【 JOY OFTHE GAME 】

Setting aside Demacia’s misfortune of narrowly missing out on winning a legendary golden lottery item, the release of his strategy guide on becoming a Priest has sparked an unprecedented surge in the spread of faith by the Church of Life across the demi-realm of Ouros.

Players aiming to pursue the Priest class, along with various guilds, have begun forming missionary teams modeled after the method devised and implemented by the Heart of Nature to carry out their own respective missionary tasks.

As a result, more and more players started acquiring the priest jobclass, whether as their primary or sub class.

Of course, while the priest class offers appealing abilities, it still doesn’t interest everyone.

In fact, the majority of players who take it up do so merely just to gain access to divine healing spells.

However, just as there are specialists in every field, some players have also gradually become enamored with the unique gameplay the priest class offers.

These players, who find joy in role-playing as missionaries rather than merely treating it as a means to an end, are exactly the kind of people that Eve needs.

Typically, these individuals are life-oriented players who prefer story-driven content and interacting with NPCs over combat.

Although they aren’t the first to rush into battle, they’ve also become an integral part of Elven Kingdom.

After the priest class was unlocked, these players were the ones who advanced the fastest.

Within a week of the release of Demacia’s strategy guide, Eve sensed through the game system that nearly 3,000 players had already advanced to apprentice priests. Among them, several hundred had further advanced to the rank of lower Iron.

This rapid progression surprised Evé so much that the supply of priest robes she prepared in the exchange store had nearly ran out.

In the end, Evé gritted her teeth and spent more than a dozen additional divine power to directly create a new batch of priest robes in her divine kingdom before materializing them into the real world.

While these priest robes didn’t necessarily have to be created by Evé herself and, in fact, the church should be the one to handle their production as genuine robes required the blessing of a true god.

Thus, only Evé could produce so many robes in one go in the short term.

It’s worth noting that a deity can use divine power within their Divine Kingdom to create such items. However, materializing these items in the real world consumes considerable amount of divine power, making it a costly and inefficient process that deities usually avoid.

As such, Eve only did so this time because the situation was an exceptional scenario.

After all, these priest robes are essential equipment which also serves as a symbol of the church of life’s dignity.

Eve naturally prepared their gear even though the players aren’t genuine believers of hers since they’ve chosen this path.

Well… truth be told, she simply had divine power to spare and indulged herself.

That being said, players can only obtain priest robes after becoming formal priests, which means their class level have to be at least Level 11.

Evé took the players’ priest class seriously. And they didn’t disappoint her as these 3,000 newly initiated priests brought forth a surge of new believers. Ɍ

Every apprentice priest managed to convert at least three residents of Ouros into believers of Evé.

Each Lower Iron-rank priest had inspired over ten people to embrace the elven faith.

In less than 20 days since the priest class became available, Eve gained more than 10,000 new believers!

At that moment, her number of believers had changed once again:

[BelieverCount: 36,389 (Saints: 1, Fanatics: 128, Devout believers: 3,611, Casual Believers: 32,649)]

[Believer Types: Crypt Spider Queen (1), Dragon (1), Oak Guardians (105), Elves (2,157), Half-Elves (244), Elven Human Hybrids (33,824), Humans (58)]

Such efficiency was pretty astounding, leaving Evé pleasantly surprised.

Just a month ago, her total believers numbered only 25,000, and that was largely due to inheriting the demi-realm of Ouros, wherein 20,000 of the former believers of the God of Creation automatically converted to her faith.

Now, after less than 20 days after the priest class was released to the public, Eve’s believers had surged by more than 10,000, reaching over 36,000 in total!

This growth far exceeded Eve’s expectations.

Initially, she believed it would take at least a year or two to amass 100,000 believers, but the players’ efficiency proved far beyond her imagination.

Of course, part of this success was due to the unique nature of Ouros demi-realm, which made it an ideal place to accumulate faith.

Unlike Earth, this universe is governed by true gods, where the power of faith is deeply ingrained within people’s lives.

After Ouros’ sacrifice, many residents became non-believers.

However, deep down, they still held a subconscious reverence for gods, making them prime candidates for conversion.

These people only needed a little guidance to embrace a new faith.

The players’ success in converting so many believers in such a short time proved this point.

The city of Seigües, which is the largest settlement in the Ouros demi-realm, still had a population of over 200,000.

If the players managed to convert all these residents, Eve’s divine power would reach an entirely new level.

With enough believers, she might even be able to pinpoint the lost divine kingdom of the previous World Tree.

However, despite Seigües City’s potential, the players didn’t put all their eggs in one basket.

As time went on, more priest players began leaving Seigües City to spread the elven faith in surrounding villages, towns, and other settlements across the demi-realm.

There was a reason for this.

Seigües City, while populous, had become increasingly difficult for players to convert efficiently.

After all, the Goddess had only recently appeared in the Ouros demi-realm, and it would still take time for the city residents to fully accept her presence.

Perhaps some residents were quick to embrace a new faith, but for many, it still required a gradual, subconscious adjustment process.

However, players are often impatient.

They prefer doing things efficiency and naturally hope to shorten this adjustment period as much as possible.

Additionally, the influx of missionary groups created more competition.

Hence with everyone clustered together in Seigües City, the players efforts inevitably overlapped and interfered with one another.

Thus, when players realized that prolesetyzing in the outlying towns and villages was more effective, they naturally shifted their focus outward to these places.

Interestingly enough, this shift brought about an unexpected benefit:

The name of the Goddess of Life began to spread rapidly across the Ouros demi-realm, taking root in various settlements.

Seizing this momentum, Evé issued new exclusive priest tasks, encouraging priest players to build temples of life in towns and villages across the demi-realm of Ouros.

One such tasks was accepted by Caesar.

After observing the prolesetyzing session led by the Heart of Nature alongside Moon Jasmine, he had a revelation—he finally understood what it meant to be a true priest.

But unlike Demacia and others, Caesar wasn’t interested in simply completing tasks in such a ‘cult-like’ manner.

He valued the genuine process of completing them more.

Although he had only been playing Elven Kingdom for less than six months, Caesar had already fallen in love with the game’s rich, immersive world.

The land, its people, and its stories had thoroughly captivated him.

To him, this was no longer just a game.

It was a living, breathing world filled with genuine culture and history.

The NPCs were no longer just scripted characters—they felt to him more like real people he met on his journey.

Caesar enjoyed role-playing as part of this world, immersing himself in its lore and treating it as a personal adventure.

Thus, he saw the priest class as a sacred vocation.

Even without considering the goddess’s teachings, healing the wounded and guiding people toward kindness was a noble calling.

His idealistic nature also made him averse to the manipulative tactics employed by Demacia and the others.

While Caesar admired their efficient methods, he was uncomfortable with their willingness to use deceit to convert NPCs.

It just wasn’t something he could do.

Perhaps that’s harsh, but it was clear that Demacia’s methods drew heavily from certain… unsavory real-world experiences. And due to Caesar’s own background, he was particularly resistant to such approaches.

Instead, Caesar believed in sincerity.

He wanted to win the hearts of the residents through genuine kindness.

It might sound naive, but Caesar truly thought this way.

Demacia’s preaching methods did inspire him, though, giving him a new idea—that is, healing others.

As a druid specializing in healing magic, Caesar decided to offer free aid to those in need while subtly spreading the goddess’s teachings through the Codex of Life.

And it worked.

Though not as efficient as large-scale mass preaching, Caesar successfully converted several local residents, becoming an apprentice priest in the process.

One of those converts even became a devout believer and chose to follow Caesar along on his journey.

This experience gave Caesar a theory:

“If you approach NPCs with sincerity, would it be easier to win their trust and inspire more unwavering faith?”

With this in mind, Caesar accepted a new priest-exclusive tasks—to establish a temple in a village and continue spreading the elven faith.

But this time, he wasn’t traveling alone.

Alongside him were several local residents he had successfully converted, as well as Moon Jasmine, a weapons specialist warrior who had recently reached the Silver-rank.

“Caesar, I’ve already given up on having priest as my subclass, so why are you still dragging me along with you?”

Jasmine eyed Caesar, who wore his druid robes and carried the Codex of Life published by the Amway Merchant Group.

Caesar smiled softly.

“I know. But Jasmine, you’ve hardly ever interacted with NPCs. I thought this would be a good opportunity to show you a different side of this world.”

“You’re becoming quite the preacher,” she muttered, casting him a sidelong glance.

Still, she didn’t refuse.

Their destination was a small remote village called Flora Town, named for its flourishing flower trade.

With a population of just under 5,000, the village’s architecture bore traces of elven influence, like much of the Ouros demi-realm.

Caesar and his companions were warmly welcomed upon their arrival.

In this demi-realm, elves were revered as a divine beings. Although Flora Town had no temple yet, the name of the Goddess of Life was already well-known there.

Interestingly, the devout believer who had joined Caesar was originally from Flora Town.

This NPC had left for Seigües City to learn more about the Church of Life and seek assistance, eventually meeting Caesar and converting to their faith.

Caesar chose this village specifically because of this particular believers request.

“You want us to hunt down a beast that’s been terrorizing their village? And if we succeed, these villagers will fully support the construction of a temple?”

Jasmine raised an eyebrow after hearing the villagers’ plea.

“Exactly. Now you know why I brought you along, right? You’re the person I know that’s best at hunting monsters after all,” Caesar replied with a grin.

Jasmine didn’t object—in fact, she seemed eager to do it.

She had recently acquired an epic-class purple longsword for lower Silver-rank, and she hadn’t had the chance to test it out yet.

However, the village’s chief elder, who was hosting them, hesitated.

“Honorable ones from the divine clan—no, honorable elves—are you sure? That beast is said to be at the peak of Tier 3, which is extremely fast and dangerous. With only Lady Jasmine…”

“Tier 3? That’s roughly equivalent to upper Iron-rank in the main realm.”

Jasmine shook her head dismissively, and Caesar offered a reassuring smile.

“Don’t worry, elder. She can handle it.”

With that, the two settled into the town as their presence are watched by the villagers with a mix of excitement and nervousness.

Jasmine, drawing on her hunting expertise, began working with the townsfolk to set up traps around the village to prevent the beast from escaping.

Meanwhile, Caesar focused on healing the villagers with his magic and newly learned divine spells.

They didn’t have to wait long either as that very night they arrived, the beast attacked immediately.

It was a Shadowfang Wolf, a predator at the peak of upper Iron-rank, standing nearly five meters tall. Cunning and vicious, it was a nightmare for the local residents, whose average combat strength didn’t even reach lower Iron-rank.

But the wolf’s reign of terror was now about to end.

As soon as it stepped into the town’s boundaries, Jasmine acted without hesitation.

In an instant, her sword gleamed.

The power of a Silver-ranker was leagues above an Iron-rank monster.

With her extensive combat experience, Jasmine easily outmaneuvered the beast. The Shadowfang Wolf barely lasted three strikes before she felled it with a single, decisive blow.

With a mournful howl, the massive beast collapsed to the ground.

Unlike many monsters, its body didn’t disintegrate into ash.

That was intentional on Jasmine’s part as she had disabled the experience gain at the start to preserve its fur.

“Is this the surprise you had in mind?” she asked, wiping her sword clean.

“The fur is indeed impressive. I think I can commission a dwarf in the underground to make a cloak out of it. I’ll even give you a share.”

Caesar shook his head with a smile.

“That’s not the surprise. You’ll see tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow?”

Jasmine tilted her head in confusion.

The next morning, the entire village erupted in celebration when they saw the dead Shadowfang Wolf.

The scene resembled a festival.

Lanterns were hung, and the village was abuzz with joy.

“Haha! That beast is finally dead!”

“This is wonderful! We don’t have to fear its attacks anymore.”

“Thank you, honorable ones from the divine clan!”

The villagers were ecstatic.

As the hero of the hour, Jasmine became the center of their gratitude.

She was surrounded by many villagers which offered her their heartfelt gratitude.

Some of them even brought local specialties as gifts, while others invited her to their homes.

Every villager was overflowing with genuine warmth, treating her like a savior.

The sincerity of their gratitude instantly caught Jasmine off guard.

As a combat-oriented player, she never paid much attention to NPCs.

But this was the first time she had been so deeply appreciated by them.

For an entire day, she was busy attending to the endless stream of villagers coming to express their thanks. Their gifts were already piling up in the inn where she and Caesar were staying, forming a small mountain.

It wasn’t until late at night, after a banquet held in her honor finally ended, that Jasmine was finally able to retreat to her room.

She flopped onto her bed, utterly exhausted, sprawled out like a dog that had run itself into the ground.

“Ugh… I’m beat… These villagers are too enthusiastic. This is why I hate dealing with NPCs!”

Caesar chuckled at her complaint.

“Really? I think you enjoyed it. Your smile gave it away.”

Jasmine blinked, startled by his remark.

“See for yourself.”

Caesar picked up a mirror and handed it to her.

She glanced at her reflection.

Her face was tired which is understandable, considering she was an introvert who had been surrounded by other people all day.

She also looked like she was about to collapse from exhaustion.

But her lips were unmistakably curved into a smile, and even the tension around her eyes had softened.

Clearly she was in a good mood.

Jasmine froze for a moment as she saw her own reflection.

Then, Caesar’s words echoed in her ears again.

“Jasmine, I think your reluctance to interact with NPCs is influenced by your experiences in past games. Elven Kingdom is different from those. If you dive into it deeper, you’ll find that the NPC system here is truly captivating.”

“In this world, NPCs aren’t just characters. We can genuinely become friends with them.”

Become friends…?

Jasmine fell into silence.

Her gaze drifted to the mountain of gifts piled in the corner of the room.

Her emotions grew complicated.

She loved combat and she hated story-driven gameplay.

But… was that really true?

The storyline of Ouros had stirred her emotions.

And despite her complaints, her interactions with the villagers today betrayed her true feelings…

Indeed, she had enjoyed it.

The truth was, she had never seriously considered exploring the game’s narrative or getting to know the NPCs more in Elven Kingdom.

Her introverted nature made her avoid social interactions, and the immersive environment of the game felt too realistic, causing her to instinctively withdraw from interacting with the NPCs.

However, today’s tasks seemed to have subtly shifted her perspective.

After a moment of contemplation, Jasmine sighed.

“…Maybe.”

With that, she began packing up, preparing to sleep.

“You’re turning in already?” Caesar asked, surprised.

“I’m exhausted. I need to rest early. We’ll be building the temple with everyone tomorrow, right?”

She shut the door behind her as she spoke.

Caesar blinked, then chuckled softly.

The charm of Elven Kingdom was never limited to its combat system.

Interacting with NPCs and immersing oneself in the storylines were key reasons players became addicted to this world.

He sincerely hoped Jasmine would also come to appreciate this aspect of the game.

༺⟐༻

Caesar and Jasmine’s adventure was just a small episode in a much larger narrative.

As more players ventured into Ouros’s demi-realm, temples dedicated to the Goddess of Life began to appear across towns and villages.

Thanks to the pre-existing churches of the Creator, renovating these buildings into Temples of Life was a relatively straightforward endeavor.

Oftentimes, it only required some repairs and the appointment of local residents who had already accepted Eve’s faith as apprentice priests.

Alternatively, interested priest players could assume such roles directly.

This marked Eve’s formal effort to establish a fully integrated faith network within the demi-realm of Ouros.

Once the Church of Life unified the region, Evé would be able to manage the population of three million efficiently.

From there, spreading her faith further and strengthening control over the demi-realm would become much easier.

Gradually, this network of faith would become an unbreakable force…

The players were working hard.

New believers were joining rapidly.

Evé noticed a snowball effect beginning to take shape.

However, the growing number of believers also brought forth some new challenges.

While players could guide the local residents of Ouros to convert to Eve’s faith, the players themselves weren’t genuine believers of the Goddess.

Most of them barely understood The Life Codex, and instead rely on quick searches on the net to answer questions.

Simply put, their grasp of the church’s doctrines was superficial at best.

Under such conditions, transforming new believers into devout believers hadn’t been easy.

And their subsequent results reflected this difficulty.

Although over ten thousand new believers had joined in just a few weeks, the number of devout believers barely exceeded four hundred.

But if Evé intended to rely on her believers to locate the remnants of her predecessor’s divine kingdom, at least half of them needed to be devout believers.

Fortunately, Evé had a solution to this problem.

The players’ activities were effective for recruitment.

However, the church’s strength came from her being its core.

To gain more believers, the patron deity must make an impactful move after all.

And Eve still had one final trump card she still hadn’t played.

That card was bloodline purification.

“The ratio of devout believers is still too low. It’s time for me to issue a divine oracle —select suitable believers within the demi-realm and grant them the chance to purify their bloodlines, allowing them to become half-elves or full elves.”

“This way, I can inspire deeper faith and improve the quality of my believers.”

Eve murmured to herself.

Bloodline purification had always been a powerful incentive.

To earn a god’s favor, awaken a stronger bloodline, and gain a longer lifespan, believers would naturally strive to become more devout.

It was an already proven strategy.

And a highly effective one at that—achieving two goals with one move.

— 471 —

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