Deities Are All Just My Food

The vast amount of information contained in those two sentences from the Eater God left Lin Baici utterly stunned.

"Are you saying that this padded mat is actually one of the Taboo things?"

Lin Baici walked up to the padded mat and examined it carefully.

It seemed quite ordinary and unremarkable, unlike the incense burner carved with animal patterns which looked like a valuable antique.

This had led to Lin Baici's misjudgment.

Perhaps the Eater God found such a question too foolish to merit a response.

Of course, ever since Lin Baici had heard the mysterious voice, the other party had never taken the initiative to respond to him. It had been talking to itself, and most of its words were related to eating.

"That Divine Grace, 'Passing Ears Recitation', if I eat it, will I be able to remember everything I hear, no matter the length, after hearing it just once?"

Lin Baici was excited.

With this ability, his learning efficiency would greatly increase.

[Report, a Nine-Holes Fish has been found. My explanation was so straightforward, yet it still needs me to repeat it!]

"..."

Lin Baici's mouth twitched. Was he being looked down upon?

Gurgle!

Lin Baici's stomach began to growl again, and ever since he got close to this yellowish padded mat, his appetite started to boil over, almost uncontrollable.

It seemed like an incomparable delicacy was luring his gluttonous urges.

"How... how do I eat it?"

Lin Baici licked his teeth with the tip of his tongue.

He surely couldn't just munch on the padded mat as if it were a large pancake, could he?

A pair of translucent arms, like condensed starlight, extended from Lin Baici's shoulders. With a grab in the air above the padded mat, they pulled out a fist-sized orb of light.

The orb looked like a colorful soap bubble with a pale golden ball inside, resembling a miniature sun.

"Is this the Divine Grace?"

An intense desire to consume made Lin Baici want to reach out, snatch the 'soap bubble,' and stuff it into his mouth.

It was like a refugee who had suffered hunger for half a lifetime and had gone decades without food, suddenly coming upon a table filled with a royal feast.

He couldn't wait to eat!

[Open your mouth!]

Lin Baici opened his mouth.

[Thanks to the benevolence of the Gods!]

After the Eater God spoke, the two arms holding the soap bubble poked it into Lin Baici's mouth.

Upon entering his mouth, the soap bubble popped instantly. The pale golden sun was warm and melted upon contact, like a hot cup of milk, flowing down his throat and into his stomach.

Lin Baici's body immediately heated up, and at the same time, his brain was imprinted with mysterious knowledge that seared onto his neurons.

He couldn't forget it even if he tried; it was like an innate talent he was born with.

'Passing Ears Recitation' get√!

A sense of fullness emerged, leaving Lin Baici quite satisfied.

"Perfect!"

Lin Baici snapped his fingers.

"Baici, what are you doing? We should leave now," called out Sima Mu from the yard.

"Oppa?"

Kim Myungjin, who had returned from picking tea leaves, asked, "Is everything alright?"

"All good!"

Lin Baici looked at the padded mat and asked the Eater God in his mind.

'What should I do with this Taboo thing? Can I take it with me?'

Lin Baici had received his first Divine Grace from it and it held sentimental value, so he wanted to keep it. He was just unsure if it still posed any danger.

[The Vanilla Padded Mat, if you sit on it while studying, it can keep you energized. You can work for long periods without feeling tired, and you'll have 'Passing Ears Recitation.']

[If you continue to use it, it can permanently enhance your memory, and it has the effect of curing senile dementia.]

Sorted.

Lin Baici set the incense burner aside and picked up the padded mat.

It wasn't heavy, around three pounds.

"Oppa, do you want to bring that with you?"

Kim Myungjin was worried, "After being sealed by a black coffin, the danger of the Taboo thing will be reduced!"

"What is a black coffin?"

Lin Baici inquired.

"I'm not sure either, the technology to make a black coffin is absolutely confidential, controlled by the state!"

Kim Myungjin explained, "Just remember that a black coffin can prevent the rule contamination from Taboo things!"

"Mhm!"

Lin Baici was already taking the Songmu torch with him, so what was there to fear from a padded mat that could only weave dreams?

He could always drink another cup of tea, if all else fails!

"I never thought the padded mat was the Taboo thing."

Kim Myungjin wanted to touch it but was also a bit afraid, "It would be great if it had Divine Grace!"

If it weren't for the Taboo thing, Oppa surely wouldn't be taking it with him.

"What exactly is Divine Grace?"

Lin Baici's curiosity was insatiable.

"Thirty years ago, a meteor fell, and God's ruins appeared. Some Gods emerged from them and fed on humans, and ordinary people didn't know anything about it, but it's said that the world almost got destroyed!"

Kim Myungjin organized her thoughts.

"Some people stood up. They killed the Gods and discovered that after their death, the Gods left behind some fragments. When humans consumed those fragments, they would gain extraordinary powers!"

"It's just that the Gods are too hard to kill."

"Fortunately, not every Divine Ruins contains powerful Gods. Most of the time, what is in the Divine Ruins are the God's bones, the corpses of Gods."

"Destroying the God's bones would also drop fragments, and after consuming them, humans could still gain extraordinary powers."

"People call this power God's Blessing, or Divine Grace for short!"

"You continue!"

Lin Baici listened very carefully. He was just an ordinary high school graduate and had no way of hearing these secrets that were known only to the upper class.

"God's bones have radiation, which contaminates everything. A few items mutate under this radiation and become Taboo things!"

"Among these Taboo things, a very few are blessed with Divine Grace. These are the most coveted trophies in the Hunter circle!"

Kim Myungjin's brother was a God Hunter with great fame in Goryeo, so she knew quite a bit of insider information.

"Hunter circle?"

Lin Baici heard many new terms today.

"If we can't contain or destroy God's bones in time, the Divine Ruins will spread, contaminating a larger area and making it uninhabitable for humans."

"Divine Ruins are more terrifying than floods, earthquakes, or volcanoes, so twenty years ago, they were officially recognized as a new type of natural disaster by various countries."

"Humans won't just sit and wait for extinction. Hence, Breaking Divine Ruins, hunting Gods, and sealing Taboo things, people who do these are officially called God Hunters!"

Kim Myungjin spoke until her mouth was dry and she licked her lips. Just then, Lin Baici passed her a bottle of mineral water.

His thoughtful gesture,

made Kim Myungjin's good impression of him grow stronger.

"So are we God Hunters now?"

Lin Baici thought the job sounded cool.

"Not really!"

Kim Myungjin shook her head, "Ordinary people can't withstand even the basic radiation in the Divine Ruins. In probably more than ten hours, they'll turn into a puddle of unconscious dead flesh. Only those who have 'eaten' Divine Grace can stay longer in the Divine Ruins and only such people qualify to be called God Hunters!"

Those hunters standing on the front line against the Gods are the country's precious treasures and heroes, and they have significant privileges.

Kim Myungjin's brother could even call on local troops to assist when hunting gods.

"Hmm!"

Lin Baici nodded,

apparently, he was now a God Hunter, how sudden!

But why didn't I feel dizzy or nauseous when I didn't have Divine Grace?

"Just like the gaming or entertainment industry, God Hunters obviously have their own circles too, where they sell information to each other, exchange a few Taboo things, or even seek to form a team!"

Kim Myungjin had used her brother's account to log into some internal websites and the information there was eye-opening.

"Us ordinary people really don't know anything!"

Guo Er Cheng Song was cleaning his Canon camera's lens with a depressed look on his face.

They had returned from picking tea leaves and had been listening for a while to Kim Myungjin's explanations at the doorway.

"Ignorance is bliss!"

Sima Mu laughed, "For some people, knowing the true nature of this world could be devastating!"

As a leading female broadcaster, Hua Yue Yu had a much larger social circle than Guo Er Cheng Song and the old lady, and she had heard quite a few rumors about the Divine Ruins.

"Let's stop chatting and hurry to destroy God's bones and get out of here!"

Xu Xiu had a terrible headache, like he was just waking up from a hangover and then strapped into a roller coaster for half an hour.

"Oppa, let me help you carry this!"

Kim Myungjin eagerly offered to take the mat.

The old lady moved her mouth, wanting to show off, but when she remembered that it was a Taboo thing with radiation pollution, she dared not speak.

"Okay!"

Lin Baici was not shy to accept.

He couldn't handle the mat if there were danger and he needed to fight.

When everyone walked out of the courtyard, they looked to Lin Baici, waiting for his direction.

Lin Baici's performance allowed him to take the leader's position of this temporary seven-person team without self-nomination.

"Eater God, which way?"

Lin Baici asked inwardly.

The Eater God didn't respond, but a faint sensation of hunger returned.

In the past, Lin Baici knew that when he suddenly felt hungry, there would be lost items nearby, but now, the hunger felt like a radar pointing to Taboo things.

"How about we check out the Daxiong Treasure Hall?"

The female broadcaster suggested.

"That could work!"

Sister Xiao Li tried to lighten the mood, joking, "At worst, we can pray to the Buddha for some good luck!"

The black mist had dissipated quite a bit, and they could already faintly see the outline of the Daxiong Treasure Hall.

"Then let's go!"

Lin Baici led the way with a pine wood torch, but after walking only a short distance, the Eater God spoke.

[Absolutely! Absolutely! Absolutely! Do not go to the Daxiong Treasure Hall, otherwise you will immediately get on an elevator to hell!]

Such a serious warning made Lin Baici frown deeply.

Forget it,

let's play it safe!

"Let's leave Daxiong Treasure Hall until last!"

Lin Baici decided to follow his sense of hunger!

A quarter of an hour later, Sister Xiao Li suddenly smelled a sweet fragrance.

"It smells so good!"

Sister Xiao Li followed the scent, chasing after it.

Hua Yue Yu and Guo Er Cheng Song quickly followed.

"It smells like some kind of porridge!"

The old lady sniffed deeply and ran over as well.

"Bai Ci, let's go too!"

Kim Myungjin grabbed Lin Baici's arm and pulled forward.

"Wait a minute, something's off about this scent!"

Lin Baici tried to stop everyone, but it was no use. They completely ignored his words, with only the scent on their minds, eager to taste it.

The radiation contamination was happening again!