Beneath the gray-white sky lay a vast expanse of gray mist.
Lu Xun opened his eyes; he was sitting on a cold bronze chair. The stars in the sky cast a faint, blood-red light, and massive steel pillars rose from the mist, stretching toward a distant, invisible sky. Everything felt incredibly real.
"I'm back here again."
Lu Xun sighed. No matter how many times he saw it, he still couldn't distinguish whether what was before him was reality or an illusion.
"Are you a god?"
That voice rang out again. Lu Xun followed the sound. Unlike before, when he viewed things through Grinya's perspective, a human stood there now. He was naked, with delicate features and the appearance of a youth. He had short, sharp black hair and a pair of heartless purple eyes.
He stood above the gray mist, surrounded by shadows of dark purple particles.
Lu Xun stared at this uninvited guest, his brow furrowed.
"Who are you, and how did you get here?"
The naked youth paused for a moment. For some reason, looking at those indifferent eyes, a flicker of anger rose in his heart.
"Weren't you the one who invited me? And now you're playing dumb?" The naked youth sneered. Even as he tested Lu Xun, he continuously let his power erode this world.
He wanted to see what was so special about this small world that it could be completely cut off from the outside, to the point where even the power of a god could hardly interfere.
Lu Xun didn't seem to notice the other's little tricks, or perhaps he simply didn't care. In any case, he showed no reaction to the youth's probing actions.
He remained seated on the bronze chair, looking natural yet high and mighy.
I invited him?
Lu Xun was stunned. The system hadn't warned him earlier; it only said, 【The Fragmented God of Chaos is testing your true identity. Please wear the VR headset for the next part of the story.】
"So, you are the God of Chaos?"
Lu Xun's lips curled into a smirk, suddenly feeling a bit playful.
A god...
What a grand and majestic title. Now, a human claiming to be a god stood before him.
It was as absurd and laughable as someone calling him and claiming to be the First Emperor.
Knowing the other party was just a string of data, Lu Xun couldn't help but want to play along.
After all, in this game, he seemed to be playing the role of a god himself.
"What? You haven't heard of my divine title?" The naked youth was somewhat surprised. "I am the God of Chaos, one of the five evil gods, the counterpart to the God of Order among the original gods. You, a fledgling deity, have never heard of me?"
"Nope! Never heard of any evil gods or the God of Order. This is the first I'm hearing of it," Lu Xun said bluntly, acting as if it were the most natural thing in the world, making the naked youth begin to doubt himself on the spot.
"I'm not going to argue about this with you. Which god are you? Are you a righteous god or an evil god? State your divine title!" The naked youth's expression was cold.
He was very interested in Lu Xun's identity. Among the hundreds and thousands of deities in his memory, none matched Lu Xun's image.
So he was curious—was this person just pretending to be a god, or was he a new god born in this era where the gods had vanished?
But regardless of which it was, he was completely unafraid.
Lu Xun crossed his legs, looking interested as he looked down at the naked youth.
"Since you have asked so sincerely, I shall show mercy and tell you. To prevent the world's destruction, to protect the world's peace, to uphold the evil of love and truth, the lovely and charming villain—it is I, Xun Shen."
The naked youth froze on the spot. Even with his noble status as a god, he couldn't understand what that bizarre self-introduction meant at all.
To prevent the world's destruction, to protect the world's peace...
Those sounded like things a righteous god would say, right?
But then, what did 'uphold the evil of love and truth' and 'lovely and charming villain' mean?
Was this guy a righteous god or an evil god?
The naked youth was completely bewildered. Of course, what he cared about most was the divine title mentioned in the introduction.
Xun Shen...
The naked youth fell into deep thought. Even as a noble god, a higher-dimensional existence compared to humans, he couldn't understand the meaning of this title.
If it had no meaning, it would be difficult for believers to generate faith. How then could he harvest Faith Energy?
He scowled, his face showing intense rage. "Are you mocking me?"
A divine title that was so obviously made up was a direct insult to his intelligence!
The consequences of insulting a god were severe; even death would be a luxury.
However, when the naked youth tried to unleash his full power, he found that his strength was like a stone dropped into the ocean within this gray mist, producing no reaction at all. He couldn't even sense the probes he had previously spread through this small world.
This sudden change made the naked youth realize something. His expression shifted as he recognized this was power truly on the level of a god, and his anger intensified. "You're mocking me again?"
But this time, Lu Xun was also angry. He stood up from the bronze chair and said, "Can you not understand human speech? I said my name is Xun Shen, and you say I'm mocking you? Is there something wrong with your brain, or is your code bugging out?"
"What is the meaning of such a nonsensical divine title?" the naked youth shot back. "Your believers wouldn't even be able to offer you Faith Energy. Where does your power come from?"
Lu Xun understood what the naked youth meant. He narrowed his eyes, suddenly finding it hilarious.
"You're saying that the only meaning of a god's existence is to demand faith from believers?"
"What else? We are born from faith and rely on it to survive. Things without a purpose for existing should have vanished long ago!" the naked youth declared.
Lu Xun didn't rush to argue. He only let out a disdainful snort, now finding it beneath him to even look the naked youth in the eye.
"Something that needs to rely on faith to exist actually has the nerve to call itself a god?"
"Let me tell you what a god truly is. A god should be omnipotent and free, without fear, without confusion, and without dependency; existing eternally, and above all, being all-knowing and all-powerful."
He narrowed his eyes, looking down at the naked youth with extreme contempt.
"What kind of thing are you even supposed to be? Living off the masses yet detaching yourself from their will, being hypocritical and conceited."
"A true god never needs believers, nor do they need so-called Faith Energy!"
"You..." The naked youth started to speak but stopped. He was shocked by Lu Xun's statement; it completely surpassed his understanding of the world. He wanted to argue, but looking into Lu Xun's certain eyes, he was stunned.
A true god doesn't need faith?
That statement felt very wrong, but he couldn't put his finger on why.
Watching the naked youth doubt himself, Lu Xun let out a mocking laugh. "As I thought, just a thing made of data and code. You can't compare to a human at all."
"Though you call yourself a god, in my eyes, you're nothing more than a naked monkey."
Lu Xun's words made the naked youth stare at him blankly.
At the same time, those cold, black eyes were deeply etched into his mind.
Extreme arrogance, extreme disdain—it was as if that man was born to look down on everyone, and he didn't even think there was anything wrong with it. It all seemed so natural.
The naked youth suddenly understood why he hated that gaze so much.
Because when he observed those humans, he also looked at them with that same arrogance, disdain, and superiority.
And now, the person before him was looking at him with that exact same gaze!
Rate on N.U.
