The second Laia hit register, the entire academy's student group chat blew up.
[Did you see? Laia Hayes registered for the Realm Competition!]
[Wait, the Overgod? She's joining?]
[Oh no, I was gonna join, but now I'm dropping out. There's no way I can beat an Overgod.]
[Same! I'm out. No way I'm gonna lose to her, that's embarrassing.]
[Wait, Valerius registered too? Is he gonna fight the Overgod?]
[Oh wow, this is gonna be the best competition ever.]
Laia didn't see any of that. She was too busy running back to her dorm, to send a message to her refugees. She pulled up the realm's message board, and wrote a quick note.
Hey guys! We're joining the academy's competition! Winner gets 100k gold! Let's work extra hard, okay? We need to make the realm as good as possible, so we can win!
—Laia
That was it. Just a quick note, to tell them to work harder for the prize.
Inside the realm, the overlords saw the note, and they froze.
Wait.
The Overgod was joining the competition?
And he wanted us to work extra hard? To make the realm as good as possible?
Kane's eyes went wide. "Oh! He wants to show off our power! To show that bastard Valerius that he's not to be messed with!"
Torin nodded, his golden eyes bright. "Right! We need to make this realm the strongest it can be! No holding back!"
Elara nodded. "I can expand the forest, bring in all the life magic, make the entire realm immune to Corruption!"
Kane nodded. "I can finish the production line! Build the starships! The automated factories! We can boost the productivity even more!"
Borin nodded. "I can finish the defense turrets! The legendary weapons! For all of us!"
Rokar nodded. "I can set up the training grounds! Train the soldiers! We can have an army in a day!"
Jax nodded. "I can set up the supply line! Make sure everyone has what they need!"
Wolfric nodded. "I can set up the scouting network! Make sure no one can sneak in!"
Elowen nodded. "I can set up the illusion network! Hide the whole realm if we need to!"
Rhea nodded. "I can bring in the swarm! All of my people! They can help build, and scout! And we can hide them here, safe!"
Wait, that was right! All of their people, their clans, their races, they'd been hiding in the Chaos Sea, running from Valerius. If they brought them here, to the Overgod's realm, they'd be safe!
Kane nodded. "Right! I can open the portal! Bring all of my engineers! They can help build the factories!"
Torin nodded. "I can bring all of the dragon clans! They can help with the defense!"
All of them, immediately, opened hidden portals, bringing their entire clans, their entire races, into the realm.
In less than an hour, the little pocket realm, which had been 10k acres, was now a whole world, with floating cities, fusion factories, ancient forests, training grounds, and a hundred million people.
All of them, working as hard as they could, to make the realm perfect, for their hidden Overgod, their first safe home in a year.
Back in the dorm, Laia was staring at her realm panel, blinking.
Realm population updated: 100,000,000.
Realm size updated: 100,000,000 acres.
Productivity updated: 1000000%.
Divine rank updated: Overgod.
Laia dropped her comms device.
Wait.
What?
A hundred million people?
In an hour?
What were those refugees doing? Spawning people out of thin air?
She stared at the panel, then at the overlords, who were now building a whole starport in the middle of her realm.
Huh. Well. More people meant more tax, right? That was even better! She was definitely gonna win the competition now!
She was still staring when the first day of the competition came. She walked into the competition hall, and all the other students bowed to her as she passed.
The headmaster walked up to her, bowing slightly. "Miss Hayes. We're so honored to have you join. The first round is just to show your realm's size and development, okay?"
Laia nodded, grinning. "Okay!"
She stepped up to the testing platform, and activated her realm's projection.
The entire hall went dead silent.
The projection showed a whole world, with floating cities, starships docked at the port, ancient protected forests, armies training in the grounds, a hundred million people working, the productivity bar so high it was off the charts.
The headmaster stared at it, his mouth dropping open.
The other students stared, eyes wide.
Valerius, who was standing in the back, stared, his face going pale.
Oh.
He was right. She really was an Overgod.
And she'd hidden all of those overlords, and their entire races, in her tiny little pocket realm.
He couldn't win that easily.
Wait. No. He wasn't gonna give up.
He stepped forward, his voice cold, loud enough for the whole hall to hear.
"I challenge you. To a realm duel. If I win, I get the runaways. If you win, you get to keep them. And all the prize money."
Laia blinked.
A realm duel?
What was that?
And what runaways?
Wait, but there was extra prize money for duels too, right? That was even more money for her tuition!
She nodded, grinning. "Sure!"