Divinity: Against the Godly System

"Lucifer and Hades? What do you mean? We're none of them," Ryder stepped forward as he answered. 

"You're not those two? Then who are you? They said only the top ten players are allowed to take part, I think. You don't look like a staff either?" One of the guys asked Lucifer. 

"Ah, I think you're misunderstanding something. It's not that only the top ten players can take part. My sister isn't in the top ten, but she also got lucky and got an invitation. I'm her guardian," Ryder replied, acting ignorantly. 

"She's not in the top ten? And she was invited? Why weren't we told about this before?" 

"This is strange. So more than ten players will take part? Interesting."

The new news came as a surprise to most of them that hadn't known this as Necrosis hadn't explained anything either. 

While most of the players were shocked about them, there was one girl in the group that was looking at Alice curiously.

" She was specially invited, so something must be special about her. What's your level?" The girl asked Alice. 

"I'm level Sixty-two," Alice answered. 

"Huh? Not a bad level, but still, nothing special either. So it can't be because of your level or strength. Could it be because of your class? What's your class in Divinity?" the dark-haired girl asked again. 

"My class is Divine Oracle," Alice answered again. 

"Divine Oracle? Never heard about that. Could it be a special class that's received after doing some unknown set of tasks in the proper sequence?" A man muttered, curious. 

"Send like that. This must be why she was invited. Because of her Unique Class," another man chimed in as he brought his hand out of his pocket. 

"So that's how it is. I think I understand it now. Only special players are invited. The top ten players and the players with special classes. It looks like this isn't going to be as easy as I thought," A short man said. 

Hearing his words, the rest of the men turned to look at the short man weirdly. 

"Did you really think it was going to be easy? Hades should be taking part as well. I have no idea how strong he is not, but still, at the speed he was growing when levels were visible, he could very well be above level hundred by now and not by a little."

"That's right. There's Lucifer too. He's at Rank Two. Those two are really strong. But still, the real nightmare would be Hades. Did you see how many Unique Treasures he had? It's like he has a cave where he can get any treasure he wants."

"Yeah, it's weird. Even I don't understand how he does it. I thought it was because he was related to Necrosis, but even they denied that they had any relation to Hades. That guy must have some crazy luck."

"I wonder what he looks like. He must be a tall and handsome man. He might as well be a billionaire who can buy any treasure he wants in Divinity? Whoever he is, it'll be fun to meet him."

Throughout the conversation, there seemed to be only five of the eight people that were talking. As for the other three, they remained entirely silent.

"I don't know about this Hades, but maybe he's an ugly guy? Or a broke fellow who is just lucky?" Ryder chimed in, smiling. It was fun hearing people talk about them. 

They were so wrong about many things. Level hundred player? He was way above five hundred already. 

'They are wrong about many things except one. They're pretty spot on about my looks. I'm tall and handsome as well, aren't I right, Janus?' Ryder asked Janus in his thoughts, jokingly. 

"If Handsome meant looking like you, then yeah. If we go by the normal definition of this world from earth's standard then, no comments," Janus finally responded as he heard Ryder's words. 

"You, Mr. Guardian! Stay silent! What do you know about Hades to make that comment? I'm his fan! Stop ruining my dreams already and keep your mouth shut!"

It seemed as if Ryder's words about Hades had triggered one the dark-haired girl that had asked Alice about her class. 

"Who might you be?" Ryder asked the girl even though he already knew who he was. 

"I'm Rank Seven, Naomi!" The girl replied proudly.

"So, Rank Seven Naomi, please explain why I should stay silent?" Ryder asked, amused. "It's not like I said anything about you. The only one who can complain is Hades himself. When he gets here, tell him what I said."

"You! Shut up! I'm a high-ranking player! How can you talk to me like that? Do you even know how many channels ran after me to sign me?" Naomi told Ryder, seemingly upset. 

"Uh, should I care how many channels came after you? It's not like you're Hades. So however many came after you, came to you because they couldn't get Hades and the others, isn't that right? Rank Seven Naomi?" Ryder asked, laughing.

He didn't know why, but today he was having fun annoying this lady. 

"You! Shut up, shut up, shut up! Don't talk to me! You're making my blood boil!" Naomi thundered before she stormed back to the sofa. She didn't want to talk to this foul mouth guy. 

The other players also walked back as the introduction was over, leaving only one guy behind. 

The blonde man closed in on Ryder before he said, "I must say, you're really good at words, bro. By the way, I also think Hades would be ugly. I guess we'll see today."

"You must be the current Rank Four Vien? Right?" Ryder asked the man, recognizing him. 

"That's right. I thought you said you don't know much about Divinity. How did you know about me?" Vien asked Ryder. 

" I just saw you on a news channel. You're pretty good yourself. Best of luck for the competition," Ryder answered. 

In reality, he knew Vien in the original timeline. Vien had even joined up with him to finish some missions. Unfortunately, he wasn't in the top ten at that time. Surprisingly, he reached number four in this timeline. Things really were different. 

"Thank you. I think I'll really need that," Vien replied as he laughed. 

He shifted his gaze to Alice as he continued, "Best of luck to you as well, Young Lady. I'm sure you'll have fun at least."

He also walked back to his seat with Alice and Ryder, who sat near him.

Time kept passing slowly as ten minutes were over. Other than Ryder and Vien, not many people were talking. 

Soon, the entrance door opened as a few people stepped inside. 

The man in the lead was dressed in a black coat and black pants, looking entirely professional. He was accompanied by a few guards and a lady that seemed like an assistant. 

"It looks like all the players are here. We shall start the briefing without wasting your time. My name is Ion. I'm the Director of Necrosis Corporation and also the big boss as a few people jokingly call me," the man introduced himself.

"And she is my personal assistant. So are you all ready for the briefing about this contest?" Ion asked the ten people who were inside the room. 

"Wait a minute. We are only nine, and that lady isn't even from the top ten. As for that man, he is her guardian. So that means at least two people are still missing, Lucifer and Hades," Naomi chimed in as she reminded the man that Hades wasn't here. 

She was his fan and didn't want him to miss it. In any case, she didn't think she could even win against everyone else. All she came here for was to meet Hades and maybe help him. 

"Not at all. I already know those two aren't here, and I don't think they'll be coming either. They refused the offer and didn't reach out to us. I believe they don't want to take part," Ion explained with a calm smile on his face as he looked at Naomi. 

"Wait a minute, did you really say that Hades doesn't want to take part? Seriously? Does he hate money or something? I mean, he really has the best chance to win, and still, he isn't taking part?" Rank Five Player Beming asked, surprised. 

"It could also be that he really doesn't want to show his face? Maybe he actually us ugly as my friend here said?" Vien chimed in as he gestured towards Ryder. "He doesn't want to show his face even if it means losing a billion dollars?"

"Shut up! You're ugly! Stop talking!" Naomi snapped at Vien as she heard him talk bad about Hades. 

"I don't think it's about his looks," Beming again said. "I mean, he also said no to all deals that the channels offered him. I heard he even refused the contract worth fifty million dollars. They didn't even want him to show face. He still refused. I think he really doesn't want money. Naomi could be right. Maybe he's a billionaire."