[Level Up!]
[System]
- All Divine Power has been restored!
- The maximum amount of Divine Power has increased by 10P!
[Divine Power: 2/10→20/20]
[System]
- A new Believer has appeared!
[System]
- ‘Voice of God’ is now activated!
- The Creator can now communicate with the residents of the Small World!
Countless notification windows popped up like mushrooms after the rain, and above them, a large status window appeared.
[Room-bound Creator]
- Level: 12
- Divine Power: 10/10→20/20
- Believers: 1
- Doctrine: None
When you gain experience through Quests, your level increases.
……This really is just like some kind of RPG game. But what does it mean that a new Believer has appeared?
My curiosity was quickly resolved when I looked down.
A Girl was kneeling devoutly on the grass.
With her hands neatly together, the Girl looked up at my finger with sparkling eyes.
It seemed obvious that the Believer referred to this Girl.
“……Hmm, what good does it do to have a Believer, I wonder?”
[System]
- The Creator regains Divine Power every midnight in proportion to the number of Believers.
※Did you know that ‘idol’ originally means ‘object of worship’? An idol needs fans to exist. The same goes for a Creator!
So that means I recover as much Divine Power every midnight as the number of Believers I have.
‘Is this like the energy system in mobile games, where Divine Power recovers at set times?’
But since I only had one Believer, the amount recovered was just a single point of Divine Power.
In other words, to secure a stable supply of Divine Power, I’d need a certain number of Believers.
“Then increasing the number of Believers should be my top priority.”
Just then.
[A new message has arrived!]
“Message?”
As I touched the notification window, the Message Box appeared right before my eyes.
[There is 1 message in total.]
[Message Box]
- 1. [O God, thank you.]
[System]
A Believer’s ‘Prayer’ is delivered to the Creator in the form of a message.
※Have you ever opened a mailbox full of junk mail? Even if you pray countless times, there’s a reason why He never answers! Now you understand, right?
……Swoosh
As I lightly tapped the message, the Girl’s Prayer unfolded in the form of a letter.
All-powerful God, thank you.
You protected insignificant me from the Wolf pack.
And you performed a miracle by sprinkling the water of life over my dying body.
But, God.
I am ashamed to say, I do not even have a single coin to offer you.
Merciful God, I am only sorry that I cannot repay your boundless grace.
It was just a letter made of words.
But even so, the Girl’s sincerity came through loud and clear.
‘……When was the last time someone thanked me for something?’
Just hearing the Girl’s words of gratitude made a sense of satisfaction well up inside me.
So I wanted to tell her.
That I hadn’t done it expecting anything in return, and that she shouldn’t feel so small.
But the Message Box had no send function.
“Come to think of it, the System did say earlier that there’s a way to communicate with Believers…….”
[System]
- The Creator can communicate with the residents of the Small World through the ‘Voice of God’.
※The dignity of a Creator is important, but sometimes, why not take the first step toward your Believer?
‘……That’s the kind of comment you’d expect for Fathers worried about becoming estranged from their children.’
Anyway, it seemed that using the Voice of God didn’t consume any Divine Power.
I decided to try using the Voice of God to talk with the Girl.
First, I cleared my throat a bit…….
“Ah, ah. Can you hear me?”
The Girl, startled, immediately bowed flatly on the grass again.
[I-I-I can hear you. O all-powerful God.]
Thankfully, it seemed my voice was reaching her.
And the Girl’s voice also echoed clearly in my ears.
“You don’t have to be so scared. I’m just glad to see your injuries have healed.”
「P-Please, I am not worthy of such honor. I am just a humble Girl.」
I told the trembling Girl not to be afraid, but truthfully, I was the one who was nervous.
It had been so long since I’d talked to anyone.
And now I was supposed to speak informally to someone I’d just met?
……Impossible.
I’ll speak comfortably later. For now, how did you end up being chased by Wolves?”
[Th-that is…….]
The Girl, seeming a little less tense, slowly began to tell her story.
A shabby, old hut at the entrance to the forest.
That was the Girl’s home.
There lived her Father, the Girl, and her Younger Sister—three in total.
Her Father, a tenant farmer, barely managed to feed the family with what he earned working the Lord’s fields.
But half a month ago.
The Girl’s Father suffered a serious back injury while working in the fields and was bedridden.
[He’s been recuperating at home since that day, but our family doesn’t have money to call a doctor. So my Father endures the pain every night…….]
The Girl gently wiped away her tears and continued her story.
[After Father became bedridden, there was no one but me to find food.]
At first, she managed with wild fruits and small animals near the house.
But that ran out in just a few days.
After filling her stomach with grass porridge for a while, she finally gathered her courage and entered deep into the forest to find food…….
“And then you stumbled into the Wolves’ den and got chased like before.”
The Girl nodded briefly, then looked up at the sky with sorrowful eyes.
「I can go hungry, but if my little Younger Sister and sick Father go without food even today…….」
She couldn’t finish her sentence.
[Quest]
Water to the thirsty, bread to the hungry
- 1. Give food to the Girl.
- 2. Make sure the Girl’s family is full.
- 3. Receive words of thanks from the Girl’s family.
[EXP +10, Divine Power +1P]
I couldn’t possibly let my very first Believer starve to death.
“Wait here for a moment.”
[O-Oh, God……?]
Back in the real world, I rushed to the kitchen and flung open the fridge door.
…Clunk!
Inside was a sight as bleak as ever.
On one shelf were potatoes already sprouting and carrots turning black, and all around, ingredients with expiration dates on the verge of passing were scattered in disarray.
My heart wanted to give her everything, but judging by what I’d seen so far, it was obvious that even handing things over would consume Divine Power.
‘……Even after leveling up, I only have about 20 points of Divine Power.’
So the key was to use as little Divine Power as possible to send the most useful ingredients.
‘It should be something even a sick person can eat.’
Besides, the world with the Girl and the Castle was clearly Western in culture.
In that case……..
I searched for a potato soup recipe and began picking out the necessary ingredients.
“Let’s see. Potatoes, onions, butter, and milk. Some bread to go with the soup would be good too, right?”
The ingredients weren’t in the best condition, but at least they were edible.
Then, a sudden idea flashed in my mind.
If Divine Power is consumed for every ingredient sent, then sending each item separately would use up even more Divine Power.
‘But what if I bundle them all together in one package? Wouldn’t that count as a single item?’
It’s just like with delivery parcels.
No matter how many things you cram in, once you box them up, it’s counted as one shipment.
“……No need to overthink it, I’ll just test it out.”
I put all the ingredients into a paper bag and tapped the Castle icon.
Ding!
[System]
- Entering the Small World ‘Castle’!
The Girl was still kneeling on the grass, praying.
“Now, how do I give this to her? Should I just drop it?”
As I was pondering, a new System window suddenly appeared in front of me.
[System]
- Please select a delivery method.
- 1. Optimized Delivery: Divine Power 1P
- 2. Normal Delivery: Divine Power 5P
‘……Optimized Delivery?’
I didn’t expect there to be more than one delivery option.
Normal Delivery cost 5 points of Divine Power, but Optimized Delivery only cost 1 point.
There was quite a difference in Divine Power consumption depending on the method.
“Whatever it is, I’ll go with Optimized Delivery since it uses less Divine Power.”
[Optimized Delivery List]
- Potato ……. 1P
- Onion …… 1P
- Milk …… 1P
- Butter ……. 1P
- Bread…… 1P
- Paper Bag …… 1P
[6 points of Divine Power will be consumed.]
[Divine Power: 20/2014/20]
Before I knew it, the ingredients I’d been holding vanished in the blink of an eye.
But still…….
‘Wouldn’t packaging them together count as a single item?’
. . . My wishful thinking was completely off.
Even the paper bag I used to bundle the items cost Divine Power.
‘They really wring you for every last point, huh……. So what’s the point of Optimized Delivery, then?’
[System]
- Items sent via Optimized Delivery will be delivered in a form and size suitable for that world.
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