I Have a God Simulator

Things had been progressing at a fiery pace in the simulator recently, but only two days had passed in the outside world.

Luh Yao had recently picked up a new hobby.

Running.

In the past, just getting off work would leave him feeling utterly exhausted, wanting nothing more than to fall into bed. But ever since he started using the simulator, his stamina had surged. His physical senses had also sharpened dramatically, and he no longer felt tired so easily.

These days, Luh Yao was full of energy after just five hours of sleep, his vitality visibly abundant.

Running relaxed his mind, and it also served as a convenient explanation for his improved physical condition.

On the night of the Era Update, he was running laps along the main road outside his residential complex. As he approached a bus stop, he came across a group of middle school students getting off a bus.

They were in their school uniforms, their faces still free of major worries, their eyes bright.

The students walked home in twos and threes. They had just gotten out of their evening self-study sessions.

Luh Yao overheard several of them talking about the same thing.

"The Tiger Man is hilarious. Look, look at this."

"I wonder what guy made these special effects. The more I watch, the weirder it gets. His brain must be wired differently."

"Probably some influencer. He’s been trending lately. Wasn’t that ’Two Tigers Love to Dance’ video popular for a while? I guess this is his comeback."

"What is this garbage video... I’ll just watch it one more time."

"Damn, this is so creepy. Now all I can see in my head is the Tiger Man dancing."

"This is in our city! On that wall next to the school. They probably used some kind of high-tech screen to project it, that’s why the Tiger Man is running all over the wall."

...

Tiger Man?

’What’s that?’

Luh Yao felt a little out of touch with society.

He ran a little farther and again heard scattered mentions of the Tiger Man.

Luh Yao pulled out his phone and searched for it.

A quick search revealed that the Tiger Man was, in fact, a new internet celebrity.

It was a stick-figure character with two prominent ears and arms that flailed bizarrely, almost like it was flapping wings. It walked across all sorts of walls and floors with a strangely captivating posture.

It was called the Tiger Man because it strongly resembled the little figure from the once-popular video "Two Tigers Love to Dance." Both had strange movements but possessed a strong, metronome-like rhythm.

The Tiger Man appeared on all kinds of flat surfaces: apartment complex walls, manhole covers, curbs, bathroom doors, toilet lids, tables, and even paper.

It was always flailing its arms and swaying as it walked, looking as if it were dancing, or perhaps just didn’t know what to do with its hands. This attracted a large number of onlookers.

The people who posted the videos repeatedly stressed that they were real footage with no post-production editing.

And viewers believed them.

"Looks legit at a glance."

"Yeah, you can’t fake this with editing."

"I saw the Tiger Man too, on my ceiling. I just can’t remember what day it was."

"I’m getting a little worried about the mental state of the person who filmed this. Bro, you okay?"

...

The posters remained silent in the face of such comments.

The Tiger Man had first appeared more than half a month ago and was actually already on the verge of fading into obscurity. One generation of internet celebrities follows another; the turnover is always incredibly fast.

After running past a fiber optic distribution box, Luh Yao jogged backward to get another look.

A Tiger Man was drawn on the box.

Its arms, like noodles, were flailing as if it were rushing somewhere, but its face was turned outward, as though it had just been caught doing something sneaky.

Luh Yao watched it for a moment. The Tiger Man’s walking pose was static.

’Just some spray-painted graffiti.’

Luh Yao shook his head and continued his run.

When he returned to his rental, Isabel handed him a towel. "Sir, Song Shiyi appeared in the parking alley. She left another letter."

Luh Yao nodded. "Go get the letter. I’m going to take a shower first."

It looked like Song Shiyi had something to report.

Luh Yao washed his hair in the bathroom, humming "The Ordinary Road." When he opened his eyes, he was so startled he blurted out, "Holy shit!" and nearly slipped and fell.

At some point, a Tiger Man had been drawn on the tiled wall.

It was looking right at Luh Yao, its long arms waving. Its blank, round eyes seemed especially eerie at that moment.

Luh Yao suddenly realized something was wrong.

’Only Isabel and I are in this apartment.’

’Someone actually managed to sneak in without Isabel noticing.’

’A player? Or a High-Level Apostle?’

Just then, he heard a voice.

"Hello, Pioneer. I apologize for the impromptu visit. Please don’t be alarmed."

Luh Yao looked around and finally realized it was the Tiger Man on the wall that was speaking.

The Tiger Man raised its long arms and clasped its hands in a gesture of apology toward Luh Yao. "I’m terribly sorry for frightening you."

Luh Yao was a little stunned.

Although his mental fortitude was much greater than before, this strange encounter still left him completely baffled.

’A two-dimensional life-form?’

’Or a creature that crossed over from a Low Realm Dimension?’

The bathroom door was suddenly thrown open. Isabel rushed in, Holy Sword in hand. She pointed her blade at the Tiger Man on the wall and said coldly, "Sir, be careful! This intruder is dangerous."

Luh Yao could only cover his private parts with his hands as he quickly shuffled over to grab a towel.

"Miss Apostle, my apologies for troubling you as well."

The Tiger Man bowed. "I have no hostile intentions. I mean this Pioneer no harm whatsoever."

Luh Yao wrapped the towel around his waist, then pulled up the [True Sight Curse] to inspect this has-been internet celebrity.

...

[Longsu Zhucong LV58] Cancong

Life Value: 413/3585

Mana Value: 872/872

Damage: 0

Defense: 58

Speed: 25

[Rewrite Replacement]

Duplicates the self. Upon the death of the original body, a Rewrite Body will undergo Rebirth as a replacement.

[Dimension Reducer]

A special form adopted after dimensional reduction.

[Self-Stripping]

Can strip away and segment parts of the self.

[High-Level Disguise LV10]

Enters a Disguise state that can only be seen through at close range.

...

’As I thought, it’s related to the simulator.’

Luh Yao had originally assumed the Tiger Man was from a Low Realm Dimension. But judging from its [Dimension Reducer] status, it was highly likely from a World Dimension higher than Earth.

It was just that the name Cancong sounded a bit familiar.

The figure on the wall said, "Please get dressed. I know the Pioneers here are not accustomed to appearing in their natural state."

Luh Yao’s face darkened.

’I was taking a shower and singing, and you have the nerve to pop up in my bathroom looking all creepy and then say something like that.’

"Sounds like you’ve dealt with quite a few people."

Luh Yao said as he quickly pulled on a shirt and pants.

Beside him, Isabel simply stared at the being on the wall, her Holy Sword in one hand and her Magic Book in the other, ready to fight at a moment’s notice.

"I have communicated with several Pioneers in your world. Of course, that was a version of me from many Eras ago."

Cancong’s voice was strange; it entered Luh Yao’s mind directly.

"Why are you looking for me?" Luh Yao asked.

"I searched more than a dozen cities without finding a single Pioneer, yet this city has two. After observing for some time, I found that you have a lower attack tendency and are more stable and friendly. Thus, I waited until you were a bit less busy to pay you a special visit," it explained.

"Two Pioneers?"

Luh Yao frowned.

’How exactly is a Pioneer defined?’

Upon his inquiry, Cancong began to describe the other Pioneer. Judging by the description of her appearance and methods, it was clearly referring to Song Shiyi.

Cancong said, "A Pioneer is an outstanding forerunner who can lead numerous worlds to Sail. The key to Sailing is having a Main God Space to serve as a hub."

Luh Yao understood.

’Pioneer refers to the Main God tier.’

Compared to Song Shiyi, the Committee’s prosecutor and the Moon God, he was definitely an extreme pacifist.

"Excuse me, have you seen or perhaps found a tree?"

Cancong drew a simple sketch on the wall with black lines.

The tree had nine branches, with a bird perched on each one.

Luh Yao shook his head.

"I see. What a pity..." Cancong asked again, "Then have you seen anything similar? Even just a part of it?"

Luh Yao was about to shake his head again when a blurry image flashed through his mind.

He had, it seemed, actually seen something like it somewhere.

Memories surged, and some forgotten, sealed-away images surfaced in his mind. He had indeed witnessed such an object in a certain place.

Luh Yao blurted out, "The Shang Bronze Divine Tree from Sanxingdui?"

Cancong waved its long arms on the wall. "Not that one. That’s a later replica."

"What I’m looking for is the real [Nine-Grain Pillar]."

"Have you seen it?"

Luh Yao looked at the flat little figure on the wall. "Who are you, really?"

"I forgot to introduce myself. I am from Dragon Residence. I am Cancong, one of the three pillar clusters of the Nine-Grain Pillar, and I am here to find the missing Nine-Grain Pillar," the line figure said.

Amidst this pile of unfamiliar terms, an old memory was sparked in Luh Yao’s mind.

"Cancong... Cancong... What’s your relationship to the Ancient Shu King Cancong?"

The stick figure on the wall replied, "I knew him... but those memories have all been erased by constant Rewrite Replacement. Only a few simple records remain. This body can’t retain very much."

Luh Yao took a deep breath.

This bizarre little line figure on the wall before him had existed in the world since the time of the Sanxingdui civilization.

Humanity had intersected with the simulator even in ancient times.