Becoming a God Starts with Acting

Chapter 532: The Viewers’ Forum and the Artists’ Forum

Nick glanced at the dense darkness behind him before finally turning to face forward.

Before him stretched a tunnel of darkness so long that its end was almost impossible to see. Far ahead was a tiny point of light. The only way out was to keep moving forward.

His footsteps made no sound in this place. Every so often, he could hear a faint gurgling noise, as though something within the darkness was constantly dividing, growing, and evolving.

Nick’s pace quickened with every step until the tiny point of light transformed into a colossal gate of radiance, several times taller than he was.

He didn’t even know what he was expecting. He only knew that his heart was pounding wildly, urging him to step beyond this place.

Perhaps...

The answer he had been searching for was waiting just ahead.

The space itself remained unbearably hazy. Yet before him, high above, was light.

The only light in this endless darkness.

It poured down from above, so dazzling that it was impossible to make out the figure enveloped within it.

Indeed.

A mortal had no right to gaze directly upon Him.

Nick had barely looked into the light for more than a moment before a sharp pain stabbed through his eyes.

His eyelids twitched as he hurriedly lowered his head. Reflexive tears overflowed from the corners of his eyes, dripping onto the ground one drop at a time.

Was this...

Erebus?

Of course.

It could only be Erebus.

Nick wanted to look around, but he discovered that the darkness surrounded him on every side. Other than the light cast by Erebus, he could see nothing else.

"A new believer. I welcome your faith and devotion, but you need not concern yourself with excessive curiosity."

The cold voice descended from above, carrying an unmistakable air of indifference and pride.

Nick’s eyes shifted uneasily. Drawing upon every bit of religious knowledge he possessed, he lowered himself onto one knee.

His lips parted as countless words of praise rushed through his mind, forming what might have become a lengthy hymn he could scarcely comprehend.

Yet in the end, the very first words that left his mouth were:

"Please... tell me where Silvanus is now."

The space seemed to fall into silence in an instant.

Nick felt an invisible pressure weigh heavily on his shoulders, almost forcing him to collapse. Yet he stubbornly remained silent, even lifting his head to glare directly at the light.

"There is no need to be angry. I am not deliberately separating you. Silvanus simply needs rest."

For some reason, Nick could hear a hint of helplessness in Erebus’s voice.

He could imagine that there were likely many other believers before Erebus, shouting just like he was...

If Silvanus knew what Nick was thinking, he would probably only marvel at his imagination.

"Silvanus asked me to pass this on to you: ’Continue to grow stronger. And do not forget what your faith is.’"

Upon hearing this, Nick immediately lowered his head.

He did not know whether Silvanus had truly said those words. Given Silvanus’s apparent dislike toward him, perhaps not. But he could not deny that these words from Erebus had indeed stabilized his recently unsettled mind.

He nodded firmly and said, "I will definitely become stronger. Thank you for granting me this, Great Erebus. Your faith will surely spread across the universe." And so will Silvanus’s name.

Without needing guidance, Nick instinctively began uttering words of praise.

He wasn’t sure if it was just his imagination, but he thought he might have heard Erebus let out a faint laugh.

When he came to his senses again, he was already sitting on his bed. The clock showed seven in the morning. A full night had passed.

Nick could feel that his mind was no longer as painful and sluggish as before.

He glanced at the bright red countdown still steadily ticking down.

Fifteen hours left.

Tonight, he would be forced to enter his second dungeon.

Nick subconsciously clenched his fist and whispered softly, "Don’t worry. I will definitely become stronger, for sure... Silvanus."

...

Almost no artist knew this, but just like the artists, the viewers also had their own forum. The two forums were completely separate—artists could not access the viewers’ forum, and viewers could not access the artists’ forum.

At this moment, as usual, the forum was bustling with activity.

Topic: [Discussion on the upcoming dungeons this time. Does anyone have the script list and notable artist list yet?] #HOT

Below it, replies poured in in all shapes and forms.

[It’s said that recently the Pypy has changed its mechanics. It now randomly generates more new dungeons instead of reusing old ones. From now on, it’s very likely that all newly opened dungeons will be brand-new ones.]

[That’s kind of fun, but we’ve lost the "God’s-eye view"!!!]

[I heard you can still buy it with money...]

[Of course it’s that damn program again. Always thinking about how to squeeze money from viewers! Why don’t they put that energy into recruiting new participants instead?!]

[Exactly. The current generation of artists is really not great. Most of them can’t even survive past the 4th dungeon.]

[I heard this batch of newcomers has a few notable names.]

[Isn’t there a priest of some evil god or something?]

[That one’s already too famous. Someone backed by a god can’t really count—it’s unfair from the start.]

[What are you talking about? Clearly Silvanus has done a lot too!]

[I didn’t even mention the name and the fans already came crawling in!!!]

[Ah, you mean that kid, right? I heard he’s preparing to enter his 4th dungeon tonight.]

[That’s an insane milestone. Most newcomers die at the 4th dungeon.]

[That kid might be an exception though. I think he’s not bad—he has a lot of personality...]

[Who exactly are you all talking about? Do you really need to be that secretive?]

[You all know how extreme the new generation of viewers is. They can’t accept anyone saying their favorite artist might die. I don’t want to get cyberbullied.]

[Hahaha, keep it like this. It’ll be fun watching them cry when the artists die kkk]

At the same time, the artists’ forum also became extremely lively as the dungeon opening time drew near.

Topic: [I heard this will be Ember’s 4th dungeon. What do you think his survival rate is?]