Let's Exchange Curses

"H-Huff... Hah...!"

They had desperately fled from the monastery they had ambushed. Their faces, heaving with ragged breaths, were still etched with lingering terror that refused to fade. The vivid image of their comrade reduced to a lump of meat right beside them haunted them. Had they not run, they too would have suffered the same gruesome agony in death.

Death.

'God...'

Finally, one of the priests could hold back no longer. His trembling jaw moved as he spat out words.

"D-Divine punishment. We touched a devotee favored by that evil god..."

"Shut your mouth, Rikan. Dare to invoke another god's name over ours?"

"B-But...!"

Senior Priest Christoph, even in this desperate situation, struggled to maintain control over them. Everything had been going smoothly. The highest constellation had vanished one day, leaving behind nothing but foolish devotees who had lost trust in one another.

This was their chance. A chance to reclaim the prestige of their own faith.

From the start, he had plotted to whittle away at their forces bit by bit. He had secretly allied with other constellations' religions that had always resented their existence, building his own power base. As time passed, his confidence grew, and his actions grew bolder. They had stripped away the name of the constellation they worshipped and burned down holy war sites that reminded anyone of its presence.

And their next target was Lisia. The woman who had received the constellation's love. Eliminating her would elevate his own forces to even greater heights.

Taking down a woman who couldn't even wield divine power should have been child's play. It should have been.

"You shall witness it."

That is, until they laid eyes on the beast—one that had returned from the brink of death, now cloaked in divine power once more.

'Impossible.'

But why, all of a sudden? The forgotten divinity had returned. It had begun using divine power again. And what followed that simple phenomenon was a horrific massacre.

"W-We have to run."

"We need to get back fast, regroup and plan..."

"Enough."

Christoph, priest of the Black Sun, consciously tempered their fear before speaking in a voice devoid of highs or lows.

"Have you forgotten, in your terror, who stands by our side?"

"...!"

They were the proxies of god. They had to spread the constellation's will, serving as its most righteous subordinates and confidants.

And...

'Divine punishment will soon fall.'

This raid was merely a pretext. Success would deal a blow, but even failure would serve—after all, their beloved constellation wouldn't sit idly by while thugs slaughtered its cherished devotees.

"A fitting price will be exacted."

"Ah...!"

"Our Incarnation will be enraged. They won't escape divine retribution."

"Ooh...!"

At those words, a glimmer of hope pierced their despairing eyes.

And so, they would meet the miserable end they deserved.

'Incarnation...'

Christoph prayed with utter conviction. May she rain heavenly punishment upon those filthy mongrels and restore justice.

Their battle was only just beginning.

"...Huh?"

"...What the hell is this?"

Of course, I knew exactly who it was. One of the constellations that had hounded me relentlessly back when I was just a player.

In this game, players took on the role of constellations—gods. And the Avatar of the Black Sun, being another god, was naturally my rival, my enemy to check.

"What's her problem?"

Sure, there were friendly constellations out there, but who in their right mind would willingly share their rice bowl?

"Oh?"

It had been ages since I'd been hit with such pure hostility. My heart raced a little.

But that was that.

"Nah, don't wanna."

The message window went quiet. I could feel her confusion at my brazen response.

"What're you gonna do if I don't pay up?"

"Ah, curses."

The curse system. One of the few direct ways constellations could mess with each other.

Suddenly, memories of the Avatar of the Black Sun and me flooded back. We'd had so many back-and-forths through this system. The bad blood we'd built up had fermented into something like twisted affection.

"Ah, this familiar feeling."

A sly smile crept across my face amid the swirling emotions. She'd launched massive holy wars against my cult, triggering all sorts of random events. I'd even woken up in the middle of the night to check my phone because of her.

"Thanks for that."

I expressed pure gratitude to the Avatar of the Black Sun, who had reawakened my forgotten sense of purpose in life.

Truly, thank you. For trying to torment me just like old times.

She could keep tormenting me like always, right? She started it this time.

"Heh."

Sudden nostalgia welled up affection for her out of nowhere. How could I not adore this?

The past torments were past torments. But just now, she'd dared to gang up on our Lisia.

"Curses, yeah. Curses sound great."

Beaten to a pulp in the game like that, yet she came back undying to stir shit again. No mercy for trolls.

"Yeah, yeah."

She must've forgotten my personality. Seeing her ramble on like I was just gonna take it made that clear.

With the calm demeanor of a CEO dismantling a clockwork scheme, I steadily manipulated the system window.

Fights between devotees were bloody brawls of flesh and gore. But when constellations clashed directly? Shockingly, it devolved into something utterly childish.

From here on, raw physical power took a backseat to rank—and that rank was determined by your Faith Value.

Over 500 million in Faith Value, piled up without even being fully digested.

"Heh heh heh heh."

Did she even know the scale of what had accumulated while I'd been AFK? Nah, if ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠she did, she never would've pulled this crap. She'd be huddled in a corner, shaking.

My bad, big time. Proof I hadn't done my job as the local bully properly.

Well, if I'd thought it was real, I'd have logged in every day and played hard. But real life got busy.

'Now this is real life.'

A dazed feeling washed over me as I eyed the still-spamming messages from the Avatar of the Black Sun.

"This girl really has no sense."

"Okay."

Order received. Time to put my Faith Value to real use.

Strike first, win. "Yeah."

The messages paused briefly. Regardless of her reaction, the process was already underway.

"Buddy."

I could picture it without seeing. How flustered that constellation must be right now.

If I'd spent Faith Value bulking up my cult, maybe. But nah, I was swimming in cash.

"Guess you didn't quite get what I said."

"Only I get to curse here."

Ignoring the panicking Incarnation, I kept the curses coming.

"Oh."

Even that ultra-rare tsundere curse. What a lucky day.

Constellations decided to curse, but the system's outcome was random—no one could control it. Damage was dealt, but unpredictably. Like nuking a polar bear today.

"Stop what? We're just getting started."

Curses on a cult directly tied to devotees' faith. If they couldn't protect individuals, how could the constellation's name hold weight anymore? Once trust was lost, it was gone forever. Cold, hard reality.

Today, I resolved to turn this baby constellation into an adult.

Coming back after ages, all cocky with threats and bluster, now playing nice? No way in hell.

I had zero intention of mercy.

"Nope. Go home. No mercy here."

"Die? Who's dying? Just you withering away."

Devotees could always jump ship to another cult. In this dynamic, the constellation was the vulnerable one. Lose all Faith Value, lose your reason for existing. That meant death.

"You won't die right now. But just you wait. Give it a year—I'll make sure you wither by then."

I'd been bored anyway. Perfect timing. Let's have some fun today.

That day, when Christoph returned to the cult's main base, he beheld hell.

"Wh-What is this...?"

A scene from hell itself. Figures that looked like they'd crawled out of a dungeon rampaged madly, and the most grotesque part? Those monsters wore the same priestly robes as him.

As if priests who had been praying to the god just moments ago had been cursed.

In that instant, a chilling hypothesis flashed through Christoph's mind.

A curse.

"It's the god's curse! We're cursed! We must atone!!"

Someone far off screamed in agony.

"Ch-Christoph, sir. What is...?"

-Gulp.

At the irritating sound of a swallowed breath, Senior Priest Christoph turned. There stood a devotee who had fled desperately alongside him until moments ago.

His flat chest now swelled like ripe fruit. His masculine face had transformed into that of an alluring woman.

"Y-You."

"Senior Priest Christoph... My body's strange. My body—"

Seeing her whimpering stirred base desires in Christoph, and his eyes turned heavenward.

"God."

Please save me from this hell.

But the response that came was mercilessly absent.