The Collapsing Temple

Hamman is the God of Justice, Responsibility, and Proof. Perhaps for this reason, his temple was several times more opulent than most others. The collection of pristine white structures, with countless sharply angled roofs, resembled a birch forest standing stark against a winter sky.

The entrance to Hamman’s temple was a massive archway, meticulously constructed from white stone. It was grand enough to allow three carriages to pass through abreast. In stark contrast, the surrounding walls were remarkably low, and there were no gates whatsoever.

‘It’s always impressive to see. I still don’t understand why they bothered to build such a grand entrance when they weren’t even going to install a door.’

‘Perhaps the graphics team ran out of time before the deadline and just patched it up with some lore. Or maybe the entrance they created was so beautiful that they couldn’t bring themselves to delete it, so they just left it. Or they simply forgot to remove it.’

According to the lore, there’s an invisible gate. Something that activates magically in times of crisis.

“Heavens! What is that wicked display?!”

“What audacity to appear in such an unholy guise in this sacred place!”

‘I don’t know why this is happening again. Still, having experienced it a few times, I’m used to it now.’

“They can talk? I thought they were just decorations.”

They kept blocking me when I tried to enter. They were saying something, but I couldn’t understand a word. According to the game’s lore, most of the temple areas are open. While areas containing treasures or high-ranking priest NPCs were usually locked behind progression walls, I had already completed all the relevant quests.

At first, it was perplexing to have mere NPCs pick fights over my attire and obstruct my path. But now, with it happening everywhere I go, it’s simply infuriating.

“If I weren’t here to pick up the kids, I’d sweep them all away.”

If I were to shove them aside, my favor with Hamman would plummet, and I’d be struck by lightning. So, I couldn’t even kill them.

‘So, what did I do? What else? I wasn’t going to change. I simply pushed my way through. What could a few NPCs do to stop me?’

Temple priests, especially, have inherently low attack power. Even if Hamman’s priests are chosen warriors, how strong could mere laymen guarding a gate possibly be?

“Seize him! Block him at all costs!”

“Do not let him defile the temple!”

“What? I’m just here to pick up the kids.”

‘It is strange, though. Usually, with this much slashing and commotion, I’d at least lose 1% of my HP, but there’s nothing. Is it because they’re priests? But come to think of it, the guards and Imperial Knights were all incredibly weak too.’

It can only be concluded that everything has been nerfed to its initial level.

‘I thought the kids were just initial characters, but it seems everything might have been rolled back.’

As I continued down the wide central path, more and more things started clinging to me. ‘I’m not the Prince of All Cosmos, collecting matter to grow a giant ball, so why is this mass getting so big?’

I wasn’t doing anything, yet people kept attaching themselves to me just by walking forward. Some even clung on only to fall off. To prevent them from falling, I gathered them all, molded them into a sphere, and rolled it. Having no suitable rope, I pulled out numerous crafting leather straps and skillfully bound them together. And surprisingly, it worked.

“I wonder how big it can get.”

Once it reached a certain size, it began dragging on the ground, eliciting screams and general noise. So, I used telekinesis to gently lift it. As I continued to roll it, detaching and reattaching the clinging NPCs one by one, the mass grew steadily larger.

“What in the world is happening here?!”

It was a familiar voice. Turning my head, I saw someone striding towards me, shouting sternly. Oh? I brightened, waving my hand. The priests clinging to my arm swayed precariously, like scraps of tissue paper.

“Fauuuust—! Hiii—!”

“S-Sir Haut?”

Even though it had only been a few days since I last saw Faust, it felt like an eternity. I waved cheerfully, but his expression was peculiar. He had even drawn his sword, yet he looked as if he’d seen a ghost.

Faust’s eyes widened as he surveyed me and the NPCs, then he sheathed his sword and scurried over. The clinging figures wailed and screamed, but he ignored them.

“What in the world is happening here?”

“I don’t know. They keep saying something to me, but I don’t understand what. They just started clinging on one by one, so I gathered them up and rolled them around. Isn’t access to Hamman’s temple unrestricted?”

“W-well, yes, it is, but… what is this…??”

By the time I reached here, the diligently rolled mass had grown to a diameter of nearly ten meters. Grinning brightly, I gestured to the colossal ball of NPCs I had created.

“I was tempted to kill them because it was annoying, but I didn’t want your favor to drop. Good job, right?”

How to describe it? I have no words for that expression. His mouth hung agape, and his eyelids twitched uncontrollably.

“Uh… thank you, I suppose?”

“Or should I sneak in tonight and wipe them all out with stealth? Is there anyone here you dislike?”

“Of course not!”

“That’s strange. Everyone else seems to love it when I offer free assassination.”

Given my previous assassin attributes, whenever I offered to eliminate someone, people would always name at least one person. Faust, however, only got angry. ‘He must truly be a good-aligned character, even among others.’

The NPCs, who had been screaming at our conversation, suddenly fell silent. ‘Did they pause because we were talking?’

I glanced back to see Faust, looking utterly flustered and apologetic, say:

“Sir Haut, first… could you please release these people?”

“Aww, I think I could make it even bigger…”

“Humans are fragile. Doing something like this could kill them.”

“I’ve only stuck them together. Why would they die?”

I truly wanted to see how much larger it could grow, but Faust was gazing at me with such a pitiful, earnest expression that my resolve wavered. I turned to the figures still clinging to the mass and said:

“Hey, you all, detach for a moment. I need to let these people down.”

At my words, they exchanged glances, rolled their eyes, and quickly detached themselves. I then levitated the clustered NPCs and unspooled them, much like unwrapping a roll of toilet paper.

‘There were quite a lot of them once released. The leather straps I’d used must not have been very effective. As I unwound them, they clattered to the floor.’

I gently lowered all the hovering NPCs to the ground. The figures stared at me, their faces utterly bewildered.

“Faust, do you like me a little better now?”

“No, what is this… No, sigh… Yes. A little.”

‘I don’t know what I did to make him look so utterly defeated and devoid of energy.’ I swept the floor with magic, collecting the leather straps. Then, I neatly stacked them back into my inventory.

‘A few NPCs stumbled, but that’s just a normal occurrence, isn’t it?’

‘I’m not the only one who collides with NPCs when running around town, am I?’

“Why in the world would you do such a thing…?”

“Why that expression?”

“No. I think I understand why.”

With that, he draped his cloak around me. ‘The cloak looks nice. Is he just lending it to me, or is it a gift? I don’t know why he’s putting it on me, but it’s pretty. Do I have one of these? I had many similar items, but I rarely wore cloaks, so I can’t recall.’

As I rapidly inspected the cloak from various angles, Faust pointed at my head and asked:

“What is that on your head?”

“Bunny-bunny. Don’t you know the bunny look?”

“I don’t know what it is, but I can tell your appearance is rather scandalous.”

Faust seemed to scrutinize my outfit once more before his face flushed crimson. ‘I had my doubts, but he really does seem to be a pure, naive character.’

‘Such a pure character setting is rare to see in a game. No wonder he’s ranked #1 in popularity. He has all the attributes people love.’

“Sir Haut, what brings you… here?”

“To pick you guys up. Isn’t it obvious? Why are you acting like you don’t know?”

‘Did my sending him back reset his data? He seems to remember, so that’s probably not it. Why is he acting like he doesn’t know, then?’

‘Well, whatever. No need to think too deeply about it.’ I continued walking, still wearing the cloak Faust had given me.

“The Pope is here, right? I still need to do some additional processing on the weapons I made for you, so I need to see him quickly and get back to work.”

“Sir Haut. Even you cannot meet the temple’s supreme administrator so easily.”

“Grandma Adena must be dead. Who is it now?”

Just when I thought they’d all detached, Faust clung to my arm this time. He kept chattering on about how it wasn’t possible, so I simply picked him up in a princess carry.

“Sir Haut! Please…!!”

“You’ll drag on the floor.”

“You just need to stop, Sir Haut!”

“I’m not listening to that. I have to take you all with me. It’d be a waste of the equipment I prepared, and there aren’t many NPCs as good-natured as you.”

‘His favor must be incredibly difficult to raise.’ Normally, any NPC would be completely smitten by just one of the swords I gave them, fawning over me. Yet, despite giving him so many expensive items, he just screams and trembles all the time.

The NPCs I had rolled around and then released earlier didn’t rush at me again, but they were swarming around, watching me. ‘I don’t know why they’re not going about their business. I clearly let them all go, so I don’t know what the problem is.’

‘Perhaps their movement paths got tangled because I forcibly gathered them. NPCs usually have set paths.’

Nevertheless, maybe because I was carrying Faust, they didn’t attack. They merely stomped their feet, shouted, and milled about. Faust, meanwhile, buried his face in his hands, completely at a loss, and played dead in my arms.

“Sir Haut, please put me down. I’m going to die.”

“Why would you die? It’s fine. Even if you die, I’ll revive you.”

“Humans die permanently once they perish.”

“You just need to know the method.”

“If you are referring to wicked sorcery…”

“Would I, a demon hunter, use the same methods as some low-level necromancer?”

I could revive him. The method was a bit troublesome, though. What was it? I’d have to perform a specific ritual at a certain altar, and then I’d have to die about ten times myself.

In the game, if you die, you revive after about two or three hours of in-game time. You lose a fair amount of experience points immediately after revival, but I had accumulated so many demon kills that the reduction wasn’t even visible on my status window, so it wasn’t a big burden.

My accumulated experience was already immense. Killing five or six boss-level demons would get me to max level. Well, usually, you had to be max level to enter certain areas due to restrictions, so it didn’t really matter.

“Honestly, I don’t really know, since I don’t die even if I’m killed.”

“Uh… pardon? What do you mean…?”

“I can’t die until all the demons are gone. It’ll end when they all disappear, though.”

While it was a high-freedom game with no true ending, there was a ‘semi-ending’ for players who wanted to experience an ending. After defeating all the demons in the game, a specific NPC would seek you out.

Usually, the NPC with the highest favor would come, embrace you, thank you for your hard work, and confess their desire to be with you. NPCs aren’t supposed to confess or propose to the player first, but this was the only event where an NPC would propose.

If there were no NPCs with sufficient favor, a god would appear. In certain cases, such as an apostle of a god, the god would appear even before an NPC. They would tell you your mission was complete and offer you their paradise, taking the player away.

It was essentially death.

“I like you, so it’s fine. It takes a bit of time, but I have so much accumulated experience that losing some won’t even show.”

Of course, you wouldn’t stay there permanently. The player would briefly visit paradise, watch the ending event cutscene, and then return to the mortal realm. According to the lore, they’d come back to deal with the remaining traces of demons.

Players often quit the game after seeing the ‘paradise ending.’ Continuing on would be boring because the god would constantly follow them around, showering them with everything.

Among them, Hamman would pour down blessings like a relentless blizzard, making the game utterly devoid of fun. In vulgar terms, everything would be handed to me just by breathing. He would be so good to the player that it would prevent them from doing anything. He’d invite me to his paradise for banquets at every opportunity, and if he was bored, he’d bother me with conversations.

“Don’t worry. NPCs take a long time to recover if they die, so I usually don’t kill them.”

I couldn’t even save and load right now. Besides, if I killed an NPC with low stats, it would be too difficult to raise them. I didn’t cherish them enough to feed them elixirs or items.

For now, I’d just raise them and see how they develop, then decide what to feed them. Faust is a high-ranking priest, so his growth potential should be greater than others, right? If I outfit him well, I might even be able to attempt a tutorial-level demon boss with him.

As Faust and I continued forward, something else popped out and blocked our path, but a kick was all it took to clear them away.

And finally, we arrived at the room where the Pope was.