Chapter 40

Gabriel soared through the clouds as his body trembled in fear.

[What was that?] Gabriel wondered. [Why is my body trembling? Is this fear?]

[I… am afraid? Me? The next god?] Gabriel clenched his fists in frustration and muttered, [But why?]

[That glare… the gaze… those eyes…] Gabriel gulped down in fear and muttered, [It was the same feeling as when I am in front of the gods. When they look at me.]

[No…] Gabriel uttered in a trembling voice. [It was more powerful. His gaze was more potent than the gazes of 12 gods combined.]

Gabriel gazed down in the direction and wondered, [Who is that mortal?]

Gathering his courage, Gabriel flew down and saw all the players and NPCs were now standing and looking at him. He glanced around the horde to search Zach, and he found him standing in the last row.

'Huh? What's this? He is still looking at me, but I don't feel any fear. I don't feel that murderous raging glare anymore…'

Gabriel scoffed and announced with a smirk on his face: [I have come with a message from the gods.]

Gabriel was everywhere but nowhere at the same time. His figure was visible in all the realms and kingdoms, but his real body was still in heaven.

[The gods want you mortals to take this world seriously. If you don't, you will end up dead like many others.]

"Fuck off! This prank is going too far!" one of the players yelled.

"The government will punish you!"

[Why would a mortal punish me? My lords are the gods, and I am their servant. I only obey their commands.]

"What is the meaning of trapping us in a game against our will?!" Another player asked.

[If gods want something, it happens. No questions asked. What about you, mortals? Answer me, why are you favored by the higher gods?]

"If the gods truly favor us, then why have they trapped us here!"

[The answer is simple. When a child disobeys, they need to get disciplined. The same goes for you mortals. You forget that it is because of them— you exist. They could annihilate you all with a snap if they wanted. Yet, they are forgiving you.]

"Bullshit!" A player who looked to be in his late fifties came out of the crowd and yelled, "Gods don't exist, and they haven't created us."

[Such blasphemy…] Gabriel shook his head in disbelief and asserted, [You mortals are not only ignorant, but you are clueless and arrogant too. You want to rule the world, but you don't want to be ruled.]

"Of course we don't! We are on the top of the food chain!"

[Hmm…] Gabriel hummed in wonder and said, [You mortals kill animals and eat them for food. Animals kill other animals and eat them for food. Insects eat other insects for food. That is your ecosystem. If one race goes extinct, the entire food chain will collapse, and that's how you will meet your end.]

"..."

[One after another. If plants cease to exist, the insects will die. If all the insects went extinct, the reptiles would starve and die. The rest of the food chain will follow.]

"...."

[Now answer me, mortals. What have you ever contributed back for the blessings given to you by the gods? Just as you are on top of the food chain of your world, the gods are higher than you, and their gods are higher than them.]

"Stop this boring ted-bullshit and tell us a way to get out of this game!"

[Heh!] Gabriel smirked. [Hahahaha!]

"What's so funny?!"

[There is no way to get out of this world. This is your new world now, and this is where you all will die, sooner or later,] Gabriel laughed aloud.

"You have got to be—"

[Silence! The gods want to speak something…]

After a brief silence, a bright light shined from the sky, and a voice echoed: [Mortals. There is a way to get out of this world, but you will have to work hard to do it. Your systems have been updated, and all the information is provided in the journal under the menu.]

After that, the light vanished, and so did the voice.

[Let me tell you the way to clear this game,] Gabriel asserted. [Do you see the 'Physique' under your stats?]

"Yes."

"I do."

"Yup."

"Yeah."

"What about it?"

All the players started talking at the same time.

[If you have read the journal about this game, then you must know that you need to ascend to the higher realms, and for that, you will have to cultivate.]

"...!" After hearing the word cultivate, Zach furrowed his brows with a shocked expression on his face and uttered inwardly, 'Everyone can cultivate?'

[You need to cultivate your physique, and once you reach a certain physique rank, you will be allowed to ascend.]

'Oh! It's just body cultivation.' Zach sighed with a groan.

"How do we cultivate it?" a player asked.

[There are three ways to cultivate your physique. The first is to train hard and fight as many monsters as you can.]

"That sounds dangerous. What is the second way?"

[The second way is to complete the quests, and you will be given physique points as a reward.]

"Ain't no way I am doing that. What is the third way?"

[The third way is the mix of the first and the second way.]

There was utter silence for a minute before a player asked, "Why do we need physique to ascend?"

[The higher realms would be too dangerous for lowly mortals like you, so first, you need to get strong enough to survive in the lower realms. It is for your own good.]

"How much do we have to ascend to get back to our real world?"

[You should be able to see the realm names and the physique names in the journal. Each realm will have its own sub realms. In each realm, you will fight with new types of monsters. In the lower realms, the bosses will be angels. In the mid realms, the bosses will be archangels. And in the higher realms, the bosses will be gods.]

[However, once you have reached the mid realms, you will get access to a portal where the players will be given a choice; to either go back to their world or keep ascending to the higher realms.]

"Only an idiot will choose to fight the gods or stay in this world!" a player commented.

[The reward for beating the gods is quite tempting, you know?]

"Just for reference, what is the reward?"

"The player who beat all the gods and cleared this game… will get to be a new god, who can rule not only this world but your dying world too.]

***

Total players in the game 434233

3010 new players logged in.

0 players died.

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[Weekly Quest.]

«200 power stones or 50 Golden tickets - 1 chapter.»

«500 power stones or 100 Golden tickets - 3 chapters.»

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Author's Note - I will upload the glossary of the realm names and physique rank tomorrow.

Question- Any idea why there is 0 death count in this chapter? The answer is mentioned in the previous chapter.