Master of the System

Chapter 36

Karta leaned her head over, glancing at Vremyas screen. The two gods were lazing about on the couch as usual. You stole another user? the Labrador retriever asked, taking in the view of Vremyas four users. Maybe you should spread some of them out. Theres not enough resources in any area for four users to grow.

I didnt expect to get a fourth user here, Vremya said and shrugged. Who knew hed come over and try to kill Smith Jr.? I thought you said Paul was the target.

Maybe all your users are the target, Karta said, smacking her lips. Her eyes shifted towards Vremyas. Why do you keep looking at your bellybutton? Its actually really gross.

Vremya snorted. What do you know? he asked and shook his head. Baby Vremya was growing just fine in there. One day out here was equivalent to one hundred days in there. It wouldnt be long before he had a godly avatar. Anyway, this Sword of Justice, clearly its the handiwork of the god of justice. How did she find me?

Karta was too lazy to sit up. Her tail slapped her display a few times, and a search result appeared. Pravos set up a deal with Rynok. If you buy certain goods, shell get alerted. Karta rubbed her chin with her paw. I wonder if I can make a deal with Rynok too. If I can find out whos still buying apple chips, Ill have a huge advantage over Yabloch.

Vremya frowned. It seemed like he underestimated the power of connections. Someone with no connections to Rynok could still access the marketplace, but those allied with Rynok obviously would get more benefits. His eyes drifted towards his messenger app where there was a 999+ number in the red dot located on the corner. Should he form connections with people too? He turned his head. Wasnt there supposed to be one god talking to me every day. What happened to that?

Karta blinked hard. I was pretty sure you wanted to be left alone, no? Whyre you asking?

Vremya narrowed his eyes. Stinky dog, what did you do?

Hey! Dont take that accusatory tone with me! Karta said and rolled over onto her belly. She glared at Vremya, trying to look as fierce as possible. After a moment of silence, she sighed. Alright, Im still auctioning off the messaging slots, and Ive been pretending to be you.

Whatve you been saying? Vremya raised an eyebrow. He wasnt angry with Karta. In fact, he was quite pleased he didnt have to make connections himself to make connections with other gods. Although he was a bit irked the stinky dog was using his name to make money but not giving him any of the funds.

Take a look, Karta said, slapping her display with her paw. The display tilted for Vremya to see without him having to move. The Labrador retriever opened up the messenger app and pointed at the list of gods she had been talking to. Most of them are trying to get you to open up a zone of increased time. A lot of people have herbs or things that take a while to grow, but their users need those things immediately.

Ill think about it, Vremya said, reading out the answer he saw most used on Kartas screen. He nodded. I thought about it, and thats not a bad idea. I can modify a dimension, have its time run faster than ours. Of course, I wont trade for commonly found things like spirit stones or titan corpses. If they want to use the fast dimension, theyll have to trade things only they can create.

Like free river searches on Poiskle?

River searches are already free, Vremya said. His brow furrowed, and he slapped the dog sitting next to him. Of course, his hand was blocked by an invisible barrier. We dont talk about river pictures. Anyway, I mean things like free portal access, free reincarnations, special systems, unique golems.

In other words, the specialties of other gods, Karta said, nodding her head. But most specialties are up for sale. Kosmos is the only one who can open portals, but she has an app for that. Wouldnt it be better for you to make an app and collect spirit stones?

I can easily get spirit stones from titan corpses, Vremya said. There has to be things some gods are withholding from the public. Those are the things I want.

Karta scratched her head with her hindleg. She took a moment to curve her neck down and sniff her butt. When she was done, she looked back at Vremya. Alright, Ill see if I can get you things like that. I think therell be a lot of system offers. A lot of gods deviate from the templates and make their own systems suited to their powers. Im really jealous of Kosmos interdimensional mercenary system.

You dont have a potato chip system?

Karta rolled her eyes. The only thing I can modify is a cooking system. It doesnt really mean much when a primordial god can kill one titan and make more spirit stones than I can in my entire lifetime.

Vremya nodded. Karta had a point. Since he could kill titans, there wasnt really anything he needed. Growing users slowly was fun and all, but it wouldnt help him in his quest to dethrone Istoriya. What about things to kill gods? Are there any of those?

Karta blinked. Im not sure, she said and licked her lips. Ill have to ask around.

***

Pravos stared at the number in her bank account. She had been ripped off, and the worst part about it was she could only accept being ripped off with a smile. Kosmos was unreasonable. The god of space had obliterated an entire lower dimension for goodness sake. When Pravos had attended the gathering of the gods to create the laws, she was pretty much a nonentity. If she were just a little stronger, had a little more say amongst the council, she definitely wouldve implemented some antimonopoly laws. It was a shame she was born only a few eons prior to that meeting. A sigh escaped from Pravos lips, and she leaned back. The fee to send her strongest user was too expensive. The losses completely outweighed the gains, but it was worth it. Justice required sacrifices.

Ding!

Pravos turned her head. The group chat was active once more.

Blagora had sent a message. A new user joined the evil gods forum. Theyre asking around for ways to kill a god.

Pravos tilted her head. Were there really people who were that moronic in this day and age? Who went around asking others how to kill a god? Everyone knew the evil gods forum had been infiltrated by the righteous gods eons ago. Only newbs would take such a blunt approach, not knowing evil gods communicated through codes and only met in person. Could this newb be related to the one they were going after right now? If they were lucky, that would be the case. If they werent, then theyd have to pay another fee to the extortionist to teleport their users to the second god. Well, either way, things had to be taken one step at a time. Focus on that later. Pravos typed on her display. First, we capture back my heart of justice user, then we call in Poisks favor, and finally, we go in person to confront the god.

Pravos eyes narrowed. Violence amongst gods was forbidden, but that didnt mean there werent any ways to hurt another god. Throughout the eons of conflict with the evil gods, she and her alliance had picked up a few tricks. The newbie god wouldnt even know what hit him.