The Divine Hierarchy

Kanna had investigated Kim Jihun thoroughly, but in the end, she couldn't uncover anything special about him.

"I'll head out for today. I'll come back next time to investigate more."

"Just stop coming already."

Kanna said her goodbyes to Asrie and Kim Jihun before opening a dimensional gate and leaving. Kim Jihun muttered in a dazed expression.

"So there are other Creator Gods besides you, Asrie-nim."

"Yeah, that's right. This universe is vast, so there are that many gods as well. And from today, you've become a low-level god."

Asrie informed Kim Jihun of his new status as a low-level god. Not knowing exactly what that meant, Jihun asked her.

"What's this low-level god thing?"

"In short, it means you're now fully recognized as a god."

There were various ways to classify gods. They could be divided by the hierarchy based on differences in divine power, or by their roles as gods.

If classified by divine power, there were countless ranks from low-level god all the way up to highest god. In other words, they were divided into ranks like a class system based on the amount of divine power one possessed.

On the other hand, if classified by role, there were Creator Gods like Asrie, as well as Management Gods and Combat ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Gods who performed different duties.

The low-level god realm that Kim Jihun had achieved was the absolute lowest among all gods.

"Think of a low-level god as about elementary school level on Earth."

A low-level god was the very lowest realm among all gods. In terms of modern Earth's hierarchy, it was like kindergarten or elementary school kids.

That's why every god was born as a low-level god, and they were sent to school—the foundational education institution for gods—until they became general gods, where they received instruction.

"The hierarchy by divine power goes low-level god, mid-level god, high-level god, general god, and then the upper gods in each field."

Asrie waved her hand, causing text to appear floating in the air. It neatly organized the hierarchy of gods by their divine ranks.

Jihun could understand the gods' ranking structure from the text Asrie had floated in the air.

"From low-level god to high-level god, it's similar to Earth's schools."

"Exactly. And general god is like a job seeker before employment? As a general god, you decide your career path and enter that field. Then you build achievements in your specialty and gradually get promoted."

Listening to Asrie's explanation, Jihun felt it was quite systematic. It was remarkably similar to Earth's school structure.

He asked Asrie.

"Then what rank are you, Asrie-nim?"

"I'm a high-rank Creator God. Among Creator Gods, I'm the highest rank except for the Creator God Lord."

"Whoa..."

Kim Jihun newly grasped Asrie's position. She held a much higher rank than he had imagined.

Asrie continued.

"By the way, that Kanna you just saw is also a high-rank Creator God like me. But Kanna was originally a Combat God who switched to Creator God."

"You can change careers midway?"

"Yeah. Kanna was a pretty capable high-rank Combat God originally, but due to the shortage of Creator Gods, she had no choice but to switch."

The shortage of Creator Gods in the current universe was intensifying. To the point where they had to forcibly convert every god with even a shred of Creation Talent into a Creator God.

"Anyway, Kim Jihun, now that you're a low-level god too."

Asrie erased the golden text floating in the air and looked at Kim Jihun with a grin.

"You have to go to school."

"Pardon?"

Kim Jihun, the 20-year-old, was suddenly facing the crisis of going to elementary school without mercy.

...

"All low-level gods have to go to school. There, you learn how to properly handle divine power and raise your own rank."

"School...?"

School. From the gods' perspective, it was no different from modern Earth's school institution.

Now that Kim Jihun had become a god, it was only natural for him to attend school as well.

However, low-level school was...

"But isn't school for newly born gods?"

"Yes."

It was a place for newly born gods. On Earth terms, about elementary school.

"I'm 20 years old!"

"But you've only been a low-level god for a day now, right? You're a full-fledged god now, so you need to adapt to the ways of the gods there."

Jihun was a bit flustered by Asrie's explanation. Going back to school at 20! And to low-level school, the gods' equivalent of elementary school!

He didn't want to go to low-level school.

So he tried to make excuses to wriggle out.

"But I have to study... take the college entrance exam... make money..."

"Want me to take back all the items I gave you as quest rewards? A kid who doesn't fulfill his godly duties doesn't deserve to have my stuff."

"I'll just go."

It didn't work at all.

...

Kim Jihun began preparing to enroll in school. Fortunately, school wasn't a boarding system. For gods who could freely fold space and create dimensional gates at will, distance was no constraint.

So the only thing he needed to prepare before enrolling was tidying up the miscellaneous affairs he'd left hanging on Earth.

"You have about a month until the next class enrollment. It'd be best to clear all the material creation quests I assigned you during that time."

Asrie said that to Kim Jihun and then opened a space to return to her divine realm.

Jihun cried out in a dazed expression.

"Elementary school at 20?!"

Of course, strictly speaking, it wasn't elementary school, but it was similar in that it was for kids.

With a despairing look, Jihun flopped face-down onto his bed.

"Damn it."

He had way too much to do. He had to prepare for the college entrance exam, make money on CafriTV, train his Creation Force to cure his mother's illness. And next month, he had to go to the gods' school—school.

"It's too tight."

It was a pretty hardcore schedule that would be hard to accomplish in just one month.

Moreover, Kim Jihun had no choice but to go due to Asrie's insistence. Lately, his consciousness had been getting hazy, but right now, he was a retaker. As a retaker, shouldn't he drop everything for a year and focus solely on studying?

But he had so much to do that it was hard to focus on exam prep.

The fortunate part was that his brain had developed remarkably, so his college entrance exam prep was nearly complete.

"The exam is basically a sure ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠full score at this point."

If not for the drastic improvement in his brainpower after acquiring the Creator God Manual, it would have been impossible.

But now he had reached a level where he wouldn't miss any exam questions, freeing him up for other things.

"So the remaining tasks are CafriTV and the creation quests..."

He had about a month left. In that time, Jihun needed to wrap up CafriTV and the creation quests.

With a frustrated expression, Jihun muttered.

"I have too much to do."

Even excluding exam study, he had way too much on his plate. He sighed.

...

"Phew, quest complete now, I guess."

As he muttered that, familiar golden text rose from the book.

Flash!

A holographic message appeared on Kim Jihun's retina.

"Whoa! Finally!"

Kim Jihun's Creation Force had now reached 100,000. Over the past few days, he'd devoted himself to training it and finally completed all the assigned quests.

With a beaming smile, he looked at the book. Just like with the ring before, space split open and an object popped out.

"Oh?"

Jihun eyed the emerging object curiously. What came out of the rift was a fist-sized orb.

"An orb?"

This must be the reward, the "Computation Aid."

He picked it up and examined it. As he did, guidance text slowly appeared on it.

"So I can use the computation ability of a low-rank Creator God?"

Jihun tilted his head as he read the text. It described the item's function with "Computation Ability: Low-rank Creator God."

It probably meant he could borrow a low-rank Creator God's computation power.

"Let's give it a try."

Kim Jihun held the Computation Aid in ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠his left hand and infused it with Creation Force. It began emitting a golden glow.

And then... an overwhelming intellect washed over him.

"Whoa."

Jihun let out an involuntary gasp of admiration. He'd grasped the ability of the Computation Aid in his left hand.

"Incredible."

It felt like becoming omniscient in an instant. An overwhelming intellect capable of calculating and analyzing everything in the world emanated from his left hand.

Jihun shivered at the tremendous intellectual processing power.

"So this is the thought process of Creator Gods."

The Computation Aid literally assisted the user's computations. Like a calculator for gods? A divine tool that handled the enormous calculations required for creation.

Jihun stared blankly at the golden glow of the Computation Aid.

"If this is a low-rank Creator God's computation power, how insanely powerful must higher Creator Gods be?"

Kim Jihun already possessed computation abilities far superior to ordinary humans. Thanks to the brainpower developed from his Creation Talent.

But the low-rank Creator God's computation power he'd indirectly experienced through the aid transcended human thought by leaps and bounds. It was more powerful than any supercomputer in the world, right there in his left hand.

"Let's test the performance."

For a test, he tried creating a familiar smartphone.

"Huh?"

Jihun was taken aback. The creation speed was ridiculously fast.

Normally, creating a smartphone took at least 10 seconds. He had to concentrate intensely, operate his Creation Force meticulously, and his head throbbed with pain from the excessive calculations.

But with the Computation Aid, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠it finished as naturally and quickly as breathing. In a blink.

Jihun stared blankly at the Computation Aid in his left hand.

-Hummm.

The Computation Aid shimmered with an iridescent golden sheen.