I Am the God of Games

Rules were either set in place by the gods of gods whose names no mortals would know when the world was first created, or were derived and amended by the gods born later.

Either way, Rules were very important and a constant for this world. Most races would never be able to touch it, let alone change it so that an entire world became their weapon.

Could the high elves have caused their own downfall because of their intentions to change those Rules? Is that what the ‘atrocity’ in the even name (Elven Synchronized Intellect Nation (SIN): Ancient Atrocities] referred to?

Edward found that reasoning rather implausible even as he thought about it.

After all, rewriting Rules were rare circumstances, but not inexistent. Almost all legendary beings reached the foundation of Rules, hence escaping the world’s restraint. In fact, it was only by achieving this that one could be considered a legendary champion. Moreover, there were bounded fields that corrupts the Rules of this world to a certain extent and a period of time, creating more Rules that were distinctly different from Reality. While such a bounded field would never compare to the Elven SIN, it still holds similarities, not to mention that the known legendary beings were alive and well…

If they took a step back to check, even the Players themselves counted as beings who had transcended a number of Rules. While they must follow the Rules of the Game that Xi Wei had dictated and were not immune towards basic Rules like Gravity, it was true that their existence was a product of adjusted Rules.

And since the Players had the God of Games watching their backs, Edward would never believe any claims that the high elves had no gods supporting them too.

“Forget it. There’s no meaning in thinking such things…”

Edward gave up on thinking eventually, since such wretched matters had nothing to do with clearing their dungeon, and continuing that trail of thoughts would lead to horrific places.

Moreover, the God of Games were not having the Players fight the entire world like the high elves did. Instead, they were only exploring a relic they left, more or less in penance for high elves—there is effort even if their contribution didn’t count!

That was why what he needed to do now was still considering how to clear Dark Sky, the third stratum of the Elven SIN.

“No point in thinking. Let’s just get in the dungeon.”

Meanwhile, Princess Leah was raring to go.

No thanks to old Vanke’s constant watch and being forced to farm dungeons which were ensured to be safe beforehand, the young girl was the most excited person in the group since it had been a long time since she had a good adventure.

In contrast, Jessica who hadn’t been adventuring recently but was quieter wasn’t feeling so anxious, merely silently watching with an OMO look on her face.

“Right, there won’t be new clues even if we keep thinking. We won’t have new information if we don’t clear it personally…”

[Mufasa: I seem to have new information.]

Edward: ???

(Mufasa: It’s not just light. The monsters in the Dark Sky react to sounds as well albeit less sharply, and the larger the monster is, the slower they react.)

(Mufasa: They devour each other as well, and the bottom of the food chain is some luminous mushrooms that looked like jellyfishes.)

Since most Players including Mufasa had farmed the Gray Fjord Cape before, they were quite familiar with seafood—I mean, sea creatures.

[Mufasa: The light from those shrooms are dim and could only be seen up close, but any creature that ate it would inherit its luminescence]

(Edward: In other words, the creatures higher up in the food chain would have stored more of those luminous mushrooms… and that the stronger monsters could be seen from far away)

Edward couldn’t help frowning at Mufasa’s comment.

If what he said was true and the more powerful monsters had brighter bodies, they are facing a big problem.

Not one amongst the hordes of monsters that swamped them before was shining, or can’t be seen under such distances even if they were shining.

In other words, the monsters of the Dark Sky that killed Edward were all low-level monsters.

And if Mufasa’s theory was right, heaven knows what would happen if they stumbled into a high-level monster…

“I should have thought about that earlier.”

After telling the others in the party about the theory, Edward became a little crestfallen. “The high elves were a race that once ruled the world after all, so there’s no way the Elven SIN they made using everything they had would be cleared so easily…” To tell the truth, Edward did feel quite a blow.

After all, his experiences after becoming a Player was smooth sailing aside from the occasional deaths. And thanks to the mechanics that Xi Wei, the God of Games had put in place which revealed visible growth as well as himself being well-known the Players, Edward unwittingly developed the illusion that he was powerful.

Naturally, he wasn’t completely wrong because his abilities had definitely gone beyond the limitations of mortals to venture within the supernatural.

But if he extended his vision to the continent and then the world, such ability only reaches the passing mark to step up on to the stage of this era. It would be utterly insignificant to the previous ages which boast combat forces far beyond this age, let alone the Elven SIN, a supreme creation of the high elves, former sovereigns of the last age.

“What should we do…”

This was the first time Edward was caught in desperate straits and unsure how to proceed.

“Sorry about this.” Princess Leah said softly then, before coming to Edward and punching him fiercely on the cheek, sending him flying and his HP bar dropping down a whole notch.

“What are you doing!?” Jessica glared furiously even as she drew her holy lance and set herself between Edward and Leah.

Joe wanted to draw his sword too, but was stopped by Gou Dan.

Leah, however, ignored Jessica and spoke to the bewildered Edward (who had lowered his pain setting) instead. “Sure, it’s a good habit to study your foe or the battle before fighting, but you need analysis after the battle to set up your strategies too! If you’ve analyzed all the time only to conclude ‘I’m so noob’, you’ll only demoralize everyone so what’s the purpose in that!?”

“I…” Edward was at a loss.

“Instead of worrying about this and that, it’s more practical to go in and feel around as you clear the dungeon!” Princess Leah continued sonorously. “What are you afraid of when death isn’t even a problem? Isn’t it the Players’ style to keep trying and eventually succeed?!”