First It's a God, Now This
It had been a while since he'd gone outside.
<You useless wretch!>
The God of Water cursed the dead Crasher. He had even lent his power to a monster just to punish that blasphemous human — and this was how it ended, leaving him at a complete loss for what to do.
Then—
"You."
Seyul, who had killed Crasher, turned from the corpse and looked straight at the God of Water.
<Wh-what is it?>
Even though it was just a single human looking at him, the God of Water felt an inexplicable chill. He flinched visibly and even stammered — a pathetic display, to say the least.
The viewers felt the same way. Even though the gaze wasn't directed at them, it was scary all the same.
"You're next."
Having subdued the entire room with a single glare, Seyul said coldly. There was no need to wonder what those words meant. This insolent human had just declared that he would kill a god!
Not only the God of Water but the viewers as well went blank for a moment.
Unlike before, the viewers were reacting with genuine seriousness. Who was the God of Water, after all? He was a god of this game world and, at the same time, a support NPC for the players. Saying you'd kill a god was already absurd enough — but declaring you'd kill a being who was supposed to be your ally? It was beyond belief.
<You... you're saying you'll kill me?>
Even the God of Water himself asked back, dumbfounded.
<Me, a god?!>
"So what if you're a god? You tried to kill me first. Did you think you could pick a fight and then just walk away unscathed?"
<What an absurd equivalence. You think the life of a mere human is equal to the life of a god?!>
The God of Water answered with outrage. But Seyul simply nodded without a word.
"Equal. God or human, once you're killed, it's over all the same."
It wasn't mockery — he was simply stating what he believed, exactly as he believed it.
Seyul had met every manner of race in the Another World. Among them were dragons like himself, and divine beings like the God of Water. Races worshipped as noble and exalted by countless other species — but to Seyul's eyes, they were nothing special.
'Kill them, and they die. Not so different from humans after all.'
Death was the great equalizer; even the noblest of races got no exceptions. This was one of the lessons Seyul had learned in the Another World.
"Enough talk. Get ready to fight."
Seyul raised his spear toward the God of Water. At the sight of someone actually preparing to battle a god, the deity could only stare in disbelief.
<...Fighting a lunatic would only cost me. There's nothing to gain here.>
After a long silence, the answer he finally produced was to ignore the challenge entirely.
<You madman. Did you think a god fights just because you want him to?>
"Running away, are you?"
"Funny, you had no trouble lending power to that Crasher-or-Crasher-whatever guy."
<Granting power is the exception, as I've said!>
Having spewed out his convulsive non-excuse of an excuse, the God of Water looked down at Seyul with a frigid killing intent.
<But know this — I want you dead just as much. So I will keep blocking your path like this, again and again.>
"Doing this again? Why not do it yourself?"
<If I could, I would have done so long ago. You had best steel yourself. When I tell the other gods of this, they will surely join me!>
The God of Water spat the words out like a curse, then vanished.
"Sure, whatever."
The gods would come for him. It was a declaration that would terrify even the final boss of this game — but Seyul didn't so much as flinch. He simply smirked, as if to say come at me if you dare, and calmly crossed the river.
The viewers, having witnessed the whole exchange, dyed the chat window in chaos once more.
A first in the entire history of God's Warrior! Drunk on the thrill of having achieved open hostility toward a god, everyone was in an uproar.
But not all the reactions were positive.
With the game veering so far off the rails, some viewers harbored real objections. They cursed Seyul and hurled harsh words at the viewers who enjoyed it too.
But then, suddenly—
An unexpected situation erupted.
'Ugh, it's all wet and sticky.'
Seyul had made it across the river — at the cost of being soaked to the bone. Uncomfortable in his drenched clothes, he moved to take them off and wring out the water.
Gripping the hem with both hands, Seyul slowly began lifting it upward. The horrified viewers typed frantically, but he couldn't see a word of it. Indeed, Seyul had no idea anyone was watching him at all — and pulled the clothes all the way up!
And Seyul's delicate, bare body... did not appear.
God's Warrior was an all-ages game. Even in a situation that would expose skin, a mysterious light appeared and automatically covered it up.
That said, his body wasn't completely hidden. The light only covered the important parts. Everything else — his stomach, his back, his thighs — was all on display. Seyul's snow-white skin was tantalizingly half-exposed, as if he were wearing a bikini swimsuit made of light.
Seyul now looked like he was wearing a swimsuit of pure light — and the timing couldn't have been worse. Some viewers assumed he had stripped on purpose to quell the riot.
Some moved to criticize the absurd stunt, but—
Such dissenting opinions were only a small minority.
A donation rush from everyone who had seemingly lost their minds. The complaints were crushed in an instant.
"Hah."
Without meaning to, Seyul had quelled the riot — but his expression was not a good one. The sigh that had escaped him unbidden carried both relief and regret at once.
The relief: by turning even a god into an enemy, he had finally gone where he wanted to go. The regret: that in the end, this was all just a game.
'In the reality that actually matters, I'm stuck inside the house.'
Ever since his return, he had lived cooped up at home. That contrasted so sharply with his achievements in the game that he couldn't simply enjoy the moment.
Seyul wore a thoughtful look for a moment, then—
"Alright. I've decided!"
He shouted his resolution out loud, to no one.
Announce a decision, and of course everyone was dying to know what it was. Hearts pounding, they waited for what would happen next—
And at that very moment, the stream ended.
The betrayed viewers wailed in protest, but the stream did not come back on. Not today, and not the next day either.
'I shouldn't play the game today. I should go outside instead.'
A day passed. Seyul thought this as he layered on his clothes.
After his return, he had been depressed, weighed down by regret. Depression had kept him shut up at home — but he couldn't go on like this forever. He had already recognized the problem himself, and yesterday's experience of crossing the river in the game had tipped the scales.
'Just like in the game — make up my mind and step outside.'
Having resolved to do it yesterday, Seyul had waited a beat and decided to go out today. But since his appearance drew stares, and to prepare for any eventuality, he disguised himself thoroughly. Thick clothes concealed his figure, and a hat hid his long silver hair. He also put on sunglasses and a face mask.
"Semi, big brother's heading out."
He announced his outing to his younger sister, who happened to be home.
"Where, dressed like that?"
Semi, who had been lying down reading a book, was taken aback at the sight of her brother leaving in such a suspicious getup.
"And here I thought you'd never go out."
"Can't stay like this forever. No matter what happens today, I'm going outside."
"Where exactly?"
"The park in the next neighborhood over."
There was a park where he used to take walks often, back before he went to the Another World. He couldn't very well call a trip to the front gate "going out," so he planned to walk there and back.
"Will you be okay?"
Semi was worried — her brother, who had shut himself in with a wounded heart, suddenly going all the way to a distant place.
"Nothing will happen, right?"
"What could happen? It's just the park in the next neighborhood. And even if something did, I'd still come back. That's a promise."
Just like in the game. Seyul was the one who had charged forward in the game, bellowing at the top of his lungs. He couldn't very well give up on walking to the next neighborhood over in reality.
"I'm off."
With his resolve firmly set, Seyul brushed past his worried sister and stepped out.
'Huh? Now that I'm actually doing it, it's easy?'
Once he was out and walking down the street, astonishingly, nothing happened at all.
'I suppose that's only natural. There was never any special reason I couldn't go out — it was just a matter of mood.'
Seyul gave himself a wry smile and pressed on. And sure enough, nothing happened. Aside from a few odd looks at his suspicious outfit, it was perfectly peaceful.
At this rate, he'd be there in no time. Seyul walked with growing confidence.
But just as he reached the next neighborhood—
—Alert! Alert! Gate alert!
A sudden, blaring siren made him flinch.
"Aaagh!"
"Somebody help!"
He tried to ignore it and keep moving, but now the people of the neighborhood were screaming and running in every direction.
"Oh, for crying out loud."
That's right. Of all times — something had to happen the moment he finally came outside.