However, throwing a group of ordinary people without any combat experience straight into battle against kobolds who had lived in the forest for years would almost certainly lead to casualties.
That in itself was a minor issue, but Iluvia got a headache just thinking about how those chaotic players might recklessly throw their lives away.
After all, each resurrection would consume a full 0.01 points of divine power. She cherished every bit of it, especially given how stretched thin she was with her current divine power supply.
Her originally abundant 100 points of divine power, plus what she had gained from defeating the troll earlier, had shrunk drastically like a punctured water skin after she expended her energy building the game system's core framework and weaving the cross-dimensional consciousness connection channel. Now, barely 62 points remained.
Worse still, this didn't even account for the cost of creating physical bodies tailored to this world for the players later on.
That would be a massive expense, one she didn't even dare dwell on.
Therefore, to curb the players' frivolous mindset of “dying and trying again,” Iluvia decided to add a penalty to the resurrection mechanism.
“Dropping one level after every resurrection... that should make them exercise some restraint, shouldn't it?”
Iluvia murmured softly to herself.
After all, no one would want to lose levels they had worked hard to gain for nothing, especially while other players were steadily making progress.
A level-loss penalty was far more effective than a simple warning. It would force players to value their lives while saving her a significant amount of unnecessary divine power—a win-win scenario.
However, she wasn't naive enough to believe this would control everyone.
There would always be players who joined purely to cause trouble, having zero attachment to their levels and taking joy in breaking rules and causing chaos.
Iluvia had anticipated this long ago. From the very beginning, she had never truly intended to pick lucky participants completely at random.
The so-called “random draw” was actually filtered right from the start.
She would carefully review the information submitted by the applicants, prioritizing those working in the gaming industry or hard-core “grinders” with staggering playtimes in past games.
It couldn't be helped. It wasn't that Iluvia was being unfair; she simply understood players too well.
After all, while this might just be a novel game to the players, she knew better than anyone that the continent of Aenoria was very real.
Of course, this was only temporary.
At least during the initial stage, she had to keep a firm grip on every player's background.
“I'll get through the early phase like this for now. Once I have abundant divine power later on, I can gradually loosen the restrictions.”
Iluvia whispered softly as her fingertip brushed through the empty air, causing holographic displays of the information submitted by the players to slowly surface.
She sighed, a faint flicker of anticipation passing through her eyes. “If only these players could become my believers. With the power of faith backing me, why would I ever need to count every single penny like this...”
That being said, Iluvia knew that was hardly realistic.
She would already be thanking the heavens if they didn't cause her extra trouble.
Faith or devotion was nothing more than wishful thinking.
“Right, as for the players' actual range of activity...”
As her thoughts drifted, Iluvia brought another issue to mind.
“The players' maximum range of activity is actually limited by the strength of the connection between me and their physical bodies.”
According to her estimates, the maximum distance over which she could maintain a stable connection at present was roughly two hundred kilometers.
Beyond that range, the connection would sever completely.
Of course, believers had no such limitation.
The bond between a believer and a true god relied on a channel of faith. As long as faith endured and wasn't forcibly severed by a hostile true god, she could sense their existence and establish a connection at any time, no matter the distance.
In contrast, the players' connections depended entirely on her divine power, making their range extremely limited.
Fortunately, this range would gradually expand as her divine power recovered.
In the future, it wouldn't be impossible for players to travel across the entire continent of Aenoria.
However, the thought of that distant future brought a frown back to Iluvia's face.
The problem was that she couldn't monitor every player in real time.
In the beginning, the player count would be small, and they would most likely congregate in the starting zone, making them relatively easy to monitor.
However, once the number of players grew and scattered into every corner within the two-hundred-kilometer radius, even if she had eight arms and three heads, she wouldn't be able to keep track of them all.
If a player strayed into a dangerous area, encountered a powerful magical beast far stronger than a kobold, or accidentally stumbled into the followers or forces of a hostile true god, exposing her as the “mastermind behind the scenes,” it would lead to immense trouble.
In this real world, any accident could happen. In her currently weakened state, she couldn't afford to weather any storms.
“I need a helper—an informant who can stay by the players' sides and report situations back to me in real time.”
Iluvia mused, her fingertips tapping rhythmically on the armrest of her Divine Seat.
How had the previous Goddess of Light managed hundreds of millions of believers?
In her memories, figures unfurling radiant wings quietly emerged...
“Angels...”
“That's it, angels!”
Iluvia's eyes lit up as if clearing away dense fog, enlightenment dawning upon her.
“How could I have forgotten about that!”
Yet before her joy could linger, difficulties came crashing in one after another.
According to her inherited knowledge, creating a true angel—even the most basic Two-Winged Angel—required at least one hundred points of divine power, not including the cost of infusing it with a soul.
With her current savings of less than 60 points of divine power, she simply couldn't afford it.
“Wait...” A stroke of inspiration struck Iluvia.
“It doesn't necessarily have to be a humanoid angel, does it? If I make it smaller, simplify its abilities, and retain only the monitoring and feedback functions, wouldn't that require far less divine power?”
Once the idea took root, she felt eager to try it out.
The more she thought about it, the more feasible it seemed.
It didn't need powerful combat capability or a complex form. As long as it could silently follow the players, transmitting everything it saw and heard back to her in real time, that would be enough. It could even help her scout unknown, dangerous zones.
No sooner said than done. Iluvia took a deep breath, focused her mind, and slowly opened her right hand.
Strands of pure divine power flowed from within her, gathering and weaving together above her palm.
At first, it was merely a hazy point of light. As divine power was continuously poured in, it gradually expanded and solidified, emitting a warm, holy glow.
Iluvia controlled the output of divine power with absolute concentration, meticulously adjusting the structure of her creation.
Time slipped by quietly. The orb of light grew increasingly radiant until, at a certain moment, the light suddenly contracted inward.
When the glow dissipated completely, an exquisitely tiny “angel” appeared in her palm.
However, calling it an angel was a bit of a stretch. In truth, it was a palm-sized white eyeball surrounded by two pairs of miniature, pure-white wings. The wings fluttered gently, stirring faint breezes, looking strangely adorable.
“It worked!”
Iluvia was overjoyed.
“Mother Goddess... Your Excellency.”
Under Iluvia's somewhat surprised gaze, it spoke.
Or rather, it didn't open its mouth; it simply communicated.
Having no physical mouth, it established a direct mental connection with her through divine power.
It took a moment for Iluvia to recover from her surprise.
By then, it was nuzzling affectionately against Iluvia's palm. Its large, clear eye gazed up at her without blinking, filled with innate fervor and loyalty.
Truth be told, its goofy appearance was actually quite cute.
“Thank you, Mother Goddess, for bestowing life upon me. Please grant me a name, Your Excellency.”
Its voice resounded once more, laden with excitement and fanaticism.
Hearing this, Iluvia felt a sudden surge of playfulness. With a subtle thought, a sacred, majestic, and ethereal voice resonated in its mind:
“From this day forth, your name shall be ‘Mikael’.”
...
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