Remi opened his eyes to stare at a crystalline ceiling. The room was well lit, though as he looked around at it, he was disgusted by the emptiness. His loathing was brought to an abrupt halt though as a system notification rang through the room.

 

"What is it?"

 

"Lord Remi, It's time to leave if you want to be on time for the millennial congress."

 

"I'll be out in a second."

 

Remi waived off the notification and lifted himself from his bed. As he left contact with it, the bed disintegrated into countless white particles that fluttered around the room before burning out.

 

With a wave of his hand, black robes materialized around his average body. His black hair remained disturbed as if he cared little for it and with another gesture, the world around him crumbled.

 

Outside of the collapsing cube, a woman of average looks and personality stood ready to receive the God. Remi only gave the woman a glance before following after her. The woman raised a talisman and with it, a neat oval in space formed through which a glamorous room filled with creatures of mystery walked, chatted, and danced about.

 

Remi followed the woman through the portal, appearing on the other side as if it were only a step away. His arrival drew the gazes of the many Gods and with it, their silence. He ignored the stares and cut across the center of the room taking a stance against a far wall.

 

Despite his cold gaze levied against the group, a beautiful man with jade white skin and facial features that'd cause other men to blush strode up to Remi with two drinks in hand. From his extended hand, Remi accepted the drink and sipped on it a bit while ignoring the smiling man.

 

"I'm surprised to see you, Remi. Didn't think you'd show up this time."

 

"Why? Was I not invited?"

 

"No, no, no. It's nothing like that. You can't afford to lose again though."

 

"Is that what the stares are about?", Remi scoffed at the man's comment.

 

The man replied while shrugging.

 

"After all, It's not often you see a God lose their Godhood."

 

Remi remained silent at the prediction, his attention directed at a newly arrived visitor descending a spiral staircase. The man, similar to the specimen beside Remi, was beautiful with long golden hair and blue eyes. His jaw line was rigid, yet halted at just the right depth to present an attractive draw to anyone who laid eyes on him.

 

Arriving at the bottom of the stairs, the man made quick strides until he stood upon a raised platform at the far end of the hall. He snapped his fingers materializing a microphone like object in his hands and a enlarged screen reflecting him far above him.

 

"My fellow Gods! It's once again time for our great competition! I suspect each of you have prepared yourselves, strengthening your worlds, empowering your heroes, and most importantly, prepared yourselves for the deserved reward!"

 

The man's arms waved in flamboyance and his body movements energetic. Cheers roared back to him as if in response to which he allowed for a moment before raising his hand for silence.

 

"I see we have new Gods among us today. I welcome you. We welcome you. Your first game is always risk free, the reaped Godhood supplied by the Prime Gods. Feel free to ask your brethren about strategies and tactics. With that, I wish you all the greatest glory. The Gods Game will start in 24 hours."

 

Remi kept his eyes on the speaker as he made his way off the pedestal and into the crowd for discussion. The man must have felt the stare as he noticed Remi resting against the wall. Though it flashed too quickly for other Gods to notice, Remi picked up the sneer the man held as he dismissed himself from the group and walked up to him.

 

"My oh my! Isn't this Remi we have here? I could hardly feel your existence."

 

"Turns out losing your Godhood isn't all that bad if it keeps away the perverts.", Remi retorted without hesitation.

 

He brought the drink to his lips while watching his previous companion sneak away. With the two alone, the man dropped his fake demeanor and niceties.

 

"You've only got 1 game left, Remi. I'm excited to see you fall into mortality. Hey, do me a favor, keep those shitty ideas of yours away from the new Gods. We don't need them picking up bad habits."

 

The man walked away without even waiting for Remi's response. Despite the aggressive stance of the Prime God, Remi didn't care too much about him. Instead, he was distracted by the various conversations happening around the room.

 

"...set up a church with you as the primary..."

 

"...ruining the cerebrum in just the right way enables easier control..."

 

"...when they're young, take them from their parents and put them into training as soon..."

 

Disgusted by the various methods being passed onto the new Gods, Remi left the room through another portal only to arrive where he started, in an empty field. He flicked his arm and a series of worlds appeared before him.

 

Each was a world he controlled, yet if one looked closely, you'd discover the worlds knew nothing of their God. Remi felt his Godhood slipping away and knew it was his final game. He never enjoyed the game as he lost a few worlds every time it was played.

 

Left with only 6 remaining worlds in his possession, Remi felt an uncanny urge to go all out. He never interfered with his worlds before. Free will was something Remi considered precious as he became a God originally because the owner of his will allowed free will to exist in their collection.

 

He was able to climb up from a mortal and become a God, yet upon achieving it, he found out just how rare such a thing was. Most Gods enforced some method of control on their worlds. They treated their worlds as dispensable objects grown only to compete in the Gods Game.

 

Such philosophy sickened Remi, yet the results were undeniable. With a hands off approach, Remi was unable to warn his worlds about their impending war. As such, once the game began, it was often a one sided slaughter against him.

 

The Gods Game utilized each God's Godhood as the reward and penalty. If your world lost, then the victor would gain the proffered portion of the defeated God's Godhood.

 

After losing thousands of times, Remi was down to his last bit of Godhood. If he divided it any further, he'd fall from Immortality and with it, lose possession over what worlds he controlled.

 

That uncanny feeling grew further and for the first time, Remi decided to break his non-interference policy. Though he wouldn't intervene in the world directly, having a representative who knew what was at stake was a viable way forward. He wouldn't force his representative though.

 

Despite his decision, he refused to stomp on the one thing that provided him the chance to grow. His mind made up, Remi started planning.

 

From his 6 worlds, 1 was eliminated instantly. It was too advanced and controlled by a world government. His representative would have to face too many bureaucratic hurdles to properly gain enough power and fight back.

 

Remi eliminated another 2 worlds for their lack of variety. He required an environment that subjected his representative to a plethora of circumstances and events without his interference.

 

The remaining 3 worlds showed promise, and each held what he was looking for. In the end, Remi selected the largest super Earth sized planet as his representative's home world.

 

With the location selected, Remi began pondering about his representative. He didn't want a human as their growth potential was too linear. The various beast kins had the same issue.

 

Spiritual beings held blatant weaknesses and although they could become strong in certain fields, they lacked the diversity needed to wage a war. Remi kicked back onto a chair formed from light and projected his consciousness into the worlds.

 

He looked around and observed the various creatures and their activities hoping for a spark of inspiration. To his pleasure, he came across a team of cultivators fleeing from a dungeon, their bodies damaged in unique ways.

 

Remi examined the dungeon closer and found it to be an artifact left behind to protect a powerful cultivator's inheritance. The object was immobile, however its utility was quite fascinating. A smile spread across Remi's usually stoic face as he settled on his representative.

 

His conscious withdrew to his body and after raising his hand, a silver dungeon core seemed to construct itself within his palm. The artifact hovered silent on his palm as Remi's attention turned towards the next step. He required a soul to inhabit the core.