Chapter 37 - Temple of Twilight (1)
"…"
After reading the message, Hyun fell into thought.
‘Hm… I see. So Ain isn't going to be here for a couple of days.‘
It was rare for her to rest from the game.
Ain’s absence was huge for him since he was a Support.
After reading that she wouldn't log in, he felt his heart drop for a moment, but he soon calmed down.
"It's good that there aren't many things to do yet…"
It was a good thing that she had chosen right then to be absent.
Once the main story began, they had to be the ones at the forefront.
Hyun was horrified at what would happen if she wasn't there.
'I should take this opportunity to finish the mundane tasks I haven't done yet.'
Hyun was thinking about what he had to do alone when he remembered something…
There was something he had pushed back.
[ <Quest: Awakening Experience> ]
- Your soul has been reborn anew!
- You have a special job. If you go to the 'Twilight Temple' you might be able to learn new things about it!
In Asrian, there were quests designed to help people with either a new job or special skills.
Basically, it was a level 50 tutorial.
It was a quest that didn't give you any rewards, so nothing changed whether he did it or not.
Many users didn't do it at all since—according to them—it was a waste of time.
'I don't think that I need a tutorial.'
After reaching first place in Asra, he had never done a tutorial.
That was because he thought his way of doing things was the best.
He hadn't given up on the quest because his job wasn't a normal one.
'Maybe the tutorial quest of a hidden class is different.'
He thought so because of the last paragraph.
The quest asked him to go to the 'Twilight Temple.'
Usually, tutorial quests didn't ask you to go to a determined place.
Hyun didn't even miss a little clue.
'Well, I don't have anything else to do… So it should be okay to burn some free time.'
Hyun teleported to a city located on the periphery.
* * *
The Twilight Temple.
Even Hyun wasn't familiar with the place.
The fact Hyun didn't remember anything about it meant that it wasn't an important place in the game's story—it was basically just another temple of the many that existed in the game.
'Is it this way?'
The Twilight Temple was located in a forest that wasn't frequented by many people.
He followed a long, straight road.
The road to the temple had an oriental atmosphere.
Was there a temple at the end of the road? Or maybe a shrine?
With Hyun's knowledge, it was impossible to tell the difference between the two.
Small decorative columns were placed in rows on both sides of the road.
A thin rope connected the pillars. And on each rope, there hung a lamp.
Hyun turned around.
The same scene was repeated in front and behind him.
It was as if he was trapped in an endless straight line.
Since the scenery around didn't change, Hyun felt as if he was trapped in a maze.
'What a weird place.'
While walking, he felt like he was stepping into another world.
He kept walking.
The scenery began changing after he had walked for approximately 10 minutes.
There was a small shrine on top of a small hill in front of him.
—That place was the Twilight Temple.
"Oh… A guest?"
A person leaning against the temple entrance noticed Hyun and looked at him with her eyes wide-opened.
"Oh, you're a user! Welcome!"
The person that greeted Hyun was a weird-looking priestess.
Her aura and clothes didn't seem to belong to a priestess.
The female priest was wearing a tight and revealing uniform.
How she laughed, more than feeling holy, felt naughty.
The customs of temples varied a little bit from country and region, but did one that had such an outfit exist in Asrian?
But that didn't seem to be the case after seeing the other priests wearing white robes.
Ting-
[You've reached the Twilight Temple!]
[If you go and see a priest at an intermediate level or above, he will appraise the job engraved in your soul!]
[We hope today's meeting will help you find your true self!]
As he entered the temple, the quest ended.
Just as he had expected, there wasn't any reward, but he wasn't disappointed.
Hyun was more immersed in the Twilight Temple's unique atmosphere than he was in the quest.
He watched it slowly as if he was a tourist.
'What a unique place.'
The Twilight Temple had a different atmosphere than the other temples present in Asrian.
Even though it was built like a Roman temple, charms and lanterns were everywhere.
There was a sculpture of an angel and a dragon intertwined.
The sight of the western and Asian cultures mixed was something rare to see.
Of course, the weirdest thing was the female priest he had first met.
"Are you in a high position?"
"Yes?"
As Hyun couldn't suppress his curiosity and asked her, the female priest tilted her head.
"Uhm… It's because you're wearing a different uniform than the other people."
"Oh, you don't need to worry about that. I modified this uniform."
"Modified…?"
"It looks cuter this way, right?"
"…?"
They hadn't exchanged many words, but it was enough to know that the priestess was weird.
She seemed like a charlatan priest.
"You came here after completing your awakening quest, right?"
Hyun was surprised by what she said.
She had guessed his intentions for going there as if she were a psychic.
As Hyun nodded, she laughed.
"I'm going to take a look at your soul."
"Right now…?"
"Yes, it's not like I have anything else to do."
Hyun, who was being dragged at the pace of the priestess, nodded.
He had no reason to refuse since that was why he was at that place to begin with.
They soon reached a place located in one of the corners of the temple.
They were alone in that dark room.
Hyun just let her do as she wished.
Even if she was a charlatan, she was still a priestess, so he thought that he should probably be safe.
Whoosh- The priestess’s wand began to shine.
A sphere of light pushed through the darkness and wrapped around Hyun's body.
[The Twilight Temple's Priestess 'Rutia' wants to see through your soul!]
[She has promised not to reveal your information to other people!]
[Warning! Some parts of your status window will be revealed. Do you agree? Y/N]
Hyun didn't have any second guesses.
Whap-! The light flashed for a moment and slowly started to fade away.
With the light, Hyun's information was revealed.
"Oh…! Support…?"
After examining the soul, the priestess exclaimed in amazement.
'Hmm? Is there something…?'
Hyun's expectations began to grow after seeing the priestess's eyes widen.
The main objective of the level 50 tutorial was to get more information about your job.
Now that he thought about it, his item was the most expensive-looking sword in the job selecting room.
He still didn't understand what that item had to do with a Support, but maybe he would be able to learn the connection right then.
At Hyun's expecting words, Rutia just smiled awkwardly.
"Hmm… It's my first time hearing about it. Hahaha, I'm not sure about it. It's a unique job."
Hyun frowned.
Translator - Daniel Shin
Proofreader - ilafy
* * *
It was his mistake trusting in someone that seemed unreliable from the beginning.
He thought it would be better to stop getting involved with this suspicious priestess.
He tried to sneak away but failed.
Suddenly the priestess grabbed Hyun's clothes.
"Where are you going? There are still things we need to talk about!"
"Isn't it over already?"
"No, it isn't!"
He tried to free himself from her but failed.
Cold sweat dripped from Hyun's forehead.
Had he gotten caught by a strange woman?
‘It would be for the best if I escaped as soon as possible.’
He was about to push her away by force when she spoke.
"Empathy! I was trying to explain that to you…"
Hyun stopped resisting once a certain word came out of the priestess's mouth.
Empathy, the statl Hyun had obtained after getting the Support job.
Up until that moment, he had thought that it was that job's dedicated stat.
Was there something else hidden behind Empathy?
The priestess smiled mischievously.
"Fufu, do you know what Empathy is?"
"It's the Support's dedicated stat."
"No, it isn't!"
The priestess was thinking about how she should explain to him what she knew.
After a while, she clapped.
"Do you want to learn how to pray?"
Ting!
[ <Quest: The odd priestess Rutia's proposition> ]
- One priestess is trying to teach you how to pray.
- Maybe it's a waste of time…?
He suddenly received a quest notification, but the feeling he got from it could be summarized in the last sentence.
—A waste of time.
If she hadn't said the word Empathy, he would've rejected the quest without even thinking twice.
As Hyun accepted, the priestess began explaining with a smile on her face.
"Have you heard about Transcendents?"
Hyun nodded.
The explanation began from a point Hyun already knew about.
A Transcendent was someone above humans; they were often called demons or angels.
The priests were people that prayed to angels.
"Empathy is related to the Transcendents. Just as a human needs food to live, a Transcendent needs Empathy."
He learned new things as he kept listening to the priestess's words.
Even Hyun didn't remember everything about the game.
The explanation he was hearing at that moment was one of those things.
"Angels give humans protection in exchange for their prayer. The reason behind this is that behind the prayer, there's Empathy. Transcendents need Empathy to exercise influence over the world."
The priestess's way of portraying the Transcendents and humans as if they were in a symbiotic relationship was blasphemous in a certain way; still, it was an appropriate analogy for the situation.
"But the Empathy varies from each person! The prayers of a person with stronger Empathy will reach easier than the other peoples’."
"Someone with strong Empathy…"
"Yes. After all, Empathy isn't something that can be gained with human effort!"
The woman’s explanation kept going for a while.
According to her, how much Empathy one had was decided from birth.
Priests that dedicated a lot of time to praying could raise their Empathy through a lot of effort, but the difference wasn't that big.
But the users, especially him, who was a Support, were the exception to that rule.
By raising the stat, he could increase the effectiveness of the prayer.
"Isn't this a great blessing?"
"Not really…"
The priestess was making a huge deal out of it, but Hyun didn't understand.
In the first place, praying didn't match him at all.
Even if he was a Support, Hyun enjoyed fighting.
Staying behind and praying was not only boring, but his pride as the former number one player didn't allow it.
Of course, the priestess didn't know about Hyun's thoughts, so it was understandable that she was feeling frustrated.
"Not really? Think about it again! In the near future, you could even summon an angel or a demon!"
Summon a demon?
He wondered if a priestess who served the angels could so easily say something like that.
No, more than that, he didn't feel like learning how to pray was worth it.
He knew from experience how many things needed to be sacrificed if you wanted to center your playing style around praying.
Since she couldn't get Hyun's interest, she changed the topic.
For some reason, she was persistent in Hyun learning how to pray.
"It seems like you don't know the real strength of praying!"
"I know… But it really doesn't interest me."
"Are you sure about that?"
The goddess's eyes flashed sharply.
"Have you heard the story of the priest who fell deep into prayer…?"
She smiled mysteriously while licking her lips and began telling another story.
"There was once a very religious priest. Since he spent all that praying, the others used to call him praying stone sculpture, but one day he fell asleep while praying. Do you know what happened to him once he opened his eyes?"
"No."
"He said that his surroundings had changed."
Hyun frowned at the priestess’s story.
He really couldn't understand what she was trying to say.
"Praying is how a human can get close to a Transcendent. That means, if you become more experienced in praying, you can get closer to them."
"…?"
"Should we try going there too?"
The priestess began casting.
A dark red light came out from the tip of her wand.
The moment Hyun was touched by it, he suddenly started feeling sleepy.
