Divine Kingdom of Light.
Iluvia sat lazily upon her Divine Seat, feeling her soaring divine power value, her heart overflowing with uncontrollable delight.
She was fully aware of everything that had transpired in the human town.
Selby had done a splendid job. Not only had he completed his mission, but he had also brought back a massive wave of “faith express deliveries” that far exceeded expectations.
With a subtle shift of her thought, Iluvia opened her status panel:
【Name: Iluvia Devilitafil】
【Race: Twelve-Winged Sacred Angel】
【Alignment: Lawful Good】
【Level: 400 (Lower God)】
【Status: Lesser Divine Power】
【Divine Authority / Divine Spark: Light, Life, Order, Angel】
【Divine Spark Level: 2/5 (20% Unsealed State)】
【Divine Power Value: 3,000 / 10,000 (Current / Cap)】
【Believers: 705 (Holy Believers: 1, Zealots: 3, Devout Believers: 525, Shallow Believers: 131, Casual Believers: 45)】
【Divine Authority Abilities: Purify, Baptism, Divine Grace, Hymn of Life, Heal, Creation, Divine Word, Bloodline Purification, Divine Descent, Divine Covenant, Conversion, Summon, Sacred Light Siphon, Spatial Imprisonment, Judgment of Order, Life Link, Dispel Illusion, Angel's Blessing, Gate of Heaven...】
【Divine Domain: Radiant Realm】
【Titles: Goddess of Light, Mother of Life, God of Order, Ruler of Angels, Lord of Humanity】
“Awesome! My divine power went straight up to 3,000!”
Back when she had first inherited her legacy, her lack of divine power had restricted her at every turn. Now, seeing such an abundant amount of divine power, she felt immensely confident.
Iluvia carefully examined the data on the panel and couldn't help but marvel.
“I've already reached Lesser Divine Power, huh... Hmm... Level 400? To think that Lesser Divine Power is a full 100 levels higher than Weak Divine Power! The level gap at the divine tier really is absurd.”
Her gaze then fell upon the 【Divine Spark Level】 row, a look of surprise in her eyes.
“And my Divine Spark Level status—it's unsealed by twenty percent?”
Iluvia remembered crystal clear that during her initial revival, her Divine Spark had been completely sealed. Her abilities had been limited, her divine power stagnant, and she hadn't been able to use most of her Divine Authority powers, even though many abilities were indeed listed on her panel.
It was only after recovering a bit later that things had slowly improved.
But now that it was unsealed to this extent, she could clearly feel that her connection to her Light, Life, and Order Divine Authorities had become extraordinarily smooth.
Iluvia couldn't help looking forward to what state she would be in once it reached one hundred percent unsealed.
“As expected, raising the Divine Spark Level is what allows more abilities to unlock.”
She scanned further down, noticing a few unfamiliar names in the list of Divine Authority abilities.
“Previously, these were exclusive powers I could only use after expanding my Divine Domain, and even then, they were weakened versions. Now that my Divine Spark is unsealed, I can actually cast them individually without relying on the Divine Domain?”
With her abilities unlocking one by one and her power recovering layer by layer, Iluvia truly felt herself stepping back up toward her peak.
Finally, her gaze settled on the line that read 【Divine Domain: Radiant Realm】.
“Radiant Realm...? So this is my exclusive Divine Domain...”
She murmured to herself, feeling a wave of emotion.
After a brief moment of reflection, Iluvia gathered her thoughts, her expression growing serious.
Now that she had recovered to Lesser Divine Power, she could pull off something major—
Expanding player recruitment!
“Since I've stabilized at the Lesser Divine Power tier, there's no need to limit myself to just two hundred closed-beta players. It's time for a large-scale expansion!”
The initial two hundred were handy, but frankly speaking, it was still far too few.
Resting her chin on her hand, she thoughtfully calculated the quota for the recruitment drive, her internal abacus clacking away:
“Hmm... let's expand by five thousand players this time! Max out the scale, and double the construction speed straight away!”
“However... the screening rules for players must be strictly tailored. We definitely can't just recruit anyone at random.”
“Priority goes to high-level players from other virtual VRMMOs with stable online hours. They grind hard, level up fast, and excel at both clearing monsters and building cities. When applying, we'll have them submit their gaming resume and proof of online hours directly to avoid letting in too many casuals who work for three days and fish for two.”
Speaking of screening, Iluvia remembered the handful of absurdly unhinged individuals among the first batch of players, and couldn't help but rub her forehead:
“We also need a baseline filter for basic decency. They must have completed at least nine years of compulsory education, so student record info is mandatory.”
“After all, it's already 2050, and most regions in Dragon Country have implemented twelve years of compulsory education. A nine-year requirement isn't asking for too much, right?”
“While it can't guarantee everyone's moral character, raising the bar as much as possible to filter out weirdos is always a good thing. Dealing with people who are too far gone gives even me a headache.”
Iluvia considered herself a normal person; she certainly wasn't going to invite unnecessary trouble upon herself.
With the general direction of screening settled, Iluvia proceeded to finely categorize player types and match them precisely to suitable roles, aiming to make full use of everything—turning everyone into tools (in a good way)!
“First priority: mass recruit strategic planners, survival-builder enthusiasts, and story-quest lovers!”
“Especially MC players! Those people are literally God-sent pioneer tools!”
“They have incredible initiative, insane hands-on capability, and excel in infrastructure, redstone, building, and remodeling. Their minds are utterly unbound; who knows, they might even engineer insane black-tech gear or bizarre building mechanisms for me. Absolutely treasure players!”
As she said this, her eyes sparkled.
“Literally God's gift to tool-users!”
Hm... as long as they aren't the type who can only stack a few dirt blocks to call it a house. Those can be skipped.
After all, she used to be that kind of player herself... Ahem...
As she grew increasingly pleased with her plans, Iluvia couldn't resist a small wave of narcissism:
“Flawless categorization, targeted expansion, distribution based on need... I really am a natural genius of game operations and design!”
But then, some unpleasant memories flickered into her mind.
“Mmh... let's pass on players of a certain FPS 'Whampoa Military Academy' game.”
“...I'm afraid they'd start trash-talking before even loading into the game...”
At the thought of this, she was left speechless.
As far as toxicity goes, that community was truly in a league of its own across the entire internet.
Nothing more to say.
“As for life-skill and casual players, let's keep the numbers low. A quota of one or two hundred as a gesture to respect player diversity—”
Saying this, she added another line,
“—As long as it's not species diversity.”
Right. The general direction was set.
Next up was step two—issuing a new main quest to the first batch of two hundred players.
Iluvia thought for a moment. Since five thousand people were about to flood in soon, shouldn't she at least leave them a place to settle down?
She couldn't very well make them sleep under trees the moment they logged in.
That would be far too inhumane.
She considered herself quite humane.
Mm... the players ought to be overflowing with gratitude... Ahem... just kidding.
“Alright, the new main quest will be called 'Town Development Plan'.”
She finalized the quest title.
“Let the veteran players lay down the foundation first,”
Iluvia calculated smoothly in her head.
“Even if two hundred people worked day and night without eating or sleeping, they couldn't possibly build a town for five thousand people. The unfinished half will be perfect as introductory daily quests for the second batch of newcomers—they can get familiar with the world and gather EXP to level up, while also smoothly completing the beginner village.”
“We can't leave the new recruits idle as soon as they arrive. Having work to do gives a sense of engagement; they're sure to be delighted.”
Iluvia spoke with utmost righteousness, completely oblivious to the fact that she was fleecing player labor.
Besides, once the town was built, the ultimate beneficiaries were the players themselves. It would also boost their sense of security and belonging. A win-win, an absolute win-win.
Having arranged the players' tasks, Iluvia began carefully crafting the game version update announcement, preparing to launch brand-new systems to regulate player behavior, enhance playability, and maximize her own interests.
First off, launching two foundational social systems:
“Adding the 【NPC Favorability System】 and 【Reputation System】!”
“By interacting more with my believers, doing good deeds, and building the town, players can raise their Reputation and Favorability.”
“The higher their Reputation rank, the bigger the discounts in the Player Shop, the more perks, and the higher their privileges. This will definitely compel players to treat the locals well on their own initiative!”
Enticement alone wasn't enough; hard rule constraints were mandatory!
She didn't want her believers harassed or harmed by bizarre players, causing faith to waver and her divine power to plummet.
All suicidal actions had to be nipped in the bud!
Iluvia's gaze focused as she settled on the core protection mechanism:
“Launching an exclusive protection mechanism—【Anti-Player NPC System】!”
Though seemingly tied to the NPCs, this system was actually an absolute behavior lock targeted at players.
“The moment a player harbors intent to harm, malicious thoughts, or aggressive behavior toward our believers of Light, the system will instantly strip away their body control!”
“Imprisoning all actions until the player's malice is completely cleared and stray thoughts reset to zero!”
Not just physical harm—all vile behavior was strictly prohibited.
Iluvia added detailed clauses to plug all loopholes:
“Theft, plundering, bullying, and provocation are all deemed malicious!”
After all, if a player saw an NPC with great gear and developed sticky fingers, the fallout would be disastrous.
“Adding settlement permission rules: Without the owner's permission, any unauthorized player entering a local's dwelling is strictly forbidden. Exclusive private domains will be demarcated to eliminate home raids, peeping, theft, and all kinds of bizarre moves!”
Although there weren't many believers interacting with players yet, there certainly would be many in the near future, and that time was not far off. Taking preventive measures in advance was a solid move.
However, Iluvia soon thought of a question: Would these restrictions be too strict and suppress the players' freedom too much?
She gave it careful thought and felt it was fine.
Because these restrictions—only applied to allied NPCs.
Meaning, they were strictly aimed at Iluvia's believers.
As for neutral NPCs, hostile NPCs, or people from other factions who didn't matter a bit to her—
“Do whatever you want with them. Steal if you want to steal, rob if you want to rob, do whatever you like.”
Iluvia spread her hands,
“As long as you don't mess with my people.”
After all, she was helpless to care about others.
Doing this preserved the safety of her believers, guarded her foundation of faith, and didn't constrain the players' freedom of adventure.
Iluvia looked over all the polished settings and nodded in satisfaction.
Expansion, quests, systems, rules—all fully loaded.
Next, she prepared to formally publish the “Version Update Announcement.”
“Hmm... did I miss anything?”
She ran through her thoughts once more and confirmed nothing was overlooked, then began humming an unknown tune in a marvelous mood.
Five thousand people would be arriving soon.
When that time came, the hustle and bustle of Starfall Forest would increase by at least a hundredfold.
Just thinking about it brought a mix of anticipation and a mild headache.
Iluvia silently gave herself a mental reality check:
Keep a calm mind, keep a calm mind. The players shouldn't be too unhinged, right?
...Probably?
Rate on N.U.
