‘…But……..’
At the moment of conversion, Shin Woo-hyun was hesitating.
“…Is it right to throw this away?”
He looked around and saw a pure white space, a space filled with glittering gold and a statue of a praying Goddess.
It was the Bishop’s Prayer Room in South Korea, a place only he could use.
This space represented his current high status.
Was it right to abandon such glory and convert, to worship the God of Victory?
Furthermore.
‘The price for conversion is harsh.’
In the doctrine of the Order of Light, there are taboos that a believer must never commit.
Among them, the most severely punished were conversion and heresy.
No matter who it was (even if it was a High Priest like a Bishop), they were dealt with through severe punishment regarding conversion.
The details were as follows.
— …The two eyes that saw what should not be seen shall be gouged out.
— The mouth that uttered words that should not be uttered shall be torn.
— The ears that heard what should not be heard shall be plugged with stakes.
It was not fatal.
However, one would have to live the rest of their life unable to see, hear, or speak.
That was clearly a pain worse than Death.
That was why Shin Woo-hyun was hesitating.
His shrewd instincts were sounding an alarm to convert, but his cold reason kept stopping him.
One could not decide on a major decision based on a momentary emotion.
Unlike his heart, which had leaned toward it at first, he began a cold comparison.
His reason, which had returned as if cold water had been poured over it, was telling him that there was more to lose than to gain through conversion.
Thus, a long period of contemplation began and finally.
‘Yes. I have enough now; I can’t lose what I have in my hands by being too greedy.’
At the very least, he was currently doing quite well as a Bishop of the Order of Light.
Of course, it was certain that faith in the God of Victory and his influence shown through internet broadcasts would grow, but that was only a momentary victory.
The Order of Light still boasted a powerful influence, and the God of Victory and his followers would be pressured by them.
Comparing their current influence and power, there was a high possibility that this victory would remain a one-time occurrence.
‘…Let’s think of it that way.’
Of course, that was all an assumption.
Perhaps the God of Victory and the religious order that worshiped him could win.
However, looking only at the immediate possibilities, the Order of Light he currently belonged to had the upper hand.
Considering the penalty for failure, it was right to follow the Order of Light he was currently part of.
‘Everyone else must be in a similar state.’
That wasn’t just Shin Woo-hyun’s thought.
In terms of short-term impact, worshiping the God of Victory was clearly the right choice, but in most cases, it couldn’t be realized in the face of the wall of reality they had to clash with immediately.
Therefore, Shin Woo-hyun also intended to settle for being satisfied with his stable current status rather than conversion.
A stable choice for the present, rather than the adventure of conversion.
However, that resolve could not help but be shaken by a single will that suddenly began to be heard.
[Congratulations.]
A System message that could be heard in the Tower.
‘No way!’
It was different from existing System messages.
[By your faith in the God of Victory, you have earned the qualification to become his 995th believer.]
Surprisingly, the identity of the will echoing in his mind was the God of Victory.
A mechanical sound, like a recording being played, continued to echo in his mind.
[Shin Woo-hyun has become a believer who proved his faith within the first 1,000.]
[The privilege of the 1,000th believer is granted.]
[The ‘Potion of Physical Enhancement’ is provided as a reward.]
With the word reward.
– Flash!
A brilliant light rose above his hand.
The gathering cluster of light soon formed a shape.
“Th-This?!”
Surprisingly, it was a potion bottle containing a red liquid.
A mysterious liquid that only those with the Alchemy Trait could create.
Moreover, what he held in his hand now was the type that could temporarily strengthen the body.
A potion that was difficult to obtain even for a significant amount of money had come in.
“Is this… the price of faith?” He couldn’t help but be surprised.
He vaguely knew that if one worshiped a god and gave them belief and faith, their influence and power would grow.
And he knew that as a reward, one could obtain a status like Bishop (though that also required luck).
But this, the God of Victory, was different.
It wasn’t because of luck.
He received a reward simply because he believed in him, and because that faith was fast.
Furthermore, it was a Potion of Physical Enhancement, which couldn’t be obtained for millions.
‘If I’m the 995th, what about those above me, the 1st or those under the 100th?’
He received a Potion of Physical Enhancement even with faith under 1,000.
The faster the faith, the more the reward would increase, and he couldn’t help but be curious about that.
[Your current rank is Lowest-tier believer.]
[To raise the rank of believer, you must evangelize even more faith.]
[Evangelize the faith! If someone comes to worship the God of Victory through your introduction, you can earn faith points and be promoted to a Lower-tier believer.]
[Since you can receive a portion of faith points through the believers under your command, the more believers you have, the faster you can be promoted.]
Shin Woo-hyun, who was quietly listening to that will couldn’t help but be shocked, “…This is a complete pyramid scheme?!”
Because what was being conveyed through the will was clearly a method commonly used in multi-level marketing.
A pyramid power structure.
It was a multi-level marketing method where the higher you stood on the structure of dominance, the more profit you could obtain.
And yet, a being who called himself a god was recruiting believers through this pyramid power structure.
However, the effect was powerful.
“I-I have to hurry!”
Shin Woo-hyun, who until a moment ago had resolved to live as a Bishop of the Order of Light, quickly reversed it.
He decided to join the Order of Victory instead of the Order of Light.
The reason was.
‘Even though the 1st or 100th spots were taken, I can’t let even this be taken away.’
Now was not the time to regret what had passed.
He had obtained a Potion of Physical Enhancement just for his faith, so what if he achieved a promotion in rank?
It was obvious that an enormous reward would be given.
***
And now was the perfect time to achieve a promotion.
He had to aim for when the pie was largest, while those who believed in the God of Victory were still few.
“Is anyone there!”
Exiting the prayer room, Shin Woo-hyun began to search for believers.
Originally, it was a time for praise toward the Goddess of Light, but the schedule had changed.
During this time, they would have a time of praise not for the Goddess of Light, but for the God of Victory.
– Flash!
A brilliant light rose.
The source was the God of Victory—more precisely, the God of Falsehood who was imitating my past appearance.
That light.
– Flash, flash!
It was repeated not once, but dozens, hundreds of times.
The God of Falsehood put his hands together repeatedly like a machine generating light.
“…Are you sure about this?”
The fellow who finished the series of actions asked me.
The arrogant appearance from a while ago had completely disappeared.
It was because he had read my true intentions.
The fear that he could be extinguished at any time.
Of course, that didn’t mean eternal destruction, but the existence of a god, once extinguished, is not easily recovered.
To enjoy life in this world even a little longer, he had no choice but to follow my words, or at least pretend to.
“About what?” I asked back to his question.
“I feel like you won’t be able to handle it later if you spray such precious treasures now……”
In fact, the identity of the light he generated was the delivery of rewards.
And it was a reward for something very easy and abstract like faith.
Of course, no matter how trivial the faith was, the reward had to be certain.
Rewards were being paid out with differences based on the order of faith.
The problem was that the reward was something quite ‘extraordinary.’
From consumables like potions to equipment that couldn’t be easily obtained even in the Tower.
Of course, only a few received equipment.
However, considering it was given just as a price for faith, it couldn’t help but be a painful expenditure.
If the God of Falsehood had obtained the status of a primary god like the God of Light and Darkness, the words “painful” wouldn’t have been used.
A primary god would have all sorts of treasures piled up in their palace.
But he was a lowly god who had stayed in the realm of a lower god for a long time.
Naturally, there was no way he had anything.
So the rewards he was handing out now were also coming out of my pocket, and he was worried about the reckless distribution of those rewards.
“Are you worried about problems that might arise later if faith is not rewarded after recklessly giving rewards at first?”
His thoughts were obvious.
It was faith with rewards as bait.
Naturally, if the rewards didn’t return, that faith would also disappear.
At first, the number of believers would be increasing because of the buzz, but how long could that be maintained?
“The number of believers is still increasing. Of course, it’s good news, but the rewards will increase accordingly……”
The granting of rewards imitating the System I proposed had an incredible impact.
Only a day had passed but Falsehood was already eyeing the realm of a high-ranking god from a general god.
It had to be.
Since the price for faith followed, everyone was in an uproar saying they would worship the God of Victory.
In particular, the most effective part was the ‘multi-level marketing method.’
It didn’t matter who it was.
A method of delivering profit if you evangelized someone to believe in the God of Victory.
I also introduced a referral system here.
A bit of benefit and reward were given to the one who evangelized, the referrer, and the one who newly gained faith.
It was a thorough introduction of performance-based results where the new believer was happy to get more rewards, and the one who evangelized as a referrer was happy to get a portion of the faith points that the believer accumulated, making it a win-win for everyone.
The only problem with the more solid-than-expected multi-level method was whether the rewards could hold out.
Of course his worry was unnecessary.
“No need to worry. The warehouse is still far from being empty.”
It had to be, as rewards obtained while passing through the Tower on very hard difficulty were still piled up.
What came out of the Knight and the Bundle of the Legion Commander wasn’t just the Knight Sword, Armor, and tickets I used in the past.
From various potions and consumables to equipment endowed with powerful abilities.
Things that other Awakeners wouldn’t even dare to dream of were piled up in my warehouse.
I haven’t even taken out the truly important treasures yet.
Of course, I don’t intend to save them.
I plan to use them appropriately now while the momentum is strong, while the God of Victory’s stock is rising.
***
“I should hold an event.”
“Pardon? Suddenly what…?”
The God of Falsehood, who probably thought the rewards for faith were enough.
But my thoughts were different.
They say you should row while the tide is in; I intend to catch up to the God of Light and Darkness right now.
The God of Victory, whose stock was rising.
There was a will echoing to the believers who worshiped him.
[Limited Event!]
[SNS, internet broadcasts, it doesn’t matter where. Please show off the rewards you have obtained as a believer in a public place. We will select 10 people who received the most empathy and recommendations from many people and deliver the rewards below.]
[1st – The sword that cuts through space, Barisada.]
[2nd – The Phoenix Helmet, which allows you to survive the threat of Death once.]
[3rd – The Titan Armor, which has strong resistance against physical attacks……..]
In the past, faith was spread from mouth to mouth, but the modern era is different.
It was because there were numerous platforms and spaces where faith could be spread as much as one wanted without even having to meet people in person.
And if those rewards exceeded everyone’s expectations, the impact was bound to be enormous.