Gamer Panel
This game functioned much like a farming simulation: cultivating crops, selling them, purchasing new seeds, growing again, selling, and repeating—a typical idle game.
In the gaming world, Yan Shen assumed the role of a farmer, amassed believers, acquired faith, upgraded, and repeated. However, it wasn't your typical farming game; as a god, Yan Shen had to guide and shield his followers from various invaders, relying on the power of faith.
Faith empowered him to perform miracles—extraordinary feats like resurrecting the deceased, controlling the weather, or unleashing a lightning tribulation. Generating faith demanded a substantial amount.
With deliberate movements, Yan Shen guided the mouse to the temple and clicked. In the center lay a statue of an orb and a long table. After exploring for minutes and finding nothing special, he was about to exit when he spotted a pixel figure of an old man walking inside.
"What is he doing?" Yan Shen squinted. The old man engaged in peculiar actions—kneeling, dancing, opening, and closing his arms. An exclamation appeared, accompanied by a dialogue box.
"I don't know how to use these god blessings... I want to ask the Great God, but I'm afraid I might anger Him."
"Right, this character wouldn't know what it is," Yan Shen muttered. Inside, he was amazed because such a character could think, unlike in other games where characters simply followed their scripts. There was something strange that he couldn't quite pinpoint.
"What should I do?" He looked around the screen; except for three icons, he couldn't find anything, which made him feel a little disappointed.
This game leaned heavily toward discovery rather than idling. The more you explored, the more options emerged, such as gaining believers, with a small head icon appearing in the upper corner of the screen.
As Yan Shen contemplated, another in-game character entered the temple, followed by a hundred pixel figures.
"These must be the villagers the old man mentioned."
As he was about to click one of the dialogue boxes of the villager characters, a voice outside his house interrupted.
"Yan Shen! Hurry up, or there will be nothing left for you!"
"Alright! Why are you angry?!"
Yan Shen glanced at the door and his computer. He sighed and went to the door, leaving his computer on as the pixel figure in the game engaged in dialogue.
...
"Elder," the white-haired woman bowed, followed by the villagers. After that, she stood behind the elder.
"Good," Elowen nodded, sweeping his gaze at the one hundred people from his village. They were the only remaining survivors after the attack from a powerful tribe, making him feel guilty and profoundly sad—a heaviness that lingered in his heart.
However, it was now different with the Great God of Games' blessing; the village could start anew.
"From today onwards, we will serve the Great God and receive his blessings! Make sure you are sincere to receive his blessings! Rowen, Galen, and Draven!"
"Yes, Elder!"
"Rowen, instruct all the carpenters to build a settlement around the temple. Galen, lead some hunters to investigate if the Stone Fang tribe followed us or detected our location. If possible, confuse them as soon as possible!"
The Stone Fang tribe was one of the powerful tribes of the Eldertree Forest, behind them an Empire. Their village could do nothing in front of them. Right now, his responsibility was to understand the blessing of the Great God of Games' power.
"Yes, elder!"
"Alright!"
The two men, Rowan and Galen, bowed respectfully before leaving.
"Draven..." Elowen turned to the bald man in a black robe, hunchbacked, holding a staff. His tone was more respectful.
"Draven, did you receive the god blessings? If so, do you have any idea what this Great God's blessing is?" Elowen asked.
"Yes... and I have a little." Draven nodded, looking at the blue box that appeared before him after giving his faith to the God of Games.
-----
-Status Window-
Name: [Draven]
Class: Subclass:
Level: [1]
Experience: [0/100]
Health: [100/100]
Mana/Energy: [100/100]
-
-Skills/Abilities-
Passive: (none)
Normal: (none)
Unique: (none)
-----
"Do you know the adventure card?" Draven spoke while keeping his gaze on the blue box.
"Yes," Elowen nodded.
"I found it similar to the adventure card. However, the adventure card shows only the name and rank of individuals. So, if we compare it, the level should determine our strength because when we speak about individual strength, we include levels such as master level, archmage level strength. If it is not, I don't know what other word represents the level."
"Do you mean..." Elowen's eyes light up. After receiving the blessing, he was already guessing that the level represents strength. Now, the most knowledgeable person confirmed it.
"Indeed, level represents our strength; skills, abilities, and others are self-explanatory. But I don't know what experience is."
They were the most knowledgeable people in the village, with Draven above Elowen, so they could think clearly and form a theory faster than others.
"Elder and Mr. Draven."
The white-haired woman walked forward and said, "On our way to the village, we encountered goblins. After killing them, the experience number rose; it's now 50." She then showed her blue box to the elder and Draven.
-----
-Status Window-
Name: Sylvia
Class:
Subclass:
Level: 1
Experience: 50/100
Health: 78/100
Mana/Energy: 100/100
-
-Skills/Abilities-
Passive: (none)
Normal: (none)
Unique: (none)
-----
Elowen widened his eyes. "How did you do it?"
Sylvia remained stoic under the curious gaze of the two old men, saying, "I don't know. I just wanted to show it to you, so I showed it." She replied with uncertainty as she, too, didn't know why.
"So, you can show it to others if you wanted...?" Elowen wondered.
Draven gazed at Sylvia and asked, "Why is your health 78? Mine was 100. Is it because I'm healthy...?"
"My health dropped when I received an arrow from a goblin in my leg," Sylvia said, her tone showing she doesn't care about being hit by an arrow. For her, as a hunter, it's a daily occurrence when hunting for food.
"I think it is the damage we receive," Draven's voice becomes increasingly impassioned. "But what if health turns to zero..."
"I think we die-" Elowen said. A spark ignites in his eyes, and a subtle smile plays on his lips. He finally knows what the Great God's blessing is and how powerful it is. As he looks at the woman in front of him in appreciation, he notices above her a glowing blue with the word 'Sylvia.'
The two notice that Elowen halts. Draven narrows his eyes and follows his gaze. Sylvia, too, raises her head.
Draven widens his eyes and laughs aloud, "This is too powerful. In my life pursuing knowledge, I never heard of this kind of blessing. The blessing of other gods was super strength or talent, but this... I'm glad I didn't leave the village."
"Now we know, what should we call this blessing? We can't keep calling it the blue box." Elowen turns to the two—the most knowledgeable and the strongest hunter.
Sylvia remains silent, knowing it's time to use their brains. Draven rubs his finger on his staff. "Since we serve the Great God of Games, how about Gamer Status Board? Because the Great God is the God of Games, and we are his believers, like playing games. We are gamers... or players. How about Player Status Board?"
The concept of games is familiar to them, as Elowen and Draven always play chess in their free time.
"How about Gamer Status Window?"
"Gamer Panel?" Sylvia at the back speaks, her face remaining stoic as always.
The two turn their heads at the same time. Elowen strokes his beard, and Draven rubs his finger on the staff. They keep repeating, "Gamer Panel?"
"Gamer Panel? It sounds good, easy to pronounce, and short."
"But, Sylvia, why did you call it panel?"
"There was a flat surface in the village; we call it the hunter panel because we divided it into sections where we put the number of our hunters, beasts we discover, and many more, making our hunting easy, and you are the one who invented it, Elder," Sylvia replied.
"Like the hunters' panel, the different sections will be our health, level, and others. Gamer Panel will show our status." Draven doesn't know about the Hunter Panel since he is always stuck at his house studying magic.
-In reality at the Humble Village-
Yan Shen stood in front of the Village Chief's house. Today, he would receive his pay and the remaining meat.
Usually, when the hunters accumulated excess meat, a portion was allocated to them. The Village Chief divided it into three parts: the first was stored to sell to passing merchants, the second was reserved for the village's sustenance and kept in a food storage, and the last was given to the hunters.
Sometimes, there was no leftover meat, but they didn't feel disheartened. Hunting was primarily for the village's prosperity and survival, with earning extra being a bonus.
Receiving meat was like an additional reward.
"Village Chief..." Yan Shen respectfully greeted the old man, who bore a resemblance to his in-game character named Elowen. He wondered if growing long white hair and a beard had become a tradition for old men—or at least it was better than being bald.
After receiving his pay and bonus, he was about to leave when the Village Chief said, "Yan Shen, why didn't you go to Lian Feng's house? They were celebrating. If you went there, you wouldn't waste money and food for today."
"I'm tired, Village Chief. I want to rest a bit." Yan Shen said helplessly; he already rejected Lian Feng's invitation when he walked past them.
"Oh... Yun Tao had already informed me. I just want you to know that relaxing your mind is restful too. Anyway, you may go on..." The Village Chief didn't say more, understanding Yan Shen's need for rest given as he too wanted to rest but couldn't since he had responsibilities on his shoulders.
"Thank you." Yan Shen then proceeded to leave. The Village Chief glanced at him one more time before continuing to distribute the other hunters' bonuses.
After washing his face with water from the well, he stretched and sat in front of the computer with a smile on his face.
What tired? He just wanted to play at all.