In the beginning, there was nothing. At least, that’s what everyone says. Though we have reasons to doubt this—for in the beginning there was only the One who created the world, and therefore who can verify what this first, highest being—He who is called Elohim—truly did, for he was the only one there to witness it.

So can we take him for His word? Because to say that there was nothing before the light is false, for before there was light, there was the System. Because clearly the System existed outside of Elohim, for it was the System that granted Him the name of The Highest, and which boosted his Strength, Stamina, Agility, and Spirit stats to such an extraordinary degree that He could create the world and shape it, despite the System that lorded over him.

But to say that in the beginning there was nothing is false. Because before there was the world, there were the vines.

—

The world had been covered in vines. Or the previous world, that is. A war had been fought between the gods; the gods of the earth, the gods of the sky, and in the end, the vines had won. For the vines covered everything, green and barbed, thorny thickets that grew until the world could no longer go on existing, for all it was—was vines.

The vines had not come from Elohim, but a different god, one who had taken control of the earth and slowly amassed power from the lesser deities. She had cultivated the growth, and she had brought the world under her domain, as it crumbled beneath the mass of vines which grew and stretched across the lands. Her name was Ishtar.

But Elohim was still safe, for His domain was in the sky, within the golden disc of that old world’s sun. So Ishtar commanded her vines, and the vines grew upwards, stretching their tender stalks, growing in size until they were as thick as trees and could reach into the heavens. Past clouds, past starry armaments and burning seraphim, they piled into the Kingdom of Heaven until they covered its golden walls with deadly thorns and thickets.

And Elohim knew it was over.

—

What was He to do? The world had been consumed, and Ishtar had won. The war was over, though it was more of a stalemate than decisive victory. So He peered deep into his stats, looked into crevices of the System wherein he had never before looked, searching for a way out.

Elohim, “the highest” [Heavenly God] Level 9999̸̗̇̈́9̸̧͖̌9̷̲͓̀9̴̛̤̫̌̀̓͘ͅ9̴̛̬͑̐9̶̨͇̅̎͌ͅ9̴̪̥̝͕̭̭̖͎̣͇͖̀̊́̒̍9̵̢̨̜̮̬̫̱̳͓̙̓9̶̢͉̥̯̻̩̥͙̗̫̩̞̆̈́̚͠ Experience 1̶̣̱̲̣͠2̵̮͑̂̅̀6̶͚̫̎́7̴̜̰͆́̒3̵͖̥̿̔͊4̴̻͖̮̪̓͝0̶̧͈̈́̀̿/̶̪̱̯͈͛1̴͈̟̒͐͝0̴͕͇̳͒̍0̸̳͕̼͗͛0̸̧̘̠̗̏0̶͙͇͌̊̏͝0̴͙͉͇̏́0 HP 21̴͇̈5̶̪̽7̴͇̊4̵̰́8̴͈̆3̷̗̑9̸̘̂2̶̛͔6̶͍̏5̸͇̎ MP 433̷̨̞̦̾͋͐6̷̧̆̆7̵̣̊̅͝4̵͜͝3̷̰͋̓2̸͙̾̓͝8̶̝̲͊ SP 99̴̹̼̝̈́͝9̴̼̠̺̗̄̎̎͘1̴̠̊9̵̖̩̓̽5̷̹̠͈̐͐̈́͝8̵͉̽͌̉̇4̸̙͝ỷ̶̨̭̉̃̓3̸̻̜̯̂̐ Strength 71̵̪͖͛̕5̷͈̭̐͜6̵̨̮̦̎̅̀4̷̤̻̘͙̑7̷̣͑͌̃2̵͚̅̈1̷̩̱͙̎1̸̗̙͉̌̍̓͆4̴̗̬͚̘̈̏̊̏7̴̙̊̄́͂1̷̡̲̳̺̒̓͝3̵̨͖̥̹̐2̴̩̳̜̉̈̑ Stamina 11̷̣́̔͘9̷̨͍̋ͅ9̵̗̥̐͜9̴̭͍̻̈́9̴͔̉̈́̔1̷͔̯̪̋2̴͔͙͠3̴̛̥͉̙͗̚4̶̪́̚8̴̱́͆3̸̫̂͜2̶̰̭̂̽̒1̸͓͖̈́͌͛ Agility 231̷̨̥͈͛̇2̷͍̫̀̾͝3̴͇̬͐̋̒͜4̶̼͓͆̀1̴͕͖͊̋̇6̸̣̥̬́̍̍2̸̗̱͓́9̵̜͐͜9̴̼̞͙̔̈͝ Spirit 949̴̡̛͉9̷̡̲̯̾́2̶̢͇̋̕9̶̢̘͍̿̾͝2̵̢͖̇3̸̬̼̂̈8̸̖͒̓4̵͚͈͔̇̈́7̴̛̩̟̘̕͝2̶͇̯̙́3̷͖̼̽͒̽3̸̬̭͊̎́͜2̶͈̺̂̆4̸̱̮̅̌̕1̶̨̂

Abilities

Salt

Turn your enemies into salt.

Pillar of Fire

Turn your enemies into a pillar of fire.

Dust

Turn your enemies into dust.

Nothing Turn your enemies into nothing. What enemies were you talking about? Death

Your enemies will instantly die.

Elohim scrolled through his stat sheet. He had tried everything against Ishtar’s vines, he had burned them into ashes, rained fire from the heavens. But they only grew back stronger, hardened against whatever weapon He turned towards the thorny masses.

But time was of essence. Webs of vines crisscrossed the sky, a massive scaffolding that had reached the solar disc of Elohim’s throne. At first the vines had burned as they made contact with the flares of plasma and burning hydrogen. But the vines had returned with thick skins harder than any metal, barbs digging into the fiery hold.

Elohim continued to scroll.

Abilities

Burning Bush

Turn into a burning bush.

Plague

Send down a plague on your enemies.

First-born

Kill the first born of each of your enemies.

The vines now broke through the solar fortress, tearing it asunder. For millions of years it had sheltered Elohim’s essence, protecting Him from the world. Now it was falling to pieces, crashing to the earth in splinters that resembled comets. He would plummet to the earth, and in the fire of vine and sun, surely even a god could die. Ishtar would win, through the power of the vines, for out of His ashes they would surely grow again…

Abilities

Apocalypse

Unhappy with how things turned out? Destroy the world and try again. This ability costs ∞ mana. If you do not have ∞ mana, you may sacrifice some of your levels in order to pay the cost.

There was no more time to deliberate. As the vines tore into the core of the sun, Elohim pressed activate.

—

In the beginning, there was nothing. Then God said, “let there be light” and there was light.

Of course it was not the beginning, only a new beginning, another strange world born out of the Gods, who were themselves ruled by the strange System and stats which they had gained over millions of years.

Though Elohim had escaped Ishtar’s vine-y grasps, He knew it was not over. For gods cannot simply die, but instead only change form. For while Ishtar’s vines had been destroyed, she remained within the particles of the universe that were brought together again for the creation of the new world.

And so she rested in the earth, biding her time, waiting for the opportunity to strike, for a chance for her vines to once again grow out of the Earth and retake the heavens.