They all call me an Outer God.

Chapter 297 Our Suffering

"To be honest, there's not much to dig out in this mine. I'm doing you a good deed by letting you stay here."

With that, the man left. Ria thought he could finally breathe a sigh of relief, but little did he know that the corner of the hole had long been filled with bombs.

With several deafening roars, the young man's vision went completely black.

His ears were throbbing with pain, and countless rocks kept collapsing and falling. At that moment, an unprecedented will to survive overwhelmed him; he had never longed to live as much as he did today.

If you die, you'll have no job, no rats, nothing at all.

The mine exit was right in front of them. Ria put the rat in her pocket and held it down to prevent it from falling out, then ran as fast as she could towards the exit.

Ten steps... nine steps, eight steps, seven steps...

Three steps, two steps...

Just a little bit.

He was so close to escaping.

This is what Ria thought, already covered in blood from being hit by rubble.

But just as he was about to escape, a loud crash came as the last stone blocked the exit.

The mine shaft collapsed completely.

"Hahahaha, no need to thank me, I guess I did a good deed today."

The mining foreman, who witnessed all of this, laughed so hard he couldn't stand up straight. He longed to leave the Gaikoso Mountains, but it was impossible. Everyone who came to these mountains was cursed by them and could not escape them.

Everyone's psychological defenses are crumbling day by day, and humanity is becoming more and more distorted. As a result, seeing the cries and bloodshed of their fellow human beings has become the best form of entertainment.

The man left happily whistling, completely unconcerned about his workers' escape; after all, they couldn't escape the mountains... and after all, no one could escape the mountains.

And so time passed little by little.

After an unknown period of time, a pale mist suddenly began to spread over the previously normal and safe area. Any life that came into contact with this mist began to become diseased, subjected to the highest level of pollution, and mutated into extraordinary creatures.

A completely blurred humanoid figure staggered through the mist.

Suddenly, it stopped.

It saw a ruin after a rock collapse, and a hunched-over person kneeling on the pile of rubble, touching their forehead to the corpse of a dead rat they were holding in their hands.

This person looks like he's about to die. He remains motionless in this position, and no one knows what he's thinking. Maybe he's thinking nothing at all.

A dark figure approached him, and the resulting pollution gradually enveloped the person on the pile of stones.

What are your wishes? Why, even in your current state, are you unwilling to face death?

Sounds came from all directions, while the young man's dried tears still lingered on the dead rat.

It took him a lot of effort to dig himself out, but even so, the fragile mouse died when it came into contact with the fog outside.

"I want to see if there really is a God in this world."

Ria looked up at the black figure, her eyes devoid of any emotion, only deathly stillness.

"If so, what is He doing? What are they doing to make us go through these things? Do they really care about us?"

"No, they don't care at all, just like this mouse, which is just a mouse in other people's eyes."

So what is your wish?

"I want to change everything."

Ria's eyes were bloodshot: "Since those high and mighty guys look down on everything, then let me change the rules. I want to see what they're up to! A god who brings disaster to everyone is not worth believing in!"

"The radiant rising sun is a harbinger of disaster!!!"

I can help you. Do you need my help?

If you can seize this opportunity, you can become a true god and fulfill all your desires.

At that time, there will be no more strife or suffering in the world—the black figure approached Ria, crouched down and patted him on the shoulder, intending to give him the contamination disease as a gift.

But Ria's wish had not yet been expressed.

He closed his dull, gray-blue eyes.

“If there really are gods in this world, then let them watch over me… I want to trade everything I have to them.”

After saying this, the black figure suddenly trembled violently, because in that instant, it suddenly felt as if every cell in its body was screaming for nothingness.

The sky was shrouded in billowing black mist, from which countless golden eyes emerged.

After that, it seemed as if some unknown entity was trying to open its eyes and observe this place.

At this moment, Ria noticed that the dark figure in front of her had disappeared, and in its place, her physical condition was gradually improving.

The blood at those wounds had congealed, and something radiating golden light seemed to have appeared beneath them.

At the same time, a crack appeared on his neck.

The mouse came back to life, but when it saw him, it made strange worship gestures, completely unlike its former affectionate behavior.

Ria felt very strange; everything was very strange.

He staggered down the mountain with the rats, discovering many dead bodies along the way.

These people were former miners; their necks were slit, and they appeared to have died by suicide, yet they remained kneeling and worshipping in the direction he had previously been facing, as if offering a sacrifice.

These people will undoubtedly become extraordinary beings, but Ria doesn't care about anything anymore. He has a terrible headache and just wants to go down the mountain, but he has no idea what to do once he gets there.

His head was getting more and more painful, and the crack at the back of his neck was getting bigger and bigger.

Perhaps he will die when the crack fully expands, or perhaps he will become something else.

He doesn't care.

He knew of a place called the Order Association, a group of people who could surely save all those who had gone astray; they would always find a way…

But the result was that those people were his enemies, and he still had no place in this world.

Not long after, Ria Kercha died in his coffin, which could be considered a fitting end.

At the moment of his death, his pupils at the back of his neck opened fully, emitting a distorted and eerie light.

The rat that was buried by "Lia" herself—the first believer—died not long after the original body's death.

Logically, it should be unconscious at this point.

……

"This is the tragic first half of your life."

Hephaestus smiled and looked at Ria beside him: "So the idiot meme is the perfect match for you, isn't it?"

Although we have always regarded you as different beings.

But after that consciousness died, you appeared, which made me even more curious about your identity. Our faith is genuine; all believers sincerely revere you.

Ria stared at the sand on the ground, and still no one knew what he was thinking.

"Given the specifics of this story, I'd like to know what roles you played in it?" he suddenly asked.

"You can take a guess."

"I think I've already guessed it..."

"Ok?"

"I guessed the condition under which you attach yourself to the consciousness of others—it's suffering, right?"

(End of this chapter)