There Must Be Something Wrong With This Game!

Kael awoke from his slumber, his hands and feet still cold.

A fire had been lit in the room, and several choir boys were beside him, helping to warm his icy soles, but he just couldn’t get warm.

Even as a powerful Pope, even bathing in Divine Grace every day, he still couldn’t resist the ravages of time, slowly marching toward decay.

"Oh, God, why do you give me such a trial?"

Sighing, Kael recalled his dream.

In the dream, he had returned to fifty years ago, to the day of the sacrifice to his god.

It was supposed to be a very ordinary sacrifice, but two people just had to show up and cause trouble. They were already infected with Heart-devouring Worms, but their worms surprisingly wouldn’t obey his commands.

Even after being eaten into empty husks, those two were as disgusting as insects, resisting the control of the Heart-devouring Worms while simultaneously obstructing his plans.

And in the end, turning all the sacrifices into Undead Skeletons was despicable to the extreme. Such an absurd method was truly unexpected, yet devastatingly effective.

Kael had also been severely injured back then. Even with healing from Divine Grace, it took him half a year to get back on his feet, and his hands and feet had trouble warming up ever since.

But the most terrifying of all was the Descender named "Gale." He was incomparably despicable yet incomparably elegant, a combination that had once cast a shadow over Kael’s very perception of the word "elegance."

Fifty years later, he had finally gathered enough resources again. He could once more make a sacrifice to his god and obtain eternal life.

To prevent any interference, he had specifically researched knowledge related to the Descenders and had learned what they loved most.

Quests and rewards.

As long as he gave them enough quests and rewards, they would do anything for him.

’Then, I’ll control them with the Heart-devouring Worms. The once-fearsome Descenders will become my most loyal pawns, helping me complete my offering to the god.’

"O great god, please wait patiently. I will surely bring you the most delectable of sacrifices."

Just as Kael was praying to his god, his chamber door was pushed open. A few Descenders swaggered in, completely devoid of any etiquette.

’These damned barbarians!’

If these Descenders weren’t still useful, he would have activated the Heart-devouring Worms in their heads right then and there.

Unfortunately, once the worms were activated, the person’s behavior would become as monotonous as a machine, lacking their current dynamism.

Just like those Priests and Nuns.

So, for the sake of his plan, he could only suppress his anger and put on a benevolent smile. "Is something the matter, my children?"

"We’ve found a trace of Winston. She’s in a place called Sunset Town in the northern part of the Kingdom."

Gently invoking Divine Grace, Kael learned from the ritual array set up in his room that these two Descenders were not lying.

Thus, he generously gifted them a small earring while silently wishing for them to die an early death and go to Hell.

’Every Descender should go to Hell. That is the original sin brought by Gale.’

After sending the two off, he ordered a squad of Holy Knights led by a Priest to head to Sunset Town, then returned to his bed to get some more rest.

But just as he lay down, the door was pushed open again. Two players appeared at the entrance and said excitedly, "Your Holiness the Pope, we’ve found Beist’s trail! He’s in a place called Sunset Town in the northern part of the Kingdom right now."

"I know. Those two are always together. Can you just..."

"Skip the dialogue and give us the reward!"

"...Take this ring. Consider it your reward."

Fifty years of accumulation had given Kael a rather vast fortune; he could easily spare a few rings.

Besides, the Descenders weren’t picky. Give them a scrap of cloth, and they would treat it like a treasure. They were easily placated.

He yawned and noticed the sky was already brightening. Just as he was about to get up for his morning prayers, the door was shoved open violently.

"We found Winston—"

"Sunset Town, is it!"

"No, she’s in the Lower River area."

"How is that possible... Hmm, it’s true. What are they doing? Are they performing Reconnaissance?"

Feeling that this information was rather important, Kael mulled it over for a moment, preparing to send some Holy Knights to investigate.

Turning his head, he saw that the Descender was still standing there. A wave of irritation washed over him, but he gave him an item anyway.

He had thought that would be the end of it, but Kael soon discovered it was only the beginning.

The Descenders began to harass him at all hours.

Whether he was eating, bathing, or playing with the children, they would appear relentlessly, bringing all sorts of news.

Kael had already transformed the entire temporary camp into a holy ground. Expensive Sacred Artifacts imbued the area with several Divine Art effects, which also allowed him to easily tell if a Descender was lying.

It would be one thing if they were trying to deceive him, but the facts showed they were not lying.

They seemed to be dutifully searching for Winston and Beist’s whereabouts. This Loyalty to rewards made Kael feel that these Descenders were truly disgusting.

Finally, unable to bear the Descenders’ harassment any longer, Kael pulled aside his most trusted Priest—one whose Heart-devouring Worm had been awakened—and ordered him to deal with the Descenders exclusively. He handed over the Divine Art that could distinguish truth from falsehood, as well as access to the treasury.

Of course, some necessary countermeasures were also put in place to prevent the Descenders from cheating the Priest.

Soon, this news was passed around among the players and reached Duan Fei.

Cracking his knuckles, Duan Fei, under the cover of other players, rushed toward the Priest and began his tests.

’Kael, you’re really too naive!’

’To think you’d entrust such an important function to a puppet. Do you really think I, Duan Someone, don’t know how to debug?’

’So what if you set up precautions? Do you even understand the caliber of a gold-medal tester?’

Winston and Beist were moving along a predetermined path, while Duan Fei, based on the intel he already had, began to test the Priest.

"Winston is currently dead. Please give me a reward."

"Yesterday’s Winston was dead. Reward."

"Tomorrow’s Winston will also be dead. Reward."

"Winston doesn’t have wings. Reward."

"Winston might have wings. Reward."

"If Winston has a relative, then her relative might have wings. Reward."

...

Because the Priest was programmed not to give rewards for repeated questions, Duan Fei began to constantly change his questions to test the Priest’s boundaries and profit from it.

After farming a huge number of rewards, he waved his hand and said to the other players, "Let’s brainstorm together! You guys come get in on these rewards, too!"

"Me first, me first! Beist is currently dead. Please give me a reward!"

"Damn it, you beat me to it! I was going to use Beist to farm rewards."

"I’ll have to think of something else. Do they have any children?"

While Kael was catching up on his sleep, he had no idea that a group of players outside was fleecing him for all he was worth.

In his sleep, he dreamed that his plan had been perfectly executed. The great god was rewarding him, granting him eternal life.

Seeing that wonderful dream, the wicked old man couldn’t help but laugh out loud.

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