On A Godless Planet Volume 1 Chapter 5

"Let's continue on the a.s.sumption that this is fiction."

Anyway, I thought while gesturing from right to left with my right hand.

"So humanity left earth. And they arrived in a habitable star system."

"And even if it's habitable, there are some places or planets that aren't quite suitable. So…"

This had to be it.

"That's where the terraforming comes in."

She heard Balancer speak.

…This really is a difficult problem.

What he had stated was a simple sequence of events. However…

"So how does that, uh, lead to a bunch of G.o.ds, me being the only human, and a Divine World? What kind of excellent customer service led to that 1990 world?"

"Um."

That word slipped out and two gazes turned her way. Balancer tilted the Revelation Board to nod and the boy noticed her too.

"G-go ahead, Senpai! Take over for this dumb liar of an AI and tell me the truth!"

"Umm…"

She was extremely unsure whether or not she should do this. But…

"Hey, Sumeragi-kun?"

"Oh, yes.h.!.+ What is it!? Tell me anything! Anything at all! Just say it!!"

"Calm down, Sumeragi-kun. Stop hopping around and sit down."

He sat down with incredible force. But he was still swaying rapidly side to side, which could be a problem. Still, the "wors.h.i.+p" gauge used to increase her divinity rank was rising on her Revelation Board, so she decided it was a good thing.

So she asked a question.

"Do you not think it was the humans who started the terraforming?"

"No, I don't. I mean, leaving earth and settling elsewhere is a h.e.l.l of a big task. And this here…outside in reality? Anyway, this place seems more like a long-term thing. Something where you'd have to create that s.e.xy uniform you're wearing and go all out with New Cult industry stuff!"

"Se…xy?"

He slapped himself on the cheek. And…

"Sorry! I just try to be true to myself!"

"Well, anyway."

She decided to keep going.

"Humanity did of course prepare to terraform a new planet. They used cold sleep - or phenomenon freezing - to keep themselves safely asleep while AI took care of it, but the AI noticed a problem while approaching this star system. However, the AI still tried to terraform the planet using the standard method prepared for them."

"The standard method?"

"Did it not work?"

She shook her head.

"No. None of the machines worked, not even the biological ones."

"Why not?"

He continued before she could answer.

"Oh, was there something already living in the star system that resisted or started a war?"

"Sort of. There was definitely a power that resisted. The environment itself was a problem, but I am referring to spirits. They are not intelligent, but they are quite powerful and none of the terraforming equipment - not even the combat ones - was any match for them."

"Man, humanity sucks… And what were you AIs doing anyway?"

"Ehhhh? Really? So it wasn't just that you're a bunch of dumb-dumbs? Kya ha ha!"

She intervened to calm Balancer down and the AI sighed.

"Weakened?"

However…

Balancer explained.

"You found something you couldn't believe?"

Balancer explained what had been so difficult to believe.

I tilted my head in confusion.

"That's ridiculous. Prayer made them stronger?"

However…

Meaning…

Balancer still had the records of this. It had been beyond understanding and beyond anything they had expected.

"Did you investigate?"

"Sorry, that's way too many technical terms, so can I ignore that stuff until later?"

This fool, thought Balancer while giving him a sidelong glance, but he ignored it. So they decided to keep going.

Sumeragi raised his hand with a look of utter skepticism.

"Hey, where does the settlement s.h.i.+ps' s.h.i.+nto power come from?"

Balancer continued explaining.

"Whoa, wait, wait, wait."

I placed a hand on my forehead and spoke up. I asked the AI to wait. That seemed like a bit of a leap of logic.

So I started with "hey".

"How does this lead to there being G.o.ds?"

So…

This I understood. I didn't want to get it, but I did.

"You just had to create those 'earth G.o.ds' and send them to the planets that had nothing but chaotic power instead of G.o.ds. That way you could terraform the planets according to the myths of those G.o.ds. G.o.ds are a mold for power, so they shape what's already there instead of just adding something new. So…"

This is what it meant for them to be molds.

"By taking the molds of those earth G.o.ds and legends and applying them to the…ley lines? of those planets, you can calm their raging ley lines. In other words, you perform Divine Terraforming."

Senpai nodded.

"Yes, that is correct."

And she spoke.

"On a G.o.dless planet, G.o.ds like us and our stories are reproduced to calm the planet enough for humanity to land there."

"Oh, feels like I just had my game account set up."

"Umm…"

This sounded so phony to me, but at the same time…

…This AI always comes up with a new explanation when I point out a problem.

It was just like a scam artist's spiel. Once they had everyone believing something that was untrue but internally consistent, everyone would accept it all as long as they didn't see how it was scamming them.

But there was one thing I had to ask.

"So…you say you created the G.o.ds, right?"

I didn't understand any of that. If it was all made up, it was an extremely involved lie.

But anyway…

"In that case, you woke just me up from all the sleeping humans, right? Why?"

"Here, look at this."

I looked over to see Senpai displaying a Revelation Board.

The end of some kind of digital meter was moving around a lot. It was a small value, but…

"What is this?"

"It's you, Sumeragi-kun. When you are around, it increases the rate at which my divine rank grows."

"Huh?"

I tilted my head. I wasn't entirely certain, but I felt like I clearly understood something here.

"When a human like me wors.h.i.+ps a G.o.d, their rank as a G.o.d goes up?"

"Yes."

She nodded.

"It was only us G.o.ds before, so our level couldn't increase without advancing the terraforming. But with a human here, your wors.h.i.+p can increase our rank as a G.o.d. But…"

She blushed as she continued.

"I'm a little suspicious of what about me you're wors.h.i.+ping or why you're having this much of an effect when I haven't even revealed my name to you. But…yes."

Now she smiled.

"Thank you for saying we could do this together."

…Wow…

Was that meter really just a b.o.o.bs meter right now?

It was constantly going up just like a water meter or power meter.

This was a lot of responsibility. I couldn't afford to stop wors.h.i.+ping big b.o.o.bs. However…

…Yeah.

I really felt bad that she was stuck with a partner like me. And…

…As a G.o.d, she might not strictly be a "person", but she's still a good person.

I had to avoid lying or being dishonest with her. But…

"Um, Senpai? I still don't really believe all of this."

"Hmm, but I think the only option now is to let you see for yourself."

I had to agree with her there. However…

"Um, I honestly wouldn't mind being deceived by you. So, uh, I don't care what it is and it can be fake if you want, but is there anything you can use to prove that you're a G.o.d?"

"Such as?"

"Oh, I know! Like letting me feel your b.o.o.bs and go 'Ahh! They're reeeeal!' I'd be 100% okay with that!"

"Eh?"

I slapped my own face. In fact, I used both hands, which was pretty dangerous. Balancer gave me a pixel-art glare, but I ignored it.

And Senpai thought for a bit.

"You know what? I'm not entirely sure this will be enough for you to believe me, but let's try it."

"What is it?"

"Well," she said with a nod.

"Sumeragi-kun, as a human, you shouldn't be able to lie about yourself or hide anything when standing in the presence of a G.o.d. …Can you think of anything like that?"

I had trouble thinking of anything not like that, so I just collapsed onto the floor.

"So it's started."

s.h.i.+fu heard Tooru speak. They had just been discussing whether or not they should leave for a bit, but she agreed with her partner's a.s.sessment.

"Time for the appearance of the G.o.ds and the recreation of their legends. …But there's gonna be some political stuff too, right?"

"Of course there is. This star system only has so many planets. And how much of a star system a mythology ultimately controls can depend on whether that mythology is suited for terraforming or not."

"It's not just that."

Tooru sighed.

"The foundational stuff hasn't been dealt with on any of the planets yet and not even we are the most powerful beings. But there's no one better suited to do it than us. The trouble we put up with for humanity, huh?"

But…

"Some G.o.ds might outsmart Balancer and surpa.s.s the limits of their legends again. …Having Sumeragi is supposed to help us out, so it's probably best if we work with him on the s.h.i.+nto legend recreation and our own recreations."

Tooru smiled a little and s.h.i.+fu smiled too.

"Y'know."

"What is it, Saku?"

She nodded.

"We might be on a G.o.dless planet, but it feels so full of life compared to before. Weird, isn't it?"