The gods descend, and the world becomes a chessboard. There are sixteen gods and six great Paths, and each player can choose only one blessing. That is the rule set by the gods.
Jiang Duzhou, a 35-year-old unemployed historian, is thrown into the beginner's village unable even to open his System panel.
While others level up through skills, he looks for patterns in The Comprehensive Mirror in Aid of Governance.
While others worship the gods, he discovers that their “blessings” conceal traps meant to reap their harvest.
As every other player desperately scrambles to climb higher, Jiang Duzhou squats in a corner, opens a history book, and murmurs:
“Humanity has played this set of rules into the ground three times over.”
Later, the gods discover something terrifying:
The man with no faith, dismissed as a “System bug,” is teaching everyone else how to exploit loopholes in the rules and turn them against the very ones who made them.
The gods panic.
But Jiang Duzhou merely smiles:
“Don't rush. This is only the first round.”
[Rule-based horrors + tactical mind games + the crushing advantage of historical perspective]
[Content note] Chapter one has bloodshed. Later on, there are beans, porridge, and living people. This isn't pure wish fulfillment. It's about surviving after enduring hardship.
