Chapter 2 - The God inside the game and the real me
The God inside the game and the real me
I came up with quite a few long sentences. If the IA is able to understand even a tenth part of it, then I’ll admit that this is the god of the games, but I really wonder if it will be able?
『Hear me out people who escaped from a narrow death, I’m the God of Fate. You have been able to escape from the pursuit of monsters by none other than my miracle. From now on, I will grant you all an oracle only once a day with the hope you can live healthy in accordance with my orders. First, cut down the trees and secure a place to live』
I talked like some bigshot, but I’m a God, so it should be fine. I believe I didn’t mistype anything.
Even though I ended writing the sentence seriously, it’s not like they will understand the content of the sentence,
While laughing sarcastically at my own naivety I pressed 『Enter』
『Everyone! There’s an oracle from the God of Fate in the bible』
The priest, Chem, who is clearly exaggerating is surprised.
Everyone looks at the bible at once. I wonder what kind of reaction you all will show me now?
『Umー I’m sorry. Neither Carol and I can’t read』
Laila raises her hand in shame while Carol stretches her arm cheerfully.
『I can recognize simple characters, but hard ones are impossible. Could you read for us, Chem?』
『But, brother you know how to... Okay. Then, I’ll read it』
If I were to guess from their conversation, the literacy rate of this world is not high.
From the way Gams talks, it seems like he really knows how to read, but as to not embarrass Laila and the others he pretended to be bad at it.
This Gams is an untalkative but attentive guy.
Even though he was only a target of my envy, his likeability rose a little.
Even so, the production of this game is very detailed. That’s why I feel that the tempo is a little off, but I don’t dislike human interactions.
After taking a deep breath, Chem speaks exactly what I typed.
Well, it’s not that difficult since she is reciting just what I wrote. The problem starts after that.
『So it was God who saved us!? He has even pointed us the way...』
『Thank you, God!』
Even the couple overwhelmed with emotion fell on their knees and began to pray to heaven.
Unaware of the situation, Carol just laughs. On the other side, Gams lowered his head to pray in silence without changing his expression.
「...You’re kidding」
They move and act as if they had completely understood the content of the writing.
「Hey hey, really? How can a character understand and opine by themselves? This is unbelievable. Isn’t this technology decades ahead?」
The latest PCs and smartphones have an AI capable of understanding words, however, they are only able to understand simple commands or words.
They simply don’t have the ability to understand complex and long sentences. It may be that this is one of the preprogrammed behavioral patterns.
『The God of Fate wants us to secure wood and a place to sleep. So everyone, let’s split and cut down some trees!』
...They speak as if they had completely understood the words I have written.
『There is a lot of wood since we are inside of a forest, but wood can’t be used as soon as you cut it down. To use it you have to process it, but it takes time to dry it after you cut it down』
So this time it was Lodis who expressed his opinion with his arms folded? ...N? Drying time to process it?
Eh? Usually, in this kind of game, as soon you cut trees down, it will turn into wood and you can start the construction of the house. I really wonder to what extent this game pretends to be realistic...
『Do we have to really dry the wood?』
Good point, Chem. I was thinking the same.
『The tree contains a lot of water, so if you don’t dry it it will change its shape. That’s why, if you process it before drying it and you end up constructing something, the object in question will end with flaws』
『There was something like that? I was ignorant』
Chem and I, who was at the other side of the screen, nodded at the same time like we were synchronized.
It’s the first time I heard something like that. I tried to act like an omnipotent existence, but this blunder was a bit embarrassing.
『God’s thoughts are not something so simple that people like us could understand. There has to be a meaning behind God’s idea. Then, how about we start cutting some trees first? Even if we can not use them now, there’s no loss in securing it for later』
Thanks for the follow-up, Lodis.
After everyone agreed, they took out axes and saws they had in a wooden box that was loaded on the carriage. Being men, Lodis and Gams were in charge of cutting down trees.
The women faction was in charge of exploring and looking for things to eat.
It’s possible to zoom in and out using the mouse wheel button to check the place.
Moving away from the ground, the whole map appears black with the exception of the place where my characters are. And that I’m only able to see a zigzag line extending from the place which is deemed as a base to where my characters passed though has to be a feature and not a bug.
That narrow line should be the route by which the carriage passed when they were escaping.
「So, this is the type of map that extends as the characters move and explore the map? In this kind of setting, there is always a character in charge of scouting the surroundings, but I already used my oracle for this day」
Even if the character is clicked, it’s impossible to manipulate them and the only thing displayed is their settings.
I tried to speed up the time in the game, but I couldn’t find anything like that.
「Could it be that this game is a real-time game? Eh, after doing the oracle once a day I can’t do anything more!? Wait wait wait, that can’t be!」
Are you serious? It doesn’t make sense for such a game to be like this. Yes, it’s fun to see the personalities of the characters, but with just that you can not call this a game.
I started hitting all the keyboard keys with the hope that something would happen, but then letters appeared on the screen abruptly.
《There is one more thing you can do as the God of Fate. Use the Fate Points to exercise a number of miracles》
Suddenly an explanation came out. But what are Fate Points?
《What are Fate Points? You may be asking yourself that right now. Fate Points are linked to the fate of the villagersーIn simple words, the more gratitude they feel, the more points you will receive. Please look at the numbers on the top right of the screen》
As they told me, I move my eyes to the top right of the screen, there there was a bible like a picture together with some numbers written on it.
《Those are you Fate Points. The more residents feel gratitude the more points you will accumulate. As the number of inhabitants increases, the amount of points will inevitably increase. The more oracles you do for the benefit of the villagers, greater will be their feelings of gratitude and therefore greater the points》
In other words, the points that I will get will depend on the content of the oracle that I give.
I’d better think seriously about the content of the oracle from now on. So I need to do something for them in order to create a feeling of gratitude?
《The things that can be activated by using the Fate Points will be here. The more the town flourishes and the number of villagers increases, the contents of miracles will be also upgraded, so please do your best》
I was already starting to doubt whether this was a kusoge or not, but the story changes when such a system comes into play. Let’s check out the contents of the miracles.
「What, I can’t give them anything directly? 『A peddler arrives』『A traveling doctor comes』『A hunter stop by』『Refugee villagers joins』I see, I’m the God of Fate so it is normal that I can manipulate the destiny of the people. Next is... Ooh, I can manipulate the weather a little too. This is so nice, at least something like a God’s miracle」
The playability has increased!
The only Fate Points I have now are those of gratitude for having driven out the monsters with that dazzling light.
However, I don’t know in what to use them since I have so few points.
I’m not clear right now in what the villagers need. The only thing I can do is to eavesdrop and think about what to do from here on.
The men, Lodis and Gams, are silently cutting trees. They do not talk to each other so there’s no conversation.
Lodis is making efforts to start a conversation but it is difficult given that the other party only respond with 「Aah」「Right」「Is that so?」these three patterns.
These two are not helpful at all. Let’s see the women side?
『Laila-san, how much food did you bring with you?』
『Not much since I was desperate to escape. I managed to carry three wooden boxed that were for sale, but if we ration them, it should last at least two weeks』
『Two weeks? It would good if we could secure a food supply by then』
Important information was included in the middle of their conversation while they were plucking edible wild plants.
Securing food? Does that mean that if I choose 『A peddler arrives』they would be able to purchase food? But the question here is wherever they have money or not, and before that, they should secure fish and food from the mountains on their own.
I wish I could check how is the harvest around us.
「Should I order Gams to examine the surroundings tomorrow? But I don’t think it’s a good idea to separate the only one with capability to fight from everyone...」
If I could gather information about the surroundings, it would be possible to be prepared for the danger in advance. But as long as I don’t know how dangerous it is, it would be reckless to only send Gams to explore.
This a dilemma.
If I’m going to complete this game then I should use the powerless girlーCarol to expand the range of visibility.
But I’m unable to discard a character who acts so humanely to the point that you would not believe it is an AI. They are doing the best to live.
I know that it’s stupid to think like that, but I’m serious when I say that I’d like to watch over them from now on.
It has not been more than three hours since I started this game but I’ve already begun to develop empathy towards these villagers who are overflowing with humanity.
「I won’t be able to sleep in peace if I make them do something reckless and they end up being annihilated」
Such excuses leave my mouth even though no one is listening to me.
Let’s think about the best way for them to survive. I should better check what kind of miracles can be activated with my Fate Points.
At present, the first choice is securing food. The second choice should be to gather the necessary tools and materials to make a house. As for the third choice...
「What the heck is this?」
At the bottom of the list, there was an item called “Familiar”.
Speaking of familiar in a fantasy world, it should be a magician’s familiar. They can be used as eyes, limbs, deliver things and even gather information...
「Information gathering!」
Right. If I choose this, then it will be possible to expand the visible range of the map!
If you think about it, it’s natural for a game to have such measures. The manufacturers are not a fool after all.
「I hope I can contract someone with my current points」
When I click in the 『Familiar』 item, a variety of familiars appears lined up.
There are many animals, but also many commonly seen names of monsters that appear in the fantasy genre.
「If it’s for scouting and expanding the map, then a bird, right? Its range of action is wide and it’s convenient for scouting」
There are many kinds of birds, but the necessary points for the majority of them are high.
For now, the only kind of bird that I can make a contract is a chick.
「When the chicken grows and begins to lay eggs, it can contribute to the table, but as for scouting, no matter how you see it, it’s not suited for it」
The standard should be going for cats or dogs, but I don’t have enough points.
「I wonder if there isn’t any other way to earn points other than by gathering feelings of gratitude」
As if it had responded to my muttering with perfect timing, words appeared on the screen again.
《There are other ways to increase your Fate Points. That is the billing system. Ten points will be added for every 1000 yen》
...A billing system!?
Hey wait a minute, you have implemented the worst system for a neet!
We are in an era where It is said that it’s difficult to find an online game without a billing system on the internet. Of course, there are such games, but why the hell has they incorporated such a system in an alpha test game!?
With my current points I can not contract a decent familiar, but if gather at least 2000 yen I should be able to collect enough points for a cat or a small dog. In addition to the familiars, if I had points I could make life easier for the villagers.
When I got up from the chair in which I was seated for a long time, I took out a bankbook from an accessory case that was placed on the side of the pc.
「The remaining money is about 10,000. If I sell all the books in the house and the games, I should be able to obtain a decent amount of money. And if place all the sweepstakes without scraping them on an online auction, then...」
From that moment I continued to be troubled and time passed without me being able to make a decision.
――I ignored the feelings of incongruity that I harbored towards the NPCs that acted like humans.