Chapter 1: A Scientist from Stellaris
[A new planet with sentient life has been detected. Congratulations, scientist Astrea, for becoming the first to complete the space-time continuum and enter another realm of stories. Your progress and achievement will be recorded in the federation.]
"Oh, it works? I thought it would fail on my first try," Astrea thought, surprised by the results. As he examined the data displayed before his eyes, he realized his calculations were correct. On his tem-pad, numerous numbers and calculations showed no errors.
At the very top, a large title represented the object of Astrea's research.
Astrea's current focus was clear: "Proving and further exploring Vultaum's theory that the universe is just a bigger simulation played by player entities." This project was both a professional and personal challenge for him, directly questioning the nature of reality he inhabited.
"Hmm, the discovery of the theory that we live in the game isn't entirely correct. Perhaps it's more accurate to call it a bubble of stories that exist within each other, separated by a dividing wall."
The current, widely accepted theory within the Federation is that the universe is, in fact, a game. Not only the physical realm, but all technology, all species, all dimensional horrors, the Shroud, and even their ascension are part of the game's setting.
As fanatic materialistic and egalitarian, with democratic political stance, all the people in the empire just responded with 'oh' and continued with their research. Sometimes, a vote is held within the entire Federation on this kind of issue, and it becomes a major concern. However, without 50% acceptance, the issue is soon dismissed.
And after the Cosmogenesis event, which the Federation used as their manifest destiny, the Federation long ago acknowledged that their lives were a simulation of some player in the form of a game.
That's how the Federation decided to initiate Cosmogenesis and flee with everyone, leaving no other humans on the planet where they lived. Now, they live their lives to the fullest and achieve their manifest destiny.
Astrea is just one of many scientists in the federation and is interested in discussing the issue of Vultaum theory.
"Eva, what are the conditions of the planet we found?"
[It's a planet with civilization that is at stage 0.9 and has been stagnant for some time. They use some power called soul power and have something called martial spirit. Worthy of observation. Sociology +3]
An atomic civilization that has been stagnant for some time?
"Stagnant? Is there something wrong with this planet? Like they're indulging in some kind of drug or something?" Astrea asked his reliable artificial intelligence that had accompanied him for so long.
Stagnation of civilization only comes with the term of a fallen empire. They become stagnant because there is no longer a direction they can go. All the known technologies have been developed, and it can be said that they have come to the peak of what can be achieved.
They can be said to stand in the same position of the four natural disasters in the universe. And even on par with the Hunter civilization from neighboring galaxies, which are the hunters of the Prethoryn Scourge.
But their stagnation means they have no desire to improve. They even abandon their fleet and don't care about anything happening in the galaxy as long as they aren't disturbed or anything crosses their line.
Now, he sees a stagnant atomic civilization? Are all the people on this planet idiots, or is something causing them to stagnate?
"Eva, analyze this planet. Show me a brief history of everything that has ever happened on this planet."
Of all the history of the planet called Douluo, more than 30,000 years have passed since the collapse of the technology-focused civilization. After the calamity that collapsed civilization, extraterrestrial beings who called themselves the Divine Realm emerged, and the profession called Soul Master flourished on this planet.
[Twenty thousand years ago, an anomaly that revolutionized the arms dealers on this planet affected a boy named Tang San, becoming the second generation of extraterrestrial beings, blue in color and resembling a fish, who called themselves Sea God.]
[Ten thousand years ago, the Consciousness Plane took action, giving birth to a revolutionary named Huo Yuhao, who built a spirit pagoda and introduced a technology called spirit souls. From then on, Soul Masters took a different direction for their technological development.]
[Several hundred years ago, the first technological bloom appeared on this planet, giving rise to various new technologies such as mecha, battle armor, artificial souls, and even space technology. From the analysis, this change occurred when the Divine Realm was swept away by some kind of cosmic storm.]
"There's a delay every ten thousand years. What kind of crappy planet is this, where every development takes ten thousand years? What, you're telling me they're only entering the space age ten thousand years from now?"
As a scientist from the Federation, a fanatical materialist, this kind of stagnation is a huge insult to technological progress. He ignores things like soul masters and martial spirits because anything related to the shroud isn't something to be sidelined in technological advancement.
Something like magic, cultivation, and even supernatural powers are simply manifestations of the power of the shroud. The Federation has a general understanding of all of this and now calls it psychic power.
And psychic power is simply technology and knowledge that differs slightly from general technology. The Federation has even conducted extensive research in this field and gathered various kinds of knowledge from across the galaxy.
We're not like some of the spiritualist empires who consider this knowledge sacred or something. Look, they even ban an AI just because it has no soul. Didn't they realize there was an entity in the shroud that called itself Sharper of Clay?
"Eva, change our non-interference status on the barbaric planet to slight interference. Send one of my spare consciousnesses to this planet and let it interfere," Astrea said coldly and returned to her tem-pad.
Ten thousand years without much development, even the empire of mankind in the data of another story bubble still showed a reasonable basis. With constant war and their AI rebellion that nearly destroyed humanity, it made sense that humans in that universe would be overly paranoid about AI.
That was data obtained before the story bubbles disappeared from the Federation's radar detection.
[As you wish. The interference stance of indigenous civilization has been changed. As a 9-star scientist in the Federation, your rank is sufficient to change the interference status.]
[Searching for a spare body that matches your consciousness on this planet.]
In the Elysium fortress, an invisible wavelength descends into the Douluo continent. An ever-changing psychic energy of a relatively small amount shocked this planet to the core. Some cracks even split the ocean and caused tsunamis on the coast of the Xingluo continent.
321,456 people on that continent died from tsunamis as high as 200 meters.
"…"
[Miscalculation. The planet can't handle 1% of your psychic energy and will be destroyed if your spare consciousness descends. Recalculating the energy required…]
[Calculation complete. 0.01% of your consciousness will descend to this planet.]
"Well, whatever. Just do your research while playing this house game. Boost their technology to the point that they can advance into the space age and, if possible, make them materialists, or even fanatical materialists."
Astrea just glanced at another sociology +3 that appeared on her tablet, explaining the various responses of this barbaric civilization when they faced natural disasters. She just read it in a second and went back to working on other research and calculations.
Meanwhile, his other hand moved its chess piece forward two steps to E5.
The game is beginning. Although my victory is certain, the master of this world probably has some unexpected moves.
It's good to have some surprises in store.