Chapter 4: Ch 4 : Misfortune

It had just been half an hour since Veridia's grand opening. In the terms of the world itself, that translated to approximately 208 days, a significant stretch of time for burgeoning life. Sunny grimaced as he considered the disparity. "I really envy Kairos for this talent of his," he muttered to himself. "In his world, 2,000 days would have already passed. With divine intervention, the evolution and faith points will surely increase wildly." The sheer temporal advantage felt insurmountable. Yet, on Veridia, a quiet drama was unfolding beneath the waves. The sprawling, vibrant algae populations faced their first existential crisis. The huge threat of predatory algae had pushed their less adaptable kin to the brink of extinction. But evolution, ever resourceful, sparked a miraculous defense. Algae that could harness light, others that utilized dissolved soil nutrients, and those uniquely adapted to the specific conditions of the nascent sea united. In a monumental leap, they formed the first multicellular algae in the world of Veridia. [Congratulations God Cosmos for the first multicellular life in your world!] Sunny grinned at the notification, a surge of triumph washing over him. This was progress, tangible and significant. "It's just a matter of time until I also gain arthropods," he chuckled, thinking of Kairos's boasting. "About an hour, I guess." His internal clock, still calibrated to his own perception, estimated the time until a similar evolutionary leap. He checked his status panel. His faith points had stabilized and were now at a respectable 10 in total. Deciding to capitalize on this surge, Sunny made two swift interventions. He used 2 faith points to subtly decrease the resources in the sea, intensifying the evolutionary pressure on the now multicellular aquatic life. Then, with a more significant expenditure, he channeled 4 faith points to increase the nutrient availability on the newly exposed landmasses. His goal was clear: to entice the microcellular algae, and soon the nascent multicellular forms, to venture onto land and evolve into early fungi or plants, charting a path toward terrestrial life. With his divine work set in motion for the immediate future, Sunny disengaged from direct observation of Veridia and opened the God Chat. "Sigh! I am truly bored. I can't just look at the algae growing; it was fascinating at first, but now it is just the same thing again and again," typed a God named 'Black Tongue', echoing a sentiment many must have felt after the initial novelty wore off. Just then, a chilling System notification rang worldwide, appearing simultaneously for all the Gods. [Global Notification] [All Gods! Every day there will be one major misfortune on your world.] [It can be plagues, disasters, and many other mystic misfortunes.] [And death due to Misfortune will not provide any faith points.] [Players can use their Faith points to prevent the misfortune.] [Be ready, Gods!] The chat exploded in a torrent of furious messages. "Curse you, Black Tongue!" typed a God, followed by countless others echoing the sentiment, blaming the bored deity for tempting fate. "Stop it, guys! I think this is added to prevent idle Gods which doesn't have any lifeforms," offered a more pragmatic voice. "I agree with the god upstairs," another chimed in, offering a philosophical, albeit unsettling, explanation. "According to the conservation of energy, we all transported from Blue Star will require a lot of energy. And making us God, which means a near-immortal existence, will also require a lot of energy. This energy will be gained back using the misfortune, either through the death or the paid fee from the Gods." "Doesn't that mean we are just livestock? To farm faith points or energy?" a voice of despair questioned. "Upstairs, what were you in the Blue Planet? You were probably also a livestock there. For me, it is a new life; instead of dying of hunger there, I would like to live like a God here." The blunt, almost brutal realism of this last message silenced the chat. The implication, that their previous lives were no less a form of "livestock," struck a deep, uncomfortable chord. But the silence was soon broken by a familiar, desperate plea. "Bigshots, you forgot about humble me. I still had a chance gaining life forms by waiting. But now, a day will mean about 27 years (planetary), and without divine intervention, it will not be enough to evolve a life form. How will I tackle misfortune?" The irony was sharp; how could a misfortune affect a world devoid of life? "What misfortune can you even face? You don't have a lifeform, so what can plague and disasters even do?" a God retorted, highlighting the chilling reality of having nothing to lose. The chat again went back to silent, a profound, existential quiet. Sunny chuckled darkly, a detached amusement at the irony playing out. The misfortune notification was a brutal twist, adding a new layer of challenge and urgency to their godhood. He then noticed the number of active Gods in the chat: just about 300,000. "System, why, instead of 8 billion population of Blue Planet, are only 300,000 here?" he queried, the discrepancy striking him. [In this Universe there are only 300,000 Gods. And the Other Gods are in Different Universe.] Sunny's eyes widened, a cold certainty settling in his divine awareness. "Doesn't that mean the Gods will eventually clash with each other to expand and control their whole universe?" Sunny surmised, a grim realization dawning. He had been dimly aware of this potential issue from the start, a subtle undercurrent in the "Multiverse of Gods" title, but the immediate, all-consuming task of evolving life had pushed such grand, interstellar conflicts to the back of his mind. Now, with the universe clarified as a finite, shared space, the true long-term game had just begun. Survival wasn't just about evolving his world; it was about preparing for inevitable, divine warfare.