“O great Goddess of Fertility, Ymir, please grant me a child!”
Within the ruined Shrine.
A breathtaking statue, veiled in gauzy cloth with a face too beautiful to make out, stood in the center.
A young woman in coarse linen, with pale golden hair and emerald eyes, knelt before the statue, her delicate features earnest.
She repeated the prayer again and again, looking sincerely devout.
After a quarter of an hour.
The woman sighed, disappointment flickering in her eyes.
“Perhaps I am not devout enough, so Her Excellency the Goddess does not answer me…”
She stood, bowed once more, and prepared to leave.
Just as she was about to step out of the Shrine, a gentle emerald light glowed from the statue.
A vague figure, cloaked in sheer fabric, emerged from within the statue.
“Ilena, I have heard your plea. Come here.”
The voice, soft as spring water, flowed into Ilena’s ears.
Her expression instantly turned to rapturous sincerity.
She hurriedly turned and bowed low, approaching the Goddess.
“Praise be to You, great Goddess of Fertility!!”
Ymir merely smiled without speaking, took Ilena’s hand, and pulled her into the statue.
Emerald light danced; Ilena felt the scenery before her change completely.
A rich aura of life filled the world around her.
What she saw was a sea of green—towering trees that pierced the clouds, strange flowers and rare herbs she had never seen.
Various animals guarded the forests, crisp birdsong singing hymns to the Goddess.
There was even a refined courtyard built beside a bubbling spring.
***
“Is this… the Divine Realm of Her Excellency the Goddess…”
Ilena’s heart surged with awe and excitement—not only had Her Excellency answered the wish of such a small follower as herself,
She had even brought her into the Divine Realm.
What… what will happen next?!
She followed the Goddess into the courtyard. At the courtyard’s center, there was a bed woven of flowers and grass.
“Eh?”
Ilena found herself placed gently onto the flowery bed by Ymir.
Then she noticed—
Her linen dress had somehow become a perfectly fitted maid outfit.
On her legs were sheer black stockings that showed a hint of skin.
Even her toenails bore decorations like black cat’s eye stones.
Could it be, Her Excellency likes this… no, that can’t be!
Before she could think further, a small, soft hand pressed gently to her waist and began to move upward.
“Your Excellency?! Y-Your Excellency!”
“What are you—…”
Slowly, curtains of flowers and grass closed around the bed.
***
No one knew how much time passed.
Ilena reappeared in front of the statue, her face completely blank.
Outside the Shrine, dawn was breaking.
A sliver of warm light fell across her face.
Ilena’s face was full of confusion and surprise.
“What happened to me? Was all that… a dream?”
Blushing, she shook her head. How could she have thought of Her… Her Excellency the Goddess that way.
***
“To think I fell asleep in the Shrine, how disrespectful.”
“If Luer hadn’t been taken for conscription, he’d be scouring the whole town looking for me right now…”
Muttering to herself, Ilena suddenly noticed her abdomen felt heavier.
Looking down, she saw her once-flat belly had become noticeably rounded.
“I’m pregnant!?”
“This must be a miracle of Her Excellency the Goddess!”
Ilena’s rosy face was radiant with excitement and joy.
Not just because of her pregnancy, but even more because the Goddess had answered her.
Yet somewhere inside, she felt that everything that had just happened was real.
Ilena broke into a run, leaving the Shrine behind.
***
Lu Ming’s head slowly retracted into the statue.
That beautiful, sacred face wore a hint of seriousness.
“It seems, in any world, the ravages of war are terrifying. A whole town of widows—there isn’t even enough labor left.”
“If there’s a natural disaster or famine after that…”
He sighed helplessly.
Then said,
“My divine power has increased. Looks like this is indeed a way to gain faith.”
“But at this rate, when will I ever become a True God…”
His name was Lu Ming.
He’d crossed over to this world, where gods truly existed, a week ago.
The original goddess here was called Ymir, known as the Goddess of Fertility.
But it was just a nice title.
Ymir was born of the faith of the people in this remote town.
Just a Pseudo-God.
With no blood sacrifices and no fanatical followers,
She was bottom-tier even among Pseudo-Gods.
Worse still, in this world, Pseudo-Gods were enemies of the many true gods.
Because the world’s population wasn’t that large, even the gods themselves couldn’t get enough faith.
So for them,
Pseudo-Gods who stole faith were unwelcome; whenever they found one, they’d kill it.
Though the gods resided far above in their Divine Realms and couldn’t possibly be watching Pseudo-Gods all the time,
Their churches were everywhere, with far more followers.
And they were not to be trifled with.
The original Ymir had already been attacked by people from the Church of Procreation once.
If she hadn’t faked her death and tricked them, there’d be weeds three meters tall growing on her grave by now.
Since that event, she simply gave up.
Faith?
Forget it, starve me if you want!
And so, she really did starve to death, and Lu Ming took her place.
To avoid perishing the same way, he could only risk playing the god to gather faith.
But the vessel he inherited had almost no divine power left.
***
He couldn’t even use power, let alone draw the attention of the Church of Procreation.
Luckily, the original little Lu Ming came with the package.
So he could only use this method to gather faith.
It was just… painfully slow.
“At present, the Divine Authority I hold includes: Authority of Fertility, Authority of Procreation, Authority of Life, Authority of Pleasure? Authority of Lies?!”
When he saw the last two Authorities,
Lu Ming’s eyelids twitched, but it fit with his actions these past few days.
After all, the way to gain Divine Authority was: perform, spread, create.
Then, as he looked at the Authority of Life, he frowned.
Each Authority could only allow one person to become a god.
The reason the Church of Procreation targeted Ymir was not just that she was a Pseudo-God.
But also because she held the Authority of Procreation.
If she became a god with that Authority, she’d strip the original Procreation God of their place.
The more Lu Ming looked at his Authorities, the more troubled he felt—his future prospects looked grim.
But for now, the most important thing was how to gather faith.
Doing it all on his own—he could work himself to death and still never leave this Widow Town.
No wonder Ymir literally starved herself to death. There just wasn’t any other way.
***
“If only there was a world with no other gods.”
Lu Ming mused.
Suddenly, the space in front of him twisted.
A spatial rift appeared out of nowhere, pulling him in.
Before he could react, a wave of dizziness swept over him.
***
“Where is this? Is my golden finger finally here?”
He opened his eyes, finding himself standing atop a towering clock tower.
The city below was blanketed by night.
The architecture below was a mix of East and West, but all modern.
Lu Ming’s pupils narrowed. He immediately sensed his surroundings.
“No trace of gods!”
“Did I come back to Earth? But it doesn’t quite look like it.”
If that was the case, couldn’t he gather faith and grow stronger here?
He could hide here and become a god in secret—wasn’t that possible?!
Before Lu Ming’s delight could grow,
He realized the city was eerily silent, broken only by waves of strange laughter.
Looking down.
Lu Ming saw that everywhere—on the streets, in houses—as long as there were people, the same stone statue stood beside them.
And everyone knelt before the statues, grinning vacantly with lifeless eyes.
“What is this?”
Suddenly.
From a narrow alley several hundred meters away, a violent crash rang out.
As if something heavy had slammed into the ground.
He looked over—though it was night, his eyes could still see perfectly.
“Containment Object 019, ‘Smiling Angel’.”
“Hazard Level: Special!”