The Nebula's Civilization

Chapter 147: Unique Domain

Chapter 147: Unique Domain

In The Lost World, many Domains were shared. For example, numerous Domains and Small Areas were likely possessed by multiple players. Small Areas such as Small Area: Livestock or Small Area: Crops were essential components for civilization development. Even when a player didn’t make the choice, one of the Small Areas would be naturally chosen in accordance to the species the player had picked, and as civilization developed, the Small Areas would inevitably reach the minimum level.

And this wasn’t much different for Species Domains either. Even if a player chose Humans as their first species, there was no problem for other players to make the same choice. Therefore, it was difficult to say that a specific Domain a player had was a unique characteristic of that player.

‘Though there are Domains that are rarer.’

Sung-Woon had access to Electricity from Domain: Demonic Magic, and he believed he was the only one that currently had it. This Domain was certainly a useful one, and Sung-Woon was making good use of it.

He also possessed less rare Domains like Domain: Grass and Domain: Flower, but he had only obtained them by chance, and the same was true of the other players. Players rarely tried to obtain the Domains on purpose.

Ultimately, no matter which Small Areas and Species Domains a player had, which were the key features that determined a player’s overall abilities, no Areas were exclusive to certain players—not even Large Areas that granted more abilities and capabilities than Small Areas. Therefore, it could be said that the distinct characteristics of a player was generally decided by the level of the Small Areas or Species Domains they had, which depended on the player’s overall strategy.

‘Of course…there are some exceptions.’

The exceptions Sung-Woon thought of were Unique Domains.

The most well-known Unique Domain that Sung-Woon knew of in The Lost World was Unique Domain: War. It was a Domain directly related to what one could achieve in wars, so it was natural for the players to want it the most. Given it was the most powerful Domain, obtaining it had a 80 percent chance of putting the player within the top 3.

There were many other powerful Unique Domains that were distinct when compared to other Domains. While general Domains determined the basic abilities of a god, Unique Domains revealed what kind of god they were. But the problem was that the conditions for obtaining these kinds of Domains were unclear.

Even the most popular Unique Domain: War wasn’t something a player could obtain just because they wanted to, and the conclusion drawn by players of The Lost World was that each Unique Domain came with several conditions, which were randomly chosen for each game. The conditions to obtain Unique Domain: War was of course related to gameplay concerning war, but in The Lost World, pretty much everyone was engaging in such acts, so it was hard to determine what the exact conditions were.

The conditions of a few popular Unique Domains had been inferred, but at the end of the day, it was difficult to try to fulfill the conditions during each match, and doing so could even hinder a player’s possibility to win the game.

Sung-Woon also thought it was unreasonable to attempt to go through the several conditions assigned randomly for each Unique Domain, so he had pretty much given up on obtaining Unique Domain: War. Not only Sung-Woon, but most players understood that it was better for their win rate to only make a few attempts to obtain a Unique Domain and quickly give up if those attempts failed.

And perhaps due to these distinct characteristics of Unique Domains, there were also rare Unique Domains that were obtained only once in a blue moon. For example, there was a Unique Domain called Unique Domain: Disease. In the history of The Lost World’s player community, Unique Domain: Disease had only ever appeared ten times; all the conditions were unknown, and seven out of the ten players who obtained it won the game. Initially, opinions divided on whether this Domain actually existed, or if it was just the result of a hack or bug.

‘Well, it would be best to obtain Unique Domain: Disease…’

There were quite a few trivial Unique Domains that made one question why they even existed. The Unique Domain Sung-Woon had already obtained, Unique Domain: Corpse, was one of them. He had obtained this Unique Domain by killing the evil god, Jeol Woo-Bi, and although the Domain’s level continued to rise because individuals who believed in Sung-Woon continued to die, that was it. It had brought no other significant benefit. But in Sung-Woon’s perspective, the magical Unique Domain he obtained this time was different from those.

‘Magic, huh… I’ve never seen this Domain, just like Domain: Corpse. It’s likely that it didn’t even exist before in this game, but what’s important is the fact that I obtained it.’

Even Sung-Woon couldn’t quite grasp what conditions he had met, but he had certainly met some conditions, which led to his acquisition of the Domain.

Regardless of the heated debate going on between the other players about the form of the pantheon, Sung-Woon proceeded to check the Domain. In the case of Unique Domain: Corpse, it still only displayed a message that said, [No skills currently available.] It would be disappointing if that was the case for Unique Domain: Magic.

[Unique Domain: Magic]

[Lv. 1]

[Origin of Magic]

[You can use all existing magic. However, the resources consumed when using magic are proportional to Faith points. (See more.)]

[There is one additional skill. (Swipe to check.)]

When Sung-Woon was about to check the next skill, Lunda asked, “What are you doing?”

Sung-Woon closed the system window for now.

“I had to check something. Did you guys say anything important?”

“We were discussing how to make the dining room and the kitchen,”

“Dining room and kitchen?”

“Yes.”

“Well, the dining room…is it a done deal that we’re making it?”

“Yes.”

Sung-Woon decided to move on from his own thoughts of why they needed a dining room when they didn’t even need to eat.

Generally, in The Lost World, the interior of a pantheon wasn’t very important, and the cost of renovation wasn’t much either. On the other hand, in cases where a proper pantheon was to be made rather than a temporary one, it would be better to decide on the interior properly since it would be a residence to the players.

Sung-Woon then pointed at Lunda and said, “Lunda.”

“What?”

“I give you all the authority for making the dining room and kitchen. Do what you want.”

For some reason, Lunda and Crampus, who had been complaining, began to get angry at Sung-Woon, but he just told Lunda to discuss with the others and turned back to his system window.

There was still a skill he hadn’t checked.

‘...Is it similar to the other Domains?’

Most Domains were obtained at level 1, and they came with creation abilities that were related to the Domain. Domain: Atmosphere could make air, Domain: Electricity created lightning, and Domain: Insects created insects. For more complex concepts such as Domain: War, it could be understood that it created war. When using such a skill in peaceful regions, conflict would arise relatively quickly in proportion to the amount of Faith points used, and that conflict would escalate into war. Therefore, it seemed reasonable for Domain: Magic to create magic.

‘But even if a god could use magic…’

The creation abilities Sung-Woon gained through the many Small Areas he had obtained were in fact not much different from magic. But of course, magic would have more nuanced effects, and there were parts that Small Areas couldn’t imitate. Being able to use magic wouldn’t be a bad thing.

‘Above all, I would be able to lure the Wizards.’

The false origin story Sung-Woon had started wasn’t known to the Wizards yet. However, if he showed them that he could use magic, they might interpret the story in a certain way and become convinced.

‘Let’s check the next skill, shall we?’

Sung-Woon swiped the air and checked the next skill.

‘Well, I did somewhat expect this, but…’

[????? Access Privilege]

[?????? ??????????? ??????.]

Sung-Woon furrowed his eyebrows.

‘Corrupted text. It’s the same as the evil gods.’

A Unique Domain that hadn’t existed before, and corrupted text that appears upon obtaining it. This power called ‘Magic’ was said to be related to ancient evil, so Sung-Woon had somewhat predicted what he would see.

‘But what does ‘access privilege’ mean… I wonder what it is for.’

It was something that was still unknown.

‘...It’s just a level 1 skill. I’ll have to wait and see whether other skills would appear as the level of the Unique Domain increases in the future.’

But Sung-Woon wasn’t able to focus on this matter for long. Not because of the debate about the dining room in the pantheon, but because Eldar’s story was coming to an end.

It was now time to prepare for the unfolding of a new act.

***

After Eldar’s story about the three Wizards ended, the story about war between the gods followed. To be exact, it was a story about the fight between the Binding God, who feared self-destruction because mortals were unintelligent and foolish, and Night Sky, who knew of the mortals’ weakness, but believed in the inherent strength in them.

Eldar explained and convinced the priests about the actions of the Binding God and the other gods, and that in the end, Night Sky was proven right, which was why Night Sky was able to achieve victory. However, the story wasn’t presented in a way that Night Sky’s victory would lead him to taking over everything because in this story, all the gods, except for the evil gods, shared the same goal of taking care of the mortals. Without being able to understand each other’s intentions, it unfortunately led to unavoidable conflict and sacrifices, but at the end of the story, misunderstandings were resolved, and they were able to set foot on the path of reconciliation.

‘Isn’t the story…too dogmatic?’

Eldar was a bit worried, but seeing the priests burst into tears, Edlar thought such concerns were unnecessary. Above all, it was also true that this kind of story would be a comfort as the priests of the other gods would have become anxious after hearing about Night Sky’s victory. However, there seemed to be one priest that was dissatisfied.

“Oh Dancing Shadow God, it is truly a moving story.”

-But it seems that it did not satisfy you.

“Yes. I cannot be satisfied.”

The priest stood up, and all the other priests looked at her.

It was a Nix from Golden Eye. The priest had been a believer of Concealed Text God, previously known as Unseen Origins God, but now, she couldn’t really be called a priest anymore because the god she had believed in had disappeared.

“If you're saying that the war that caused thousands of soldiers to die was nothing more than a misunderstanding, and married women who lost their husbands and had to labor to fill their stomachs was just a mistake, I can accept that. Even if that’s truly inevitable pain, however, there is one thing I cannot understand. Why did our god alone have to disappear when all the other gods remain?”

Even though she wasn’t confronting the god they believed in, the other priests were concerned that the Nix was being too disrespectful. At the same time, however, they couldn’t build up the courage to stop the priest of Concealed Text God, so they simply watched her in silence.

Eldar replied.

-Of course. You have a right to be angry. Continue to be angry if you think it is unjust.

Perhaps because Eldar’s words were said in a gentle way, the rage on the Nix priest’s face subsided somewhat.

Eldar then continued to say.

-And that is an accurate point. We called you all to this land not to simply tell you a story. Us gods know of the empty seat in the pantheon. Nevertheless, just as a person’s hands are required to grow crops, along with the sun’s warmth, rain, and land in nature, we also need the will of mortals in order to resolve the complicated causality between the gods and mortals.

“Does that mean…”

-Yes.

Eldar nodded.

-We are going to resurrect Concealed Text God.