Bickering Gods and Matching Gifts
There was a flurry of notification windows filling his vision as the ancient god of play, Kero's Game God, whined to someone, "He's my apostle, so why are you butting in?!"
[The ancient god of blacksmithing, Astel, retorts to someone, "He's my apostle too."]
[The ancient god of play, Kero's Game God, insults someone, "Stinky dwarf!"]
[The ancient god of blacksmithing, Astel, calls someone "lazy gambling addict..."]
As the two ancient gods bickered back and forth, endlessly clogging up his view with notifications, Cheonma muttered in disbelief.
-What the hell are they doing? They're not even thinking about actually giving out the rice cakes...
"Kuh! This is it. This is the cliché!"
-...What nonsense are you spouting now?
"Tower-climbing stories and constellation tales are inseparable by nature."
A massive tower of unknown origin and purpose.
Mysterious divine beings dwelling within it, their true natures hidden.
The protagonist and other characters, clueless as to why, begin the tower's tutorial. In the end, the survivors push toward the top floor in a growth-filled adventure fantasy!
"And in those genres, the divine beings usually shower the protagonist with gifts while vying for their attention."
-...Nothing matches up even a little. We know who built the tower and why, we know what the divine beings really are, and the other players are just... playing the game.
"The details don't matter. What matters is that the constellation cliché has kicked off for me. See? I am the protagonist!"
Divine beings squabbling over the protagonist was a cliché worn thin from overuse, so Carpe could easily predict the next developments.
[The ancient god of play, Kero's Game God, suggests, "Let's hear directly whose gift is better."]
[The ancient god of blacksmithing, Astel, shoots back, "Don't cry if you get rejected!"]
Sudden Event: "Competition of the Ancient Gods"
[The gifts have been slightly upgraded from before!]
[Ancient gods' gifts have arrived in the player's inventory. Check now!]
"Yeah, that's the stuff!"
-...No way, have these black cows lost their minds? How does it escalate like this all of a sudden?!
"It's the cliché. Cliché."
-Wow, this bullshit makes zero sense, but it's actually happening, so it's ridiculous. Is this even a game?
While Cheonma ranted about the world's injustices as usual, Carpe grinned and checked his inventory.
◈ A package containing gifts carefully selected by the Play God. She didn't plan on giving this much originally, but some being's provocation caused the rewards to overflow.
◈ Becoming her first apostle might bring even more gifts.
◈ A gift box thoughtfully chosen by the Blacksmith God. Fellow disciple!
True to the personalities of the two ancient gods, Kero's gift came in a cute, dainty package, while Astel's was tucked inside a sturdy, rough-hewn box.
Carpe pulled both gifts from his inventory at once, holding one in each hand.
"I've received the gifts from both of you. So, you want to know whose gift pleased me more, right?"
[Both ancient gods nod simultaneously.]
"Then, to avoid any preconceptions from opening one first, I'll open them at the same time."
[The ancient god of play, Kero's Game God, says, "Mine's obviously better, but that's fair."]
[The ancient god of blacksmithing, Astel, grumbles, "Who are you to talk!"]
"Alright, opening in 10 seconds..."
-Dude. No matter how I look at it, you're a total streamer type. This is just like those unboxing videos when streamers get gifts.
"Nah, it's different. Streams are for real people, but this is for NPCs."
-The vibe's the same. You've gotta hook the audience's attention.
[Both ancient gods are extremely focused on your actions.]
-See?
Watching the two ancient gods get completely swept up in Carpe's every move, Cheonma wondered if the guy really had a knack for streaming.
"We'll think about that later. For now... open!"
Carpe opened both gifts at once.
With a pop!, several items spilled out from each box.
First, from Kero's package: a small potion vial and a gem-encrusted tiara.
[Experience Tiara]
Unique
Equip Restriction: Players cannot equip. Familiars only.
A tiara crafted by the Play God herself. It boosts the wearer's experience gain.
- Strength +1
- Vitality +1
- Bonus Option 1: 20% increased EXP gain for familiars (stacks with other EXP effects).
- Bonus Option 2: Slight movement speed increase.
"Huh? EXP gear?"
-Whoa, what? This level of reward from a gift event? They really went all out like the notifications said.
"Is it that good? The options seem a bit underwhelming for Unique."
-For normal gear, sure. But this is familiar-only. Like I said a bunch of times, leveling familiars in this game is insanely hard.
That's why items that boosted familiar EXP always fetched sky-high prices.
Especially something like the Experience Tiara with a full 20% boost—there were no listings; it was whatever the seller demanded!
[The ancient god of play, Kero's Game God, excitedly asks, "How is it? Amazing, right?!"]
"It's incredible. Lady Kero. I've felt it since we first met—you're truly magnificent."
Carpe then checked the remaining potion.
◈ Consuming this increases skill points by 1. Familiars can also use it.
"Whoa."
-Insane. This is the real cheat item.
Even Carpe, with limited RaSe experience, couldn't help gasping at it.
Carpe had an abnormal number of skill points, but normal players scraped by with what they had.
To just hand this out as a gift—and one familiars could use too!
"Being an ancient god's apostle sounds pretty tempting..."
[The ancient god of play, Kero's Game God, beams with pride.]
"Phew. Now for Astel’s."
Carpe proceeded with his unboxing content like a pro streamer.
Astel's gift box contained a bracelet and a potion.
[Experience Bracelet]
[Fountain of Memory (Familiar Shared)]
"...Huh?"
-Wait, this?
It was strikingly similar to Kero's gift contents.
With a hunch, Carpe checked the bracelet's options.
"...They're identical?"
-They really are.
Incredibly, it had the exact same options as Kero's—Strength and Vitality swapped for Dexterity and Magic Power, but the bonuses matched perfectly.
[The ancient god of play, Kero's Game God, jumps in surprise, "Eh, you too?!"]
[The ancient god of blacksmithing, Astel, points and says, "Hey, you too?!"]
"Hmm! Nothing to be done about this!"
Carpe didn't miss the gods' fluster.
He'd inwardly dreaded having to pick one, but this luck!
"I wanted to declare a winner between you two... but unfortunately, your gifts are perfectly identical. It's a draw."
[The ancient god of play, Kero's Game God, panics, "Huh? What?"]
[The ancient god of blacksmithing, Astel, mutters, "This isn't what I wanted..."]
"We'll settle the winner next time with new gifts. Looking forward to more great ones. And with that, stream over."
Carpe cut off the god notifications there.
"The best way to rake in superchats is pitting the big bosses against each other. Chicken game forever!"
-...Seriously, go be a BJ or streamer. I don't know that world well, but you'd never flop.
"We'll see."
Carpe whistled cheerfully as he stowed the two vials of Fountain of Memory in his inventory.
After a brief deliberation, the tiara and bracelet found owners.
"Tina gets the tiara, Mirage the bracelet."
"Thank you, my liege. I shall repay this grace with valor in battle."
"Thanks, Master!"
Beast-form pets like Mukhyang couldn't equip them anyway.
And Gillian in a women's tiara and bracelet... honestly, Carpe didn't want to see it.
<...Did you just have a weird thought there?>
"No way. Just imagination. Don't be so sensitive. I'll get you proper EXP gear later."
<Hohoho! I take no offense. Don't worry about it, my lord.>
But in the end, Gillian got his EXP gear easily too.
He'd received the exact same rewards again from Ramark when picking up gifts.
Drek smiled kindly as he handed over the two gifts.
"Heh heh. I hope they please you, successor."
"...These seem even more generous than last time?"
"Of course—you're the benefactor of our nation and General Gillian. We put extra care in. Made by eye, but it suits you better than expected. Heh heh!"
It was a black cloak that matched Gillian's dark armor perfectly.
He stuck to his silent knight persona in Ramark, so he didn't say it, but his joy was obvious.
"Visit when you can. Ramark always welcomes you."
"Sure. Take care, Drek."
Back in Jenonia via Dimension Gate, Carpe scratched his head in bewilderment.
"What the heck? Is this rigged? How can three gifts be identical?"
-Yeah, rigged. RaSe devs rigged it for sure! You crazy bastards! There's a line to generosity!
"Oh yeah, there was a line. I didn't get one for Mukhyang. RaSe's always 5% short, like clockwork."
-Right on cue with the conscienceless line. Episode 137 of the season?
"Kyuu kyuu kyuit!"
"My liege, Mukhyang says he's fine—he has a cool scarf already."
"Kuh. Where'd he get such a kind, selfless personality?"
But as someone once said, good fortune comes in waves.
Boom!
[Field Boss 'Lizard King' defeated!]
On his way to his destination, Carpe took down a field boss.
For Mukhyang's evolution quest.
And at that moment.
"Kyaa! This house delivers!"
-What a shit game. Games like this deserve to die!
The gacha moment approached.