Little Pink Starfish

“They’re insulting the Gate of Eternity!” Night Ancestor roared in fury.

Even the Mirror Goddess looked at a loss. “But… it seems this is allowed by the rules.”

It was true. When gods like them had once passed the trial of the Eternal Stair and arrived before the Gate of Eternity, the desire to become divine overrode all else. They’d rushed to push that gate open, desperate to step into the world beyond.

Who had the time or energy for cooking and napping?

Still, the Mirror Goddess was right. This was technically allowed.

So the three gods stationed at the gate could only grit their teeth and wait.

“I absolutely won’t allow them to become gods,” Night Ancestor said coldly.

The other two gods remained silent, but they clearly agreed.

Passing the Gate of Eternity’s test and becoming a god meant overcoming the trials of the three gatekeeper gods. Some lucky souls had once succeeded because they’d encountered gods too lazy to fight. In those rare cases, even weak mortals might have scraped through.

But when facing gods who took their jobs seriously—well, that was another matter.

These three gods? Extremely serious.

And that was exactly why no one had succeeded in a thousand years.

Night Ancestor acted furious over Pei Sen and Eagle “disrespecting” the gate, but the truth was, even if they had followed the normal routine and respectfully started pushing the door, these gods still wouldn’t have allowed them to pass.

The reason was simple: divine power—faith—was limited.

In this world, faith was relatively easy to gather. Worshippers didn’t need to be fanatics; even casual belief worked. But still, every god was competing for worshippers, and the more gods there were, the more thinly that faith was divided.

To weak gods like Night Ancestor, any new god was a threat.

So regardless of what Pei Sen and Eagle did, these three would do everything they could to block their ascension.

Pei Sen awoke from a deep sleep and felt completely refreshed—then, overwhelming hunger hit.

He rolled out of bed, set up a table, and carefully poured all the soups and stews from their clay pots into bowls. He even pulled out some prepared cold dishes from his bag. In the midst of the sky, before the Gate of Eternity, he laid out a hearty, aromatic feast—bursting with life and homeliness.

Eagle awoke to the delicious scent, turned over, and saw Pei Sen preparing food with quiet focus. He stared at him for a while.

Pei Sen had noticed him stir and smiled. “Young master, still not getting up to eat?”

Eagle felt a deep warmth in his chest. All the exhaustion and pain from before had melted away.

This… this is what I want. To wake up every day and see Pei Sen smiling at me like this. Not one day waking up to find him gone—maybe never returning.

If becoming stronger was the price to keep this, Eagle was willing to endure any pain or fatigue.

After resting well and eating their fill—then even napping a bit more—they finally packed everything away and turned their eyes to the towering black door.

“Ready?”

“Mm.”

Pei Sen had fully prepared himself for how heavy this gate might be. He glanced at his character stats—already level 82, with nearly 500 points in Strength. For a mage, that was insane. Swordmasters would weep at his numbers.

Still, he suspected this door wouldn’t be about brute force alone.

Together, they placed their hands on the door and pushed.

Creak— the gate opened.

Much, much easier than Pei Sen had imagined.

“What the hell, it opens this easily?” Pei Sen stared. They had spent an entire day preparing and resting for this moment.

Eagle hadn’t expected it either. His semi-divine body had no weaknesses; his Strength stat was just as high. He’d braced himself to go all out—but the door practically slid open.

Then… they saw the three gods waiting behind it.

They were imposing figures. Though they stood still, divine power radiated from them, and the sheer force of their presence surged like a storm.

Pei Sen’s expression grew serious. He had known this wouldn’t be easy. This must be the real trial.

He gripped his staff tighter and looked at Eagle.

Eagle raised a staff nearly as tall as himself. At over 1.9 meters tall, the staff reached his eyebrows—it was more like a scepter, grand and powerful.

These were gods they faced now. They couldn’t hold back.

“These two…” Night Ancestor frowned, sizing them up. Strange… they’re strong enough to pass the Eternal Stair, yet they’re nobodies. Where did they come from?

Throughout the thousand years, only the most famous, powerful mortals had ever passed the test. The gods had at least heard of all of them, could guess their capabilities.

But these two? Total unknowns.

He had already sent messengers to investigate their identities, but so far, nothing.

“Who’s going first?” the Mirror Goddess asked.

Night Ancestor gave her a reluctant glance. “I’ll go.”

Between the three of them, he was the weakest. The “bottom of the bottom,” as it were.

“Looks like we’ll have to fight all three,” Pei Sen muttered. “But it’s fine. Our tactics don’t change whether it’s one or three.”

Eagle nodded. “Right.”

The space beyond the gate was different. This must be the divine realm, Pei Sen thought.

To truly ascend, they had to defeat three gods? No wonder no one had succeeded in a thousand years.

Night Ancestor was originally from the Xia Dynasty. When he had ascended, it was only because three gods from the same dynasty had “gone easy” on him. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have stood a chance. Even now, he was at the bottom of the godly hierarchy.

Still, even that didn’t mean weak. When he’d been mortal, Night Ancestor had been a legend—a warrior whose name shook the empire.

Pei Sen didn’t waste time. He immediately began casting necromantic spells, dark energy rising around him.

Eagle summoned a light sparrow to sit on Pei Sen’s shoulder and support his condition.

Even though Pei Sen’s necromancy and divine magic should conflict, the divine power actually helped boost his performance.

Night Ancestor’s expression darkened. He drew his sword with composure—after all, as a god, he had to maintain divine dignity.

He moved gracefully to descend to Pei Sen’s cloud-shrouded battlefield—only to see a bony, gnarled claw grip the cloud’s edge. A glowing red skull head suddenly burst upward.

Night Ancestor froze. Only his excellent control stopped him from yelping in shock.

“A necromancer?” said the Mirror Goddess, surprised. “I haven’t seen one in the Anser Empire for years.” She herself had once been a mage and recognized Pei Sen’s spells.

“But he looks like he’s from the Xia Dynasty… How did he learn pure necromancy in the Anser Empire?”

Night Ancestor’s lips tightened. More and more skeletons were appearing—hundreds, then thousands!

As a legendary necromancer, Pei Sen could summon tens of thousands of undead. With enough potions and materials, he could call up hundreds of thousands.

Eagle watched as an ocean of skeletons flooded the battlefield.

Normally, divine light magic would burn undead easily.

But Pei Sen had a special trick: Party Mechanics.

In any game, party members didn’t take friendly fire. Buffs from allies worked regardless of origin.

Pei Sen and Eagle were currently in a party.

So, the surreal scene unfolded—swarms of glowing light sparrows hovered over the skeleton army, casting buffs, shields, heals, and armor boosts.

The skeletons’ only real weakness was their low HP and fragile defense. But now, covered in divine light barriers, healing spells, and reinforced bodies, they were terrifying.

A sea of undead, immune to pain, fear, or death, surged toward Night Ancestor. Each of them now had healing support and defensive buffs…

And looked creepy as hell.

“I don’t know why,” Eagle murmured, “but this scene feels… familiar.”

The tide of undead… the relentless charge…

Pei Sen looked skyward. “Okay, yeah—it does look like how the Bix tribe fights.” Then he added defensively, “At least the Bix don’t look this unsettling.”

True.

A mountain of players was still prettier than a mountain of skeletons.

But functionally? Identical. A horrifying zerg rush.

Even if I can’t beat you head-on, I’ll bury you in numbers!

That was Pei Sen’s strategy. He had brought 99 stacks of magic potions and multiple storage rings packed with summoning materials.

Bring it on. Let’s see who runs out first!

That was why Pei Sen had said, “One god or three—it doesn’t make a difference.”

After all, whether piling on one or three…

It was still just a matter of how many skeletons you wanted to summon.

One-on-one duel?
What’s that? Never heard of it.