Chapter 27

**Chapter 27: Dialogue with a 'God'**

?!

Mo Tan momentarily thought he was hallucinating. Otherwise, how could the Dawn Goddess's demeanor suddenly collapse so abruptly...

Although this kind of thing had been happening to him for over twenty years, the current atypical split personality shouldn't have spread to this extent, right?!

Or was it that he hadn't actually logged into the game at all, and had mistakenly added something like high-purity alcohol to his coffee earlier, now lying in a dazed state?

No, his thoughts were already starting to spiral...

"Hey, give me a reaction!"

Logically speaking, a goddess like the Dawn Goddess should be a contradictory blend of coldness, rigidity, aloofness, yet also compassion for all beings and boundless love, shouldn't she?

"Just say yes or no, will you! It's quite exhausting for me to respond to a prayer!"

But while this one was also contradictory, something felt off. Did goddesses really like using phrases like 'slap him silly' and 'blast them to bits'? Was she that trendy?

"I said, what are you mulling over there? If you don't respond properly, I can't hear you!"

There were also those who took the non-mainstream route, like the God of Light or the Dawn Goddess, who weren't exactly good deities. Their churches appeared merciful on the surface but were actually full of corruption and depravity. That kind of setting was quite popular too, but this one didn't seem like that either...

"I get the feeling you're thinking something very disrespectful."

Hey! Speaking of which, that big sister from the class next door who led a bunch of brats to dominate the entire middle school was quite similar to this one. Of course, the latter was sturdier, already breaking the 100-kg mark before even reaching adulthood...

"ARE! YOU! LISTENING! TO! ME!?"

At this point, the phantom of the 'Dawn Goddess' before him finally couldn't hold back. She was enveloped in a soft, pale golden light, and in this boundless realm of radiance, she dashed forward in a single stride, swung her arm in a full arc, and slapped him hard!

Mo Tan felt a warm gust of wind rushing towards him and instinctively tried to dodge to the side, but unexpectedly, a heavy and solemn force suddenly enveloped him. He took the slap squarely, let out a yelp, and spun several meters away...

Although the slap was quite painful, it didn't cause him to lose any health. Instead, it snapped him out of the 'intermittent thought runaway' characteristic of his [True Neutral] personality.

"Um... Lady Goddess..." Mo Tan awkwardly picked himself up from the ground and bowed to the phantom before him, who was standing with her hands on her hips, apparently still angry. "I was rude."

Seeing that he had finally reacted, the Dawn Goddess Paxie stopped flexing her joints and asked in a voice that still sounded somewhat ethereal: "Do you feel I don't seem like a goddess?"

"I wouldn't dare." Finally certain that he wasn't in a daydream, Mo Tan's face was now plastered with a sycophantic grin as he repeatedly denied it.

This was a response personally given by a true god during the prayer process. Although it was merely a 'god' set within the game, what if they got upset and directly destroyed him? The consequences would be severe!

Moreover, this goddess didn't seem to have a particularly good temper...

To be honest, if Mo Tan hadn't harbored any malice or disrespect during his earlier random thoughts, even if the Dawn Goddess herself didn't mind, he would have been directly branded with the 'Blasphemy' label at the level of the Law, followed by a punishment so harsh that deleting his account and starting over would be more worthwhile.

"Afraid?" The figure before him seemed to let out a soft laugh, spreading her hands toward him: "Although in this world you are my believer and I am your god, as a life form existing a dimension above me, even if you were truly disrespectful toward me, what could I do? Even if that body praying in some church were destroyed, what real impact would it have on you?"

!!!

This statement struck Mo Tan like a bolt from the blue. Perhaps not just him—any player who heard these words would likely be deeply shaken.

It was like if you transmigrated into an anime, and some comic relief character walked up to you, grimacing like a demon, and complained: "Are those viewers out of their minds?! Why does a character with so much depth, substance, and nuance like me only rank eighth every time in the polls?! Glasses aren't my true form, damn it! Go back and watch it a hundred more times, you idiots!!"

Something along those lines...

If this wasn't a system setting, but rather something this 'NPC' inherently knew, then the game [Innocent Realm] was beyond common sense.

This crossed a forbidden line that no matter how humanized an AI could never tread upon...

However, despite Mo Tan's inner turmoil, he relied on his strong psychological resilience (after all, he was 'sick') to quickly calm down and tentatively asked: "What do you mean by that?"

"Exactly what I said." The Dawn Goddess's projection shook her head: "You don't need to be nervous. I just think it's better to lay things out clearly first to facilitate our subsequent communication. But at the very least, I hope you maintain your faith in me—or rather, your trust—in this world. Otherwise, even I cannot influence the 'Blasphemy' judgment."

Mo Tan nodded slightly, also relaxing a bit. Although he hated trouble at this moment, if something truly annoying came knocking, he could handle it well enough (since he was used to it).

"First, I want to tell you this~" The other party sat gracefully on a luxurious chair that appeared out of nowhere, speaking in a relaxed tone: "I am indeed a god, one among many deities. If you need a strict definition, you could consider me 'neutral' and 'good.' But in essence, so-called 'gods' are not as noble as mortals understand. We too have emotions and True Names. The Dawn Goddess is Paxie Vina, not 'the Dawn Goddess is simply the Dawn Goddess.' Do you understand?"

Mo Tan rubbed his cheek, which had just been slapped, and nodded in agreement. "I might have only had a vague sense of it before, but now I truly understand it."

"Don't hold a grudge~" The Dawn Goddess's lips, hidden behind the radiance, curled slightly upward. "As long as I don't intend to harm you, even if I kick you until you're rolling on the ground, there won't be any consequences, like injuries or anything."

Of course, Mo Tan didn't take that slap to heart either. After all, he wasn't afflicted with some chauvinistic mental disorder. Compared to such trivial matters, he was more concerned about other issues...

"You seem troubled by doubts." The Goddess spoke as if she could see through people's minds. "Spit it out... well, go ahead and say it!"

Mo Tan rubbed his forehead. For one thing, whatever tension he'd felt earlier was now completely gone.

So he raised the question that had intrigued him most since earlier: "Actually, I just want to know why you sought me out. I imagine that, even excluding the believers who were originally in this world, there must be many among your followers who are 'like me.' I wonder if you, Goddess, have said those words to everyone equally, or if you've only had such an exchange with me. If it's the latter... I'm curious as to why."

Perhaps someone else with a similar personality wouldn't have asked the Goddess such a question, but at this moment, Mo Tan, aside from his personality, possessed enough composure to pay close attention to this point.

After all, when heaven bestows a great responsibility on someone, the rest of the saying isn't exactly pleasant...

He sincerely hoped he wasn't a special case!

"An excellent question." The Goddess nodded approvingly, then paused for a long moment before replying, "I don't know about other deities, but at least so far, I've only had this kind of exchange with you. As for the reason..."

Mo Tan could feel her gaze fixed squarely on him, as if trying to see through him.

"I can sense that you truly believe in me. Though it's not a fanatical devotion, you still properly place yourself in the position of a believer, looking up to me from a mortal's perspective." The Goddess said calmly. "Yet I also detect in you a trace of contempt that borders on non-existence. Somehow, I always feel that no matter what, you would never bow to any deity. It's an aura that makes me want to feel hostile toward you. Though it's barely perceptible, I can still vaguely sense its presence..."

Mo Tan's heart skipped a beat. Almost instantly, he thought of the Unbeliever Talent he possessed as 'Tan Mo,' but that shouldn't make sense. Perhaps it wasn't so obvious in reality, but in the game of [Innocent Realm], when he logged in as the character Hei Fan, even though it was the same person, there should theoretically be no trace of that other personality's aura!

Unless...

Setting aside dimensions, this 'Goddess' before him truly possessed power akin to that of a deity.

"I'm curious, so I wanted to chat with you a bit." The goddess paid no heed to the change in Mo Tan's expression and simply continued, "After all, becoming a god is dull, boring, burdened with great responsibility, and you have to maintain your dignity at all times."

"After becoming a god, then..." Mo Tan repeated softly, but before he could utter the phrase 'meaning you weren't always a god,' he was immediately cut off.

"There are things I can say, but you cannot, so I'll speak and you'll listen." The Dawn Goddess shrugged with a hint of helplessness. "Continuing from where we left off, I've said that the Dawn Goddess is Paxie Vina, not that 'the Dawn Goddess is simply the Dawn Goddess,' which naturally means I was once... a mortal in the conventional sense..."

Since she had stopped him from continuing earlier for his own good, Mo Tan obediently listened and dared not interrupt.

"Mortals are mortals because they lack the strength to inspire belief and worship in others, but if they had it..." The goddess let out a long sigh. "Then they could become 'gods.'"

This didn't surprise Mo Tan; after all, people's thinking was advanced enough nowadays, and he himself had often made similar remarks while watching superhero-themed works.

So, following the script, this lady with a slight tendency toward violence must have been elevated to the position of 'god' after becoming powerful enough.

Mo Tan immediately thought so, just like most people would.

But he was wrong...

"Whether it's Paxie Vina, or Izanar Kashu, Dilia Xilu, Serira Mati, Tisu Guangyi, and the like, they all started out as 'mortals,'" the goddess said, her tone carrying a hint of somewhat distorted sorrow. "You could even say they were deviants within their race, a group of heretical youths."

Deviants?! Heretical?!

Mo Tan's eyes widened in disbelief.

"That's right, at least within our race," the Dawn Goddess said with a self-deprecating smile. "In the end, a long, long time ago, our race was exiled by a powerful force, and a few people like me were somehow spared. Later, we became gods."

Mo Tan was now desperate to know just how powerful the goddess's former race had been, considering that even the few remaining 'heretical' youths had become gods.

"Is it strange?" Paxie shook her head slightly. "No, it's not strange at all. Imagine a race whose average abilities in every aspect are several times greater than a dragon's; they would naturally become a transcendent force. But if that race were reduced to just a handful of people, what would they become?"

Undoubtedly...

When a race whose power gap with mortals is like a chasm is left with only a few survivors, and no matter how hard mortals strive with all their might, they cannot surpass them, or even see their backs...

Then they become gods.

"I'm curious, what kind of strength was that..." Mo Tan rubbed his forehead. "It's really hard to imagine."

The deity's phantom left its seat and walked over to Mo Tan, asking in a low voice, "Do you truly not know? If we're talking about contact, beings from your higher dimension should be the most qualified to deal with it, shouldn't you? That irresistible, omnipotent existence."

Mo Tan's body trembled. He didn't answer, but a single answer had already surfaced in his mind...

The System.

That existence which assigned factions to all players, granted talents, issued quests, and rewarded equipment and experience—it absolutely deserved the eight words 'irresistible and omnipotent'!

Could it be that from now on, this book was about to follow the standard formula? Players, guided and aided by the surviving deities, would fight a decisive battle against the System? A terrorist attack? Blow up the servers?

That would probably be popular...

But just as Mo Tan was nearly done fabricating a series of stirring epics in his mind, the other party interrupted his runaway thoughts once again.

"That power is correct." The goddess sighed. "The destruction foretold in the prophecy is unstoppable. My race, which once stood at the highest point overlooking and observing all things, cannot stop it. We so-called deities, with all our contradictions and conflicts, cannot stop it either. But perhaps it can... guide you... guide us..."

Mo Tan was left dumbfounded, completely unable to make heads or tails of it.

"Alright, I'm still quite busy." Paxie smiled. "I just wanted to chat a bit with someone from your dimension. Time's about up..."

"Hold on!" Mo Tan waved his hand. He didn't like trouble, but this kind of plot where someone only says half of what they mean before ending was just too annoying!

The Dawn Goddess acted as if she hadn't heard him and started swinging her arm. "Of course, if you ever get the chance to run into Dilia's believers, Saville's believers, Izanar's believers, or any heretics, it's best to go and crush them! I'll reward you!"

"Wait—!!"

"Bye-bye~"

Bang!!

When Mo Tan came to his senses, he found himself sitting on the ground with a thud in front of the goddess statue, surrounded by tangible holy light.

...

Chapter 27: The End