Chapter 21

Chapter 21

Otherworld Cheat Harem.

Episode 21: Thanksgiving Festival (4).

I paused for a moment, looking at the badge Hanyoung handed me. However, there was no need for him to lie to us unless he wanted to feel some petty sense of superiority.

That badge was probably real. In just a little over a month since they left our party, the three had moved up.

“What? How…?”

“How, you ask? We’d like to ask you that. What have you been doing all this time to still be like that?”

“Well…”

I explained to Hanyoung how we were doing, and how we had been getting along.

We all worked together to earn money, and then realized we could use Seoyoon’s ability to smoothly reach the third floor, so we went up.

Now, we run the dungeon a few times a week to earn money, while the other kids enjoy the benefits and have fun…

Hanyoung, upon hearing those words, began to mock us while clutching his belly.

“What are you, fools? Idiots? Why do you take care of those bastards?”

“Because they’re friends.”

“Friends? That’s nonsense. It seems like you’re trying to uphold some petty moral sense. Drop it immediately. Otherwise, those bastards will cling to you and drag you down for life.”

It wasn’t wrong. However, no words of abandoning them outright came up in this moment. If they could have been so easily discarded, they would have been long gone already.

Hanyoung sighed as he looked at us, deep in thought.

“Ugh, I was going to invite you to our party, but I guess not. With that mindset, you’ll always be held back no matter what you do.”

“…We’ll handle it ourselves.”

“Yeah, yeah, handle it yourselves… As a classmate, let me give you one last piece of advice.”

He said that while giving examples of RPG games that existed in the real world.

“Have you ever played a game? Like Maple or Dungeon Fighter.”

“No, I haven’t.”

“What about you, Seoyoon?”

When Seoyoon also shook her head, Hanyoung sighed in disbelief.

“Well, you two were always socially awkward, I guess. Anyway, you’ve played games, right? Mobile RPG games.”

“Yeah, that much…”

“Let’s say you got a character with incredible performance. Then what should you do with it?”

“Hmm? Upgrade it?”

“You keep sending that character to dungeons until it can’t clear them anymore.”

“Uh… why?”

“Because, like you guys, running the first-floor dungeon hundreds of times is less beneficial than running the upper dungeons a few times.”

“There wasn’t much difference when we went to the second floor. It even decreased sometimes…”

“Did I say the second floor? I’m talking about much higher than that.”

Of course, in the game, the character would keep grinding until it was impossible to clear, but in reality, since that was not possible, the floor that could be cleared in one shot with ability was considered the limit.

Hanyoung said that with our abilities, it should be no problem to explore up to the 10th floor.

“Got it? What you did was using a cow-killing knife to catch a mouse.”

“Thanks for letting us know.”

“No need to thank me, punk.”

Hanyoung said with a sly smile.

“Hurry and go up. If you keep doing that next time, I’ll beat you up.”

“…Got it.”

Leaving those words, Hanyoung and his group disappeared into the distance. I pondered over his words and met Seoyoon’s eyes.

Seoyoon, seemingly deep in thought, met my gaze and asked me.

“…What should we do?”

“Let’s think about it later.”

“What?”

Seoyoon glared at me as if asking if I was serious. I just shrugged my shoulders.

“We’re on a date. Do we need to worry about that even today?”

“…I guess you’re right.”

Hearing that, Seoyoon took my hand and moved forward. While Hanyoung’s words were important, this festival was a holiday for us to enjoy.

Worrying about work even on a holiday was madness. Play when it’s time to play, and work when it’s time to work. Separating work from personal life is the secret to success, as many entrepreneurs say.

The last day of the festival.

After talking with Seoyoon all night and deciding to keep what we heard from Hanyoung a secret for now, we headed to the plaza with the other kids.

“Lovebirds everywhere, huh?”

Deokgu, who was looking at Seoyoon and me, said so. Well, from Deokgu’s perspective, it must have been quite enviable to see the guy who was having fun with Ilone just a few days ago now spreading a rosy atmosphere with Seoyoon.

From his standpoint, it must have been hard to resist the urge to say something.

“Why don’t you date someone, too?”

“If I could do that, damn it…”

Deokgu started to blame himself, holding his face. It was an expression that seemed to realize it was impossible for him. Half aware of the fact that he would never have a relationship with the opposite sex in his life, yet unable to give up, something like that…

“This is another world. There might be someone who likes your face.”

“Thanks, even if it’s just words.”

“Ah, it’s starting.”

I interrupted Deokgu’s words and watched the Holy Knights and the Saintess who emerged through the crowd. Although I couldn’t see them clearly due to the throng of people, the atmosphere alone suggested she was a beauty.

Bow.

Though veiled, those who got even a glimpse of her beauty up close began to collapse as if dead.

The fallen ones pushed back the people behind them, causing the space around the Saintess to grow even wider.

With the people in front making such a fuss, others became more curious and began to stare intently at the Saintess. Praying that perhaps, by chance, a gust of wind might reveal her bare face.

However, unfortunately, the Saintess never revealed her face.

I evaluated her beauty while looking at her.

‘Is she a saintess or a courtesan…?’

As if to avoid exposing any bare skin, she wore a loose white nun’s robe, white gloves, and even a white veil.

At first glance, it looked like a cylindrical shape made of white.

However, the voluptuous body revealed every time she moved subtly. It broke all balance.

From that moment, the Saintess only looked like a stripper trapped naked in a loose nun’s habit.

‘This is driving me crazy… Have I been with too many women lately?’

This must be a side effect of my ability. I thought so. Otherwise, this wouldn’t happen…

Then, my head throbbed and tingled. I closed my eyes for a moment, rubbing my temples due to the sudden headache.

When I opened my eyes again, an angel was flying in front of me.

“Oh God. My goodness.”

“Oh, dear God…”

The Saintess was offering a prayer. A moment later, responding to the Saintess’s prayer, the angel descended to earth, smiling and scattering blessings.

Feathers sparkling like pure white snowflakes fell one by one. People tried to move around to catch them, but soon realized it wasn’t necessary.

The sky was filled with blessings. It seemed that moving around to catch more might actually result in receiving fewer blessings.

While the pure white blessings completely obscured the citizens’ view, I gazed intently at the fluttering angel’s attire.

‘…I wonder if abilities work on angels?’

I pondered absurd thoughts like whether an angel could be affected if they had certain traits, and before I knew it, the angel had disappeared.

Those who received blessings directly started to weep and prostrate themselves on the ground. An instinctive worship of the divine.

The Saintess, having finished her prayer, rose. People bowed to her, beginning to praise her sacred powers.

‘Huh?’

It felt like I just made eye contact with the Saintess.

‘Probably not.’

With so many people here, she likely didn’t even see my face.

The last day of the festival. Praying for the nation was both a duty and a right for the dispatched clergy.

However, the Saintess didn’t particularly welcome even that duty.

“Bothersome… Lotte, can’t you wear this and go in my place?”

“Is that possible, Saintess?”

“But you and I look similar, right? If you wear a wig, no one will notice, right?”

“Sigh.”

“Oh! You sighed! I’m the Saintess! The Saintess!”

Due to long-standing duties, sacrifices, and overprotection from her innate blessings, she was gradually becoming exhausted.

She attempted to escape this cycle with behavior that hinted at regressive tendencies, but those who served the Saintess were all clergy.

Even when an elderly person with dementia smeared feces on the wall, people would clean it with a smile, so her mere whining didn’t change anything.

“Ah… this is such a hassle… Who came up with this event?”

When the Saintess finally shrugged off her laziness and headed to the square, Charlotte followed behind in full armor.

It was the procession of the Saintess. No threat could approach. The empty road, dozens of Holy Knights and guards created a wide space near the platform.

The Saintess stepped up onto it. Her nun’s habit, unnecessarily long to ensure no skin was exposed, dragged on the ground.

The gloves and stockings made to hide her skin clung stickily, creating discomfort.

In all those adverse conditions, the Saintess climbed onto the platform without showing any discomfort. And she offered a prayer in a voice so faint that no one could hear.

“…Oh God, bless these people. Have mercy on the lambs, and save more of your servants.”

She was loved by God enough to receive the blessing of the Virgo. God immediately granted her request.

A beautiful angel descended from the sky. Countless feathers scattered from the angel’s wings as it fluttered down.

‘They’ll go bald.’

With such fleeting thought, she observed the people. Now, when all eyes were on the angel, was the only time the Saintess could freely gaze at the people.

‘Ah.’

The Saintess, watching the people, met eyes with a man. It was no coincidence. It must have been a fate designated by the gods.

‘That person.’

As the Saintess could often interact with celestial divine beings, she discovered a common trait among them.

Unlike the lowly humans on earth, looking at them felt as if the viewpoint collapsed as the space distorted.

It was something created by the divinity of the divine beings, but it was also because she was a born medium. Indeed, loved by the gods to such an extent…

When she looked with her innate spiritual sight, a very faint distortion was occurring around the man’s body.

It was something she had only ever seen happen with the gods, so for a moment, she thought her body was weak, and she was simply feeling dizzy.

But that wasn’t the case.

─A star shall fall.

Since ancient times, stars had been a general term for immense and sacred things. Therefore, if the being she was searching for was so divine and immense, it wouldn’t be strange to cause phenomena akin to a divine presence.

‘Found it.’

The Saintess’s gaze locked onto Dojin. It was the look of a hunter who had found its prey.

“What is this…?”

Level up.

That term, usually found in games, was often used by adventurers exploring dungeons in this world.

As the word implied, one’s rank would increase.

I could personally understand why people chose the term ‘level up.’

It was an ecstasy that couldn’t be expressed by any other words. Physical abilities would rise, and existing skills would evolve.

“This is… Hanyoung was right to say so.”

Leaving behind the dozens of orc corpses, we indulged in the pleasure granted by leveling up.