Chapter 3

My muscles had already exceeded their limits. My knee joints were screaming in pain, and I was panting for air. It wouldn’t have been weird if I had fallen at any moment, but I continued to run. Even if all my joints were broken, even if my muscles were torn into shreds, I would not stop charging.

My eyes were set on only one thing: the weight I had thrown. The weight had drawn a parabola in the sky and was falling at an alarming rate. I raced toward the estimated landing spot.

I could do this. At my pace, I could easily catch the weight. I was sure of it.

Paaap—!

I caught the weight initially, but the moment I caught it, I felt all strength leaving my body. I fumbled and lost my grasp. The reason for this was simple: the effect of Bossou’s power, superhuman strength, was gone.

“...Oh.”

[Sorry. I haven’t had a pleasing sacrifice in half a year. I don’t have the strength.] Bossou apologized with a low-spirited voice. Their voice and superhuman strength slowly faded away from my body.

Then the pain came. It flooded my system. It hurt to move my legs, and my joints were aching like they were broken. I couldn’t breathe, and I could feel my consciousness fading.

[The side effects are immense now without the Altar. If you feel like this is unfair, find it and bring it back.] Legba’s tone was mocking, but I couldn’t respond. I was busy tossing and turning around in the sand.

Damn it. Why did we have to lose the Altar? Why did that person steal the Altar, of all things? Who stole the Altar? I would kill them if I found out.

With thoughts of pointless regret and resentment, I blacked out.

***

Everyone had different desires in life, be it money, fame, or power. All these desires stemmed from the same emotion.

Superiority.

Superiority was the best word to describe Bae Sung-Hyun’s life.

He had lived a life of many victories and exercised the right of the victorious; he took what he wanted and stepped over people whom he deemed lowly while looking at them with contempt. Superiority sustained him, and he expected it to stay that way.

“I can’t help but applaud your skillful utilization of blessings. You used the blessing of recovery to minimize the possibility of injury...”

When Bae Sung-Hyun returned from his throw, Kim Bok-Dong praised him for many reasons.

Bae Sung-Hyun didn’t listen to most of the things that Kim Bok-Dong said. Instead, he returned the gazes of his classmates looking up at him.

‘Praise me more! Admire me more!’

Bae Sung-Hyun thought as he hid his sly grin.

There was nothing to see after that. No one came close to beating his record. Most students’ throws didn’t even make it past the fifty-meter line, and even the more talented students couldn’t throw past two hundred meters. No student posed a threat to Bae Sung-Hyun.

Except for one.

“This is the only blessing I can use.”

At first, he had thought that the student was a nobody, someone who had enrolled in F.A. by luck and had no right to be here. The student was the same—no, even inferior to the common folk.

However, Bae Sung-Hyun changed his mind when he saw the boy running after his tossed weight. The boy looked like a bull, charging crazily toward his target. No, maybe more like a cheetah. Do Sun-Woo had almost gotten full marks by catching his weight. Of course, he had unfortunately made a mistake and failed.

‘No, not unfortunately.’

For Bae Sung-Hyun, it was a

fortunate

event.

“Ah, he’s fainted.”

Kim Bok-Dong ran toward Do Sun-Woo, who was lying down in the middle of the field. Everyone else snickered and chatted in the absence of Kim Bok-Dong.

“Why try to do the impossible?”

“I know, right? If he had thrown the weight normally, he would have easily made it to fifth place.”

“He’s either stupid, or he believes in himself too much.”

As he listened to this conversation, Bae Sung-Hyun could feel a flurry of emotions stirring within him.

Do Sun-Woo would have caught the weight if it hadn’t been for his mistake. Therefore, Bae Sung-Hyun would have been pushed to second place. To Bae Sung-Hyun, it was clear what this meant.

‘I could lose next time.’

Luckily, Do Sun-Woo had made a mistake this time. However, there was no guarantee that this would happen again. He could lose in the next physical test. No, he would lose for sure.

From an objective viewpoint, Do Sun-Woo’s strength was greater than his. As that thought popped up, an emotion that Bae Sung-Hyun had long forgotten started to slowly creep into his mind. It was the feeling of inferiority.

Inferiority was an emotion that had been hidden away in Bae Sung-Hyun. It lurked behind the shadow of superiority. It was the emotion that Bae Sung-Hyun detested and also one that he thought he would not feel again.

***

Kim Bok-Dong approached the sprawled-out Do Sun-Woo in the middle of the field. Do Sun-Woo was moaning with pain as he lay down on the field. Fortunately, he seemed to be conscious.

“Are you okay?” Kim Bok-Dong asked.

“Ah, urgh.... Yes, sir, I’m fine.” Do Sun-Woo responded as he forcefully sat up with his shaking body. At a glance, it was apparent that he had sustained injuries everywhere.

Some of his muscles were torn to the point of bruising, and his knee joint seemed to be twisted at an awkward angle. It was an injury that would cause most people to have a hard time getting up. Kim Bok-Dong drew a blessing array to help Do Sun-Woo.

“This moderate blessing of healing won’t heal you completely, but it should help with the pain.”

“Thank you, sir,” Do Sun-Woo said.

“Your record is eighty-three meters, and you are in twelfth place. Do you have any objections?”

“No, sir,” Do Sun-Woo replied.

“Alright, go to the nurse’s office.” Kim Bok-Dong instructed.

Do Sun-Woo slowly trudged away, his face filled with disappointment.

Kim Bok-Dong stared at Do Sun-Woo moving into the distance. It was amazing that he could prop himself up after the injury, but something else really amazed him.

‘He almost succeeded.’

In the entire history of F.A., only two had passed the physical test by satisfying the special conditions. One was the son of the Pope, and the other was Kim Bok-Dong himself. Back when Kim Bok-Dong was a student at F.A., he used all the blessings he could to pass the physical test while satisfying the special conditions.

However, Do Sun-Woo had almost succeeded with just the aid of his lesser blessing of strength. This meant that although he did not seem to be talented in blessings, his physical capabilities exceeded those of normal students. No, Do Sun-Woo’s body could only be described as ‘blessed by god.’

“That concludes the physical test. First place goes to Bae Sung-Hyun, in second place is Koo Jun-Hyuk, and in third place is Jung In-Ah. Everyone else, find out what place you came in by yourselves. You will be graded based on your ranking. You are dismissed. Head back to your classroom.”

Amidst the flying dust, everyone in the class of charity was thinking the same thinking. Bae Sung Hyun could grab first place through his talents, Koo Jun-Hyuk took second place with ease, and Jung In-Ah used her talented blessing to overcome her lack of physical strength. Everyone was talented and had their strengths...

But it was Do Sun-Woo who was engraved in Kim Bok-Dong’s memory.

***

“Did you trip on the stairs? Or did you fall from the roof?”

“No, I was taking the physical exam.”

“Physical exam? Ha, no one would be fooled by that lie.”

“I’m serious.”

“Yeah, yeah, alright. I’ve taken care of your injuries, but make sure you don’t partake in any strenuous exercise, okay?”

It felt like the nurse didn’t believe in the whereabouts of my injuries but pretended she believed me. However, she had healed me, so I had no complaints.

On my way back to my classroom, Legba spoke to me again after being silent for a while.

[Think of your body before you use any powers. You must be more careful now that we don’t have our Altar.]

Their words were blunt. It was Legba’s way of showing that they cared.

“I won’t do it again next time.”

[If you do, your body will be broken beyond repair. Do you want to die before your 20th birthday?]

“Meh, it’s fine.”

The Loa’s powers were so great that they came with severe side effects. Bossou’s powers were among the ones that had a relatively minor disadvantage. Other Loa powers were more widely applicable, stronger, and had stronger side effects. One could use the Altar to minimize the backlash or increase the scope of power. However, it was useless at the moment because the Altar was lost.

I finally arrived at the classroom. The class seemed to be in the middle of the daily closing announcement.

“Ah, I see you’ve made it. Class President, let Do Sun-Woo know what I said and tell him how numerous kidnappings have been happening around the area. Everyone, get home safe, and don’t play too late into the night, okay?” The class teacher, Ha Ye-Jin, walked out of the room shortly after making the announcement.

All the students followed suit, packed their bags, and made their way home.

Bae Sung-Hyun came over with the announcement papers.

“See for yourself,” Bae Sung-Hyun said. He passingly threw the papers onto my desk and made his way out of the classroom. He had been smiling, but it was fake, and his voice was laced with hostility.

[Why did he do that?]

“...”

That was a good question.

***

As I made my way toward my house, I was greeted by a familiar, gloomy, and ominous alleyway.

It was not long before I saw the old crippled man. Right away, I took out my wallet and took out a ten-thousand won bill, placing it into the man’s tin can.

[Oh, you have money to spare?]

“This much should be fine.”

[Good life.] Legba said brusquely. I just laughed.

I indeed did not have that much money. However, I was not poor enough to be stingy about that much money doing a good deed.

“Everyone else doing okay?”

[Ah, now that you mention it, that bastard Baron Samedi.... Oh, no.]

Legba suddenly dropped dead silent. This had to be one of two cases. Either Legba suddenly was in a bad mood, or there was someone nearby.

I looked around. As I expected, a girl was gazing at me from the opposite sidewalk. Her curly hair glistened in the sunlight. She was wearing the F.A. uniform, and on her chest was a nametag that said ‘Jung In-Ah.’

The girl was Jung In-Ah; she had made it to third place during our physical test.

“Who were you talking to?” Jung In-Ah asked with a smile as she made her way toward me.

I felt goosebumps all over my body.

Most people who witnessed my conversations with Legba thought I was crazy. For some, it didn’t stop there. It could lead to gossip talking about how I talked into thin air. If this happened, I knew my school life would be done for. I knew I needed to be careful with my words to stop any weird rumors.

“Uh, I was praying.”

“Oh! Was I disturbing you?” Jung In-Ah said with an apologetic face.

Thanks to Korea declaring Romanicanism as the official national religion, it was easy to use praying and holy book reciting as an excuse to escape these situations. I had gained this wisdom through many years of practice by fabricating lies and excuses.

“Don’t worry about it. It’s fine.”

“I’m sorry... I didn’t think you’d be praying. I’ve never seen a person pray while walking,” Jung In-Ah said as she bowed her head down in guilt. Luckily, it seemed she was buying the story.

It was just an assumption, but she seemed very naive, seeing how she was easily persuaded by a lie made up on the spot.

“Is this the way toward your house?”

“Yup.”

“Hey, we live in the same direction. Mind if I join you?” she said as she smoothly made her way next to me. Before I knew it, I was walking alongside her.

There was an awkward pause. Although we were classmates, it was the same as just meeting her, so I guess that was standard.

“Hey, why did you give money to that person?” Jung In-Ah asked, breaking the silence.

“That person? ...Oh, are you talking about the old man?”

“Yup.”

I pondered for a bit.

“I felt bad for him, and I thought it wouldn’t be too bad to give him a ten-thousand won bill,” I replied.

“But he isn’t disabled. I’ve seen him get up after getting his day’s worth of donations. I’ve even seen him getting on the bus.”

“Oh?” I answered nonchalantly.

“...Do you still feel bad for him?”

“He must have his reasons.”

I didn’t care if he was disabled or was acting disabled. I couldn’t help but think about how desperate he had to be to succumb to such standards.

“I bet you’ve heard that you are a pushover... no, that you’re kind-hearted.”

“A pushover?”

“Ah, no, I meant—anyways.” Jung In-Ah fumbled as she tried to recover from her mistake.

“Uh, the physical test! I was amazed,” she said as she tried to change the subject.

“Yeah?”

“Uh-huh. I didn’t think there’d be a person who would go for the special condition. It’s crazy to think that someone in their right mind would attempt to catch their own weight.”

“It was crazy, and I ended up failing.” I tried to continue the conversation.

“You almost succeeded, though. I couldn’t even get myself to try. I’m not good with physical stuff.”

“Third place is still pretty good,” I said. Even with the small compliment, Jung In-Ah had an embarrassed blush on her face.

“... Thanks!” she said with a smile. It seemed like she wasn’t used to getting praised.

She was very transparent; observing her facial expressions made it easy to figure out her feelings. A brief period of silence followed. Once again, Jung In-Ah broke the silence. It appeared that she could not bear awkward situations.

“Hmmm, I have a question. Why did you come to F.A.? It seems that you would have done well as a mercenary. You have the strength of one.”

“Me?”

Mercenaries. They were similar to clergymen since they also fought demons, but they were different in how they were rewarded for their efforts. Clergymen got paid monthly by the Holy See, while mercenaries were paid per case by their employer.

Most people who were physically strong but had no talent for divine power abilities usually enrolled in a mercenary academy. However, my purpose was to become a prelate and meet my mother. To do that, I had to become a clergyman, not a mercenary.

Nonetheless, I had no intention of telling her the truth.

“I guess my parents influenced me,” I replied instead.

“Oh, both your parents are clergymen?”

“One passed away during the Holy War.” If one thought about it, I wasn’t lying.

The sudden turn of conversation into my family affairs seemed to catch Jung In-Ah off guard. “Oh.... Are you sure you want to tell me this?”

“Yeah, it’s not something I’m ashamed about.”

“No, I get it, but still...”

Having martyred parents was not something to be ashamed of, but rather proud of. Not only that, but it also helped me enroll in F.A. As the son of a martyr, I was given special leeway and could make it into the school even with my poor entrance exam marks.

Anyway, it wasn’t a problem to talk about it with others.

“Why did you enroll in F.A.?” I asked out of politeness.

Jung In-Ah seemed to murmur something under her breath. At last, she looked up with a determined face.

“Um. For me... my younger sibling was kidnapped by a cult and is still missing. I was hoping I could find them if I became a clergywoman,” she said with a sad face.

Her reason was a lot deeper than I expected. I felt a pang of guilt in my chest. Our religion was technically a cult, although we didn’t participate in crimes like kidnapping.

“Cult? What kind of cult? There are a lot of them out there, right?” I asked, just to be sure.

“Yeah... they’re famous for being ruthless and vicious,” Jung In-Ah said through gritted teeth. Her fragile neck was tense enough to see a vein. Just thinking about the cult that had taken her sibling from her seemed to drive her mad.

After a few moments, she took a deep breath and calmed herself. She put up a smile as if to say that nothing had happened. The contrast in emotions and that smile seemed to be a raw expression of her rage.

“Have you heard about... the Voodooists?” she said with a smile.

I couldn’t return the smile.