With nothing else to do I decided to sit back and open the god chat to pass the time. Being a god had its ups and downs. I didn't need to eat, drink, or sleep which sounded great at first, but it also meant I didn't have much to do when I wasn't busy with my planet. Most of the time all I could really do was wait, and waiting with nothing to distract me got boring fast. The god chat was one of the only ways to keep myself busy, even if most of the time it was just filled with people bragging or complaining.
So that's what I did. I sat there scrolling through endless lines of messages. Some gods begged for help, some mocked the weaker ones, and some went on and on about how amazing their planets were. It was mostly the same as always, but at least it gave me something to look at while the hours slipped by.
Like this five whole hours passed before something finally changed. A bright flash appeared in front of me and the system's voice rang out.
[Congratulations to all gods on surviving the second day]
[Calculating the rank of each planet]
[1. Stardust]
[2. Cosmos]
[3. Fission]
...
[6. Nova]
...
[9. Nexus]
The list hung in front of me and I stared at it for a while. My own spot wasn't too surprising since I had sped up the growth of my planet by many times over since the last ranking. What really caught my attention were the changes in the top spots. Fission, who had been sitting at rank 1, had dropped to 3rd place. In his place were two names I hadn't seen before, Stardust and Cosmos. Even more shocking was Nexus. Yesterday he had been second and wouldn't stop bragging about it in the chat. Now he had fallen all the way down to 9th place. That drop was bigger than I ever expected.
Before I could think too much about it the system continued with the rewards.
[The rewards will be as follows]
[1000th to 501st: 10 divinity]
[500th to 101st: 15 divinity and a common blessing]
[100th to 11th: 30 divinity and a common blessing]
[10th to 4th: A random D ranked divine artefact]
[3rd: A random C ranked divine artefact]
[2nd: A random B ranked divine artefact]
[1st: A random A ranked divine artefact]
[Congratulations to those that received a reward and good luck next time.]
As the final message appeared, a golden light burst into life right beside me. It was so bright I had to squint, and for a moment it felt like the whole void was glowing. The light stayed there for a few long seconds before it slowly faded back into darkness. When it was finally gone, I saw something lying on the ground next to me.
It was a ring. Not just any ring though, this one was made of shining gold and covered with colorful gems that sparkled like tiny stars. Just by looking at it I could tell it was something special.
Without thinking I reached out and picked it up. The moment my hand touched the cool surface, a new message from the system appeared.
[Name: Ring of Divine Heal (D)]
[Effect: Once per day the user can heal a life form on their planet.]
[Note 1: The healing effect can bring any being back to their peak health as long as they are still alive.]
[Note 2: The lifeform will instinctively know that they were saved by a higher being and will automatically know the name of the one that saved them.]
I read the description a few times just to let it sink in. This artefact could heal anything on my planet back to perfect health once a day as long as it wasn't already dead. On top of that, whoever I healed would know it was me who saved them. That meant this ring wasn't only a tool to protect life, it was also a way to spread my name. If I used it at the right time, entire species might start seeing me as their god and savior.
The thought alone made me excited. With one artefact I could change the path of evolution or even start building the first signs of belief on my planet.
And this was just a D ranked artefact. If something like this was considered low level, then what kind of power would an A ranked artefact hold? The idea was almost too much to imagine.
Looking at the ring now sitting firmly on my finger, I decided it would be best not to use its ability right away. The power it held was tempting, but what use was there in saving simple animals that lacked the intelligence to recognize what had been done for them. Without understanding, there could be no gratitude or faith, and for now the ring would only serve as a reminder of the rewards waiting ahead if I continued down this path.
I let out a quiet breath and was about to open the god chat to pass the time. Talking with the others, even if most of it was bragging or meaningless chatter, it helped to fill the long hours in the void. But before I could even bring it up, another system notification appeared before my eyes, pulling my attention away.
[In order to increase the rate of development a competition between the gods will be held.]
[In this competition all gods must choose an organism from their planet to act as their champion in fights against other gods.]
[In this competition all gods will compete in 10 fights and the top 10 from these fights will then compete for first place.]
[Rewards will be granted based on rankings.]
[Note: Any being that dies in this competition will automatically be revived in the case that they die.]
[The competition will begin in 1 hour.]
The words lingered in front of me, glowing faintly, as if daring me to ignore them. I read over the messages again and again, but the meaning never changed. A competition. A battle between gods using the very creatures we had been raising and guiding until now.
I couldn't stop myself from feeling dumbfounded. Why would a competition be held so soon, when some gods had barely even managed to create multicellular life? It felt unfair, almost rushed, but fairness had little place in this existence. Rules were set by the system, and all we could do was follow them.
I pushed those thoughts aside. Complaining would change nothing. What mattered now was preparing. I needed to come up with a strategy for this competition.