I Have a God Simulator

The view was centered above Uluu’s head.

This was a cave deep beneath the mountains between Yao City and Yan City. Upon entering the underground area, the default third-person, tilted-angle view switched to a side-scrolling perspective.

The scene was shrouded in darkness, with only Uluu and his two companions emitting a faint glow.

Before them lay a T-shaped black mire. There was a small puddle at the top, while the bottom stretched down into the unseen depths.

"Mr. Uluu, we still can’t collect the Black Demon."

A pixel person holding a torch beside him said, "The Black Demon is heavy and slippery, and it’s as if it can sense us. The moment we try to approach, it seeps away into the ground."

Another Burrower Monster, who was wearing a backpack, added, "It’s dangerous. The Burrower Monsters have legends about this black fluid. They say it comes and goes without a trace, can pass through walls and rock, and will steal stored food, leaving a pool of oil in its wake."

A tangled ball of yarn appeared above Uluu’s head.

He raised the writing tablet in his hand, and a dialogue box popped up.

"Black Mud is born from the Black Demon. Many among the Wuzi Race have seen a Black Demon before, but if anyone tries to touch or collect it, the Black Demon vanishes without a trace."

"I consulted Lord Zelkuku of Uda City. They also said that the Black Demon has a unique structure and prefers hot regions. Areas where a Black Demon appears are usually accompanied by Fire Wells, which is very dangerous."

"You must be careful. Keep your torches away from any fissures to avoid triggering a Fire Well eruption."

He warned his two companions.

Luh Yao clicked on the Black Demon in the mire.

...

[Black Demon LV 46]

Life Value: 17,566/17,566

Mana Value: 0/0

Damage: 0

Defense: 25

Speed: 50

[Fusion Body]

Fuses with others of its kind to expand its size and habitat.

[Deep Extraction]

Extracts and purifies enveloped matter. Extraction effectiveness depends on this ability’s level and the Black Demon’s level.

[Decay Mystery LV 2]

Grows stronger by consuming corpses or decaying matter.

[Mad Excreter]

Continuously expels unneeded impurities from its body.

...

The Black Demon resembled a pool of black ooze, but it was, in essence, a living creature.

Because the Black Demon moved too quickly underground, neither the current tools of the Yao Race Civilization nor even the Apostles could capture it. At best, they could only observe it, as Uluu was doing, without being able to obtain a live specimen.

If Luh Yao hadn’t been able to check the game’s encyclopedia, he too would have been left sighing in helplessness.

Black Demons were drawn to warm and hot places. They had a voracious appetite and were relatively primitive subterranean lifeforms that acted purely on instinct. Therefore, the key to handling them was to exploit those very instincts.

Luh Yao already had a place in mind to house the Black Demon.

Aegir’s Fire.

He assigned the capture mission to Slime Mod, partly to test the practical skills of his new Master.

Upon receiving his orders, an avatar of Slime Mod quickly arrived on the scene.

Seeing the green-clad figure suddenly appear underground, exclamation points popped up over the heads of Uluu and his companions. They all took a step back.

"Please, don’t be alarmed. I’ve come to help you handle the Black Demon."

"First, I want to thank you for your survey work and dedication. While a creature like the Black Demon isn’t aggressive, its unique traits mean you must use a specific method to make it cooperate."

"Allow me to give it a try."

A large crowd of identical, green-clad figures arrived.

Their roles were clearly defined. Some led Sand Worms that were hauling great piles of supplies, some began to install Fire Steam Furnaces, some made markings on the ground, some surveyed the area, and others were assigned to exclusively observe the Black Demon’s condition...

The green-clad figures were Each Performing Their Own Task, moving with perfect coordination as if they were a single entity.

Uluu asked, "And you are...?"

"Forgive me, I forgot to introduce myself."

One of Slime Mod’s Grid Limbs addressed them. "It’s a pleasure to meet you. I am Slime Mod, an Apostle of the Lord Yao God."

Uluu and his companions were startled and quickly addressed him as Lord Apostle.

Once their preparations were complete, the Slime Mods began the capture.

They laid down a trail of decaying matter to act as a lure, using the Fire Steam Furnaces to raise the ambient temperature. Slowly but surely, they coaxed the Black Demon away from its original spot.

Sand Worms bored and excavated a path ahead while the Slime Mods pulled and guided the Black Demon, moving it slowly through the earth until they finally reached the area beneath Aegir’s Fire.

The moment it drew near, the Black Demon grew excited. A large amount of black grease seeped out from underground and gushed to the surface, forming a black fountain that bubbled vigorously.

A lightbulb lit up over the head of Uluu, who had been watching the entire process. He seemed to have grasped the key to it all.

"Gentlemen, my work here is done."

Slime Mod told them, "You have seen the method for yourselves. Use the decaying matter the Black Demon favors as bait and continuously raise the ambient temperature. This will draw the Black Demon in the direction you want."

"It is a bizarre lifeform. Besides feeding on decay, it is also extremely fond of high-temperature environments."

"And currently, the most suitable environment for a Black Demon is, naturally, a volcanic wonder."

"The rest is up to you. Please be safe, and thank you for your efforts."

With that, the many green-clad figures swiftly departed, vanishing without a trace.

The three who remained looked at one another, at a loss for words.

Luh Yao was very satisfied with Slime Mod’s performance.

He had not only imparted crucial knowledge and methods to Uluu’s team but had done so without robbing the discoverers of their sense of participation. He fulfilled an Apostle’s duty to guide and inspire, and the entire process was efficient and concise.

Uluu commenced follow-up research on the Black Demon.

Black Mud, which the Wuzi Race used as a protective coating, was always in high demand. As more and more Wuzi began to venture to the surface, their need for Black Mud increased by the day.

However, the reserves being excavated in Uda City could no longer keep up with the Wuzi Race’s growing daily demand. As a result, many Wuzi who wished to come to the surface lacked the opportunity and means to do so.

Now, at last, there was a solution.

The Black Demon took up residence beneath the volcano and began to produce vast quantities of Black Mud.

By devouring decaying matter, the Black Demon would secrete Black Mud until it reached a local saturation point, at which time it would enter a brief state of rest. Once recovered, the process would begin anew.

The bottleneck that had prevented the Wuzi Race from spreading to other regions had finally been broken.

In the midst of his excitement, a new thought bubble appeared over Uluu’s head.

’So Black Mud is a byproduct, created when the Black Demon eats and then expels impurities.’

’If the Black Mud the Black Demon expels is useful, then what about the oil?’

After feeding and secreting Black Mud, the Black Demon also produced a large amount of a clear, pale-yellow oil.

Uluu collected some and discovered that this oil was a superior fuel, even better than coal. A single drop could keep a flame burning for a very long time.

The game interface updated accordingly.

Uluu has discovered Magic Oil.

’That’s more like it,’ Luh Yao thought.

’I just point you in a direction. How far you go, and which path you take, is up to you to decide.’

In truth, there had been no record of Magic Oil in the Golden Field encyclopedia. Only after Uluu’s discovery did the entry for Magic Oil officially appear, its summary and description a perfect reflection of the conclusions from Uluu’s experiments.

This proved that the pixel people were not only participants in the Yao Race Civilization but also the scribes of their world’s history.

But what Luh Yao himself was most looking forward to was the Black Demon’s [Deep Extraction] ability.

Judging from the description, it was undoubtedly a high-level refining ability.

The Yao Race Civilization was currently developing across a wide range of fields. The breadth of their progress was sufficient, but the precision was still lacking.

High-precision technology and deep knowledge required long-term cultivation and experimentation; there was no use in rushing it. ’I wonder,’ he thought, ’if [Deep Extraction] can shorten this process in some way.’

Luh Yao observed the Pixel World.

Before long, just as he had predicted, the Yao Race’s exploitation of the Black Demon expanded further.

The refining of metals and the removal of impurities could now be accomplished by the Black Demon—as long as it was fed and the surrounding temperature was kept high enough.

The Black Demon would swallow iron ingots and copper chunks, only to spit them out again moments later, as metal was not part of its diet. The copper and iron processed by the Black Demon would emerge slightly smaller, having been stripped of a large amount of impurities and transformed into high-purity metal.

This immediately attracted the attention of the Dwarf, Chui Wujing.

As an Artisan, he couldn’t pass up the chance to experiment with a material purifier like the Black Demon.

Chui Wujing made a bold attempt, tossing a suit of Twin Cities Armor into the mire formed by the Black Demon. Before long, the Armor was spat back out, scattered across the ground in a pile of copper plates.

The Dwarf didn’t give up. He changed his approach, dismantling the Twin Cities Armor and feeding the most basic components into the mire for repeated extraction. Then, he re-forged, shaped, and reassembled them...

After a period of frantic experimentation, a laughing emoji appeared over the Dwarf’s head. "It actually works!"

"What an amazing, incredible creature!"

"From now on, we have the world’s greatest refining master!"

Chui Wujing hugged the refined Twin Cities Armor and danced joyfully with the suit of armor.

Luh Yao clicked on the suit of Armor.

...

[Twin Cities Armor LV 2]: A suit of fine, full-body Armor. Having undergone extraction and refining, it grants [Heavy Strike LV 1] when equipped.

Life Value: 480/480

Defense +5

...

Refining had given the Twin Cities Armor +80 Life Value and +2 Defense, a considerable enhancement.

Luh Yao hadn’t expected that Deep Extraction could actually be used to enhance equipment.

He couldn’t help but wonder, ’What about the dozens of Fire Seed Artifacts in my inventory? Can they be enhanced too?’

Luh Yao picked one and tried it, but the Black Demon swallowed it in a single gulp and nearly digested it on the spot. He hastily recalled it to his Artifact Bar.

One of the ingredients in a Black Demon’s creation was a Fire Seed Artifact. To the creature, it was a rare and potent nutritional supplement.

The plan to refine Fire Seed Artifacts was declared a failure.

Before long, the Yao Race’s pixel people dismantled the [Brass Furnace Dragon]. They used the Black Demon to extract and reshape its metal skeleton and torso, and its name changed to [Brass Furnace Dragon LV 2], with all its stats receiving a slight boost.

From then on, Black Demon refining gradually became a conventional processing method, widely applied in the manufacturing of various Artifacts and devices.

Meanwhile, Geologists and Archaeologists began searching everywhere for traces of other Black Demons, using the method Slime Mod had taught them to gather the creatures one by one beneath Aegir’s Fire.

The Black Demons fused with one another, their levels climbing higher and their abilities slowly growing stronger.

...

At this point, Luh Yao had already turned his attention to the world outside.

The Yao Race World had entered an unprecedented period of rapid development. With the Apostles overseeing everything, he had no need to worry. The current focus was on building an external environment to facilitate the civilization’s interactions with the outside world.

After much consideration, Luh Yao decided to build a new pilot city at Yunzhong Temple, which would serve as a bridge connecting his civilization to the Divine Kingdoms of the outside world.