A golden slate appeared, listing my actions or the effect of my actions and giving it a karma point.
____________
Karma calculation:
Being born: 1 karma point.
____________
'The original sin.' I thought, noticing the karma that popped up, 'Or, in this case, the original Karma.'
The list went on and on, including little deeds he did, like going on errands, which gave him karma less than 0, or bigger things as inspiring someone to study better and graduate high school, which gave him ten karma.
'Inspire someone?' I read the name of the person I inspired, confused. I don't recognize this person at all. I don't even think I ever spoke to someone. 'I guess you don't have to try to inspire someone to inspire them. I got inspired by the richest man alive just because he is rich.'
The list finally reached the point.
____________
Karma calculation:
Dying: 1 karma point.
____________
After that, it kept giving him karma for what his death brought about in people. Depression from his family, suing the school, which led to the school changing their fire drill regulation. It kept going till it reached a point.
____________
Karma calculation:
Be the initial cause of world war 3: 100,000 karma points.
____________
"What the fuck." I didn't understand what that meant. How was my death the ultimate cause of the world war? How the fuck is that possible? Is this the butterfly effect?
In chaos theory, the butterfly effect is the sensitive dependence on initial conditions in which a small change in one state of a deterministic nonlinear system can result in large differences in a later state.
"So, I am the small change that led to world war 3?" I couldn't help but chuckle. "Cool."
I kept watching the list expanding as my smile slowly faded. I was the initial cause of billions of death.
I was the initial cause of multiple countries destroying themselves.
I was the initial cause of the United States, China, and Egypt becoming the ultimate ruler of the world, like three kings.
I was the initial cause of China taking over the entirety of Asia, renaming the Asia continent as Great China.
I was the initial cause of the United States returning to its slaving era, now enslaving any Asians due to them being enemies of Great China.
I was the initial cause of Egypt taking over half of Africa and becoming the strongest nation in the world, surpassing both the USA and Great China.
And the list goes on.
I stared on in silence, at loss for words. A single death of an insignificant human caused this much destruction? Change? 'Chaos theory indeed.' It kept going, as I noticed I became the initial cause of the creation of the time machine. 'I mean, I was the cause of this much chaos, so of course, they will go back in time and try to stop me from dying...'
I laughed at this. 'But I was permanently killed by a god. I am a fixed point in time. No matter what they do, they will not be able to stop my death.'
I didn't want to see any other fucked up shit my death caused, so I said, "Can we skip this and go string to the final karma points?"
[Of course.] Mono replied as the list disappeared, and a platinum slate appeared, showing his total karma point. [Your overall karma point is 69,420,666.]
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"*Chuckle* Three funny numbers." I laughed, wondering why those numbers, in particular, gained the fame they have. "Besides that. I have a lot of Karma, with more than 90% of them coming from the effect of my death." I grinned, "What kind of life can this buy me in the reincarnation circle?"
[A great one.] Mono replied, adding, [But as of now, you are a god. You are exempt from the reincarnation circle. Therefore karma is of no use to you.]
"What?"
[Which part did you not understand?] Mono genuinely asked.
"No, no, no." I said, taken aback. "I understand all you said. I am now a 'god,' so I can't reincarnate.' It felt cringy calling myself a god, but that's beside the point. "So this karma will go to waste?"
[Certainly not.] Mono replied, causing me to sigh. [Your karma will be converted into something all gods use, Cosmic Energy, commonly known as CE. One hundred thousand karma is 1 CE, so you now have 694.20666.]
'That's a big drop.' I sighed, staring as my karma became zero and the golden slate disappeared.
[Do not worry. CE is something karma cannot ever compare with. Ever.] Mono reassured before adding.
'Right.' I sighed. I knew this, but that is still a big number.
[As a low-rank god, you only have complete control over a solar system.] Mono started, [Meaning you will have to enter the universe and galaxy owned by another god and start your journey there. Do not worry. New gods like you have protection for four billion years, so no god will attempt to kill you.]
'Oh, so this is some kind of competition against god.' I chuckled, feeling excited. I always liked games, and this felt like one. I have the beginner shield right now, and I will be attacked on all fronts once I lose it. 'Like clash royal.'
I was certain that I would be killed once he lost that shield. I mean, how the fuck an I supposed to beat a god that owns a universe? And seeing how Mono casually said 4 billion and the fact that gods have an infinite span, there are definitely some old monsters out there that will Thanos snap mew out of existence.
'I will enjoy this while it last.'
[The universe will be picked at random.]
Suddenly, I found myself floating in deep space. I could not get my brain to believe what my eyes were seeing. Billions of miniature glistening stars stared at me as I glided, with a peaceful silence echoing around me. It was magical yet ethereal.
[This is where you will build your first solar system.] Mono's voice snapped me out of my trance, as I focused on its words. [I will now take my leave. The system will take over from now. It will set you up and explain your overall mission. If you have questions about the system function or anything else, ask and it shall answer. I hope you succeed in this journey.]
Mono's voice disappeared as a third voice sounded in my head.
Welcome to the ranks of gods! Our first order of business will be getting you a name! YAY!
The voice was similar to Mono's, with the only difference being that it is more systematic. Even the yay it said had no enthusiasm that it should possess, making it wired. If not, outright creepy.
"First. Can I change your personality?" I asked, fully well knowing that he wouldn't be able to handle its current personality and it this will get annoying. 'If you can even call it that.'
Yes, you can. Please, pick from these options.
Girlfriend[*Expand*]
Boyfriend[*Expand*]
Father[*Expand*]
Mother[*Expand*]
Friend[*Expand*]
Relative[*Expand*]
Custom
No personality
I expanded the first option just to see what it offers, regrating it instantly.
Girlfriend[EXPANDED]
Yandere Girlfriend
Tsundere Girlfriend
Deredere Girlfriend
…
I immediately stopped reading, cringing. "Jesus." I didn't even bother in looking at the other options and picked no personality. It was a system meant to assist me, like Siri. There is no need for it to have emotions. Besides, if it did have one, I will feel like I am talking to a real person which will be awkward. Especially when I ask or do questionable things.
Personality changed...
It said in a completely emotionless voice, causing me to smile. "Now, we can move on to changing names." I thought for a while, deciding to keep my name as Ailesh, not only to honor my parents who created and took care of me but also because of its meaning. The name means, lord of everything, king of all. 'A fitting name for a god.'
"Keep my name as Ailesh."
The name, Ailesh, has been bonded to your soul and become your true name. Please, keep this name a secret from others, as knowing a true name gives one power over the owner of the name.
"Noted." I nodded, already knowing what a true name is.
Your mission as a low-rank god is simple. Populate the universe with life. Your time limit is till you are killed and your mission is only complete when it is complete.
'Till I am killed, huh.' I thought, chuckling. It said it so casually and emotionlessly that a shiver ran through my nonexistent spine. "What happens if I complete the mission?"
You will be rewarded.
It answered simply, not seeming like it was going to elaborate any further. 'So vague.' I thought before saying, "Right. Let's move on."
To build a solar system, you need to start with a star. Please note that the number of planets that can orbit the star is completely dependent on the star's gravitational strength. To build your first star, just call out "Star Forge."
Without waiting, I called out. "Star Forge."
A screen suddenly appeared in front of me, filled with multiple bars. Each of these bars represented things like mass, luminosity, temperature, and many other parts of the star they can be adjusted accordingly. At the bottom right was how much forging the star would cost, which was currently 0 CE and my current CE: 694.20666.
I experimented with the bars, seeing that the gravity was dependent on the mass and radius of the star but the luminosity was determined by its radius and surface temperature. A 3D model of how the star will look was beside the system panel, changing depending on my input. At one point, a red exclamation mark appeared, and when I clicked on it, it informed me that the star was unstable and gave me some instructions to make it stable again.
'It seems like god still needs to follow the law of nature.' I thought, following the instructions to stabilize the star. 'Or maybe because I am a low-rank god. I doubt someone that controls the universe can't play with the law of nature like a toy.'
After a while, I set up my star to look like the star. The younger the star was, the more it costs, so I just set the age to 3 billion, so the star would have 10 billion years before it becomes a red giant. "This should be enough time. It's not like I will survive past 3 billion years when my shield is over."
The total cost was 245, which is within my CE range, though it was about 35.3% of my total CE.
I pressed forge and a flat-gridded map of the galaxy showed me information about my location. I was in a galaxy known as Proxima Miriandynus and was 30,000 light-years from its center. The entire galaxy was glaring red, except for an area with a radius of 4 billion miles, which was where I was.
At the edge of the map was a red ping, and clicking on it, a warning appeared. *Warning!!! Entering this area would remove your shield. Please stay within your designated area till your shield is removed in approximately 4 billion years or you are confident enough to survive without shield.*
"Expected as much." I mumbled, clicking on my notification and a new notification appeared.
Do you want to forge your star here? Yes/No *Note that to manually move your star, CE will be consumed.*
"Yes." I replied, clicking yes.
In front of me, bright light and almost instantly, a massive blazing white ball appeared, standing proudly in space.
Like that, I made my first star.