Priestess Candidates (1)
There were definitely zombies swarming the Recreation Center, right? Ah, after the mage swept through once, I kept blasting Three Sand Claws and wiped them all out? The two centers near our apartment were cleaned out spotless... well, not exactly spotless, with sand and the zombies' rotten clothes scattered everywhere. Still, the real stroke of luck was the massive water tank in this one.
Of course, no way we could drink the water in there. It'd been sitting for a solid six months. Touch that shit and you'd be shitting your guts out nonstop. Not even the collection teams, desperate as they were, would risk it. Washing, maybe? Probably? But why gamble?
The center had a decent cafe inside and five vending machines, so we scored a fair bit of food, but it was obviously nowhere near enough for dozens of people. So we cracked open the water tank and followed the road, heading uphill a bit to another apartment complex. That place was crawling with zombies too. Same deal—the claws scattered them everywhere, leaving hardly any near the shops right in front of the apartments. And there was a pretty big imported snacks store.
"Whoa, what's that? What'd you bring?"
"What? What?"
Hyeyoon and Yeonsu came running first to greet me. The rustle of the bags was music to my ears.
"Went up to that imported snacks store. It was pretty huge? But damn, with dozens of us piling in, half of it vanished in one go."
Yeonsu took the two bags with a beaming smile and headed to Iseo and Jeong-eun. Hyeyoon bolted straight to the bedroom.
"Thanks."
She threw her arms around me as I got up from the stone chamber. Wow. Yeah, this is it.
"Eat up and enjoy. But looks like eggs and rice are gonna be our staples for a bit. I'll ramp things up as fast as I can, so hang in there."
"Yesss. Hehe."
Her ass jiggled as she headed out... Slurp... No. Hold it together for now.
The warrior had racked up coins from the apartment zombies, down to 6 stamina, carrying two bags back. But it wasn't just the bags. I'd yanked the water tank off the Recreation Center roof and dragged it across the ground. Warrior strength is no joke. Walking felt heavy as hell with each step—but the avatar body doesn't feel a damn thing.
"Sechem!"
"Yes, my God."
I gave orders to Sechem as she slithered into the bedroom, tongue flicking.
"Got a water tank outside. Tell the Ushabti to clean the inside spotless and fill it from the fountain water."
"Of course, my God. You worked hard again today."
"Yeah."
As I flopped down, it hit me. Ugh. Need more workers. House cleaning, cooking, random chores popping up, hatching eggs... The egg Ushabti was basically immobile, so that one's tied up. And I've only got one other. Can't dump everything on a single Ushabti—the workload's insane.
Inner realm. I need to solidify my inner realm, damn it! Last time I boosted it a ton. Time to shift gears. Grinding hard should net me around 2,000 coins easy. But new people showed up, situation's changed. Gotta keep the apartments safe around the clock, so the mage has to blast Three Sand Claws from the center daily. Could do a few claws then hit the swamp runs, sure. But right now's the time for them to build faith and devotion in me. Eh, prioritize safety for a while.
That means experience intake drops inevitably. No helping it. Current coins: 1,068. One day of maintenance left, prepaid. Plenty. Dumped 500 each into the warrior and mage, bumping them to level 6.
Set's Anchor +1
Horus's Lion +1
Hmm. The base skills are so strong, it just enhances performance, I guess. Mage and warrior base stats went up too—probably boosted coin efficiency by a few hundred at least. Coin farming's key.
Bluntly put, I just need to provide safety, right? Scavenging's what they did before, and now they keep everything they bring back—no more starving to skeletons. But fuck, people aren't wired that way. See someone shriveled up from real hunger right in front of you, and it's like... mummy? That's the vibe.
Dozens like that in the next building over. So I just say, "From now on, keep what you scavenge—handle it yourselves"? Yeah, that's tough as hell. Can't stop worrying about it. Especially when Sechem comes in with, "My God's new lay followers are in very poor health."
"How bad?"
"Forty-five lay followers total. Eleven in severe malnutrition. They can't recover on their own. Not something medicine fixes—needs proper convalescence."
...It's Sechem saying it. Gotta trust her.
"Basically came to me on death's door."
"Yes. Their old group's leader seems to have kept them just barely alive."
"That's not 'keeping'—that's neglect."
"Indeed."
"Haa..."
Hearing that over a simple breakfast of snacks, eggs, and rice just... hits different.
"Can you handle their care?"
"Possible, but I'd have to leave your side often."
"No choice. Go tend to them for now, at least a while."
"Understood."
Sechem headed out. Yeonsu and Hyeyoon were stick-thin too when they showed up, but they're looking way better now. Still bony to the touch, sure. Flesh doesn't just balloon overnight. But they're human again. Women again. Iseo and Jeong-eun need more feeding up. The girls can manage because they're by my side. Ushabti and Sechem always looking after them, comfy in my Shrine every day.
Can't offer that to those folks. But can't just leave 'em either. They came trusting me.
Tch. Whatever. Time to farm coins. Me getting stronger makes life easier for everyone, right?
From the apartment parking lot center, Three Sand Claws, 18 blasts. Pop pop pop! Sounded like concert cheers echoing out. Coins: 540.
Next, warrior. Headed out, and people were starting to stir from the claw noises earlier. Sat in the parking lot waiting, and they trickled out one by one. Men with big bags, women with PET bottles and jugs—all greeting me warmly.
"God, you're up early."
"Good to see you, God."
Still dark-skinned, but fresh clothes now. Probably from the apartments they claimed.
"Yeah. Let's go?"
"Yep!"
"If anyone's missing, share it out. Move."
Back to the imported snacks store. Zombies clustered in the nearby apartment parking lot. Zombies packed in some green-whatever group building. Swept the whole area clean.
Didn't bother climbing apartment walls one by one to hunt zombies—that'd take forever. Better for the mage to handle interiors with Three Sand Claws. Swept one full complex, the shops, surrounding centers' parking lots and first floors.
Warrior soloed 1,511 coins. Including mage's 540: 2,051 total. Leveling up makes this much difference, fuck yeah.
Not inner realm. Combat. Burned 1,200 to hit level 7 on mage and warrior.
Three Sand Claws +1
Stampede of Full Might +1
851 left? Warrior's farming well now, so pour into warrior.
Ma'at's Rest +2
Current: Mage spirit at 21—can cast swamp 7 times. Warrior spirit 19—full recovery 19 times. Looking forward to tomorrow's haul.
Warrior farms coins great, but the one issue: this guy's a 1v1 specialist, takes fucking forever. Imagine stabbing 1,500 zombies one by one. That's 1,500 stabs. No stamina drain since it's avatar, but goddamn, it's boring now. Took nearly 4 hours circling the complex and centers for 1,500 kills today. Leveled up, so tomorrow even longer.
Why no auto-hunt on warrior? Driving me nuts.
Paid daily maintenance with 151 left, down to 61. Earn thousands, burn through in seconds. I'm growing insanely, but inner realm stagnant—no new builds. Shrine and all stay the same. Boredom city.
Lunch with the girls, broke out board games. Sechem returned.
"My God. Resting?"
"Huh? Oh, yeah."
"A moment to speak?"
"Uh..."
The chattering girls glanced between Sechem and me. She was dead serious.
"I'll sit this one out. What? Private talk?"
"The priestesses can hear."
"Alright? Then here. What's up?"
Stood from the floor, plopped on the sofa. Sechem slid beside me, bowed politely.
"My God. I tended the people all morning. They're in rough shape, but none will die. With daily care from me, they'll improve—in a week, able to work like the others."
"Ooh... Good news, but not why you're here?"
"No. Spoke with them at length. They crave closeness to you."
"...Closeness to me? What? They're next door—how much closer?"
"Women who wish to become priestesses."
"...Ah."
Glanced at the girls. Yeonsu and Hyeyoon, Iseo and Jeong-eun—all staring.
"...Sechem. Table that for now."
"As my God wills. Tabled."
"No, bigger issue first."
"Which?"
I pointed at the girls.
"Yeonsu and Hyeyoon are my wives. God's Wives."
"Indeed."
"Iseo and Jeong-eun need roles too."
Sechem lifted her head, tongue flicking.
"...Yes. I overlooked it. In truth..."
She turned to the girls; their eyes went wide.
"Managing priestesses isn't my core duty. But since I handled their pregnancies and births, I know somewhat. May I advise on the shrine's hierarchy?"
"No advice. Sechem—you handle it."
She bowed deeply.
"To entrust me such weighty duty—I'm honored."
"Feels like I'm piling on the work. Sorry. Please."
"Of course. The more work, the better. I was made to serve my God."