The God of Pain was completely baffled. His brows furrowed in confusion as he quickly began checking with his churches across various worlds, trying to figure out if any of them were having issues.
However, the mysterious surge of pain-fueled faith continued to grow, which led the God of Pain to an ominous realization.
"Could it be... is there a war going on in the mortal world?"
Faith this strong, coming from an unknown source and with no traceable origin, only occurred during times of war.
This made the God of Pain anxious.
While a large-scale war would usually result in immense suffering—a good thing for the God of Pain—there was always a downside to such extremes.
Consuming this much pain in one go would eventually lead to the collapse of some worlds' populations, causing the total amount of harvestable pain to plummet in the future.
So, should he go for sustainable farming or gorge himself now and starve later? Most gods would choose the former.
At most, they'd go for "sustainable overexploitation." In layman's terms, it meant squeezing the cows and horses as much as possible without driving them to extinction.
As long as life existed, there would always be pain. And as long as there was pain, the God of Pain's domain could never be taken over by another deity. For him, every day was bliss.
After all, if even gods felt pain sometimes, how could mortals escape it? In this day and age, using war to cause pain was just outdated. It lacked creativity and left him either starving or feasting.
"Aren't there other gods' churches in these worlds? Why aren't they doing something about this?"
As the God of Pain continued to check on his churches, a sudden signal entered his senses like a radio wave.
It was the Church of Pain from the Gray World, sending him a bizarre prayer that made absolutely no sense to him.
"What... What do they mean by 'use me in the game to defeat the opponent and make them feel pain'? And they want my blessing for more pain?"
"What? Training? Training for what? A machine... a machine? Huh? Don't tell me they're at war with the Church of Steel?"
The God of Pain was utterly confused by his followers' prayer. He genuinely thought his church had lost its mind and declared war on the Church of Steel, which scared the hell out of him. He immediately issued a divine decree:
[Stop! Stop! Stop!]
The God of Pain decided to halt his followers' madness right away and prepared to descend upon them. Meanwhile, over in the Gray World, the members of the Church of Pain were ecstatic upon hearing that their god was about to descend.
As the faithful watched eagerly, a hazy, radiant figure appeared before the massive statue of the God of Pain. The figure resembled a noble king, but since the descent was rushed, it only manifested as a blurry outline, with no distinct features or colors.
The god, visibly anxious, urgently asked his followers for confirmation: "were they really at war?" However, the Church of Pain members respectfully presented him with an iron arcade cabinet.
"What is this thing? Is this some new weapon from the Church of Steel?"
"My faithful, listen carefully. I have something important to say, You absolutely must not go to war with the Church of Steel. The Iron God commands the most terrifying army among the gods—the Iron Soldiers. They have no regard for life or death, they feel no emotions, and they care nothing for value. They will destroy everything in their path. No god or mortal should anger this supreme deity who rules over steel."
"You all will be the death of me!"
The God of Pain was frantically trying to talk sense into his followers, but they respectfully ushered him to sit down. Confused, the god sat on a chair and began interacting with the arcade machine. As the screen lit up, two box-like options appeared before him.
"My lord, please choose the one on the left. Yes, this one—it's called Fists of the Gods."
With some coaxing from his followers, the God of Pain selected Fists of the Gods. His eyes, glowing like lightbulbs, widened in surprise.
The character selection screen... all these characters... why were they gods? And why was he one of the playable characters?
'Oh my god, that's me!'
At this point, the followers of the Church of Pain were finally able to explain the situation. It turned out that the war was actually a plan devised by the church members. They believed that no one understood the God of Pain better than they did. And if anyone could, it would only be the God of Pain himself.
So, they invited their great deity to spar with them, to correct their shortcomings in the fighting game.
The God of Pain finally understood.
It turned out that the mysterious faith surge came from here! And it all originated from a game created by the God of Fiction.
They explained it clearly: Fists of the Gods was a brand-new fighting game developed independently by the God of Fiction. The game took place in a massive universe called the "Allworlds," where the gods selected by players could earn the title of "Invincibility Abuser."
"They dare to try and nerf me? I'll help you win this tournament and reclaim the glory of the Church of Pain."
"No one understands me better than myself. If I'm the one playing, who could possibly beat me?"
Pain Explosion Fist, one million points of pain!
As a god, the God of Pain didn't have the God of Death's jinx ability. And as he said, no one understood him better than he did. After playing just a few rounds, he easily crushed all the members of the Church of Pain, even when both sides were using the same character—the God of Pain. The god's understanding of his own avatar far exceeded anyone else's.
"Ah, I don't know why, but when I use 'me,' it feels like I'm controlling a real avatar."
"I can feel it. The connection is so close. You mortals, your defeat comes from not knowing me well enough."
The God of Pain looked down at the defeated priests, offering them wise and heartfelt guidance. At the same time, he learned that this whole ordeal had been sparked by a kobold.
According to his followers, the kobold was much better at playing the God of Pain than they were.
"You think I'd lose to a kobold? That's ridiculous. He's the challenger, not me."
The God of Pain donned a mascot suit—still in the form of a king, though a bit comical—and followed his followers' directions to the entrance of the Fictional Church, where he saw the kobold player.
To be honest, the God of Pain felt quite grateful to this kobold. His gameplay had earned the god a massive influx of faith, and according to the church members, it seemed like a sustainable, long-lasting source of faith as well.
So, the god decided to reward him with a fighting PK.
If the kobold could give him a good fight and make him go all out, the God of Pain might even make an exception and grant him the title of a saint.
The king-costumed God of Pain challenged the kobold to a duel.
Both players picked the same character.
After a grueling four-minute, best-of-three PK match, the God of Pain stood trembling in front of the arcade machine.
He lost in a match where he was imitating himself. The intense pain of defeat was overwhelming, but for some reason, he found joy in it.
Meanwhile, the kobold was absolutely thrilled, giving the god a thumbs-up and thanking him for such a fun match.
"That was truly delightful, Your Majesty. I probably won't forget you for a whole week."