"Dear player, congratulations on completing Mission 4—Seizing Military Power!"
Tsk. Another skip.
Who even knew what Mission 3's conditions were? Luoshu had leapfrogged straight to total control of the Southern Coalition Army.
"Dear player, as you have consolidated the game world's strongest military force, unification is inevitable!"
"The game now recognizes you as the supreme ruler of East Asia. Proceeding to Mission 6—Global Domination!"
This notification confirmed it: The Southern Coalition Army was the top military power in East Asia—and now, it was his.
Which meant his Mysticism Reformation Plan needed adjustments.
No scrapping firearms yet.
A dual-track approach:
Steampunk tech tree (scientific + mystical fusion).
Faith-based governance.
As Luoshu recalibrated his world's development path, the system continued:
"Dear player, for setting a speedrun record, we're awarding Mission 6's prize early!"
"Effective immediately, planetary ownership of this game world is transferred to you. You may now rename it. Please input—"
Naming rights?
After a moment's thought, Luoshu entered a title dripping with irony:
"Let's call it... My Cult Leader World."
"'My Cult Leader World' is now your exclusive domain. Planetary coordinates have been relocated to the lower narrative layer of Earth Sector, Solar Domain, Orion Spur, Milky Way, D3 Membrane."
Information overload.
Even lower narrative layers were involved now.
Per Foundation cosmology:
A novel's world is a lower narrative to its author/readers (the upper narrative).
Multiple related fictions form a narrative domain (interacting or not).
This applies to all storytelling media—books, films, comics.
Crucially:
Lower narratives aren't just text or images—they're living, breathing realities.
To their inhabitants, the upper narrative is God—capable of erasing them with a keystroke.
Which meant:
Luoshu was now the deity of 'My Cult Leader World.'
As for that coordinate string?
It matched an entry in The Anomalous Item Catalog (Page 63).
In short:
'My Cult Leader World' now existed as a lower narrative, subordinate to Earth's upper narrative.
And Luoshu, as its owner, was effectively its author—free to reshape it at will.
Whether this world had readers (say, on ████, the game's developer planet) was unknown.
Perhaps right now, an alien audience was avidly watching his exploits.
The system's final prompt offered a choice:
"Dear player, you may continue or exit."
Exit, obviously.
This playthrough had lasted over a month (≈20 days in the SCP world).
Though he had no attachments there, unanswered truths demanded his return.
The moment he said "exit," a second choice appeared:
*"As a lower narrative, 'My Cult Leader World' can either:
Pause time until your return.
Progress autonomously at a set rate."*
This required careful thought.
Pausing time meant no development without his direct input—and given human lifespans, he'd never live to see his steampunk vision realized.
But autonomous progression carried risks—like failing Mission 6 (Global Domination).
Who knew if nukes lurked farther north or across the oceans?
Still, Luoshu opted for limited autonomy:
"Set progression to halt after unifying East Asia. I'll handle the rest later."
The system confirmed:
"On re-entry, time will auto-advance to your specified checkpoint."
The perks of lower narratives—historical cherry-picking.
Before leaving, Luoshu issued divine decrees:
Conquer East Asia.
Develop steampunk tech.
Enforce the Cult as the sole religion.
(Other faiths? The zealots and Holy Knights would 'handle' them.)
This ensured the world wouldn't stray off-script in his absence.
As for global domination?
He'd tackle that later.
Prester John's example warned him: Total victory would make him a Level 5 reality bender.
A disaster.
Not just for Earth's stability—the Foundation would never tolerate such a threat.
They wouldn't send Abel or Barbie next time.
They'd nuke him.
Then, mirroring Prester John's containment:
Seal 'My Cult Leader World' using Church of the Broken God/Flesh Sect tech.
Trap him inside forever.
Years later, he'd be cataloged as:
SCP-XXXX - "The Cult Leader Luoshu."
...Nope. Bad ending.
Shaking off the vision, Luoshu vowed:
"No Level 5. Not yet."
With his "testament" set, he ascended to the heavens before his followers' eyes—officially "returning to the divine realm."
In reality, five seconds later, he materialized on a reef 10 km east of Tianjin—LoI-CN-1451-2.
The moment he appeared, Foundation satellites alerted Area-13:
"Level 2 reality bender detected at LoI-CN-1451-2! Hume level: 250!"