I Have a God Simulator

A natural strait lies south of the Northern New Continent.

Scattered houses lined the shores of the strait. This place was once the former site of the Northern Divine Hall Army.

After Yan City was liberated and the Slave Traders were driven out and eliminated, most people migrated to Yan City or Yao City, but a small number remained behind.

Coupled with the frequent traffic of Adventurers, Scholars, merchants, sailors, fishermen, and Pharmacists, people gradually began to settle here permanently. The place now has a new name: Strait Pier.

In a tavern at Strait Pier, two men were drinking warm ale and eating roasted potatoes.

"So, Fabiani, you think the key to this world is underground?"

Pawa looked curiously at the man sitting across from him.

Fabiani swallowed his food and wiped his mouth with his hand. "Humans can go one of two places: the ocean or the land. The ocean is full of dangers, and we are creatures of the land. So yes, I believe the truth may lie hidden underground."

"Like the Split Worms?"

Pawa smiled. "You were the first person to discover the Split Worm. Although the Lord God gave it its name, many people privately call them Fabiani Worms."

Fabiani shook his head. "I was just lucky. Now, those creatures have become livestock for the Dragons."

"Another round?"

"No thanks. I’m just drinking to stay warm, not to get drunk."

Fabiani exhaled a puff of white breath, his scruffy, bearded mouth moving slowly. "I was once a Prophet for a fallen Old God."

Pawa’s expression didn’t change, as if he had known all along.

"Witnessing the fall of the Divine Statue and the fading of its Divine Miracles, I was lost for a long time, not knowing what to do. The omniscience and omnipotence displayed by Yao God made me feel that anything an ordinary person like me could do was utterly meaningless..."

"After that, I traveled to many places: Yan City, Yao City, Saniluo, the Eastern Continent, the lands Overseas, the New Continent of the Southern Elves, and finally, here."

"Over a span of more than ten years, I discovered that the world below is a place most people ignore. Yet, the lost History and truths of bygone days have been preserved precisely because they were buried underground."

"Take the Burrower Monsters—they’re descendants of ancient humans. The underground is riddled with countless caves and ruins, but to this day, no one has paid them any real attention."

"I once heard from a dying Burrower Monster elder that many Eras ago, the continent hadn’t yet been shattered and was much vaster than it is now. Back then, there was a Rose Kingdom on the surface."

"The Rose Kingdom cultivated many species of roses, all of which were Extraordinary Life forms. In those days, humans ruled the mortal world alongside the roses..."

Pawa’s eyes lit up as he listened. "Have you found the ruins of this ancient Kingdom?"

Fabiani shook his head. "I’m still searching everywhere for it. Instead, I ended up digging up Split Worms... It gave me a huge fright at the time; those things chased me all over the place. It was only later I realized they just wanted the Sour Tree Raspberries and other berries in my pack."

"Oh, so that’s what happened."

Pawa flipped open his journal and wrote with a charcoal pencil, "Seems it’s never a bad idea to carry extra food when you’re out and about. From the personal experience of Archaeologist Fabiani."

"..."

Fabiani asked, "Why are the worms at the Dragon Nest?"

He had once passed by the Dragon Nest from a distance and seen massive worms moving all around, bursting through the thick ice and plowing the frozen earth. The sight had been magnificent.

"I actually know about that."

Pawa took a sip of his ale. "They were a gift for the Dragon King."

"You know about Elf Lake, right? Some people have learned to give gifts to the Little Elves—building them treehouses and pools, planting tree and grass seeds—to build a friendship and get the Lake Treasure Chests. But the Little Elves are getting smarter now; they’re not so naive anymore and won’t just hand out treasure chests to anybody."

"So some Adventurers figured they could use the same method to get on the Dragon King’s good side and see if they could get some treasure out of it."

"It’s not easy to get an audience with the Dragon King, but there’s a young Dragon in the Dragon Nest, so they thought giving it gifts might be useful."

Fabiani frowned. "But Dragons and Elves are completely different creatures."

Pawa speared a piece of potato with his fork. "Split Worms are a favorite food of Extraordinary Creatures."

"Whether it’s Cannibal Crabs, Blazing Chickens, Sand Worms, or Fish People, they all love Split Worms. That’s why merchants everywhere are scrambling to buy them up."

"They say Split Worms constantly divide on their own, but they require large tracts of land. The more spacious and fertile the land, the faster they multiply."

"Initially, these giant worms were sent to the Dragon Nest as food, or as tribute."

Fabiani paused, another question forming in his mind. "But the number of worms around the Dragon Nest seems especially high... and what’s the deal with that Snowman selling them to outsiders?"

"Who knows?"

Pawa recalled, "I’ve been to the Dragon Nest with the High Furnace Strange People Adventure Group, and we met the Snowman. It’s a... very special kind of Snowman."

"When we first saw it, we thought it was a little foolish, but then it seemed incredibly intelligent. It couldn’t grasp things a normal person would take for granted, and it called itself the butler of the Dragon Nest... The Snowman is also the one selling the worms."

The lands around the Dragon Nest are vast. Despite the cold, the Split Worms could live normally by burrowing deep underground. Within a few years, this place became home to the largest population of Split Worms in the world.

Of course, all the worms nearby are the property of the Dragon Nest, belonging to Dragon King Pasha.

Fabiani vigorously rubbed his face with his large, rough hands. "The ship is about to sail. Let’s walk and talk."

The two men left the tavern, one after the other. The blast of cold wind that met them outside sobered them up instantly.

"If I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes, I’d never believe it. An Ice Giant Monster raising worms outside the Dragon Nest and selling them... This is nothing like the Dragon Nest I imagined," the Archaeologist remarked with a sigh.

Pawa gave a bitter smile. "In the first draft of my Dragon Nest Chapter, I wrote that the Dragon Nest was a perilous Holy Land, and that to challenge the Dragon Race was to show the greatest courage and defiance in the face of Fear... Who would have thought that in just a few years, the Dragon Nest would turn into a worm-selling hub, bringing prosperity to Strait Pier."

A thought suddenly occurred to Fabiani. "Are Dragons short on money? They shouldn’t be, right?"

Pawa rubbed his hands together. "In any case, the Dragon King is certainly very wealthy now. It’s likely about to become the richest of them all. They say half the Split Worms in Saniluo City are imported from here."

"The worms from the Dragon Nest grow incredibly fast, they’re very strong, and their flesh is firm. The black ones, in particular, are practically priceless... Reality is always stranger than you can imagine."

"The only problem is, my entire finished draft of the Dragon Nest Chapter is completely useless now."

Pawa tugged down on his rabbit-ear hat, looking ahead with a gloomy expression.

An Ice Giant Monster was tying up thick, reddish-brown worms with rope, stuffing them into crates by the pier. Sailors then used wheelbarrows to transport the crates onto a ship and into the cargo hold.

The oared ships departed one by one, fully loaded, while in the distance, new merchant ships sailed in to take their place.

Everyone knew the dangers of venturing into the Dragon Nest.

But no one could ever be certain of finding treasure.

Yet here at Strait Pier, outside the Dragon Nest, ships were constantly docking. You could earn a small sum just by helping out on the pier or serving as a sailor on a ship.

Many young people traveled from far and wide to come here and earn money.

Pawa looked toward the sky.

’Lord Yao God, did you give this creature the name Split Worm just so that Dragons and humans could coexist peacefully?’

’The power and Wisdom of a God are truly beyond comprehension.’

Fabiani climbed onto the deck of the oared ship and waved to the man on the pier. "Farewell."

Pawa snapped out of his thoughts and shouted, "Please give my regards to the mayor of Tonghai City!"

The Archaeologist nodded, adjusting the burlap pack on his back. "You stay safe yourself."

"Don’t worry. Yao God is with us," Pawa said, his breath pluming in the cold air.

Fabiani also said in earnest, "Yao God is with us!"