TLWCL 01

Chapter 1 ….

Soft morning sunlight quietly spilled through the stained-glass windows of the chapel.

Only the faint candlelight and the morning sun gave the sanctuary its glow, and the dusty air drifted lazily through the open space.

Inside the chapel packed with hundreds of people, not even breathing could be heard.

On the arched ceiling, vivid illustrations that looked as though they might come alive depicted beings that were neither angels nor humans watching over the people.

A luxurious marble altar decorated here and there with gold caught the eye. On it lay an elaborately crafted censer and a red cloth.

The pews were filled with people sitting quietly, hands clasped, eyes closed.

Like living mummies—barely breathing, yet utterly motionless.

Silence weighed heavily.

At the very back of the chapel, beyond the altar, stood a person with long, white hair.

Clothed in garments so fine they seemed to give off a soft glow, the figure’s face was utterly androgynous—so much so that one could not easily tell whether they were male or female.

But from the height and build, one could only assume he was male.

He began to walk forward slowly. People watched him as if they had forgotten how to breathe.

With a gracefully extended hand, he grasped the golden bell on the altar.

A white, unblemished hand shook the bell—one that had clearly never endured hardship.

Ding.

At the sacred sound, the people immediately prostrated themselves on the floor and began praying toward him.

Though he was only a few steps above them, they didn’t dare look him in the eye—trembling as they stared only at the tips of his feet beneath his robes.

“Great Leader… give us your blessing…”

“Please grant mercy to your lowly servant…”

They whispered as if raising their voices in his presence would be a sin.

In answer to their prayers, a clear, delicate voice was heard.

“You are not lowly. How can you call yourselves unworthy, when God Himself shaped your souls and bodies? Cherish your bodies and spirits—rest them, and treat them with care.”

The voice was neither male nor female—perfectly neutral.

As if someone had mixed the voices of a demon and an angel.

Even fools and idiots could understand his words; an eerie, mystical power carved them directly into the mind.

“Ooooh…!”

The worshippers bowed so deeply their foreheads nearly struck the ground, and tears streamed down their faces.

The one standing closest to “God” whispered reverently.

“As expected… You are our true divinity. Sister, record these words and hang them upon the chapel wall.”

Unlike the holy figure in white, the people beside him were dressed in pitch-black, like shadows of God.

The nuns moved swiftly.

One picked up a pen.

Ink like melted gold seeped into the finely crafted pen nib. Through black lace gloves, she transcribed his words in golden script.

The “God” smiled faintly and spoke.

“That is enough. Return now. The sun has risen.”

When he finished speaking, the worshippers rose in perfect silence and filed out of the chapel.

Before long, he stood alone.

Between the shafts of sunlight, dust floated through the air. Only the holy figure remained, standing straight and still.

With a rough hand, he brushed up his bangs. His white hair swayed at the motion.

Despite a face that looked like it had never once frowned, he suddenly scowled.

His lips opened, and a foreign language spilled out in a annoyed tone.

“…Goddammit.”

I’m not a god! Ughhh!!!

I wanted to scream in frustration, but if I did that, the guards waiting outside would storm in yelling, “What’s wrong, Your Holiness!” while panicking everywhere.

Then I’d have to deal with that whole mess.

Besides, the “High Priest” Cernuan Lumière would never scream like that, so it’d wreck my character, and the followers’ faith would plummet too.

I sighed and lifted my head.

In front of my vision, a faint pressure appeared—my status window.

[Main Quest! Spread your religion across the world.]
[Penalty for failure: Death]

I had no choice but to become a cult leader.

Unless I wanted to die.

Yeah… The reason I ended up forced into this ridiculous scam of a cult in a fantasy world goes a long way back.

If I had just never played that stupid game…

No—if I had just lived my life properly, I wouldn’t be here pretending to be some divine con artist…

“It really was a trash game…”

I, who devoted my life to gaming, was once again trying to figure out how to beat the final boss.

The game had plenty of content and was actually great—except for one problem:

For over ten years, no one had ever cleared the final boss.

From its early days as a mobile game to right before the release of the VR version—no one had cleared it.

Defeating this boss, which learned from analyzing past plays using AI, was like trying to beat the final evolution of AlphaGo.

People tried macros, hacks, mods—nothing worked.

Even hackers gave up. The game company had sealed every loophole tight. Truly a god-tier game.

I was practically glued to my monitor, fingers flying across the keyboard.

On-screen, the creature labeled <Demon King> was blasting magic in every direction.

This pattern? Now? That was unexpected.

I hammered the keys.

AI couldn’t handle randomness.

Sure, randomness could technically be calculated—but when faced with brand-new data, it panicked.

This god-tier game even programmed the AI to panic realistically. That’s why it was a masterpiece.

I switched equipment.

A holy sword from a hidden dungeon—made to deal the finishing blow to the Demon King.

I’d never used it before. So the Demon King’s AI wouldn’t recognize it.

My character was at the limit. All my healing items were gone.

I swung the holy sword. My character staggered, struck by an attack.

But I barely survived with a sliver of HP—and the Demon King’s chest was slashed wide open.

[Graaaagh…!!]

The final boss dropped to its knees with a scream.

“…Huh?”

Did I just… win?

I almost shouted from joy—but held back.

If I made noise, the cranky landlord might kick me out.

Heart pounding, I watched the cutscene.

The Demon King muttered:

Gray skin. Pointed ears. Tangled black hair like a spiderweb.

Red irises in pitch-black sclera.

Golden horns and golden blood—all zoomed in dramatically.

[What is evil? Were we not merely called demons, and treated as evil?]

A hidden ending no one had ever seen—mine at last.

God, how much effort did this take?!

I’d spent real money. Time. Even taken vacation from work just to play at home, until I once got carried out by ambulance.

At this point, it’s fair to say I sacrificed my life for the game.

Yes. Time to record.

My high-spec monitor displayed flawless, vivid graphics.

[Who is the true savior? If God… if that thing was truly God, wouldn’t even I have been saved?]

The Demon King collapsed, and my silent character stood in the background.

An ordinary-looking avatar—black hair, black eyes—but now known as the one who defeated the Demon King.

[Forgotten God… in the end, I…]

“What? Forgotten God?”

That lore appears here?

Rumors mentioned a forgotten god—whispered among back-alley beggars, death-row prisoners, and demon contractors—but now the Demon King said it.

So defeating the Demon King wasn’t the final content. There was more. A sequel hook.

Next after the Demon King… a god? The content was endless.

The screen shook.

The Demon King melted like tar.

[It is grievous. It is unjust. I cannot end like this.]

The screen darkened, as if shattering.

[I will… start again from the beginning…!]

Wait—start again? What does “again” mean? A 5th phase? Seriously?

Four phases were already insane. The game devs needed to chill.

[Let everything… be forgotten. Return to nothing. And then… be your servant once more…]

The Demon King burned in a furnace, melting away.

His icy blue eyes stared at me, as if through the screen.

My poor vocabulary could only describe the graphics as “freaking insane.”

【Fatal ■ Error ■ Occurred!】

“What? Here?! Come on—how badly did they optimize this thing?!”

【■■ has intervened! Correcting error.】

Whew, it’s fixing—

[Let the true God be welcomed…]

The Demon King bled tears of blood, eyes wide open.

I stared at the monitor, heart racing.

Then—

click.

The screen went completely black.

Whoa… what a performance.

So now what?

I waited a few seconds, then realized—

The computer had shut off.

The once-loud cooling fan was silent.

“You’ve GOT to be kidding me!”

I finally screamed.

I had held my tongue even when beating the final boss—but this was unforgivable.

This was a top-tier setup.

The computer alone cost over five million won.

Keyboard, mouse, accessories—just under ten million total. And that was me hunting for deals and assembling parts myself.

The computer was fine. The GAME was the problem.

How does the game hard-crash in a cutscene when it didn’t lag once during the boss fight?!

‘Ah…