Steel, Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum, Diamond, Master, Grand Master, and Challenger. That was the growth system that differentiated heroes into different tiers. In short, one could say that the higher a hero’s tier was, the more active they had been in this world. The way to raise one’s tier was simple. They needed to make achievements, accumulate merits, and offer them to the god they served. Each tier was divided into four ranks, and the first step to rising in tiers was moving up from rank IV to I. The next step was to accumulate enough merits to make the jump from rank I to the next tier. Only then would they be eligible for a promotion, and they would reach the next tier after passing a test.

Yet this process only applied until the Diamond Tier. This was because the Diamond Tier was the highest tier that a hero could reach simply by accumulating and offering merits. In other words, the conditions for promotion changed starting from the Master tier. To be specific, the original conditions remained, but a new one was added. If one dove into what a ‘master’ meant, it held the meanings of a controller and administrator. A master ruled over others with their own will and exerted considerable influence over their surroundings.

Thus, when gods judged whether a hero was eligible to be promoted to Master tier, they discussed if the hero in question had the ability to rule over an organization, business, or something in the same vein; and if they were capable of actively exerting influence over society. That was why merits weren’t the only...