Reap What You Sow

You reap what you sow.

I blocked every single surrender request pouring in like mad and watched the enemy world drown in a current of pain and despair. An odd feeling stirred within me.

Pain, nothing more than an electrical reaction in the brain. Despair, merely a chemical response. It was hard to grasp how these things could transform into something magical called a "current" and take on tangible form.

Probably the limit of understanding for a Homo sapiens who once lived on Earth. Honestly, I barely understood half of Sesaisa's explanations, or the later ones about spirit currents that I studied through my split consciousness clones.

Creating things like Syrup was just a lucky guess based on a vague hunch. I knew that well enough.

Anyway, I won.

"Congratulations. You defeated a rather formidable opponent."

"Formidable?"

"Pardon?"

At the Angel's question, I answered flatly.

"No, I'm not downplaying the enemy. It was a hard-fought victory. If a few conditions hadn't aligned, I would have lost."

"Indeed. The matchup was extremely unfavorable."

That matchup was the problem.

"But honestly, the enemy just lost because they were outclassed in scale, nothing more or less. If our scales had been reversed, I probably would have been crushed outright. Their main plan was an infectious mental illness that wasn't very effective against my world, so it was a bit weaker, but I would have been trampled by the plagues and curses they spread beforehand."

The Angel smiled faintly, as if to say, "What a ridiculous thing to say."

"Hohoho… Biin. If you speak that way, what kind of victory could ever satisfy you?"

"No, I mean… I'm not always dissatisfied with winning."

"You won despite the bad matchup due to higher scale… That is a fact. If the scales had been similar, you likely would have lost. If they had been inferior, it goes without saying."

"……"

"But Biin, why feel ashamed of winning through superior scale? Was that scale something you possessed from the moment you were born? Or was it merely obtained through chance and luck?"

If she put it that way, well…

"Every step taken to obtain a scale capable of crushing even the matchup was justified. It was the result of excellent strategy and grueling effort. Even the extortion and threats used to seize resources and points from others were things you devised and accomplished yourself, not something others forced upon you."

Hmm. How to put it? A strange feeling.

"The Angel judges only the excellence of strategy, not good or evil. However, even 'I' believe there is no need for Biin to feel ashamed."

"Ashamed…?"

"Yes. Right now, you are thinking that you won only because you possessed more than your opponent, despite being inferior. Objectively speaking, that is absurd. Biin truly achieved everything through skill. Even the final stratagem that toppled the enemy world was clearly obtained through skill. It was not something I taught you. You overwhelmed them with knowledge you learned and exchanged on your own, did you not?"

Hmm…

"If someone born with much tramples someone born with nothing and then boasts that it was achieved solely through their own power, that would be unsightly. But Biin is not like that."

The Angel smiled again.

"Therefore, there is no need to worry whether you have become such an ugly existence. Biin is different from those people. If anything, the concern should be whether you might fall into the trap of self-righteousness and stubbornness that often afflicts those who rise through their own efforts."

She's right. What was I even worrying about? I didn't win through cheating. I won through skill.

My subordinates won because they were cheats? I ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠created them.

The enemy soldiers were incompetent? If you were a god, you should have managed your subordinates properly.

The enemy's main plan of mental illness wasn't very effective against my world? Then what about the plagues? Weren't they part of the main plan?

I won because I was good at it.

"Correct. The current outcome is merely an extension of the choices Biin made. You simply reaped what you sowed."

With that settled, I might as well distribute rewards.

The greatest contributor to this victory was, of course, Yogur-tosoth. He contributed the most to the win. But more importantly, he prevented defeat. Without him, I would have lost outright.

He seemed to have just sat there clicking orders, but not just anyone could do that. He also provided great assistance with internal affairs, so he was naturally the top contributor.

The next highest contributor was Wafflach-Nacha. The impact of rampaging through enemy lines and dying gloriously was even greater than Yogur-tosoth's.

If Wafflach-Nacha hadn't revealed that the enemy world was underground, the strategy of flooding it with currents to kill it wouldn't have been possible at all.

If the enemy base had been in the sky or inside the Great Phantasm, no matter how many currents I poured in, they would have simply flowed away. Even I wouldn't have taken such a gamble.

Additionally, he directly destroyed the enemy world and halted their subsequent offensive.

It seems the enemy is currently drowning in pain and dead, so I should revive him right away.

The second-tier contributors were Shuc-rimmurath and Abhojuth. They solidly supported internal affairs while faithfully generating currents that could directly strike the enemy world. Ultimately, without them, recovery wouldn't have been possible.

Third-tier were Nyaltartep and Chaltteoggua. Honestly, they didn't accomplish much. They didn't even influence the outcome of the battle.

However, they were able to pressure the enemy into believing that an all-out war with us would mean death. That much significance.

Since this result came about due to compatibility with the opponent rather than any particular competence on their part, I decided to skip punishment entirely and distribute territories according to their merits.

Before long, the victory message appeared.

Wait a second. There's another message?

"What? That guy."

"He is the second leader of the Myth Alliance. He mentioned wanting to meet in the 12th round last time."

"No, I remember that. The fact that this message popped up right after my collision ended means…"

"If you remember everything, there is no need to answer, is there? He has reserved a declaration of war to be sent the moment Biin finishes a collision."

Hmm. So in the next round, the 12th round, I would definitely be fighting him.

Since it was a shop interval, I could defeat him and obtain a mythic trait.

"That is correct, Biin. For now, you have entered the expansion phase as the reward for the eleventh collision. You must connect to one of the three spirit-realm no-man's lands."

The Angel took out three cards. I glanced at them once and chose one.

"Connect me to the Great Firmament."

"Oh? Without even looking at the other two."

"There's nowhere else to connect except the Great Firmament anyway. I would have considered it if the other two were extremely good or this one was bad."

And so, my world connected to the Great Firmament. Until now, my world had different climates depending on the sacred sites, but as it was ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠covered by the Great Firmament, context and connectivity appeared in the climate.

Using the power of Deity-World Oneness, I expanded the no-man's land enough to cover my entire world, and with the power of World Shaping, I thickened the high sky and let the power of the heavens shine down upon my entire world.

The world seemed slightly damaged by the tremendous climate change, but it didn't matter. The wind, rain, clouds, sunlight, and clear air blowing from the sky, and the overwhelming currents they generated, steadily supplied mana to my world.

"Now the climate and mana problems are solved."

"Indeed. The lifeforms dying from the rapid environmental changes—"

"They'll have to survive on their own. If they can't adapt, they die."

"I thought as much. Now that the important matter has been resolved…"

Time stopped.

As always, she was probably going to explain the rules again.

"Isn't there no special rule for this expansion phase?"

"Correct! There is nothing that could be called a special rule. It is merely a connection to a new no-man's land. However, because the 12th round is special, it was necessary to explain the rules."

"I've already heard it."

"Even so, it is necessary to remind you."

The Angel began her explanation while displaying a screen for clarity.

"12 is a multiple of both 3 and 4. In other words, there is both a dropout phase and a shop phase simultaneously. Therefore, in addition to the phase-specific special rules, additional special rules arise from the overlapping situation. A total of three additional rules will be in effect."

Well, sure.

"From this fourth dropout phase onward, 'elimination' will occur. In other words, if a player fails to raise their world level to 12—the number of collisions—by the final possible dropout time after the World Collision ends, they will be unable to drop out and will be automatically 'eliminated.'"

"You mean soul extinction, right?"

"Correct! This rule will continue to apply afterward. In short, players must reach at least level 15 by the 15th round and at least level 18 by the 18th round."

Nothing to do with me.

"And the special rule for the third shop phase is, like the second shop phase, 'deletion of lower-grade traits.' Just as normal traits were completely removed from the shop in the second shop phase, excellent traits will now be completely removed."

"Was that the case?"

"It was. It seems you forgot because it was a story completely unrelated to the top ranks anyway. The special rules for shop phases are always the same, so please keep this in mind as well."

Well, fine. That doesn't matter anyway… Since I only planned to buy mythic or legendary grade traits.

"And the most important thing. The special event ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠that occurs because the dropout phase and shop phase overlap. In this phase, you can also purchase the traits of those who drop out."

"If I buy a trait, the points I spend go to the dropout player, right?"

"Precisely. Conversely, someone with a mythic-grade trait could earn quite a lot of points by dropping out now."

Hmm… Well, it's not something I need to consider, but I've noted it.

"The traits available for purchase here include not only 'world traits' but also 'stat traits' and 'individual traits.' You could meticulously sell off every element of your world."

No matter how I listened, this seemed like a story completely irrelevant to the top ranks who wouldn't drop out… Or was it?

"Hohoho… Still, I must explain. Every player must be given equal opportunity and equal rule explanations."

At the Angel's smile, a strange thought occurred to me.

And I thought about what happened before the eleventh collision.

Back then, my Angel hadn't calmly said, "Ah~ this judgment is strange, so this wondrous result occurred, but there is no problem with the rules."

She had said, "I'm sorry! I will immediately communicate with the higher-ups!"

Of course… It didn't seem like the Angel knew all the game's rules, but the reply itself had taken quite a while. At least for me, it had been a scene of great destruction that must have felt like an eternity to the opposing player.

But what I wanted to focus on here was this.

Why couldn't the organizers inform us immediately?

As if it wasn't a mechanism they had set up at all, hadn't they themselves been confused?

How to put it… It was as if.

The game developers were separate from the operations team, and it felt like the operations team was checking whether it was actually a bug.

So then, these strange things called 'traits.' These bizarre powers that transcend natural laws, rendering the development of civilization and true strategy meaningless.

Weren't they created by the organizers…?

Then who did create them?

The Angel merely smiled brightly with that characteristic smile of the organizers.

I don't know… Honestly, even if I thought about it, I wouldn't know.

How could a piece on the game board understand the player's intentions? It merely moved according to the rules.

Even as I thought that, as a player who could communicate with my creations and issue direct orders to them through divine power, I couldn't help but feel a strange sensation.