Chapter 78

Chapter Player.1 Vs. The God-Tree Guardians —God-Tree-Fruit Basketball— Gods’ Games We Play 1 The gods on high beckoned people, chosen by standards only the gods knew, to play the gods’ games. Such people became apostles, able to traverse the superior spiritual realm known as Elements—where, at that moment, Fay found himself looking at a sprawling forest: a sea of green made of trees so tall, they seemed to pierce the heavens. “This game of God-Tree-Fruit Basketball is about to begin!” A meep’s declaration reverberated through the woods. “Before we start, let’s review the rules. This is the forest of the God-Tree, Yggdrasil. The trees you’re looking at are all young sprouts born from Yggdrasil—and you may use this entire forest to enjoy the game to your heart’s content!” At that moment, loud voices could be heard from somewhere behind the meep. “Kya-ha-ha! We can finally play! Humans never come to this forest! Not ever—but here are some now! At last!” A group of small, winged beings appeared—fairies called nymphs. They were members of the gods’ team. They floated right about the height of a human head on their glittering, butterfly-like wings, and despite their size, the sound of their voices was immense. There were three nymphs, and each spoke the same words at the same time, resulting in three times the volume! “Better brace yourselves, humans—we’re gonna make punching bags out of you! Aren’t we, Dryad?” the nymphs said. “Perish the thought.” The response, a woman’s measured tone, came from a dryad, a humanoid tree whose whole body was green. Instead of hair, it had living vines on its head. There were three dryads as well, each of whom had a gentle smile on its face. “If I can enjoy a pleasant game, that’s all I want. Greet the humans with a mild manner to put them off their guard, then lavish my attentions on them slowly… Heh heh! I might dabble in imagining it, but I would never actually…” “Dryad, you are twisted!” The nymphs burst into cackling laughter. Including them and the dryads, Fay saw six figures, but behind them were yet three more, which looked like massive tree stumps walking around on their roots. “…………” They were silent, for the tree spirits called treants didn’t speak any human language. These nine formed the gods’ team. “Okay, hold on just a second! This ain’t right, Meep!” shouted a tall, slim young man with handsome, charismatic features. Ashlan Highrols, the leader of Team Blaze, stalked toward the meep where it floated in midair. “It’s us against nine gods?! I’ve never heard of so many gods on one team! The gods’ games are supposed to be one deity versus a bunch of humans!” “They are not nine gods. They’re a single god team!” “What’s the darn difference?!” “The difficulty level,” the meep said succinctly. “If there were nine gods, the game would be nine times as hard as normal, but that’s not what’s going on. As explained, they compete as a divine team, making the difficulty level just right!” “…Sounds fishy to me.” “Nope! It’s juuuust right!” “You’re not making me feel better! Well, you heard the man—er, meep. What’s your take, Fay?” Captain Ashlan asked, turning. “If you think we can do this, that’ll count for a lot.” “I don’t have any idea yet myself. Using this whole forest for a game of basketball…?” Fay looked around again. Undergrowth everywhere, tree roots, vines overhead, and the ground is completely uneven. I can only assume all those things are going to factor into the game somehow. They were supposed to use the terrain. That was as close to a hint as the neutral meep could give them. “I’m happy with anything if it means I can play a game!” said a confident young woman with vermilion hair. She was the Dragon God Leoleshea—a beauty with amber-colored eyes who had descended from the superior spiritual realm three thousand years prior. A genuine former deity. “This game called basketball—it’s a human sport, right?” she said. “Does that make this forest the court? And I guess we, like, run around it or something?” “Blech!” said the first of two young women standing beside Leshea. “Ah, sports. Yes, those I can handle,” said the second one. They couldn’t have reacted more differently. The distressed-looking blond girl was Pearl. The one nodding enthusiastically was Nel, a slim, toned girl with black hair. Both were members of Fay’s team. “The day I feared so long has finally arrived,” Pearl said, biting her lip. “I knew it would come eventually. The gods’ games have so many forms. Not just contests of wits, but battles that test us in combat against the deity, and even games modeled on human sports. Now, at last, I stand face-to-face with that great terror…a sports-based game!” “Huh? What’s so terrifying about it?” “You’re the athletic type, Nel! You wouldn’t understand!” Nel looked earnest and ready, whereas Pearl looked like she might burst into tears. “I’m not tall, and I have terrible balance—I fall over just walking down the street! I am not happy to see a game where we play sports!” “Oh…I see, Pearl. With that huge chest, you probably can’t even see your feet, can you? I can’t claim to understand your experience firsthand, but I can understand that it bothers you deeply.” “Gee, your sympathy means so much to me!” “Just let me handle it. This is my specialty!” Nel was full of vim and vigor. She started doing some stretches. “Master Fay, leave this to me!” “Good point. This game definitely sounds like it’s up your alley, Nel. How’s that sound to you, Captain Ashlan?” “If she’s got your referral, Fay, I’m not gonna object.” Captain Ashlan had begun bending and flexing, too. This was a team battle. Human basketball usually involved teams of five people, but they expected the gods’ version to be a bit different. The nymphs, the dryads, and the treants—three of each—made up a team of nine. So this is going to be nine on nine. If we really have this whole forest for our “court,” it’s more than big enough for eighteen players. If they had to pick nine people, then they would have to start by choosing an overall leader to be their basketball team captain.