
My skill tree has also one unlocked skill and it was ˹Body Shift˼. So we all have that skill. All I have to do right now is to duplicate things. Since my Pocket Dimension can be my home which also means that My People can live here.
"One Earth Year 2030 can perfectly holds 10 billion people."
Shadow Population: 6,666,666,666,666,666,666
Children - 20%
Crows - 11%
Passerby - 13%
Titans - 6%
Swifters - 10%
Oracles - 14%
Mists - 12%
Howlers - 13%
Generals and Shadow Queen- 1%
"I can duplicate it up to 600 million-plus."
I tapped the planet and the blue window appeared.
Would you like to duplicate Earth, Moon and Sun Year 2030?
> Yes
> No
I tapped the Yes option and a holographic keyboard appeared then typed the number of copies. After that, I made a new customized quest but I'm not sure if this will works.
Enter only 1 sentence to describe your quest: I want to convince my people to disguise as humans.
There will be a deduction once you failed or abandoning your customized quest.
Are you sure to continue this process?
> Yes
> No
"I'll take this risk."
New Quest has been created!
Better than Humans Part 1
Convince your people to live like how humans did but better than ever they imagined.
Rewards: ???
Deduction if you failed: - 10,000 Loyalty
"Okay... This is quite unexpected but I'll accept that quest. If I fail, my Saved Game Files will save my ass and start over," I said with a triumphant smile and tried to summon the cellphone.
System: You're so smart but you can't use your trump card this time. HAHA! XD
"WHAT?!" I said in disbelief and used ˹Selfie˼.
Notification
˹Selfie˼ skill and Album under the command of Journal have been disabled. Please finish the Salute like a Human Soldier quest first.
The system ruined my plan. Is it because of the game difficulty?
Since I still have 3 hours left, I know what I'm going to say. Thanks to my INT and WIS, I remembered Crack's pathetic story. Then I returned to my throne before the newscasting drones started to record for the Live Stream.
"Attention, I have a great announcement." I paused and it's my first time to feel nervous in this body.
This feeling exists because if I fuck this up, I will go back to level zero and their loyalty will drop to rebellion.
Zero Emotions neutralized your nervousness.
I mentally sighed in relief and said, "A few hours ago, our God talked to me. He was pleased to our FAST progress and gifted me a new BLESSING which allows me to duplicate and delete things INFINITELY that exist in my Pocket Dimension."
Then my non-existed ears heard a tremendous cheer from miles away. They sounds happy to hear my report but it's not over yet.
"The things I duplicated are... The sun, moon and... A planet full of resources... and MANA PARTICLES."
They cheered once again when they heard about the mana particles. It confirmed that they don't know the uses of the resources I've prepared for their development and growth.
"Unfortunately..."
I stood up and used the ˹Body Shift˼ skill which my entire body shined with purple light. Every second, I shrunk feet by feet until it stops when the light disappeared. I withdrew the mirror from my Inventory and find myself that it turned me into a younger version of my old self without any clothing. I used to have healthy white skin, long white hair, and black eyes. But now, I'm pale as my hair is black as darkness and purple eyes.
Then the red window popped in front of me.
Warning!
Loyalty will decrease by 10% per 10 seconds.
Now that they saw me as a naked human, there's no turning back.
"Our God gave me an order... You will salute to me like this. Stand straight!"
I said without letting my shoulders droop as my arms straight and flat at my side and fingers pointed at the ground.
"Turn your head and eyes toward the person you are saluting. It is respectful to maintain eye contact." I explained, not minding the decreasing numbers of their Loyalty.
"Then bring your arm up so the bottom of your bicep is parallel to the ground. Your arm should remain straight, so your elbow is in a straight line with your shoulders."
"Raise your hand to your brow. Keep the outer edge of the hand barely canted downward so that neither the back of the hand nor the palm is visible from the front. The hand and wrist are straight, the elbow inclined slightly forward, and the forearm is at a 45-degree angle to the ground. Keep your fingers and thumb straight and in line with each other."
"You should hold the salute until I give the 'At ease' order. Last but not the least, bring your hand directly down to its natural position at your side when dropping the salute. If I hear a slapping sound or seeing you lazily performed it... That's a great insult."
After I performed the salute, it's my great moment to convince them.
"I know all of you despise these little insects!" I said as my index finger pointed at the holographic images of the humans who lived Earth 2030 as an example.
"Those humans are used to be our God's people... But they left him because of the defiled land they lived in. They can't survive because their body is needy and he did his best to make their stupid wishes come true but none of them appreciated it. They broke his heart, abandoned... And forgotten him if possible! To be honest, I heard this story from him before I sat on this throne." I said as my index finger pointed at the giant throne behind me.
"That story and our situation made me think that you lose the Great War. I even imagined how their victorious smiles looked like as you... My people... And my God... Are being mocked by them."
Shadows' POV
Her human appearance made us blinded with rage but as soon as she spoke about the story of our God, we tried our best to calm down and listen to her words.
"They might laugh at us right now because we are still struggling to grow BUT..." She gritted her teeth as her human purple eyes glowed intensely.
"Someday... We are the ones to laugh at them. Not just humans... But also the other races in Octavia!"
Those words are already enough to make us feel better but she's still talking.
"Those fucking insects... They think they are better than us!"
"You... My people... I'll let you choose... Salute at me with your human form and grow with me in my Pocket Dimension or..."
Her eyes are enough to make us all shivered in fear, "I'll let you rot in this hell hole and kill you once it's time for us to escape."
We don't have much of a choice.
♦ ♦ ♦
My speech made me cringe as hell but Zero Emotions is useless because it didn't do anything just to stop this feeling and I don't know if they salute me or not. It's up to them.
System: :)
The system gave me this strange emoticon and I wonder why it's smiling at me. I waited for a few minutes until the footsteps can be heard from miles away. Then I saw countless naked humans in all gender and ages lurch out of the horizon.
When the shadows that disguised as humans stopped which was 10 meters away from me, they simultaneously saluted just as what I taught them and waited for my response. To be honest, if my previous people saw this shit they probably kill them for breaking the rules of salute.
"At ease!" I ordered and they simultaneously dropped their salute.
Salute like a Human Soldier Completed!
Rewards: 100,000 XP for you and your people
Better than Humans Part 1 Completed!
Rewards: 10,000 Loyalty
LEVEL UP!
LEVEL UP!
LEVEL UP!
LEVEL UP!
LEVEL UP!
LEVEL UP!
LEVEL UP!
LEVEL UP!
LEVEL UP!
You reached level 19.
Your people reached level 15.
There's a New Update to your Inventory!
˹GATE OF THE ABYSS˼
This allows you to create portals and transfer your people to the Inventory.
I smiled in triumph, "With this appearance, resources, and time to grow together before we escape from this hell... Someday, we'll show them that we are the better versions of humans or any races that exist in Octavia."
Then I summoned many black portals and said the last words of my speech.
"From now on, call me General Shadowwalker."
The End of Chapter 8