The Great White Palace
The great palace was pure white, and within it lived only Ner and a handful of her minions.
Ner, raised to a seventh-rank god by her victory in the contest, watched Yujun's every move. She had no hidden scheme in it. She simply found him entertaining. There was a pleasure in seeing just how far a single human—nothing more than a created thing—might grow, and sponsorship had spread word of her own existence besides. That she had come to watch Shin Yujun with a measure of affection was only natural.
And it isn't as if I'm the only one who wants to observe him.
Of late she had arranged matters so the other gods could no longer follow Shin Yujun's movements, exercising her privilege as the creator of War of the Gods. It was a privilege bestowed in person by the highest god. However they might resent it, no god could say a word against her.
Ah. This is wonderful.
She alone could observe Shin Yujun. Having him all to herself sent a thrill through her.
To think I'm only using this privilege now. A bit of a shame.
A great many gods had already learned that Shin Yujun existed. Far too many of them were taking an interest in him, and Ner was jealous of that attention.
Just try laying a hand on my player.
Ner had never much concerned herself with the affairs of players. The world had been born of the game she created, but she had set far greater store by climbing the ranks. She had focused only on success, and after granting a special boon to Shin Yujun—the one who had helped her most—she had left him to himself. She was under no obligation to look after him, so the neglect had hardly been a problem. If anything, it was more questionable for gods who were meant to remain neutral to offer sponsorship at all.
And yet everyone, without quite admitting it, had been sponsoring players. From now on, Ner had resolved to support Yujun without the slightest reservation.
I only sponsored him once, but the impact must have been the greatest of all.
She had given him nothing less than the Primal Shabby Cloak. She had taken points from Shin Yujun in return, but those points were mere window dressing—scores that meant almost nothing to her. It was practically the same as giving him a gift for free.
Ah. This isn't the time.
Today there was a party attended by nearly every god, save those of the tenth and ninth ranks. Ner disliked noisy places and wanted nothing more than to rest in her palace, but if she meant to rise—to get ahead—this was something she had no choice but to endure. With the gathering only a few hours off, she began to prepare for going out.
Yujun decided to move with care.
Beings who gave off an aura like the God's Minions he had seen on the deserted island were everywhere here, and the weakest things on the island were of that sort. There were also existences radiating a power that put any God's Minion to shame.
Higher than a God's Minion... don't tell me they're gods?
Something about that felt off. Find gods just by stepping a little outside the event grounds? Would beings called gods really be that careless? And yet, looking at the situation alone, he could not dismiss the idea. Places where God's Minions would gather in such numbers were hardly common. The odds were high that this vast island was where the gods resided.
When he said as much to Manuela, the color drained from her face.
"G-gods?"
"Yeah."
"I-I don't think I should be here. Mind if I go on ahead?"
"Don't be ridiculous. We came in together. We see it through."
"...You said they're gods. No matter how strong you are, fighting gods is another matter..."
Manuela glanced about, anxiety written all over her.
"Who said anything about fighting? We're just looking to see if there's something worth taking."
Even if a fight did break out, he did not think he would lose. He was at least confident he would not die. He could not promise the same for Manuela.
"It's not even certain they're gods. I'd have to have seen one before to know. There are just some strong ones around, so quit shaking."
"..."
But no matter how they tried to smother their presence, this was a place where God's Minions lay thick underfoot. Naturally, some of them sensed Yujun and Manuela and came running. Not some. Many.
"...I think we're already in serious trouble."
"Looks like it."
The God's Minions were better organized than he had expected. On the deserted island he had only ever faced them one at a time, and they had seemed easy enough to deal with. Seeing them swarm like this, even Yujun felt the weight of it.
"We run. For now."
The minions could not pin down their exact location either. The island was vast, and Yujun was burning consumables to scatter his aura in every direction. However keen their senses, he had used Mythic-grade items. Finding the two of them would be anything but easy.
They did not stay still. They kept moving without pause, and then he drew two invisibility rings from his inventory, slipped one onto his own finger, and lent the other to Manuela.
"An invisibility ring?"
"Yeah. It doesn't mean we won't be found at all, so stay sharp."
With that, Yujun ducked behind a stone wall. Manuela pressed close against him and held her breath.
This was an island, but nothing like the deserted one they had left behind. It felt like a fully developed city. Stone walls rose in courses, and a magnificent palace stood in view—and the palace was hardly the whole of it. Lavish buildings crowded every reach of the island. Nowhere on the Infinite Tower Continent was there a place like this. The air of it was as if they had stepped into Europe, back on Earth.
God's Minions moved in knots of three and four, searching busily for Yujun.
"The presence of a being without Divine Realm. We did sense it, didn't we?"
"Yes."
"Then why can't we see them?"
"They're hiding their presence. No... they're scattering it everywhere, trying to confuse us."
"Can you tell them apart?"
"Not easily. This one's got some skill."
The God's Minions passed right beside Yujun and Manuela. Slowly, Manuela let out the breath she had been forcing herself to hold.
"...Unbelievable. How can they not notice this?"
"Item advantage. That's all it is."
He had not poured more than a billion won into consumables for nothing. Set the equipment aside, and that was what he had spent on consumables alone.
Getting back what I put in.
He was beginning to grasp just how obsessed he had been with the game called War of the Gods. Toward the end, after he hit level 500, he had started to grow tired of it—and that, if anything, had worked out for the better. Once he reached max level the boredom had set in, and to wring even a little fun from the game he had gone around collecting every item it had to offer. There was almost nothing his inventory lacked. He had thrown away truly useless low-level junk a few times, but he had kept most of it. In a sense, his inventory was more of a general store than the General Store itself.
Yujun shifted a little farther toward the center. So long as he did not go around shouting at the top of his lungs, there seemed no real risk of the God's Minions finding him. It was not that his Agility was absurdly high. It was the invisibility ring and the Mythic-grade consumables, and nothing else. He was forcibly scattering presence and aura, so of course the minions' attention was dragged off in that direction. Thanks to that, he and Manuela reached the front of a moderately sized palace without incident.
"...We're going in here?"
"Yeah."
The place looked dangerous at a glance. He was on the verge of taking the palace without spilling a drop of blood when a beautiful woman in a pure-white dress came walking toward them from far off. Yujun's eyes went wide.
I didn't feel a presence at all...?
As far as he could sense, there had been nothing inside that palace but God's Minions. Then who was she?
She can see me, can't she.
One thing was certain: she was no God's Minion. He felt no aura from her whatsoever, and yet the moment he looked at her he knew she possessed tremendous power. Yujun swallowed dryly and closed a hard grip around his sword's hilt. Manuela was no less tense. She seized the hem of his cloak and held on, and the cloth stretched taut.
"And why are you grabbing that again?"
"S-sorry. I didn't mean to."
"Let go."
"...Okay."
Ner was thrown.
Why was Shin Yujun standing in front of her palace? Only a short while ago, when she had last observed him, he had still been at the third event site.
When did he get all the way here?
She had reason to be shocked. The last time she had watched Yujun was when he bought his first item at the General Store, and she knew nothing of what he had done after that—not even that he had killed all six of the God's Minions. That he should be standing here was beyond her understanding. He looked startled as well, his mouth parted just slightly.
Doesn't seem like he came here knowing.
Ner spoke first.
"What are you doing here? What about the event?"
"And who are you?"
"...You don't know me?"
"How would I? First time I've seen you."
"You must have. Think carefully."
Yujun tilted his head. The voice, at least, was one he was hearing for the first time. If he had seen her once, he ought to remember. Had he ever met anyone who looked like that? He studied her closely. Long silver hair. Skin so white it was nearly pale. He did feel as if he had seen her somewhere, once—but not quite like this. Not in this exact form. Working from the clues in front of him, the answer came quickly.
"Ner?"
"That's right."
"You're that Ner? How am I supposed to know you, though? This is the first time I've actually seen you."
"You figured it out in the end."
"..."
There was nothing to say to that.
"You can't stay here."
Ner's face was tight with anxiety.
"Why not?"
"The other gods will realize a player has intruded into the God Realm. There'll be an uproar. Immediately."
"This is the God Realm?"
"Where did you think it was?"
"The God Realm."
"What? If you already knew, why did you ask?"
"Beats me."
Yujun spoke again.
"Ner. I've got a question."
"I told you, there isn't time for this..."
"Why was the God Realm right beside the deserted island—the event grounds, I mean? Is there some meaning to that?"
"This event was thrown together in a hurry. That's why."
"Thrown together?"
"Come inside first."
Ner brought Yujun and Manuela into the palace. If a god of higher rank caught wind of this, having her divinity stripped would not be the end of it. She let out a long sigh and checked the grounds outside.
"The event wasn't hosted by a god in the first place. So I don't know either."
"Then the System makes them? This event too?"
"Yes."
"So a god can't influence the System?"
"That's right. Ignore the law of causality, and a god can interfere with players—the way I sponsored you. But gods almost never do anything that harms a player."
"Why not?"
"Because the System wouldn't sit still."
"...Huh?"
Yujun tilted his head. Did that mean the System stood above the gods? Or perhaps on equal footing with them?
"Then why did an event suddenly open this time?"
"I don't know."
"You don't know?"
"You'd get a faster answer asking the System."
"You can talk to it?"
"Of course not."
In that instant, Ner's expression hardened.
"Wait. Someone else noticed."
"Me? Who?"
Even as he asked, Yujun caught on.
"A god other than you has noticed I exist. That's what you mean."
One look at Ner's face told him this was not the moment to hesitate. The crisis found them anyway, and it did not take long.
A low thrum. A crack of tearing air. Yimil, a Rank 6 god, revealed himself through spatial transfer.
"Come out."
"W-wait, please!"
Ner tried to bar his way. It did no good. Yimil's face was cut in heavy lines, his beard grown thick. He shoved her aside with one heavy arm and strode toward Yujun and Manuela without a trace of doubt.
"Hmm...?"
His eyes flew wide, and the sound that escaped him was pure blank confusion. He had come because he felt a player's presence. And yet—
"What is this?"
No player stood there. Two undead did, staring back at him with vacant, unblinking eyes.