## Chapter 1996 – 1996. God’S Atlantis
“What’s the matter?”
I asked calmly. Things had been going well recently. As my majesty spread across the world, humans were offering me beautiful women on their own accord. I was in a good mood, so I could tolerate most rudeness.
“The war! It’s not a war anymore!”
“What are you talking about?”
Even as civilization advanced, wars periodically broke out among humans. Since wars hadn’t disappeared even in modern times, I figured it was just the way things were. Humans would probably wage war even in space once they advanced into the space age.
“They kill humans with a single finger, and they fight in the sky with fighter jets instead of chariots! A single bomb can blow away an entire village…! This isn’t war!”
“They kill and are killed for their own gain. If that’s not war, then what is it?”
“No! War is! Wielding swords! Clashing! Giving birth to heroes in the blood! There are no heroes in this war!”
“There are heroes. It’s just that you don’t know them. And isn’t the war you desire too barbaric?”
Isn’t it better to wield a gun than a sword?
Of course, from the perspective of gods or superhumans, wielding a sword is better. Guns have too clear of a limit.
“This isn’t war! Humans have become too arrogant! They dare to claim ownership of the land, sea, and sky as if they were their own! Take away their electricity! Make them realize who the master of this world is!”
“That’s impossible. Even if we take away their electricity, humans have already developed too much. They’ll find another way.”
“Then cause a great flood! Wipe out the humans and remake them! Just like Father did in the past! It’s the second time, so what’s so difficult about it!”
“That was possible because of Gaia’s cooperation. The current Gaia would refuse. Creating tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands of humans is a burden even for Gaia.”
“Kuhhhhh…”
Ares clenched his fist tightly.
Why was Ares being so emotional? It was because humans didn’t worship Ares much anymore. Ares was the god of war itself, not related to victory or defeat. What human would want a god of war who doesn’t guarantee victory?
“If you really want to wipe out the humans that badly, then convince more than half of the twelve gods of Olympus and then come to me.”
“…Understood.”
Ares glared at me with rebellious eyes before disappearing from my sight.
‘I don’t like this. Should I throw him into Tartarus? What would Hera say?’
The possibility of Ares convincing more than half of the twelve gods was low.
Humans had developed civilization, but their primal greed hadn’t changed. They pursued power, relied on family and love, and feared death.
No matter how much civilization advanced, humans were still humans.
• • •
That day was like any other day.
‘I’ve already slept with all the goddesses of Olympus… I should check on the humans on the ground.’
I wondered if there was a woman who would bear my child.
I was slowly looking over the ground when it happened.
“Zeus! Zeus! It’s a disaster!!”
Hermes, the god of the shuttle, flew over. He was panting, exhausted, even though he could fly through the sky with magic and the effects of his shoes.
Hermes was my shuttle, a guy who had been through it all, so he didn’t get flustered easily. He was the same Hermes who would only wear a detached expression even when I had affairs with married goddesses.
‘Hmm. Is it finally happening?’
I was calm. It was probably what I had expected. It was a bit late, but what was bound to happen would eventually happen.
“Did Poseidon, Hades, and Ares start a rebellion or something?”
Hermes was startled.
“How did you know? Did someone make a prophecy or something? Prophecies have become useless since fate fell…”
“It’s not a prophecy, but the result of cold, hard reasoning.”
Poseidon, Hades, and Ares were full of complaints about me. They had suffered a lot. Especially Poseidon, it wouldn’t be strange if he tried to assassinate me.
From the woman Poseidon had his eye on to his wife and daughter, I had slept with all the women related to him.
“Hades is trying to invade by organizing an army of the dead. Artemis, Demeter, and Persephone are holding them back.”
“Those three goddesses are having a hard time. But can they really stop the army of the dead with just that? It can’t just be Hades.”
“Humans have decided to join forces. Isn’t that why you developed humans in preparation for times like this?”
No, it wasn’t. I had only developed civilization to suck up their faith.
“Everything is going according to plan.”
“Ares has joined hands with barbarians!”
“Barbarians? Are there any barbarians left in this world?”
“They’re humans from another world.”
He wasn’t talking about humans from another world. The other world Hermes was talking about was a place from another myth. A place ruled by other gods.
“Which side?”
“The north. A thunder god named Thor has declared that he will kill Zeus and steal his lightning.”
“How arrogant. Is it urgent?”
“No matter how great a god is, they can’t enter our world recklessly. Conversely, it’s hard for us to invade them. Barbarians are just barbarians. They can’t beat our humans who have achieved a high level of civilization.”
“Ares is a fool, so there shouldn’t be any problems. As long as he doesn’t step forward himself…”
“He’s not stepping forward himself. He seems to be enjoying watching the barbarians’ war from behind. Even if he does step forward, Hephaestus is watching him, so there won’t be any problems.”
Hephaestus and Ares were brothers, but they didn’t get along at all. They would kill each other if they had the chance, there was no way they would go easy on each other.
“It seems like Apollo has also sided with Poseidon. The sun is slowly descending to the ground… If we leave it like this, all humans will either burn to death or the crops will wither soon.”
“Apollo joined the rebellion?”
I was surprised. I really hadn’t expected Apollo’s rebellion. Apollo seemed to follow me very well on the surface.
“Isn’t it because of Artemis and Daphne?”
“…That could be it.”
Artemis was strangely obedient to me. It might have been displeasing to Apollo, who cherished his younger sister.
In the case of Daphne, she was a nymph who Apollo fell in love with due to Eros’s arrow. To the point where he even stalked Daphne. I had sex with Daphne in front of Apollo. To be honest, I didn’t even know if that nymph was Daphne. I just slept with a pretty nymph, and it just happened to be Daphne.
‘Of course, I would have slept with her even if I had known.’
At that time, the enraged Apollo had confronted me, and I had suppressed him with force. He had become docile after being locked up in Tartarus for a few years.
‘I thought he had forgotten about that, but I guess not.’
I looked at Hermes. He hadn’t mentioned the most important one yet.
“Poseidon has joined hands with monsters from the deep sea!”
“……What?”
“That monster or god, I don’t know which, that’s lurking in the deep sea. Poseidon has joined hands with it and is invading the land with sea monsters! Its followers call themselves Deep Ones.”
“……What’s the situation?”
“All of the humans’ ships have been sunk. No matter how strong the ships made of steel are, it’s hard to use their power in the sea, which is Poseidon’s domain. The sea route is as good as blocked. But there’s still the sky route, so it’s not a big chaos. The monsters that are coming up to land are being dealt with well by the humans. Guns and bombs are effective against monsters too.”
“So we have the advantage.”
“We can’t let our guard down. They’re trying to win over the humans. Their goal is to gain power through the humans’ faith.”
“That’s obvious. Is the humans’ faith wavering?”
Hermes chuckled.
“Don’t you already know?”
That’s right.
The faith towards me hadn’t wavered.
Humans feared me more than the army of the dead and the sea forces. To be precise, they were afraid that civilization would disappear.
“What are you going to do?”
Hermes asked.
Suddenly, what Hypnos had said came to mind.
There is a traitor.
Was he talking about the rebels? Or was he talking about another god? When it came to betrayal, the most suspicious and fatal one was Hermes. As the shuttle god, he was in charge of all sorts of troublesome tasks. If Hermes were to play tricks, it would become quite annoying.
“Why didn’t you join the rebellion?”
“One should always bet on the winning side.”
He was right, so I had no counterargument.
I got up from the throne.
“Are you going to step forward already?”
“The situation is serious. You know that too.”
“Still, I didn’t expect you to step forward right away. Where are you going first?”
“I should go for the easy one.”
“Ah. Ares, then.”
“And I’ll give a warning to the north as well.”
“…Um. It might be better not to provoke the north too much.”
“I’ll take care of it, so don’t worry.”
Hermes’s eyes trembled anxiously as he looked at me. I almost hit him, but I stopped myself. If Hermes were to join the rebellion, things would become even more troublesome.
• • •
-Things have gone wrong. Haven’t they? Hehehe.
An alien voice echoed in Zeus’s ear. Zeus watched Seong Yu-jin’s trial without the slightest agitation.
-King of the gods, how does it feel to be a traitor? The other gods don’t seem to suspect you at all… How will they react when they find out?
Zeus frowned and opened his mouth.
“Shut up, creeping chaos. Instead of spouting nonsense, tell me some helpful information. Who is the traitor? Is it Hades?”
-I don’t know either. What’s certain is that unlike you, they have a clear intention to interfere with that human.
Zeus looked at the trial. It was going in a different direction than the trial he had intended. He had wanted Seong Yu-jin to slowly get used to being a god. But the trial was progressing rapidly.
-You seem to have high expectations for that human.
“You know that he’s special. There’s something in him that neither I, nor you, nor the system knows. It’s definitely something that doesn’t exist in this world.”
-Hehe. That’s right. That’s why we’re so interested in that human.
Zeus was annoyed by the voice echoing in his ear. He suppressed the urge to grab the guy by the collar and asked a question.
“Who did the traitor join hands with? Even if you don’t know who the traitor is, you must know that much?”
-The key to all doors.
“……”
Zeus was silent at the unexpected existence.
