---Third POV---
[You even know how to disguise yourself?]
[Just slap some random dye on my face to muddle things up. Change the skin tone, and these foreigners are all face-blind when it comes to us.]
Viktor kept scrolling for a long time. Various pieces of information were coming in one after another. Some players didn't even enter the town, instead roaming around the wilderness where they could still receive a signal. They explored the major factions in the wasteland one by one.
[The wasteland near the Duskwind River to the east has richer vegetation and resources. Although there are piranhas in the river, it's still a stable water source. As a result, the number of refugees there is far higher than elsewhere. But their leader is a cripple whose head's been cracked open, and he has a regular habit of eating people.]
[Damn, a cripple runs faster than me, a wind user. I almost got eaten!]
[The cripple has a scar right in the middle of his head where no hair can grow. Turn a mohawk inside out, and you'll recognize him!]
Other players spent their days in taverns and tea houses, gossiping and uncovering scandalous local drama.
[The owner of that bakery on White Bread Street? She's cheating on her husband with the blacksmith from the shop diagonally across. Turns out the baker knows and secretly goes to the blacksmith to demand 'sleeping-with-my-wife money' every time. The blacksmith loves the affair, so he hasn't told the baker's wife. But she knows too and doesn't confront him out of guilt. Then the baker's wife secretly cheated again with a fisherman who sets up a stall near the bakery every three days. But the fisherman's actually a fraud. He rarely catches any fish all week. To keep up the act, he buys fish from another market two streets away every three days just to sell them nearby and cheat!]
[That's right. The real fish seller is me!]
[By the way, I didn't catch much today, just over 30 pounds. Here's a reference sketch I made…]
Viktor scrolled further, encountering more of the same chaotic, dramatic content. Players were masters of wielding language to maximum effect. In just a few lines of text, they could vividly convey the absurdity and drama of any situation. He found himself both amused and exasperated.
"So, everyone unlocked a ton of side quests but refuses to do the main quest, huh?"
He hadn't realized this little town of Nary would be so "pure" in its customs. It seemed like a single rainstorm could reduce the entire town to scattered sand without even needing a tide. No wonder divine power had suddenly surged by 500 points.
Grand and entertaining drama like this could genuinely increase player interest, translating into a stronger love for the "game." Perhaps this post might mark the beginning of cultivating a wave of spectators who were truly invested in the story under the divine system, not just those urging for comedic promotional videos or donating to mini-games on the official site.
"Well, this is still a good thing. At least I can take a break from developing the 3D version of God of Gods for now."
He sighed.
When he initially created God of Gods, it was mainly to ride a wave of popularity. But to his surprise, the game had gone viral for nearly a month without any marketing. Even now, it continued to bring new players to the official site. And this was despite the emergence of knockoff games.
Originally, he had planned to respond to feedback from mini-game players on the forum by slightly reducing the difficulty and pushing out a 3D version, just with slightly reduced difficulty.
Players had been complaining about the overly dense textures in the game. In the 3D version of God of Gods, you could click or swipe to occasionally nudge items at the bottom into view. Although in the 2D version, these items already peeked out, adding a step in the 3D version would significantly increase players' sense of accomplishment. It would shift some of their frustration at the game design into a sense of their own effort being insufficient, of course, this was the plan before.
Now, with the main "game" development booming, updates to the mini-games could wait a bit longer.
He kept scrolling until he finally found a comment related to Edgar and the sirens.
[I just snuck into the church yesterday. Here's what I discovered. The layout inside is just a larger version of our usual churches. Not many staff, four clergy members and fifteen magical apprentices doing chores. A preliminary search revealed no secret rooms or hidden passages. The only possible dungeon-like area is the bell tower behind the church. The kitchen's daily food supply isn't large, so it doesn't seem like they're hiding anyone. I'll probably need to stay here a few more days. Investigating the church is more than doable! To those reading this, I suggest checking the Mage Guild or the mayor's estate for clues first!]
Viktor was surprised. "A player actually managed to infiltrate the church?"
Infiltrating a church wasn't easy. The small number of fixed personnel alone showed how strict it was. Churches, as major religious sites, required even janitors or guards to undergo rigorous screening. They were generally closed to outsiders except on open days. Churches housing divine statues also had protective barriers that screened faith, making any infiltration nearly impossible.
How did this player manage to get in?
He glanced at the ID of the commenter and found it familiar, FastingMidLane.
"It's her."
His curiosity deepened. "Could the church actually accept bribes?"
He wasn't the only one wondering.
---
[What the heck! I tried sneaking in a few days ago but got caught at the fence.]
[How come you got in? Are you hacking?]
[+1, why did my attempt to bribe the clergy NPC fail?]
[Lux]: Hacking? Excuse me, I got in using my own wits! From now on, please call me the Holy Light Emissary!
Two comments in, and the confusion in the replies multiplied.
[Holy Light Emissary? What even is that?]
[Isn't this supposed to be the Spring Goddess Church?]
Lux smugly revealed the truth after some gloating.
[Lux]: I got in by posing as a nun from the Radiant Church. Obviously, I'm the Holy Light Emissary!
It turned out that, having visited Nary Town before, she had focused on the church as one of the three remaining mysteries. She was also the first to discover the church's ability to screen heretics. To these players, entering the inner areas of the church was like walking around as a 500-watt lightbulb.
So she took a different approach, pretending to be a nun from the Radiant Church seeking temporary refuge.
In theory, the Spring Goddess Church should be a subsidiary of the Radiant Church. Nary Town could claim the Spring Goddess was a friend of the Holy Light to escape faith-based dominance, but it couldn't refuse to shelter a nun from the Radiant Church. Especially with the influx of foreign mages into the town recently. At the very least, they had to put on a good show.
[Lux]: Now, I just eat and drink at the church every day. Sigh, this is so tiresome~
[Damn! Eating, drinking, and sleeping for free, without even worrying about taxes. How can the gap between people be this big!]
[This is infuriating! Kick that show-off out!]
Apart from gathering information, finding accommodation and food in Nary Town was a huge problem for the players. The initial startup funds they brought were all spent within the first three days. If they wanted to stay in Nary Town any longer, they had no choice but to find some work, maybe as mercenaries, or maybe by setting up a business stall.
The endless oppressive taxes and levies in the city were enough to make players deeply understand why Honeyvale Town was considered the beginner's village. Most people would never have it better than Lux.
Someone couldn't wrap their head around it: [How exactly did you get in?]
Others chimed in agreement:
[Exactly, I also thought about joining the Mage Guild, but as soon as I demonstrated magic, they cut my throat immediately!]
[Viktor was right; you really can't use magic carelessly.]
[Lux]: It's not that you can't use magic, but you can't use the spells taught by the system!
She managed to get into the church through demonstrating Holy Light Magic. However, her Holy Light Magic came from a paper spellbook she found in Honeyvale Town. It was a spellbook filled with prayer notes, as detailed as a nun's guide to duties!
Although the spell's power and chanting time were more than five times weaker than the game's Holy Light spell, it had the advantage of being usable in front of outsiders. Thankfully, the overly detailed prayer notes helped her convincingly pass herself off as a nun of the Radiant Church.
Ignoring the wailing complaints in the comments section, Lux slowly wrapped up her intel.
[Lux]: So, stop buzzing around the church like flies on a screen! I barely managed to weasel out of missionary work and don't want to take on security responsibilities!
After all, as a "lodging nun," she would definitely have to step in and help if the church was in danger. She might even have to display her strength. While the game's SAN value system was nuanced, no one had tested whether "being forced to attack other players" would cost SAN points.
She wasn't keen to be the first to try with her SAN value in the low 40s.
This selfish mindset earned her disdain from many players. But soon, they stopped complaining. It seemed they had discovered new ways to gain mage status and logged off to experiment.
Previously discovered books in the Inverted Space, although mostly useless, had yielded a few spell manuscripts. One could buy a copy from the game store for just 50 coins! They had once thought the players selling manuscripts and the system's pricing were outrageously greedy. Now they understood the true value of those items.
Viktor laughed as he saw five new players log in through the system.
"Your fatigue is almost maxed out, yet you're still trying to squeeze in more time? But... it's good to see players finally trying to learn spells on their own. That's a promising sign."
The spells he provided through the system were deliberately flawed. Although they were 5–10 times stronger and chanted much faster than the genuine spells from the outside world, learning these "optimized spells" marked the player as a supporter of the Watchers. While not as bad as being exposed as a full-fledged Watcher member, it was enough to get them hunted down. Forcing players to learn spells was a last resort. The only sustainable solution was to make them want to learn spells independently.
Since that was the case, why not give them a little push?
He remotely opened the game store and browsed the spell manuscripts listed there.
"Holy Light, Holy Light Barrage, Light Expulsion… all light-based spells. Let's add something from other schools..."
Before he could finish, the forum page he had left open suddenly displayed a new post. Ten images scrolled down in succession, vaguely revealing the contents of ten beginner-level spell manuscripts. And they were from different schools of magic.
Water, Fire, Earth, Wind, Light… there was even a beauty-enhancement spell.
"?"
Which player came up with this?
He was filled with confusion. He immediately zoomed in on the forum and scrolled to the top of the comments. The ID belonged to an old acquaintance, LootGoblin.
[LootGoblin]: Whew, finally finished transcribing these spells. Feel free to grab them if you need them!
What followed were detailed handwritten spell manuscripts, including the kind with prayer poses. The more Viktor read, the more astonished he became.
"These spells are clearly from the Mage Guild's collection... A player managed to infiltrate the Mage Guild?"
In just one week, the players' achievements had far exceeded his expectations. This group... they were all geniuses. How did this one manage to get in? And if he remembered correctly, this player was a dwarf.
Although not many players had commented on this latest post, and LootGoblin hadn't replied yet, Viktor patiently waited, hoping to solve the mystery.
About five minutes later, LootGoblin seemed to have finished reading the earlier comments and returned to reply.
[LootGoblin]: Phew! I thought I was the only one who noticed the spell loophole. Turns out I've got comrades in arms. Seeing you guys working so hard in the town was too heartbreaking, so I decided to provide ten beginner-level spell manuscripts. Feel free to grab them!
Thanks to Lux's earlier intel, this comment shocked everyone. If most of the earlier intel was just for laughs, these manuscripts were real benefits. This was as good as handing out ten free skills. What did overnight wealth look like? This was it.
[OMG! OMG!]
[A miracle just dropped from the sky!]
[Where did you get this stuff?!]
[Is this really free?]
[LootGoblin]: No need to thank me; just call me Overlord! By the way, the prayer techniques above don't boost our magic power at all; they just corrupt it. But I've also got an advanced version of the spells. They're also usable externally and let you train faster. However, you need to learn the beginner version first. Once you've mastered it, come to me for the advanced one. By the way, I'm currently staying at the Mage Guild. Anyone interested in earning a Mage's Medal?
This final sentence confirmed everyone's speculation. The comments section exploded with excitement.
[You can join the Mage Guild?!]
[Share the guide!]
[Overlord! Is there more?]
[Damn! Are we even playing the same game?]
[I'm breaking my back in Honeyvale Town while you're wholesale-distributing skills in Nary Town?]
[No, I'm breaking my back even harder in Nary Town.]
Viktor read on, thoroughly entertained. He wanted to continue reading to figure out how LootGoblin managed to infiltrate the Mage Guild. But just then, a knock came from the door...