Chapter 48 – LV.? Barbarian Warrior Arnold – [One]

After a massive meteorite struck the Mortal Realm, even the gods of the Celestial Realm were not spared.

Beneath the ash and dust, nearly all humans in the Mortal Realm perished. In life, they had been Devotees who served various different gods.

The prayers and Faith offered by Devotees served as a kind of spiritual sustenance for the gods of the Celestial Realm.

Therefore, the unprecedented population decline meant that not only the humans of the Mortal Realm, but also the gods of the Celestial Realm, faced an unprecedented famine.

First, the ancestral gods of tribes vanished, followed by the minor gods worshipped by small groups, as they lost their already scarce Devotees and faded away. It was a spiritual starvation.

Moreover, the humans who survived the harsh cold had to change their existing Faith to continue surviving.

In such an era, one could not survive by serving any god other than the Sun God, who allowed crops to grow, or the Goddess of the Hearth, who warmed the body. Whether laypeople or Priests, each switched the god they served to a more ‘useful’ one. Thus, even great gods of the Celestial Realm, such as the Moon Goddess or the God of Blacksmiths, lost large numbers of Devotees, either vanishing or abandoning their divine status to submit under other gods.

With the death of the gods, the Angels connected to their existence also vanished.

Thus, today, few of the once noble spiritual beings remain.

Only a handful of Angels dispatched to the Mortal Realm who had donned physical shells, the two great deities suitable for worship in this era, and the Goddess of Beauty, who caused all this, survived.

And though the age of the Undead arrived, the Goddess of Beauty did not rejoice that she and her Devotees could now rule the world. She hadn’t wanted to conquer the world by dropping a meteorite; she merely wanted to annihilate the Sun God’s forces that were swarming in, claiming they would purify her Undead Devotees.

The Prophet Angel, who had not detailed this catastrophic outcome, was imprisoned in anger despite having long enjoyed the goddess’s favor due to her beauty, and the Goddess of Beauty began to fall silent, no longer answering her Devotees’ prayers.

The Prophet Angel did not provide further detailed explanations afterward. She merely added one sentence.

「That is your mission」

As fitting for that Angel’s actions described in the Rulebook, that was the end. Perhaps believing she had given full value for the Fortune Fee received, the Angel retreated into the lamp.

About thirty onlookers witnessed that scene.

And in this village surrounded by Fortress Walls, it took no more than two days for any news to spread.

The rumor that a girl had been designated as a goddess spread even faster.

Four days later, today, even the childcare teacher lady, who was socially awkward enough to be ostracized by the villagers, had heard the rumor and came because of it.

Seo Yun groaned inwardly as she looked at the unwelcome guest who had come to her Tent.

‘Why is this lady here again…’

The childcare teacher lady stood with an uneasy expression. She placed a bottle of makgeolli in front of her, then suddenly bowed deeply to Seo Yun and pleaded.

“Please forgive my sins.”

Seo Yun asked, bewildered.

“Huh?”

“I may have wronged the Goddess, but if you look closely, I’m also a pitiful person…”

Then the lady began to emphasize how affection-deprived she was, saying she grew up in a poor, abusive family, was bullied during her school years, and had since eked out a living in less-than-ideal workplaces.

Seo Yun could roughly guess why the lady was acting this way, but she didn’t want to accept it. Just in case, she asked.

“What on earth are you doing?”

And indeed, as expected.

The childcare teacher lady was afraid of being on the future Goddess’s bad side.

“So, the reason I acted badly toward the Goddess is because I’m a mentally ill and pitiful person. Please understand that point…”

“So, if I forgive you for that, it’s fine?”

“Presumptuous, but yes.”

Good grief. Seo Yun never thought she’d hear the expression ‘presumptuous’ in reality, not in a novel. It felt mentally polluting, and she couldn’t bear to listen any longer.

“I’ll forgive you, so please go.”

Seo Yun waved her hand dismissively. It was by no means a sublime, goddess-like attitude, but regardless, the childcare teacher lady, having received ‘absolution’ from the Goddess, retreated very gratefully, and Seo Yun sighed. Anyway, what a foolish lady.

Not all the villagers decided to worship the girl just because an Angel popped out of some game item and declared her a Goddess (candidate). They weren’t that irrational or starved for religious comfort.

Nevertheless, the lady just now wasn’t the first villager to come see Seo Yun as a Goddess.

Some villagers genuinely showed signs of treating her as a Goddess. They seemed to want to get on the good side of the girl who would become a Goddess in the future.

Yesterday, a group came carrying loads of gifts like liquor bottles and honey jars, which were clearly ‘Tribute to offer the Goddess.’

Seo Yun felt disgusted without trying and argued internally.

‘Even if the Angel said Goddess, it’s just a game element of the Immortal Kingdom. It’s nothing but a creation. To put it crudely, it’s a setting scribbled by American nerds scratching their crotches; to put it nicely, it’s a manufactured god! You want to worship that?’

But such words had no effect. None at all.

Religious discourses about how man-made gods lack authority and so on were all dismissed by them as useless bullshit philosophy.

The fact that the people who came to see Seo Yun as a future Goddess focused on was something more practical.

For example, that the Rulebook of the Immortal Kingdom contains descriptions of gods and the afterlife. That after the meteorite fell, everything in the Rulebook of the Immortal Kingdom is becoming reality. Therefore, the gods of the Immortal Kingdom will exist, and their afterlife will also exist.

And that now, a village girl would come to rule that existing afterlife. That alone was the fact, and so that alone was important.

Amidst this, the people who came to Seo Yun even seemed to look down upon real-world religions. Those religions, far more plausible than the crude religious settings in a game, were only plausible in appearance and couldn’t actually secure tickets to Heaven.So they even came to see themselves not as insane cultists trying to serve some random girl, but as smart people preparing for a realistic afterlife.

It was dreadful!

‘I want social recognition, not to lead some cult!’

Seo Yun needed someone to discuss this whole situation with. She vented to the only two she could comfortably talk to—the boy and girl who now lived in the village.

In response, Han Siwoo said:

“Isn’t that a main element of Immortal Kingdom? Being worshipped.”

“What?”

Han Siwoo opened the rulebook he usually carried around.

“Look at the rulebook. ‘The village heroes… that is, the player characters, care for their home tribe and receive the tribe’s admiration. They gather the faith of their followers to challenge the status of a demigod or deity…’

That’s why Priests, Paladins, and Mages have spells like fire-starting spells or sunlight spells for farming that are useless in actual combat, right? It’s so you can manage the village and be worshipped by the villagers.”

“So you’re saying this is also part of the roleplaying?”

“Pretty much, yeah.”

Then Gaeulbi said:

“Come to think of it, Seo Yun, wouldn’t it be easy for you to become a goddess?”

“Huh?”

“Lesser Angels start with 1 Divinity point, right? If you gather 2 Divinity points, you can challenge for godhood… So you can become a god faster than others!”

Seo Yun was surprised by that. Their race is said to have superior short-term memory but inferior long-term memory compared to humans, so how does she remember all that? Perhaps this girl isn’t just the prettiest and most admirable chimpanzee in the world, but also the smartest…

As Seo Yun sank into thought, Han Siwoo and Gaeulbi started talking amongst themselves.

“You get 1 Divinity point each at Level 15 and 20, right?”

At Han Siwoo’s words, Gaeulbi nodded.

“Quasi-deity and demigod, respectively. From demigod, you gather faith, perform a specific ritual for Ascension, and become a god.”

In Seo Yun’s case, starting as a Lesser Angel, the moment she reaches Level 15, she can challenge for godhood and see the game’s ending.

So, becoming a god wasn’t an impossible task as they say, but a realistically achievable goal.

Recalling that point, Seo Yun thought. So, is becoming a goddess really my future?

Is that my mission, as the Goddess of the Hearth said? Not becoming a male god, but a goddess?

Why on earth?

‘Even if I become a goddess, what good would it do for the Hearth Goddess or the people of this world…?’

She couldn’t know immediately, but her head was already getting complicated.

Seo Yun was racking her brains when another person came to the tent.

“Um… little goddess?”

What kind of bizarre title is that now… Seo Yun sighed and got up.

Stepping out of the tent, she saw a grandmother standing there who likely had never even heard of a TRPG in her life.

Looking at that wrinkled face, Seo Yun lamented inwardly. Is she preparing for the afterlife since she doesn’t have many days left? So she wants a promise that I’ll take her to Heaven someday?

“What brings you here…”

At Seo Yun’s question, the grandmother opened her mouth.

“Three years ago, my son and granddaughter both died.”

Seo Yun’s expression hardened. This old woman was talking about her flesh and blood who died when the world became like this.

The grandmother continued, haltingly.

“They were good kids, but I don’t think they went to temples or churches… I’m worried they might not have gone to a good place after death. So, if you happen to remember these faces later…”

The grandmother fumbled something out of her pocket. Seo Yun saw they were photographs. It was clear without explanation that she was trying to show her departed family.

Seo Yun was about to explain the wretchedness of a fictional goddess to this grandmother too, but stopped. In this case, it was better to at least give some psychological comfort.

“Do you have several photos?”

“Huh? Yes.”

“Then give them to me.”

The grandmother’s complexion brightened.

“Will you look after them later?”

“If I ever gain the ability to do so.”

Then Seo Yun felt she had answered too carelessly to a grandmother who had lost her family. If she was going to give comfort, she should do it more sincerely. How?

Seo Yun closed her eyes and forced herself to conjure a ‘benevolent’ voice to speak.

“Those who have left the Mortal Realm will find rest in a place better than this.”

When Seo Yun opened her eyes, tears were welling in the grandmother’s eyes. That small old woman handed over the photos with trembling hands, repeating “Thank you, thank you,” and left the tent.

Seo Yun went back into the tent and froze. Han Siwoo and Gaeulbi were staring at her intently.

Especially Han Siwoo’s expression was odd. Seo Yun glared in warning.

“Don’t say anything.”

“I didn’t say anything.”

“Don’t look at me with that expression. No, don’t even look at me.”

Han Siwoo obediently turned his head away, and Seo Yun felt relieved. If he had teased her, she might have wanted to die of shame.

No, even now, with no one teasing her, she felt like dying of shame. Seo Yun lamented.

“I’m sick of it, really. To avoid seeing more of this, I wish I could just go hunting soon, but village expeditions are for later… You guys don’t plan to go hunting immediately either, right?”

Gaeulbi answered with an awkward smile.

“Siwoo was dragged out and only got back less than three days ago, right? He needs to rest!”

Seo Yun nodded and said.

“Hmm, right. Then I’ll have to go alone. But about your stuff, you said you’d recognize my ownership too, right?”

“Huh? Yeah, we did.”

“Then can you let me use the Bag of Infinity?”

“I can, but why?”

“So I can fill it up with some stuff.”

Seo Yun slung the usual leather backpack on her back and left the village alone. It was her first scrap collecting in a long time.