“Thank you for taking the time to see me, Lord Galahan.” A seemingly young human male with dark brown hair said as he sat on a comfortable couch. Sitting opposite to him was an auburn-haired kitsune who offered him a warm smile.
“Nonsense! We’ve known each other for decades. And last I heard, you recently ascended to become a god yourself.” The kitsune shook his head, waving the human off. “So you can drop the lord title. I’m just a director that lives for his craft. What was it that you wanted to talk to me about?”
The human simply shrugged with a wry smile. “I’m afraid that today’s more of a business meeting than a social call. I’ve got the beginnings of a script here that I would like you to consider for your next film. I believe that only someone with your abilities could do the image justice.”
After saying that, the human produced a thin, crystal disc and placed it on the table between them. Curious, Galahan flipped his palm over and pulled the disc into his hand. “Just a second.” He muttered, retrieving his holographic terminal and placing the disc on top of it.
As the contents of the disc were transferred, a holographic screen appeared above the crystal projector. The text scrolled by quite fast, but Galahan seemed to be able to keep up with reading it. “This is… the story for that game you announced earlier in the year, isn’t it?” He asked with a knowing grin. “Are you planning to use my movie to hype up your project?”
The human gave a helpless sigh. “Unfortunately, games that aren’t released by Blank Holding just don’t have as much impact with the public. Who can create a game better than the original God of Games, after all? Especially when he is an artificial intelligence himself.”
“That’s right, you can be considered the second generation God of Games, can’t you?” Galahan asked, to which the human nodded his head. “Well, there might be more, aside from the two of you, but I’d say you’ve got the best shot to be a genuine contender. Have you tried marketing your skill in Sanctum yet? You should be able to come up with something interesting.”
The human god shook his head. “Not yet. I’ll wait to visit Sanctum until after I’ve got my feet off the ground here. After all, this is where I’ll be able to get the majority of my audience. So, what do you think of the story? Is it up to your standards?”
Galahan chuckled, looking back at the flowing text. Something seemed to change in his gaze as he nodded. “I’ll see who I can pull together to make this work, and will keep you updated. What sort of royalties are you looking for on the project, Julius?”
The human god simply shook his head again. “I’ll settle for three percent. Five if it’s a major success. That should let you cover your costs, and give me enough to fund the creation of my project.” After saying that, he stretched his hand over the table, which the kitsune happily grasped for a firm shake.
“Well, I’d say that’s a pretty good deal for me.” The kitsune grinned, though he had never truly been in the industry for the profit. Someone only caring about the money would never be able to undergo the risks required to ascend to godhood to further their craft. “I’ll have someone send you the contract later today, so keep an eye out for it.”
With that settled, the human nodded, placing his hand in his pocket and turning to leave. However, his eyes were locked on a display in the corner of his vision, a prompt that caused a hidden grin to spread over his face.
Exclusive Class - Hypnotist has leveled up!
Exclusive Class - Game Master has leveled up!
Card Acquired - Galahan(God-Tier, 4 Stars)
Julius was quite pleased with the result of this meeting, far more than simply earning a contract with a major film director. Of course, he had not lied about anything he said. He truly did wish to use his friend in order to create hype for the game he was developing. As there was always the chance of a follower of Irena watching such business deals, it was best to keep information hidden instead of outright lying.
Furthermore, he had been able to establish a very important fact in this meeting. The classes that he created for himself were able to affect other gods, as shown by how the subliminal messages recorded within the file he gave Galahan had shown a visible change in his reaction.
This was the primary direction that Julius had decided to take his power. Not merely using his domain to create games for others to play, although that was indeed part of it. No, his focus was on bringing aspects of games to life. He had experimented with creating new classes for himself first, exclusive classes that were not a part of the world’s system.
Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.
The first of these classes, Hypnotist, allowed him to imbue subliminal ideas within common text or speech. These ideas did not have to directly relate to the text or speech in question, as long as he was focusing on the idea when he either wrote or said it. Julius himself wasn’t entirely certain how the power worked, only that it was able to pull on some special power related to information.
The second class, Game Master, was the main focus of what he had invested in, and had consumed a great deal of divine energy to create. By establishing deals with individuals, he could create cards based on that particular person. These cards could be used to track their current situation, as well as guide them when used in conjunction with the Hypnotist class.
He could already feel the card in his pocket, and knew that he had earned another piece for his overall plan. Of course… the control of the card was not perfect. While the Hypnotist class could give someone ideas, it could not force them to act on those ideas. The person’s own conscience and personality were large factors to consider when deciding what they would be willing to do if the idea crossed their mind. At most, it could give gentle nudges, but those nudges were more than enough when given over a long period of time.
That was why he was so eager to form an agreement with the God of the Stage to release his movie, even if the royalties were quite low. What he cared about were not the royalties, but rather the players that he would get with his new game. Players that would mindlessly skim through the game’s license agreement and accept without a second thought.
The simple act of accepting that agreement would allow Julius to create a card based on those players, giving him the ability to manipulate a wide audience. Furthermore, as the agreement itself held no special clauses to arouse suspicion, he believed that it would go undetected.
This was how he intended to grow as a god, by convincing his playerbase to believe in him, which would in turn spread the word of his games and increase his following. After a few successful titles, he would be able to rival the original God of Games, or even surpass him in both power and fame.
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Lifre sat on a wooden chair atop a tall hill, overlooking a fierce battlefield. She had swapped out her normal leather armor for a general’s uniform, completing the look with a red beret atop her head. She watched her soldiers fighting fiercely, her gaze unchanging even with the deaths of her men.
“My lady!” One such soldier ran back to her, gasping as an arrow was embedded into his back. “We’re being pushed on the western front. The Deckan mercantile guild is showing strange reports with nonsensical information. We suspect a void connection to be involved!”
“The void?” Lifre asked calmly, nodding her head. “Send in the clerical troops to provide aid. Dispatch the reserve forces to cover for them.”
“At your command!” The soldier nodded, gritting his teeth as he walked over to the barracks nearby to convey Lifre’s order. Soon, dozens of troops bearing the robes of a religious order ran out, quills in hand as they charged towards their battlefield accompanied by a retinue of armed soldiers.
There was a flicker of movement behind Lifre, a black-cloaked figure appearing from her shadow. “My lady, the investigation into the mysterious disappearances of Kione has been completed. There was no void interference detected. However, there are suspicious signs that point towards a kidnapping ring.”
Lifre nodded her head coolly, adjusting her beret. “Send the list of suspects to the local authorities, and await their reports.” After she gave that command, the cloaked figure flickered out of existence.
The nethrak goddess slowly stood from her seat overlooking the field of battle, extending her hand and shouting towards her troops. “Stand your ground, men! We will not be pushed back by the enemy! Don’t be confused by their misspellings or circular logic, and don’t fall into the traps of false information! Advance together, and crush the enemy on all fronts!”
Her soldiers roared in excitement at her declaration, charging forward with renewed vigor as they fought their forces. Whenever an enemy soldier died, their body collapsed, turning into a sheet of paper that fell to the ground. Likewise, whenever a soldier under Lifre fell, they would turn into a broken pen.
Lifre watched these events unfold with unnerving calmness, before letting out a gasp as a monstrous enemy arose in the distance. The ground trembled with every step it took, and Lifre clenched her fists at her side. “The inter-planar trade agreement of the Metong…” She muttered, as if facing a fearsome foe.
She brought a hand up and lightly bit at her thumb, unsure how to continue. “I’ve already dispatched the clericals, and the reserve troops went with them. Will I have to take the field myself?”
Looking at the giant creature, standing dozens of meters tall and with an iron body, Lifre resolved that she could not leave such a foe to her units. Instead, she reached into her pocket, grasping a pen and retrieving it. When her hand emerged, the pen had turned into a large, silver rifle.
Lifre crouched down, taking aim at the giant creature through the scope of her rifle. “I’ve only got one shot… Remember, I don’t need to kill the enemy, merely subdue it.” That said, she lowered her scope from its head down to its bulky legs. Taking a deep breath, she steadied her aim before pulling the trigger.
A fierce light bloomed from her rifle, accompanied by a deafening blast. A large-caliber round shot out from the barrel of her rifle, leaving it a shattered mess as it struck against the body of the iron giant. The creature let out a pained roar, dropping to one knee and slowly collapsing to the side.
Lifre looked at her ruined rifle, which turned back into a shattered pen, and pouted her lips. “That was my favorite…”
“You know, when I told you to think of it as an adventure, I did not expect you to take it so literally.” A voice spoke from behind Lifre, causing her to jolt and turn around with a nervous smile. Standing behind her was none other than Tsubaki, dressed in the same maid uniform as ever and looking at Lifre with a raised brow.
“Heheh… well… whatever works, right?” Lifre asked, poking a tongue out playfully.
“Are you properly learning all of the information?” Tsubaki asked, seeing the distant giant crumbling into a stack of papers. Lifre only nodded her head with a bright smile.
“Yup! My soldiers are properly reviewing the enemy’s information, and transmitting it back to me! I shall conquer the mighty foe that is paperwork, just as you commanded!” After saying that, Lifre couldn’t help but fall into a military salute, causing Tsubaki to let out a long sigh.
“That’s… certainly one way to handle it, I suppose. I’ll tell Dana we need more pens…”