3: Chapter 3 The Humble Abode of the Apprentice Deity

The binding process was more... eerie than expected.

There was no golden light descending from the heavens, nor any celestial music lingering in the air. Lin Yuan simply felt as if he had been running a high fever for three days. His head throbbed with a splitting pain, and fragmented, meaningless images flashed before his eyes from time to time: ancient altars, blurred whispers of prayer, and an endless, desolate wasteland.

Once he had recovered slightly, he found himself back in his small rented apartment. His younger sister was still in the hospital, temporarily cared for by a nurse—the money for that was part of the "employee benefits" "prepaid" by Zhao Wuyong.

With a slight thought, he tried to call out.

A translucent interface filled with a sense of crude technology instantly unfolded before his eyes. It was a far cry from the ethereal Deity Systems of legend, looking more like an unfinished mobile app instead.

[Deity Personal Terminal (Trial Version v0.01)]

[Binder: Lin Yuan (Soul Code: ****)]

[Godhead: Nameless God (Decayed) (Renameable)]

[Divine Office: Undefined (Self-exploration/Declaration required)]

[Faith Level: 0 (Ant)]

[Faith Reserves: 0.5/100 (Endangered)] (Note: 0.5 is the residue from the initial binding and the conversion of personal meager beliefs)

[Divine Power Intensity: Negligible (Approximately equal to a strong mortal)]

[Divine Abilities List: Empty]

[Faith Connections: 0]

[Temple: Not Established (Recommendation: Select a site as soon as possible to stabilize the faith anchor)]

[Assets: 0 Divine Crystals]

[Liabilities: Lingxiao Capital Faith Loan (Principal: 1000. Current Divine Interest Due: 30. Time Remaining: 29 days, 14 hours, 22 minutes)] (This entry is flashing brightly in blood-red)

Lin Yuan carefully examined every item, especially the empty [Divine Office] and [Divine Abilities List]. Without a Divine Office, it meant he didn't know how to obtain targeted faith; without Divine Abilities, it meant he had almost no transcendent "godly" powers.

The so-called "Trainee Deity" was truly just a title. Aside from this shabby system and the "thing" added to his soul, he was no different from before. No, there was a huge difference—he was saddled with a massive debt of thirty standard faith units, which, converted at black market prices, was nearly thirty million, and it had to be repaid within a month!

Anxiety surged like a tide. He forced himself to calm down and began to analyze the information on the interface.

"Temple... Faith anchor..." he muttered. It seemed he needed a "base of operations" before he could start trying to receive faith. But in this metropolis where land was at a premium and most famous mountains and scenic spots had already been carved up by deities large and small, where was he supposed to get a "temple"? Rent a room and call it a church?

He tried clicking the (Renameable) option next to [Godhead], and an input box popped up.

"Since it's a junk debt, I should have the mindset of a junk debt holder." Lin Yuan laughed self-mockingly, his fingers moving. "Why not call it..."

He typed in two characters: [God of Ruins].

It carried the meaning of "reigniting from the ruins" and also alluded to its nature of "value returning to zero."

[Naming successful. Godhead updated to: God of Ruins (Decayed)].

With the name set, the next step was to solve the most basic survival issues: a temple and initial faith.

He thought of the "innovative Divine Offices" and "marginal fields" Zhao Wuyong had mentioned. Perhaps he couldn't follow the old path of traditional deities; he had to find those faith demands that had not yet been developed or were ignored by mainstream deities.

His gaze swept across the small, cluttered apartment, the piles of finance books, the K-line charts frozen on the computer screen, and the neon-lit steel forest outside the window, filled with anxiety and desire.

A vague idea began to germinate in his heart.

But first, he needed to verify a few things and understand the more detailed rules of how this "Deity System" operated, especially regarding the collection and conversion of faith.

He picked up his phone, hesitated for a moment, and dialed a number he hadn't contacted in a long time. The other party was a former university classmate, now a frustrated web novel author who spent his days researching various occultisms and folk legends.

"Hello, Old Hu? It's me, Lin Yuan. I have a very strange project I want to talk to you about, regarding... those folk 'wishes' and 'taboos' that aren't exactly respectable. Yes, the price is negotiable."

Hanging up the phone, Lin Yuan looked out at the heavy night sky.

On the glass curtain walls of the skyscrapers, giant holographic advertisements were playing: "Fortune God Group, helping you achieve financial freedom!" "outfile Imperial Lord's Cram School, guaranteed success in examinations!" "Marriage Hall's Qixi limited-time event, bind a cultivation partner and enjoy 10% off!"

The commercialization of deities had become so pervasive. How was he, an unorthodox god, supposed to find his own drop of water in this red ocean?

He lowered his head and looked at the blood-red countdown again.

29 days, 13 hours, 48 minutes.

Time was something even more cruel than faith.