I Became the Priest of Blasphemy of the Outer Gods

This is dangerous.

If it continues this way, I’ll surely die.

I need to get up immediately!

*Clink.*

“Gasp!”

“Ah!”

“Eek!”

As I caught my breath and stood up, I saw children making noisy footsteps as they ran outside the door.

‘……Who are these children?’

My last memory clearly stopped at a board game café… or some similar, unfamiliar place.

“Urgh……!”

When I tried to recall that memory, my body and mind both reacted with rejection. Barely holding back the nausea and regaining my composure, I finally noticed my surroundings.

“What is all this?”

The room was beyond merely old; it was decrepit. The ceiling made from rotting and broken wood, as well as the bed I was lying on, were all in bad shape. What covered me was closer to an animal hide than a blanket.

‘What’s with this smell…… huh?’

Only then did I notice my hands.

“What is this?”

There was a strange, green glowing pattern on the back of my hand. The overall shape was a hexagon, but the inside was filled with triangles. The central triangle had the number 15 written in it.

‘I’ve seen this somewhere before… Ah! It’s a 20-sided die!’

Amazingly, the pattern turned black after a moment, and the numbers completely vanished.

‘It wasn’t just my imagination. It was definitely green earlier.’

I waved my hand, but unlike before, the tattoo showed no change.

“Who did this to me……?”

As I struggled with confusion, I heard the voice of a girl I had never heard before.

‘A foreigner?’

Green eyes and blonde hair. It was definitely not dyed; it was slightly dirty blonde. Her clothes were also peculiar. They looked like something a commoner from the medieval times would wear. The fabric quality was poor, and it had a noticeably old feel.

‘Wait. That’s one thing, but how can I understand her?’

She wasn’t speaking Korean or English.

It was definitely a language unfamiliar to me, yet I naturally understood her words and…

“Excuse me… Where am I?”

…I could also speak it fluently. It felt like the knowledge was given to me, as natural as my native language.

“This is Kind Hut Orphanage.”

“……Orphanage?”

When I expressed my confusion, the girl who introduced herself as Talia explained.

“It’s an orphanage a bit away from the village. Don’t you remember? The children playing in the forest found you collapsed and brought you here.”

“In the forest?”

Why was I in the forest?

“Yes, you were unconscious, so we laid you down for now. The director even called for a priest, but he said there was nothing particularly wrong with you. He simply assumed you collapsed from hunger in the forest.”

Though it wasn’t easy to accept, I began to understand what she said. The mention of bringing a priest and all indicated a world different from mine, an alternate world.

‘It’s like the Renaissance era. It’s like a fantasy movie.’

The more I looked around, the stronger this impression became. There were no outlets, lights, or switches. Instead, there were just candle holders.

“Are you okay?”

Of course I wasn’t okay.

However, since I couldn’t tell the truth, I decided to make something up.

“Hmm, it seems I’ve lost my memory.”

“Oh my gosh, lord Hayat. You mean you don’t remember anything?”

Hold on.

What did this girl just say?

“Did you just say ‘Hayat’?”

“Yes? Are you saying you don’t remember Lord Hayat either?”

“… The Bringer of Light?”

“Of course! There’s only one Lord Hayat.”

I too knew that name. Similar to Abrahamic religions, particularly Christianity, this was the sole deity of a religion. Talia spoke as if it were a matter of course, but the reason I found it strange was different. This god appeared in the game settings created by Dowol.

‘… No way.’

Combining the last situation before I lost consciousness, the picture of the dice on my hand, the medieval settings, and the Church of Hayat, there was one unbelievable conclusion. This world was the setting of the game ≪Orders≫ that I used to enjoy with Dowol.

“Excuse me… Are you really okay?”

“No, it’s nothing. So, where exactly are we in ‘Everlor’?”

“We’re in the ‘Greenwest’ region.”

The way she naturally understood the in-game geographical names made me despair once again. I didn’t know precisely where it referred to, but the important thing was that she answered as if it were normal. This was indeed the Everlor continent from the game, and that was considered normal here.

“I’m not sure if this will help, but we found something around where you were lying. It even has a name written on it.”

“A name?”

“Since the director taught me how to read, I can read words! It looked like it was your name.”

Talia took something out from under the bed. It was a somewhat shabby bag. It was more like a bundle made of leather than a proper bag. Carefully opening it, amidst various items, a particularly noticeable object appeared. It was a book bound in some unknown leather.

“… It’s empty.”

Although there was nothing written in the book, it wasn’t entirely empty. A single piece of paper fluttered out from inside.

“Ethnos…?”

A character sheet with the name ‘Ethnos’ written on it. It wasn’t a name I had chosen. Of course, I didn’t have to accept this as my name, but the little girl beside me was already calling me Ethnos.

“Your name is Ethnos, right?”

“It seems that way. Do you have a mirror by any chance?”

“We don’t have something as expensive as a mirror… but there’s water over here.”

Expensive mirrors, huh? This worn-out orphanage seemed to be struggling financially, not just in appearance. Maybe mirrors were indeed expensive in this era.

“Why is my hair like this?”

My reflection in the water was bewildering. It wasn’t the face I knew, and my hair had grown long and crimson.

“… Tsk.”

I pulled out a strand of hair, but it was red all the way to the root. Any hope that this was all just a prank shattered completely.

“What on earth is happening here…?”

“Do you really not remember anything?”

Talia, despite knowing it was rude, couldn’t suppress her curiosity and cautiously asked, watching my reaction.

“Yes, but thanks to you, I’ve learned a few things.”

“Really? I’m glad to hear that. There have been many strange things happening lately, and then you suddenly appeared, which surprised me.”

By the way, being called ‘mister’—I was getting to the age where that was appropriate, which made me dislike it even more. But something else was even more concerning.

“Strange things?”

Of course, there were many things I needed to know. There were numerous aspects I had to grasp, but my instincts were telling me not to miss out on this information.

‘If I’ve really fallen into the world of ≪Orders≫, this sort of thing would definitely start with getting involved in some incident.’

I didn’t know if such rules applied to me now, but still…

“The director told me to keep it a secret.”

Despite her words, it was clear she could not wait to spill the secret. In the end, after I repeatedly promised to keep it confidential, she finally shared the story with me.

“The director strictly said it had to be a secret. It’s a very important matter for us, so we must keep it confidential. But no matter how much I think about it, it’s too strange.”

“What’s strange?”

“One day, a priest visited us. That alone was unusual, but on that day, he entrusted a box to us, saying to hide it in the basement.”

“He did something that suspicious in front of you?”

Talia shook her head.

“The director and the priest don’t know, but the walls here are old. If you pay a little attention, you can hear conversations from other rooms. So…”

“You eavesdropped.”

Talia nodded and continued.

“The priest said he was transporting an important scripture and needed a place to hide it. So he left it here, saying no one should know.”

“Is there a paladin or a priest skilled in combat here?”

“No, there isn’t. That’s what I don’t understand.”

Indeed… Even if it was hidden temporarily in secret, it would be normal to assign someone to guard it. The more I listened to the story, the more uneasy I felt. It seemed as if some crucial facts were missing or misaligned.

Clatter.

‘Huh? The dice…’

A change occurred on the back of my hand. The pattern of the tattoo altered, this time showing the number 9 on the dice. The tattoo glowed red and then vanished, with nothing significant happening.

‘Why did it suddenly roll? It seems like it failed as well.’

In TRPGs, dice are rolled in various situations. The ≪Orders≫ created by Dowol used a simpler dice rule. Dice were rolled for specific actions or decisions, usually using a 20-sided die. A roll of 11 or above was a ‘success’, and 10 or below was a ‘failure’.

‘So far, I’ve only seen regular successes and failures. So, naturally, there might be critical successes and failures as well.’

Rolling the maximum value of 20 would result in a ‘critical success’ with additional positive outcomes. Rolling the minimum value of 1 would result in a ‘critical failure’ with additional negative outcomes.

‘But why can’t I roll them at will? Is there a condition?’

No matter how much I tried, I couldn’t figure out a way. However, such failures weren’t completely useless.

‘The dice rolled when I woke up, indicating some judgment was made. Considering I had a desperate dream, was I perhaps almost subjected to mental damage?’

Thus, it helped me grasp the circumstances. Just like in a dark cave, when the dice is rolled to listen for something, even if the roll fails, it indicates that ‘something is about to happen’, and I could stay alert.

‘Am I the only one who hears the dice? Does this child know something… No, if the dice tattoo is unique to me, it could become troublesome.’

“Mister?”

“Sorry, it’s such an intriguing story that I was lost in thought.”

If I could roll the dice now, I might have perceived something, but unfortunately, I couldn’t. Besides, I couldn’t roll them at will, and repeated rolls for the same action would incur penalties.

“Please continue the story.”

“So, it’s strange to entrust the scripture to a place like this…”

“A place like this? Isn’t it an orphanage?”

Wait, she just mentioned that the priest’s visit wasn’t common? Despite failing the dice roll, I could use the knowledge I gained to understand the incongruity I felt earlier.

“Is there no priest here at all?”

“… No.”

Just like medieval monasteries, the temples of the Hayat religion played the role of orphanages by protecting homeless orphans. Naturally, there should be priests of the Hayat religion or paladins to protect the temple.

“This isn’t a regular orphanage, is it?”

“… Yes. We aren’t just ordinary orphans, either.”

Talia spoke with a slightly sorrowful look.

“We haven’t received baptism. This place protects such children.”

I thought it was a subpar orphanage, and that turned out to be the reason.

“The director agreed to keep the scripture because if we successfully guard it, we would all receive baptism.”

Clatter.

The dice rolled again. This time, it showed 19. It glowed green, indicating success. When a roll succeeded, it triggered a knowledge recall related to the current situation, a so-called knowledge check. Despite the dice rolling without my will, it immediately provided me with the answer. Regrettably, the answer was not something I wanted to acknowledge.

“This is insane… That’s no ordinary scripture.”