Chapter 7: Chapter 2: Garlic Tribe
Luh Yao first ran a lap around his rental apartment, then went and splashed his face with cold water. Having jolted himself awake, he returned to his computer desk.
On the computer screen, the Divine Hall’s [Blessing] slot did, in fact, contain garlic.
This meant that the garlic in his hand had indeed been sent into the Divine Hall via his mouse’s position.
--Do you wish to bestow the [Garlic] upon your Believers?
Although Luh Yao had no idea where this game came from or how it could break the barrier between dimensions, he had to accept it as reality. He was very curious to see what kind of results would come from the interaction between the real world and the game world.
Luh Yao clicked [Yes].
Outside the Divine Hall, exclamation marks popped up over the heads of the little people who were worshipping around it.
"The God has shown a sign!"
"The God has sent down a Divine Miracle!"
"Long live the Divine Miracle! Long live the God!"
"Great God, thank you for your Blessing!"
"Garlic! Garlic!"
"The God’s garlic! The God’s gift!"
After kneeling and praying, the little people ran around spreading the news, the icons above their heads all turning into smiley faces.
Then, they all got busy, working together to clear a patch of farmland. Tiny sprouts emerged from the soil, slowly growing into green seedlings.
A message appeared on the screen.
[Your Blessing has allowed your Believers to learn how to plant and use garlic. Your Faith has increased.]
Luh Yao looked at the top-right corner.
His Faith Value, originally at 7, had now become 22.
’Looks like Blessings are a quick way to gain Faith.’
Luh Yao looked around and found a pencil on his desk.
’A tool like a pencil should be very useful for a tribal civilization.’
But when he opened the interface, he found the garlic was still in the [Blessing] slot. Clicking on it brought up a line of text.
[The garlic is currently being integrated into the world. Please wait with Patience.]
Luh Yao had no choice but to give up.
’He had only just started this game. He was still figuring out many of its mechanics and gameplay, so he could only take it one step at a time.’
He started eating his now-cold instant noodles, his eyes still glued to the screen.
About half an hour later, a group of little people ran in from off-screen. They were all wearing leather vests, and their leader wore a horned helmet and carried a wooden spear.
The newcomers, holding torches, surrounded the Divine Hall.
"Demon’s House! Demon’s House!"
"We must destroy it! You followers of the Demon!"
"Burn it! Burn it down!"
’Luh Yao understood.’
This was the Forest Tribe the little people around the Divine Hall had mentioned, the ones who believed a Demon was enshrined in the Divine Hall.
At the same time, exclamation marks appeared above the heads of the Divine Hall’s seven Believers.
"This is the God’s Palace! This is the Yao Divine Hall!"
"The God has sent down a Divine Miracle!"
"The Divine Miracle of garlic!"
"How dare you blaspheme against the God!"
The Forest Tribe wouldn’t listen to any explanation, simply shouting that they would burn it down. The little people held their torches, about to set fire to the Divine Hall.
Luh Yao opened [Miracle] and moved his mouse over the first option, [Rainfall].
’If I make it rain, given the understanding of these tribal little people, they should think the God is angry and would most likely retreat.’
Just as his finger was about to click, Luh Yao suddenly had another thought.
’No, that’s not right.’
’If I’m going to do something, I might as well go big.’
Luh Yao’s gaze shifted to the next few options.
The [Miracle] list, from top to bottom, in order of increasing Faith cost, was: [Rainfall] 10, [Lightning] 20, [Scorching Sun] 25, [Hurricane] 30, [Earthquake] 40.
Luh Yao’s eyes fell on [Lightning].
[Lightning]: Consumes 20 Faith to create lightning that strikes a designated area.
’You’re the one.’
Luh Yao selected Lightning, and his cursor changed into an icon for selecting and dragging an area. He shrank the area of effect, locking it onto the head of the Forest Tribe’s leader.
’As the saying goes, the nail that sticks out gets hammered down. With great power comes great responsibility. So you can eat my lightning first.’
A soft click of the mouse.
A bolt of lightning fell from the sky of the Pixel World, striking the little person in the horned helmet below and blasting him and two others nearby into ashes.
The other torch-wielding members of the Forest Tribe had exclamation marks pop up over their heads, and in an instant, they scattered and fled.
Only the Divine Hall’s seven Believers remained, angry-face icons now appearing above their heads.
"Divine punishment! Divine punishment!"
"You have angered the God!"
"Do not provoke the God! This is the fate of a Blasphemer!"
Luh Yao was very satisfied. ’The Forest Tribe probably won’t be causing any more trouble for a while,’ he thought. ’Not unless any of them want a taste of electroshock therapy.’
He relaxed, feeling a slight ache in his neck.
The game didn’t require much input, but it had a strange, addictive quality. Before he knew it, Luh Yao had been playing until 12:30 AM.
Though reluctant to stop, he still turned off the computer, washed up, and went to bed. After all, he had to work tomorrow.
Lying in bed, Luh Yao thought drowsily.
’If I can create natural disasters and continuously bestow things from the real world upon the humans in the game world... then in the eyes of the pixel people, I really am no different from a God.’
...
The next day, Luh Yao got off work relatively early. His boss was out meeting a client, and the well-connected employees all slipped out early, so he followed suit.
Once he got home, he couldn’t wait to launch God Simulator.
As he clicked [Continue Game], the familiar pixelated screen slowly unfolded once more.
He breathed a small sigh of relief. ’As long as the save file isn’t corrupted, it’s all good.’
When he took in the scene on the screen, Luh Yao was a little surprised.
Next to the Divine Hall, there were now five thatched huts, each with a square plot of farmland in front of it. Mousing over the farmland showed that it was planted with garlic.
In the top-right corner, the population had grown from 7 to 30, and the Faith Value was now 25.
Luh Yao did some quick math.
’Yesterday I used up one [Lightning], so the Faith Value should have been down to 2. Now it’s 25, which is a total increase of 23. The population also increased by 23.’
’This confirms my earlier guess. Under normal circumstances, 1 new person in the population brings 1 point of Faith.’
’More importantly, this game continues to run even when it isn’t open on the computer.’
Just then, a new prompt appeared on the screen.
--Your followers are now numerous enough to establish a tribe. Please name it the ___ Tribe.
Luh Yao typed in the word "Garlic."
’Following the simple naming conventions of ancient times, it made perfect sense to call them the Garlic Tribe, since their specialty was the garlic from my Blessing.’
[Your Miracle and Blessing have led to the official establishment of the Garlic Tribe. The Yao Divine Hall is now known to more people from distant lands.]
’So this helps attract outsiders?’
Luh Yao focused his attention on the newcomers.
He noticed that the 23 pixel people who had joined last night were all wearing leather vests, completely different from the original seven locals who were barefoot and shirtless.
’They’re from the Forest Tribe.’
It seemed a portion of the Forest Tribe’s pixel people had joined the Divine Hall’s faction and settled here.
Luh Yao was inwardly delighted.
’Last night’s lightning strategy had an immediate effect.’
’Whether it was out of Fear or adoration, they were definitely drawn over.’
With a larger population came a simple division of labor. The tribe’s little people were no longer limited to planting garlic and tending to berries. Two of them had begun to enter the forest to hunt, and another was by the river, attempting to fish with his bare hands.
Overall, the Garlic Tribe was still in a primitive stage of society, with all its members still struggling for food.
Luh Yao opened the Divine Hall interface and saw the garlic was still in the [Blessing] slot.
He felt a slight tinge of regret.
’The cooldown for a Blessing seems pretty long.’
’If he had known he could send real-world objects into the Pixel World, he would have chosen wheat. That would have solved the pixel people’s early food shortages. Or he could have sent a bow and arrow; if the little people mastered archery, hunting would be much easier, and they would have a way to fight back if they encountered the Forest Tribe again.’
Luh Yao’s gaze shifted downward, and he suddenly noticed something that wasn’t there before.
There was a red item in the [Sacrificial Offering] slot.
