Chapter 2: EMULATION!
“Your world has potential.”
I could hear her gasp behind me.
I should let myself go, intrusive thoughts be damned. This won’t just be an act. This is…
EM
U
LA
TION!~
I am Yvell — a proud constellation — creator deity of a thousand worlds. I make eutopic worlds like I make my eggs — hard-boiled and salted, a process I manage without difficulty as a high-level NEET god. Yes…
YES!
I spread my arms wide.
Yvell the Redeemer shall fix that stupid dragon-cow soon and remake this world of hers anew!
But first… lights, camera, action!
“... What a beautiful world you’ve made.”
When I turned to look at the goddess, she was almost in tears. She had a hand to her mouth, as if she was holding back her emotions, and the rings of light glowing behind her were gently flickering. Yes, this is good. I must keep up the momentum.
Slowly, with dramatic flair, I take steady steps towards the goddess. Once I had reached an arm’s length of her, I stopped in my place and kept my normally slouched back straight.
This scene would’ve looked a lot better if I weren’t in my boxers.
“It seems to have developed well for a world that had only recently shaken off its shell.”
“Lord Yvell… You flatter me.”
When I looked at her, she was as red as a tomato, and both of her palms were pressed against her cheeks. Ah, shy beauties truly are the best. If only this one didn’t have the power to snap my existence away like a certain supervillain character from a well-known movie, then my heart would be beating faster at this picturesque sight.
No, well, I guess it was beating fast for a different reason, earlier, so there’s that.
“Have you decided on a name for this world of yours yet?”
“A name? This soon?... Um. Would it not be wiser to give it more time before I name this world? To watch how the world grows a little more before making things… official?”
“Perhaps. But is your resolve that shallow?”
“Wh-What?”
“I said, is your resolve that shallow?”
I turned my back to her and took a few steps forward, leaving equal distances between the window and me, and between the goddess and me. Then, I reached out to the setting sun, which, for some reason, had many rings surrounding it. I covered it with my palm, fingers outstretched. Its orange light seeped between each finger as if desperately reaching out to me in return.
“What do you think names are to worlds, fledgling?”
“Um… Are names not simply a means of identification?”
“Non, non, non. That way of thinking is naive, fledgling.”
I took a few more steps back towards the table. There, an almost empty ceramic cup of hot chocolate rested on a cheap rubber coaster. I picked up the ceramic cup, swirling around what little remains of the hot chocolate inside with gentle shaking.
“Names symbolize expectations. Expectations you place on the world.”
I empty the cup’s contents onto the floor. Trickles of hot chocolate sprinkled onto the gray tile floor, creating small splotches here and there.
I crouch and trace the splotches on the floor with my finger, using the floor as a canvas to draw a picture. A picture of a world in its typical globular shape… it does look like a globe, right? Fuck, my artistic skills are still as shit as ever.
“Expectations…”
The goddess's gaze seemed drawn to the clumsy image I had painted on the floor as she chewed over my words.
Come to think of it, I still don’t know her name. Based on what I’ve read in web novels, constellations usually have titles related to their status as deities, like calling Odin the “One-Eyed Prophet King,” or something along those lines, while others earn their titles through their feats in life before they ascended to godhood. But as for names… She claims to be a fledgling constellation, yet she already governs over an entire world… Hm?
Ah.
“Yes, expectations. Young constellation, tell me, what do you think your believers thought of when they first imparted onto you a name befitting of your noble self?”
Seeing as she’s already responsible for an entire world, she must be this world’s first creation goddess. Looking at that growing smile on her face, I must be right.
“... My name. Esphera. It’s the name of this world’s sun. My believers, when they first conceptualized me, their goddess of creation, they thought of the sun as a loving mother who kept her children warm in her embrace.
They believed that they, who also bear their own warmth, must be children of the sun.
When they discovered fire and realized it kept the other beasts away, they believed the flames to be my vestiges, protecting them from harm.”
“Esphera… That name carries deep meaning. It’s beautiful.”
They think you’re a fucking ball with rings.
“Th-Thank you, Lord Yvell,” she murmured, eyes flicking away for just a moment before sporting a shy but proud smile.
I simply nodded and took a small hand towel I had hanging on the refrigerator. I should clean up the mess I made before it messes up the tiles. Now, with the hand towel in hand, I crouched to the floor to wipe away the spilled no-longer-hot-chocolate when suddenly—
“Ah! I can help you with that!”
Shiiing.
“Fuck.”
“Did you say something, Lord Yvell?”
“No. You must have heard wrong.”
That scared me. Once again, with a wave of her glowing hand, she made something disappear. Just like that, the floor was sparkling clean. Like the spill never happened.
Gulp.
“A-Ahem. Well, Esphera, surely now you must understand the importance of names to worlds.”
“Indeed, most honorable one. I understand now! My expectations for this world… Utopia… Forgive me, but I wish to spend more time thinking the name over. But it will not be for long, I assure you, Lord Yvell. I will grant this world a name befitting of my vision!” Esphera declared, putting her hands on her hips and pushing her chest forward with confidence. On top of that, the rings behind her back strengthened their golden glow.
“Right… That sounds good… Moving on. There’s something I’m curious about, Esphera.”
“Mhm? What could that be, Lord Yvell?”
“Hm…”
I looked her up and down. If they thought she was that ringed sun in the sky, then why is she in the form of a human? Rather, why is there a human shape in this world at all? Could the sentient inhabitants of her world be humans? Why? And, how?
“Your form, Esphera. I’m rather curious about how you achieved a human form. You’re a creation deity born as the icon of a ringed star. Yet, instead of appearing as a small ringed star, you bear a human form.”
“Um… Well…”
Esphera fidgeted with her fingers before she finally responded.
“I… You are aware that I had busied myself with visiting your worlds, yes?”
“Indeed. You said as much not too long ago.”
“Yes. Well… I grew envious, you see. Of your believers.”
What? What’s that supposed to mean?
“Many of the mortals you produce across various worlds you govern bear a human shape. And I, too, wanted to mimic such a shape, since it seems to be an appearance you treasure.”
… Oh. That’s kind of cute.
Wait, no. Let’s not.
I can’t just stand still and stay stunlocked like this.
“That still begs the question, Esphera.”
In many Korean web novels, a constellation’s form is often dependent on the perception of their believers. Constellations with ties to humanity usually take on human shapes, just as eldritch deities take on similarly monstrous shapes akin to their ugly ass fishmen believers, although there were occasional exceptions. So, how did Esphera manage to take on a human form despite the foundations of her faith? Are her followers humans?
“Ah… I suppose nothing evades your gaze, Lord Yvell. Just as you suspected, I began with the form of a ringed star. However, when I started to covet the human form, I… played a little trick on my faithful. I transformed their beastly forms into human shapes and rewrote their memories so that they would think that they were always human.”
… Isn’t that kind of fucked up? Like, really fucked up.
Imagine some divine entity just snatching your Excalibur away and twisting your very essence into femininity just because they suddenly want to change the genre to TS + Yuri. My virgin NEET self can’t even begin to imagine the depths of despair I’d feel for not getting to use my flimsy dagger before getting TS’ed. No, hold on.
Were they originally beasts themselves? Sentient beasts that held a primitive faith? This may be a good thing after all. The furry plague was stopped before it could take root in these foreign lands. This is fine.
Esphera unknowingly did a good thing for the entire universe before even knowing how to play goddess properly.
“Hm… Your ethically questionable actions aside, I can see that your resolve is solid after all. Forgive me for testing you.”
“This was a test?!? O-Oh, no, no. Please, Lord Yvell. There is no need to apologize.”
“Is that so? That is a relief, then.”
Constellation Sensei Mode: ON.
“Then, as a first course of action, reduce the power in your voice to human levels.”
“My voice?... Um, alright…”
Her voice quickly lost the strange energy it once carried, just as I had commanded.
“Those rings of light behind you, can you make them disappear?”
“I can, however, I do not see what purpose there would be to removing them…”
“Esphera.”
I put the hand towel I was holding on the dinner table and pulled out a marker from a pen holder on my computer desk. On the hand towel, I wrote the word “EMULATION” and walked back towards Esphera. She grew shy as I drew close enough for her to feel my breath. Then, I neatly wrapped the hand towel around her head, making it a makeshift headband. She twitched a little after I took a step back.
“Tell me, Esphera. What do you see before you?”
“Um… You, Lord Yvell.”
“Non. Non. Non. Esphera, you realize that I currently bear the form of a human, do you not?”
“Ah! Of course, Lord Yvell. But what does that—”
“EMULATION!”
I spun away from Esphera with dramatic but graceful steps, my loose Gun-ham robot boxers fluttering in the wind (coming from my table fan). Twisting my body with force, I struck an iconic finger-pointing pose that would put those Bizarre Misadventures fanboys to shame.
“Emulation, Esphera. Emulation! You dream of turning this world into a utopia, no? A paradiso!”
“Yes, that’s right…”
“Then where do you think you should start? What is the first step to utopia?”
“Um…”
She looks stunned.
Was that spin too much? But I need to keep up the momentum now that I’ve got the ball rolling.
“The first step is understanding, Esphera. Understanding. Tell me, do you already have a specific image for what your utopia will look like?”
“No. While I have a few ideas…”
“You have yet to set a proper goal. That is due to your lack of understanding, Esphera.”
I walked back towards my corner window with a steady gait, confidence oozing with every step. Or at least, that’s how I was trying to make it look. Stopping at the foot of the corner window, I gazed down on the world outside. It seems Esphera teleported my condo unit to the top of a high cliff or something, since the ground below was really far down.
Below the cliff, a vast plain with a primitive settlement held together by roughly shaped sticks and large leaves. Oh, that’s lucky. Improvisation skills, GO!
“Come. Stand beside me, Esphera.”
“Yes…”
I could hear Esphera’s footsteps coming from behind me.
Seeing as the room’s now a little less bright than before, she must’ve removed those rings of light that were hovering behind her back. Now that I could see her at the corner of my vision, it’s time to proceed with the impromptu lecture.
“Now, look upon your people. What do you see?”
“I… I see…”
Primitive humans with sticks were chasing around a small baby dragon with udders. Fuck, those things are still around?
“Your followers, they spend every waking day trying their hardest to survive. It seems they have yet to discover the concept of agriculture, so for now they hunt to feed their young.”
“Yes.”
“They toil on the plains, killing and dying. Winning only through numbers, sacrifices are inevitable amongst their kin. You know this, but have you ever experienced hunting your own game?”
“Excuse me? But Lord Yvell, I’m a constellation…”
“Emulation, Esphera. Emulation. If you wish to create a utopia out of this world, you must first understand what barriers stand before such a grand goal.”
Just as the words left my mouth, tragedy struck.
A primitive human seemed to have been gravely injured by the dragon-cow. No longer capable of moving from his spot, he could only rest his back against a boulder and watch as his fellow tribesmen desperately struggled to take the beast down.
Blood seeping through the animal skin he wore, his eyes grew heavy before finally closing. Unable to hold on, he drifted into eternal slumber.
Fuck, that’s gory. Good thing I’ve built resistance to this stuff over the years from accidentally encountering uncensored car-crash reposts on my XYZ feed.
Esphera cupped her hand to her mouth, seeming to feel pity for the poor man.
Right. She’s probably never witnessed death from this close before. She's powerful, but naive. But the lecture must go on.
“As a fledgling constellation, you must not have experienced the struggle of survival yourself. The pain from losing a friend. Exhaustion. Frustration. You have yet to understand what it is like to live as a mortal.”
I turned to face her, and upon sensing my gaze, she turned to face me. Her eyes were still clouded by emotion. As the mother of all sentient life in this world, she must feel immense sorrow at the loss of one of her followers.
“First, understand your followers. Emulate their way of living. That will be your first step to building a utopia.”
