"Can't I empathize? What kind of life do you think we idol trainees lived before? We were huddled in rented, dilapidated rooms with broken, dim lights and freezing heating. Nobody kept me company, and there was no good food. We were just corporate slaves at work, with incredibly high work pressure, and you know how scary our bosses were."
Mikkelsen is literally a vampire capitalist who wouldn't even spare the marrow of the dead.
As for Hayden, to be honest, he had been a mercenary for almost ten years, and his own family had suffered the tragic loss of both parents in the Great Plague. Therefore, the fan's letter only slightly touched him, far from breaking his resolve; on the contrary, it strengthened Hayden's ideals.
On the contrary, Hayden found Pania's current reaction quite amusing.
Pania had no idea what Hayden was thinking. She stared at the [Magical Girl Pazuzu] suit in the company database, a sad and bewildered expression on her face.
"I want to become a god."
After a long pause, she suddenly blurted out this sentence.
Hayden simply shrugged: "That's not news."
Everyone knows that Pania is desperately trying to climb up to become the new god, living in a mansion and eating steak.
“I didn’t think that much before, I just wanted to live my own life well. But now I feel more and more that my fans are also good people and shouldn’t suffer. But even if I became a god, I couldn’t help every one of my fans. I couldn’t cure the illnesses of every fan who is sick or injured. Because I don’t have enough energy. Even if I became a god, it wouldn’t be enough.”
Pania muttered to herself,
"Even if I grew a thousand arms to save every fan who asked me for help, I still wouldn't have enough energy, right? Even the gods can't help everyone who asks them for help; they can only help a few."
As she said this, her tone became even more sorrowful.
However, Hayden raised his eyebrows after hearing her words and scoffed, "Silly girl. Who told you it wasn't enough?"
……ah?
Pania was now completely bewildered: "Huh? That definitely won't be enough! Besides, the number of fans will only increase, and the energy will become increasingly insufficient. If the whole world watches my live stream, am I supposed to cure everyone in the world's illnesses? How could that possibly be enough!"
But Hayden shook his head: "It's enough. It just requires fans to contribute a little, give back some resources, worship you, and give you strength—but overall it's enough."
"Let me give you an example: the food resources wasted by the Federation of America every year, if fully and rationally utilized and distributed, would be enough to feed the poorest people in all the famine-stricken areas of the world. Do you really think that the world's resources are so scarce that there isn't enough for all of humanity to eat, dress, and get medical treatment? Do you really think that the gods of this era are still powerless to help the suffering of humankind?"
The scarcity of natural resources is a false premise—a lie, merely a tool used to enrich a few while oppressing the majority.
Wasting food during a bountiful harvest, and failing to help the starving dead on the roads during a great disaster. And then, after people die, saying, "It wasn't my responsibility, it was because there weren't enough resources," is no different from killing someone with a sword and then shirking responsibility by saying, "I didn't kill them, the sword did."
Hayden, having said this, reached out and patted the stunned Pania's head, chuckling as he said:
"What do you think gods are? Of course they can do it. If they were all willing to give up their resources, this real world would already be a paradise on earth. If they weren't busy competing with each other and increasing their own value all day long, we would have endless possibilities and be even better than the virtual world."
If reality were going well, who would want to indulge in the comforts of the cyber world?
"But they don't want to."
And so the paradise was lost.
That's all the world we can get today.
A world where people can only find happiness in their dreams.
This dream even costs money.
But Hayden would not lie down and dream that dream. Although he hadn't found a way yet, he would never lie down again. Never.
"Do you want to become a god, magical girl Pazuzu?"
So Hayden asked with a smile.
169: The Qualifications to Become a God
Overall, Hayden's words had a huge impact on Pania.
Do you really think that the world is so lacking in resources that it's not enough for all of humanity to have enough to eat, wear, and get medical treatment? Do you really think that the gods of this era are still powerless to help the suffering of humankind?
The scarcity of natural resources is a flawed premise. It's a lie, merely a tool used to enrich a few while oppressing the majority.
Hayden said that to her.
...To be honest, as an ordinary person who is essentially just a corporate employee, Pania found it hard to believe this explanation immediately.
"Uncle, isn't your theory a bit too conspiratorial?" Pania finally couldn't help but ask after listening, "Are you saying that the reason modern people are suffering so much is because the capitalist gods are too evil?"
"A conspiracy theory?" Hayden raised an eyebrow. "You think it's a conspiracy theory?"
He stood up from his seat and slowly walked towards Pania.
Pania's body froze instantly. In the control pod within the StarNet, she was [Magical Girl Pania], but when her physical body wasn't connected to the network, she was just a pathetic, inexperienced otaku girl who couldn't beat anyone. If Hayden wanted to do something to her, Pania was completely powerless.
(Could it be that the uncle got angry just from hearing such a sentence?)
This girl is naturally resistant to force and won't listen to coaxing. She admires strength and fears evil, so she immediately became somewhat timid.
(What is he going to do to me? Hit me on the head? Spank me? Make me run laps around the track? Or... could it be... that he really wants me to do something R18?)
Hayden simply patted her white head and did nothing to hurt her. Panya felt an overwhelming sense of shame for having such despicable thoughts.
"If you think it's a conspiracy theory, that's fine with me. I never intended to discuss the virtues of modern gods with you, nor was I going to condemn how cruel they are."
As he said this, he gently poked Panya's forehead.
"The only thing we truly care about is the power of God."
huh?
When did this uncle become so honest?
"Let's get back to the main topic. After get off work, I'll take you to get something healthy, and we can talk about our plans for the future."
Hayden said so.
It was already 10 PM, and eating at this hour wasn't exactly a good idea, but luckily Angela had the power to defy common sense. Seeing Hayden bring Panya home to find something to eat, she happily served them steamed eggs. They were hot, soft, and fragrant, and even Panya, who always complained about wanting meat, ate them with great pleasure.
However, Hayden didn't bring Panya here just for dinner.
Have you ever wondered why I've been having you exercise and do meditation training all this month?
“Of course I was puzzled!” Pania immediately complained, but then shook her head. “However, I’ve been exercising all month and eating a lot of food that Sister Angela gave me, so I can feel that my body has become stronger. Therefore, it’s clear that there must be a reason why Uncle made me do these exercises.”
Panya wasn't stupid. She naturally admired strength and constantly strived to climb the ranks, making her extremely sensitive to any potential increase in her own power. She would immediately notice even the slightest improvement, and therefore believed that Hayden's instructions were reasonable and designed to help her become stronger.
...When Hayden heard this, he was taken aback: "Your physical strength has actually increased to the point of being visible to the naked eye? This is truly beyond my expectations."
喂
Now it was Pania's turn to be dumbfounded.
"Neither physical exercise nor meditation is about accumulating more power. The idea that 'constant physical exercise will make you stronger' is as unrealistic as the idea that 'you can become a boss just by working hard every day'—although there are a few examples of people who became bosses by working hard every day, but those were all a hundred or two hundred years ago."
Hayden continued calmly,
"You don't need to increase your strength through exercise at all. I have you exercise, tell stories to the audience, and meditate, all to help you empathize more with them. Today, I deliberately showed you that fan letter to help you develop empathy for your fans. Essentially, it's all about increasing the synchronization between you and your fans—and it's a two-way increase."
He smiled slightly, a hint of smugness in his voice.
What are the feelings of fans and viewers of 【Magical Girl Pazuzu】 after watching today's live stream?
Many people will definitely think this is all staged, a carefully planned script orchestrated by capital and manipulated by event management. In fact, many viewers, perhaps even the majority, think this way. Most people will assume it's just for the sake of the show.
But this era is already tragic enough. It's an age of despair, an era where unfortunate souls seek solace in the virtual world. Even if many fans doubt its authenticity, they'd rather believe it's real.
Even so, the faith they produce will still be mixed with many distractions, but this is no longer an insurmountable problem. That's enough. That's enough to increase the synchronization rate between fans and Panya.
Moreover, Panya's performance today wasn't faked. Hayden, the person in charge of operations, didn't tell her any of this beforehand, nor did he pre-arrange for her to perform those actions. Her compassion and the tears she shed for her fans were genuine.
That's enough.
This is why Hayden was able to conclude that Pania was indeed qualified to become a god.
Doesn't that sound a bit arrogant?
But this is indeed a very serious problem. There are already enough bastard new gods in the world. If Hayden wants to create another new god, he has to make sure this little girl is worthy. And it seems she is.
She wanted to climb the social ladder, even risking her own life for it, but she never considered using other people's lives as stepping stones—that alone made her better than many others. She hadn't thought much about the suffering of others before, but once she did, she would feel sad and shed tears for those suffering in the world, and even want to lend a helping hand.
That alone makes him better than many people in the world.
Pania was only fifteen years old, yet she already had this ambition. In Hayden's eyes, she was already a potential god.
"...I see, you were testing me, sir."
Now that Pania has realized what's happening, she's a little unhappy.
Has anyone ever told you, "Uncle, you're not very sincere when you're dealing with other people?"
Yes, it happened a few months ago. Hayden suffered a lot because of it back then—but he doesn't think he's doing anything wrong now.
Whether someone is sincere or not depends on who the other person is.
To be honest, Hayden's initial decision to train Pania was not out of goodwill. It was largely because he wanted to experiment with and develop a magic that allowed corpses to resurrect and become gods; he simply wanted someone to use as a test subject.
In reality, if asked now whether Hayden could abandon his other goals for the sake of Panya, frankly, he would find it very difficult. She remains a relatively low priority for him.
But apart from that, he now also feels that this girl has a good foundation.
Hayden didn't know how to improve the terrible world he was in, but he certainly needed all sorts of excellent and kind companions. Kindness was even more important than strength, because strength could be cultivated with resources, while a person's heart was much rarer.
Besides, Pania's qualifications were not bad to begin with.
"Don't be angry. You have the talent to become a god. Of course, if you didn't, the Smoke Mirror Company wouldn't have made you one of them in the first place."
That's why Hayden said that.
Pania frowned in confusion, not understanding Hayden's meaning.
What does it mean?
It's actually quite simple. We can find out by looking at Hayden's previous experiences—do you remember what happened when Hayden first transformed himself into a local deity?
He almost went berserk (although part of the blame lies with a female ninja who stabbed him in the head).
The power of [Magical Girl Pazuzu] is far greater than that of the land god at the time, many times greater! If Hayden were to become the person behind [Magical Girl Pazuzu], he would definitely be driven mad again.
Pania, on the other hand, didn't go crazy. In fact, she adapted very well.
This is the talent that allows her to become an idol, and then further, a modern-day goddess. Moreover, she possesses a very pure and kind heart.
Therefore, Hayden couldn't help but exclaim, "It's not easy to empathize with others. It's wonderful that you're the one I'm teaching."
However, to his surprise, Panya's eyes widened upon hearing this.
Seeing her reaction, Hayden realized that he might have said something a little awkward.
After half a minute, Pania, who had been silent for a while, suddenly lowered her head, scooped up a mouthful of steamed egg, and put it in her mouth before saying, "Actually, I'm also very fortunate that someone like Uncle is in charge of running my project."
As if she had figured something out, she wove together her words and said somewhat awkwardly, "After all, if it weren't for the uncle's help, not to mention whether I would have died halfway up, I definitely wouldn't have had the chance to try climbing up again."
Wow, this little girl does have a conscience after all.
For a fleeting moment, Hayden even felt a bit like a parent—but that seems like an exaggeration; at most, it was more like the feeling of being a teacher.
However, being a mentor or guide is not necessarily a bad thing.
"Don't worry. The core elements of the ceremony are almost complete. The rest is mainly about resources."
Therefore, Hayden immediately encouraged her.
"I will transform you from an idol into a god."
"Well, of course."
Pania lifted her head from the bowl of steamed eggs. The unease in her eyes was gone, replaced by the dazzling strength and enthusiasm she displayed when she transformed into [Magical Girl Pazuzu].
"I can definitely become a god!"
--------------------------
Therefore, there was no time to lose.
The next morning, when Hayden went to Qiqimiti Entertainment Company, he went straight to see Ms. Ai Ke.
Ms. Eckel was indeed very surprised and impressed by the data and information Hayden presented.
"Wow! As expected of Mr. Hayden! He only adjusted the direction and rituals of the operation, and he was able to purify the faith of mortals to a level second only to the [Kowtowing Bug] system! In the past, we could only synthesize a hook with the power to salvage death by using the faith of cloned brains!"
As mentioned before, the principle behind Smoke Mirror Company's stealing power from death is to use the names of deceased gods and demons as guiding lights and faith as a hook to extract energy from death.
Without faith, one cannot draw energy from death, and the quality of faith is also very important.
"No wonder our boss has always praised you as a true technical genius, a magician capable of ushering in a new era!"
Ms. Eckel couldn't stop praising Hayden's achievements.
Hayden didn't mind her flattery. He was very practical when it came to technical matters, only caring about results. So he immediately followed up, "It's good that you're satisfied with the results. So, when can the company be ready to use [Magical Girl Pazuzu] to test the second Corpse Dissolution Godhood Ritual to overcome real death?"