I Have a God Simulator

Before getting off work, the boss called a last-minute meeting.

The gist of the meeting was that due to the economic downturn, the company needed to cut some expenses. The boss encouraged everyone to work from home to get through these tough times together. For employees working from home, the company would pay the city’s minimum wage.

To put it simply, the company was out of money and was letting people stay home while collecting the legal minimum wage. As for when things would get better, that was up to luck.

Luh Yao’s heart pounded with excitement as he listened.

’This is perfect for my current situation!’

The moment the meeting ended, he rushed to find his boss, expressing his willingness to work from home and stand with the company through thick and thin!

"What are you getting mixed up in this for?!"

"This has nothing to do with you. Come to work on time every day."

"Working from home is a policy for the older employees. You’re a young man, you need money for everything. What can you do with just minimum wage?! Can you find a girlfriend? Can you buy a house?"

Boss Huang berated him, then gave him a 300-unit raise on the spot, telling him to collect it from the finance department.

Afterward, he added earnestly, "Xiaolu, I was young once too. Don’t act on impulse. Perseverance—perseverance is victory. We all have to persevere!"

Luh Yao didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

His thinking was that working from home meant less money, but he wouldn’t starve. And he’d have more time to watch the simulator.

Boss Huang thought he had lost his fighting spirit and just wanted to slack off.

In any case, the boss wasn’t going to give him the chance to work from home.

There was nothing Luh Yao could do.

After work, he happily bought two pounds of pork ribs and some seasonings, planning to have Xiaohuo braise them when he got home.

...

Cactus Ball was busy in the kitchen.

Luh Yao sat in front of his computer, focused on the simulator.

The underground battlefield on the Eastern Continent was still sealed off, and the follow-up cleanup work was not yet complete.

Luh Yao issued a command, and Isabel began to investigate further.

She cast [Mourning Prayer], summoning a Dead Black Ball from the ruins of the underground Divine Statue, and then began to translate simultaneously.

"My lord, Catalo says that the Tao God used all of his Faith Artifacts to ignite the Fire of Faith, so nothing was left behind."

Luh Yao wasn’t surprised.

The Divine Statue had already self-destructed; there was no reason for the enemy to leave behind any worldly possessions.

"As for the reason, Catalo doesn’t know either."

"Catalo’s Wisdom isn’t very high, so he often couldn’t accurately understand the God’s will. Most of the time, Catalo’s job was to carry the Divine Statue and protect it."

"The one truly in charge of affairs was the more intelligent and wise Honer. Honer was another Apostle and the Tao God’s most capable assistant. The Strains and the Fungi People were all under his command."

Luh Yao became alert.

—Where is Honer?

"When [Aegir’s Fire] brought down the meteorites, Honer died among the Fungi People."

’Never mind then.’

The Apostle Catalo didn’t know any more details about the Tao God. His role under the Tao God was similar to that of the Blood Knight to Luh Yao—a direct enforcer.

Although Catalo’s stats and abilities weren’t outstanding, its [High-Level Exemption] still made Luh Yao quite envious.

...

[High-Level Exemption LV1]

A chance to avoid incoming damage, and a high probability of being unaffected by Magic Abilities.

...

It was this ability that triggered, allowing Catalo to luckily survive the bombardment of [Aegir’s Fire] and escape underground while carrying the Divine Statue.

Unfortunately, Luh Yao was out of Apostle Marks at the moment.

Faith consumption was high right now, so unless an individual had a unique advantage, he wasn’t considering adding more Apostles for the time being.

’I need to be strict about recruitment.’

Since they were already at it, Luh Yao had Isabel go to the surface battlefield and summon the sludge-like Honer.

Honer provided new intelligence.

"...In the [Whistleblower]’s Divine Palace, the Tao God was ranked 19th, and the Haili God was 18th. They were the two weakest Gods in the Divine Palace, so they were ordered by the Whistleblower to undergo Demotion and enter this Fragment World."

"After Demotion, a God falls from the Divine Hall of the Gods, so the Divine Palace can no longer receive specific information from here."

"The Tao God possessed a Faith Artifact, a [One-Way Door]. By using a low-level creature—a Fungi Person, for example—a key could be sent out of this world."

"Because a key has not yet been found, Lord Tao God did not activate this Artifact. Once opened, the door becomes fixed in one location, unable to be moved, and is extremely conspicuous."

Luh Yao had seen a One-Way Door in Salt Pool Castle.

This special type of Teleportation Gate was for exit only, not entry, which was a significant restriction.

It was the same for the Teleportation Gates leading into the Golden Field and the Black Abyss. Once opened, the gate was fixed in place, impossible to hide, and easily noticed.

Unfortunately, the [One-Way Door] had been destroyed in the Tao God’s self-destruction.

"My lord, when an Apostle loses their body, their Wandering Soul will gradually sink into the Sea of Mourning, never to be awakened again."

Isabel asked, "Should I persuade Honer and Catalo to be sent to Saniluo?"

Luh Yao’s eyes lit up.

’I almost forgot about Saniluo, that Ghost Soul Nursing Home.’

’This is a pretty good option.’

On Isabel’s end, there was another burst of garbled communication.

"..."

She turned her face and knelt on one knee. "My lord, I am very sorry. Catalo is unwilling to join... It says that it is an Apostle of the Tao God, and even in death, it will follow its Old God. It wants to go to the Sea of Mourning and perish alongside its master."

’What a pity,’ Luh Yao thought.

He quite liked this Earth Element and hadn’t expected it to be such a loyal Apostle. It just wasn’t meant to be.

"Honer, on the other hand, wishes to join you, my lord."

Isabel continued to relay, "He hopes to become your Apostle. Honer says he is wiser than Catalo and was more valued by the Tao God in the past."

Luh Yao frowned.

’Is this a job interview now?’

It seemed that in the Pixel World, the higher an individual’s Wisdom, the better they were at assessing situations. Individuals with lower Wisdom, like the Wildman Hero, the Blood Knight, the Snowman, and the Earth Element, were, by contrast, purer, more loyal, and more dedicated.

Luh Yao rejected Honer, who had actively applied for the job.

Luh Yao had no interest in the type of person who would elevate themselves by belittling a former comrade. He even revoked Honer’s eligibility to enter Ghost City Saniluo, sending it to the Sea of Mourning to be remade.

...

Having dealt with the two Gods sent by the [Whistleblower], Luh Yao immediately moved on to the next project without stopping.

This was a hidden danger that had existed ever since he started with the simulator.

The Forest God.

Luh Yao mobilized the Blood Knight, the Snowman, and the Skeleton Man, Philos, and had them lead a team of Corrupters to excavate deep beneath the Forest House on the Western Continent. They quickly dug through to an underground tunnel.

Philos controlled the Skeleton King Armor to lead the way, and Luh Yao locked his perspective above its head.

Upon entering the underground, the game interface switched to a brand-new scene.

An underground cottage, enveloped by tree roots, appeared on the screen. The cottage was situated in an underground cavern, built from stacked stones, with a roof covered in soft, yellow thatch. Moss and ivy grew on its walls.

Even buried deep underground, everything around the cottage was full of life.

The stone house was displayed as [Forest House].

Luh Yao manually controlled the Blood Knight to move to the door, and a LV30 [Jungle Giant Lizard] charged out from inside. He took control of the Blood Knight and easily cut down the small mob.

The door of the house then slowly creaked open.

Luh Yao directed the Blood Knight to enter the house.

The screen switched again, this time to a top-down view of the cottage’s interior.

A thick, green-leather book floated inside the room.

Beneath the book was a hammock, and on it lay a woman in black robes. Her figure was hazy, more like a phantom.

It wasn’t that she looked a lot like Isabel—she was her spitting image.

Even though the pixel resolution wasn’t sharp, Luh Yao could tell at a glance.

’As expected.’

’Isabel and the Forest God are directly connected.’

Luh Yao clicked on the flying green book.

It displayed [Memory Book].

He clicked it again, and the Memory Book flew around in the air like a large green butterfly. The phantom of the woman on the ground vanished without a trace.

The Blood Knight swung its sword, but the blade passed right through the book, unable to cause it any harm.

’Is there a specific method to read the Memory Book?’

Luh Yao mulled it over.

’Don’t tell me it wants Isabel to come and read it? And then pull some kind of Forest God resurrection?’

’Read it?’

’Read my ass!’

Luh Yao directly cast a Miracle.

Lightning!

Under the power of the Miracle, the [Memory Book] dodged and weaved, fleeing in a panic.

Luh Yao increased the intensity.

The Forest House wasn’t spacious, so the Memory Book had limited room to move. It was also bound by some rule that prevented it from leaving the cottage. The green book dodged back and forth, finding it increasingly difficult.

Under the lightning’s area-of-effect bombardment, the Memory Book finally crash-landed and scattered into a pile of white pages. Most of the pages were burned to ash by the lightning. Luh Yao pulled back just in time, but only three pages survived.

Luh Yao clicked on one of the pages.

The page instantly filled the screen, and words materialized upon it.

"...Back then, I did not yet live in the forest. I was adored by both a king and a prince."

"They initiated a duel for my sake. Seeing a father and son fight to the death over me, I felt troubled, so I could only tell them that I loved neither men nor women. I loved only the gods."

"How should I put it? The king and the prince always thought that my becoming the Court Wizard meant I was devoted to them. To be honest, I actually preferred the queen. I have a whole box full of love letters and poems from her."

"Being admired and loved by so many people is its own kind of trouble."

"In the end, I retired to the forest, wanting to live a peaceful life. This is the origin of the Forest Witch. But people still came every so often to sing to me, give me roses and nightingales, and ask me to marry them, or for them to marry me... Sigh. Sometimes they were so annoying that I just turned them into frogs and sparrows."

"That way, even if they continued to chirp and chatter their confessions of love, I wouldn’t be bothered by it. A happy ending for everyone..."

Luh Yao was completely baffled as he read.

’What the hell!’

’A secret romance diary written by the Forest Goddess?’