Chapter 657: The First Priest

[

Linked Quest

: The Priests that Follow You]

Rank

: SSS

Requirements

: God

Rewards

: Temple’s Level increases, all stats will increase by +3

Penalty for Failure

: Ambron’s departure

Description

: You have won some of First Priest Ambron’s loyalty and trust. However, Ambron can still leave this place at any given moment. Before he chooses to do so, make sure to show him that your temple can grow stronger.

Conditions for Clearing

: Thirty priests or believers that have true faith in you.

‘Hmm…’?

Minhyuk rubbed his chin in thought.

The most basic thing that a temple needed to operate was not only a priest, but also a congregation of believers. The temple would only be able to run smoothly if there were believers that donated and raised funds for the religion. That would determine whether the temple would be in a deficit or a surplus once it started operating. Believers that were truly faithful to their Gods would willingly open their pockets and donate, while praying for a comfortable and easy life.

According to the quest, Minhyuk had to gather at least thirty priests or believers that had true faith in him. Ambron looked bitterly at Minhyuk. He was fully aware that gathering priests and believers was a very daunting task. New believers would most often choose to believe in Gods that had plenty of believers already. After all, it was very hard to follow a God that had nothing at all.

‘This is going to be very hard.’

Ambron looked very bitter.

“I will also help in gathering new priests and believers.”

Ambron had decided to trust and follow Minhyuk for the time being. Besides, it was him that brought the temple to its collapse.

“…”

Still, he looked miserable as he looked around the temple. Ambron was sure that whichever priest or believer they gathered would immediately run away the moment they saw the temple in such a dilapidated state.

“Right. You’re not going to tell me that you will turn tail after putting the temple in this state, no? Ah. I’m not telling you to follow or listen to me against your will. I suppose only someone without a conscience would do something like that, right?”

“…”

After hearing Minhyuk’s words, Ambron thought that he should do his best while he was here.

“Ah. If you’re going to do that, then I would like you to go around with my friend.”

“A friend?”

“That’s right.”

Ambron looked at Minhyuk with a bit of expectations. What kind of existence was God’s friend like? Then, the space behind Minhyuk cracked open as something walked out. There was a bright light shining out from the space so it looked like there was a halo surrounding the being.

‘It’s so bright…’

What greeted Ambron once the light faded away was a being that was standing proudly, with his arms folded on his chest, and an arrogant smile curling at the corners of his lips.

“Oiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiink!!!”

“…”

Ambron was struck speechless. The baby pig was sporting an arrogant expression on his face, while looking down at Ambron as if he was a God.

“Ah. There’s something that you have to keep in mind when traveling with him. You have to regularly give him something delicious. If you fail to do that, he will get angry.”

“…”

“However, I am super confident…”

“…Yes?”

“…He will definitely be a big help to you.”

Even if Ambron did not understand how the baby piggy in front of him could help gather believers and priests, Minhyuk believed in Beanie. After all, he was fully aware of Beanie’s endless potential.

Minhyuk watched as Beanie haughtily approached Ambron with his outstretched paws.

“Oiiiiiiiiiiiiiink!”

“What? Ah, yes?”

“Oink, oink oink! Oiiiiiiiink!

(If you have something delicious with you, give it to me. Oink!)

”

Minhyuk smiled as he watched Beanie already working Ambron, who was flustered and embarrassed, the moment he appeared.

‘Ah. They’re getting along well.’

Although it was unknown how the two of them would get along, Minhyuk still nodded at the sight.

For now, there was something that Minhyuk had to check. He immediately pulled out the Corrupted God’s Mysterious Bundle. It was an item that would allow the one to gain the object or the map that was leading to the object that they were the most greedy for..

Without any hesitation, Minhyuk placed his hand inside the Corrupted God’s Mysterious Bundle.

[You have placed your hand inside the Corrupted God’s Mysterious Bundle.]

[It will give you the item that you want the most or tell you the place where the item is.]

Something fell in Minhyuk’s hand immediately after. The item that he pulled out was obviously a map.

[You have acquired the map to First Pope Kronad’s Grave.]

“…”

Minhyuk stared at the map in his hand for a moment before taking out the Puzzling Seasoning Jar from his inventory. The Puzzling Seasoning Jar looked no different from usual. However, the most important change here was that the nagging and mischievous guy had been quiet for quite a long time now. There was a chance that this state would remain forever too. Minhyuk knew that Obren could no longer appear using Kronad’s Sealed Necklace.

‘I never expected that you would sacrifice yourself for me.’

For Minhyuk’s sake, Obren willingly let go of his final chance to awaken in this world once again.

Minhyuk slowly unfolded the map to First Pope Kronad’s Grave. Usually, whenever one opened a map in Athenae, a hologram would pop out and show where the player was currently located.

“…?”

To Minhyuk’s confusion, his current position was not shown anywhere in the map. He continued to observe the map.

“What the hell? This…”

Only then did he realize that the map that was in his hands was of an area still unopened in Athenae. The continents that he was aware of were nowhere to be seen.

“It’s a completely different place?”

Athenae was full of possibilities. President Kang Taehoon even mentioned once that it was impossible to consume and clear all of Athenae’s contents. The players then vaguely realized that there was a chance that there was another world that existed beyond the world that they were currently playing at. In fact, there were even reports about some players actually visiting such a place.

“May I take a look at that?” Priest Ambron asked, showing interest in the map.

After some time, Ambron spoke, “So, the stories were true.”

Ambron had been studying myths and legends for a very long time. He had been working hard since young, which gave him enough qualifications as a pope.

“You know about this?”

“Yes. This is the Land of the Forgotten Heroes.”

“Land of the Forgotten Heroes?”

“That’s right. That is what we call that place. For them, the world that they live in is just like the world we live in. Just like us, they also have gods, albeit completely different from ours, in their world.”

“And how do I get there…?”

“Popes or Saint-level existence from one of the other religions would probably know about it. There are probably other ways to go there, but I’m not aware of them.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes. However, there’s one thing that’s for sure. The people that live in our world seek to explore the Land of the Forgotten Heroes. After all, that place would definitely grant them new power, new artifacts, new food and many more.”

“…New food?”

“That’s right.”

Minhyuk was already drooling at the thought. This was starting to look like a vacation abroad.

At this moment, Minhyuk’s destination was confirmed. He was now set to go to the ‘Land of the Forgotten Heroes’.

After that, Minhyuk hurriedly visited Athenae Religion and asked Loyna about the story of the Land of the Forgotten Heroes. Then, he immediately went to the next destination after that.

The only ones left in the temple were Beanie and Ambron. Ambron watched as Beanie borrowed a lot of things from the Athenae Religion.

“Oink, oink oink oink! Oiiiiiiiiink! (Just trust me, oink! I know of a good way to gather believers!)”

“…”

Although Ambron was not convinced, he decided to put his trust on the baby piggy for now.

Just like that, the two of them moved to gather priests and believers.

***

The Kingdom of Death was ruled and owned by Death. He was its king. Yet droves of priests and paladins would come to this place. In fact, the reason why they flocked there was because there were countless tests that required them to use their holy power against the undead, in order to receive their qualifications and recognition.

Right now, Death was sighing in his kingdom,

‘Beanie, why do you have to ask me to do that… well, there’s nothing I can do since this is for Minhyuk’s sake.’

Beanie had visited Death and asked for a favor. Death watched the paladin trainees and apprentice priests wading through crowds of undead through the crystal ball in his hands and said, “Zone 3. Summon Lich.”

Just like that, a lich was summoned in the place that was shown in the crystal ball.

***

There were five paladin trainees and three apprentice priests struggling to fight against skeletons in Zone 3. Among them was Lany, a girl that dreamt of joining the Athenae Religion. Lany was not entirely sure but this might just be the final step for her to achieve her dream of joining the Athenae Religion. After all, she was smart, religious, and had holy power that was a cut beyond the rest.

However, she fell into despair not long after.

“A, a lich?!”

“How, how come a lich suddenly showed up in here?!!”

A lich suddenly showed up in Zone 3 where the trainees and apprentices were taking their tests. This was unprecedented. On top of that, a lich was a very powerful undead that these priests and paladins would not be able to deal with. The people here were not players but NPCs, and their deaths here would mean that they would face eternal rest. Simply put, the lich in front of them was a true object of fear.

Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang!

Magic attacks rained down upon them as the lich waved its hand. However, strangely enough, none of them realized that the attacks never reached their bodies. All they did was scream in fear and terror.

Then, hundreds of undead appeared around the lich. Seeing the additional troops advance, the apprentice priests and paladin trainees cried and shed tears.

“Ah, aaaaaaaah…! G, God… please grant power to our pitiful selves to punish the evil and the wicked!”

“God! Please show us a way to get out of this difficulty!”

All of them cried out and wailed for their Gods to help them. But of course, the Gods did not answer their calls.

The lich looked at them with a cold and vicious glare as it appeared right in front of them. Then, it began to cast magical attacks that continued to rain down upon them.

Lany shut her eyes tightly, tears dripping down her cheeks as she hoped and prayed,

‘G, God… Please… please… us…’

Then, at that moment, a man’s voice rang in their ears, “God has sent his envoys to answer the cries of the poor and the pitiful. The evil and the wicked will retreat in front of our God.”

Claaaaaaaaang—

The sound of a mysterious and unknown bell rang loudly in the area. This caused the undead in the surrounding area to let out agonizing howls.

Then, a white light burst out from behind them as the mysterious voice continued to flow in their ears, “Aaah. His Holiness has sent his envoys, asking them to show up to protect the poor and the pitiful. Praise be upon him, praise be upon him!”

The man that was reciting those phrases was none other than Ambron. Reading the lines that Beanie had written for him, he thought,

‘Why am I reading something like this?’

However, he still continued to recite the words written on his cheat sheet, “Be afraid, you wicked ones!”

Death, who was watching everything from a distance, said to the lich, “Hey. Get on your knees and pretend to be afraid.”

“Kiheeeeeeeeeeeck!”

The lich and the rest of the undead fell down on their knees, showing frustration as they shrieked.

Diiiiiiiiing—

The bell rang once more, putting the lich and the undead under more suffering.

“Open your eyes and witness the arrival of God’s envoy!!!” Ambron cried out as a being enveloped in a bright and white halo appeared.

Lany placed her palms together and looked at the being in awe. The light that covered the being slowly faded away until it revealed his form. The being was wearing a white priest’s uniform with a bell in one hand and a black kitchen knife on the other. As for his visage, it was none other than the face of a baby piggy.

“Ooiiiiiiiiiiiiink!

(In the name of my God, be gone!?Oink!)

”

Crackleeee—

Along with that snort, the lich and the undead were devoured by flames.

Ambron was rendered speechless at the Go-Stop like scenario that unfolded in front of him. However, although it was a bit embarrassing, everything was done perfectly.

‘Just look at his face. He has the exact expression as that of a kind and gentle mother.’

Beanie’s expression was the epitome of kindness itself, while wearing the white priest uniform. He kept the bell and the knife as he looked upon the apprentice priests and paladin trainees kindly. Then, he flew to them and patted their foreheads.

“Oink, oink oink oink.”

“Child, do not fear. My God has called for me and told me to run here for your sake.”

“Ah, aaaaaaaaaaah…!”

“Oink oink, oink, oiiiiiiiiiink!”

“I will make sure to destroy evil and bestow upon you a new lease in life.”

Beanie smiled gently at them and turned around as if he was closing his act. The moment he turned around, he broke out into a gleeful smile while thinking,

‘A perfect performance, oink!’

Of course, he also dropped something when he turned around, pretending to be unaware, and disappeared into another burst of light with Ambron.

Once they disappeared, the apprentice priests and paladin trainees continued to stare blankly in awe after witnessing the descent of God’s true envoy and messenger.

At that moment, Lany picked up the thing that God’s envoy had dropped. Then, she looked at the contents.

[Join the Path of Minhyuk Church.]

[Who is the Great God, Food God?]

“…?!”

“…!”

“…!”

“…!”

Lany, who checked the contents, clasped the letter in her chest and said, “This is… definitely God’s divine revelation.”

Lany, who declared that she would join Athenae Religion, had found a new religion to follow. Its name? Minhyuk Church.

1. A fishing card game