Oberon was shocked by the mission they'd been given.He had read countless novels to know that something like this wouldn't work.Not with humans.
But he pushed those dark thoughts out of his mind and focused on what was about to happen.
Time passed.
More and more people chose their Godly Authority some were thrilled,others sat in regret,a few cried. Some smiled with joy.
But Oberon,he simply sat on the ground,gazing up at the bright, white sky.
There was something about it,something otherworldly,something that Earth could never recreate.
And as he stared,He noticed something,Far above,a flew figure distant watching them.
At first, he couldn't see her clearly,but slowly, the image began to sharpen.
A God.
Her face was hidden in radiance, but somehow,he knew,She was female.Her eyes shone like a calm, flowing river.A deep, endless blue.But they weren't filled with warmth,they weren't smiling,they looked down at all of them the newborn gods,with an expression he couldn't quite place.
He frowned.
Why did she look at them like that?Shouldn't she be proud?Amused?Joyful, even?
After all… weren't they newborns?Even humans smiled at their babies,laughing and taking pride in their first cries?
But this goddess,she looked at them differently,almost like…
He paused.
Trying to place the emotion,digging into his memory into the human expressions he'd seen before.
What was she feeling?
What was that look in her eyes?
"It's not rage… not hatred… not happiness. Not amusement. Not pride. And definitely not lust."
He narrowed his eyes, still staring up at the divine figure.
"So… what is it, then? Sadness, maybe?"
He tried to match the expression in her eyes to something human.
To a face he'd seen before,to a feeling he'd once had himself.
But no,It wasn't sadness either.
He couldn't understand it.
"Is it because she's a god?Will people one day look at me the way I look at her?Wondering what my expression means?"
He let out a long sigh.
"Haaa…"
His mind ached from trying to make sense of it.Trying to understand a god's gaze was like trying to describe a color he'd never seen.
He gave up,there was nothing else to do but wait.
So he did what he did best,nothing.He just sat there, staring up at the blinding white sky.
Bored, Oberon didn't bother to look around him anymore,he just stared at the sky like someone stuck in a waiting room with no phone.
Still, the thought of the goddess lingered in his mind.
"Maybe… she's bored too?"He glanced back up at her river blue eyes,Calm, Still, Deep.
He tilted his head and then shook it.
"No, that's not it either. They're calm, sure… but there's something else in them."
He looked away and his thoughts drifted to his memories,to his family,to his annoying job,to his mountain of unread novels and Of course to the money he had saved up for his rent.
Sitting now frozen in his account,forever.
"Tsk."
The only thing Oberon truly regretted now was not spending all that hidden money he'd saved up.
All that time budgeting for rent, bills, and late-night snack runs... for what?
But then again,he was a god now amd money should be beneath him.Right?
He pushed the thought aside,it still stung a little,but there were bigger things to think about.
Like his favorite novel Journey of True Cultivation.He remembered the dark, villainous main character how ruthless, clever, and untouchable he had become.
Oberon smiled faintly at the memory,but the fantasy faded quickly,as reality pulled him back.
His head turned instinctively.
Back to her,the goddess.
Her shining, river blue eyes still watched them all,still unreadable,still distant.
He wondered again,what was that look in her gaze?
Before he could answer,her voice returned.
Beautiful.Ethereal.Perfect.
"Newborns," she said, her voice echoing through the white void.
"You have chosen your Godly Authorities.From this moment forward, you are rebornNewborn gods.You must carry yourselves with the pride and courage of divinity.Be kind to mortals. Guide them with wisdom and compassion.For by uplifting others,you uplift yourselves.One day, you may even ascend and become true gods.So farewell, newborns and guide the world of Insania toward new greatness."
As her final words rang through the white expanse,her long, flowing sleeves shifted and from within,a hand emerged.
Snow white skin,slender, delicate fingers,soft, yet absolute in their motion.
She waved once and reality shattered.
The world began to twist.
Left and right lost all meaning.
Up and down collapsed into themselves.
Time and space twisted beyond help,as if the rules of the universe had been torn apart like paper.
Oberon's breath caught.
The light around him bent, spiraled, screamed!
Chaos erupted around them.
The space began to collapse and some of the newly ascended gods cried out in fear and surprise.
But Oberon remained still,he didn't cried,In fact he found it strangely comfortable.
Amidst the swirling madness,he kept his eyes fixed on the female goddess above,her river blue gaze still watched them and one last time he asked himself
"What is that look in her eyes?"
For just a moment,he thought he saw it.
Not clearly.
Not fully.
But something about it felt like a truth he might understand,if he stayed a god a little longer.
Then he vanished.
His form dissolved into the collapsing world,drawn into the chaos.
Leaving the bright white space behind.
And in the end,only the goddess remained.
Alone.
Still watching.
Somewhere, on a small and empty plane,
A figure appeared out of nothing.
This place held nothing but an endless field of green grass.
No trees.No wind.No sounds.
And above… there was no sky.
Only a vast, empty night,starless,shineless,pure darkness.
The person who had suddenly appeared now lay still on the grass.
After a moment,He began to stir.His eyes slowly opened and the first thing he saw was that dark, starless sky.
He sat up,crossed his legs into a lotus position his body moved without urgency calm, deliberate.
Then he looked around.
Endless green grass,but not truly endless.
A few kilometers out, the grass stopped and beyond that...
Darkness.
It wasn't just distance,it was like the world simply ended there.
As if the grass was floating on some kind of platform,surrounded by an abyss.
But Oberon didn't panic,he didn't feel fear.
He just stared at the edges of the world with calm understanding,because he already knew where he was.
This place was his God Domain.
A God Domain the personal Domain of a god.
A space where his rules were absolute,where his believers' souls would one day rest,to mortals, it might even be called paradise or the afterlife.
Oberon understood all of this already.
Because the moment a newborn god chooses their Godly Authority,they are given instinctual knowledge A divine understanding of their role, their powers,and of what it means to be a god.
In this new world of gods,there were levels.
A hierarchy of divinity.
Newborn Gods,Young Gods,Adult Gods,Elder Gods,Supreme Gods and finally True Gods
These were all the stages Oberon knew from the memories he'd inherited through his two Godly Authorities.
But that wasn't all,he also understood something even more valuable.
How a god grows stronger.
Although Newborn Gods were still at the very beginning,they were far from weak.
Even a newborn, with the right authority,could wipe out an entire world with a mere wave of their hand.
Because of that terrifying potential,all newborn gods were banished into their own personal God Domains.
If they ever escaped before they were ready,they would be struck down by the will of the universe itself,powerless to resist and destined to die a painful, meaningless death.
So how does a god truly grow?Simple.
They gain believers.Earn Faith Points.Learn new Godly Authorities and Skills.And with each step,they rise and become stronger and more divine.
While a newborn god couldn't kill an Elder God directly,a clever one,with powerful Authorities and well chosen Skills,could slay an Adult God.
Which is why strength among gods isn't just based on age,but on growth, strategy, and the path of faith.
And walking the path of faith,that was how gods became truly powerful.
Oberon smiled brightly,then let out a loud chuckle,his voice echoing through his lone domain of Beginning and End.
Even if he didn't fully understand why his Authorities were labeled "Absolute Light" and "Absolute Darkness" instead of Beginning and End he didn't really care.
After all His divine titles were"The Hope of All Beings" and"The End of All Beings."
That alone made it clear.
He would bring hope to the world And then end all hopeonly to begin again.
It sounded like something an overpowered god would do.
Even as a newborn,the only thing that bothered him slightly was that he still didn't know what "Absolute" meant at least, not in the context of Godly Authorities.
But he shrugged it off,time would teach him.
With that thought, Oberon opened his God System.
According to the memories granted by his Godly Authorities,every god below the rank of True God shared this system.
And the moment he did his eyes lit up with excitement.
"100 Faith Points?" he grinned.
"That's enough to get started!"
He immediately tapped on the Faith Points indicator.
The system interface shimmered and shifted into something new The Faith Store.
Oberon's eyes began to shine one glowing black, the other golden yellow though he didn't even noticed,he was too absorbed,too busy thinking and planning.
"So many things to choose,so many possibilities…"
The Faith Store was massive offering everything from divine blessings and spiritual upgradesto miraculous items and world shaping powers.
But then… he looked at the prices and his face fell.
"..."
100 Faith Points suddenly felt like 0.0001 compared to what these divine treasures cost.
"Haaa..."Oberon let out a long sigh.
Even as a god he was poor.
Faith Points were money now and just like on Earth,the world didn't spare the poor,not even divine beings.
After a few quiet curses toward existence itself,Oberon accepted reality.
And then, with divine determination,he made a vow.
"Fine. If Faith Points are power then I'll become the richest god alive!I'll take the biggest share And the rest of them? The other gods?They can gnaw on the leftover bones."
He grinned.
It was the kind of grin that only a true villain protagonist would wear in Chapter 1 of a cultivation novel.
So he scanned the store again this time more carefully.
There was one thing that caught his eye,one item he could afford.
And more importantly it would help him earn more Faith Points later on.A perfect first investment.
"System," he said with a smirk.
"Buy World Spectator."