Dean stared at the giant words in awe. God's Playgrounds was truly worthy of being called era-defining.
Even with constant tech advancements—especially after the Silent World War—no past-generation game came close to even this small detail.
"No matter how realistic they looked, games always failed to make players truly believe.
No matter how immersive it seemed, a small part of the mind always told them it wasn't real.
But Dean could sense the difference between God's Playgrounds and other games.
Standing there, staring at the words, he felt like he was at the gates of God's Domain—one step forward and he'd reincarnate into a new world… and a new self.
After an unknown amount of time, Dean snapped out of his trance. Taking a step forward, his surroundings changed as various species appeared around him. There were humans, demons, skeletons, angels, and much more.
"Hello, Dean Sky, thank you for playing God's Playgrounds." A panel appeared before Dean, and a mechanical voice read it aloud.
"Click the button to receive your randomly assigned talent."
"There are ten thousand calamity grade talents and over one hundred thousand talents ranging from grade A to D."
"Calamity-grade talents cannot be duplicated, so try your best to draw one before it's too late!" The mechanical voice said with haste in its tone.
"Don't worry if you get a bad talent; everyone gets an additional free draw chance. Additional draw chances can be given for 100,000 dollars each." A new panel appeared with a large button with the big word Draw.
"A single click costs 100,000 dollars. Tsk, these game developers are greedy." Dean rolled his eyes but didn't feel a pinch at the price tag.
"Spending a few million to get a calamity-grade talent should be worth it." He mused.
"Expensive but simple enough."
Dean pressed the large button and enjoyed the perfectly calibrated sensation. It was made just addictive enough that you wouldn't mind clicking it a few more times.
Just as he let go of the button, a long list of talents flashed by—scrolling too fast for anyone to read.
'It could also be because the programmers were too lazy to list them all and just wrote gibberish.' Dean smiled as he knew for a fact the game developers didn't bother to include every talent in animation.
*Ding*
After a few seconds, a soft ding echoed around him. The list of talents disappeared as the sound came, and a new blue panel appeared in front of Dean.
"Congratulations, Dean Sky, you are the 600th person to draw a calamity grade!"
"You have drawn the Talent called Twin Body and Soul!" The neutral mechanical voice said with a tint of excitement.
With the big reveal and the panels, countless fireworks and confetti exploded around him. Dean was shocked before bursting out laughing hysterically.
"Hell yeah!" Dean pumped his fist in the air. "These hands are golden—I swear, they've never let me down!"
"I'm calling it now—King Dean, ruler of all Gods and Demons!"
Ignoring Dean's screaming, the mechanical voice continued, "Some advice for the user. Do not reveal your talent as it will allow you to lose your talent in certain situations."
Dean froze after hearing the voice say that he had to hide his talent. His ambitions shattered before they could even take root.
"What's the point of a badass and broken talent if I can't flex it?" He complained with a deep frown.
The idea of hiding his brilliance twisted his gut. What was the point of being a God in silence?
He clenched his fists.
"Fine, I'll just dominate the land silently." He paused before smirking.
"I can't flex publicly, but there will definitely be signs.
Dean stubbornly insisted, even though he hated the idea of being unable to show off strength.
After calming down, Dean looked at the blue panel describing his talent.
Twin Body and Soul: The body and soul are interconnected yet separate—one without the other leads to incomplete monstrosities. Without a body, you're a ghost. Without a soul, you're an undead. You are an error—a plague on this world. Twin bodies lead to Twin souls. Twin souls lead to twin bodies. Your existence will change the world.
You…you're a calamity.
"Damn… now that's a calamity. It gives me chills just reading it." Dean clicked his tongue. His eyes lowered down to read what this talent gave him.
Twin Body and Soul: The owner of this talent to have and use two different characters simultaneously.
"Wow, does that mean I'll be the only person with two accounts? This ability is worthy of its rank." Dean grinned as his eyes lit up.
He was already grinning ear to ear—and he hadn't even finished reading the benefits of his calamity-grade talent. He would have already started a live stream to let the world know if he hadn't been warned about publicly sharing his talent.
Twin Body and Soul: The owner of this talent will have sub-talents Twin Link and Independent Thoughts.
Twin Link: Twins are mysterious creatures. Separate beings yet have unspeakable connections to each other. Suitable learned skills are shared with both characters. Some skills will undergo mutations if there is incompatibility.
Independent Thoughts: Your brain and soul are a brilliant and chaotic machine. All tasks, actions, and thoughts can and will work independently and naturally, as breathing can.
"Gulp!" Dean gulped.
"This-this is God damn broken," Dean muttered as he processed the benefits of this talent of his.
"Not only do I get to have two characters, but my characters will also share skills. Damn, I am destined to become the king of this world!" Dean burst out laughing with joy.
Dean smirked, imagining the envy on everyone's faces if they found out just how broken his talent was.
No wonder Twin Body and Soul was a calamity-grade talent. He would be a monster if he got a chance to grow up. Sorry, he would be two equally powerful and terrifying monsters.
"These two sub-talents are super good in themselves. I don't know their exact grade, but they've gotta be at least B-grade."
"Eh, except for Twin Link. It requires you to control at least two characters."
"How would other players achieve that requirement? There might be other ways for players to control other characters. At least temporarily." He scratched his chin before he had a brain blast.
"Necromancers and Summoners! These two classes allow players to control other in-game characters. If this player takes one of these classes, they can farm skills. That's easily an A-grade talent!"
"Having servants do all the dirty work for me doesn't sound too bad?" Dean planned his path and felt that this was a possibility.
No, it's very likely.
He just needed to see if his theory worked in the game.
"If this doesn't work, this talent is trash by itself," A smirk tugged his lips at the thought that other people could find this talent useless.