"Hey there Noah-chan, I've come to play with you."
The annoying voice from outside triggered an almost reflexive reaction in the boy who had been immersed in his work.
He furrowed his brow, his hand instantly snatching up the weapon lying beside him and aiming it toward the doorway.
The slightly weighted feel of it offered him a sliver of reassurance.
The weapon looked peculiar—so unusual that one could hardly even recognize it as a weapon at first glance.
It seemed like something that shouldn't exist in this world.
Noah, its creator, knew this better than anyone.
Because this thing...
Click.
'Load, chamber, raise, aim.'
Noah's movements flowed seamlessly, executed in one smooth, practiced motion as he took up a guarded pre-aim stance.
His gaze held no hesitation.
If the owner of that voice dared to step inside, he would not hesitate to pull the trigger and send a 18.5mm round their way.
The atmosphere grew tense.
Noah waited, but the voice did not return.
The two remained locked in this standoff for over five minutes, and even then, Noah showed no sign of letting his guard down.
Finally, unable to resist any longer, the other party abruptly thrust his infuriating face out from behind the doorway.
"Yo!"
The irreverent man teased like a prankster, briefly revealing his head before immediately pulling it back and hiding again.
BOOM!
A flash of fire erupted.
Without a moment's hesitation, Noah fired toward the door.
The shotgun shell sprayed out, blasting a massive hole through both the door and the wall.
A mere wooden cabin couldn't possibly remain unscathed after being hit by an 18.5mm shotgun shell at a distance of less than five meters.
"GET LOST!" Noah roared, loudly threatening the man outside whom he deeply despised and distrusted.
Or rather—the god.
The man's name was Hermes.
A genuine bona fide deity, over a hundred million years old.
The moment Noah saw him, he was certain.
This world was indeed the playground of the gods—the very one he knew, home to the labyrinth city Orario and its divine residents.
Because he knew some of its secrets, Noah was intensely resistant to getting entangled with this world's fated individuals.
Even though he understood how wondrous and dazzling this world could be, he chose to remain isolated.
Regardless of the past, he had been born into this world nine years ago.
He was no three-year-old child, he knew full well that every action would bring corresponding consequences.
A mere human.
No matter how much one grew stronger, in the end, they were nothing more than part of the gods' entertainment.
The gods imposed trials on people arbitrarily, regardless of whether the individuals were willing.
As long as it was amusing, the gods didn't care how much suffering or misery it caused.
That was the true origin of all those heroic legends and epic tales.
The people of this world seemed to worship the gods, even viewing such trials as honors.
But Noah felt nothing of the sort.
He had received a proper materialist education. How great the gods were had nothing to do with him.
In his eyes, the so-called gods were the epitome of arrogance.
Maybe not all gods were like that, but this man, Hermes, was definitely one of the representative figures.
"Whoa why are you so harsh, Noah-chan! Were you trying to kill me?" Hermes sat on the ground, staring at his hat riddled with holes, cold sweat trickling down his forehead.
Ever since the gods descended to the mortal realm a millennium ago, they had established a rule: no god was permitted to wield divine power while in the mortal world.
Violators would face punishment, or even be sent back to the heavens.
Having grown accustomed to the excitement of the mortal realm, none of the gods were willing to return to the tedious upper world, where they would spend their days staring at clouds and buildings.
Thus, if Hermes had been hit earlier, he would have been done for.
In his current state, he was merely an ordinary person capable of using a few clever tricks—so fragile that a gust of night wind could leave him bedridden.
"Stop whining! Don't you dare dodge!"
"No, no, if I hadn't dodged, I'd be dead by now, wouldn't I?"
Surprisingly, Hermes still had the energy to retort.
Noah clicked his tongue in annoyance.
"That's exactly what I intended in the first place!" Noah's expression was fierce, and he didn't seem to be joking in the slightest.
Being targeted by Hermes?
What a disastrous situation!
Hermes was a first-class pervert who, purely out of personal interest, could orchestrate the rest of your life down to the smallest detail.
If you didn't want to end up as a puppet on his stage, you had to nip his intentions in the bud—no, you had to eliminate him entirely.
To cut the weeds and dig up the roots!
Although Noah genuinely wanted to act on this thought, he was well aware of one unfortunate truth: gods were indestructible.
Even if killed, they would eventually be reborn after a certain period.
"Noah, why are you so resistant? Orario is the center of the world! As a man, don't you have dreams? To achieve great deeds, to be surrounded by adorable girls, to grasp wealth and fame..."
Hermes passionately tempted Noah with his words.
But Noah's heart remained unmoved.
It wasn't that the promises weren't appealing—rather, he prided himself on one quality above all else: self-awareness.
"I have to admit, what you're saying is incredibly tempting," Noah nodded, appearing to agree.
Wealth, beauty, fame.
Such simple concepts, yet they encapsulated the ultimate desires of not just humans, but countless races.
If he were a hot-blooded teenager, he might have been fired up halfway through Hermes' speech.
"But I refuse!"
Noah resolutely shattered Hermes' expectations.
"Wha—?!?!" Hermes exclaimed in frustration. "Why?! Are you planning to waste your life in this remote countryside village?"
Truly, one had to marvel at the gods—they knew nothing of human suffering.
Life wasn't something to be taken so lightly.
Dare to trust someone like Hermes, charge into the dungeon boasting about building a harem, and see what happens?
You'd be reduced to monster droppings within half a day.
"More importantly, why are you so fixated on me? Is there something special about me?"
Deep down, Noah hoped Hermes would give him a concrete reason.
Unfortunately, reality had other plans.
"No, not at all." Hermes' smile faded slightly, and his tone grew more serious. "You're ordinary, yet you go about your efforts in such a roundabout way. I can't stand watching you take such a convoluted path."
"Never mind. I've been out long enough. Since you're still unwilling to agree in the end, I'll have to resort to force!"
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Can you guys tell me if someone already translated this one ? since i remember i see this fic already uploaded here.