No Qualification

Lu Yao had Isabelle circle around a few times, traveling five kilometers in total.

After confirming that Song Shiyi had taken a taxi with the sparrow and left, Lu Yao had Isabelle return to the alley once more.

He proposed an idea: "Can your [Lingering Prayer] summon Yu Yao's soul from here?"

"Yes."

"Will she answer your questions?"

"Milord, I pray to the Sea of Lingering Souls. The dead respond to that sea. Most of the deceased cannot resist the will of the Sea of Lingering Souls."

Isabelle's answer set Lu Yao's mind racing with thoughts.

This [Lingering Prayer] was also a skill with immense development potential. Not only could it find clues through the dead, but in theory, after killing an enemy, it could be used for post-battle interrogation.

And then there was the other trump card skill, [Sword of the Forest], which summoned the Holy Sword and created various Forest Elemental Creatures... Even Lu Yao himself felt that his Apostle Isabelle might be a bit overpowered.

At that moment, Isabelle had already completed the prayer inside the car. Just like before in the kitchen, strands of black energy coalesced into a dark mass—the deceased.

Isabelle completed an encrypted communication with the soul, and it dissipated once more.

"Milord, this is what happened..."

Yu Yao had not lied about her identity. She truly came from the Donghai Clan, and she was even the newly born Prophet of the Donghai Clan. But she was no innocent, naive girl.

Ever since becoming the Prophet, Yu Yao had begun to ponder a question: What kind of existence were the gods?

The Donghai Clan could not directly contact the gods, but they received the protection of the Deity Totem. The god's will was transmitted to the clan through the Prophet, who then interpreted it into words the tribe could understand.

In short, the Donghai Clan's mission was to breed Sea Monsters for the god. The Sea Monsters were the god's soldiers for conquering all directions.

The [Sea-Going Maiden] was one link in the chain of creating Sea Monsters.

The god selected members of the Donghai Clan, seeking believers who could mate with other individuals to birth powerful Sea Monsters.

However, once these [Sea-Going Maidens] went out to sea and were taken by the god, they never returned. They were too fragile; their bodies would collapse soon after entering the Divine Realm.

Yu Yao gradually realized that the gods were not omnipotent.

If the Prayer God could truly do anything, why would He need the insignificant Donghai Clan to endlessly birth Sea Monsters? He could simply create them out of thin air, just as most in the clan believed, completing creation and new life with a casual gesture.

The seed of doubt slowly sprouted in Yu Yao's mind.

—The gods were perhaps just a relatively powerful existence. Not invincible.

If she could enter the Divine Realm, she might uncover the god's secrets.

After obtaining the treasure [Weeping Blood Amber], the wild fantasies suppressed deep in Yu Yao's heart finally stirred restlessly.

[Weeping Blood Amber] had a unique ability: it could encase a living being, trapping them in a motionless, solidified state of suspended animation.

From the outside, it looked like an ordinary yellow stone, revealing no flaws.

Simply reciting the incantation inscribed on the great clam of the [Weeping Blood Amber] would melt the amber, restoring the living being inside to its original state.

Yu Yao devised a bold plan.

She secretly encased herself in the amber stone. The unsuspecting members of the Donghai Clan, following her instructions, offered the [Weeping Blood Amber] as a Sacrificial Offering to the Prayer God.

The Prayer God accepted this gift.

Yu Yao used this treasure to arrive in the world where the god resided.

She wasn't sure if the Prayer God would discover her. So she dared not recite the incantation.

But through the amber, she saw the true form of the Prayer God.

It was a bald, middle-aged man, potbellied, who let out a honking laugh from his throat when he smiled, utterly lacking the dignity and presence of a god.

Any lingering worry and reverence in Yu Yao's heart vanished completely at that moment.

Two years ago, the Prayer God suddenly disappeared and never returned to the room.

Yu Yao still dared not move.

Fortunately, remaining within the amber greatly slowed the effects of the dimensional restrictions.

By this year, Yu Yao believed the Prayer God must have fallen into some kind of trouble and wouldn't return anytime soon. She plucked up her courage and emerged from the amber.

Yu Yao's next plan was to replace the Prayer God.

Hiding in the amber on the table, she had seen it clearly.

The so-called god was simply someone operating a device called a Computer, using it to control and command a lower dimension from a High Realm Dimension.

She imitated the Prayer God, turned on the Computer, and entered the password.

Then she clicked on the icon labeled God Simulator on the desktop.

But the scene animation did not appear.

On a black background, a line of white text was displayed.

[Sorry, you do not have player qualifications.]

Yu Yao, full of anticipation, was doused with a bucket of cold water.

She tried repeatedly, turning the machine on and off, clicking the icon over and over, but the result was always the same... She was blocked by some invisible, immense power beyond that boundary.

Yu Yao left the Prayer God Residence in a daze, wandering through the streets.

The path ahead was blocked, and she couldn't return to the Donghai Clan either. Of course, she could keep hiding in the amber as a living corpse, but that would completely strip her of any reason to live.

She had lured two men who seemed like Gods, then ambushed and killed them, yet this brought her no joy in revenge, nor did it grant her the qualification to become a God—there was no hope at all.

Numb and despairing, Yu Yao roamed the streets until she ran into Zhou Qiang.

That was how the series of events that followed began.

She didn't know why she hadn't killed Zhou Qiang. Maybe it was because he was the only man who had ever truly given her food, instead of handing her money and telling her to obediently sleep with him.

Lu Yao stared at the small, pale yellow amber stone in his hand.

[Weeping Blood Amber]: Power of Faith +1/hour. Chanting the incantation "People of the deep sea, forget, fall asleep" can temporarily seal a living being, Evading Rule Power. Chanting the incantation "Weeping Forgotten, return, revive" can unseal the living being within the amber.

This thing was a functional item, easily broken, only useful in specific situations.

Lu Yao silently put the amber away.

He then looked at Song Shiyi's business card. Isabelle had already confirmed that this piece of paper had no issues, no traces of Power of Faith—it was just ordinary Copper paper.

There was only one line on the card.

[Song Shiyi 189XXXX]

Lu Yao placed the business card and the amber together, storing them in a box inside his drawer.

Now there was one last thing.

Lu Yao pushed open the door and found Zhou Qiang standing in the kitchen.

Through the open window, he stared absentmindedly at the street outside, smoking one cigarette after another, his face showing undisguised anxiety and unease.

When he saw Lu Yao come out, Zhou Qiang forced a smile.

"Yu Yao went to catch up with one of her cousins. She'll be back in a bit."

That sentence sounded more like he was saying it to himself.

Lu Yao could only nod.

"Want to play a bit? A couple rounds of the Great Brawl?" Zhou Qiang suggested.

"Sure."

Of course.

Yu Yao never came back.

One night, after getting drunk, Zhou Qiang slumped over the table and mumbled indistinctly, "I'm never falling in love again in this life." The next day, he moved out again.

Lu Yao didn't know if there was any real feeling between Yu Yao and Zhou Qiang.

If there truly wasn't any.

Then why would Yu Yao waste her precious time on Zhou Qiang? Cooking for him, cleaning, taking care of him, keeping him company through these simple days of life.

But even to her death, she insisted, "I have no feelings for him at all."

Hah, so complicated.

Too bad—I've never been in love.

Lu Yao shook his head.

Better to just be a God. That's simpler than falling in love.

Thanks to Huayu for the 100 starting point coin support.

PS: Here's a reply to the audience. The full world-building setup will be gradually revealed later in the story. The narrative mostly focuses on the protagonist Lu Yao, so it's from his perspective that we gradually try to understand and further interpret the Simulator. Laying out all the settings in long expositions would also affect the story's pacing and reading experience, so the priority remains on the story's development.