A girl was sitting by herself on a meadow.

She had beautiful, golden blonde hair that draped over her shoulder. Her dress occasionally fluttered in the winds, and she held it down with a slight blush. Her posture was relaxed.

Clearly, she was enjoying the warm sunshine.

There was a figure calling out to her from a distance.

It was blurry.

The girl replied with a nod, and she slowly propped her body up with her elbow.

She strode towards the blurry figure, humming with each step she took.

There was a big smile on her face.

It was as if they were very familiar with each other.

If an outsider were to watch, he would be transfixed in the warm gazes they exchanged.

Time seemed to stop, leaving only the two in this vast world.

The image blurred out, like a rock getting tossed in a calm pond, radiating ripples.

The same girl now sat in a forest.

If one put their ears near, he would hear the chirping of birds and the creaking of wood from animals passing by.

The girl was sitting on a tree log, dancing her feet together.

There was a big smile on her face.

The girl hummed a lively tune, and the forest creatures seemed to be enamored by her.

They gathered around, and pestered for her loving touch.

She would stroke their ears, clean their fur, or massage their body.

Anything the animals asked.

The animals were jubilant.

Some snuck under her arms, and made them their new comfy nest.

The girl could only smile wryly.

She then heard the sound of someone stepping on a tree branch.

The animals took notice, and they saw a figure approaching their mistress.

It was blurry.

They unanimously shuddered in fear.

The crowd gathering around her soon dispersed, leaving the two people alone.

She hurriedly stood up, and greeted him with a smile. They danced their fingers together, and walked into the deep part of the forest.

The atmosphere between them was uplifting.

The smile on her face never faded.

Unbeknownst to them, there was another figure, silently watching from behind.

On that face was the expression of pure hatred.

The next scenes got progressively messier.

It was a whirlwind of recollections, without any semblance of congruity or continuity.

I felt my intelligence would be whipped into paste if I continued to look any further, so I took my hand off the orb.

“It was strange.”

The orb was incomplete. I can only view a fragment of the owner's memory.

There were traces of a god’s soul, but they had mostly been corrupted. 'Soul' would be an exaggerating term, it would be more appropriate to call it a carcass.

The remnants of a god’s soul.

There was no independent will left, only a broken record that played itself over and over. Whatever angle you looked from, it’s depressing.

I could imagine the last moments of this god - no, this child’s life.

Despair, anguish, hopelessness.

Only the most negative of emotions could corrupt a soul this much.

Naturally, a blackened soul like this would not be fit for consumption. There is no power point to gain from a tainted product.

That’s probably the reason why it could get away. The predator simply wasn’t interested.

There is no saving for a corrupted soul, especially a god’s soul, except shredding it into pieces.

“Rina-chan, why is this world so cruel? It’s supposed to be a world I created, but now I can hardly recognize it.”

“Did I make a mistake?”

I stared at the little orb in my hand. There were black dots on its supposedly smooth surface. They were bumpy and uneven.

Rina put a cookie in her mouth.

“No, you did not.”

“That’s the curse of intelligence. Have it, and you can experience the most rewarding of feelings, but at the same time, you’re also prone to receiving the worst. It’s a trade. While an intelligent being gloated in his victory, there is, somewhere else, another intelligent being who suffered.”

“You may have created this world, but what its residents do is up to them. You have little voice in the matter.”

“As they progress and get stronger, more independent, someday, they won’t need you anymore. You will then only exist in words and stories, a relic of the past.”

Rina dipped a cookie in carrot milk and munched on it.

“But of course, it would be a long time till that day comes, so don’t sweat it too much. You need to solve the problem at hand first. I actually have some new ideas for you, useless goddess.”

“New idea? Tell me! Rina-chan!”

I looked at her expectantly.

Rina-chan (Mom) is reliable after all.

“Hmm-hmm.”

Rina cleared her throat.

“Creating 500 new bodies would cost you 5 points, that’s a fact, and you don’t have enough to do that and also manifest yourself on Maldea.”

“But what if, you already have 500 bodies, or even more?”

“Where are you going at, Rina-chan? I want my player’s bodies to be humanoid! And they have to be beautiful, not just goblins or some random animals!”

“Just shut up for a second. I’m the one talking here.”

“Okay...”

Rina-chan (Mom) is mad again.

She tossed another cookie in her mouth, and began to spoke.

“Hmm-hmm, you know a God’s soul contained their Inner Palace and Outer Palace, right? Especially their Inner Palace, it’s what grants you the ability to control your worshippers. Each god in Maldea protects one race, and that race is synonymous with their name and power.”

“Rina-chan, do you mean…?”

“Exactly.”

Rina lazily floated among space. She pointed at the yellow orb in my palm.

“Because this is a god’s soul, even if it was tainted, her Palaces are still there. After purifying and absorbing it, while it would not revive the person in question, it would grant you access to her power and along with that, her worshippers.”

“By that method, you could have a large number of bodies without soul, since all gods are tactful and would create many soulless bodies of their race in anticipation of a religious war, unlike a certain someone. I have witnessed that practice many times in the past.”

“If that fails and her reserve is empty, you could always look for recently deceased members of her race and summon them back. With some modification, it would give you a functioning body at a much lower cost than creating things from scratch.”

“Basically, you will succeed her and become the next god of her race, whatever that is. The total power points cost for this whole operation would amount to only the cost of purifying her soul, which considering you are the Mother God of this world, is not a whole lot. All in all, I think this is a very feasible plan.”

“What do you think, useless goddess?”

Ehhh?

I took a moment to process everything Rina just said.

I’m this goddess’s Mother (in paper) and now Rina asked me to steal my daughter’s job?

Isn’t that … kind of wrong?

I don’t even know what kind of goddess she is, or the people she ruled over, at least until I absorbed her soul.

But it can’t change the fact that her soul’s already dead, and her will would not come back however hard we tried. If we left her soul as is, it will be further corroded and turned into a mindless Devil.

The consequences would be far more serious, and I don’t have the power to deal with a Devil running amok in my god space.

“You should make a quick decision. Her worshippers might not hold out for long.”

“Ehhh? What do you mean, Rina-chan?”

Rina's face scrunched up.

“Do I have to point out everything to you, useless goddess? What would be the fate of mortals whose god was killed? Remember, this Maldea is not the world of fairy tales you imagined it to be.”

I felt a shudder at Rina’s words.

“If her worshippers’ died out, or her belief was extinguished, this tainted soul would be corrupted immediately and turned into a Devil. So whatever you do, useless goddess, make it quick.”

Rina tossed another cookie in her mouth.