Players Think I’m a Demon God
Players Think I’m a Demon God Chapter 60

[Good guess. Don’t do it again next time.]

Clearly, Ranen’s deception was spot on.  

Just seeing the list of high-level potions and enchanted weapons was enough to make the players collectively ecstatic.  

11th Commenter: [A-grade potions, A-grade enchanted weapons, crowbars, old seal…]  

12th Commenter: [Polite question—why haven’t I time-traveled to the late game yet? My collector’s obsession is in shambles; I want all of these so badly!]  

13th Commenter: [This has to be the most luxurious shop setup since the game launched, right? Of course, judging by the exchange conditions listed above, these are all high-end items that players can’t afford yet.]

14th Commenter: [Aaaaaah, I want them so bad!]  

15th Commenter: [If this is a promise made by the devs, then they’ve clearly succeeded. Damn it, I’m throwing all my money at faction missions.]  

16th Commenter: [Can someone post the current daily faction quests for the Secret Church? I’ll make a list and see the fastest way to farm honor points.]  

Druid: [Image.jpg, you’re welcome.]  

17th Commenter: [Sigh, the honor points from these daily quests are so low… Is there a faction main quest that lets you farm a ton of honor points in one go? (crying)]  

18th Commenter: [There should be. Since they introduced the faction system, this version’s main focus has to be faction conflicts, right?]

19th Commenter: [Devs, faction wars, hurry up.jpg]  

20th Commenter: [Devs, faction wars, hurry up.jpg]  

21st Commenter: [LMAO, can we really even have a war? I’m starting to doubt it. Look at this party.jpg]  

The photo in 21st Commenter’s post showed the queue of players lining up in the Kamui district—it looked like it stretched all the way outside the area.  

Carmen was overwhelmed, his smile gradually becoming stiff, and Ranen was just as busy. He had to deal with players appearing in the Divine Kingdom while also keeping an eye on the forums whenever he had a moment to spare.  

But at least… the hard work he, Ogre, Carmen, and the others had put in hadn’t been for nothing.  

All the players were coming to him.  

22nd Commenter: [This many people… Did literally all the players come here?]  

23rd Commenter: [No way. If everyone joins the same faction, how are we supposed to have faction wars?]

24th Commenter: [Can’t be helped. Ranen is too popular, the Secret Church is the first faction with a clear recruitment method, and look at that faction shop—who wouldn’t be tempted?]  

25th Commenter: [My only concern is, if the player count gets too high, won’t the devs introduce restrictions? Like, stopping people from joining? Otherwise, the numbers are way too lopsided for a proper war.]

26th Commenter: [They probably won’t… Damn, if I run faster, can I still make it in time?]  

27th Commenter: [Too late. The Secret Church has too many benefits, and now there’s a bandwagon effect. Look at all these players—I’d bet a bunch of them joined just because they saw the numbers growing. Plus, if their friends joined, they’d naturally follow. With that kind of stacking effect, the numbers will only keep increasing… unless another faction appears with just as many perks.]  

Which, of course, was… impossible.  

Ranen had intentionally started recruiting on the players’ first day in the game precisely to maximize the number of people joining.

According to the previous timeline, the major factions hadn’t even started recruiting yet—Ranen had completely jumped the gun. Plus, the entire stage of the game had changed. Originally, after Arkham disappeared, most players should have descended into another international metropolis, which served as the headquarters for numerous secret organizations and the Investigation Bureau.

But now, everything had been thrown into chaos. Players were still arriving in Arkham, and the Secret Church—despite being established for less than a week—had already become the dominant faction.

The combination of popular NPCs, the potion shop, the Black Poker starter zone, early recruitment, and enticing promises had all stacked together, leading to the current situation where the Secret Church was attracting players on a massive scale.

Meanwhile, the other factions… didn’t even know the players existed yet.

28th Commenter: [No way, no way—surely no one is dumb enough to still join another faction at this point, right?]  

At this moment, the Starwatch Squad, who were reading the forums: …  

Destiny is in My Hands coughed awkwardly under the team’s weird stares. “The devs will definitely do something about this. Who knows? Maybe the Investigation Bureau—the faction we’re joining—is actually the best choice.”  

Fatty: “Yeah, no way all the players join one faction, right? Otherwise, how would they even run faction wars? There’s gotta be a player limit.”  

29th Commenter: [But if the player numbers are this unbalanced, how are faction wars supposed to work later?]  

30th Commenter: [Relax, that’s not gonna happen. Did you all forget this game’s unique mechanic—the character cards? Worst case, I’ll have my main account join Ranen’s faction, and my other characters can go join different factions. Problem solved.]

31st Commenter: [Damn, that actually works?]  

Baba Hao: [Interesting. I could even make a character card just to go undercover in another faction and send intel back. That way, I can earn even more honor points.]  

32nd Commenter: [Damn, respect. Y’all immediately figured out the most underhanded way to exploit the system.]  

33rd Commenter: [But it makes total sense. Following this logic, to make faction wars actually happen, we can use our alt characters to join the Investigation Bureau or other factions, then feed them false intel to mess them up!]  

34th Commenter: [I’m gonna steal all the intel from other factions to spoil my wife!]  

35th Commenter: [Pfft, that’s nothing. Think bigger—rise through the ranks in those factions, then backstab them during faction wars. That way, you get everything. (dog head holding a rose)]

Ye Ye Hao: [You guys are real talents! You should be the ones called cunning players.]  

36th Commenter: [No, no, we wouldn’t dare. You’re much more suited for the role.]

Ranen was momentarily stunned when he saw these replies while dealing with players.  

He suddenly remembered that in his past life, this kind of tactic had indeed been popular among players. They would have their main character card join the faction they wanted to focus on, while creating several unrelated character cards to infiltrate different factions. Then, when those factions planned major ceremonies, they would leak the information using their main character card in exchange for faction honor points and rewards.  

Back then, the faction that players joined the most was the Investigation Bureau. Before its scandals were exposed, its investigator profession and its strong appeal had attracted the majority of players. Naturally, the Investigation Bureau benefited the most from these backstabbing tactics.  

Of course, later on, the other organizations caught on and began tightening their inner circles, drastically restricting access to core information. New members could barely get close to anything important, making undercover operations significantly harder. As a result, this kind of betrayal strategy gradually died down.  

But now, players had figured it out again—this fast.  

Thankfully, this time, the one benefiting was him.  

As expected of the Fourth Calamity [1] players, truly full of geniuses.  

Before the discussion could spiral further in this direction, Black Cat and Druid quickly stepped in to stop the derailment.  

Black Cat: [Hold up, everyone. If you want to discuss a hundred different ways to use character cards for backstabbing, take it to a separate thread or a private group chat. This post is about the Secret Church—stay on topic.]  

Druid: [Friendly reminder, if you’re seriously planning on pulling off backstabbing tactics, keep it low-key. Best to discuss it privately with friends. If the method gets exposed, it might not work later.]

Black Cat: [Alright, back to the main topic. The promotion for the Secret Church ends here. The results speak for themselves—those who want to join will join, and those who don’t won’t be swayed by a few perks. Now that the advertising is over, it’s time to get back to my main profession.]  

37th Commenter: [Oh, we’ve been waiting for this.]  

38th Commenter: [The prophet is back in business!]  

Black Cat: [Cough cough. First, allow me to summarize the predictions that have already come true.  

First, the way quests are received in this game. As everyone knows, in the earliest version of the game, there was no formal way to take on quests. During the 1.0 beta test, most players just wandered around aimlessly until they gradually figured out that NPCs could give out missions.  

But now, this game has finally, during the 2.0 beta, fixed the bug where quests were too scarce and hard to find. Raises glass in celebration. With the faction system, players can now take on quests in a structured way. Most players entering the game now won’t have to experience the confusion we did, wandering the streets in a daze. Ah, what a shame. Clenches fist in regret.]  

Druid: [LMAO hhh]  

Black Cat: [Alright, fixing that minor bug was expected, so I wouldn’t really call it a successful prediction. But what comes next is different.  

Second, Ranen’s identity. By now, there shouldn’t be much debate about who he really is. He’s one of the few confirmed gods in the game. With the church, prayers, and divine kingdom all revealed, it’s basically official. So, I’ll count that as another prediction coming true.  

Third, the Investigation Bureau’s problem and the reversal of good and evil. Honestly, even I didn’t expect this prediction to come true. It was purely a guess, with no real evidence at the time.]  

A-Long: [Yeah, when we found that notebook in Archie’s apartment, I was completely shocked. I never thought the Investigation Bureau was actually corrupt.]  

Matcha Green Milk: [But hasn’t that still not been fully confirmed? Maybe only part of the Bureau is corrupt, or maybe just one faction within it is rotten.]

Black Cat: [No, no, no. I have a feeling it’s not that simple. Think about it—why would Archie’s father rather seal away the notebook than hand it over to the investigators? It means he must have uncovered something back then. He was certain there was no one in the Investigation Bureau he could trust. At the very least, this proves that the corruption within the Bureau isn’t just a small issue.]  

Black Cat: [And judging from the reaction of that NPC named Albert, it looks like he was kept in the dark as well. In a way, Albert ended up following the same path as Archie’s father—going undercover among the Outsider, only to be betrayed by the very force behind him.]

A-Long: [That’s so tragic. Archie is really miserable—both his father and his close friend were deceived by the Investigation Bureau.]  

Black Cat: [And then, there’s the idea that an evil god is kind. That’s not something that applies universally. But based on Ranen’s actions throughout all of this, I honestly think he’s way more righteous than the Investigation Bureau. If we judge by actions rather than intent, he’s the one actually saving Arkham.]

Druid: [What kind of dark humor is this? An evil god saving the world? The developers must be trolling.]  

39th Commenter: [Honestly, I also think this is ridiculous—way too ridiculous. It feels like the devs are trying to pull some crazy stunt, but if I’m being real, they messed up. This is a major deal-breaker for me. “An evil god saving the world”—what kind of joke is that?]

40th Commenter: [I agree. It’s way too out of character. I still can’t accept it.]

Black Cat: [Those of you who can’t accept it, don’t be so hasty. At least read through my full post before making a judgment.]  

Black Cat: [Alright, that’s the end of the summary. There are some minor predictions I didn’t bother including, but overall, I think I’ve pretty much cemented my status as a prophet, right? You’re all my witnesses—make sure to vouch for me.]  

41st Commenter: [Got it. The werewolves are taking you out tonight. (dog emoji)]  

Black Cat: [Now, moving on to speculation.]

Black Cat: [First, I want to revise my take on Ranen’s identity. I no longer fully agree with the idea that he’s an evil god.]  

42nd Commenter: [???]  

43rd Commenter: [? But you just said…]

Black Cat: [What I said was that Ranen is a god—but I never said he was an evil god. Don’t forget, in the Lovecraftian mythos, there’s more than just the Old Ones [2] These are powerful, ancient, and often malevolent cosmic entities. Their presence often brings madness and destruction. and the Outer Gods [3]These are even more powerful than the Old Ones, representing cosmic forces and abstract concepts. They reside outside of normal space and time, and their motivations are completely beyond human … Continue reading.]  

44th Commenter: [You mean… the Elder Gods [4] They are often portrayed as beings that oppose the Outer Gods and the Great Old Ones, sometimes viewed as forces of “good” in a cosmic sense.?]

The Elder Gods are a unique existence within the Cthulhu Mythos. What makes them special is that they weren’t created by Lovecraft himself, but by his successor, August Derleth. Derleth described these beings as “Elder Gods” or “Ancient Ones,” portraying them as rivals of the Old Ones and Outer Gods. Unlike those entities, the Elder Gods tend to be neutral, and sometimes even lean toward benevolence. Their relationship with the Old Ones is akin to the dynamic between God and the Devil in the Bible.

However, because Derleth attributed benevolence to these gods, he disrupted Lovecraft’s original worldview, which was cold and filled with malice without reason. As a result, Cthulhu fans generally do not recognize the Elder Gods. But over time, later successors incorporated these Elder Gods into the “Earth Gods” system mentioned in Lovecraft’s Dreamlands stories, emphasizing that they were not inherently good. Rather, they opposed the Old Ones for their own individual reasons, and their aid to humanity was simply a matter of aligning interests.  

Ultimately, the concept of the Cthulhu Mythos was enriched through continuous reinterpretations and expansions by later creators. Nowadays, tabletop RPGs have long since stopped avoiding the use of this concept.  

Black Cat: [Maybe Ranen is something similar to that. Of course, I’m not sure, but do you all remember the “gate” that appeared at the end of the last main storyline? The giant’s hand behind the door and the gatekeeper?]  

A-Long: [Of course I remember.]

Black Cat: [That might be evidence of the Elder Gods’ existence. There’s some kind of entity helping humanity. Regardless of their motives, doesn’t that align with the role of the Elder Gods or Ancient Gods?]  

45th Commenter: [That… actually makes some sense.]

46th Commenter: [So you’re saying Ranen = the Gatekeeper = a being that helps humanity = an Elder God?]  

Black Cat: [I never said that. I only said that the Gatekeeper might not be hostile to humanity and could be an Elder God. But as for Ranen… he ties into another theory of mine.]  

Black Cat: [My guess is that Ranen might not be the Gatekeeper.]  

47th Commenter: [?]

Black Cat: [Think about it—has the official storyline ever explicitly stated that Ranen is the Gatekeeper? There’s no direct description of it in the plot, yet the player forums have all but “sealed the coffin” on this conclusion. Why is that?]  

A-Long: [Uh… is there even anything to debate here? If Ranen isn’t the Gatekeeper, then who is? It’s like in a detective novel—the culprit has to be someone introduced earlier, or else it wouldn’t make sense. The same goes for the main quest. If the Gatekeeper isn’t Ranen, then they’d just be some deus ex machina that suddenly pops up to forcefully help the players through the storyline. That would be way too ridiculous.  

That’s why so many players on the forums are convinced it must be Ranen.]

Ye Ye: [Exactly! And on top of that, the later promotional PV even had a hidden teaser—Ranen was clearly the central figure. In the previous main quest, right after the Gatekeeper ordered the door to be closed, the story immediately shifted to teasing Ranen’s identity. That’s basically a direct hint, isn’t it?]  

Black Cat: [That’s exactly why I say this is a trap set by the developers!]  

Black Cat: [They deliberately put out such an obvious suspect, so now everyone is fixated on the idea that Ranen must be the Gatekeeper. But in reality, the current storyline already contains hints about his true identity.]

Druid: [Ah, the Secret Church’s prayer.]

Black Cat: [That’s right. Prayers usually indicate a god’s identity and domain. Look at that prayer—there’s not a single line pointing toward the Gatekeeper. Instead, it speaks of “The New Lord of Nature and the Forest.” That’s clearly referring to the Shepherd God.]  

Black Cat: [The Shepherd God’s domain consists of forests and nature. Combine that with the environment of the divine kingdom, and there’s almost no doubt about it.]  

Reading up to this point, Ranen couldn’t help but slam his hand down on the armrest of his chair.  

As expected of Black Cat—he had perfectly caught onto the information Ranen had inadvertently revealed.

That’s right, Ranen’s goal was to guide players’ guesses. From the prayer of the Secret Church to the deliberately made weapon descriptions, all of them subtly revealed clues and guided the players’ speculations, separating the identities of the ‘Shepherd God’ and ‘Gatekeeper.’

And the detail-loving Black Cat surely didn’t miss a thing.

48th Commenter: [What about the first two lines? ‘The Overturner of Fate’—I think this could actually refer to the Gatekeeper, because of Him, the existence behind the door cannot come through, thus saving Arkham City.]

Black Cat: [Well, actually, I think there’s another interpretation. Here’s a fun fact that most people probably don’t know: the Shepherd God is the only god in Greek mythology clearly documented as having died.]

49th Commenter: [?]

Black Cat: [This is how the Shepherd God is described in mythology: He is the shepherd and protector of the flock, the god of nature and forests. But one day, a sailor named Thamus, traveling to Italy, passed by a small island. From the sea, a voice came: “Thamus, is it you? When you reach Palodes, announce that the great god Pan is dead.”

Pan is the name of the Shepherd God, and in ancient Greek, the word means “all.” His death marks the end of Greek mythology, and the polytheistic belief system ended there. Meanwhile, a new religion arose to the west. Early Christians saw the death of Pan as a precursor to the birth of Jesus. Pan was an old belief, and because of his death, a new behemoth emerged from his corpse.

By the way, the reason why Christianity later regarded goat horns as a symbol of the devil is also linked to Pan. Some also say that Satan’s image is actually a transformation of the deceased Pan.]

Black Cat: [I’ve gone off track a bit. In any case, the Shepherd God is a clearly deceased god. Now, if you look at the enchanted weapon labels, they describe the “newly ascended Shepherd God.” Isn’t it possible that this “death and resurrection” directly corresponds to the “Overturner of Fate” mentioned in the prayer?

After all, it does subvert the idea that the Shepherd God is already dead, or perhaps His return will cause significant changes in the world?]

When Ranen read this, a slight smile appeared on his face.

Black Cat: [Following this logic, we can also explain the second line of the prayer, “The Unspeakable Mystery.” During the height of Christianity, the image of Satan, or Pan, was equated with demons, and thus He was naturally “unspeakable.”]

50th Commenter: [Wow, I learned something new. I didn’t realize there was this interpretation.]

51st Commenter: [I see now. With this explanation, it really makes sense of the meaning behind the prayer. In this case, the Gatekeeper and the Shepherd God have no connection.]

Black Cat: [Exactly. Based on these clues, I deduced that Ranen might not be the Gatekeeper. The reason there was such a misunderstanding is that the official narrative intentionally guided our thinking toward the wrong direction. After all, if this version of the main storyline is really about the identity of the ‘Gatekeeper,’ it feels too simple. Of course, it’s also possible that my current theory is just another misdirection from the official creators.]

52nd Commenter: [Uh, if it keeps stacking like this, it’ll lose its meaning. Right now, I’m more inclined to support this theory. I’m with Black Cat.]

53rd Commenter: [I still find Ranen more suspicious. Also, if Ranen isn’t the Gatekeeper but the Shepherd God, why are his faction quests so biased toward good and order? The Shepherd God isn’t exactly a good god in the myths, is He?]

Black Cat: [Actually, I have a bit of a guess about this…]

Druid: [Seriously, there’s more?]

Ranen: ?

Wait, wait, stop here.

Black Cat: [Yeah, but this guess is mostly just my own associations.

Do you remember when we were in the hospital and speculated that Ranen’s goal was to take over the position of the director of Arkham Hospital? The truth is, he did achieve that. Now, we can basically judge that he has removed the seal and permanently preserved the hospital, transforming it into his divine kingdom.

Based on what he told us before, it’s safe to say that his divine kingdom is located in the gap between dreams and reality. So here’s the question: Why hasn’t Ranen descended into the real world?

Is it because he doesn’t want to, or because he can’t? Why did Ranen suddenly start creating his own church or begin expanding it on such a large scale? You have to know, he could have done this earlier, but before, he didn’t recruit any players into the church.]

52nd Commenter: […Because the official game hadn’t launched the faction system yet?]

Druid: [Damn]

A-Long: [Damn]

Black Cat: [Damn, what’s going on? Hahah. The official game has already said that the world in the game follows its own set of rules and logic. You can’t say it’s because the faction feature wasn’t launched earlier that things happened this way. Instead, you should think that because the plot has reached this point, the official team introduced the faction system accordingly.

In other words, whether or not the official game introduced factions, Ranen would have started recruiting followers at this point in the story—neither too early nor too late. That’s the correct way to think about it.

So here’s the question: Why did he suddenly expand? Let me assume that the Secret Church existed before. People like Carmen and Karens had joined the Secret Church long ago, but the players didn’t know about it. So, up until this point, the Secret Church had been following the principle of ‘hidden’ and ‘low-key,’ only recruiting elites.]

Ranen: …Well, no. After all, he only recently realized his true identity.

Black Cat: [The reason the Secret Church is now open to the public and recruiting followers is that Ranen needs so many followers.]

Druid: [? What do you mean?]

Black Cat: [Let me clarify, everything from here on out is just my guess. If we assume Ranen really isn’t the Gatekeeper, then in the earlier parts of the story, the Gatekeeper ordered the “closing of the door” and separated the two worlds of dreams and reality, causing the Outsider’s plan to fail. Now, if Ranen is an entity resembling an Evil God or Elder God, could it be that he temporarily cannot descend into the real world?

However, because of the existence of the hospital, He wasn’t driven away like the giant hand behind the door. If we compare the door’s inside and outside to two separate worlds, the Dream Rift could be seen as a kind of transit station. Ranen occupies a portion of it as his divine kingdom, a place that can be both offensive and defensive.

The reason the Secret Church is now publicly open and recruiting followers on such a large scale is that Ranen needs “followers” as anchor points to descend back into the real world.]

Ranen: ?

Wait, don’t make up things! He’s really just scared and got caught by the Inspection Bureau— 

References

References
1 players
2 These are powerful, ancient, and often malevolent cosmic entities. Their presence often brings madness and destruction.
3 These are even more powerful than the Old Ones, representing cosmic forces and abstract concepts. They reside outside of normal space and time, and their motivations are completely beyond human understanding. They are often depicted as being indifferent or hostile to humanity.
4 They are often portrayed as beings that oppose the Outer Gods and the Great Old Ones, sometimes viewed as forces of “good” in a cosmic sense.

nan404[Translator]

(* ̄O ̄)ノ My brain's a book tornado, and I'm juggling flaming novels. I read, I translate (mostly for my own amusement, don't tell), and I'm a professional distractor. Oh, and did I mention? I hand out at least one free chapter every week! Typos? Please point 'em out, I'll just be over here, quietly grateful and possibly hiding.

1 comment
  1. surrealslant has spoken 5 months ago

    img, I love this. I know a bit about Greek mythology but not that much and now I feel like I’m learning sth! The author really put a lot of work in the lore of the story. thx for the chapter!!!

    Reply

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