08 – First Step into the Mortal World
"All 30 students have already sent a part of their consciousness into the small world." A man in military uniform said as he opened his eyes.
This man was one of the school's directors, responsible for the safety of the students and for guarding the premises so that no evil god, or worse, demon, would try to harm the students.
"Well, now will be the ideal time to find out who really has the potential to be a powerful god." A woman in military fatigues said in a cold voice as she looked at the projection of a planet in the center of the room.
"First Sergeant Dillon, which of the students in this year's class do you think we should pay special attention to?" She asked a man Adrian would recognize as his class teacher.
"Ma'am, among the students with the greatest potential in the class, the most outstanding student is Zack Gale, the God of Thunder, he is already a rank 2 embryonic divinity and with a very powerful divinity, it is very likely that he will get one of, if not the best score in this exam." He said. "Another student to keep an eye on is Lucy Wavecrest, the Goddess of Waves, who has also shown extraordinary potential in class, but due to a lack of motivation, I can't put her above Zack Gale."
Hearing this, the woman nodded in satisfaction. "And the boy with full divinity?"
"Adrian Innovashine, the god of creativity. Unfortunately, he hasn't managed to get my attention on any of the occasions, always keeping a low profile and discreet, with a weak personality that's easily intimidated. I don't think he'll make it to the end of the exam..." The professor sighed.
Listening to his explanation, the three headmasters watching the projection of the planet also sighed.
If this entire deity were under my control..." was the thought of practically everyone in the room.
"All right, since the first day of exams is always the busiest day, I'm going to retire for now, if anything important happens, you can call me." The woman said as she gave everyone a military salute and left the room.
The other principals also looked at her with conflicted expressions, thinking that it was understandable that she wouldn't be happy after hearing Adrian's result, since she was the one who had invited him to the school.
- Adrian's POV -
Looking at the old man who had just woken up with the help of a girl my age, but who was still looking at me with his old sparkling eyes, I didn't quite know how to react for a few seconds.
If they were other gods from my school, they might have made a grand entrance and announced that they were not God's messengers, as the old man assumed, but the God these mortals needed.
But another thought occurred to me.
Wouldn't it be easier to relate to these mortals if, instead of using my identity as God, I blended in with them and just pretended to be God's messenger?
Having decided to act that way, I nodded and put a polite smile on my face.
"Yes, I'm the emissary of the God of the Internet, do you believe in our God?" I asked as I approached and held out my hand to help the old man up.
"God of the Internet...?" The old man asked confusedly, obviously having no idea who the God of the Internet was and what the deity of that God was.
This point was a very important decision I made.
If I presented myself as the God of Creativity, I knew that my divinity alone would be a big reason for mortals to see me in a strange light, since it didn't show any power.
To make sure that didn't happen, I decided to use the name God of the Internet.
It wasn't impossible, but I had to make up a new prayer for myself and associate it with my divine power, with some effort.
"Yes, the God of the Internet. Have you never heard of the God of the Internet?" I asked, pretending not to understand her doubt.
"Forgive my ignorance, divine messenger, I really have never heard of the God of the Internet." The old man said sheepishly as he bowed his head.
"Don't worry old man, the God of the Internet is not easily offended, being a magnanimous God, it is people like you that he sees as having the greatest potential. Those without knowledge, but who are willing to recognize their own shortcomings and aren't afraid to seek divine enlightenment," he said calmly. I said calmly, keeping a smile on my face.
If old Adrian's experience was anything to go by, it would be impossible to speak to these people in this manner, but considering my social experience from my past life, speaking to other people in a formal and polite tone that still conveyed confidence was something I'd practiced a lot.
When he heard my explanation about the Internet God, the old man's eyes lit up and he stood up, looking at me in awe.
"Can you tell me more about the Internet God, Divine Envoy?" He asked curiously, causing curiosity to appear not only on his face, but also on the faces of the other nine people in the room.
Since they were here to pray to an unknown god, it was only fair that I show them the power of the Internet.
"Actually, instead of just telling you stories, it's even better if I just show you so you can see for yourself." I said. "Come, come closer."
"Yes, divine messenger." The old man said as he approached me politely.
As he did so, the girl who had helped him when he fainted also approached, along with the other 8 people who had been praying to me and looking at me in amazement the whole time.
"Call me Athenos." I said in a calm voice as I gave them a false name.
Since I would be playing the role of a divine envoy, it was only fitting that I use a name other than my own so as not to cause any confusion in the future.
"Yes, Lord Athenos." The 10 humans replied in unison.
I just shook my head at them, put my hands together in a prayer position, and began to pray the prayer I had linked to myself.
"O God of the Internet, Lord of magic wires and digital paths, grant us fast connections and digital wisdom, let your wisdom flow through my body. May our thoughts travel like lightning through your virtual domains, guided by your cyber light on the path to glory. In your grace, protect us from viruses and hackers, and may our downloads always be complete. Amen."
When it came to making up prayers, I added words from my old world that might sound funny to people from my world, but would sound mystical and divine to people from this world who had never heard these words.
As soon as I finished praying, I turned my Divine Power project into a book in front of me.
When they saw the book appear out of nowhere, astonishment appeared on the faces of those ten people.
"My God...is this magic?" One man asked.
"I don't think so, I've never seen magic make an object appear so easily!" A woman replied in shock.
"This is divine magic!" The old man said in shock, making people quickly believe what he said.
Ignoring their doubts, I opened the book and showed them the contents.
"This, ladies and gentlemen, is the greatest gift from the God of the Internet. The Internet Connection." I said as I showed them the book with only two symbols on the paper. "As long as you recite the prayer of the God of the Internet, he will allow you to use a book or an Internet scroll for one hour, and with this book you can access an app called [Library], a place where you can find the most diverse books in the palm of your hand."
When they heard what I said, their expressions showed slight disbelief and a little doubt.
But in order not to let this doubt spread further, I clicked on the [Library] app icon, and in front of everyone's eyes, the page of the book changed from just a sheet of paper with two icons to a drawing of a real library!
"Is there really a real library in this book?!" The girl accompanying the old man said in shock.
"Yes, you see, this book is called 'Mortal Magic: Apprentice', which is a book that contains all the information a person needs to know in order to become a true apprentice magician, assuming they have the talent for it." I said as I clicked on the book and the image of the library on the screen changed and the contents of the book I clicked on appeared on the screen.
Seeing all these changes happening to the book in my hand, everyone was shocked.
"Is it possible to learn magic from this book?" A young boy asked in shock.
Smiling at him, I held out my hand and gave him the book to look at. "Yes, as long as you pray to the God of the Internet, he will allow the knowledge in his divine library to be read by all his believers. All he needs is a prayer to summon the book into the mortal world for one hour."
Hearing that they only needed to pray once to have access to this knowledge for an entire hour without spending a single bronze coin, they were shocked.
"Can I try it?" The old man asked shyly, but his face showed great excitement.
"Go ahead, do you remember the prayer?" I asked with a smile, realizing that my first step into the mortal world had been well taken.