Chapter 15: God Has a Job for You
Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
He stared dumbstruck, eyes wide opened (this seemed to happen quite a lot lately) upon hearing a statement that would make anybody choke on hearing it. At that moment, he could barely believe what that big-eyed chief just said, "What... was that... you said?"
"Space Administration," the silver-haired lady smirked as she repeated. She had a frosty demeanour about her when she was silent; but as she opened up to speak, while pulling a smirk off, all the icy coldness melted away and she actually seemed quite amiable.
Hao Ren asked impetuously, "No, not that. I mean, the latter part?"
"Oh, the Bastard Barrio Branch Office," the silver-haired lady happily nodded her head, delighted to acknowledge that fact.
Hao Ren really wanted to slam his head against something, anything… but he figured he should do it outside. Everything on display here seemed so posh and pricey that if broken he probably wouldn’t be able to pay for the compensation, but surely he definitely wanted to bang his head on something! How could "Space Administration" and "Bastard Barrio Branch Office", two terms which were already out of this world, be placed in the same sentence? And judging by the way this white-haired lady phrased it, she didn’t seem , in the slightest way, disturbed by that peculiarity, her expression was as though this was how it had always been. Hao Ren’s bewilderment upon hearing those words were comparable to that upon hearing these: Old man Wang has three sons. The eldest is called Da Ming, the second is called Er Ming, the third is called Eisenbuliq William Haniba…
But what the silver-haired lady spoke of somehow made sense that Hao Ren was left with no rebuttal: This really was a bastardly barrio.
"He... hehe," with his face hardened, Hao Ren snickered and slightly readjusted his body on the cotton seat to a more stable position. He was worried that if he hears any more gobsmacking statements, he would fall off onto the ground. "Space Administration you say… Oh and what was that you called yourself just now?"
He just recalled that the person to whom he was talking had also introduced herself a moment ago, but he didn’t catch her name as he was busy calming his nerves.
The silver-haired lady didn’t seem to be bothered. She was far more good-tempered than he had expected, "I am Raven 12345. You have to remember that. It’s important."
"Including the numbers?"
"Including the numbers. Actually the numbers are the important ones," said the woman who called herself Raven 12345 as she firmly nodded. "To prevent confusion with other Ravens. Any more questions?"
Immediately Hao Ren’s mind was filled with fantastical settings of man-made humans, clones, dark forces, evil armies, and the likes, plotting world domination, along with a two-hundred-thousand-words script and a web of love-hate relationships and romantic feuds among dozens of characters—not implying that he had a wild imaginative mind, but rather confirming that he had watched tonnes of movies. He was clever to not ask about the whereabouts of the other Ravens (experience tells him that this is a taboo, and in later days he would come to find out how explicably wrong he was), so he rubbed his chin and said, "Raven 12345. Quite a creative name, hehe. So, what do you want from me?"
The silver-haired lady smiled, "You took in a strange creature into your home, am I right? If calculations are correct it was a werewolf."
Hearing that, Hao Ren became nervous, every muscle on his body couldn’t help but twitched. All along, he thought he had managed to keep Lily’s identity a secret, it was the only way for him to be able to keep is familiar everyday life. Who would have known that the lady before him had discovered everything! Quickly he calmed himself down as he knew this lady was another ‘strange being’, it wasn’t in his control that she knew some things. It was clear how little he knew about a certain mystical realm, so he shouldn’t act too surprised as doing so would only put him at a disadvantage.
Raven 12345 did not mention Vivian, which to him meant her intel was a little incomplete, and so naturally he should not actively pursue that.
"True," he nodded, "but surely this is not against any taboo, right? Your Space... Administration, is it in charge of stuff like this too? "
"No, it’s not a taboo. I just want to remind you that from now onwards you’ll play host to many more strange creatures. This is going to be your job," Raven 12345 glossed over that startling statement she just made. "The organisation graciously wishes you..."
"Hold up!" Hao Ren couldn’t bear it anymore and blurted out, "This was your arrangement!?"
"Of course not, but after today it is," Raven 12345 shrugged. "You had gotten in touch with that werewolf called Lily anyway, and it just so happens that I require a helper. You’re quite suitable for the job."
"What kind of business is it that you guys are running here?" Hao Ren frowned. He felt that Raven 12345 was quite incoherent with her words, always muttering the strangest things at the strangest moments as she kept beating around the bush... You should just come clean and explain what the hell it is that the Space Administration really does!
"‘You guys’? You mean ‘we’? Well, ‘we’ are quite a large group," Raven 12345 touched her nose. "The Empire of Xi Ling spans a vast territory, ruling over countless universes, owning numerous departments. Division of Labor? Complicated. You could generally refer to us as Gods. This would make it easier to explain—by the way I should tell you that it is only recently that we made the overall transition to become Gods. The organization is still young, but youth brings with it opportunities. As for the Space Administration, it’s a department under the Empire tasked to manage each and every universe, take charge of communications, direct and control the flow of cross-overs between universes, increase worldwide cohesion... all that good stuff. At least that’s what was stated in the superior’s most recent documents anyway. We’ll see if there will be any changes. I am in the Junior Committee of the Space Administration, and here I take charge of all affairs in this universe—like preventing particular races from committing world annihilation, or planning the evolution of the celestial bodies... things of that sort. Technically this isn’t my job, but due to special circumstances, I’m taking over for now. As for you, you’re here because I need a helper—I have to manage everything on the surface of this universe, and some areas require an agent, so I leave those to you. Don’t you feel lucky?"
Hao Ren’s head was spinning as he listened to that elaborate tale. However, he managed to calmly stand up and said, "Thank you for your hospitality, my dear host. You’re a good person, and your programme was really interesting. May I ask where the exit is?"
Raven 12345’s face showed no signs of surprise, as though she had faced this same situation millions of times before. She waited for Hao Ren to finish and then casually lifted a finger, "According to the job entry requirements, new interns are required to sit for some psychological tests for quite a long period of time, so now we’ll take you through the basics..."
Before Hao Ren could utter a word, his body felt intensely light, and his surroundings abruptly changed!
The extravagant building that he was in was no more. Surrounded by thick darkness, he realised he was standing in the midst of nothingness, and within it was a spot of light which suddenly sparked and beamed and brightened up the whole area!
What emerged first was an indescribable ball of heat, its structure unrecognisable, and its form unstable. This ball of light bore down on him as it got charged up, and instantly expanded into the endless distance beyond. Hao Ren could barely blink while this ball of light swelled up to a size he could no longer comprehend.
And as the light faded, its extraordinarily high levels of energy quickly dissipated, downsized. Primitive particles were created as the space cooled. The aftermath of that first boom of light kicked start the universe and everything in it, the creation. The earliest primitive nebula was born, and it would go on to be the prototype for other galaxy clusters and giant celestial bodies to come.
As the dust begin to settle and cooldown, ancient planets began to rise from the thick maelstroms of the primitive nebulae, while those primitive nebulae split themselves and each became an independent cluster of galaxies. Partial core reaction replaced the explosive energy of the Big Bang, and the world welcomed a milder era of order—following the constant cooling, primitive stars swiftly ran out of fuel as they continued to burn. With one explosion after another they projected heavy elements long accumulated within them. These heavy elements were the first highly stable material to appear after "the first ray of light". They followed the path constructed by the remnants of those stars and flew, clashed and fused with one another, and soon took the form of newly born, young stars.
And so, the first stellar system was created.
As materials began to thin out, the restless galaxies slowly stabilised after emitting tremendous amount of energy and consuming immeasurable amount of material. The complexity of the universe began to increase, clumps of stars evolved, and life multiplied. Hao Ren felt that his sights were now far beyond human interpretation. He was observing the universe from an all-knowing point of view, and very quickly he found the target he had been restlessly searching for: right there, close to a young star, a blue planet, covered with greenery…..
And then everything came to a halt, paused, and a line of words floated before his eyes: Professional Documentation of Genesis, Trial Version. If you wish to continue, please recharge.
The surrounding scenes faded away as receding tides. Hao Ren realised he was still sitting on the couch in the middle of the classy room, his clothes drenched in his own sweat. Raven 12345 smiled at him and said, "This is the recordings of the evolution of your universe from the beginning of time. Of course, some sections were tweaked to adjust the timeline for the convenience of your viewing. This was not recorded by me; the snapshots were taken directly from the information in the depths of the universe. So, in short, it’s like you have you have personally experienced Genesis yourself. How does it feel?"
q
Chapter 16: Working for God
Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Hao Ren sat on the chair, as still as a feather, hands firmly placed on his knees, and a serious look hanging on his face—he realised he had just gotten himself into a situation that far exceeded any logic, and if he had any desire to enjoy what’s left of his life, the wisest choice would be to contain his floppy behaviour and usual childish antics and listen attentively to what the lady, who claimed to be a Goddess, had to say.
"So how does it feels to personally experience Genesis?" smirked Raven 12345.
Hao Ren observed her expressions and confirmed that this woman was indeed capable of working something out, only then did he managed a grin, "If I was to ask you whether this is an illusion, will you conveniently sentence me to death?"
"No, of course not. A lot of people have asked me this, I’m not surprised at all," Raven 12345 shrugged, "I can show you anything and everything, whatever it takes for you to understand and believe all I have told you, but now’s not the time. For now, you’ll just have to take me for my words, and we’ll talk about work."
Hao Ren raised his hand, gesturing her to slow down, for he needed some time to go through what just happened.
He thought what he had just experienced was a rather weird occurrence on Earth, but this woman before him actually mentioned that she came from… another universe? Not Earth, not an alien planet, not an alien galaxy, but an entirely different universe! She claimed that she came from an empire in charge of ruling many universes, and that she worked at a unit called Space Administration, specifically managing the order of this universe, and now this self-proclaimed Goddess said she needed an agent to help with some trivial affairs on selected areas on Earth, and so she set her eyes on none other than him, Hao Ren...
In a nutshell, that was how things went down since he met them. Linguistically the instructions were clear, only that this whole offer challenged all three of his fundamental views: the view of the world, the view of life, and the view of morality.
Hao Ren stole a peek at Raven 12345, who was aware of it but did not indicate anything. Seizing this opportunity, Hao Ren compared this silver-haired lady with the images of gods and goddesses and other immortal beings, imagining a pair of wings extending from behind her back or a halo floating magically above her head… but after much struggle he gave up. He knew it was just a waste of time: from the moment he got to know the ailurophobic werewolf, he should have discarded all myths and legends he knew.
"Are there really other universes?" Hao Ren stammered. "I’ve read about them in books, parallel universes and life, but isn’t that just a theory?"
"It’s much more complicated than that. The real structure of the world is much more complicated than what humans imagined," Raven 12345 curled her lips, as though lazy to explain. "For the moment you won’t have access to the other worlds. That would be after your formal evaluation or after special duties. All that you have to focus on now is dealing with your designated areas."
"Why me?" Hao Ren couldn’t help but interrupt. He felt he had to assert himself slightly in this conversation, even if he couldn’t claim victory in this battle he should try to speak with a little more confidence. "You haven’t sought my agreement, have you?"
"Oh, that reminds me," Raven 12345 gave herself a face palm, which prompted Hao Ren’s first drop of cold sweat. "The Principle of Voluntary Work, there is such a thing… I have been assuming that you have consented. Does this mean you don’t?"
Hao Ren was stunned, he never expected such loose conditions. Her communicative ability did not match up to his initial impression of her godly power: he thought he would meet his doom if he refused the offer. But it was after Raven 12345 stated the conditions that he began to contemplate: What should he do? Should he really refuse? But it would be such a pity... as his new strange life would come to an end even before it begun.
"What will happen if I don’t agree?"
"You’ll be rid of your memories of these past couple of days, and I’ll relief you of the werewolf. Don’t worry, no harm will come to either of you, just that you’ll no longer have anything to do with these issues anymore. Common folks have common lives. For an ordinary fellow to handle extraordinary business, history tells that they usually meet with dreadful ends," Raven 12345 explained unemotionally. "I’ll look for other agents, after all there’re so many people on Earth, and if worst comes to worst I can always apply for an intern to help me."
Hao Ren felt a pull at his heartstrings and was consumed by an unexplainable feeling, then he shook his head, "And what if I agreed? What do you want me to do? I’ll say first that I won’t be doing anything against my morals. I’m a good person."
Raven 12345’s smiled again at that. "Don’t be so nervous, you’re working for God. In other dimensions this position is called ‘the Holy One’ or ‘the Messenger’. It’s just that we work under a different system so we don’t call it that. What are you worried about? We’re not asking you to do anything evil. Your job consists only of two main tasks: The first is to receive guests, like you have always been doing so far. The difference is that these guests are... quite special, and they’ll need assistance, a place to stay, someone to guide them—you have to take care of them, so that they won’t go out and cause destruction to mankind. The second is to help me with other work."
Hao Ren was speechless. He honestly suspected that the second task far outweighed the first one!
"When you say ‘guests’, do you mean the ones like Lily?" Hao Ren wanted to know more, although he might not get it his way, but at least he wouldn’t be exploited. "Strange creatures? May I ask why are you doing this? Just so that they won’t disrupt mankind?"
"Actually the reasons are quite complicated," Raven 12345 was very patient, "Any civilisation, unless faced with imminent catastrophe or other disastrous ordeals that require Gods to intervene, has the right to proceed and grow naturally, undisturbed. I know the myths and legends of the human world, but the real gods are not quite the same with the ones in those stories—we create the world, we manage the world, and we can destroy the world, but all of the above are governed by strict rules and regulations. No one can simply disturb and destroy worlds. Before we switched professions and became Gods we had made quite a few mistakes, so this is now a serious problem. Your world is the same—it should evolve naturally without the intervention of external forces. It’s expected that your kind will face challenges along to way, but if a third power wields the potential to twist the process of evolution, it becomes our responsibility to stop it. As for your job, it is to clean up the ‘aftermath’."
Hao Ren went to great lengths to make sense of what Raven 12345 just said, and thought he had grasped the gist of it. "You said there’s… what? A ‘third party’ with the power to disrupt our progress? Lily... and those I have to receive in the future, are all related to this?"
"Don’t overthink it. That’s ancient history now. The largest threat to humanity was resolved by me. You humans are safe now, as long as they don’t ask for death they’ll live a full life," Raven 12345 looked into Hao Ren’s eyes, "As for the guests you’ll be receiving... it’s true that they’re connected to one of the bigger cases, but it’s still considered confidential information to you, so it’s best not to ask. How is it, do you accept this job? Although it’s just to clean up some mess left behind by the Space Administration, it is considered to be the career of a lifetime in a lot of worlds, more or less it’s considered a privilege for temporary workers in the entrepreneurial sectors..."
"Well, putting it that way makes me more reluctant to agree alright!" Hao Ren responded.
Raven 12345 scoffed, not even one bit bothered.
Hao Ren looked down, seriously contemplating this offer which could change his entire course of life.
He still didn’t dare to believe everything this woman just said, and could not understand what was the deal with this talk of the universes, gods, worlds and the rest. It’s just like what Raven 12345 said, for now he could only trust that everything is as she said, and start considering what he should do next.
If he nodded his head now, he would be straying onto a path completely different from his past, in Raven 12345’s words it meant he would be working for ‘God’. Regardless of whether what she said was true or false, no matter if it was a trap or not, and not knowing whether his future will be bright or bleak, he would be facing an entirely new and extraordinary life. His fate would change, for the better or worse.
If he shook his head now, he would lose nothing but his memories of the past two days, forgetting matters an ordinary person shouldn’t know in the first place, and then return to his honest and simple life as a little landlord, or find a real job just like everyone else, or a wife maybe, who may not be a perfect match but works out just fine in the end, and maybe live together for the remainder of their lives.
There really was nothing to choose from.
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
200+ Power
Ranking 
10 Power
stone 
Paragraph comment