A new notification? This was the first time he’d seen a notification. While Ban tilted his head and read the system message, struggling diligently to wake up, his roommate Tishi carefully spoke up.
“I see. Oh, come to think of it, Priest Winod was looking for you last night.”
“…Why?”
“Well, I don’t know. He didn’t tell me the reason, but he asked me to let him know when you woke up. But you know, according to Solan… a, a prophecy seems to have come down.”
I don’t know if it’s true though. Even at the timidly added words, Ban was indifferent. It wasn’t that he didn’t believe a prophecy had come down, but rather because he knew that no prophecy had ever come down at this point in time.
But well… it did seem like the persistent tormenting of Orma had started recently. When Ban nodded with an impassive face, Tishi relaxed his eyebrows as if disappointed. Ban patted Tishi’s soft brown hair, soothing him.
“Don’t worry about things like that.”
“Th-this time it’s really not making a fuss… Solan said that a few days ago when he said that, he had the honor of an audience with the High Priest.”
“Tishi.”
“Hmm?”
“Have you seen Solan since then?”
“No…”
“Then if the High Priest asks to meet you, don’t go and run away.”
“…Huh?”
An honor that was only a facade, an opportunity fabricated with lies, a beautiful trap called prophecy.
The High Priest would select an appropriate Holy Knight and make them believe they were the hero who would save the world, but in reality took them to be the gatekeeper of hell. So in truth, no prophecy had ever come down and it was all fabricated by the priests.
One day, the priests discovered an omen of calamity. The whole world began to burn hot, the days grew longer, and strange flowers that changed their forms at will bloomed. Having recognized the beginning of the calamity that would someday come, which had been left in the records, the priests fell into despair and worried. Because the only existence that could stop that calamity was Orma, the one they themselves had directly thrown into hell.
Thus, the result of their putting their heads together and devising a plan was the ‘false prophecy.’
They had to open the gates of hell, go and bring Orma out, and persuade him to save the world… Even they thought Orma’s resentment would be tremendous. Orma wouldn’t cooperate obediently, and there was no reason for him to save the world either.
In the end, the priests lured out the mouse that would bell the cat under the fancy name of ‘divine messenger of prophecy’ and threw them into hell.
Behind their backs, they called that divine messenger a sacrifice among themselves. Because in the end, not a single one returned alive.
“Why?”
“Hmm, I have a hunch that we won’t see Solan again. It’s unsettling too.”
Ban persuaded the dejected Tishi while soothing him. Because the name of the last sacrifice the priests offered in the original game was ‘Tishi.’
In the game, after the number of divine messengers… no, sacrifices killed by Orma’s hand became dozens, hundreds, the annoyed Orma finally crawled out of hell on his own. Orma, who ascended to the surface world, happily destroyed the world with a half-mad mind.
The day when finally no one could help but fear Orma was the game’s final chapter, and at that point, Orma met a certain knight who was the descendant of the lover who betrayed him.
That was the player—that is, Ban—the last bastion that the priests had discovered in the mud and ambitiously prepared.
Though by now all knights affiliated with the Order were called Holy Knights, Ban was an existence on a different dimension from such ordinary Holy Knights. A noble and holy knight who could use power beyond human strength, even the power of the divine realm. He was no different from a kind of seeker that the priests had been eagerly waiting for.
So if everything flowed according to the original story, the priests would never think of throwing Ban, their last hope, into hell as a ‘divine messenger’…
“So, Priest Winod was looking for me?”
“Yeah. But he looked upset about something, his expression wasn’t good, so maybe…”
“It’s fine, don’t worry.”
Long ago, it was said that the bloodline of Saint Herna, who had blocked and repelled the demon invasion, had sacred power dwelling in it and could use divine power and blessings, albeit weakly. Ban, who had been reincarnated as the player character in the story and was also a descendant, possessed power that an ordinary human could never have, but realizing that the power he had wasn’t the kind people expected, he kept it tightly hidden.
It seemed to be gradually getting on the nerves of Winod and some other priests.
They must be getting anxious because it seems like there’s definitely something there, but the results aren’t as prominent as expected.
Wouldn’t they get angry soon, asking him to show what he’s hiding?
“Well then, I’ll be off to training.”
“Huh? You’re not going to see Priest Winod?”
“…Mm, he’s probably busy right now.”
Ban answered in a murmur with a faint smile on his face. It wasn’t wrong.
Solan, who became a sacrifice, would have died as soon as he faced Orma, and Winod would be agonizing over who to choose as the next sacrifice.
While Tishi was at a loss for words at his answer, Ban changed into the knight order training uniform, washed up neatly, and immediately moved to the training ground. Even in the midst of this, the very worried Tishi kept asking this and that, unable to settle down, but Ban was relaxed and carefree.
Only after entering the training ground with a gentle face without much change in expression like calm waves, occupying a corner, could he let out a light sigh. As if something had happened while he was sleeping, the system messages kept blinking, making his mind chaotic.
[Month of the Sheep, Day 6, 06:31 *You have a new notification!]
It was the first notification Ban had seen since being reincarnated in this world. System messages kept appearing as if to remind him not to forget he was born in a world inside a game, and he could access all sorts of things like viewing information or minor quests appearing, but this was the first time seeing that there was a notification.
Ban, who had been staring at the message for a long time with narrowed eyes, finally opened the notification.
“Hmm…”
[Faith Gauge has been activated!
Faith has been unlocked!
*As the Faith Gauge rises, your Faith Level increases and the Faith Points you can earn increase.
When Faith Level rises, your stats increase and you can meet the conditions for learning new special skills.
With Faith Points, you can purchase various items at the shop.
In proportion to your faith, divine influence increases.
Current Status: No Religion (Non-believer) / Faith: – (Inactive: Unlocked after having belief.)
▷ You can view the list of gods to dedicate your faith to.
– Serka
– Banan
– Muhwi
– ??? (Unlocked 52%)
When certain conditions are satisfied, gods you can serve will be unlocked.
However, once you decide on a belief, you cannot change it.]
‘…What is all this about.’
Most of what he had been able to see through these system messages until now had been things without much substance.
For example, personal information like this.
[Tishi Viol / 19 years old
A lower-level priest affiliated with the Order that believes in Serka, the god of light and creation.
Timid and cowardly.]
Or light and minor quests.
[Daily Quest: Sword Training 1 hour (0/1)
Reward: Strength +2 Agility +1]
So this kind was entirely new.
Ban calmly read through one by one and grasped the system’s intention.
The system messages had been so trivial until now that even Ban almost mistook himself for an extra character, but it seemed he was still the player character in the game.
‘So to sum it up… are they telling me to decide on a religion?’
There was a similar ability in the original game <MOX NOX> too. If you became an apostle following a specific god, special skills would be unlocked. The names of the gods listed here alone were familiar.
Written proudly at the very top was ‘Serka,’ the main god who created this world, Serka of light and creation.
It was also the god of the Order Ban was currently part of, but if asked whether Ban believed in Serka, that wasn’t the case. For the reason of being an orphan, he was taken in by Serka’s temple and outwardly pretended to believe in Serka, but inside he didn’t.
Well, if asked why, from the beginning Ban believed there was a separate reason he was reincarnated in this world. And he thought it was entirely the result of the ‘choice’ he made after defeating Orma.
So Ban wasn’t interested in Serka, or Banan the god of abundance below him, or Muhwi the god of destruction… all of them. He was just coming to the conclusion that the time he had been waiting and waiting for had come.
Ban, who had carefully read through the system message, quickly closed the window and alone silently began today’s daily quest of sword training.
Even though it was still dim dawn, the outside where the calamity had begun to arrive was far too hot, but it was when he had been training diligently for a full hour without any tricks. Quick footsteps came along with a displeased voice from behind.
“Ahem! Ban, so you were here.”
“…Priest Winod.”
“Didn’t Tishi tell you? That I was looking for you.”
“I heard, but since it was too early, I was going to come see you in the morning.”
At the flawless words, Winod clicked his tongue, tsk tsk, and looked Ban up and down.
Though his appearance was drenched in sweat as if proving he had trained with all his might and sincerity, that beauty wasn’t diminished in the slightest.
His silver hair, which created a noble, holy, yet mysterious atmosphere, swayed smoothly riding the gently blowing wind. His long eyelashes blinked slowly as if hiding a treasure, and when eyes met with the refreshing sky-colored eyes beneath them, it was breathtaking.
With a fairly tall height and a slender-looking body, below which firm muscles were tightly attached as if boasting the results of training thus far, it wasn’t incomprehensible that artists who happened to visit the temple would look at Ban and want to make him the source of their artistic inspiration.
If one were to tell those debating Ban’s identity that he was a noble Holy Knight serving the gods, half would readily accept it, while the other half would ask back whether he wasn’t an incarnation of Banan, the god of love and abundance. However, it would be a mistake to think that his inner self would be as docile as his slightly lowered eye corners that seemed obedient at first glance and his snow-white skin without a speck of dust.
Winod forcibly swallowed his anger and opened his mouth toward Ban, who was alone boasting his diligence in the empty training ground.
He wanted to fabricate as much warmth and kindness as possible, but his patience had now reached its limit.
“…Ban, now stop hiding and speak honestly before the name of god.”
“Hiding?”
“Aren’t you certainly the apostle sent by Serka!”
Is this a branching point? If I’m going to choose Serka, choose now? At this level, isn’t this not a choice but pressure, coercion…
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Ban spoke while meeting Winod’s eyes with a calm face without any change in expression. Winod, with a face flushed bright red, shouted at Ban, who feigned ignorance until the end.
“No, then the calamity has arrived and no one can go out in this weather! Do you think it makes sense that you alone calmly endure the sunlight and train!”
…What’s not possible about that. Ban thought indifferently and opened the water bottle he had placed nearby, gulping it down refreshingly, then grinned and retorted.
“Then I must really be the divine messenger of prophecy as you say, Priest-nim. Just like ‘Solan.'”
