Kurumi stopped messaging, and both Altair and Rin Tohsaka also fell silent.
The group chat went quiet once again.
With only seven members, it was normal for it to be a dead group most of the time.
Souta put down his phone and sank into deep thought.
At this point, he had likely ignited his divine fire. That warm sensation in his body was probably the physical manifestation of it.
Now, he had the ability to convert faith into divine power.
To grow stronger, he needed to go out and gather faith.
But using his real name while doing so... wouldn't that be way too embarrassing?
"Oh, Souta, who does not belong to this world,
You are the mysterious ruler above the gray mist,
You are the Yellow-Black King who governs fortune..."
Souta borrowed from an existing example and imagined the scenario. Ultimately, he confirmed—using his real name would indeed be ridiculously embarrassing!
But if he used an alias, a secondary identity...
"System, if I create an alias, will I be able to hear people calling me by that name? Or, if someone places their faith in my alias, will I still be able to collect that faith?"
[Yes. As long as the identity has a direct causal link to you—whether it's an avatar or an alias—you will be able to receive the faith.]
"What about listening to believers? Can I only hear them physically speaking?"
[As your divine rank increases, your abilities as a deity will gradually strengthen. In the future, you will be able to directly perceive thoughts. If someone within your sensory range thinks about you, you will be able to sense it.]
Souta was slightly startled. This ability was broken!
He could sense it whenever someone thought about him?
In the future, he wouldn't have to worry about enemies hiding from him!
"Does my sensing range also increase as my divine rank grows?"
"What about my divine domain? Will it expand as my power grows?"
Through his conversation with the system, Souta gradually pieced together the finer details of his divine rank's abilities.
This divine core, modified by the system, was completely different from the ones in the Dungeons & Dragons universe—it was basically just wearing a D&D skin.
Merging with the divine core hadn't instantly made Souta overpowered.
Compared to before, his actual combat ability hadn't changed much.
Since he wasn't a proper D&D god, he didn't suddenly become omnipotent, looking down on mortals as ants.
He had to start from scratch and slowly level up.
Right now, he didn't even have a divine authority or any followers.
Without these two essential methods of gathering divine power, it was obvious he wouldn't be strong anytime soon.
"With a Rank 0 divine core, I guess I'm just a quasi-god at this point."
Souta estimated his current level.
Rank 0 divine spark= Quasi-God.
Ranks 1-5 = Demi-God (Weak Divine Power).
Ranks 6-10 = Lesser God (Low Divine Power).
Ranks 11-15 = Intermediate God (Moderate Divine Power).
Ranks 16-20 = Greater God (High Divine Power).
As for anything beyond that... there was no reference. The system told him that if he ever managed to ascend past this scale, he could name his own rank—whether it be Supreme Divine Power or God of Gods, it was up to him.
Well, that was way too distant a concern for now.
Souta imagined himself wandering through different worlds, playing the role of a fraudulent priest to trick people into worshipping him.
For a modified god like him, who had neither divine power nor a divine authority, he was basically a weakling.
So he had to start gathering faith as soon as possible and get through this stealth growth phase quickly.
Once he accumulated enough divine power to form his first divine authority, he would finally be able to stand out!
"Speaking of which, White Demon's proposal is actually worth considering."
Souta suddenly remembered Shiroyasha's previous invitation—asking him to join Arcadia and help take care of the struggling community.
Well, more specifically, to help take care of the kids.
Shiroyasha probably made the suggestion because she saw that he had a lot of free time and lacked opportunities to gather faith.
"My blood and saliva both have healing properties. If I pretend to be a god of healing and trick some kids into becoming my believers, that could work."
Resting his chin on his hand, Souta began contemplating.
Of course, he didn't have to collect faith in Little Garden.
For example, in Black Bullet, there was an entire horde of little lolis waiting to be saved.
If he stepped in and took action, he could trick them into becoming his followers and establish a cult of loli believers—cough cough—a religion of salvation.
And besides Black Bullet, there was another viable option—6,000 years ago, in the world of "Disboard"... aka the setting of No Game No Life: Zero.
Various anime worlds flashed through Souta's mind.
Thinking about it made him drowsy.
Now that he considered it, aside from sleeping in the Monogatari world, he hadn't gotten any proper rest this whole time.
Even though he was undying(Immortal), some habits weren't so easily broken.
Following his exhaustion, Souta returned to his long-neglected bedroom and lay down.
Souta slept in until he woke up naturally.
The moment he opened his eyes, his system phone vibrated, shaking off the last remnants of his drowsiness.
After a quick wash in the bathroom, he picked up his phone and checked the group chat. Messages were scrolling past.
Tokisaki Kurumi: "I never expected to actually attract Mio Takamiya! That woman nearly ruined everything!"
Altair: "Mio Takamiya tried to stop you from dealing with Isaac?"
Tokisaki Kurumi: "Not exactly. I had already altered Isaac's memories, so the mission was complete. But for some reason, Mio showed up. She seemed to recognize me as one of the people who knocked her out before and wanted to fight me."
Altair: "With Shiroyasha's Attack Cards, Mio Takamiya shouldn't have been able to do anything to you, right?"
Tokisaki Kurumi: "Shiroyasha's Attack Cards don't work on Mio Takamiya. I used two of them, and she blocked both. I had to use a pre-loaded 'Twelfth Bullet' to escape while she was defending."
Altair: "Huh? Why wouldn't Shiroyasha's Attack Cards work?"
Tokisaki Kurumi: "I have no idea. I asked Shiroyasha about it this morning, but she seems busy and hasn't responded yet."
Upon reading this, Souta's eyes widened in surprise.
Shiroyasha's Attack Cards... didn't work on Mio Takamiya?
That didn't make sense.
If they didn't work, then how had Shiroyasha managed to instantly subdue Mio before—bagging her head and beating her senseless?
Tokisaki Kurumi: "@Souta. Souta, do you have any combat data on Mio Takamiya?"
Souta: "I don't remember exactly. Let me check."
Tokisaki Kurumi: "Finally! What took you so long?"
Souta: "I was sleeping and didn't see your messages."
After briefly explaining, Souta set his phone down and prepared to look up Mio Takamiya's information again.
But then, he suddenly froze.
His iPhone... had been given to Shiroyasha.
His laptop... had been lent to Shinobu.
Souta was momentarily at a loss.
For the first time, he realized—
He had no way to go online.