Gods' Amusement (2)
Hmm... This is bad. I might have just created something that could upend the world.
"O-one more time! Let me try it again!!!"
"Get outta here! It's my turn!!!"
"I'll give you all the faith you want!!!!"
"Move it! I said move!!!"
The plaza of the Pantheon had devolved into utter chaos. Countless gods were clinging desperately to Asherit. And at the center of it all... was the prototype device I'd made.
"W-wait a second! I said this was just a demo—one try each!!!"
"Don't care!!! Show me through my follower's eyes! Let me see the world from a mortal's view!!!"
"Argh! Seriously!!!"
Asherit forcibly shoved away the gods swarming him with brute strength, sorted out the mess to some degree, then looked around and shouted,
"It's barely finished! This is just a demo today! A test! Calm down and wait your turn!!"
"Making us wait through this is too much!"
"What do you want me to do if it doesn't exist yet!!! The Goddess of Life is working hard on it, so just wait quietly!!"
Mass production hasn't even started yet? I only ran this test to gauge reactions, and now it's flowing like we've already begun full production? There are still tons of tweaks needed!
"I see! Then we should ask the Goddess of Life to hurry up and make more!"
"B-but won't she get angry? She might even cancel production if we bother her..."
"Urgh... Considering her personality, after she culled so many gods... can't deny that."
What's wrong with my personality?! This is a perfectly fine personality! And I only culled those gods because they crossed the line!!
Urgh. Maybe I shouldn't have made this thing. Hmm... Ah, whatever! For now, I'll mass-produce prototypes with minimal functionality and hand them out! Then gradually upgrade them to higher specs! That should eliminate the complaints!
Man, what a mess! My workload just exploded again!! All I want is to do nothing and laze around! But every time I do one little thing, it snowballs into more work... Urghhh...
That prototype ended up selling like hotcakes to the horde of gods.
No, I hadn't even properly named it yet, and it was flying off the shelves. What the hell is this?
The gods who tried the demo at the plaza prototype bought it without hesitation. Word of mouth spread, drawing more gods to try the demo, buy prototypes, and spread the word further in an endless cycle.
In the end, it achieved the miracle of 100% market penetration among the gods.
What is this? It's scary...
We only ran a short test, and it exploded like this. Were the gods really that starved for entertainment...?
At least, since it's just a prototype letting them observe from a follower's perspective, there were no major issues, and we could churn them out quickly. That's a relief.
The one downside... I still hadn't settled on a proper name.
Hmm... Let's slap a temporary name on it for now. A machine to experience human lives... Life Experiencer? Too stiff.
It's like VR, a virtual reality experience... Hmm. But it's not virtual reality, so not VR. Full Dive... Dive... Dive into life, so Life Diver? Shorten to LD...? Yeah.
That'll do. It's just temporary anyway. And to prevent the gods from over-immersing or getting addicted, I'll set it to eject them if the observed subject falls asleep.
For the full version, make it more enjoyable. And with that, development on the temporarily named 'Life Diver'—LD—proceeded smoothly.
At first, the Life Diver—LD—was made for the gods' amusement. But as time passed, an unexpected effect emerged.
As they observed from their followers' perspectives via LD, the gods began developing affection for humans.
Originally, humans were just faith-farming resources to the gods: workers, laborers, missionary tools, and so on. But experiencing life through individual followers, spending time that way, built attachment.
Well, "attachment" meant treating them like inferior pets, but compared to viewing them as mere faith-crops before... Hmph. Anyway, the gods starting to care for humans is definitely good.
It means no more humans suffering under the gods' cruel prophecies.
However.
"Please! Goddess of Life! Revive my follower!"
"No."
"I beg you! I'll do anything! Please!!"
"No means no!!"
Some gods got too attached, and now they're begging to resurrect humans whose lifespans ended. What a headache.
I get the sentiment, but no means no!
"How can you..."
"If it's before death, or curing illness or injury, fine. But reviving the dead? Impossible! Now go! Don't interrupt development!"
Development must continue! Things like point limits for avatar creation! Sensory filters for gods' oversensitive senses! Fixing bugs like audio glitches, inverted perspectives, or sudden pain ejections from LD!
For gods with few followers or ones doing boring wall-facing meditation, add shared access to Life Church followers!
For gods stuck watching bedridden elders wheezing their last breaths, or resetting LD endlessly for a preferred subject, add search filters!
Plus, for special LDs beyond Grade 1, add micro-faith payments for external support!
Mountains of work! Why am I dealing with these childish god requests?! Where's Asherit?! He should handle the gods!!! Ah! Damn! He's immersed in LD!!! That guy!!!!
I shoved the pathetically clinging god out of the temple, then forcibly yanked Asherit out of his LD.
"Gah?! W-what's wrong?!"
"What's wrong? You idiot! You're neglecting your duties and just indulging in LD!!"
"Uh, w-well... um..."
Asherit fidgeted, clearly knowing he'd messed up from my anger.
"You know why I'm mad, right?"
"Y-yes... Because of the LD...?"
"Not just for using LD! For abandoning your work to play it!!"
Asherit had no retort. No wonder— even the prayers from his followers were flooding to me!!! While developing, I have to multitask handling prayers! It's made me pretty good at it, but this is ridiculous!!!
"S-sorry..."
Asherit deflated instantly. Usually he's the one nagging me to work, but now it's reversed. Well, shows how immersed he was.
Ah! Right! What if I add a feature to work while using LD...? Might ruin immersion, but prevent backlog... Hmm. Make it a high-grade exclusive feature?
"Anyway, don't slack off. Got it?"
"Yes... Sorry."
After scolding Asherit, I returned to the workshop where I'd been developing LD, and found...
"Hmm... Is it this? Or that?"
"P-please stop. If She comes... Eek!"
Freyja at a loss, and a childlike god I'd never seen before, hovering near the LD I was developing.
Who's that...? New god. Long, fluffy white hair, innocent sky-blue eyes shining in a little kid's form.
Hmm... Wait, could it be?
"Cloud Whale?"
At my call, the child god's eyes widened, and it hurriedly hid behind Freyja.
"S-sorry! I won't touch it recklessly!"
"Lord Whale! Hiding behind me doesn't make you invisible!!"
Hmm. As I suspected... it really is the Cloud Whale... Gained human transformation ability? Makes sense—it oversees birthing new life, so it has that power.
It just lacked the intelligence for a human form until now, like a young child. As the eldest god under me, the Goddess of Life, its role isn't minor.
"I won't get mad, so come out."
"R-really? No anger?"
"Yes."
At my words, the Cloud Whale timidly emerged from behind Freyja. No matter the angle, it was an adorable little girl.
