I Have a God Simulator

The Ghost God’s ascent on the Stairway to Divinity was like a soaring Giant Dragon; his path was entirely unobstructed.

During his time as an Apprentice Deity, he quickly found the Artifacts and race of Believers he desired, rapidly accumulating a wealth of resources.

Before his Ascension into the Divine Hall of the Gods, the Ghost God had made ample preparations.

He accumulated tens of thousands of Fire of Faith and grew his population of Believers to over one hundred thousand. Only then did he embark on the path of the Gods, breaking free from the Binding of the Fragment World and commanding his Divine Kingdom to Sail.

Not long after, he was embroiled in three consecutive Divine Wars.

The Ghost God was victorious in every battle. He not only repelled two Gods, but also invaded the Divine Kingdom of a third, forcing them to pay reparations with Fire of Faith to end the war.

He couldn’t help but find it laughable.

’If these Gods think I’m a pushover, they’re welcome to come and try me.’

The population under his command was small, but thanks to the unique nature of his Believers, he never feared a direct confrontation. In fact, large-scale, organized warfare was the Ghost Realm’s greatest strength.

The main Race of the Ghost Realm was the Funeral People.

Funeral People could contain many Ghosts within their bodies, making them natural Spiritualists. They could construct Black Tombstones, which served as abodes for the Ghosts.

Within the Black Tombstones, Ghosts became even more powerful. They released Nether Fire from the tombstones to kill any enemies that approached. Some of the more powerful tombstones could even cultivate Ghouls.

Relying on the layered defenses provided by the Funeral People, Black Tombstones, Ghosts, and Ghouls, the Ghost God had never lost on the battlefield. In fact, he grew stronger with each fight, as the Funeral People could absorb the Ghosts of the fallen.

Nevertheless, after so many consecutive wars, the Ghost God felt exhausted.

He was thankful for his foresight in laying a solid foundation before entering the Divine Hall of the Gods. ’Otherwise,’ he thought, ’this gauntlet of battles alone would have severely drained my power, at the very least.’

The Ghost God turned his attention to his Divine Kingdom.

He watched as the Funeral People communicated with the Ghosts, settling them into the Black Tombstones before getting back to work building new ones. The post-war reconstruction of the graveyards was orderly, and things were steadily improving.

The Ghost God had already planned his Divine Kingdom’s immediate course of action. He would avoid the recent Divine War zone and cautiously explore ahead, searching for a relatively peaceful region to recuperate.

The World-Dimension Space was vast, and its environment was in a state of slow, constant flux. Without a proper navigational Artifact, determining one’s exact position was difficult.

Then, without warning, a sudden change occurred.

The Ghost God looked outside and discovered that the entire Ghost Realm was caught within a cluster of Gravel Worlds, slowly moving in an arc along with them.

At the center, shrouded in white mist, was a massive Vortex World. It was a hundred times the size of the Ghost Realm and had pulled in worlds large and small, forming a bizarre, ring-shaped belt around it.

The Ghost God’s heart sank.

’I successfully completed my Ascension to the Gods, defeated powerful enemies, and intimidated my peers, only to be undone by a natural disaster in the World-Dimension Space.’

He knew that once captured by a Vortex World, escaping would require an enormous expenditure of Fire of Faith.

The Ghost God did a quick calculation.

To make the Ghost Realm Sail fast enough to escape the pull of a Vortex World of this magnitude’s rules would require at least 50,000 Fire of Faith.

50,000!

’I didn’t even spend this much in the last Divine War!’

He glared viciously at the vast, white world.

’This is highway robbery, you damned vortex!’

’What rotten luck!’

The Ghost God composed himself.

’No sense in fighting with a Vortex World.’

’It’s a disastrous plague upon the World-Dimension Space, indifferent to the Willpower of Gods. That’s why every God who passes by is terrified of falling into its grasp, which would mean having to develop for a long time just to pay the fortune required to escape.’

The Ghost God cursed under his breath as he quickly considered his options.

There weren’t many options.

’Since I’m caught by the Vortex World, I may as well go along for the ride.’

The Ghost Realm couldn’t possibly accumulate 50,000 Fire of Faith in a short time just to spend it on escaping.

Then, the Ghost God had a flash of inspiration.

’If you can’t fight it, join it.’

’On the bright side...’

’A mobile natural disaster like a Vortex World is something other Gods already avoid at all costs. It’s like a natural shield; other Divine Kingdoms will give it a wide berth wherever it goes. For the currently weak Ghost Realm, staying within its Ring Realm Group is actually a good thing.’

With this change in perspective, the Ghost God’s anger turned to joy.

’This isn’t a disaster, it’s an opportunity! It’s a stroke of luck!’

Having changed his mindset and made his decision, the Ghost God resolved to take it a step further: not only would he follow the Vortex World, he would move even closer to it!

This would further increase the cost for other Gods to launch an attack, acting as an even greater Deterrence.

’You want to fight me?’

’Fine. First, you’ll need 50,000 Fire of Faith ready for the exit fee. On top of that, to even get close to the Vortex World, you’ll have to accelerate your Divine Kingdom to change its drifting orbit, which is another mandatory expense. These are the basic costs, win or lose.’

’Do the math before you start a war and see if it’s really worth it.’

Once it entered the inner drifting orbit of the Vortex World, the Ghost Realm would have a relatively stable external environment.

What the Ghost God needed now was to trade time for space.

He immediately maneuvered the Ghost Realm, preparing to move closer to the center of the Vortex World.

But at that exact moment, the Vortex World was struck by a violent tremor, which flung the Ghost Realm right out of the Ring Realm Group.

The Ghost God could only stare, dumbfounded.

’What’s going on?’

’I’ve never heard of anything like this.’

’Could this Vortex World have undergone some kind of special mutation? A fluctuation in its Rule Power? Or is it because of the interactions between the surrounding Gravel Worlds?’

The Ghost God noticed that it wasn’t just the Ghost Realm; several other Gravel Worlds had been thrown out as well.

’This is... a periodic fluctuation of its Rule Power!’

The Ghost God was overjoyed.

’In other words, even if I go deep into the Vortex World’s inner orbit, I’ll be flung out when its Rule Power fluctuates periodically, allowing the Ghost Realm to regain its freedom.’

’And I won’t have to spend a single drop of Power of Faith!’

’For me, this is the perfect Natural Disasters War Chariot!’

He had already figured it out. He would ride this Vortex World "warship" for the long haul. Whenever he was thrown out, he would gather resources, or even attack other Gods to gain more population and expand his Divine Kingdom.

After gathering resources or when faced with a powerful enemy, he could retreat into the Vortex World’s protective orbit, which no sensible God would dare approach.

The Ghost God was confident that by using this hit-and-run tactic, the Ghost Realm would grow continuously, eventually reaching a terrifying level of power.

’You couldn’t have come at a better time! What a magnificent arrival!’

’Vortex World, you are the hope of my Ghost Realm!’

The Ghost God threw all caution to the wind, maneuvering his Divine Kingdom to turn around and return to the Vortex World’s embrace.

But soon enough, his Divine Kingdom was flung out again.

The Ghost God was relentless, continuing to approach this Natural Disasters War Chariot. His Divine Kingdom was thrown off again and again, and again and again, he maneuvered it back.

Finally, the periodic fluctuation of the Rule Power ended.

The Vortex World returned to its previous calm state.

The Ghost God didn’t relax until he had maneuvered his Divine Kingdom into the inner ring of the Ring Realm Group, hiding it among a cluster of Gravel Worlds.

He couldn’t help but laugh triumphantly.

’Who would have ever thought a God would deliberately approach a Vortex World?’

’This must be what they call ’fortune favors the bold.’’

...

Luh Yao stared at the screen, completely baffled by what he was seeing.

He had just spent ages fumbling around with the backend controls, finally figuring out how to use Yunzhong Temple’s Rule Power to peel off and eject worlds from the Ring Realm Group.

But for some reason, this Ghost Realm was acting strangely. It kept getting thrown out, yet it would persistently return, dead set on rejoining the Ring Realm Group.

In the end, Luh Yao decided to just let it be.

’If it wants to tag along, let it. I’m already dragging hundreds of Gravel Worlds with me, so what’s one more?’

Luh Yao also thought that this would serve as another sample of a Gods’ Divine Country. ’When I have time, I can secretly observe the Ghost Realm’s ecosystem.’

For now, however, he needed to keep practicing with the backend controls to become proficient at wielding Yunzhong Temple’s Rule Power.

Fortunately, Yunzhong Temple’s own rules were simple and direct, so operating it wasn’t complicated.

Luh Yao had already made up his mind. ’Along the way, if I encounter any abandoned Divine Kingdoms with potential, I’ll grab them and add them to the Ring Realm Group. I’ll worry about developing them later; for now, I’ll just stockpile them. They might be useful in the future.’

The Vortex World, carrying a large cluster of Gravel Worlds, sailed majestically through the World-Dimension Space. Unfortunately, it didn’t come across any ownerless Divine Kingdoms like the Banquet Bird.

Luh Yao had to settle for scooping up a few more Gravel Worlds, which at least bolstered the size of the Ring Realm Group.

The few scattered Divine Kingdoms they passed along the way all kept their distance, terrified of being caught by the Vortex World and suffering a disaster they didn’t deserve.

’With no traffic cops to block the way, driving this big rig is a pretty great experience.’

Suddenly, a notification popped up in the simulator.

[Uluu has invented the Flower Boat.]

[Because of the appearance of the Flower Boat, the death rate in Crystal City has decreased slightly. The Morale of the Wuzi Race is high, and their motivation has increased.]

Luh Yao stared, taken aback.

’Flower Boat?’

’What’s that for?’