Chapter 1 The Beginning

Hao Ren had a dream.

He hoped to become a chivalrous hero, wielding unimaginable power, traversing the world, eliminating evil and bringing peace, unafraid of the powerful and safeguarding all directions, revered and thanked by countless people, a great hero standing tall in the world.

Oh, that was when he was nine years old—a long time ago, and back then, his idea of "all directions" was limited to the two streets around Nan Jiao Elementary School, and the upper limit of the powerful was his homeroom teacher.

In the last two years, Hao Ren's lofty ambitions had become very realistic, like most people's: strive for an above-average income each month, marry an above-average wife, have one or two above-average children, and since he already had a house, he didn't have to worry about that. That was the whole of his life—until this moment.

Now, the turning point in his life was close at hand. Hao Ren felt that he could almost see a completely different future laid out before him. He looked at the woman in front of him who claimed to be a god but didn't look normal at all, and nodded forcefully, "Okay, I promise you."

Duvawen 12345 didn't seem surprised. It was as if she had seen this kind of scene countless times and knew how Hao Ren would answer. She simply nodded, "Well, then from today onwards, you are a basic-level probationary inspector of the Space-Time Administration. Before you get a permanent position, you'll be treated as an extra-establishment apprentice-level temporary worker..."

Hao Ren: "... Please don't be so specific. I finally mustered up the courage, you know!"

Duvawen 12345 seemed to smile. She could see that Hao Ren was still a little nervous and confused. "Don't worry, we're not some evil force. Maintaining world peace is a noble cause. In other worlds, when I look for an assistant, the locals practically overwhelm me, but here on Earth, you've already embarked on a path of godless development, and it looks like you're developing quite fast, so I haven't interfered all this time. Now, even when looking for an assistant, I can only act discreetly. Don't think your job is shady because of this..."

Hao Ren muttered, "How come I feel like you don't seem like a god either? Is this how gods are?"

"Hey, don't even mention it. I'm not used to it either," Duvawen 12345 waved her hand, her carefree tone startling Hao Ren. "We only changed our registration a few years ago. We weren't called gods before. Oh, if you're not used to this term, you can also call us Xiling Apostles. That's our race name. God is just our job."

"Xiling Apostles?" Hao Ren chewed on this strange-sounding term. "Doesn't sound like humans... Then what should I call you normally? Your Highness the Goddess?"

Hao Ren suddenly felt a little dumbfounded. This woman claimed to be a member of the gods, so he probably really had to call her Your Highness the Goddess, but why couldn't he feel it at all? Hao Ren felt that the atmosphere when chatting with Duvawen 12345 was almost equivalent to chatting with the big sister at the corner supermarket. This was Her Highness the Goddess?

Even if you don't show a halo behind you, can you at least stop picking at your fingers when you talk?

Duvawen 12345 seemed even more indifferent to this question. She nodded at Hao Ren while playing with her fingers. "I'm not used to being called that. Just call me by my name, or call me 12345."

Hao Ren: "... Feels even less like a human name..."

Next, Duvawen 12345 began to explain the details of his future "work" to Hao Ren. Actually, there wasn't much to say, just continuing to receive those strange tenants. Since there was already a werewolf and a vampire at home, Hao Ren believed that he could handle the problems of more abnormal creatures—as long as the newcomers were as easy to talk to as the two currently at home.

"Don't worry about that," Duvawen 12345 patted her chest and assured him. "We care a lot about our employees' lives and won't let you fall into dangerous environments. The people we send you have all passed some kind of 'test' to ensure they are safe and reliable. You just need to make sure they eat well, drink well, and live well, and don't affect the lives of normal people. That's your current job. Other things are taken care of by others, so you don't need to worry about them for now. As for other situations... you'll deal with them when you encounter them in the future. Any other questions?"

Hao Ren hesitated and asked the question he was most concerned about: "What... what exactly is going on with Lily? You really didn't arrange it?"

"No, I told you, only the new tenants who come to your house in the future will be the result of the organization's arrangement. That werewolf... you can see her as fate. It was precisely because she came to you, and you seemed to be very adaptable to it, that I chose you. Ordinary people don't have such a strong ability to accept things, and I happen to need someone with a relatively firm worldview who can withstand this kind of shock to be my assistant."

"I just need to take care of the lives of those future 'clients,' so how exactly should I judge what 'taking care of' means? Should I treat them like ancestors and worship them?"

"Not that far. As long as they don't cause trouble, all tasks ultimately aim to allow human civilization to develop as usual. Humans don't need to come into contact with things that are incompatible with their current development direction, because these things will cause them to have a wrong understanding of the laws of the universe. Human lifespans are short, and this short lifespan means that the wrong understanding of one or two generations may ruin their development results of hundreds of years and have equally far-reaching future effects afterward—judging from your expression, I can tell that you've already started to get confused, so I'll skip the next explanation," Duvawen 12345 said as she took out a stack of papers from the drawer. "In short, you're just a basic-level employee, and still a temporary worker, so you can't know too complex things, and even if you knew them, you couldn't handle them. I'll tell you more when the time is right. Rest assured, I don't have any malicious intentions, because there's no need for it. Now come over and sign the contract..."

Hao Ren felt that the other party was hiding many things from him, but there was nothing he could do about it. Although Duvawen 12345 was easy to talk to, she seemed to have principles and would never say what shouldn't be said. Hao Ren himself also knew that some things couldn't be rushed. It was better to be cautious when he didn't know anything.

Hao Ren vaguely felt that he had boarded a pirate ship, but he didn't have the courage to jump ship—he was sure that he couldn't beat any creature in this place, including that mist-like thing from just now.

Now, Hao Ren looked at the contract in front of him in a daze. The words on the contract were easy to understand, but the content was bewildering. The title in large letters was "Xiling Empire Space-Time Administration Probationary Inspector Employment Agreement," with the subtitle "Xiling God System Affiliation Agreement." The real subtitle below the subtitle was "Imperial Civil Affairs Department Temporary Worker Related Documents," and further down was a line of tiny characters that he didn't know whether to consider a title: Hundred and Sixth Revised Edition, Revised Edition, Revised Again, Final Edition, Absolutely No Changes Edition, Even if the Empress Orders It, It Is Forbidden to Change This Edition—Imperial Head Edict, All Offices to Comply.

Further down was the main text of the contract, which simply and clearly stated some employee instructions and attendance rules. It said that after a new employee joined, they would be equivalent to a regional-level Saint, regional-level Bishop Candidate, regional-level Prophet, regional-level Neighborhood Cadre, regional-level Community Policeman, and a whole bunch of other identities. The remarks explained that this was determined according to the civilization form of the new employee's location and was noted to facilitate the new employee's accurate self-positioning.

Further on was an even more world-shattering welfare system. The supreme god of the Xiling God System clearly stipulated that newly appointed inspectors who converted to the local main god (which, when converted into some civilized systems, were prophets, the first awakened summoners in the race) were entitled to employee benefits, including rice, flour, grain, and oil for festivals, New Year's goods, and monthly consumer card subsidies, which were arranged by the local responsible god according to the local civilized environment...

Hao Ren looked at this contract and felt tears streaming down his face. He vaguely felt that this thing looked very familiar, extremely familiar...

"How is it? Our unit's benefits are good, right?" Duvawen 12345 leaned over nervously. "I know you were embarrassed to ask about our unit's treatment just now. I've seen a lot of people over the years. Most newcomers are very strange, as if they always feel that working for a god should be voluntary labor, but our unit will definitely not do that. This contract was made by several experienced leaders above, who said it was more in line with the rules of the mortal world. If you don't have any objections, just sign it, right?"

Hao Ren: "..."

He decided he would never believe TV and novels again in his life!

(First update =.= Please give me lots of recommendation votes! I feel like I still have a chance to reach second place on the new book list! Also, everyone, please go to Xiling Empire and vote to show your satisfaction with the completed book. Anyway, it's a free vote.)