Simulate the universe, starting with speedrunning Greek.

The 'Romans' protected by God and the Romans without God's protection, though both Romans, are not entirely Roman.

Chapter Twenty-Three: Who Doesn't Love GM Privileges? Offering Their God-King to the World

Outside, things are in turmoil.

Just as everyone was captivated by Ye's first display of strength in the real world, and were anxiously watching his next move as if they were being tortured.

But Ye, who didn't really care about these things, had already started a new round of simulations on this German land.

This time, he set his sights on the Norse pantheon.

Night: "Hopefully I'll get a good opening script..."

Black Tower?: "What kind of opening is considered good?"

Night: "If I had a choice, I would even choose the beginning of the world in the Nordic world."

Black Tower?: "Didn't you say that period was very dangerous?"

Night: "No, the dangerous period is the chaotic era of the war of the gods. I'm talking about the time after the world has been created by Odin and his brothers. The time before Odin became the king of the Norse gods."

And Black Tower, who was quite knowledgeable about the night and also familiar with Norse mythology, immediately realized what he wanted to do.

The Black Tower? His eyes lit up, and he asked with great interest, "You mean, the World Tree—?!"

Night: "That's right. Legend has it—after Odin and his brothers first created the world, they were too weak. Even though Odin drank from the Well of Wisdom and became the god of wisdom, he still couldn't ascend to the throne of the gods. So—he found the primordial being that appeared at the beginning of the world's creation, providing life and support to the nine worlds." "In the Norse pantheon, to gain the power to control the world, one must obtain the World Tree. And this is one of the few pantheons that records the path to becoming the highest-ranking god."

Yes, that is the path to the highest godhood in a pantheon! Speaking of this, we must mention that the divine kingship in Norse mythology is not like the supreme god in other mythologies, who is already the highest from the beginning and is a symbol of omniscience and omnipotence.

The Norse gods lived in a new world created by the death of the colossal Chaos Giant, Ymir, the Founding Giant. This world was created through a bloody and cruel sacrifice, at the cost of the common ancestor of the gods and giants.

This also meant that the law of the Nordic world from its very inception was equivalent exchange, and that every gift from fate, in the shadows, had a price tag attached.

Even the three gods who created the world could not become the king of gods. To become the king of gods, one must conquer the World Tree. Before conquering the World Tree, even Odin, the king of the Norse pantheon, was only a minor kalami among the gods in terms of strength.

In order to obtain the throne of the gods and control the world, Odin wanted to explore the rules and laws governing the world, and then find a way to control it.

He thus obtained the Fountain of Wisdom, which granted him insight into all the wisdom and knowledge of the Norse world. From it, he not only saw the future of Ragnarok, but also the method to control the World Tree.

He found the World Tree and looked at it, saying, "Old friend, creating a world requires magnificent sacrifices, and so does gaining a world."

After saying these words, Odin began the legendary nine-day, nine-night sacrifice, impaling himself on the World Tree with his spear and hanging upside down. Using the World Tree as his altar, he saw the world as a wild horse, and himself as the one holding the reins.

Since the World Tree has no controller and no God-King, he offered up a God-King for it, and the sacrifice was himself.

That's right—it's about exploiting bugs...

Originally, there was no way to control the World Tree. Whether one wanted to create or obtain the world, Odin made it very clear in the myth that a heroic sacrifice was required.

Life is priceless, and only by using something priceless can one obtain the equally priceless position of the supreme God.

Originally, sacrificing one's life would lead to death. What's the point of conquering the World Tree if one is already dead?

But Odin managed to overcome this bug thanks to his powerful vitality.

For nine days and nine nights, he hung upside down. Blood dripped continuously from his wounds, and the raging winds and blizzards made his body sway.

In the Nine Heavens, Odin had no source of power to restore his strength, and he couldn't even do simple things like eating and drinking. In extreme pain, Odin gradually felt his life slipping away.

On the verge of death, in his blurred vision, he saw magical characters formed from the drops of his own blood—the original primordial runes.

Odin ultimately succeeded. He successfully tamed the World Tree, and by offering himself as a sacrifice to the world's god-king, he gained the throne and control over the runes.

Runes are the primordial laws governing the world. Mastering these characters grants the ability to harness the world's immense power. Inscribing these characters onto weapons imbues them with specific, powerful attributes and divine strength. Even when carved onto wood or stone, they can generate boundless power.

What Night craved were these primordial runes. In his view, if the Norse pantheon were a computer, these runes would be its original, fundamental code. Mastering all the runes was a path to gaining the GM (master) privileges of controlling the Norse world.

He wouldn't even hesitate to follow Odin's old path and leave Odin with nowhere to go, given the chance. Odin has already told you the way to attain the supreme godhood, of course—

This dangerous method of self-sacrifice is not something everyone can emulate. The risks are simply too great, so great that even Odin, who had gained all the wisdom to see through the world, could only choose this life-risking method to successfully conquer the World Tree at the very last moment before he truly died.

In other words, for the Norse world, this might truly be the only way to obtain the throne of the god-king, or rather, it might be the simplest shortcut.

If Ye also wanted to experience the Hanged Man upside down and see if he could successfully conquer the World Tree before dying, this would test not only his vitality, but also his willpower and the power of fate.

How could God's life force be so immense? How could it possibly weaken to the point of near death in just nine days and nine nights?

Unless the process of conquering the World Tree is itself a huge burden and drain on the spirit and soul.

If he were still Ye during his time as a demon god, he might have succeeded. But even if he had the chance now, he might not be able to conquer the World Tree. However, if he had the chance... Ye would still be willing to give it a try.

He can start over infinitely, he can have countless chances, he can afford to die!

The timing of the conceptual universe's entry is completely random, and even before night enters for the first time, it's entirely beyond our control. It truly comes down to pure luck.

Chapter Twenty-Four: In the beginning of creation, what was he in a world without the concept of humanity?

In the vast and complex history of countless myths, trying to pinpoint the exact period shortly after creation, before Odin became the king of the gods, is an incredibly difficult task, akin to finding a needle in a haystack.

...Hoping for that is less likely than hoping that the epic's fame will randomly place you in 'The Song of the Nibelungs'.

No more hesitation—it's time to start relying on your looks.

Night and the Black Tower? After giving a greeting, he began to project his consciousness into the conceptual universe of the Norse pantheon.

The next moment, a familiar feeling came over me, as if my soul had passed through the barrier of the world and entered a brand new world.

In a daze, Ye seemed to see a huge chasm stretching across the chaotic void.

He then completely lost consciousness.

When Ye regained consciousness from the darkness, she found that she could not open her eyes and her body was stuck in what felt like rock, so heavy that she could not move at all.

night:"???"

What the hell is going on?

What identity was I randomly assigned this time? I look like a statue now.

In this boundless darkness, at that very moment, he suddenly heard a voice.

A somewhat familiar opening remark interrupted Ye's thoughts and awakened his spirit.

"Great frost giant, progenitor of giants, giant born from the clash of ice and fire, our grandfather Ymir! You are so powerful, you have an endless body, larger than this chaotic world! Such a majestic grandfather, please lower your gaze and listen to the humble wishes and voices of us three brothers."

Three brothers?! Ymir, the primordial frost giant?

When I heard those words that contained such a huge amount of information.

Even though her body felt as if it had turned to stone and she couldn't move, Ye, whose consciousness was now completely clear, immediately calmed down...

He wasn't trying to do anything, nor was he worried about the possibility that maintaining this posture might prevent him from dying, keeping him sealed away in this conceptual universe until he died of old age.

Impatience and anxiety are of no help in solving this predicament.

Especially in times like these, we should connect all the factors we can explore and look for answers.

The sound he just heard immediately made Ye realize which era of the Norse pantheon he had arrived in.

Even though his body was as still as a rock, he seemed to hear the rapid beating of his heart.

My heart was pounding with excitement...

We've actually arrived at the beginning of creation?

Originally, he was just with the Black Tower? That's funny, I never thought he could randomly be transported to this era.

How could it really be like this...?

You got what you called for, right?

Hiss! If he had known this would happen, he would have—emmmm, it seems there's no more valuable era than this one. But it's also the riskiest era!

With his current strength, he has no chance to mess with the gods, the frost giants, or even the World Tree.

He didn't even know what he was anymore.

Imagine this is a chaotic world before the world was created.

In the Norse pantheon, aside from the chaos that arose at the boundary between ice and fire, where the primordial giants resided, there are only ice fields and volcanoes.

Only the frost giants and the original gods, and Surtur, the eternal fire giant who existed before everything else, live here; there are no humans here at all.

So, in a world where the concept of humankind had not yet been born.

What is he now?!

Besides, Ye suddenly remembered what the enormous chasm he seemed to have seen in the moment he chose to descend into the Norse conceptual universe was.

The chasm that stretches across the chaotic void is remarkably similar to the World Rift depicted in the Norse pantheon. In the present moment, it is clearly the very place where the Founding Titan was born.

Legend has it that the world of the Norse pantheon was initially a state of chaos and disorder, without any concept of heaven or earth, until a void appeared and split the chaotic universe in two, like a huge chasm.

As time went by, a bottomless abyss appeared in the center of this void, and the entire universe began to show two extremes.

To the north of the chasm lies Niflheim, the land of mist, a place rich in moisture and constantly enveloped in a misty fog. There, a spring never runs dry, from which ethereal waters continuously emerge. These ethereal waters disperse and converge to form eleven wide rivers, while the waters far from the spring freeze into massive glaciers near the chasm.

To its south lies the land of fire—Muspelheim, where eternally burning flames reside, and where the ancient fire giant Surtur, whose divine nature is burning and destruction, is destined to restore all rules to the eternally peaceful void. The opponent possesses the Flame Demon Sword, formed from the purest destruction in the world, and this sword is destined to be the final artifact of Ragnarok in Norse mythology, used by the fire giant to destroy the very structure of the world.

And finally, in the chasm that was seen before nightfall.

Legend has it that whenever the glaciers of the Land of Mist collapse, the fire giant Surtur would wield his crimson, sparking greatsword of true fire, and with a heart full of rage, cleave through the massive ice formations surging from the north, creating not only a deafening roar but also drawing the heatwave northward to Niflheim.

"Ice and fire have been incompatible since ancient times," but when the glaciers in the north are constantly blown by the hot winds in the south, they first melt into water and then evaporate into water vapor that rises into the air.

Finally, invaded by the surrounding cold air, it condensed into frost and snow and fell down. In this way, through the constant transformation of the three forms of water, Ymir, the progenitor of the frost giants, was born.

—And in the lore, this primordial giant's size even surpasses the world itself. Truly a useful tool for creating the Norse world. No wonder the three Odin brothers set their sights on their grandfather.

certainly--

In addition, just like a companion mythical beast, a cow named Odembra, which is just as huge as the Heavenly Bull next door, was also born.

The first giants grew up drinking the milk of this cow.

So here's the problem: even if a cow can grow up on its own breast milk, the cow's milk obviously can't be unlimited.

But there's another outrageous detail in the Nordic world.

Cows can continuously produce milk by licking the salt grains on glaciers.

Ye strongly suspected that this so-called salt grain was probably not a product of some special law. Even if it looked like salt, the energy it contained must be quite astonishing. Otherwise, how could it be transformed into food that could support the growth of a giant larger than the world?

Chapter Twenty-Five: Am I the Progenitor Buri? No, I was originally the first human being after the creation of the world.

Although the world that followed was created from Ymir's body.

But this chaotic world is actually the origin of the Norse pantheon. It is the place where all things were born, and where the first giants and Norse gods were born.