NOVPUBThe moment Rita selected her god-given skill to unlock, her descent accelerated. All her equipment was forcibly unequipped and locked in her game inventory. Her disguises disappeared, reverting her to her original appearance.
Soon, light appeared beneath her, and in an instant, the darkness surrounding her receded. A small room materialized below, and she flapped her orange-red wings lightly, landing gently.
The opening above her sealed shut, trapping her inside.
Her ordinary Blue Star clothing—those without any game stats—remained intact. Her wings were still present. Looking around, she realized she was in a square-shaped room, her height barely reaching a quarter of its seven-meter-high walls.
The walls were transparent, allowing her to see outside.
To her left was a similar square room, where a shark-headed creature with a long, curling tail took up most of the space. When it noticed her gaze, it bared its teeth at her and said something, but the soundproof walls prevented her from hearing.
To her right was a six-meter-tall giant, awkwardly squatting in a cramped position that made the room look comically small. Upon noticing her, the giant waved enthusiastically.
Rita ignored them for now. She tore a strip of fabric from her windbreaker to cover her face, then removed her shoelaces. She threaded them through her pocket watch and wore it as a makeshift necklace.
She opened her game interface to modify her personal and skill information, but to her dismay, the interface was incredibly simplified:
[BS - Human] Rita
[HP | MP]: 100% | 100%
[Soul Energy]: 12,869
[Companion]: Nivalis
[Combat Rating]: Tier 2
[God-given Skill]: One-Person Party
[Skill]:
I Could Just Steal It: Bet on the name of the Thief God to steal a target’s god-given skill. Usable only once in a lifetime. (Chance of failure increases for SSS-tier skills.)
And that was all.
She quickly changed I Could Just Steal It to Feeling Blessed on her profile.
So much for her plan to use Moment of Reversal to swap attributes. This interface was too restrictive to allow such strategies.
As for the combat rating—it was likely a meaningless number akin to player levels. Changing it wouldn’t make her stronger and might even draw unnecessary attention.
Kicking off her shoes, she stood barefoot. With her enhanced physique, ordinary clothes and shoes were useless. If needed, her wings would keep her off the ground.
With her profile adjusted, she approached the glass walls to inspect the outside world. Beyond her cell lay an endless grid of identical square rooms, each containing a unique creature.
Some were still, waiting silently. Others, like her, stared in awe at their surroundings, overwhelmed by the strangeness of this place.
Looking up and down, the rooms seemed to stretch infinitely. She couldn’t discern where this place was—perhaps a desert, a starry void, another world, or a sandbox created by gods.
Her Wrathful Moon was still upgrading, its timer fluctuating between fast and slow, indicating that time here, much like in the High Tower, was erratic—if not outright chaotic.
She released Nivalis, who immediately reverted to her original form upon exiting the pet space. Her massive body filled the entire room, forcing her to awkwardly hunch over before eventually curling up like the giant next door.
Upon seeing the scene outside, Nivalis was just as stunned. The dragon and her master clung to the glass walls, gawking at the thousands of alien species beyond like two wide-eyed bumpkins.
Nivalis asked gravely, "Do we have to fight all of them?"
Rita frowned, her expression equally heavy. "I don’t know…"
She recalled the voice she heard upon entering—this was the 24,367th Game of Gods. If it was a "game," it wouldn’t just be mindless combat. The process itself was likely the key.
And the worst-case scenario had already occurred. While her physical capabilities and reflexes felt unchanged, all her game skills were locked, even her self-learned ones like Fox Shadow.
It was as though chains bound her abilities, leaving her with only the god-given skill and the three items she had chosen.
Yet… perhaps not all was lost.
She could still sense the lightning stored in her orange-red wings, and, more importantly, she could feel her soul energy .
Testing her hypothesis, she tried channeling her soul energy. The suffocating feeling of being unable to use any skills vanished. While her god-given skills and SSS-tier abilities remained locked, she could sense all her S-tier and lower skills.
Even more surprising—if she used double soul energy, she could access her SSS-tier abilities as well.
Passive skills were a bit trickier. She had to charge them with soul energy to activate their effects, though the duration remained uncertain.
In her mind, she asked Nivalis, "Can you use your skills?"
The answer was already evident; from the moment Nivalis reverted to her true form, it was clear her abilities were restricted.
Nivalis shook her head. "No."
"Try using your soul energy," Rita suggested.
Nivalis’ eyes lit up. "I can use S-tier and below! SSS-tier requires double the soul energy."
Rita exhaled in relief. The situation wasn’t hopeless.
Just as she prepared to strategize further, a set of words appeared in the center of her room:
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[The 24,367th Game of Gods - Painting Contest]
[Game Start Countdown: 00:09:58]
[Objective]: Reproduce the painting Desert Captain by master ΠΞГΕ. After seven star-sea days (game time), the 1,000 players with the lowest completion rates will face forced elimination (death). Completion percentage will determine your rank, which you can track on the leaderboard at any time.
[Difficulty]: Foolproof
Rules:
1:ηκρΘεδλΔηκΨΩζΦ
2:No red may appear in the painting.
3:ΖΣГⅧΠΠΖΞΕΣⅪ 𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒑𝒖𝒃.𝙘𝙤𝒎
[New Player Tips] (Visible only during your first entry into the World Battleground):
1:Resurrection skills and items are disabled. Death in the battleground can be reversed only by sacrificing one god-given skill or three A-tier or higher skills.
2:Translation-related tools are banned. Players may use no more than 1,000 languages. Any excess will be temporarily sealed.
3:When a new world enters the battleground, that world will receive three World Graveyards as a reward.
4:The Law of Luck Conservation governs the battleground.
5:The Game of Gods values entertainment and fairness.
6:Violating any rule will trigger Divine Punishment, with random consequences.
Rita and Nivalis exchanged looks, their faces pale.
"A painting contest?" Rita muttered, her voice dripping with disbelief.
