God Simulator: The Goddesses In The Simulation Are All Real

"Well, well," Aurielle murmured, her voice barely audible as she reached for the nearest folder. "Let's see what secrets you've been keeping, Linsley."

As her fingers brushed against the smooth surface of the folder, she flipped it open and skimmed through its contents.

Her grin widened as she realized the documents were mostly mundane: troop movements, flux distribution reports, and supply chain efficiency assessments.

"Boring," she muttered, setting the folder aside. But her curiosity was far from sated.

Her gaze shifted to a sealed brown envelope near the bottom of the pile, stamped with bright red letters: TOP SECRET.

Aurielle's grin turned mischievous. "Now this looks promising."

She tilted her head, considering the seal. A regular person might have hesitated, but Aurielle wasn't bound by ordinary limitations.

With a flick of her wrist, a faint shimmer of flux surrounded her hand as her Gift Creation ability activated.

She crafted a temporary gift, one that allowed her to extract items from containers without breaking seals or disturbing their integrity. The gift manifested briefly as a glowing aura around her hand before fading into subtle energy.

"Let's see if you're hiding anything juicy, Lieutenant General," she whispered.

The envelope remained untouched, its seal intact, but the document within slipped smoothly into her waiting hand.

he unfolded the papers, her violet eyes scanning the text. Her grin faded as she read further, replaced by a slow, creeping disgust.

The document detailed human experimentation.

Researchers were conducting illegal and highly unethical tests on diviners, attempting to forcibly transfer gifts between individuals.

The goal was to strip gifts from unwilling subjects and implant them into chosen candidates—ideal soldiers or political elites.

The report outlined grotesque failures: subjects who had been fused together, their bodies and flux interwoven into horrifying amalgamations, and others who had died in agony when their gifts clashed irreparably with their own.

The final page requested Linsley's assistance. His restoration guns were the last hope for "fixing" the failed test subjects.

The few diviners with restoration gifts had proven too weak to undo the damage, and the higher-ups had approved the request under the pretense of "maintaining national security and scientific advancement."

Aurielle's grip on the paper tightened, her violet eyes darkening with fury. Her usual playful demeanor was gone, replaced by cold rage as she read the clinical descriptions of the test subjects' suffering.

To her, this wasn't just unethical—it was sacrilegious. Gifts were divine blessings, bestowed upon humanity by her thousands of years ago. Each one was unique and precious, tied to the soul of the individual who received it.

To transfer a gift, to rip it from one person and implant it into another, was an affront to everything she represented

She set the paper down with deliberate care, her fingers trembling slightly. Taking a deep breath, she closed her eyes, her usual carefree mask returning, though this time it was far more forced.

The door opened behind her, and Linsley stepped in, his sharp gaze immediately landing on the desk and the folder, still perfectly sealed. His expression remained unreadable, though his eyes flicked to Aurielle, noting the document in her hands.

"You couldn't resist," he said dryly, his tone carrying more resignation than anger

Aurielle didn't look at him immediately.

Instead, she held up the document, her voice unusually quiet but laced with venom. "Is this true? Are they really doing this?"

Linsley stepped closer, glancing at the paper in her hand.

His jaw tightened, but he gave a curt nod. "It's not my project. I haven't approved or disapproved of it yet."

"And yet they want you to fix their failures," Aurielle said, her voice rising slightly. "Do you know what this means? What this is?" She thrust the paper toward him.

Linsley didn't flinch. "I know exactly what it is. And no, I haven't decided if I'll help."

Aurielle's eyes narrowed, anger flashing behind them. "This isn't just experimentation, Linsley. It's defilement. Gifts are not tools to be transferred like weapons or possessions. They're bound to a person's soul, their very essence. This—" she jabbed a finger at the document, "—this is a crime against everything I stand for."

Linsley studied her for a moment before responding, his voice calm. "I'm aware. But what do you expect me to do? I'm one man. This entire Dominion is built on pragmatism, not ethics. If you're looking for someone to dismantle their operations overnight, I'm not your guy."

Aurielle glared at him, her usual teasing energy replaced with cold determination. "You don't care about this, do you? The Astral Dominion is just a tool for you—a stepping stone."

Linsley didn't deny it. "You're not wrong. But this tool is useful for now, and I'm not in a position to wage a war against my own organization."

Aurielle let out a bitter laugh, shaking her head. "You're hopeless, you know that? No wonder this universe is falling apart. Even the ones who could change things won't lift a finger unless it serves their interests."

Linsley's eyes hardened. "You're welcome to try fixing it yourself. Oh, wait—you've already given up, haven't you? Decided it's more fun to play games and mock the people still trying to hold the line."

The words hit their mark, and Aurielle's glare faltered for a moment.

She turned away, crossing her arms as her jaw tightened. "Maybe I have. Maybe I haven't. But this—" she gestured to the document, "—this won't stand. Not while I'm here."

She turned back to Linsley, her voice steadier now. "If you're not going to stop them, I will."

Linsley's expression darkened, and his tone was sharp as he raised a hand to halt her. "Hold on there, missy. I didn't bring you here to cause trouble. If you want to make a mess, you'll have to go through me first."

Aurielle blinked, her defiance momentarily giving way to surprise. "Through you? Linsley, are you seriously defending this? You just admitted you're not on their side."

"I'm not," he countered, his voice firm. "But I also don't need you turning this into a spectacle. If you've got a problem with them, take it up with the higher-ups outside my chain of command. And don't act like you've never seen things like this before. You've been around long enough to know worse has happened."

Aurielle's eyes narrowed, her irritation flaring. "You think that justifies this? You think I should just stand by and let them defile the gifts I bestowed on humanity? Don't forget—I gave them their powers, and this—" she jabbed the document in his direction, "—is a slap in the face to everything I've done for them."

"And you stopped interfering long ago," Linsley shot back. "You decided to play the observer. Don't start acting righteous now just because it's convenient."

Aurielle's jaw clenched, her violet eyes burning with frustration. "That was different. I had my reasons."

"Reasons that don't hold up now that it's inconvenient for you to ignore it," Linsley said bluntly. "I don't need your moral outrage when you've been content to sit on the sidelines for ages."

The tension between them grew thick, both of their postures rigid.

Aurielle took a deep breath, trying to steady her voice. "And what? You're going to stop me? You know you can't."

Linsley's lips curled into a small, humorless smirk. "I know I can't stop you. But the same goes for you. You can't stop me. Like how I can't defeat you, you can't defeat me."

Aurielle scoffed, her tone biting. "Your Real Fantasy gift is powerful and versatile, but it's still just a jack of all trades with no mastery. It bites off more than it can chew. To replicate other gifts' effects, you burn far more flux than I ever will. Even if we have a stalemate now, it's only a matter of time."

Linsley didn't rise to her bait. Instead, his right hand raised slightly, the air around it rippling faintly.

With a subtle motion, he activated his Real Fantasy gift, sealing the area around his office. The faint shimmer of flux encased the room, blocking any external detection of gift usage.

Aurielle immediately felt the flux distortion and frowned. "Sealing the area?" she muttered. "Trying to hide your little tantrum from Central Command? How mature."

Before she could say more, Linsley's right hand was suddenly enveloped in a black mist-like aura.

The oppressive energy radiated from it, twisting and writhing as though alive. It filled the room with a palpable tension that even Aurielle couldn't ignore.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

Her eyes widened slightly, recognition flashing across her face. "Your second gift," she murmured, her tone edged with disbelief.

"That's right." Linsley's voice was calm but carried a dangerous weight. "My Annihilation gift. SSS-rank. The ultimate attack and defense. Whatever you throw at me, I'll annihilate it. Unlike my Real Fantasy gift, it's far more efficient with flux usage."

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He took a deliberate step forward, his eyes locking with hers. "You might be the Superpower God's incarnation, and your Gift Creation might be divine, but this"—he raised his mist-cloaked hand—"makes me far more than just versatile. If it comes down to it, I can stalemate you for decades."