"...For the time being, let's just make do with this here."
"Thriftiness is a virtue, after all!"
"As for funds, once we recruit members and go explore the Dungeon, we'll have money in no time."
"In other words, not only are there currently zero Familia members, but the startup capital is also zero?"
Laila summarized the situation, giving Haimer no chance to defend himself, and continued asking:
"..."
Haimer's smile froze on his face.
"Only one Lord Deity, no members, no funds, no reputation, and even the base is teetering on the brink of collapse."
The current state of the Haimer Familia was summarized with crystal clarity.
Laila looked at Haimer, a polite yet distant smile involuntarily appearing on her exquisite face.
It was just like a noble young lady rejecting a suitor who was not of equal social standing.
"God Haimer, thank you very much for your introduction."
"Your personal conditions are really, truly outstanding!"
Laila deliberately paused on the phrase 'personal conditions,' her gaze sweeping over Haimer's handsome face.
"However."
Sure enough, the word arrived late, but it arrived all the same.
"The strength of a Familia does not depend solely on its Lord Deity."
"The scale of the Familia, the average Level of its members, its reputation within the Guild, and... its financial status. These are all factors that we Elves must consider when choosing a home."
"My family has a small amount of fame back in my hometown. They expect me to join a Familia that has at least reached a D-rank evaluation, possesses stable logistical support, and has no fewer than two veteran adventurers of Level 3 or higher to serve as guides."
"So this is not just my personal wish; I really cannot justify it to my parents otherwise. You should be able to understand what I mean."
"They would think I... entrusted myself to the wrong person."
"Moreover, if I were to join you, would our Familia's base be located in this... building?"
"If I were injured, would the Familia have enough funds to purchase expensive potions for me? If I wanted to upgrade my equipment, do we have our own smiths, or do we have the connections to contact the masters of the Hephaestus Familia?"
Having finished speaking, Laila took a step back and performed an impeccable Elven curtsey toward Haimer.
"So, thank you very much for taking the time to meet with me today. But regarding your invitation, I can only refuse. I wish you verify soon find suitable Familia members."
"Good luck, Lord God."
With that, Laila turned and walked away. Her steps were brisk, showing not a shred of lingering attachment, as if she had just asked about the price of an item at a roadside stall and realized she was completely uninterested.
Haimer held his hand up, frozen in mid-air. The smile on his face hadn't even had time to fully retract, making him look somewhat comical.
Entrusted to the wrong person...
That evaluation was truly as precise as it was hurtful.
"Damn it!"
Haimer collapsed back onto his stool in defeat, scratching his hair.
This was already the third time he had summoned the courage to take the initiative. The targets of the previous two attempts—a burly Dwarf and a Beastman youth—hadn't even exchanged three sentences with him before treating him like air and walking right past.
At least this Elf miss was willing to stop and chat with him for a bit, even if the content of the chat was essentially a critical hit with every sentence.
Sure enough, in this realistic world, having good looks alone was useless.
He gazed at the bustling flow of people on the street. In the distance, Babel pierced straight into the clouds; it was the only passage connecting the surface to the Dungeon.
Countless adventurers formed parties large and small, marching there in high spirits or walking out laden with spoils.
They belonged to all sorts of Familias: the powerful Loki Familia, the Freya Familia, or perhaps emerging forces that were small but striving hard.
And he, Haimer, a 'bare-pole' god without a single follower, seemed so out of place here.
It really was a Hell-difficulty opening...
Haimer lamented in his heart.
Transmigrating to become a god sounded very cool.
But the reality was that in order to enjoy entertainment in the Lower World, the gods of the Heavens had to abide by the rules of the Lower World. They actively sealed away the vast majority of their power, retaining only their immortality, their Divine Aura, and the ability to bestow 'Grace' upon mortals.
Otherwise, they were just like mortals.
They could get hungry; they could get tired.
A god without a Familia was like duckweed without roots—unable to do anything.
No matter how strong his divine power was, he couldn't use it while it was sealed.
Want to fight monsters and grind dungeons?
Sorry, gods cannot enter the Dungeon.
Therefore, recruiting Familia members was the only path for a god to develop in the Lower World.
And if a god wanted to recruit Familia members... well, they had to be attractive.
Connections, financial power, and capability—one had to have them all.
But as luck would have it, Haimer's divinity was very obscure in this world!
Although he was a transmigrator, he was by no means a nameless god. In the distant Heavens, in that Divine Domain where even time seemed blurred, his divinity possessed many titles that made the other gods look sideways.
[Master of Weapons], [Calamity of War], [Ruler of Iron and Blood], [Gravedigger of Civilization], [Midwife of Civilization], [Source of Turmoil], [Terminator of All Things], [The Last King].
His origin did not come from mythology, but from many concepts.
—From the moment the first ape learned to sharpen a stone to pierce the skull of prey or its own kind.
From the moment the first bronze sword took shape in the furnace fire, emitting a crisp cry of conflict.
His divinity was born amidst those flying sparks and flowing blood.
As long as intelligent lifeforms still fought for benefits, as long as one living being still raised a butcher's knife against another, his Divine Fire would never distinguish, and his Divine Throne would hang high above mountains of corpses and seas of blood.
Thus, Haimer represented the entire process of a single species moving from the tentative sprouts of war to the prairie fire of conflict, all the way to total destruction, as well as every single element that drove this process—
Sounds very impressive, right?
It was simply like the setting of a Final Boss.
But so what?
In this land named Orario...
No! One! Knew! Him!
Haimer still clearly remembered the scene when he excitedly ran to the Adventurer's Guild to register as a god.
When he recited that long list of titles, the expression on the face of the Half-Elf staff member named Eina shifted from a polite smile to extreme confusion, and finally to a look that said, "Are you making fun of me?"
The memory was still vivid in Haimer's mind.
"Sigh..."
"It's bitter..."
Haimer sighed again, picking up the despised recruitment sign from the ground, ready to pack up and go home.
It seemed today was another day with zero harvest.
Although gods wouldn't die, the sensation of being so hungry that his chest stuck to his back was genuinely unbearable.
Maybe...
Should he really give up the path of independent entrepreneurship?
The Hephaestus Familia was always recruiting smithing apprentices year-round. With his divinity, going there to mix in as a high-level blacksmith wouldn't be bad.
Or he could go to the Miach Familia to help grind medicine. Miach was a good-natured fellow; he probably wouldn't mind another mouth to feed.
Although doing so would simply be a disgrace to the Divine Realm.
But it was still better than suffering the humiliation of returning to the Divine Realm or continuing to starve on the streets of Orario.
Just as Haimer was giving up on himself, doubting whether he should find a way to slip out of the city...
Lines of text, glowing with a faint blue halo that only he could see, suddenly surfaced in front of him.
[Ding. Detected that the Host has survived alone in the Lower World for one month...]
[Familia Recruitment System activation conditions met!]
[Starting up... 1%... 20%... 70%... 100%!]
[System activated successfully! The Super-Dimensional Familia Recruitment System is dedicated to serving you!]
A series of notification sounds rang out in his mind. Haimer froze completely, and the recruitment sign in his hand fell to the ground with a clatter.
Is this... a System?
The must-have 'Cheat' for transmigrators, late by a full month, had finally arrived!
Super-Dimensional Familia Recruitment System?
Could he recruit members across worlds?
If he went to other worlds, would he be able to unleash his divine power?
____
New Story: Danmachi: But I am a God, time to make a family!
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