I Hate Systems

"Village Head! Something happened!" An old man was seated peacefully on the veranda of his house, sipping tea when a villager shouted in urgency.

"Did an elephant or something arrive?" The Village Head still maintained his cool and continued to enjoy his favourite tea.

"Our God arrived!" The villager said while out of breath.

Pffft!

The tea spilled out of his mouth like a jet, creating a beautiful arc in the air as the Village Head emptied out all the content in his mouth. It sprayed out like paint splashed on the canvas.

The Village Head's wife was stunned, not by the information, but because she…was the canvas.

"W-Where?" The Village Head hurriedly threw a towel at his wife before rushing out in fluster, quickly noticing the crowd that had formed at a piece of farmland adjacent to the village.

Young or old, everyone began to gather at the place, crowding around the individual that was seated on a boar.

The Village Head hurriedly made his way through the crowd and stared at the entity that was the cause of the chaos, a stunning man with perfect proportions. His orange hair resembled the flame but waved around like water.

Absolute Perfection!

The Village Head was stunned into silence, admiring the entity before him that ticked every single aspect a human required to be deemed absolutely perfect, the benchmark and the summit of perfection.

As if the qualities of all humans in the world had combined to manifest this individual before him. At the sheer sight of Compass Carburettor, without any explanation, the Village Head bowed to proclaim, "For generations, we have been waiting for your return."

"So, it's true."

"We have been protected by a Deity all along."

"No wonder our lives have been blessed as compared to the villages farther away."

The people began to discuss fervently as their gazes directed at Compass Carburettor began to change.

"Well, before everyone is excited, I need to tell you two things." Compass Carburettor snapped his finger, bringing everyone to his attention, "First of all, I'm not your Deity."

"What?" The Village Head was stunned to hear this. The rest of the villagers too doubted whether their ears were playing tricks on them.

The Village Head intended to argue otherwise, but a thought struck him at this moment, causing him to recall that even in the legend passed down through their village, even when their ancestors fled to this region, the Deity mentioned there only blessed for shelter.

There was no documented interaction after that. Meaning, they weren't actually treated as devotees to the Deity.

At his realisation, the Village Head's mood turned sullen, "What Your Lordship says is true. I apologise for overstepping my bounds."

He kneeled immediately, "Please punish my insolence."

"Punish what?" Compass Carburettor expressed disgust as he cleaned his ears, acting arrogant, "You didn't do anything to warrant a punishment. So stop being cringe and get up."

"Y-Yes? Yes, yes!" The Village Head got up in a hurry, perplexed by Compass Carburettor's sudden change in attitude.

"Ignorance and mistakes are a human's innate trait. There's nothing wrong about that." Compass Carburettor spoke slowly, his voice oozing a sense of majesty, "I will only punish you when you're unaware of your ignorance and mistakes."

"Be aware of your faults and improve upon them."

"We've been enlightened." All the villagers kneeled in response.

Compass Carburettor then spoke, "A Deity and its believers share a symbiotic relationship, especially in my case. Everyone here lives a content life. Therefore, there's nothing you can request from me through your prayers."

"And that's the second reason."

Compass Carburettor patted the boar, turning around as he began to make his way towards the mountain, "I'll be returning to my slumber now."

"M-May we know what type of Deity Your Lordship is?" Pneua mustered all her courage to ask.

The boar stopped walking in response to her question as all the villagers gulped simultaneously, training all their attention on Compass Carburettor.

In the village's silence, with his wide, sculpted back partially covered by moss facing them, Compass Carburettor stated solemnly as shockingly, his voice reverberated everywhere, as if his voice was being transmitted from every single location possible.

"Place your hand on your heart and feel the beat. I represent that." Saying so, he rode the boar and vanished from view.

"What…does that mean." Pneua was confused. Even with her smarts, she was unable to make heads or tails of what was being conveyed.

Pnolli was the same. He placed his hand on his chest, feeling his heartbeat as he tilted his head, "I can feel the beat. But what exactly does it mean?"

All the villagers muttered and discussed, failing to find an answer to their queries. Simultaneously, all their gazes shifted to the wisest man in the village, the Village Head.

The Village Head was silent, his eyes in a daze as he muttered inaudibly. One minute, two minutes, ten minutes, and he was in a daze before suddenly, his eyes shot up in vigour, yelling in excitement, "I got it!"

"Please tell us, Village Head." Everyone implored him as the Village Head took in a deep breath before calming them down.

He stared at everyone and motioned for them to place a hand on their heart, "Feel the beat."

Thump! Thump! Thump!

As everyone did as followed, they could feel their heartbeats as the Village Head said, "Feel the rigorous thumps as our heart pumps blood throughout our body. What do they represent?"

"Our vitality!" The Village Head shouted with zealous heat, "Whether in joy or sorrow, fear or faith, our heart thumps for our survival. That's where our God exists."

"The unending will of human survival. That's what our Deity represents. He's the God of Humanity." He bellowed by the end, "By the Humans, To the Humans, For the Humans."

"That's why when our ancestors came here seeking refuge, he blessed us with lives of contentment. Because of that, we have a bountiful land, dangers within our means to cope up, and a pleasant environment, everything we need to survive and prosper." The Village Head teared up in the end.

"What our ancestors asked for was given immediately. And to date, even long after we stopped praying, our blessings are still in effect." The Village Head wiped his tears on the sleeves of his shirt.

He pointed at the sibling duo, "He told them he wished to see the outside world. But we understood him wrong."

"The moment he saw all of us, he returned to the mountain, satisfied. Because, in his eyes, this vast world isn't his world. But," Despite his best to control himself, he began to sob in joy, "It's us."

"We're his world!"

"The God of Humanity…" The villagers muttered in shock before soon, they all placed their hands on their chests to feel their thumping hearts, "He's not like the other Deities that represent parts of nature. He's the God of Humans."

"He represents us."