Chapter Two: Scum Should Confront Scum Face to Face

"Welcome to the Lord God's World, Substitute of the Lord God."

When Liu Mengchao came to his senses, he found himself in an utterly desolate world. Looking around, there were no plants, no buildings, not even a hint of color. It was as if a vast prairie had been covered in endless, pristine snow.

The whole world was a sheet of white.

"Substitute." Liu Mengchao looked in all directions, but still saw no one. He was utterly alone in this world of the Lord God.

"Who are you?" Liu Mengchao simply sat down. The ground's texture was strange—neither warm nor cold, as if it didn’t exist at all. "No matter what, at the very least you should let me see you."

"Me...? You want to see me...?"

Liu Mengchao frowned. "Don’t you think I look like a complete fool, talking to thin air by myself?"

"I'm sorry... The amount in the reward pool is too low, so I simply have no way to create a body."

Reward pool... creation...

Liu Mengchao keenly realized that he’d heard that same term when he first crossed over.

"Reward pool, current amount, ten."

"So, because there are only ten points in the pool, you can't appear in front of me?"

"Yes."

"Then your name..." Liu Mengchao carefully recalled what Joanna had said to him, and suddenly understood. "Your name is the one Joanna mentioned..."

"That's right. My name is Baiya."

Liu Mengchao’s style had always been to plan before acting. The key to planning is information!

"Very well, Baiya, first tell me—what exactly is the reward pool?"

"Points for physical enhancement, points for skills and magic, points for side stories, points for creating items, even points for unlocking and constructing the Lord God's worlds—none of these points come from nothing. The reward pool, in essence, is everything in the Lord God's world. It is filled with all the reward points of this world. Once the pool reaches zero, the Lord God's world will cease to function."

"Lord God's world?"

As soon as Liu Mengchao had the thought, a boundless pool appeared before him. Yet within that vast pool, there was only a single droplet of colored water.

How much, exactly, was that little droplet? As soon as the question formed in his mind, a pure white panel popped up before his eyes, listing a few simple data points.

"Lord God Game participant detected.
Number of players: 1
Because the Lord God is in a coma, a substitute is responsible for setting the world and issuing tasks.
Current reward pool amount: 10."

"As you can see, dear Substitute, the reward pool currently holds only ten points." Baiya's voice was filled with anxiety and despair. "We must ensure that when the Lord God Game ends, after subtracting the rewards granted to the players, there are still points remaining. Otherwise..."

Liu Mengchao’s voice grew instantly cold, tinged with a deadly edge. "Otherwise, Joanna will die?"

"Yes... If the pool goes negative, the Lord God will be forced to use her own life force to make up the difference. And Joanna’s life force is already nearly gone."

Calm. Stay calm.

Liu Mengchao forced himself not to think about Joanna’s condition. The top priority was to start the Lord God Game as quickly as possible and earn enough safe points.

"Baiya, tell me: which worlds can be unlocked right now?"

A long silence followed. Baiya seemed to be thinking about which worlds could be used at that moment.

At last, as Liu Mengchao’s impatience mounted, Baiya let out a heavy sigh.

"To construct a fully fleshed-out world with no supernatural elements requires at least ten thousand points from the reward pool."

"So, to cross over into a well-developed novel or film world, even those without the supernatural, takes at least ten thousand points?"

"Yes. I just checked. To save as many points as possible, I scanned your room and found several complete worlds without supernatural power: Sherlock Holmes, Jane Eyre, Records of the Grand Historian, Oda Nobunaga..."

Each of these worlds required ten thousand points—utterly useless for their current predicament. Liu Mengchao almost wanted to roll his eyes at Baiya, but since Baiya didn’t even have a body, he could only sigh and state his thoughts directly.

"Just tell me plainly—what can I do with these ten points? And what must I do to save Joanna's life?"

"To create a completely frozen scene only requires one hundred points from the reward pool. That's our best option. When the Lord God Game ends, as long as there is more than zero left, Joanna will survive. So if we end up with negative ninety points, there’s still a chance to earn safe points before it’s over. Now, based on what I detected in your room, the available frozen scenes are:

Qu Yuan's leap into the river,
A poster of McGrady making a shot,
An anime still on your computer screen,
A Bakuman manga poster."

"We can still create a scene, Baiya. It seems we're not at a dead end yet."

Even with a sliver of hope, Liu Mengchao would never give up.

"Baiya, is there any way to increase the reward points in the pool?"

"Since there’s only one Lord God Game participant currently, the only feasible way is to use the participant’s intense emotional fluctuations. The stronger their emotions, the more points will be added to the pool."

"Understood!"

Liu Mengchao closed his eyes and carefully recalled what was in his room.

Qu Yuan... but it’s just a still image, what could I have him do?

McGrady’s jump shot, frozen in midair—what could I have that vagrant do?

Then inspiration struck, and Liu Mengchao’s eyes lit up.

The world was decided.

When a person first arrives in a strange environment, the first emotion they feel is fear. Having studied psychology, Liu Mengchao knew that if someone is too frightened, their emotions won’t fluctuate much further. He had to give them hope, then crush it. After all, he had no points to offer as game rewards.

He was still at negative ninety!

The environment couldn’t be too terrifying, and there could be no supernatural elements, but the subject also needed to realize the world was different from their own.

Except for the anime he’d watched on his computer that morning, nothing else fit these criteria.

Most importantly, the anime’s protagonist was also a scumbag. A scumbag facing a scumbag—how fitting.

"Baiya, I’ve chosen the world for the Lord God Game."

School Days.

Let that wretch who dares wield a knife at a little girl face Makoto Ito.

"Ding!"

A long system chime sounded in Liu Mengchao’s ear, and the task panel appeared before him.

"Lord God Game, world setting complete.
School Days, scene paused at one minute forty-eight seconds: Makoto Ito secretly photographing Kotonoha Katsura on the train with his cellphone.
This world is a completely frozen scene, total duration: twenty minutes. For each additional minute, one hundred points will be deducted from the pool.
This world has no supernatural abilities.
This world’s exclusive aura: Protagonist Aura. (Activation cost: ten thousand points.)
Player count: 1
Name: Jiao Fuguai
Gender: Male
Occupation: Vagrant
Potential: 0/10
Please, dear Substitute, prepare to enter the game.
Note: You may also choose spectator mode (cost: 100,000 points).
Item detected: metal knife, in compliance with world rules, may be brought in."

A dazzling white light suddenly appeared before Liu Mengchao. When he opened his eyes again, a vagrant lay unconscious on the ground before him.

Jiao Fuguai...?

Liu Mengchao casually sat beside a middle-aged woman, watching the unconscious vagrant as if he were already dead.

Makoto Ito sat to Jiao Fuguai’s left, Kotonoha Katsura to his right. Across from Jiao Fuguai sat Death herself, gently caressing a fruit knife still stained with blood.

"Ding...
Countdown: twenty seconds. Please, dear Substitute, prepare to issue the first task.
Note: Erasure function requires 100,000 points and is currently unavailable."

Liu Mengchao glanced at the blank panel that had appeared before him and smiled.

"Scum like you—you only ever have one ending!"

Task issued!

——————

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