Ren never planned on becoming a god. He definitely didn't plan on creating a whole planet and naming it "Rock" because he panicked and couldn't think of anything cooler.
It started like this.
Three in the morning. His room smelled like instant noodles and warm electronics. The kind of night where sleep felt illegal. Ren was slouched at his desk, eyes dry, brain flatlining. He clicked on a game he barely remembered downloading, something called Divine Life Architect. Sounded chill. Some god-simulator thing. Place animals. Manage villagers. Watch stuff happen. He liked games that didn't ask much of him. This one looked like a meme.
Until it swallowed him whole.
No dramatic explosion. Just a soft beep. Then black screen. Then—white. Blinding. Absolute. His desk, his room, his body—all gone.
Then came the voice.
"Auxiliary Consciousness Synced. Welcome, Extra Deity."
Ren blinked. Or thought he blinked. His body felt like a suggestion.
"Uh. What?"
"You have been selected to occupy the role of Extra Deity. Original transfer failed. You were... nearby."
"Did I just get isekai'd by a glitch?"
"Confirmed."
He groaned. Not because he hated it. He just felt like he should. "So what now? I start building pyramids? Spawn people? Drop plagues on Tuesdays?"
"Tutorial initializing. Create your domain."
A panel floated in front of him. It looked like a game menu but with no buttons. Just thoughts. As he thought them, options moved. Biome settings. Weather patterns. Magic sliders. Time flow. Death rules. It was all there.
"What if I make a world that's just ocean and one duck?"
"You may. But consider balance."
"I'm not here to consider anything. I named my world 'Rock,' for God's sake."
"Confirmed. Planet Rock created."
He laughed, just a little. "Okay. Let's make Rock beautiful."
He dragged a continent across the void. Dropped some mountains. Laid down rivers like spilled paint. Trees spawned where he stared too long. Animals began to show up on their own. Deer. Birds. Weird goat-lizard things with three eyes and emotional damage.
He didn't touch humans. Not yet. The idea of little people worshiping him made his stomach do flips. Or it would, if he had one.
"Let them chill for now," he said, watching a fox chase a glowing squirrel through grass that shimmered like green glass. "They're vibing."
The system chimed.
Quest: Spawn 2 Humans
Reward: 9 Coins
Note: Coins can be used to purchase weather, magic, or world features in the Divine Shop.
Ren squinted. "Wait. There's a quest system?"
"Confirmed. Completing quests increases deity rank and unlocks additional features."
"And I get nine coins for spawning two people?"
"Yes."
"Do I have to give them jobs or...?"
"Optional. You may allow them to develop independently."
Ren crossed his arms—or did the thought of it. "So if I drop Adam and Eve down there, then what? Sit back and watch them invent taxes?"
"Uncertain. Outcomes vary."
He pulled open the Divine Shop. Floating items flickered across a transparent window. "Rain – 2 coins. Fog – 3. Snow – 4. Basic Magic – 10. Fireball – 5. Cursed Bananas – 1?"
He stared at that last one.
"Limited time item."
"Why is there cursed fruit in a god simulator?"
"Entertainment value."
Ren snorted. "You know what, I respect that."
He closed the shop and looked down at Rock. It wasn't perfect. The oceans were too blue. The grass looked like a default texture. But it was his.
A herd of horned rabbits ran across a field. A tree spontaneously combusted. One of the goat-lizards climbed a hill and screamed into the void for twenty real-time minutes.
"Okay," he said, hands on his nonexistent hips. "I've created life. I've made a planet. What now?"
"You may proceed with the quest."
Ren hovered over an open field, a flat place near a river. Trees circled it like nervous parents. He sighed. "Fine. Let's do this."
He selected Spawn Human. A new window popped up.
Gender?
Traits?
Intelligence Level?
Aggression Slider?
"Is it wrong that I want to slide aggression all the way down just to see if they become couch potatoes?"
"Experimentation is encouraged."
He shrugged. "Alright. Human One. Female. Curious. Calm. Bit of anxiety. Kind of like... me if I had a better skincare routine."
A flash of light. There she was. Pale hair. Soft eyes. Wearing simple cloth robes the system probably auto-generated. She looked around, confused but not panicked.
Then promptly sat down and poked the grass.
Ren smiled. "She's doing great."
"Please spawn a second human."
"Yeah yeah. One sec."
Human Two. Male. Loud laugh. Strong. Dumb on purpose. Someone who'd invent barbecue for fun.
Another flash.
He landed face-first in a bush and yelled "WHAT THE—IS THIS A DREAM?"
Ren winced. "Okay. He's gonna be a handful."
Quest Complete
Reward: 9 Coins Added to Inventory
"Boom. Look at me. God with a perfect quest record."
He opened the shop again and hovered over Rain. "You know what? They deserve a little weather."
He bought rain. Clouds gathered. A soft drizzle fell. The two humans looked up and laughed like it was the greatest thing they'd ever seen.
"I just made people laugh with weather," Ren muttered. "This is either really wholesome or really weird."
The woman stood up and pointed at the man. She said something in a language Ren didn't understand. Then she pointed at the sky. Then at the trees. Then at nothing.
"Primitive language forming."
"She's naming stuff," he said. "Damn. That was fast."
"Progress will accelerate as you influence the environment."
He watched as they gathered sticks. She started humming. He didn't recognize the tune. The man tried to eat a rock.
Ren facepalmed. "Okay. Time to make sure this world has at least one functioning brain cell."
But he smiled. Because it was working. Because they were alive. Because Rock, for all its randomness, had a future.
And so did he.