On the other side of the world, a world beyond the reach of the common man, behind the scenes, known only to the highest echelons of vested interests, there were many secret societies. So many, in fact, that a secret society could be formed one day and disappear the next.

The reason for this was simple. It was the interference of the Gods! While most were basically uninterested in humans, there were some who were bored and wanted to play. They were not many, but that was only comparatively—even if it was only one percent of one million, that was still ten thousand. Many more Gods than anyone could have imagined were influencing humans.

And the Gods knew that the restrictions of the Tutorial would be lifted as the concentration of mana in the world increased. It was not allowed for the Gods to tell the mortals what the world would be like after the Tutorial, but they would somehow find a workaround, a way to bypass the rules, and let people know what it looked like. And they would use that ‘truth’ to turn those people into their followers.

[Your world is doomed. But if you follow me, I will save you.]

This was how the followers of the Gods, their worshipers, were born. And if the Gods gave some of the humans a little more power, or made them Champions or Apostles,...