He performed the prayer with familiar ease, although this prayer was merely a procedure without any reverence to speak of, for after all, he was a God himself. In such a peer situation, prayer merely served as a form of communication or a means to cast spells.
Though the God of Death was addicted to gaming, he had not forgotten the unusual aspect he had first discovered within this gaming machine.
The machine appeared to be quite a bargain, and while it embodied the basic aesthetic of gears and mechanics, the God of Death of course realized these elements were merely decorative and served no practical purpose.
Why, then, could such flashy contraptions transform virtual value into real value?
Only the characters controlled by players could create value, while other virtual characters, like the enemy aircraft in "Raiden," produced no value in death even when they were obliterated.
The God of Death once believed that this was because the operator projected part of their soul into the game, thereby generating "real value used by the player." However, after he witnessed a Transformation Category mage morph into a pixelated character and rampage throughout the game world, his viewpoint was utterly demolished.
It turned out to be a "world" one could enter!
"Real value can be derived from a fake world."
"The world truly exists, and yet some things do not produce value upon death...."
"These two contradictory phenomena occurring within the same entity is a situation even I cannot comprehend. What kind of abilities does the God of Fiction possess?"
The God of Death could not analyze the composition of the gaming machine; he had also tried to forcibly extract value from those NPCs but was unable to intervene. He wasn't even sure whether those things truly died without producing death value or whether they had death value that was simply beyond his reach.
If it were the former, that would be a major issue; if it were the latter, the problem would be even greater.
A layer of droplets formed on the statue of the Steel God, as steam-like mist at high temperature spewed out from the statue's chest.
The appearance of the God of Death was that of a handsome, blond young man wearing black formalwear, and generally, the true appearance of deities is fixed. This is to lock in the recognition with the mortal beings and to prevent worshiping the wrong divine entity.
The appearance of the Steel God, however, was particularly special.
Even on this statue, it was clear that it was encrusted with gears, connecting rods, and various mechanical parts. From a distance, it looked like several differently sized differential analyzers had been taken apart then violently shoved back together to form a humanoid monster, with a small boiler embedded in its chest, resembling an energy container.
This was just one of the earthly manifestations of the Steel God, representing the "wisdom of mechanics." In the eyes of believers from different worlds, this ruler of steel took on many different forms. However, in the eyes of the God of Death, the reason for its diverse appearances was purely that it was a pile of oddly composed parts.
Under the God of Death's scrutiny, the steam that spilled out from the Steel God's statue had enveloped the arcade machine. But after a brief inspection, the steam gradually dissipated, and a rectangular slot on the statue's head ejected a piece of paper at this moment.
The paper fell into the God of Death's hands, but the content written on it made him frown.
"...While it seems very simple, it is actually a combination of runes with unknown origins, whose symbols have been recorded... but cannot be deciphered... The core operating logic is unlike any known powers, and the only thing that can be deciphered is the superficial worthless façade."
"You should acquire more rune sets, so that an attempt to continue decrypting can be made..."
The God of Death's desire to play a pirated copy had been thwarted.
If the Steel God, the master of all machinery, was unable to crack the true core of the game's code, then there should be no greater technical skill capable of decryption in all the worlds.
The anti-piracy measures of the God of Fiction had defeated the decrypting efforts of both the Steel God and the God of Death, dealing a heavy blow to the yet-to-rise market of pirated games.
"So even you are at a loss, what a disappointment for one lauded as the Master of Mechanics!"
The God of Death was clearly dissatisfied with the outcome, while the statue of the Steel God suddenly spat out another large slip of paper from the slot on its head.
On the paper was written, "Machinery can construct all known things in the world, and your coming to me for help means you are powerless against such machinery. Since it is a mechanical creation, no matter how its logic operates, it will always provide me with 'the value of mechanics and operation'."
"Mechanical creations are meant to interpret the truth, and even if there are mechanical creations that I do not understand, that too would be a pleasure for me to witness. Because no matter what kind of machinery it is, when it fails, all of its components and the core logic of its operation will return to me."
"If you are not satisfied with my analysis, then a one-on-one challenge at the entrance of the Sunday Fiction Church; you set up the machine and you pay."
After reading the paper, the God of Death fell silent for a moment, then spoke somberly,
"So you too play Fist of the Gods..."
No wonder the Steel Church had so readily approved the Sunday activities of the Fictional Church, even allowing them to conduct "watchful" types of propaganda.
The new mechanical creation would bring new strength and value to the Steel God, but the God of Death had never imagined that this guy had actually accepted a bribe from the Fictional Church, secretly playing games in the church...
It seems he had already analyzed the operating method of this machine long ago.
The God of Death checked the time.
"Today is Saturday."
....
Finally, Saturday arrived, and the streets and alleys began to be plastered with propaganda posters from the Sacrifice Church.
The banners on carriages, the display boards by the roadside, the newspapers in the newspaper boys' hands, and the flags hanging in front of shops all came to life, starting to shout at the passersby.
This Sunday, the God of Sacrifice will descend upon the Sacrifice Church for a special sermon. He will address the pollution and spiritual issues of the world and bring solutions, and he will give important directions. Those who go to the Sacrifice Church will also receive small gifts personally crafted by the Deity.
This overwhelming bombardment of propaganda quickly drew the attention of many people, but as the Sacrifice Church was not the mainstream faith of the Grey World, most were merely curious about the lecture rather than rushing to the Sacrifice Church to pray or join.
Even so, someone grew impatient and cursed:
"The God of Sacrifice, a deity that governs the right of sacrifice - can he raise my salary? Is he going to teach me how to sacrifice my boss to exchange for a thousand Gold Coins?"
Sacrificing a boss for a thousand Gold Coins would certainly appeal to workers, but such an act would likely result in arrest. The various worlds are not lawless places, so please choose your words and actions carefully.
"Sacrifice is meant to be a virtue, yet the God of Sacrifice is only concerned with the aspects of 'offering' – in the end, his real name should be the God of Offering and Bloodshed, not using sacrifice as a namesake."
Those who say such things are the ones who loathe the Sacrifice Church.
Yet even so, within the advertising slogans of the God of Sacrifice, there were still several highlights that attracted a lot of people.
For example, although you cannot sacrifice your boss to summon a thousand Gold Coins, you can genuinely sacrifice two low-star creatures and then summon an eight-star behemoth...!