King had just finished double checking the mansion when Eli arrived.

The front door creaked open as he stepped into the building, his rifle hanging heavy off one shoulder. A map of the day’s work was etched into his clothes in layers of dust and dark, rust-colored smears, yet he didn’t have a scratch on him.

King stood as Mr Eli approached

"You good?" he asked.

Eli gave a slight bow. "Yes, Master King. No issues."

"How’d the rune farming go?"

Eli set his rifle down carefully, brushing dust from his sleeves.

"It was a success. The Rune Orcs respawned consistently, just as you predicted. I was able to accumulate a substantial amount of runes without difficulty."

King nodded. "Good. Any trouble with other players?"

"I encountered a few," Eli said quite calmly. "Most kept their distance. A small group attempted to approach, but when they saw the rifle, they reconsidered. In the end there were no hostilities."

"Okay, that’s a success then." King muttered.

Eli allowed himself a faint smile. "Indeed."

They were just about discussing the way forward when...

DING!

A global announcement echoed across the interface.

King’s vision flooded with light as a massive notification materialized in front of him, blocking out everything else.

[GLOBAL ANNOUNCEMENT]

[RANKING UPDATE]

[THE SYSTEM HAS RELEASED TWO RANKING SYSTEMS]

[POWER RANKING]

[POPULAR RANKING]

King’s eyes narrowed, he hadn’t seen this before, while he still actually played the game, there was no universal leaderboard.

The notification expanded, displaying detailed descriptions.

[POWER RANKING]

- The Power Ranking system is a coalescing of Players’ Total Strength, Abilities, Level, and Feats, these are combined and graded as PowerPoints, which are used to determine player positions in the power ranking scale.

Benefit: Influences player reward bonuses.

[POPULAR RANKING]

- The Popular Ranking system is a coalescing of Players’ Total Fans and Fan Values. Your world is now on stream for extraterrestrial and celestial viewers. They make up your fandom.

Benefit: Influences Player interaction with NPCs and the game system, players can also receive gifts from fans under the discretion of the gamemaker.

King stared at the notification.

On Stream.

The words echoed in his mind.

Extraterrestrial and celestial viewers, so they weren’t just playing a game. They were being watched as well.

Their lives had been snatched from them, and for what, just to serve as a form of entertainment for... Aliens?...

The notification pulsed once more, and then it vanished.

Next, the lists dropped.

[POPULAR RANKING]

1. King – 1,000 pts

2. Hunt_Starbuster – 480 pts

3. Alita80 – 400 pts

4. Zoro – 385 pts

5. Lady_Geladria – 300 pts

6. Cain – 300 pts

7. Isaac_Craig – 280 pts

8. The_Table_Turner – 270 pts

9. Liz_Starbuster – 200 pts

10. Tagr – 100 pts

[POWER RANKING]

1. King – 1,200 pts

2. Pantheon – 1,100 pts

3. Cain – 999 pts

4. Alita80 – 800 pts

5. Hunt_Starbuster – 800 pts

6. The_Table_Turner – 610 pts

7. Lady_Geladria – 550 pts

8. Tagr – 500 pts

9. Isaac_Craig – 490 pts

10. Zoro – 420 pts

King stared at the rankings.

He was first, on both of them.

DING!

[POWER POINTS, POPULAR POINTS, AND FAN COUNT HAVE BEEN ADDED TO YOUR CHARACTER DETAILS]

King’s mind raced anxiously as he dismissed the notification. He navigated to the world chat.

The World Chat exploded with messages flooding frantically.

OPman: KING IS NUMBER ONE IN BOTH?!

BlurbDragon: Who the hell is this King guy?

Kastar02: Any one in the Top 10 power ranking needing a sidekick, i’m available.

Unseen Cunt: This shit is rigged. No way someone tops both list, King is most likely a bot.

PanzerQ : I was thinking the same thing, peak BOT energy.

Adry_crow: IT HAS TO BE THE GUY WHO ONE-SHOT THE ROT TROLL

8rico: You’re still waffling about that? Get over it.

The_Table_Turner: I’m forming a guild after the First Woe. If you’re interested, DM me with your application. Looking for serious players only.

Archer96: SIGN ME UP

KronusTank: SENT

*Lil’ Mae_94: Can I join even if I’m low level?

King scrolled through the chaos, reading through everyone’s reaction.

Some players were in awe. Some were already offering their services to the top ranked players. An expectedly, they were those questioning the legitimacy of the rankings entirely.

But one thing was clear.

His name ’KING’ was now global.

Still, his actual identity remained hidden. His username was just "King.". His details remained hidden. A typical, no face no case.

He wasn’t worried.

King shifted his gaze to the rankings, studying the names carefully.

Triple T. The Table Turner. King didn’t know much about him, except that he was a fan when he still streamed as Omniscient Player, and it looked like he was doing pretty well here as well, even trying to form a guild early on.

Hunt_Starbuster and Liz_Starbuster.

The names were familiar. Two top-tier game streamers who’d earned their reputation as the best co-op duo in the world. They were known for their synergy, ruthless efficiency, and their ability to communicate with each other without even saying a word.

If they were here, and already making the top 10, then they were noteworthy.

Cain.

Number three in Power Ranking. One of the military-affiliated players who’d actually reached 70% completion in ALLGoDS before the world changed. He wasn’t your typical ’good guy’. King knew that from experience. Cain had a habit of invading and executing other players in the game world, stealing their loot, and deriving joy in ending player progresses.

If Cain was playing the same way now, it was a warning that people were going to die.

And then there was

Pantheon.

King frowned.

For some reason, he had no idea who this was. The name wasn’t familiar. They were probably smart enough to use a different alias, just like he had.

But what stood out most was that Pantheon wasn’t even in the Popular Ranking.

So how the hell did they make number two in Power Ranking without drawing attention?

Not to mention, they were pretty close in PowerPoints too, even with King weilding a Legendary-grade armament.

The first cold fingers of panic was almost brushing against his neck, but he shrugged them off. Doubt was a luxury he couldn’t afford. They were out there somewhere, lurking in the shadows, but it didn’t matter.

Every second that passed was a second he used to get stronger.

He closed the World Chat.

"Eli," King said, turning toward the older man. "What are your points?"

Eli opened his interface, scanning quickly.

"Zero Popular Points, aaand about Two hundred Power Points."

King nodded. That made sense. Eli had been farming efficiently, but he hadn’t done anything flashy.

"What’s your skill?" King asked.

Eli closed his own chat.

"Three-Eyed Eagle," he said. "I summon a spirit eagle which I share vision with. It can be used for reconnaissance, tracking, scouting. And whatever target my eagle’s eyes lock onto, I can fire at, bypassing barriers and obstructions."

pheeaoowww

King let out a low whistle, a grin spreading across his face.

"That’s... That’s actually perfect."

Eli stared at him. And as he rightly thought King’s mind was already racing, calculating builds, gear combinations and application strategies.

A few seconds passed in silence, then...

"AHA!" King exclaimed

"I’ve got it!"

"What is it Master King?"

"We’ll revisit the Merchant’s Hall soon," King said. "I know just what you need."

Eli bowed slightly. "I trust your judgment, Master King."

"Alright then, But first I just need to..." King’s words ended as a phrase as he navigated through his interface, opening his Character Details.

The interface expanded, displaying his updated details.

CHARACTER DETAILS

NAME: King

RACE: Human

SKILL: God’s Hand: 100x Reward (SSS) 𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺

CLASS: Mage

RANK: F

LEVEL: 10

ITEMS:

-Grand Magus Oathcloak (equipped)

-Basic Construct Spelbook

-Arcbearer’s Hello

-Gauntlet Of Ruin [Legendary-Grade]

-Arcbearer’s Medallion [100]

ABILITIES:

-Basic Construct Spell (C)

-Ruin’s Touch (S)

_____________________

STATS

Strength: 30

Speed: 30 (+5)

Mind: 40 (+10)

Constitution: 30

____________________

HP: 300

MP: 400 (+100)

Runes: 34,000

And then the new additions.

POWER POINTS: 1,200

POPULAR POINTS: 1,000

FANDOM LIST: 1

King blinked.

One fan?.

He tapped on the fan list, curiosity pulling at him.

The interface expanded. And there, at the top of the list

[THE ALMIGHTY Fan Value: 10,000]

King stared.

"The Almighty."

One of the All-Gods from the Council.

The same one who’d been mentioned in the notifications after he died in the game.

The eyes of the Almighty are upon you.

And now, the name was sitting in his fandom list.