Chapter 11
Before the ceremony, Irtis received ceremonial clothing from a priest.
Dressed in a white formal uniform, Irtis looked completely different from usual.
Seeing this, Prodia inwardly admired him.
‘Religious attire… It wouldn’t look bad as a stage outfit either.’
Why hadn’t she ever thought of that when planning programs in her past life?
But she soon shook her head.
‘No. If I put someone in religious clothing and sent them on stage, my karma might increase. That’d be a problem.’
As Prodia made a serious expression, Irtis approached and asked,
“Why that face? Don’t you like it?”
“No, you look amazing.”
“That’s rare. You actually mean it this time.”
At that, Prodia clicked her tongue.
“I’ve been curious for a while… Can you read my thoughts with magic or something?”
“No. Even I can’t do that.”
Prodia felt relieved.
That’s good. He’s just perceptive.
But then he added,
“There is one other method, though… I’ve never had anyone to try it on.”
The way he trailed off made her uneasy.
And as always, a bad feeling never missed.
Irtis’s eyes sparkled as he asked,
“Can I test it on you?”
“Ugh, I don’t know what it is, but no thanks.”
Prodia flatly refused.
At that moment, she heard Irtis’s voice inside her head.
[Why not? Let’s try it.]
Startled, Prodia shouted,
“W-What was that just now?!”
Seeing her so shocked, Irtis chuckled.
“Relax. I sent you a telepathic message.”
“You read my thoughts with telepathy?”
“Not exactly.”
At the same time, Irtis placed his palm against her forehead.
Soon, a cool sensation flowed into her mind.
“Done.”
“…What did you just do?”
“I infused a bit of my mana into you. Now you should be able to send telepathic messages to me too.”
“What? You can’t just do that without my permission!”
Wait—hold on.
Now that she thought about it, wasn’t this incredibly useful?
‘That means I can talk to Irtis without anyone else noticing…?’
Her eyes suddenly lit up.
“So how do I use telepathy?”
“Just think of it as speaking to me in your mind. But why did your attitude change so suddenly? This feels suspicious.”
Prodia immediately sent him a telepathic message.
[Irtis, want to use this for a little trick?]
[A trick?]
[With this, we could cheat throughout the entire tournament.]
[What…?]
Irtis clicked his tongue.
“I’ve lived like an outlaw myself, but you’re something else. Where’s your conscience?”
“Why? If we have an ability like this, of course we should use it.”
“Don’t tell me you’ve been helping your students cheat all this time?”
“Unfortunately, none of my students could use telepathy back then.”
Sigh.
Irtis continued,
“Anyway, no.”
“Ah, why not?”
“Do you really need to win by such a cowardly method? I have my pride too.”
I mean, for ten million gold, isn’t it worth throwing away a little pride?
‘What a waste.’
Prodia pouted, and Irtis tried to reassure her.
“Just use it as an emergency contact. If something happens while I’m gone, reach out to me.”
“This is the Grand Temple. Nothing’s going to happen.”
“You never know. I’ll keep contacting you during the ceremony too.”
“Alright.”
After a while, a knock came from outside.
“Participant, it’s time to move.”
“I’ll be going, then.”
“Do well.”
Irtis headed toward the confessional behind the Grand Temple with the assigned priest.
The area in front of the confessional was already crowded with other participants.
Fortunately, the uniform had a hood, allowing Irtis to hide his face.
There was a chance someone might recognize him.
He didn’t want to cause a commotion.
After finding his group and lining up, Irtis sent Prodia a telepathic message.
[I’ve arrived.]
As expected, the priests had no idea the two were communicating telepathically.
Prodia smiled with satisfaction and replied,
[You probably don’t need me to tell you to be careful, right?]
[They’re the ones who should be careful of me.]
Honestly.
Prodia let out a small laugh.
At that moment, the priest in charge called out to the participants,
“The next group will depart. Please follow me.”
The participants in white uniforms began moving with the priest.
[I’m heading in. I’ll contact you later.]
[Okay.]
The telepathic connection cut off.
Now then, what should she do while waiting for Irtis?
‘It’s not often I get to visit the Grand Temple. Maybe I should look around.’
Leaving the waiting room, Prodia slowly walked through the interior of the temple.
But no matter where she went, it was quiet.
She started to get bored.
She considered sending Irtis a telepathic message, but—
‘The ceremony might have started. I shouldn’t interrupt.’
After wandering for a while, she was about to return to the waiting room when suddenly, an idea struck her.
‘Right, this is a place that worships a god, isn’t it?’
Then maybe she should try praying…?
Of course, it wasn’t out of sincere faith.
She just wondered if it might reduce her karma.
This wasn’t just any place—it was the Grand Temple.
Surely it would have at least some effect.
‘Even if it drops by just one point, I might sit here and pray the whole time until Irtis comes back.’
With practically zero faith, she hurried toward the prayer room.
Creak—.
Prodia pushed open the old door and stepped inside.
The room was deathly quiet.
Most of the priests were away managing participants.
‘Good. Nice and quiet.’
She walked slowly inside.
Dust floated in beams of light streaming down from the ceiling.
Click.
The sound of her shoes echoed through the hall.
As she looked around, her gaze soon fell forward.
Behind the altar stood a statue of the main deity.
By law, the appearance of the chief god could not be freely sculpted, so the only place one could see such a statue was in the Grand Temple.
‘Well, if you’re visiting a place, you’ve got to check out the main attraction.’
Her eyes naturally settled on the god’s face.
But somehow… it looked familiar.
‘Huh? Where have I seen that face before?’
It felt just out of reach, like a fog clouding her thoughts.
She definitely knew it. Definitely…
And then, finally, she remembered.
‘…I remember.’
How could she have forgotten that face?
Prodia’s mouth fell open.
‘That’s the face of the handsome god I met when I died!’
Stunned, she froze in place.
What was going on?
Snapping back to her senses, she rushed forward. This wasn’t the time to worry about sacrilege.
Standing before the massive statue, she confirmed it.
There was no doubt—it was him.
The god who had tried to throw her into editing hell.
The one who, claiming mercy, reincarnated her at his own whim and gave her mysterious quests.
She let out a hollow laugh.
“What are you?”
Staring straight at the divine figure, she muttered,
“Were you secretly watching me from here?”
You’re not even the god from my original world.
Who are you to reincarnate me like this? Why put me through all this trouble—why?!
At that moment—
A small voice came from behind the altar.
“I-I wasn’t watching you…!”
Prodia’s eyes widened.
Did the god just respond?
No—that wasn’t it.
This voice was completely different from the one she heard before.
Which meant…
Turning toward the back of the altar, she called out coldly,
“Who’s there? Stop hiding and come out.”
Soon, someone who had been crouching behind it slowly crawled out.
A man with pale skin and blond hair.
Judging by his white priest robes, he seemed to be a priest here.
Shrinking in on himself, he spoke hesitantly,
“I-I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to spy, it’s just…”
Seeing how flustered he looked, Prodia relaxed.
‘Oh, I must have startled him when I came in.’
There must’ve been a misunderstanding—she should apologize quickly—
Then, the priest, who had been staring at the floor the whole time, slowly lifted his head.
“B-believer… are you very angry…?”
At that moment, Prodia felt her heart drop.
She couldn’t even properly hear what he said.
It was because of his face.
‘A-a center—!’
An actual center has appeared!
Main god, I’m sorry. Irtis, I’m really sorry too.
But this guy—this guy is definitely center material!
Because the priest was unbelievably beautiful, like an angel.
‘No, isn’t he literally an angel?’
Blond hair, golden eyes, flawless skin… Not a single feature out of place.
Why are you so handsome? Approved!
And then, of all things, tears began to well up in the priest’s eyes.
He must have thought she was angry since she hadn’t responded.
‘Wait, what did he just say to me earlier?’
No, that’s not important!
What matters is that even his crying face is beautiful!
A man who looks good crying can rule the world… no, his fans.
‘This guy, if raised well, could absolutely control a fanbase.’
Prodia’s radar was screaming—this is the one. Open it now.
Without hesitation, she thought,
‘Status window.’
Flash—!
[Name: Papier (?).
Occupation: High Priest (?).
Dream: None.
Stats: Divine Power (SSS), Healing (SSS)… Charm (Restricted).]
She quickly scanned his profile.
Name: Papier. As expected, a priest.
He looked young, yet already a high priest—must be talented.
Then her eyes stopped on one part.
‘Huh? What’s… Charm?’
There was no time to linger.
She needed to check how much karma could be reduced.
But that “Charm” stat bothered her too much.
‘Why would a priest who serves a god need charm…?’
And “Restricted”? What did that even mean?
Well, her mindset had already changed—having Irtis as backup gave her some peace of mind.
So, unable to resist her curiosity, she thought,
‘Check Charm.’
At that moment, a detailed description appeared.
Ding~!
[Charm (Restricted)
Captivates the hearts of the masses when on stage.]
