＜ 9. The thief who stole the country (4) ＞
It was quite comfortable. He wanted to lie down like this forever. I think I went through an urgent life-and-death situation, but I couldn’t remember it because it was blurry. As if all those things were old illusions.
However, a thunderbolt-like question was firmly implanted in Jeong-hyeon’s brain.
‘What floor is the 29th floor?’
Andrea opened her eyes.
What unfolded in front of me was a ceiling with a rather unfamiliar painting on it. It was a picture of a large hand soaring in the middle of a vast ocean surrounded by countless ships.
“You can’t open your eyes yet. Healing may not have been fully heard.”
A thin but firm voice. When I turned around, there was a man I had never seen before.
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Neatly cut gray curly hair, a white robe with blue patterns on it, and a gentle smile, but he doesn’t look friendly at all.
Andrea clicked her tongue slightly. It might be the first time you’ve seen him there, but Andrea was a face you already knew.
“You are the priest of the waves.”
“you’re right.”
“Then, of course, this must be the temple of the god of waves, right?”
The priest of waves, Julius, nodded.
Andrea got up and looked around. Several white beds similar to the one he was lying on were lined up. The only person seated was Andrea, though she was alone.
Julius misunderstood that Andrea was wondering why there was a hospital room in the temple and explained it.
“Caring for the challengers who are tired from sailing is also the right thing to do as a person who serves the god of waves.”
Seeing that Andrea slightly frowned, Julius added:
“The Wave God left a saying that all life’s journeys are like a voyage with equal value.”
“Ah, yes.”
For Andrea, who had the experience of being a slave to those who worshiped the Wave God, these words did not resonate very well. He had no desire to discuss the gap between the secular world and theology, so he decided to ask about business.
“Where are my colleagues?”
“If you mean the hunter and the bearded soldier, they are relaxing in the shelter upstairs.”
Judging by the circumstances, it seemed that Marco had carried him and Tricia all the way here. Andrea got up and tried to get out of her seat.
Julius stopped him at once and stepped out.
“You need to get some more rest. Why don’t you talk to me for now, and meet your colleagues later?”
“I know my body better.”
Andrea already knew what the priest would say. He easily ignored the priest’s words and went outside. Julius looked at Andrea’s back with a distrustful expression.
The appearance of the temple was the same as the memory. A large island in the open sea, a temple carved out of the bedrock there.
It felt very strange that such a vast space was inside a dungeon, but the view over the railing was just a trick.
‘Before, as a thief character, I tried to use Infinite Leap to see the end of the sea. I was disappointed to find out that it was just textured to look like a horizontal line.’
There was no need to ask the priest for directions. Andrea turned the corner and climbed the stairs as if she were at home.
On the upper floor, there was an open space decorated like a small garden. Tricia and Marco were seated at a table in the corner.
“Andrea! You’re all right!”
When Marco saw Andrea, he was delighted and got up from his seat. Trisha turned around without getting up from her chair.
“You’re alive…”
“I haven’t even reached the 100th floor, but it’s too early to die.”
Andrea shuddered and sat at the table. But somehow Trisha was giving him a resentful look.
“Why are you like that? Why did you run out of antidotes on me when you inhaled the poison mist too?”
“I didn’t inhale enough to be life-threatening. On the other hand, your life was in a state of coming and going. It happened because of my carelessness, so I just thought I should take responsibility.”
“What are you talking about? Did the floor collapse? Is that because of your carelessness? Just because you received a revelation from the Shadow God doesn’t mean you know everything.”
“I avoided knowingly and subconsciously. It was too late to inform you.”
“Even so!”
Tricia had something she wanted to say, but she didn’t know what to say. Andrea could vaguely guess Trisha’s intentions, but was at a loss as to how to solve it.
Fortunately, Marco opened the way to sort things out.
“Anyway, since they both lived, wasn’t it? Hey, Trisha. In that case, you just have to say thank you.”
“…that’s not it! I mean… sh*t, I don’t want to owe anyone my life.”
Trisha’s first impression is that she is a hunter who is good at swearing and seems to be bold, but she is so clumsy when it comes to dealing with people.
Andrea didn’t want to argue over the matter any longer, so she kept things simple.
“I can pay it back with interest later, so take it for now.”
Tricia kept her mouth shut, but finally nodded. She, too, was not ignorant of how badly she had been speaking to her benefactor.
A moment of silence came. Andrea quietly rested and enjoyed herself. It’s been a long time since I’ve felt the sea breeze without feeling threatened for my life.
However, the priest of the waves had no intention of letting them rest.
“I don’t know if you’ll like the scenery.”
Marco’s face wrinkled when he saw Julius coming up the stairs. Andrea wondered why for a moment, but soon realized why.
Having been a slave on Nelas’s ship for over five years, Marco’s hatred must be much deeper and stickier than Andrea’s. Even if the target is not the one who used them, but just the priest of the waves.
However, Andrea soon realized something else. According to the excuses given to the two of them, Andrea had been tortured by the people of Nelas for losing her compatriots.
‘What, I should show that I hate you more than Marco.’
Marco spoke privately into Andrea’s ear.
‘I’m so sorry. I didn’t want to mix with the servants who serve the wave god, but I couldn’t help it in order to heal you.’
Andrea shook her head. He also had ill feelings toward Nellas, but honestly, it wasn’t that deep. If I had to blame him, his hatred towards the people who put him into the game was much greater than that of the Nelas people who swindled him.
Still, I couldn’t help but look natural. Andrea forcibly frowned and glared at the priest.
Julius, on the other hand, approached brazenly, not caring about the hostile gaze.
“Isn’t it beautiful? Although it’s not comparable to the outside world, this is a superb view that is hard to find anywhere else in the dungeon.”
“…”
“The Wave God is such an almighty and merciful person. What god could have such a vast temple inside a dungeon? Can you provide me with such a wonderful resting place?”
“…”
“So, why don’t you take this opportunity to receive the grace of the waves god? If you can show a little sincerity towards him, I will personally deliver the blessing to you.”
Andrea said that 5,000 gold is not a small sincerity. He tried to lie and circumspectly refused the priest’s offer.
“I’m sorry, but we’ve spent all our money to receive the grace of the Shadow God. It would be good to get to know the other challengers.”
Julius’ face hardened. The way he talked to me just like before has disappeared without a trace.
“Ha, that’s right. Somehow, I thought it looked like that…”
“…”
“No, I don’t mean to be offended. I wanted to look cheap from the appearance, but I received a cheap blessing from the dirty abyss…”
“what?”
“No, so what I meant was just… I just thought that they deserved to know their level, to give away all their liver and gallbladder to such a lowly god.”
Julius said that while glancing at him sideways.
‘Abyss’ was a metaphorical term used by those who worshiped the Wave God to refer to the Shadow God. Andrea almost burst out laughing rather than angry.
‘Yes, that priest. I used to be that kind of guy. It’s the same as the personality of suddenly changing and rushing when it seems that the money supply is not good.’
Zira Andrea, an NPC I had already seen in the game, remained carefree.
But that wasn’t the case. Marco’s eyes were burning with anger. It wouldn’t be strange if he threw the spear he had in his hand at the priest right away.
Andrea raised her hand to restrain Marco. Attacking the priest directly would complicate matters. Andrea’s method was not such a violent and damaging method.
‘Anyway, just looking at what I’m going to do from now on will make you angry, so there’s no need to touch it now.’
Andrea put a fake smile on her face and said to the priest,
“hahahahaha, what can I do with such a good eye? Rather, I would like to make an offering, albeit a small one, as a token of gratitude for the healing. Where is the donation box?”
As soon as he heard the word offering, Julius’ expression changed again in an instant. The priest of the waves smiled kindly, bowed, and beckoned.
“Please forgive my rudeness. Now I see that you are a person with a heart that reveres many gods. Come on, this way. You can follow me.”
The offering box was proudly located in the center of the main hall of the temple. It was decorated to stand out more splendidly than anything else around it. On top of it, there were even these letters written in gold leaf.
‘A true believer is someone who knows how to give thanks by giving his all.’
Andrea snorted. I pulled out my subspace pocket and put my hand in it. I could feel Julius staring intently at how much he took out from the side.
Andrea pulled out of her pocket and held a 1 gold coin in her hand. Julius opened his mouth wide as if it was absurd. Andrea started a fight with herself.
‘Damn it, it’s only 1 gold. Does it make sense to feel sorry for this?’
The miser’s quirk began to creep in again. Andrea clasped her trembling hands and barely pushed the coin into the offering box.
The offering was completed after bloody, sweaty efforts.
Andrea smiled proudly at Julius and then stepped back. The priest’s roaring voice echoed low in the main hall.
“You’re kidding me right now…”
“Oh, was it too little? If so, I will give you a little more.”
Andrea rummaged through the subspace pocket for a long time this time as well and took out a 1 gold coin.
Once again, an offering made after ceaseless efforts. Julius’ brow twisted terribly.
“What are we going to do now…”
“It’s a joke, a joke. I’ll do it again. I’ll do it right this time.”
Andrea donated 1 gold nineteen times like that. Julius no longer had a human expression, but an expression closer to that of a demon.
“Stop it! I don’t need the offerings of a worm like you! Get out of this temple right now before I throw you into the sea!”
“Just one more time, so be quiet.”
Andrea shook off the priest who revealed his true colors and went to the donation box again. Of course, the donation amount was 1 gold this time as well.
The moment the coins fell into the offering box, spray rose from the offering box.
Just looking at the water scales shining brightly in rainbow colors made my heart feel refreshed. While the spray surged up, it poured down and turned into a spiral shape, wrapping around Andrea.
Andrea felt a surge of energy and at the same time, a part of her mind that had been polluted was washed clean.
‘Buff [Blessing of the Wave God] is applied. The quirks that have an adverse effect disappear, and all stats increase by 5.’
It must have disappeared, but Andrea pulled out her status card to make sure.
[Name: Andrea]
[Class: Shadow Follower]
[Level: 38]
[Max Mana: 2]
[Muscle Strength: 38 + 5]
[mana: 42 + 5]
[Resistance: 40 + 6]
[Lucky: 41 + 5]
[quirk: none]
As Andrea had planned, the miser’s quirk had completely disappeared.
＜ 9. The thief who stole the country (4) ＞ End