Do you want to be a god? Yes/No
"Are all the ads so presumptuous now?" Ethan Lawson stared at the line of words that filled the entire screen on the computer and muttered to himself.
Without hesitation, he chose - No.
As long as he chose Yes, a weird web game interface would pop up, and cheap synthesized sounds would fill his ears. Equipment recycling, time exchanged for money, there were always some unscrupulous advertisers wanting celebrities to sell electronic swords.
He had made many such choices.
Do you want to be a god? Yes/No
The line of words popped up on the computer screen for the second time, still filling the entire screen.
"Is this a virus?" He was sure that he had turned it off once.
Ethan turned off the computer and restarted it.
The screen turned on, and the line of words was still there.
Do you want to be a god? Yes/Yes
"This time there is no option to refuse," Ethan complained. "It just so happens that this old computer is going to be discarded, and the virtual game warehouse I bought is still in transit, so let's see what your virus can do."
He controlled the mouse and clicked on "Yes" on the left.
The surroundings suddenly became quiet.
Ethan turned his head and saw his roommate, who was still talking, with his mouth open, motionless.
Beside him, a little dust stopped dancing in the sunlight coming in from the windowsill.
The dripping faucet in the toilet, the round water droplets solidified in the air, refracting the sunlight.
Time stopped.
"Your virus," Ethan was stunned, "is kind of cool."
A strong suction came from the computer screen.
He was sucked in before he could react.
Time continued to flow.
"Ethan," his roommate turned his head but didn't see him, "Strange, you were here just now."
...
In the sky full of light spots, Ethan looked up at the sky.
There was a giant tree that blocked out the sky, with lush branches and leaves, and there was no end in sight.
In this empty and boundless place, the giant tree had stood for who knows how many years.
He heard some rustling sounds.
Looking down, several monsters with tentacles and densely packed eyeballs were gnawing at the roots of the giant tree.
"I am the world will of this universe," the giant tree roared indifferently and magnificently, "Ethan Lawson, you are chosen by me, and you will become an omnipotent god who guards a world. Do you have any unfulfilled wishes?"
Parents? Ethan came from an orphanage, without parents or siblings.
The old director of the orphanage passed away last year. It is said that he had a long white beard and a kind face, and he died with a smile.
Girlfriend? He knew that his conditions were very poor, and he had never harmed other girls.
Friends? Except for this roommate, Ethan and others were just nodding acquaintances. As for this roommate, he was a natural optimist with a good family background and did not need any help.
Ethan had no ties and was alone.
Except for a few private personal hobbies, he had nothing else.
"I want to delete the browsing history on the computer, all the records," he said seriously.
"As you wish."
In the present world.
His roommate scratched his head, gave up looking for Ethan who suddenly disappeared, and prepared to return to the embrace of the game.
Ethan's computer suddenly made a loud noise, and then a bright fire ignited.
But in just a dozen seconds, when his roommate hurriedly brought out a basin of water, Ethan's computer had been completely burned to ashes, and not a single intact piece of iron was left.
"This is unscientific," his roommate said to himself, "Dude, your computer was burning with desire and burned itself."
...
The face on the trunk of the giant tree was solemn.
He waved his mountain-like branches and pointed to the sky.
"God Ethan Lawson, I have fulfilled your wish. Go!"
In the bright holy light, Ethan closed his eyes, opened his arms, and flew lightly to the higher sky.
In the faint hymns, the life formed by the light points danced around him.
He heard countless creatures singing for his promotion and cheering for it.
New god, Ethan Lawson!
He rose to the top, suddenly sank down, broke through countless clouds, and landed on a small island with a beam of light.
What kind of world is this?
Ethan opened his eyes excitedly.
What came into view was a wasteland on the left and a wasteland on the right.
This place was full of potholes, like the moon, with no signs of life at all.
If he was not mistaken, what fell from the sky was a burning meteorite.
There really were a bunch of meteorite craters here.
The smile on his face gradually disappeared.
This place was floating in the air, only the size of a football field, and below it was a bottomless abyss.
Did he have to use his divine power to create a living creature on the spot?
Ethan concentrated his mind and imagined that there was a shallow pond in front of him.
The divine power in his body circulated for a moment, then stopped.
Nothing happened.
Why is this happening? Why is this happening!
The space around him shook, and a translucent bearded uncle appeared, like a holographic projection.
"Later gods, if you see this video, it means that you have also been chosen by the world's will to become the god of this cyberpunk world."
The uncle raised his hand and a little divine power emerged to prove that what he said was true: "Don't listen to the will of this world. He is fooling you! Since I became a god here, I have been frugal every day, and my income is not enough to make ends meet!"
As he spoke, tears came out of his eyes: "God has pity on me! What omnipotence! I am a god, but I don't even have the divine power to shave myself! Why should I suffer here!"
"No more," the uncle wiped his tears with his hand, "I am going to drift in the depths of the universe and become a wandering god, hoping to find a planet with life and cultivate it slowly. I left an altar for you, which I really can't take away. Good luck, goodbye!"
He waved to Ethan, picked up a large bucket full of divine power, and floated away.
The holographic image disappeared, and no divine power was wasted.
This senior god couldn't stand the lack of divine power in this world, so he ran away with the bucket.
Ethan was shaken for a moment, but he still made up his mind: "It's just that I don't have divine power; it can't be a problem for me!"
He quickly found the small altar left by the predecessor god, and a little bit of divine power left on the altar.
These divine powers are too little, at most they can generate a real illusion, and can't affect reality at all.
He may be the poorest god in history.
"Divine power, divine power," Ethan walked around on the deserted sky island, "How can I get divine power?"
The extremely weak divine power in his body responded.
It requires a lot of faith power, and many people need to believe in him.
Ethan has never done such a thing, but he decided to give it a try.
"I want to go to the mortal world! See what this cyberpunk world is like!"
He thought so, and his divine body sneaked into the sky island and fell to the mortal world.