---Logan's POV---

  Although the three of us looked to be the same age physically, I just felt that Garble seemed a bit older than ProGamer_Daddy and me.

  How should I put it... he had a vibe of having experiehe ups and downs of life.

  He nodded. "I have no objes."

  "You call me ProGamer_Daddy. I came here because the introdu said this was a western fantasy game where I could learn magic." ProGamer_Daddy introduced himself. "'t wait to start throwing fireballs!"

  I ughed heartily and introduced myself again. "I'm a gaming tent creator; my ID and in-game ID are the same, NeverShowOff. Feel free to follow me!"

  Garble nodded, and asked. "Speaking of magic, we all heard the opening story, right? What do you guys think of the game's background and the fa NPCs?"

  "Didn't expect you to be a story-driven pyer?" I was slightly surprised.

  From his quiet and tough demeanor, I thought he would skip all the storylines and focus on hardcore, h runs to beat the game.

  Garble stared at the peeling church walls and said after a while. "I'm just a little curious. After all, this game is really well made—it's like... another world."

  ProGamer_Daddy stepped closer to one of the walls, examining the weathered stone. "I'll admit that. The level of detail in this game is really impressive! Every bit of damage in this church is unique, as if it had been abandoned for years! Look at these cracks!"

  I lowered my head in thought. This questiered my occupational instincts as a gaming tent creator. The words from Viktor earlier pyed in my mind like a movie.

  "It seems we pyers are a group of natives who left and theuro the ti of Aeltia. Our purpose is to stop a vague prophecy?"

  "The fa leader, Viktor, was one of the first to return, but his mission failed, and the prophecy came true."

  "The anizatioablished to stop the prophecy—The Watchers—has only two members left, so we're the sed wave of returnees?"

  It was the typical "pyers-as-saviors" plot, with plenty of mysteries id out for future developments.

  For example, what was the prophecy?

  Why did the Viktor fail? And even the history of The Watchers' creation... These could all serve as the main storyline moving forward.

  "But the remaining faembers are pretty odd," ProGamer_Daddy tinued, moving away from the wall to join our discussion. "There's a glowing orb tied to the God of Light, a knight who also seems aligned with the divine camp, and then our fa leader is an undead? It's all pretty tradictory!"

  I hushed him, gng nervously at the shadows. "Careful, don't let our fa leader hear you, or he'll think you're badmouthing him! These walls might have ears..."

  But ihere were many suspicious points. With so little information, we couldn't analyze any major clues. The only possible lead was that we might soon enter a Magic Tide storyline?

  But apart from the name, we knew absolutely nothing.

  I took o look at the dipidated churd then headed out with the group to do quests.

  Storyline? Leveling up and learning magic was far more tempting now!

  ---Viktor's POV---

  Not long after the three left, I stepped out from behind the statue with Edgar and Luminaris. I was satisfied as I looked at where the three had just stood.

  "Excellent, everything is progressing acc to pn."

  No wohe gods always loved to be cryptid mysterious. It turned out that saying half a sentend leaving others to guess was this satisfying!

  The game interface had beeed using my divine power, with the same principles as my fake system panel. It was like a floating notepad in front of the pyers' chests. All its tents were personally typed in by me after receiving the three pyers' registration information.

  When they obtained quest items, I had also been hiding in the dark, remotely adding those items to their "game interface" myself. All of this was to thhly fool the three of them.

  Although Luminaris had lost most of a god's authority, his divine power still carried that "deceptive quality" uo the God of Creativity. This divine power was more proo transformation than regur godly energy.

  As long as the three truly believed that this "high-teotepad" could record pyer information, it wouldn't take long for it to actually bee a real game interface.

  Such was the toxicity of faith-based power.

  That's why I chose Luminaris as the medium, akin to a tral game server. Divine power came from him to create the game interface, so the resulting faith-based power would naturally flow back.

  A self-aware divine essehe new god I inteo cultivate!

  Edgar frowned as he listeo the loud shouting from the three outside, clearly marveling at the sery.

  "Viktor, your world doesn't even have forests or abaowns?"

  "Not quite the same," I chuckled. "You could think of it as their hobby."

  "Some people aren't willing to go outside and enjoy the view, but in a game, even a dang chi make them stop and watch for hours. They'll even willingly do some menial tasks because of it."

  Edgar looked serious: "A value system I pletely don't uand."

  "They stop to admire everything... even muhings," he added, shaking his head.

  "In their world, virtual experiences hold special value," I expined, watg the three pyers through a cra the wall.

  "But what's so iing about a dang chi? And that experience value you added to the game interface. It's clearly just a meaningless number, so why does it motivate everyone so much?"

  Edgar had seen it clearly.

  Before I even annouhat they'd level up to 2, the three of them were already eagerly tapping on the quest acceptance s. The invisible game interface, hidden from the pyers' perspective, was fully visible to me and Edgar.

  "I even believe that if you raised the threshold for learning magic to Level 5, their enthusiasm wouldn't noticeably drop."

  I shook my head. "No, you're wrong. New pyer rewards aren't just bes; they're an importaion tool. Without letting pyers experiehe fun of magic, they'd ick around!"

  "Magieeds to be accessible early. Think of it as a taste test," I tinued, watg their excited faces through the crack. "Without some early rewards, they'll ackle the harder aspects."

  The first magic spell was already part of my pn. Learning magic wasn't simple—it was as deep as advanced physics. Without dangling a few carrots, pyers would be shouting, 'What a trash game!' and leaving in droves.

  Otherwise, they'd simply stagnate in the newbie vilge and refuse to touch the magic skill line.

  That would ruin my pn. So ensuring a good pyer experience was one of my top priorities.

  Edgar asked again, "Do they truly believe that learning magic is easy?"

  No sane child of Aeltia would ever think so.

  Human magical talent couldn't pare to winged beings ons. Only one in a thousand had even low-level magical potential. And even among those, few could truly walk the path of magid grasp its mysteries.

  For humans, magical tales at the age of six determined everything. Ah potential could rise in status, lifting their entire family with them. This showed just how hard learning magic truly was.

  I coughed awkwardly. "Well, more or less. For them, magily exists in games or stories. Games and stories serve the nerds, so of course, everyone has to experiehe joy of magic. So in games or storylines, magic bees something everyone learn, making it seem simple."

  Edgar remained silent for a long time, watg the retreating figures of the pyers through the broken window. Then finally said, "Is their pce different because hardly anyone use magic there? Is it because of the agic that they have the prosperity you described to me?"

  I froze for a moment, then shook my head.

  "No, there's nothing wrong with magic itself. The problem lies in the way you are using it."

  The reason was too plicated to expin.

  For a local person raised with the worldview of Aeltia, it would sound more like telling a story.

  "Once more nerds e to Aeltia iure, you'll naturally find new answers."

  That was all I could say.

  Luminaris sat on the edge of the goddess statue's pedestal and pouted after hearing this, his tiny form making the gesture almost ical.

  "What kind of prosperous alternate world is this? The humans it produces act so bizarrely, and you still think another world is better?"

  I grabbed Luminaris by his tiny, pinky-sized foot and lifted him up, watg his round form dangle helplessly.

  "If you keep talking nonsense, I'll turn you into a goddess statue!"

  I made sure my voice carried plenty of danger.

  Luminaris shuddered all over, his glow dimming slightly.

  "You promised that I would only act as the game's symboli, and you wouldn't touch my main body!"

  Based on his rea, he's terrified of being a goddess. He must think I'm going bay word.

  The way his light flickered and his form trembled, it was clear he'd rather ehe backsh of his new divine essehan that fate.

  "Everyone knows that dark magis' words don't t," I said with a grin, enjoying his panic.

  "!!!"

  Ign his expression, which looked as if the world had colpsed, I tossed him upwards. He nded perfectly in the hands of the goddess statue, which were cupped as if holding water.

  "Having an antique around is a hassle. Since you're just a mascot anyway, you might as well stay in the church."

  "Remember the key words I gave you. Teach the first spell to pyers who meet the ditions. If you 't even handle such a simple task, you might as well give up your extra brain cells."

  Luminaris's round body shrank back slightly, muttering softly. "You always use this to threaten me..."

  "Hmm?" I raised an eyebrow.

  He instantly fell silent, his glow dimming to barely a flicker.

  I withdrew my gaze, feeling quite satisfied. At st, I had pushed off the task of unlog pyers' skill points. Ohing to worry about—so fortable.

  "Let's go out and take a look."

  I really couldn't rest easy letting those three pyers roam outside unsupervised. I had a nagging feeling they would cause some kind of trouble.

  If they died and had to be revived with a new body, the magic materials required were extremely expehe anization was short on funds right now, so they'd better behave themselves.

  ---

  Outside the churothing much had ged. The only noticeable difference from when we went in was that the mud on the ground had been smoothed out.

  There were also a few dark handprints on the church walls. Hmm... and a bite mark. What have these idiots been doing?

  Noises came from the northeast side of the church. Edgar and I hurried over, the sounds of chaos growing louder with each step.

  Turning a er, we sayer, ProGamer_Daddy, with more strangution marks on his neck running dowreet, holding the "beginner's gear" Edgar had specifically found for them.

  The marks looked fresh, probably self-inflicted from testing damage meics.

  He sprioward NeverShowOff, free as the wind.

  "Bro, stop eating dirt and look! This game doesn't have sorship!"

  NeverShowOff turned around when he heard the voice. Then he spat out the dirt in his mouth, bits of grass still stuck to his teeth.

  "Bleh! Damn, it's true!"

  He immediately threw away the unknown wild grass in his hands. With a "swish," his pants fell to the ground.

  Staring at his lower half, which hadn't been covered by any holy light, his eyes were full of admiration.

  "This game really gives us the good stuff!"

  "Ahahaha, look at this!"

  NeverShowOff also joihe streaking spree, running around like a headless chi.

  I silently crushed a piece of the wall o me, the stone crumbliween my fingers.

  If I had known pyers would ck this much restraint, I should have physically castrated them right from the start!

  ured out a way to install some sort of eyes that would automatically shine holy light when they looked below the waist.

  I pressed my palm against my forehead in frustration. It was my fault.

  My fault finally researg neancy resurreagid designing human bodies based on my inal standards. When it was verted into the byproduct magic of Flesh Rebirth, this particur trait was retained.

  It wasn't even a defective ge wouldn't be excluded when marked by the diviraits.

  That's why these two brats were now enjoying the bes.

  How embarrassing...

  After a long silence, Edgar finally spoke, his tone plex and awkward.

  "You said if I hear something inprehensible, I should pretend I didn't hear it. For this inprehensible insolence... should I pretend I didn't see it either?"

  Alright, now I felt like my dignity had been pletely thrown away. I should never have admitted I came from the same pce as these nerds!

  "No need." I dropped my hand. "Within the basic bounds of decy, we don't o show them too much tolerance."

  "In cases like this, let me teach you how to ha."

  I quickly opened my game panel.

  Aside from pyers, I had equipped panels for myself, Edgar, and Luminaris. However, my identity included GM administrator privileges, while the other two only had NPels.

  I swiftly operated on my panel.

  The sed, NeverShowOff and ProGamer_Daddy's game panels popped up simultaneously.

  [Warning: Due to your inappropriate as, SAN value decreased by 1!]

  [Warning: Due to your inappropriate as, SAN value decreased by 1!]

  [Warning: Due to your inappropriate as, SAN value decreased by 1!]

  The two mid-air streakers fell to the ground at the same time, screaming and clutg their backsides.

  "Damn it!"

  "Sh*t!"

  The warnings tinued popping up. Ohey pulled their pants ba, the warnings stopped. Both of their SAN values had dropped to 89.

  NeverShowOff rubbed his four-parted backside, wing with eaent. "What is this thing?"

  ProGamer_Daddy, still grimag in pain, sat up on the ground.

  "I don't kher. SAN value minus 1? These pop-ups? What does this even do?"

  He noticed a question mark in the er of the pop-up and clicked it immediately, his gamer instincts kig in.

  ---

  [Notice! To ehe pyers' mental health and prevent fusioween the game ay.]

  ['icles of Aeltia' uses the test brain cortex activity dete system to monitor the degree of fusioweey and the game, datafied as SAN value.]

  [If your SAN value reaches zero, 'icles of Aeltia' will revoke your at. You will not be eligible for internal test slots within one major version.]

  [We wish you a banced life ahy gaming.]

  ---

  "Damn it, SAN value at zero means a direct ban?!"

  ProGamer_Daddy's eyes widened in shock, his face paling slightly.

  From where I stood, I could see he khe game felt incredibly real, so it was natural for him to think the developers would take precautions. But clearly, he thought this punishment seemed way too harsh.

  NeverShowOff looked stipated. "This is brutal..."

  Unwilling to believe it, he pulled his pants down again.

  [Warning: Due to your inappropriate as, SAN value decreased by 1!]

  The warning appeared instantly, apanied by another jolt of pain. Frightened, he pulled his pants back up immediately, hands shaking slightly.

  Fortunately for him, his SAN value only dropped by one more point.

  "Man, I'm not risking my at," Logan muttered, clutg his pants tightly. "Haven't even gotten out of the newbie vilge yet."

  "Yeah, better not get banned now," ProGamer_Daddy agreed, still wing as he stood up.