CHAPTER 1012: CHAPTER 1009: SIMULATION (PART 1)

A huge map comes into view.

Su Ming’an, from a bird’s-eye view, looks at this enormous map, which is in a 3D-rendered style, with towering buildings, lush forests, and transportation spanning across regions, like a complete small world.

A red-robed boy, serving as a guide NPC, floats beside him, overlooking the map together with him.

[The game begins! Please choose one person as the game’s protagonist!]

In an instant, the bottom right corner of Su Ming’an’s vision shows [Current world population: 1.02981 billion]. The map is filled with dense clusters of people.

"...There are a billion people. Who should I choose as the protagonist?" Su Ming’an asked the red-robed boy.

"You can click on each person’s profile individually and choose based on their Personal Data." The red-robed boy replied.

Su Ming’an tentatively reached out and, across the vast distance, could zoom in and out of this world map with his pinching fingers. He could zoom out until only dense red dots were left or zoom in to see every blade of grass distinctly.

...A bit like ’Civilization 6’ or ’The Sims’. Players are in God mode, influencing the world’s operation through decisions.

If choosing a game protagonist, it should be someone with higher values. Su Ming’an found the [Population], where there were options for [Filter by Intelligence], [Filter by Emotional Intelligence], [Filter by Comprehensive Ability Value], etc. He clicked on [Filter by Comprehensive Ability Value], which should be the most comprehensive. The next moment, the billion people were immediately ranked in order of ability, from high to low, before him, densely packed.

"This game seems quite good." Su Ming’an has always liked such strategic games. Unlike the previous three games, this game is from a high-dimensional perspective, not requiring him to participate personally.

"It will get more enjoyable." The red-robed boy said.

...

[Comprehensive Ability Value Rankings]

[no.1: Little Su (Comprehensive Ability Value: 3018)]

[no.2: Little Ming (Comprehensive Ability Value: 2911)]

[no.3: Child of Darkness (Comprehensive Ability Value: 2910)]

[no.4: Yueyue (Comprehensive Ability Value: 2909)]

[no.5: Little Yue (Comprehensive Ability Value: 2811)]

[no.6: ...]

...

Upon seeing this ranking list, Su Ming’an instantly sensed something was amiss. He clicked on the personal data of the ranked first "Little Su".

...

[Name: Little Su]

[Health: 78]

[Expected Lifespan: ?]

[Skill: Death Rebound]

[Expectation: World]

[Personality: Calm and Steady]

[Ancestry: None]

[Partner: None]

[Children: None]

[Comprehensive Ability Value: 3018]

...

[Do you want to choose this person as the game’s protagonist?]

...

Su Ming’an looks at the red-robed boy.

The red-robed boy also looks back at him.

"No wonder it’s called the ’Fate Simulator’." Su Ming’an said.

Let’s go.

He reached out and selected this "Little Su".

...

["Little Su" has become your game protagonist. You cannot control the actions of most people, but you can control the actions of "Little Su". Please use "Little Su" to influence this world!]

[Please give "Little Su" a unique codename for yourself. (Suggested names: Divine Son, Goddess, Saint, etc.)]

...

Calling it Divine Son is cliché.

Su Ming’an said: "Let’s call it ’The Despicable One’."

...

[The game officially begins.]

[Throughout the game, you will have three values: Faith Value, Goodness Value, and Danger Value.]

[The Faith Value affects people’s faith in you, influences your Divine Power, and the extent to which you can interfere with the world. Goodness Value affects people’s mentality, decisions, and their innate goodness or evil. Danger Value affects the magnitude of world crises, the extent of natural disasters, and the spread of wars.]

[When any of the three values reaches 100 points or 0 points, the game will immediately end. Please balance these three values until you reach the conclusion.]

[Countdown to the conclusion: Ten rounds.]

...

Su Ming’an quickly began operating.

The reason is simple — this is really a very short game. Each round only allows for six minutes of operation, meaning it only takes sixty minutes to reach the game’s conclusion.

He knew this game would be vastly different from Pulaya’s nighttime game, but he had to consider the possibility of "the game being replicated in reality." So he had to achieve the most perfect conclusion.

In the first round, as soon as it started, war broke out. Fire-like icons blazed across the map, and the population dropped rapidly.

...

[First Round.]

[Faith Value: 60 (People see you as a pillar)]

[Goodness Value: 70 (People are relatively kind)]

[Danger Value: 60 (A world war is breaking out)]

...

Seeing the population rapidly declining, Su Ming’an immediately shouted: "What should I do?"

This game has no beginner’s tutorial, and every second symbolizes the swift passage of time on the map, necessitating quick actions. Just dazing for a second could mean several months have passed on the map. However, it made him curious; if he were "Little Su," he would only remain on the map for twenty days and not span such a long time.

Could it be... this "Little Su" is his Original from a thousand years ago?

That would mean this first round is a reconstruction of time a thousand years ago.

"You can interfere with the world in two ways. First, guide Little Su to a specific place; if he stays in one place long enough, he can affect the whole from the part." The red-robed boy spoke quickly: "Second, below your view, there are [Action Cards], which you can use to influence the primary situation in the world."

Su Ming’an immediately shifted his gaze downward and saw an icon for [Action Cards]. Upon clicking it, he found an array of different cards — [Create Stone], [Create Plants], [Descend Miracle], [Plague], [Contact Someone]...

He felt overwhelmed. Just then, the fires of war on the map began to recede, and the red mass gradually returned to its original color.

"The war is about to end." The red-robed boy said.

"I haven’t operated yet, why is it over...?" Su Ming’an was still looking at the effects of these cards. They had a variety of functions, and he had already thought of many combinations. For example, using the card [Contact Someone] to reach out to people with high values on the map, asking them to stop the war. Or placing the card [Descend Miracle] in the center of the map to urge people to stop the war.

It reminded him of—the Oracle.

The divine oracle, similar in effect to these [Action Cards]. The deities also influenced the greater world situation through commands. Each [Action Card] actually represented an oracle.

"Because the world may not need deities anymore," the red-robed youth said, "Even if you don’t interfere, people might stop the war on their own. Your interference will only affect the progress of their war."

"So, you’re saying, even if I don’t operate at all, I can still achieve an ending?" Su Ming’an asked.

"Exactly." The red-robed youth nodded.

"Can I know why they’ve stopped the war?" Su Ming’an asked.

"Zoom in on the map and look at the specific situation, and you’ll know." The red-robed youth pointed at the map, where many bubbles appeared, displaying some dialogues.

["The escort was successful, the war can stop now, right?"] This bubble floated above a soldier’s head.

["The Old God is no longer here, fighting further is meaningless, better to obey the current deities."] This bubble floated above a civilian’s head.

["People can no longer sustain a prolonged war, water and food are limited, let’s end it here..."] This bubble floated above a politician’s head.

By clicking on these bubbles, Su Ming’an could understand the mainstream thoughts of the people of this era.

This first round should reenact history from a thousand years ago—the deities seized the position of the Old God, erasing all traces of the Old God, and people waged war hoping to restore the Old God, which ultimately ended in vain.

...

[First Round Ended.]

[You did not perform any operation this round.]

...

[Faith Value: 65 (People accepted the disappearance of the Old God and decided to have faith in you to sustain their survival.)]

[Goodness Value: 50 (Prolonged war has decreased people’s kindness.)]

[Danger Value: 40 (People stopped the war and entered an era of rebuilding their homeland.)]

...

"Second round... I need to consider what to do," Su Ming’an thought.

"You might want to start by raising the Faith Value. Only with high Faith Value can you make more actions that influence the world," the red-robed youth suggested.

In the second round, Su Ming’an began to raise the Faith Value.

He played all the [Descend Miracle] cards, increasing people’s faith in him. He also used cards like [Food Production], [Purify Water Sources], [Rainfall], fulfilling people’s wishes.

At the same time, he discovered an interesting mechanism—he could have people offer him sacrifices to obtain more [Action Cards]. However, each tribute increased the [Danger Value].

He clicked on hundreds of bubbles on the map in turn, fulfilling people’s wishes, which was the fastest way to increase the Faith Value. These hundreds of bubbles represented the collective needs of billions of people.

["After the war, winters are extremely cold, we need means to keep warm. Deity, can you grant us this?"]

Su Ming’an pulled out the card configuration of [Cotton] + [Goose Feathers] and combined them into the card [Warm Clothing], placing it at the northernmost coldest part of the map, where the Faith Value quickly rose.

["There are often bandits and refugees attacking cities, we need higher walls. Deity, can you satisfy us?"]

Su Ming’an pulled out the card configuration of [Stone] + [Labor Gathering] and placed these cards in the areas with the greatest need, which quickly increased the Faith Value.

This was indeed a very interesting strategy game, and playing it wasn’t too exhausting—if one ignored the possibility that this might be reality.

The red-robed youth quietly watched him operate, generally only speaking when Su Ming’an asked.

"The Faith Value is quite high already..." Su Ming’an glanced at the values.

...

[Second Round Ended.]

[This round, you performed actions like fulfilling people’s wishes, descending miracles, etc.]

...

[Faith Value: 90 (Your actions saved countless people on the brink of starving and freezing to death, and they devoutly worship you as omnipotent. The history of the Old God has been gradually erased, and the people of this generation seldom think of the Old God.)]

[Goodness Value: 60 (People believe that by being good, they can receive the deities’ favor.)]

[Danger Value: 30 (People are living peacefully, with few outbreaks of war.)]

...

"The Faith Value is a bit too high..." Su Ming’an noticed that in the third round, the Faith Value was steadily increasing even without his intervention.

"Because this is a real-time evolving world. Every action you take will have profound effects on the future," the red-robed youth said.

"Will this game be replicated in reality?" Su Ming’an asked.

"No, how could a game replicate reality?" The red-robed youth shook his head, "The game is called [Fate Simulator], it’s just a simulator. If it could influence reality, with so many Dream Journey anchors playing it, the world would be in chaos by now."

Su Ming’an squinted his eyes and continued operating.

In the third round, he felt it should be around seven hundred years before, roughly three hundred years after the deities seized the throne from the Old God. People almost entirely forgot about the Old God.

"How to lower the Faith Value?" Su Ming’an inquired. His Faith Value was about to hit 100, at which point the game would forcibly end.

"Imagine this game as a real world, what do you think would make people lose faith in the deities?" the red-robed youth said.

Su Ming’an thought for a moment and used several [Action Cards], demanding constant tributes from people, and began [Judgment] and [Execution], while also starting to [Popularize Scientific Knowledge], guiding people away from superstition.

He noticed that "Little Su," the game protagonist, only appeared in the first round and then disappeared from the map, as if vanishing into thin air.

...

[Third Round Ended.]

[Faith Value: 70 (Promoting science, dispelling superstition. Some people are advocating for human independence, distancing from the deities.)]

[Goodness Value: 40 (The rampant heresy trials made people’s kindness disappear.)]

[Danger Value: 20 (No invaders have set their sights on this world, it’s very peaceful.)]

...

Afterwards, Su Ming’an kept stabilizing values, firmly maintaining the three values between 0 and 100 to prevent the game from ending.

However, in the seventh round, the Danger Value fell to 0 completely. No matter what [Action Cards] he used, he couldn’t prevent its decline.

...

[Seventh Round, Game Over.]

[Faith Value: 80 (Fire Transmitters have passed down the special medicine, but most people still believe you’re the only deity.)]

[Goodness Value: 20 (Social pressures and the malice of the internet made kindness a scarce commodity.)]

[Danger Value: 0 (The world is very peaceful, without any destruction crisis.)]

...

[Ending Achieved (Zhuang Zhou’s Dream)]

[Zhuang Zhou’s Dream Ending: "Without a destruction crisis, there’s no possibility of resistance. People are content with peace, and no one prepares for potential invaders. In that case... it’s a beautiful dream."]

[Ending Evaluation: b]

...

[Do you want to end [Fate Simulator]?]

...