The group went quiet for a moment. It was hard to gauge everyone's mood.
"Who IS this Minor Deity? Why would she just drop all of that?"
Linray didn't understand what Minor Deity was thinking. Revealing everyone's identities like that could easily destabilize the group. People might panic. They might resent her. There was no upside.
He'd thought she was mysterious at first — someone playing the long game, sitting on information, acting humble while holding all the cards. But now?
"She has access to the same kind of intel I do. But she doesn't know who I am."
"Some kind of multidimensional information overlap?"
Either way, the mystery was gone. Minor Deity wasn't a mastermind. She just had a database similar to his — probably knew the group members the same way he did, through fiction from her world.
And the fact that she'd dumped it all without thinking? Linray mentally downgraded her from "potential threat" to "not a problem."
---
Minor Deity stared at her screen, face falling.
This was NOT how it was supposed to go.
**Valkyrie:** *"I'm just a character in a story? Then... the war between humans and gods..."*
**I Am The Protagonist:** *"I'm not even a real protagonist? Whatever — who cares whether I'm 'real' or not?"*
**Sun Wukong:** *"This old monkey is a novel character too? I KNEW the Journey to the West was a scam! Damn you, Tathagata!"*
Minor Deity sat frozen in her room, stunned.
The emotions were all wrong. Nobody was impressed. Nobody was worshipping her omniscience. They were just... processing it and moving on.
Just when she was scrambling to figure out how to salvage the situation —
*Ding.*
*"Welcome: Apocalyptic Cultivator has joined the group chat."*
The new arrival interrupted her damage control. But Minor Deity couldn't stop replaying what went wrong.
She'd revealed their life stories with the power of a god. By every narrative convention she knew, they should have been in awe. They should have treated her as the all-knowing oracle. After that, she'd ride the influence straight to the top of the group hierarchy.
Instead, everyone shrugged it off. They didn't even care.
Minor Deity had made the classic mistake: she'd imagined human nature based on novels she'd read. Her logic had been completely warped by fiction tropes.
The reality? Nobody cares that much about a future that can be changed.
Linray watched the whole thing play out with a quiet grin. In their own way, everyone in the group had solid heads on their shoulders.
The chat moved on quickly. Minor Deity's revelation was already old news, and the new member had everyone's attention.
Interestingly, Valkyrie — who'd been cold and arrogant since day one — seemed to have softened after learning she was a fictional character. Her tone was warmer now, treating the other members as equals rather than beneath her.
Apocalyptic Cultivator: "Fellow Daoists, might someone tell me where this place is?"
I Am The Protagonist: "Cultivator? What's that? Sounds like an Ionian."
Lu Bu: "I have heard of mountain hermits who seclude themselves to pursue enlightenment. Is that what you are?"
Valkyrie: "A cultivator of immortality? You seek to become a god?"
Sun Wukong: "Are you someone like Zhen Yuanzi? To be honest, I'm on great terms with that guy."
SCP Foundation: "Welcome. This is an Interdimensional Chat Group — everyone here comes from a different dimension. Or universe. However you want to frame it. Nice to meet you."
Linray sighed watching the others fumble through explanations. Easier to just do it himself.
Minor Deity: "A cultivator... the big shots in this group just keep coming. Group ranking −1."
Valkyrie: "How strong are cultivators? Can they rival gods?"
Minor Deity: "If we're talking about YOUR gods — Norse, Greek mythology — then honestly... it's not even close."
"Those pantheons wouldn't stand a chance."
I Am The Protagonist: "What about compared to me? Who's stronger?"
Minor Deity: "Put it this way — you know Ryze, right? The blue guy? What do you think of his power level?"
I Am The Protagonist: "Ryze? He might be the strongest human I know!"
Minor Deity: "A cultivator at full power could destroy him with one finger."
Linray read Minor Deity's message and shook his head. She was glazing again — overselling without context. The reality was more complicated than that.
Not all cultivators were world-enders. It was like asking "how strong is a human?" — could be a baby, could be Lu Bu. The gap between a first-stage cultivator and a peak-level immortal was bigger than the gap between a minion and Aurelion Sol. Same job title, completely different species of power.
Sun Wukong: "Cultivator, perhaps we exchange techniques. I have no interest in becoming a Buddha — but all paths of training lead to the same destination."
After his brief introduction, Linray went back to watching silently. Big potential here. If this guy can trade energy, Site-Ω recharges faster. More missions, more containment, more unlocks.
Apocalyptic Cultivator: "I'm... in very bad shape. All of us are in very bad shape."
"Actually, no — I personally am fine. I'm just... dying."
Minor Deity: "Wait, what? What happened? What kind of trouble are you in?"
I Am The Protagonist: "Hold on — didn't you JUST say cultivators are insanely powerful? Why is this one dying?"
Minor Deity: "Uh..."
Valkyrie: "I didn't expect the face-slapping to come this quickly."
Minor Deity: "Yeah, sure, pile it on. I'm already flat on the ground — slap away."
Sun Wukong: "Is this the legendary 'speaking things into existence'? Getting proven wrong on a live broadcast?"
Minor Deity went silent and let the roasting continue.
Linray shook his head again. Minor Deity had painted all cultivators like gods—but it was just a profession. The strongest ones were godlike; weaker ones were only slightly more powerful than normal humans. They died like anyone else.
Minor Deity: "By the way — where's the SCP Foundation? Where'd that guy disappear to again?"
Lu Bu: "True — he vanishes constantly, just like Zheng Zha!"
SCP Foundation: "I haven't gone anywhere. Just watching you all chat."
Linray sighed internally. These people could banter forever without getting to the point. He still hadn't learned anything useful about the cultivator.
Forget it — he'd go back to reading the SCP Foundation's database instead. At least that was productive.