24 Hearts

Chapter 7

I had only been in this world for a single day, though I knew Kaseun’s back story, and knew his appearance from the graphical modeling I had done to create him. To say that I knew him was an understatement, for I had made him. I could not tell this to the paladin, though, whose earlier worries had dissipated once I had confirmed that Kaseun was indeed Judah’s grandfather. He now smiled warmly at me.

“Excellent. He said he will come for you this afternoon. I know it might be frustrating for you, but you’ll have to wait here for a while. You are free to explore the temple, of course,” Seron finished as he stood up and gathered the dishes, finally leaving me alone in the room. He had kept the door open, probably as a further invitation for me to explore the temple. He truly was a kind and caring man.

I took a deep breath of relief and once more studied the room I was in. While it was quite small, it was tastefully decorated and meticulously clean. The walls and roof were painted in intertwined lines of brown and white, and the furniture, while modest, was well looked after.

Giving everything a final glance, I stood up and left. Upon first entering the temple, I had been filled with admiration. It had seemed so small from outside, yet the interior soon disabused me of that notion. It was one of my favorite sites in Serenia, and I appreciated every detail of my creation as I strolled around it. The priests were acting very welcoming, nodding their greetings with warm smiles as they went about their daily tasks, not once preventing me from entering one area or another. This hospitality allowed me to explore every nook and cranny of the wonderful building.

The main hall stretched about four standard stories towards a triangular roof, which was reinforced by two rows of pillars, which were each spaced about four meters from one another. The place looked grand, and through the eyes of a child, this grandiosity increased tenfold. Each of the pillars had painstakingly been engraved with intricate and colorful patterns.

Many corridors stretched from the main hall, with the second floor being reached by a spiral staircase. Despite the welcoming nature of the priests, I remained cautious.

Thus far, I had found sleeping quarters, a mess hall, an ablution block, and a records room. The next room I explored was the chapel itself, which was reached by turning left at the main entrance.

Two columns of benches stretched to either side, with each bench being able to seat six worshipers. On the far wall, there was a gigantic organ, its pipes stretching many meters into the air. In front of it stood a large statue of the goddess Jopiel. The floor was covered in crimson carpeting with crisscrossing golden embroidery.

I now stood before the organ and appreciated its size more fully. The pipes that protruded from it counted in their hundreds, the thing having so many notes that more than one organist had to play it. The organ pipes themselves shimmered as the sunlight from the massive windows reflected from their silver metal surfaces. I had never seen such a thing in my life and decided that this was the king of all musical instruments. The desire to hear the organ being played filled me, for the resultant sound would surely be divine.

My attention now settled upon the statue, which was, without a doubt, the centerpiece of the chapel. Four pairs of elegant wings extended from Jopiel’s back. Her face was framed by hair that reached all the way to her hips, and this face was without the most beautiful female visage I had ever beheld. Her slender arms were crossed over her chest, and her eyes were closed, gifting her an air of supreme peace.

This detailed statue was truly worthy of Queen Jopiel, the second Seong Wang, also called heavenly rulers.

Just as there were monarchs within the demonic realm, so did the beings that ruled on the celestial plane. Between these realms, great armies of demons and angels clashed eternally, bearing the banners of their rulers upon the fields of battle. Mortals called this endless conflict the ‘War of the Gods’, or ‘Godswar.’

While I studied the statue, warm energy began to suffuse my entire body. It enveloped me from head to toe, and for the first time since my relocation to this universe, I relaxed.

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[You stand before the statue of Jopiel, goddess of peace and protection. It is a finely wrought piece of divine art, and worshipers pray for peace before it every morning]

[You feel a warm energy flow from the statue, granting succor to your troubled mind and bringing fortune to your future endeavors]

[Luck permanently increased by 2]

[For a period of one week, you gain experience at a rapid rate and your stamina recovers much faster]

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I had not expected this, somehow having forgotten coding this boon into any interactions with Jopiel’s statue. The raising of my Luck stat greatly pleased me, and it also confirmed that some of my game mechanics functioned exactly the same in this universe. I suspected that other, non-experience related methods of increasing my stats, such as consuming certain items, would also function here. I could also raise the stats through training, which would be the wise thing to do, seeing as I was a seven-year-old boy. At least now I knew that I could strengthen myself before adventure came knocking on my door.

Xian’s statement that this was both a game and absolute reality came to my mind, and I knew that if I ever wished to return to Earth, I had to understand all the systems of this world as fast as possible. I was staring intently at the statue, lost in an ocean of my own thoughts. This meant that I failed to hear the approaching footsteps until they came up directly behind me.

“Here you are, young Judah.”

I turned towards the speaker, who turned out to be Paladin Seron. An older man stood by his side, and I was certain that I was looking at Kaseun Sabrak.

The longer that I stared at him, the more I recognized him. In the flesh, he looked exactly like his in-game character portrait. His hair hung long and wild, down to his shoulders. He had a great bushy beard and the only word that could describe it was ‘unkempt.’ If I had not known who he was, I would have assumed him to be either a bandit chief or hermit monk.

The feeling that washed over me was incredible; seeing a character that I had created standing before me in flesh and blood, drawing breath. I had never really understood why people liked to buy figurines of their favorite characters, but seeing this man before me; I started to understand that impulse. It was a craving to convert the imagined into the physical, and I was living through an entire world that has been converted in such a fashion.

Seron noticed my intense study of the man next to him.

“This elder is Kaseun Sabrak,” the paladin said as he stepped to one side, introducing Kaseun to me in a formal manner. Kaseun gave a chuckle at having been called an elder. It seemed that in this world, the word elder did not denote a frail old man, but rather a warrior who was strong in both body and spirit. His presence was causing visible discomfort in Seron, though Kaseun gave this fact no heed as he walked toward me with a graceful stride that I would not have expected from someone with his muscular bulk. He knelt in front of me, his air of intimidation not wavering for a second. I already liked this man.

“It is nice to finally meet you. I am named Kaseun Sabrak,” he said with a winning smile as he extended his hand out towards me.

“I… I am Judah Arche,” I said to his still-smiling face as I shook his hand.

“I know, Judah. You can call me grandpa. Have no fear, I will be your guardian until the day that you can be called a man. If there is any path in life that you wish to take, I will be there, laying the foundation so that you can journey toward your destiny. You need not worry about a single thing, Judah. Consider it a repayment for the many debts I owed your father.”

He rustled my hair with his huge hand. Feeling the warmth of his fatherly touch brought a smile to my face. I felt so relaxed in his presence.

With a shock, I realized that Kaseun Sabrak was the most caring grandfather I had ever had, in both my lives.

* * *

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「Status Window」

[Name: Judah Arche]

[Title: None]

[Level: 4]

[Specialization: Black Claw _ Shadow Magic Swordsman (Hidden_A)]

[Number of Resurrections: 1]

[Strength: 20(D) / Potential A]

[Health: 15(F) / Potential S]