< 23 : The Corrupted Sword (1) >
-[Roan Hebris] has performed a sacrifice for you.
-Sacrifices dedicated to you: 21
-The effect of <Karma’s Blessing: Sacrifice> is activated.
-Your karma increases by 42, proportional to the number of sacrificed offerings.
Right after the sacrificial ceremony led by Archbishop Roan Hebris and his followers ended.
I was able to confirm the message that I had acquired a considerable amount of karma.
The amount of karma I gained from this ceremony was much more than I expected.
It was not only because the karma increased by the sacrifice was high, but also because a special event had occurred.
At the same time as Roan announced the establishment of the temple, new event messages appeared.
-[Roan Hebris] has acquired the <Religious Leader> trait.
-Your karma increases by 5.
[Roan Hebris] has declared the birth of a Order.
Your karma increases by 50.
Was it because I personally appointed Roan as the archbishop?
Or was it thanks to Roan declaring the birth of the Order?
At the bottom of the screen, there was a message that Roan had acquired the <Religious Leader> trait.
It seemed to be an upgraded version of the <Fanatic> trait that Roan had before.
The sum of the karma I received from the birth of the sect and Roan’s trait acquisition was 55.
If I added the karma I gained from the sacrifice and the karma I had saved from hunting, it was enough to raise my level.
-You have reached level 6.
-<Observer’s Eye(Lv.5)> grows.
-<Observer’s Eye(Lv.6)> becomes. You can observe the continent with a clearer vision than before.
With the huge amount of karma I got, I reached level 6.
Of course, as my level increased, <Observer’s Eye> also became a higher level.
There was no significant graphic upgrade or speech bubble output change.
However, I felt that the speed of moving the screen was faster than before.
The range of screen movement that was allowed also seemed to increase by a large margin.
In short, it seemed like the map had expanded as my level increased.
“There is no change in graphics… And what has changed in Karma’s Blessing?”
The next thing that changed after <Observer’s Eye> was <Karma’s Blessing>, which had been warning me every time my level increased.
Unlike before, there was no new skill activated like <Karma’s Blessing: Sacrifice>.
The change that occurred this time was about the content that the system had been warning me about.
Warning: Excessively biased karma in one direction may trigger <Causality Adjustment>. <Karma’s Blessing> has tilted. A low level of <Causality Adjustment> has occurred. Heroes appear due to <Causality Adjustment>. Causality Adjustment Progress: 1%
Karma’s Blessing had always warned me about <Causality Adjustment>.
And its result appeared today.
The appearance of heroes.
I didn’t know exactly what changes would happen, but it was undeniable that it would be a penalty for me.
I couldn’t help but lose my appetite as I saw the new message.
“Does hunting too hard increase the difficulty?”
It’s not fun if the game is too easy.
So some degree of difficulty adjustment was understandable.
But it bothered me that this change appeared after the sect was born.
Even if heroes were special bosses with unique characteristics, they had little influence on me.
It seemed more likely that they would try to interfere with my characters while they were hunting.
If I didn’t want to see my well-raised characters disappear, I would need to check on their whereabouts from time to time.
“It looks like I have to keep an eye on my characters from now on. And the next message is… What is this?”
After checking on Karma’s Blessing, I scrolled down again.
It was usually where there would be a message about <Paid Currency Shop>.
But since <Paid Currency Shop> had already leveled up once, there was no skill level increase this time.
Instead, there was a message that I had acquired a new skill.
The skill I acquired this time was called <Descent>.
-You have learned <Descent(0 / 5)>.
-For each of the following conditions you meet, <Descent>’s progress will increase by one stage.
-Usable Karma: 221 / 999,999 (Incomplete)
-??? : 0 / 1 (Incomplete)
-??? : 0 / 1 (Incomplete)
-??? : 0 / 1 (Incomplete)
-??? (Incomplete)
Descent.
It was a word that meant a divine being descending to the ground.
I didn’t know how the gods descended in the game world, but the <Descent> skill I had required me to complete five quests to use it.
Even then, the first quest was to collect a million karma, which was hidden by unreadable characters.
It seemed that I had not reached the level where I could unlock the quests.
It was not surprising that they would be unlocked sequentially, since the first quest was already headache-inducing.
“A million karma? That’s a ridiculous number.”
And the first quest was to collect a million usable karma.
Judging by the fact that the karma I spent on making apostles was not counted, it meant that I had to collect an additional million after excluding the consumed karma.
The karma I had collected so far by playing the game was barely around 300.
But I had to collect a whopping million.
It was a daunting number just to think about.
“But difficult games are fun.”
Still, I had no intention of giving up this game.
This game was already one of the few escapes that healed my mind exhausted by work.
And the pleasure of clearing a difficult game was indescribable.
It was definitely not because of the simple reason that I had already spent more than 200,000 won on this game.
“…”
Probably.
Probably.
*****
The night sky darkened as the sun set.
Peter, who was looking at the bright stars, had Eutenia sitting next to him reading a book.
Maybe it was because the letters were not visible under the dark night sky.
Eutenia was holding a glowing stone that cast a shadow.
Flip.
Eutenia turned the page with her finger and asked Peter, who was looking at the night sky.
“Do you like stars?”
“I used to like them when I was young.”
Peter’s eyes looked at the shining Polaris.
He devoted himself to farming as he grew older, but Peter liked the night sky when he was young.
He looked at the distant night sky and connected the constellations one by one with his fingers.
That was his favorite solo game when he was a little boy.
Of course, by now, the night sky had changed a lot from then.
“So you used to like them when you were young.”
“…Yes.”
“That was a good hobby.”
Eutenia, who was still looking at the book, said with a faint smile on her face.
The place where he stood now was not the village where he used to look at the stars.
It was nothing more than a shabby hideout of thieves located in a rugged mountain.
The village where he used to look at the stars had already disappeared.
And it was done by Eutenia, who was sitting next to him.
Even if he looked up at the sky with admiration now, he could not face the same sky as before.
“Do you like looking at the sky?”
Nevertheless, Polaris remained in its place, shining brightly.
Peter, who had caught the light of Polaris in his eyes, asked Eutenia.
Flip.
Eutenia looked at the sky again after turning another page.
“I might have liked it when I was young.”
“What about now?”
“I don’t think I like it as much as I did then.”
A short and clear answer.
Peter opened his mouth after hearing it.
“That’s an unexpected answer.”
“Was it unexpected?”
“Since heaven is close to God, I thought you would like the sky.”
Eutenia smiled faintly at Peter’s words.
God.
And heaven.
Both were undoubtedly wrapped in countless veils.
Eutenia stopped turning pages at Peter’s question that linked them together.
Instead, she looked at Peter and said to him.
“It seems that you think so.”
“Aren’t you curious?”
“About where the great one is?”
“Do you think God is somewhere in that sky? Or beyond the countless stars?”
Peter’s hand reached out to the sky.
He tried to grasp the vast sky with all his might, but there was nothing in his hand.
That’s what heaven was like.
It was visible but unreachable.
A place that was never allowed to humans.
A realm of mystery that humans could not access.
“It seems that you think the great one is in heaven.”
“If you can’t hold what you see, you might not see what you hold.”
“That’s a very interesting thought.”
“Is my word wrong?”
Thud.
Eutenia closed the book she had opened.
She got up from where she was reading and hugged the divine instrument that was lying next to her.
A thick magic flowed from Eutenia’s body as she hugged the divine instrument.
It was the most certain and clear evidence that she was loved by a transcendent being.
“I’m not such a great person, so I don’t know everything.”
“…”
“But I think it means that he is always with me and stays inside me.”
Eutenia said as she stroked the book she hugged.
The words of an apostle chosen by God.
Peter could not argue with her words at all.
“I see.”
“It’s just my personal opinion though.”
“If you, an apostle of God, say so, I think it’s not a wrong story.”
That was all Peter could do: agree with her words.
Peter was not a chosen being by God.
He only faced an evil god who took away sacrifices.
That was all he knew about God.
“It was a pleasant conversation. I remembered the book I was looking for, so I guess I have to go back now.”
“…Okay.”
The conversation with Eutenia ended there.
Eutenia turned away from Peter after finishing the conversation.
She started walking towards the empty tent.
Peter watched her back as she walked quietly towards the tent.
Peter’s eyes were full of confusion as he looked at Eutenia.
“It seems that the six gods do not look down below.”
Even though an apostle of an evil god walked around freely, there was no divine punishment coming down on them.
God exists.
Yet justice is not seen.
Only the empty sky he grasped represented Peter’s heart.
Peter lowered his arm that was reaching for Polaris.
And at that moment.
A burning pain began to be felt from Peter’s right arm, which had returned to its place.
“Ugh…!”
Peter bit his teeth and lifted his clothes to look at his right arm.
A black mark appeared on Peter’s arm, which had nothing on it.
A mark of a wing pierced by a splendid sword.
A sign that represented a hero chosen by the god of honor.
Peter showed a bewildered look at the appearance of the mark that appeared without any warning.
“A mark…?”
Peter’s finger stroked the mark on his arm.
The mark was as if it had always existed on Peter’s skin, and he did not feel any bumps.
The pain in Peter’s arm disappeared as the mark of the hero became clear.
A mark that suddenly appeared on his skin.
Peter scratched his arm hard with his nails to erase the mark.
But there was no sign of the mark on Peter’s arm disappearing.
The mark had already taken its place on Peter’s arm completely.
“…I see.”
Peter muttered to himself as he looked at his arm and reached a conclusion about the mark.
The six gods he had been looking for had already given him an answer.
Yet Peter had no knowledge to recognize the mark.
He was in such a position as a young man from a rural village in the outskirts.
He had never faced the scriptures of the temple, let alone met a priest in his life.
He finished his own judgment on the mark arbitrarily and sighed deeply as he touched his forehead.
“It seems that I’ve been with the fallen ones for too long, and now I’ve even got a mark of an evil god.”
