I Have a God Simulator

At the crack of dawn, the farmer Boluti arrived at his fields, a basket on his back and a sickle in his hand.

He had decided to reap his wheat a bit early today. Two relatives were coming over at noon, and he wouldn’t be free then. He’d have to entertain them with all sorts of trivial chatter, so he needed to finish his morning chores first.

During wartime, the price of wheat was very low. Farmers could only sell their grain to the Empire. Otherwise, they would be charged with treason.

Two days ago, a Sand Lizard had charged into his field and eaten a lot of his wheat.

The officer with the Sand Lizard had even claimed it was the wheat that lured the creature, and he suspected illegal fertilizer had been used in the field. In the end, Boluti had been forced to give the soldier a bag of wheat as compensation.

’But there was nothing to be done about it. What could a simple farmer do? All he could do was hope the heavens would help, that the wheat would grow more plentiful and heavier, so he could cope with all these disasters.’

Boluti walked all the way to his field, where he suddenly found the land completely barren.

’Where’s the wheat? Where’s the wheat?’

The wheat, which should have been a brilliant gold, had vanished without a trace. Not even the stalks remained.

He squeezed his eyes shut, then opened them again.

The scene before him hadn’t changed at all.

Boluti told himself, ’It must be a trick of the eyes. Yes, I must have taken a wrong turn. This isn’t my field.’

But as he looked from side to side, the surrounding fields were just as empty.

The farmer was still telling himself, ’I must have gone the wrong way. I’m so muddle-headed, I’ve ended up in another section of fields.’

But as he looked all around, everywhere he looked, every wheat field had been swept clean.

The early morning Sun shone down, illuminating each plot of land with perfect clarity. All he could see were huge locusts crawling on the ground, still gnawing on the last scraps of wheat.

Boluti took a few dazed steps, his body trembling uncontrollably.

’Damn it all! Damn it all!’

’The Emperor won’t let us eat our fill, and now the heavens are tormenting us too.’

’We can’t survive this! We can’t survive!’

Boluti violently wiped his nose on his hand. He brandished his sickle and slashed viciously at the locusts in the field.

"If I can’t eat, you won’t either! Starve, all of you! Go and die!"

But the locusts paid no mind to his fury.

They easily dodged the man’s attacks, not even pausing their chewing.

Then the locusts beat their wings and took to the air, flying toward the next set of fields and orchards.

...

A caravan transporting grain traveled down the main road.

Mules and nags pulled flatbed carts, which were laden with burlap sacks full of wheat and pumpkins. These two foods were the Empire’s most important military rations, as they were easy to transport and store, and had high yields.

The Tax Officer and the Construction Officer led the procession. The group had just collected a village’s grain levy. This shipment would be transported to the Quartermaster in Crystal City, then centrally allocated and delivered to the front lines by the logistics corps militia to ensure the warriors and Sand Lizards up ahead had enough to eat each day.

The Sun had not been up for long, but the sky suddenly darkened.

A massive dark cloud appeared in the sky. It sank lower and lower, until it seemed to be falling to the earth.

The groom, who was most familiar with the outdoors, cried out, "Locusts! It’s locusts. And they’re huge."

The Empire had encountered locusts before and had even suffered a few plagues, but with the Apostles’ intervention, the insects were quickly slaughtered until almost none remained.

Some remained in the fields, but they were no longer considered a threat.

But for some reason, the swarms reappeared today, descending menacingly upon the Imperial Army’s provisions.

The Tax Officer shouted, "Soldiers! Soldiers! Drive off the locusts!"

The soldiers scrambled about, waving their shields and spears, but their weapons were too clumsy to be effective against the locusts. The insects paid them no mind, tearing open the burlap sacks by biting and clawing at them. The wheat inside poured out like sand, and the locusts descended upon it like a pack of wolves on fresh blood.

"Attacking the Empire’s baggage train... you deserve death!"

The Construction Officer, enraged, was the first to draw his shortsword and strike a locust across its back. "Kill them!"

But after the sword struck, the locust, oozing a sticky fluid from its body, did not die. Instead, it slowly turned its head, its pair of compound eyes fixing on the Construction Officer, staring blankly.

The sight sent a shiver down the Construction Officer’s spine.

He struck again with savage force, hacking the huge insect completely in two, which finally vented some of his anger.

’Damned beast! How dare it try to intimidate an officer of the Empire!’

At that moment, the Construction Officer suddenly sensed something was wrong.

He saw that many of the locusts had stopped eating. One by one, the huge insects twisted their bizarre heads, their numerous compound eyes staring fixedly at him.

The Construction Officer couldn’t help but take a step back.

The locusts suddenly flew at him, overwhelming him in a sea of insects... A moment later, all that remained on the ground was a sword and a limp suit of Chain Armor.

Having devoured the Construction Officer, the insects returned to the sacks and resumed chewing on the grains of wheat and the pumpkins.

Terrified, the soldiers fled, afraid of meeting a grim fate at the hands of the swarm. Fortunately, these insects seemed to prefer grain and currently had little interest in Hunting humans. Devouring the Construction Officer seemed to have been more of a collective act of revenge.

The Tax Officer’s face went pale with fright. "Man-eating monsters! They’re monsters! This is an enemy attack! An enemy attack!"

"This must be reported to the Empire!"

He brandished his horsewhip in a panic and galloped toward Crystal City.

Seeing this, the soldiers also fled toward the city.

...

Similar scenes were playing out all across the Empire.

In village farmlands, the rampaging locusts feasted, eating with Madness.

Shops in towns that stored food were attacked and pillaged by the swarms.

Transport caravans on the roads frequently encountered the locusts—their target was clear, as they specifically attacked grain-transporting convoys.

Locusts even appeared in the farmlands and orchards on the outskirts of Crystal City. Fortunately, a Divine Totem stood guard; any locust that drew near the Wall was burned to ash by the Totem’s power.

But in the fields outside the city, people desperately tried to drive them away with torches, chickens, and ducks, or by spraying poison, but these old methods had little effect.

In the Crystal City Court, the ministers were at their wits’ end.

"The number of locusts is growing. They have already severely damaged our grain reserves and logistical transport in the rear. If we don’t put a stop to this, the front line will run out of food, and the entire front will be in danger."

"The Scout Corps’ investigation says they come from the Wuzi Kingdom, a native species from over there. The Wuzi People don’t eat grain, so the swarms never grew to a significant size and remained dormant most of the time. But the Empire’s abundant resources have drawn these monsters to us..."

"And now, our front-line supply routes are being attacked by some kind of spider-like insect monster. We’re truly being attacked from both front and back."

"Our top priority is to increase the grain levy! We need to draw from the Empire’s reserve granaries to plug the deficit at the front lines immediately!"

"We have to solve the locust problem! Otherwise, we’re just feeding these insects!"

"The fastest solution would be to ask the Lord Apostles to intervene... but the Lord Apostles are all at the front, engaged in the Divine War..."

"What can we do...?"

The ministers couldn’t help but turn their gazes toward the top of the stone steps.

On the throne sat the highest authority in the Empire, Emperor Sote, Chief Apostle of the Bos God.

His Majesty Sote was expressionless. He rested his chin on one hand, looking down coldly at the ministers below as if watching a tedious farce.

"I will handle this."

The Emperor spoke slowly.

The courtiers were instantly relieved.

In the Bos God Realm, whenever an Apostle took action, it signified the descent of a God’s will. Be it a natural disaster or a man-made one, it would be suppressed and eliminated.

Just then, a rustling sound echoed through the Court.

The courtiers looked from side to side.

A huge locust flew onto an ornamental tree beside the throne, opened its great maw, and began gnawing at the trunk with Madness.

The CRUNCH, CRUNCH sound was exceptionally clear in the spacious Court.

The courtiers’ expressions shifted slightly, and they all lowered their heads, pretending not to have seen it.

The chewing sound stopped abruptly.

They all sneaked a peek and saw that the locust had been reduced to a pile of black powder on the floor.

The Emperor of the Empire rose from his throne and vanished without a trace.

Cracks appeared in the ground around the throne, and wisps of black smoke rose from the fissures.

Everyone in the Court broke into smiles.

’They’ve angered His Majesty the Emperor. Those insects are finished!’