Prologue

It was with the clashing clang of two swords that the nameless life-supporting planet of the Axeriuth Star System in the Andromeda Galaxy exploded. It would cause a right mess of things for the local governing body of the Axeriuth System, but the two who caused this destruction, the divinities named Attiyq Youm and Bakkathra, couldn’t care less about the consequences of their actions. All that mattered to the two of them was that their fight would come to an abrupt end.

Attiyq Youm knew he was winning, mainly because of how effortlessly he blocked and dodged the sword strikes of Bakkathra. He was the war master of all war masters, not a pathetic, lowly assassin. It would be a wintry day in ALL the layers of Hell before he lost in a fight.

As the molten core of the planet spewed through the cracks of the layers above, both Attiyq Youm and Bakkathra flew to above the troposphere, preventing any untimely deaths on their parts. They tried earlier to find out if there were any people who called that planet home, but it seemed to be impossible, since there was no sign of structures around the places they fought.

“When will you concede defeat, Bakkathra? This is such a pointless exchange of blows to our swords. I’m sure you know that, right?”

This question made Bakkathra scowl even worse than when the planet exploded. “Shut the hell up! I haven’t lost yet, and you know it!”

Attiyq Youm sighed as he shook his head. “You haven’t so much as scratched me with your blade. What makes you think you can win this prolonged fight now?”

As if that was the cue for Bakkathra to prove his point, he swung his left hand out, sending a projectile that hit Attiyq Youm in the chest and knocking him away. “I wouldn’t say that, if I were you, Attiyq Youm.”

Attiyq attempted to get up onto his feet, but then wobbled, as if he suddenly had an illness. He looked down at the projectile floating in the void. “Wh… what is…?” He barely laid eyes on it before he floated closer to the Axeriuth Star, with his eyes fluttering closed.

The object looked like a regular rock, if only it didn’t have the flow of some liquid all around it. It was not a regular rock, then. Bakkathra had thrown a poisoned meteorite shard. “You forget who you’re dealing with, here, Attiyq Youm. Now, let me have it my way, from here on—”

A loud roar emerged from the direction of the Axeriuth Star, interrupting the gloating victory of Bakkathra. “Enough!! Bakkathra, you have almost crossed the line with this action, nearly taking you to the point of no return from being a true Divine Being. Did you want to be stripped of your divine privileges?”

“N-no—”

“Then bring Attiyq Youm with you back to the Divine Realms, where we will have a nice, long, overdue chat.”

“Er… yes, Lord ΑΩ.”

With that, Bakkathra flew over to Attiyq Youm’s wounded body and picked him up, hoping that the other deity would not die before the day was up.

O=====||===============================>

The Divine Realms.

When one thinks of this place, it’s normal to think of idyllic plains, training grounds with a near-infinite source of booze and women, or even a wheel of sorts that cycles a person through multiple lives. However, that is not the case in reality. The Divine Realms of the Multiverse that most people access are little more than imitations of the real deal, with each universe having a shoddier and paler imitation the further away from Universe Aleph one got.

However, when speaking of Divine Beings like Attiyq Youm and Bakkathra, they could go to all the Divine Realms of the Multiverse, depending on if they suffered any infractions that removed access from certain universal Divine Realms. It was a complicated process, talking about the infractions one had to undo to be in good standing, so that’s not to be spoken about. What IS, however, is the fact that Attiyq Youm and Bakkathra were now kneeling before ΑΩ, both of them being five yards away from each other to keep a fight from breaking out.

“Now, tell me, both of you,” Lord ΑΩ said. “How do you see this ending?”

Attiyq Youm took the immediate opportunity to speak up. “Lord ΑΩ, I see this ending when both of us stop setting each other in the crosshairs of combat.”

Lord ΑΩ put a fist under his chin. “That goes without saying. However, what I want you two to know is whether you can stop fighting to the death like this.”

Bakkathra raised his hand. “If I may, Lord ΑΩ?”

“Go ahead, Bakkathra, but choose your words carefully.”

Bakkathra nodded before he stood up. “It’s not either of our intentions to fight like this, but something, or maybe someone, always riles us up to the point of conflict whenever we see each other outside of the Divine Realms. What purpose they have, I don’t know, and I doubt my rival knows as well.”

“So, you suspect that someone is meddling with the affairs of the Divine?”

Before Bakkathra could respond, Attiyq Youm raised his hand. “Actually, I think he might be onto something. What I mean is, this unknown meddler is doing everything he can to make us kill each other, and Bakkathra acts more than he thinks things through properly whenever he’s outside of the Divine Realms.”

Bakkathra gave a disgruntled sigh. “Normally, I’d say something about resentment, but that’s actually a valid point. It’s true, I don’t think before I act all that much, and that has been to my detriment all this time.”

Lord ΑΩ nodded. “That’s understandable. Now, why have you two been fighting like this at all, and how can you resolve it peacefully?”

Attiyq Youm stood up. “Lord ΑΩ, we were having an argument about the afterlives, and how useful they really are. I find value in the afterlives. Bakkathra does not, though I never quite found out what he favors instead.”

Bakkathra’s neck nearly snapped from the speed at which he faced Attiyq Youm. “You mean to tell me you forgot I favor reincarnation?!”

“Uh… maybe?”

Before Attiyq Youm and Bakkathra could start another fight, Lord ΑΩ cleared his throat. “Why not make this be a bet between you two? Choose one person in the entire Multiverse, give them a choice on the matter of what is appropriate, and let that settle your debate.”

Attiyq Youm and Bakkathra slowly turned to face Lord ΑΩ, before they both facepalmed at the same time. “Why did we not think of that?” they asked at the same time.

Lord ΑΩ shrugged. “Maybe you two needed the time to hear it from someone else. This is not the first time it had to happen.”

Attiyq Youm nodded. “Understood, Lord ΑΩ. So, we each make a choice about who is our candidate for this bet, do we?”

Bakkathra shook his head. “I think this is where we have to pick the same person and guide them ourselves.”

“Bakkathra has it right, Attiyq Youm. You are to comb through the entire Multiverse, from Aleph Universe to Tav Universe, and pick a singular candidate for this bet. Both of you are to guide the person, but you are not to reveal your identities to them, not least of all because they might end up in an insane asylum.”

Attiyq Youm nodded. “In that case, might I suggest we go with the candidate that a group of scientists from Aleph Universe are monitoring? Currently, they are searching for a way to prove that Afterlives exist, and to make them fully accessible to everyone in the realms.”

Bakkathra tilted his head to one side. “Who do you mean, exactly?”

Attiyq Youm groaned. “I mean that young man from the world of Terra that the scientists have accidentally locked onto, both his home world and himself.”

Bakkathra blinked rapidly for a few seconds. “Oh, wait, you mean Gato, the kid who lives in Universe Tav, right? Sure, that works. How are we to talk with him, though, much less get him to understand what we’re trying to do?”

“I will leave it to you to figure this out, both of you. Now, you are dismissed from my throne room to return to the communal recreational facility. Perhaps you will come up with an idea a few hours from now.”

Bakkathra nodded. “C’mon, Attiyq Youm, we need to get going. It’s not like those games in… the… wait a second!”

Attiyq Youm walked over to his rival. “What’s the matter?”

“I have an idea! Why not make Gato’s life like a game that you’d find especially easily in Aleph Universe? That way, we can give his actions a Consequence Meter to say where the different universes will fall under in terms of Afterlife or Reincarnation.”

Attiyq Youm and Lord ΑΩ both stared at Bakkathra, their mouths agape.

“Well?”

Lord ΑΩ cleared his throat. “Very well. I will permit his course of action to take place. Be careful about this, however, because there could very well be an enemy with access to our conversation today.”

“That’s a good point, Lord ΑΩ,” Attiyq Youm said. “We’ll keep that in mind as we develop the game features that Gato’s life will become.”

Bakkathra nodded. “What he said. Then again…” He turned to face Attiyq Youm. “Who do you think is the one responsible for this mess to occur?”

“You’re asking me? I thought you’d know who it was…”

“No, I don’t, hence my question.”

Attiyq Youm groaned. “What is it with this situation?”

Lord ΑΩ coughed into his fist. “There’s no need to worry about this any further, either of you.”

Bakkathra turned to face Lord ΑΩ, an eyebrow arched. “What do you mean?”

“What I mean is, the enemy needs to be thrown off track, so to speak. It would be best to prove that the enemy is fully incapable of finding out all the details.”

“Ah, okay, I see.”

Attiyq Youm swiveled to walk to the door. “We need to hurry. Don’t want the system undeveloped for when Gato begins his journey under our care.”

“Ack! Wait for me, Attiyq!”

With that, Bakkathra hurried after his rival, both of them making it out the door.

O=====||===============================>

At the break room in the Divine Realm of Lord ΑΩ…

“Now, Bakkathra, what is your idea of a video game supposed to look like?”

“Do you know what the term Role-Playing Game is supposed to mean?”

What is he talking about? “I’m afraid you’ll need to be clearer with what you’re talking about, because I’m not that familiar with certain video game genres.”

Bakkathra sighed. “Well, here’s what I need to tell you, then. A role-playing game is where the cast of playable characters, typically under the control of the Player in the middle of combat, have to follow a story from the beginning to the end. This story could very well be their own story, or the story of the leader in the game, otherwise known as the main character.”

“Since when is the main character known as the leader?”

“Because the main character is the one the rest of the cast follow for the duration of the game.”

Attiyq Youm nodded. “Okay, that makes sense to me.”

“Good, because there’s more to be said.”

“Wait, what do you mean, there’s more to be said?”

Bakkathra took a piece of candy from the candy bowl next to the couches and unwrapped it. “Honestly, it’s a matter of what sort of stats and such will be important in this adventure we’re giving our chosen hero. How do we do this to make sense?”

As Bakkathra popped the candy, a fudge bite from the looks of it, into his mouth, Attiyq Youm raised an eyebrow at him. “You’d better give me a full idea of what you mean before we do this to anyone.”

Bakkathra chewed and swallowed his candy. “It’s quite simple, really. We’re going to rate his characteristics in a numerical value.”

“What.”

“Seriously, it’ll be fine. You’ve got to trust me.”