When something couldn't be explained by the reasoning of men, many believed it to be the miracle of a God. Across the history of mankind on Earth, such occurences were numerous.
Similarly, when a situation so incomprehensible and perilous was present in front of everyone, the majority reached out to Gods to give them strength.
Naturally, the God in this case, the Innate God, couldn't be more happy as the power of faith and prayers he received increased proportional to the despair the humans felt after the appearance of the Tower of Trials.
It was the time when humans needed something greater than them to place their hope in and recover even a tiny bit of peace in their lives, which could dim out at any moment.
But humans were frivolous creatures.
It could be the Innate God's stupidity or he just didn't understand human nature that much, but once given a more self-sufficient and direct methods, something illustrious and unproven thing like God became obsolete.
This opportunity came with the appearance of the Tower of Trials with its 'Status Window' function. It was a game-like function that could let anyone level up and acquire Skills; making them strong enough to fend off the dangers coming their way.
Of course, the God they so desperately prayed for just recently was forgotten. Though some said that it was the grace of their God, it was the opinion of just a minority. They got buried under the twisted ambitions of humans.
After all, when the opportunity to become one was in front of them, why would anyone fear or revere a God anyway they didn't even know existed or not?
Before long, the situation got stabilized on Earth. The people with courage and desperation, as well as a greed for power, continued to level up.
And finally, when they reached LV50, the opportunity to enter the Tower of Trials opened itself.
At that point, the Innate God was continuously losing his power, but unfortunately he couldn't do anything. Neither he could influence the humans nor he had the strength to touch the Tower of Trials. He didn't even have much information about it, as the tower itself interfered if he tried to do something.
What he could infer was just that this mysterious tower was trying to make Gods. But it's exact goal, and the reason behind it was still unclear.
*****
Hearing the explanation of the Innate God, Rihan was in a strange mood.
How could he not when the culprit behind his disappearance and the reason his mother died were directly or indirectly related to the tower.
"On the same day the tower appeared, your mother died to a monster."
Just hearing it made him still want to kill the Innate God in front of him who tried to use his mother's death against him.
"Please keep in mind that I am not the culprit behind any of your suffering." The Innate God reminded him politely.
"Hmph, I know. Don't ever remind me again." Rihan was seriously annoyed and infuriated right now.
'I want to destroy something.'
And the Tower of Trials looked to be the best target. But, he reminded himself countless times that he should not do that, or rather, he knew that it was impossible.
'If I can't do anything about it, I should make use of it.'
What was the reward for conquering the Tower of Trials? Any wish would be fulfilled, he recalled.
'There is... still a chance. I can meet her.'
It looked as though he would start tearing at any second. But he controlled himself well, at least for now.
'My sister is also there. I can't imagine how she is living there. I hope she at least has a life, unlike me. Otherwise, I will not be able to face her.'
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𝘛𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘣!
His heart throbbed just imagining about meeting his long-lost sister.
He shook off the heavy feelings and returned his attention to the present.
"What is this method you speak of that will let me enter the tower?"
'First, I have to enter this Tower of Trials. And, I need his help.'
"Umm, well, truthfully, it is not much of a method."
"Just say it already."
"You know that the tower only forbids Gods from interfering in any way." Rihan nodded affirmatively, so the Innate God continued, "Then it's simple. You just have to revoke your godhood."
"Hmm, you are right. And, how do you think I do that?"
The Innate God sighed in his mind in relief at the positive response from Rihan. At the same time, he realized an important fact.
'He can even give up godhood so easily in order to meet his family. It was the wrong move to provoke him in the first place.'
A crazed dog was more dangerous than a lion, the Innate God muttered under his breath.
"The fastest way is to destroy your Godly Essence, as without the proper 'Soul' and 'Mind' you will naturally lose your godly qualifications, but that will do more harm. I have a method to seal your status as a God safely, but in return, all your Authorities and abilities will also be sealed, and you have to train from zero all the way to godhood to undo the seal. But if you look at it another way, if you can achieve goodhood a second time, your existence will be much more defined and stable than it is now."
'But of course, that would be impossible.' The Innate God thought in his mind.
The Divine Potential residing deep within our Spirit was essential in order to achieve godhood or divinity. It was this Divine Potential that manifested itself as Divine Seat and gave the related Authorities over it.
'But he had already exhausted all of it. There is no chance of him becoming a God again.'
"So, what do you say?"
Rihan stared at the Innate God, deep in thought.
'He must be thinking that I luckily became a God or something. Well, whatever.'
"Before that, I want to know what you want with this deal. And I mean, what exactly are you hoping for me to do."
"Well, initially I was hoping to make you my apostle and let you spread my faith. It is actually an excellent method to gather faith and prayers if a God's Apostle becomes an important figure in a civilization."
"Hmm, then why didn't you use it earlier?" Rihan asked in doubt and suspicion.
"My previous Apostle died in the Tower soon after entering it. Strangely, the connection with him was also cut as he entered the tower. And for your knowledge, I can't just appoint anyone an Apostle."
"Oh, okay. Then, I just have to find you an Apostle, right?"
"Huh?"
"Don't worry. I will take care of him for a bit so that he will not die early." Rihan promised sincerely seeing the confused look on the Innate God.
"What...?"
"Then it is decided. Spill the method and leave the rest to me."
"...Okay?"
*****
"By the way, what is your name?" Rihan asked the still dumbfouded Innate God who had already told him the method to seal his godhood. Since he had never gotten his name, he asked out of curiosity.
"I have no fixed name. Sometimes I am called Jesus, sometimes Deva, sometimes Buddha, and sometimes Allah."
"What is that supposed to mean?" Rihan asked in doubt.
"You don't understand; simple names are meaningless to us Gods. Mortals reincarnate all the time and acquire new names and identities, but Gods are different. We are defined by the concept we preside over. Names are just useless shackles that can be used against you. Besides, if a God and Mortals share the same name, it will also be quite bad for the the God since names do carry power of Karma." The Innate God explained quite seriously.
"...I will keep that in mind."
'He is seriously too chatty. Maybe that's why he blabbers all his plans so easily.'
"If you want to address me though, you can call me the God of Earth and Faith."
"Okay. Then I will leave."
Rihan hurriedly left, or else he had to cope with this too talkative of a God.
"He left."
Just as Rihan left, the Innate God's expression suddenly twisted, and a hint of anger and humiliation grew on him.
"That little... hah. I can't believe I have to bow down to such an irresponsible child." The Innate God wholeheartedly regretted his actions, but since it seemed Rihan would at least lend him a hand in resolving his predicament, he let it go, though not completely.
The words spoken by a God held weight and couldn't be ignored just because. That's why he was at least assured that Rihan would not trick him, though the extent of his help was still to be seen.
"I should have cooperated with him as an equal." Sadly, there was no medicine for regrets, even for Gods.
And just like this, the Innate God once again 'feel' new emotions of regret and shame in just a single day.
...But of course, he wished to never know such a thing forever.
*****
Freezing cold permeated all around. Snow covered the landscape as far as eyes could see. The Himalayan mountains—the highest mountain chain on Earth—were a famous and treacherous place. Its tall mountains boasted a harsh environment for any living being to live with nothing but snow and no life around.
Rihan appeared in such a place to seal his godhood. For him, it was a pretty good place to do something so important as there was no one to disturb him.
"Let's see."
The method was actually simple, but a sacrifice was needed in order to do it. That was the reason that all his strength and abilities will be lost.
In simpler terms, Gods could be described as the managers of the Universe whose mere existence itself ensured that the universe functioned properly.
Now, to be removed from the position of a God, even temporarily, compensation was required, or else the Universe's Laws could distort and lead to its End prematurely. It was something called the Law of Causality, which governed the absolute balance in the Universe.
The sacrifice would initiate the cause, and the sealing of his godhood would be the effect.
'It was something the God of Earth and Faith told me, but it's still unbelievable that being a God is such a heavy task.'
But still, it meant nothing much to him as being a God; it did not mean your every wish and whim would be fulfilled.
"Here goes nothing.
"I, Rihan, the Spatium Asura of Victory, hereby temporarily forfeit my duty and position as a God. All of my strength and power will be the sacrifice, and my Godly Essence will be the chain to seal my godhood."
𝘞𝘰𝘰𝘴𝘩.
The freezing winds howled. A strange sense of disharmony overwhelmed him as if he were being cut off from reality.
𝘚𝘩𝘸𝘢𝘢...
It started to snow. Soon, a blizzard started to rack havoc in his surroundings before he knew it. Suddenly...
ᎯᏨᏦᏁᎾᏯᏝᎬᎠᎶᎬᎠ
A word formed out of snow in front of him, and soon melted away. The blizzard also stopped. And with it...
"Ah..."
His strength started to seep away from his body trickle by trickle. As time passed, that mere trickle became a thin stream, which soon turned into a river. And that river eventually joined into the ocean, which was the Universe itself.
His body, soul, mind, and energy all degraded to unimaginable levels and all his accumulated power returned to the Universe, where it came from.
𝘊𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘬. 𝘊𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘬.
Chains, made out of his Godly Essence emerged in his Middle Dantian and wrapped around all four of his Divine Seats.
𝘞𝘰𝘰𝘴𝘩.
And then, they disappeared.
"..."
Even though he knew it, the feeling of losing all his powers, which he painstakingly cultivated for two thousand years, made him depressed.
But what could he do? It was the only way forward...
[Congratulations! You have the qualifications to become a Player.]
...In this unending journey, which was life.