Akare’s hunting grounds are basically vast.

So spacious that they can accommodate a large number of people.

Of course, if the crowd swells beyond capacity,

a separate channel is automatically created to ease the congestion.

Well, apart from the official launch, there hasn’t been a time when so many people gathered to that extent.

So, as time goes on, the efficiency of hunting for mages increases.

When there are no people around, you can hunt as if monopolizing the vast hunting ground all by yourself.

“I feel like being a mage.”

While hunting alone in the Arlong Canyon, I suddenly had a moment of self-reflection.

Inquisitors, official priests, holy knights.

Among the second awakenings of the priest class, inquisitors had a similar position to warriors.

They were more specialized in raids than hunting, and even better at PVP than raids.

In essence, their PVP stat could be described as an extreme second awakening compared to warriors.

Thus, they had trouble exerting power in PVE-related content compared to other second awakens.

Yeah, I knew that already.

I chose the Inquisitor knowing full well.

But I never imagined I wouldn’t get a single attack skill.

It’s so unfair, truly unfair.

If I knew it would be like this, I would have chosen either the official priest or the holy knight.

*Crack-!*

[Critical!]

“Phew…”

The minor dragons, wyverns, and drakes all have “reverse scales.”

If an attack hits that reverse scale, it’s guaranteed to be a critical hit.

This was common knowledge on Akare’s official site.

However, not every user targeted the reverse scale.

That’s because the reverse scale is very small.

In reality, a dragon’s reverse scale is large enough to be observed with the naked eye, but for drakes and wyverns? You’re just a mere failure of a dragon.

As a result, they were smaller than dragons, and their reverse scales were small too.

Thus, most users didn’t bother to aim for the reverse scale.

Before the second awakening, seamless play was possible without hitting the reverse scale in party play.

After the second awakening? It was easier to hunt than just lying around watching Mutube shorts.

Such action is often called “DPS crush.”

But as someone who couldn’t pull a single attack skill and was merely a commoner, I couldn’t engage in DPS crush.

I had to swing my heavy mace to target the reverse scale and hunt.

Even when I landed a critical hit, it wouldn’t die in one shot.

I had to hit wyverns twice and drakes as much as three times.

“Mobbing is the way to go.”

Among the second awakening skills, the “Heretic Designation” is a special skill for inquisitors.

The other one, “Law of Light,” is a common skill handed out upon a second awakening.

Since “Heretic Designation” has no use outside raids and PVP,

I’d shuffle that away, and since “Law of Light” has dot damage in an area format, it’s relatable.

While roaming the canyon, I hit the drakes with critical hits twice.

Then what happens when I use “Law of Light”?

I could take down the group of drakes in a single blow.

Well, if I had been a mage from the start, I could’ve done that with just a click.

So, I had a moment of self-reflection but managed to hold onto my sanity and continued hunting.

The unexpected event occurred around that time.

Gathering about a dozen drakes,

I was waiting for the cooldown of “Law of Light” when suddenly, Chain Lightning unleashed from somewhere and wiped out the drakes in an instant.

“Ah, ah…”

The drakes I had painstakingly gathered to take down in one go.

Kraaak.

“Why, why?”

Why can’t I be happy while playing Akare?

Memories from the past flashed before my eyes.

“Rice-eating Saint, hacker, lunatic…”

Moments where I was branded with all sorts of strange titles.

The frustration and sorrow I felt back then overwhelmed me all at once.

“…I can’t forgive this.”

Using the remnants of mana left by Chain Lightning as a guide, I chased after it.

Not long after, I spotted two men chatting near the Record Point.

“Sweet?”

It reminded me of the first time I met Suzuka.

All the chaos began from meeting Suzuka.

Monster stealing in the hunting ground is a major crime. I should give an instant execution.

But if I did that, my already tarnished image from hunting cultists would sink even further.

Just a bit more, relax.

Stay calm.

“…I can just ask Suzuka to come here for a sec.”

“Excuse me.”

Wait a second.

Now that I think about it, that Chain Lightning.

There were definitely over ten chains of lightning, right?

Chain Lightning typically only produces one chain of lightning.

It increases to two through enhancement, and when you hit level three, it becomes seven.

No one I remember succeeded in triple casting.

So that means, Sweet’s Chain Lightning is at level three.

Gulp—

I also have that first-tier attack skill “Heavenly Punishment.”

Or the “Sanctuary,” which boosts all skill effects by 50%.

Huh? I’m sure I can use such first-tier skills well.

I, who was mistreated all alone, tossed calmness aside.

“That mob you gathered just now, you killed it, right?”

Unable to hold back, I checked Sweet’s number of awakenings.

Five times. The max count of awakenings available in the magic tower.

In just five times, you fully enhanced your Chain Lightning?

You’re impressive. Really impressive.

But does being impressive mean everything?

Is it okay to steal even if you own a level three Chain Lightning?

“Um, that is….”

Seeing Sweet’s visibly flustered expression made it clear that it was definitely unintentional.

But just because it wasn’t intentional doesn’t mean the wrongdoing disappears.

Still, if I show patience and just casually apologize, I might get away with this…

“…Rice-eating Saint?”

*Twitch twitch.*

Let’s not cause a problem.

It was a promise I repeated in my head every time I made a sub-character.

Now, that promise has been broken.

“Heretic Designation.”

[ Please specify the target and reason. ]

Target is Sweet.

Reason is Monster stealing.

In RPGs, monster stealing is a major crime.

Sweet stole the monster that the Inquisitor was hunting.

Thus, it is heresy.

Surrounded by blessings and a holy shield,

I unleashed a brilliant light to create a flash effect instantly.

While it only dealt damage to undead-type monsters, it was okay.

The light that burst unexpectedly was enough to blind the opponent.

I covered my eyes with my hands, but the blind debuff had already appeared.

“May you find peace.”

With all my might, I swung my mace down toward the blinded Sweet.

***

Rice-eating Saint.

Was that the trigger?

[ You have been designated as a heretic by Inquisitor ‘Pera’. ]

[ Reason: Monster stealing ]

[ The mark of the Church will be given. ]

“What the…?”

Before Sweet could think any further, the system message refreshed.

[ Inquisitor ‘Pera’ is initiating heretic judgment. ]

[ Mark of the Church! ]

[ PVP has been forcibly activated. ]

While I read the system message blocking my view,

brilliant light exploded in front of me,

and Sweet, unable to react, fell into blindness.

“May you find peace.”

Before she could even utter, “What the hell is going on?”,

*Crash!*

With a horrid sound as something crumbled, my vision went black.

In the darkness where I couldn’t see anything emerged

only the familiar resurrection message and broadcast chat.

“What?”

Did I die?

―――

Rice-eating Saint, hacker, lunatic, Let’s go

Former gallery owner of the in-game gallery, come on in

So, Inquisitors really exist

Wow, that’s terrifying

I’ve never seen someone do that before

Legendary incident occurred

She’s dead, lol

―――

“Guys, what’s an Inquisitor?”

Accepting the fact that she had died, Sweet revealed her curiosity.

―――

Conditions to activate are hitting a cultist 100 times, lol

There’s holy knight, official priest, and inquisitor too

It’s one of the second awakenings of the priest class

―――

If the official priest inherited the priest lineage,

those who selected the knight as a sub-job could become holy knights.

Similarly, after the advent of the cultists, “Inquisitor” was unlocked, but the requirements were quite steep, prompting many to skip it.

Most users who chose priest loved PVE content anyway.

―――

[ User ㅇㅇ donated 10,000 won ]

– Info) The Inquisitor’s special skill “Heretic Designation” can assign the “Mark of the Church” to a target if there’s a valid reason for them to be a heretic, it can only be used on cultists or Salvation Church monsters. The priest can forcibly activate PVP against those marked by the Church at any time.

―――

“Oh, got it, thanks for the detailed explanation.”

―――

A thousand won worth of rice—totally true,

So full, it’s packed to the brim

TMI is definitely ‘ㅇㅇ’

Anonymous ham explained it well

―――

Thanks to the appropriate explanation from the anonymous user, Sweet understood the whole situation, but one lingering doubt remained.

“But how does our friend Anonymous know all that…?”

―――

“Probably collected about 100 cultist heads.”

Are you an active member?

Hey! Originally ‘ㅇㅇ’ knows everything

What the

Gasp

―――

Curiosity arose, but Sweet decided to keep Anonymous’s secret and opened her map.

The respawn point can be designated in either a city or a Record Point.

“Wouldn’t I just die right away if I respawned in Arlong Canyon?”

If I revive in Arlong Canyon like this, I might face a spawn kill.

However, I could secure a priest necessary for hunting the emperor.

While Sweet was internally troubled, a familiar sound effect played.

Tinkle-!

―――

[ User ㅇㅇ donated 10,000 won ]

– Info) The Inquisitor’s “Heretic Designation” does not activate without valid reasons. It’s speculated that valid reasons include offenses like insults, monster stealing, illegal program use, exploiting bugs, and so forth—basically “unsportsmanlike conduct.” Therefore, Sweet doesn’t have to worry about being spawn-killed.

―――

“Ah, thanks. Seriously, this info is on another level.”

Sweet gave a thumbs up, although it was too dark to see.

After all, the thumbs-up was one of Sweet’s signature reactions, so it didn’t matter much that it wasn’t visible.

―――

Strangely knowledgeable Anonymous.

Scary.

Did you gather info while torturing cultists?

It’s genuinely terrifying, isn’t it?

Ddddddd

―――

Following the suspicious words from Anonymous, Sweet respawned in Arlong Canyon.

“Whoa.”

The first sight Sweet saw upon respawning in Arlong Canyon was a hunter standing on her hands.

As if watching that scene, Pera, wielding a mace splattered with blood, turned her gaze to Sweet.

“…”

“Uh, I’m sorry?”

As soon as she met those empty red eyes,

Sweet instinctively offered her apologies.

The ambiguity in her apology stemmed from her confusion about why she was doing this.

Was it pressure?

Fear? Primitive terror?

I couldn’t express it in detail, but I sensed something along those lines.

“That’s my, um, friend, just so you know? They haven’t done anything wrong. So…”

“I know.”

Let’s at least save the viewer.

That was the thought that drove Sweet to attempt a persuasion,

but what I got in return was solely the chilling remark.