Sacred Souls: Genesis

Jiang Qiao awoke from Maker Mode to find the same familiar living room, although Ocean Blue had swapped strawberries for cucumbers now.

“…”

He stared at the girl quietly as she gnawed on the cucumber like a groundhog. He opened his mouth to speak, but had nothing.

Having recently arrived on Bluestar, it was normal for Ocean Blue the Maker to want to try the local delicacies.

“I’ve adjusted things so that players couldn’t harm anything on Bluestar, but also set in place a judgment system so that they could touch physical objects for a brief moment when they are thinking of saving someone. Simply put, there won’t be friendly fire, and what’s left is for the invading plane to come nine days later.”

Jiang Qiao looked at his phone and found that the Soulfall button had turned gray. Now, Sacred Souls players could only use it when Abyssal Rifts appear.

“What are you going to do in this world next?” Ocean Blue asked after finishing her cucumber with an unladylike burp. “Tell the country’s authorities about the invasion?”

Jiang Qiao turned towards the television in the living room which Ocean Blue had switched on very proficiently—it was showing a news program.

“How? Should I say that ‘the end is nigh, so come play Sacred Souls with me, bro’? That’s asking for trouble.”

Jiang Qiao certainly had no such plans despite having a few of his relatives working in the government.

After all, there was only one outcome if he did so: dragged to a psychiatric ward for checkups, and when the invading plane arrived nine days later, he’ll be ‘called-up for tea’.

He had a few tricks to have them believe him, but…

“I don’t want the game to expire.” Jiang Qiao said.

“Expire? The world I create has no expiry date! Unless…” Ocean Blue suddenly stopped.

“Unless it blows up again?” Jiang Qiao poured salt on the defeated Maker Goddess’s wounds mercilessly.

It was now her turn to be speechless, and in her annoyance, she picked up another cucumber to gnaw on.

“Sacred Souls could change how people live in this world from now on.” Jiang Qiao continued, refraining from embarrassing Ocean Blue and talking about the future plan to ‘summon the game world into the real world, so that more individuals would join and strengthen their own characters’ and nothing else.

“Wouldn’t that be nice? There are four billion people on this planet! What in the star maps couldn’t we handle if everyone becomes a warrior under our banner?” Ocean Blue said, her cheeks puffy with food—she was unaware that she has the bad habit of talking while eating.

“Humans aren’t that simple. The world organizations would definitely come up with a way to turn Sacred Souls game characters into a military outfit. Worse, there might even be countries that conscript players,” Jiang Qiao replied, “and that would deny them both freedom and pleasure.”

“Continue.” Finished with cucumbers, Ocean Blue started to eat a carrot, her face saying you-can-tell-me-anything-and-I-would-definitely-understand.

“That’s why I’ve used various measures to protect the players’ identity in real life.” Jiang Qiao took out his phone, unconcerned with whether Ocean Blue got what he said. “First off, players don’t have to arrive at the actual location of Abyssal Rifts. All they need is for their phones to lock on the position and they would be able to summon their game character.”

“But wouldn’t the players’ identities be easily exposed? Didn’t you mention that you have some real-life friends in the game too?” Ocean Blue appeared to really understand him.

“That’s why such security measures are temporary. The best measure is to gather as many players as possible, but even that is hardly possible at the current phase… that’s why I have to do that.”

Jiang Qiao felt helpless because the present Sacred Souls server could only accommodate one thousand players, and otherworlds must be devoured in order to expand its volume.

Nonetheless, he was convinced that the game could proceed to the ‘public testing’ stage where there would be no limit on player numbers.

When the era where everyone plays Sacred Souls arrives, everyone would evolve as new humans.

“Moreover, I have a final move as well… I would adjust the world line of Bluestar after each invading plane is repelled,” Jiang Qiao said, revealing the measure only he could apply with Maker Mode.

“That would take a lot of energy.”

Ocean Blue naturally understood what ‘adjusting the world line’ meant—Jiang Qiao was going to change the Rule Barrier of Bluestar so that the invading planes would not remain in human memories.

The energy units for that effort would take units of millions, although limited adjustments would not consume that much energy.

“There’s also the chance that some players and humans would retain their memories,” Ocean Blue added.

“It’s alright for some of them to know,” Jiang Qiao replied. “After that, what’s left is my personal plan.”

“I’m listening.”

“I want an e-sports club.” Jiang Qiao revealed his idea as a human and an ordinary Sacred Souls player, not its Maker.

“A club? Like a guild of mages?”

It turns out that Ocean Blue has strong abilities of understanding, not to mention that she was easy on the eyes… but her table manners were simply horrible.

“Guild? More or less… either way, the purpose is to recruit skillful players to join us and compete against players from other guilds.”

Jiang Qiao could foresee that Sacred Souls would establish itself firmly in the e-sports market, even becoming a regular fixture in various nations and ascend to the height of the Olympics.

Before that, Jiang Qiao would establish a club and guild in anticipation of the great age of Sacred Souls.

“Don’t the players all obey you?” Ocean Blue reminded Jiang Qiao that he was the Maker and gamemaster of Sacred Souls too.

“They obey the System… fine, I am the System.”

Jiang Qiao understood then that, being the gamemaster of Sacred Souls, all he had to do was issue a quest and players would swarm to accomplish it.

That would feel awesome, but he also hoped that he could play the role of Jiang Qiao, another normal player and not the game’s ruler when he strengthened his bonds with his comrades.

“It’s something I want as a gamer, I guess.” Jiang Qiao was a fan of e-sports, and had actually bought tickets to attend the War International before.

It was just that he didn’t support any team.

“Humans always have such weird ideas… But I wouldn’t make a fuss as long as you don’t expose your identity to the real world.”

Ocean Blue was absolutely afraid of Jiang Qiao revealing his identity as the Maker of Sacred Souls. She trusted no humans in the world except Jiang Qiao, to whom her soul was bound too.

In fact, she disliked him a little at first as well. It was after he had her fully convinced when he was in Maker Mode that she decided to make peace with her host.

“What about you? What are your plans from now on?” Jiang Qiao turned towards the goddess who never stopped eating for a moment.

He knew nothing about her past and her existence either.

“Me?” Ocean Blue then took a vicious bite out of the carrot she was holding, and said, “I would devour all the worlds around Bluestar!”

“Isn’t that just the invading plane?” Jiang Qiao replied, turning towards the TV to watch the news. “The end is coming, but luckily, heroes are coming too.”