6

    When I... Entered the Church

    Back to the herbal garden behind Grandma Maria's house.

I had not slept all night because I had been on my wristwatch, browsing the game forums for information about the priest class that I carelessly challenged Kingdom. The information I found was rather stressful.

    It seemed like there was no way to beat a swordsman, right?

    I was not so studious that I wouldn’t touch games, because I was naturally smart and did not need to review much. Not to brag, but I never scored below an A in high school.

    My goal was to graduate from university with first-class honors.

    With the intelligence that came effortlessly, I had quite a lot of free time in my daily life, which I often spent on brain-training games like online chess, strategy games, tactical combat games, and language learning games.

    However, I had never touched an online leveling adventure game in a magical land, so I didn't know what roles like Swordsman, Mage, Priest... were.

    Nothing was above learning.

    I grasped the game's class system within ten minutes and fully understood that the priest class used holy power to heal humans and vanquish evil spirits.

    Who could have thought to make priests cooler than doctors in games? Healing should be doctors' work; priests should just exorcise.

    I inhaled the fragrant scent of nearby herbs, gathered my thoughts for a moment, and jotted down the pros and cons of the priest class on my message screen.

    Then a thought struck me…

    ‘The Path to defeating Kingdom is shrouded in darkness.’

    It seemed like a class meant for staying in the backlines, supporting others.

    I couldn’t back out now; I must transform into a priest and confront him.

    While using my brain for non-academic thoughts, the system alerted me that I had received a message. I frowned before slowly reading it.

    You’ll know.

    From: The King

    Annoying…

    A moment later, this irritating message was deleted from the system.

    He seemed too sure he would win.

    "Hey!" Grandma Maria called out to me as she walked out to gather herbs, "When did you get back, and why haven’t you gone inside to sleep?"

    Her gentle face made me smile.

    This NPC was so kind.

    Grandma had offered me a room in the house to use at my convenience, just asking me to keep it clean.

    It was as if I were truly her son.

    But I had never once slept in that room, preferring the atmosphere of the garden, though she often repeated her wish for me to sleep inside like a normal person, away from the rains and winds.

    "I've been back for several hours now," I replied, looking up at the morning sun beginning to shine. "I have to go out soon for some errands."

    Grandma looked surprised, "Anything going on lately? You usually don't go out much."

    "Don't worry about me," I smiled.

    Because that guy was going to lose!

    Talking about something entirely different with Grandma, but it was okay, I forgave myself.

Grandma Maria gave a small smile before taking the herbs into the kitchen, while I opened the game's forum to search for how to change to a priest profession, reading every detail carefully to ensure I didn't miss a thing.

    After reading, I felt relieved. The path to becoming a priest seemed surprisingly straightforward—I thought it would involve fighting monsters or undergoing trials like other professions.

    'Perfect for a newbie like you!'

    Suddenly, Kingdom's smug face appeared in my mind, hissing in my ear,

    'Anything that's easy usually sucks! Just like the losers who get it—no different from a creature called loser!'

    I shook off the image and reviewed the steps to change professions. If I kept thinking about his face, I'd lose my mind. After reviewing, as the morning sun brightened, making everything clearer,

    "Are you leaving now?" Grandma asked as she saw me pass by.

    I nodded, "Yes, Grandma."

    After finishing our conversation, I set out on the well-researched cobblestone Path, making my way smoothly towards the church. The journey should not take long.

    As I walked, the streets were full of players; most people were waking up to the morning air, but some were still stumbling around half asleep. I passed by vendors arranging their goods on the street, some of which had red signs indicating '50% off the entire shop'.

    However, it wasn't clear if it was 50% off or just 50 coins off.

    After walking for nearly ten minutes, I saw a pristine white church standing before me. Not many people were entering the church at this hour, mostly just the town's NPCs.

    ‘The church is larger than I have imagined.’

    Its beauty made me stop and stare for a while before

    deciding to step inside.

    "…!" I halted.

    Before I could step through the church door, my right eyebrow twitched uncontrollably.

    I took ten steps back, recalling a superstition I had read about—although not superstitious, I remembered a time when a twitching eyebrow led me to crash into a light pole, which left a deep impression.

    Relieved...

    It should be about ten o'clock in the game now, so no worries. It was stated in the fortune telling book that a friend or someone close to me would bring me good fortune.

    That must mean Kingdom would bring me victory for sure.

    ‘...Even though he won't count me as a friend or a close one.’

    With my eyebrow twitching like this, signaling good fortune, why should I wait?

    There it went, my right eyebrow twitching again, and even more vigorously this time—surely a sign of even more fortune to come.

    Inside the church, the floor was covered with long red carpets stretching from the entrance to the statue of the sacred deity. Surrounded by tall columns and multicolored stained glass, the ceiling was adorned with clear windows that allowed sunlight to filter in, casting sparkling reflections off the statue, giving it a divine aura.

    I swallowed hard, having never seen such a beautiful church in the real world.

    Various NPCs were either sitting on the long benches arranged in rows on either side of the carpet or standing and talking. They paid no attention to me as I walked on the red carpet towards the sacred statue.

    I was not here to admire the church's beauty, so I directed my brain to ignore the surroundings.

    First, I needed to confess my sins to begin the process of changing professions to a priest.

    The idea of confessing sins out loud to the empty air was quite embarrassing, so I checked to see if any NPCs were nearby. A middle-aged priest holding a large tome stood some distance away, unlikely to hear my words.

    I began to confess, "I..."

    I stopped halfway, unable to think of what to confess.

    Being a good person, I rarely committed sins, making this rather difficult.

    Not to boast, but would you consider that a sin?

    I decided to skip to the next step.

    ‘I’m not cheating, really.’

    I approached the priest with a composed demeanor. He looked at me with a reverent gaze. I quickly stated my purpose, making sure he knew I had just confessed, not merely said a line.

    “I have confessed my sins, and I wanted to become a priest.”

    The priest nodded,

    "It's been a long time since someone with faith in god came to me wanting to become a priest."

    "..."

    "Follow me."

    Yes!

    I followed the priest out the back door of the church to a small house, presumably his residence. My eyebrow twitched again, signaling a great fortune. I couldn't help but smile at the fortuitous fate.

    The priest invited, "Come in."

    "Yes."

    I behaved as if easy to teach, hoping he might favor me with powerful skills.

    "As a priest, you must respect and revere God, and then God will grant you the power of light. But you must never touch the statues of the deities in the church."

    He stared at me as I sat on a wooden chair – showing not a single blink.

    ‘Is he worried I may do something untoward with the deity statues?’

    I simply responded, "Yes," puzzled by the seriousness of the NPC before me.

    Was that statue just an object of worship, or was there more to it?

    "Good," the priest smiled. "Stay here. I'll go find the priestly attire for you."

    As the priest went into the storeroom, I took the opportunity to look around his house.

    This house wasn’t as ornately decorated as the church; it only had crucifixes hanging on the walls and a bookcase filled with hundreds of scriptures.

    Suddenly, my eyes caught sight of a glass placed on a nearby table.

    It looked like a wine glass but made of silver, intricately carved with rose Patterns around it. I reached out to examine it closely.

    ‘It seems to be just water.’

    Looking at the liquid inside, I suddenly remembered I had not had any water since my argument with Kingdom.

    An unstoppable thirst overwhelmed me, unusually intense after such a prolonged verbal skirmish.

    I tried to resist drinking the priest's water and placed the glass back exactly where it was. However, after waiting for the priest for several minutes without any sign of him returning, my self-control faltered, and I grabbed the glass to quench my thirst.

    Gulp…

    As the liquid slid down my throat, it immediately relieved my thirst. I slowly moved the glass away from my lips.

    "Sorry I took so long; it was hard to find a robe that fits you," the priest said, returning to the room suddenly and staring at me in shock.

    "What... are you doing!" he stammered, his eyes gradually filling with anger.

    "I..."

    "I asked you, what have you done!" he shouted, dropping the would-be priest's robe on the floor and aggressively snatching the glass from my hand.

    Were you... on your period?

    "You!" He pointed at me accusingly. "You drank my holy water, didn't you!"

    I turned pale. Who would have known it was his holy water? If it was that important, he should have kept it more secure.

    "This glass of holy water was scooped from a waterfall descending from heaven!" he said, carelessly throwing the silver glass aside.

    I felt a chill from his savage actions. The priest pointed towards the door.

    "I didn't mean to," I tried to calm the flustered priest.

    "Get out!"

    "..."

    "I won't accept you as a priest anymore! Get out!"

    I was kicked out of the church by the priest.

    'Player Frost receives the occupation of Heretic Priest.'