As the timer counted down, Rino felt his motivation to get anything done dwindle. If the gods were going to curse him and deduct his sleep hours, he should simply not do anything. After all, why put in so much effort for something they could do personally?

It sounded like a good deal to Rino. As someone familiar with cases of body possession, Rino assumed it would be alright for the gods to control his body to do work like some sort of puppet. At least he no longer had to worry about resolving crisis after crisis. They would resolve it for him. After all, gods were meant to be more powerful and knowledgeable compared to mortals.

Ark called everyone over to gather in his office as he observed Rino. Ever since Rino exceeded his deadline for the main quest, the gods have been keeping an eye on their chosen one. Rino did his darndest, and his actions were not unappreciated. Phil and Ace spoke up on Rino's behalf, and even Stephanie had to admit they must have overestimated Rino's abilities to build a windmill in two weeks.

"Should we extend his deadline?" Stephanie asked after Ace pointed out how Rino was not wasting time by building the Nightless Underpass. 

It was a strategic move that was good in the long run. Doing so now was better than doing it later. Besides, none of the gods added transportation projects into one of their daily quests. It wasn't meaningless, even if it took a lot of time to set it up.

Ark remained unmoved despite his team members speaking up on Rino's behalf. He wasn't blind. However, they were also in trouble if Rino did not farm and offer crops to the reward offering shop. The other gods were fuming at the delay, and while he was a little unfair to Rino with the deadline of the quest, it was a necessary move.

Ace and Phil weren't dumb. They knew what Ark's major concern was. However, it wasn't fair for Rino, who gave nothing short of his best for every quest. He might be lazy at times, but they had to admit. Nobody could question his actions after seeing how well Noir Province was operating even after Rino left to expand his empire. Rino was far more brilliant than they could anticipate. Even without the god's clairvoyance, his vision about the future and the empire he wanted to build exceeded all their expectations.

"It's unfortunate, but a deal is a deal. Rino could not finish his project in two weeks. He decided on his own to create the grindstone and build the highway instead of prioritising. This is his responsibility to bear. He knew the consequences when he decided to prioritise other projects. We need not feel guilty about it. I know how hardworking he is and how brilliant his mind works. However, a pawn that doesn't do as they are told is not needed in this grand chess game. Don't forget who we are. We're gods."

Nobody spoke after listening to Ark's reminder about who they were. Indeed, Rino was a splendid mortal. His mind was amazing, and his ability to create what gods could not do was astounding. However, he was still a pawn to be used by gods who had far greater responsibilities to oversee.

"I understand," Phil agreed, shocking Ace and Stephanie greatly.

Of all the gods, Phil was the one they thought would silently disagree with Ark's judgement. Even Stephanie felt slightly bad for Rino when she learned why her brother was doing this. Initially, she only wanted to punish and torment Rino for being such an arrogant mortal. However, after watching him and learning a little more about why he did what he did, she started to tolerate him a little more.

Ace couldn't believe what he was hearing. Phil was siding with Ark even if he knew what Ark was plotting. Why?!

Placing a hand on Ace's shoulder, Phil looked at Ace in the eye.

"Being kind and compassionate is your strong point. However, we cannot allow our emotions to sway the objective that must be accomplished. It's not a completely terrible thing for Rino either. The Curse of Overworking does not cause pain. The deduction of his sleep hours might wound Rino a little, but it's not something that cannot be earned back in the future. We are gods. We can create opportunities for him and reward him accordingly as our divine powers grow. Don't let a short-term setback ruin the view of your future."

Ace hated it. How could Phil say this kind of thing? How was he different from Ark, who was all about divinity and power? Phil was literally the last person Ace thought would agree with Ark's decision, aside from himself. Utterly betrayed, the god of prayers said nothing and simply walked away.

Stephanie remained neutral. Unlike Ace, she didn't really care what the outcome was. If Rino was punished for failing the quest, she would simply carry out the punishment. After all, she designed that system. However, Phil's support was unexpected.

"What made you change your mind? I thought you and Ace were on the same page?" Ark asked.

Phil looked at the team leader with an unusual intensity. Nobody knew what the old god of landscaping did before he retired. However, his team only knew him as an easy-going and peace-loving gentle god. Ark felt slightly frightened at how much Phil seethed internally even though he gained the god's consent for the plan to punish Rino.

"I hope you know what you're doing, leader. If this ends up badly, you can only bear the consequences of your actions together with your sister, just like how you want to make Rino bear the consequences for his decisions."

As Phil left, Ark felt his knees quake. Slumping into his chair in a daze, he did not hear his sister calling his name until she slapped him.

"So, how do you want to set the punishment?" Stephanie asked.

Still reeling from the shock of that lightly veiled threat, Ark swallowed and shakily followed Stephanie to her workroom.

It wasn't easy being a team leader. Ark always believed that whatever he did was for the greater good. He was great at reading the intentions of more powerful gods. His formula for success was to always err on the side of less sin but more benefit. He did not need to get a huge slice of anyone's pie. He was happy receiving scraps from those who fought for the pie. A little of everything would accumulate over time, and that was how Ark built this team to its former glory.

Yet, after Rino's existence, Ark still could not understand anything. Everything looked like it was going well. Yet, why did it all end in a moment without any signs or notice?

"Don't punish him too harshly. Just get the offerings we need from him to fulfil all those backed up orders," he told his sister, who raised her brow.

"That's all? Offerings only? Do we want to take this chance to milk him for more inventory? I know a few goddesses who would love to try Taro. A goddess friend of mine from my graduation batch claimed that she has a secret recipe that would need a lot of Taro."

Ark paused. "Has she placed an order?"

The goddess shook her head sheepishly. "I told her that the production queue was overloaded for a while because I thought we wouldn't be able to cope with so many unfulfilled trades."

Sighing heavily, Ark wondered why his sister was the way she was. If she'd taken that order, he could use this chance to network and snatch a piece of that pie for their future developments.

"It's fine. Just take the orders next time. We'll worry about fulfilment later. Set Rio's curse to mild. Give him control of his body and mana but restrict his physical territory to farming. Eliminate all other options for now and add a time extension reward at the end of his punishment quest."

Stephanie got busy, taking orders from her brother, and Ark locked himself in the office to think about Phil's warning.

Down in the small world, Rino wondered what was taking the gods so long to give him his punishment. Fifteen minutes passed after he failed to complete his daily quest on time. He thought he would get smite by lightning, so he deliberately stood in an open field away from any important structures while coordinating the slow windmill constructions.

Ping!

The familiar system sound notification took Rino by surprise. He wasn't cursed?

Yet, when Rino opened the notification in his system's mailbox, he found himself getting forcefully teleported to a different dimension.

===

Punishment Quest [Curse of Overtime]

Objective: Harvest the following to be offered to the system

0/100 sacks of rice

0/100 crates of taro

0/100 crates of potato

0/100 sacks of corn

0/100 sacks of soybeans

0/100 bushels of wheat

Time Limit: NA

Redemption: 14 Days Time Extension for Daily Quest #21

Claim your redemption here.

Penalty: Deduct 24 hours of sleep every 24 hours quest is not completed.

===

In this new dimension, Rino realised that he could not interact with his minions. The farm had a small plot of every different kind of crop. Each plot represented one sack or crate worth of crop, and the instructions in the mail made it clear that Rino must use magic or physical labour to grow and harvest them. All harvested crops will automatically be sacrificed towards the offering shop, and he would not be let out of this place until he completed the requirements.

Sighing at the lengths these gods would go to just to make him offer them crops, Rino wondered if he should humour them.