Not Qualified

Lu Yao had Isabelle circle around outside for a while, walking five kilometers in total.

After confirming that Song Shiyi had taken Sparrow and left in a taxi, Lu Yao had Isabelle return to the alley again.

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

"Yes."

"Will she answer your questions?"

"My lord, I pray to the Sea of Lingering Souls, and departed souls respond to the Sea of Lingering Souls. Most of the dead cannot resist its will."

Isabelle's answer sent Lu Yao's thoughts racing.

[Lingering Prayer] was also an ability with tremendous potential. Not only could it use the dead to uncover clues, but after taking down an enemy, it could theoretically be used for post-battle interrogation.

And then there was her other trump-card divine skill, [Sword of the Forest], which could summon the Holy Sword and create all kinds of Forest Elemental Creatures... Even Lu Yao himself felt that Isabelle, as an Apostle, seemed a little overpowered.

By then, Isabelle had already completed the prayer from inside the car. Just as in the kitchen before, wisps of black mist gathered into a dark mass—the deceased.

Isabelle completed an encrypted exchange with the dead woman, who then dissipated once more.

"My lord, this is what happened..."

Yu Yao had not lied about her identity. She really was from the Donghai Clan, and she was also the Donghai Clan's newly born Prophet. But she was far from some innocent, naïve girl.

After becoming a Prophet, Yu Yao began pondering a question: What exactly was a God?

The Donghai Clan could not contact their God directly, but they received the protection of a Deity Totem. The God's will would be conveyed to the clan through the Prophet, then interpreted by the Prophet 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 in its campaigns across the land.

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

The God selected women from the Donghai Clan, seeking believers capable of breeding powerful Sea Monsters with other individuals.

Yet once these [Sea-Going Maidens] set sail and were taken away by the God, they never returned. They were too fragile; soon after entering the Divine Realm, their bodies would collapse.

Yu Yao gradually realized that Gods were not omnipotent.

If Prayer God truly could do anything, why did he need the insignificant Donghai Clan to keep breeding Sea Monsters? He could have simply created them from nothing, just as most clan members believed he could casually bring about creation and new life.

Seeds of doubt slowly sprouted in Yu Yao's mind.

—Gods might merely be relatively powerful beings. They were not invincible.

If she entered the Divine Realm, perhaps she could uncover a God's secrets.

After obtaining the treasure [Weeping Blood Amber], the wild fantasy Yu Yao had buried deep in her heart finally began to stir.

[Weeping Blood Amber] possessed a unique ability. It could encase living beings, placing them in a rigid state of suspended animation where they could not move.

From the outside, it looked like an ordinary yellow stone, with no visible flaws whatsoever.

By silently reciting the Incantation engraved on the giant clam of [Weeping Blood Amber], one could melt the amber and restore the living being inside to normal.

Yu Yao devised a bold plan.

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

Prayer God accepted the gift.

Using that treasure, Yu Yao arrived in the world where the God resided.

She was unsure whether Prayer God would discover her, so she did not dare recite the Incantation.

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

He was a bald, middle-aged man with a huge belly. When he laughed, he made honking noises from his throat, utterly lacking the majesty or presence of a God.

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

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

Yu Yao still did not dare move.

Fortunately, while remaining inside the amber, even the dimensional restrictions were greatly slowed.

This year, Yu Yao concluded that Prayer God had surely run into some kind of trouble and could not return anytime soon. She finally gathered her courage and emerged from the amber.

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

Hidden in the amber on the table, she had seen everything clearly.

So-called Gods merely operated that device called a Computer, controlling and issuing commands to lower dimensions from the High Realm Dimension.

Imitating Prayer God, she turned on the Computer and entered the password.

Then she clicked the God Simulator icon on the desktop.

But no scene animation appeared afterward.

Against a pitch-black background, a line of white text appeared.

[Sorry, you are not qualified to be a player.]

The eagerly anticipating Yu Yao felt as though a bucket of cold water had been poured over her.

She tried again and again, turning it on and off, repeatedly clicking the icon, but the result remained the same... Some invisible, immense force barred her beyond that boundary.

Yu Yao left the Prayer God Residence in a daze and wandered the streets.

The road ahead was blocked, and she could not return to the Donghai Clan either. Of course, she could remain hidden inside the amber forever as a living corpse, but then life itself would lose all meaning.

She lured in two men she suspected were Gods, then ambushed and killed them. Yet it brought her no joy of revenge, nor did it grant her the qualifications of a God. There was not the slightest hope.

Numb and desperate, Yu Yao wandered the streets until she met Zhou Qiang.

That was how the series of events that followed began.

She did not know why she had not killed Zhou Qiang either. Perhaps it was because Zhou Qiang was the only man who truly gave her food, rather than money and demands that she obediently sleep with him.

Lu Yao looked at the tiny pale-yellow amber stone in his hand.

[Weeping Blood Amber]: Faith +1/hour. Recite the Incantation, "Old People beneath the sea, forget, sleep," to temporarily preserve living beings and evade Rule Power. Recite the Incantation, "Weeping Blood Forgotten, return, revive," to unseal living beings within the amber.

This was a utility item. It was easy to break and could only be used in certain situations.

Lu Yao silently put the amber away.

He looked again at Song Shiyi's business card. Isabelle had already confirmed that there was nothing wrong with the paper. It bore no trace of the Power of Faith and was ordinary coated paper.

There was only one line on the card.

[Song Shiyi 189XXXX]

Lu Yao put the business card and amber together into a box in the drawer.

Only one final matter remained.

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

Through the open window, he stared blankly at the street outside, smoking one cigarette after another. Unconcealed anxiety and unease showed on his face.

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 later."

The words seemed more like something he was telling himself.

Lu Yao could only nod.

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

"Sure."

Of course.

Yu Yao never came back.

After getting drunk once, Zhou Qiang slurred as he lay sprawled across the table, "I'm never falling in love again for the rest of my life." The next day, he moved out again.

Lu Yao did not know whether Yu Yao and Zhou Qiang truly had feelings for each other.

If she really felt nothing for him at all...

Why had Yu Yao spent such precious time in her life on Zhou Qiang? Cooking for him, cleaning, taking care of him, keeping him company through those days of simple life.

Yet even until her death, she insisted, "I don't have any feelings for him."

Heh. So complicated.

What a pity. I've never been in love.

Lu Yao shook his head.

Better to be a God properly. It was much simpler than being in love.

Thanks to Huayu for supporting with 100 Qidian Coins.

PS: A reply here for all you esteemed readers: the setting of the entire world will gradually unfold later on. Most of the story focuses on the protagonist Lu Yao, so it will also gradually explore and further understand the Simulator from his perspective. Besides, lengthy exposition about the setting would affect the story's pacing and reading experience. The story's development comes first.