A Silver Tongue and a Shameless Heart

My conscience didn't hurt in the slightest.

The council chamber was as silent as if time itself had stopped. That silence had begun the very moment he stepped inside. Kaimu Doyunes. That name was no longer just a person. To some, it had become a symbol of mystery; to others, the source of an indelible humiliation.

Gar Verden belonged to the latter. He ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠could not forget the day he had been humiliated by the Great General during the last council meeting—nor the man who had orchestrated that humiliation.

It hadn't been this extreme from the start. But twice, then thrice, his 'revelations' had been proven right by the results. Now, no one dared to lightly doubt the words that fell from his lips.

Verden looked at Doyunes, who sat in the council chamber with his eyes closed. He merely sat there in serene silence, his face entirely expressionless. That very stillness only made him seem all the more mystical.

But Gar Verden, a self-proclaimed man of reason, was not fooled by such acting. A charlatan spouting nonsense about 'divine revelations.' He despised how the others harbored such high expectations for a man with neither noble lineage nor legitimacy.

Everyone was staring at the eyes-closed foreigner. Anticipation, curiosity, and awe. Verden hated every bit of it. That was a spotlight that should have belonged to him, a Verden.

But things would be different now. Today, I am the protagonist.

It had been only a few minutes since that black-haired upstart had entered the chamber. Ten minutes at most. In contrast, Verden had received and analyzed the relevant intelligence hours ago.

A few minutes versus several hours. That was a temporal gap no amount of struggling could bridge. Keep agonizing over it. I'm already miles ahead of you.

Verden felt the need to draw the room's attention back to himself. Armed with the conclusion he had spent hours agonizing over and calculating, he spoke up quietly and calmly.

"There is still clear room for negotiation. According to the carrier pigeon sent by the Zenith Kingdom last time, this is merely part of a joint exercise scheduled since last year. There are strong indications that their current movements are not a prelude to total war, but rather a preliminary training exercise..."

Before he could even finish his sentence, Doyunes slowly opened his eyes. His dark pupils, reminiscent of the night sky, quietly scanned the chamber. In that instant, someone in the room quietly gasped.

Verden did not stop. He was confident he could sway the atmosphere back to his side with his flawless 'logic.' A smug smirk played on his lips. There was no better way than this. Soon, everyone would realize who was truly the superior mind.

But right into his confident ears, a dry, solitary sound of clapping intruded.

Clap, clap—

Clapping?

A few days was far too long. Unlike the others, who were flailing in the dark without even knowing who their opponent was, I already knew everything down to her personal tastes.

The Heavenly Physician, Rachel Auf Krin. Her strategies, tactics, psychology, and tendencies—everything was neatly organized in my head. She had such a massive fanbase back in the real world that I couldn't have ignored her lore even if I wanted to.

I had already formulated a countermeasure against her on my very first day inside the barracks. The rest of my free time had been dedicated entirely to self-improvement.

When I finally opened my eyes after shaking off most of my fatigue, everyone in the council chamber was focused on a man prattling on at the front. I quickly scanned my surroundings. ...Thank goodness. It didn't seem like anyone noticed I had dozed off during the meeting.

"There is still clear room for negotiation. According to the carrier pigeon sent by the Zenith Kingdom last time, this is merely part of a joint exercise scheduled since last year. There are strong indications that their current movements are not a prelude to total war, but rather a preliminary training exercise..."

I listened to his words, nodding along as I made my assessment. He can't possibly be serious. It had to be some kind of 'witty joke' meant to break the ice in this stiff room.

I mean, if a bunch of guys armed with knives barge into your house, what kind of idiot would let them off just because they claim they're 'just passing through'?

My eyes met the man's, and he smiled at me. I offered him a slight, polite smile in return. Ah, so it really was a joke.

But the atmosphere in the room remained incredibly heavy. ...Well, I guess I should step in.

Clap, clap—

"I must admit, I am not entirely familiar with the humor of this region. But fortunately, that was incredibly amusing. Haha—"

"W-What?!"

He widened his eyes in an exaggerated fashion, looking like someone who was genuinely furious. Wow, great acting. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠He looked like a typically overbearing noble, but he actually had a pretty playful personality. No need to thank me. I turned my head to lock eyes with the Great General.

"Arsen."

A probability window popped up before my eyes.

For now... the odds were still highly generous.

"...Could it be?" someone gasped under their breath.

'Self-improvement.' That had been my daily routine lately. I spent my nights combing through my unique abilities and class perks, brainstorming ways to utilize them.

In this game, there are two types of skills that assist the player: Unique Abilities and Class Perks.

Class Perks are straightforward. For Knights, they receive survival or physical perks like [Acute Senses] or [Solid Foundation]. For Strategists, they are granted sensory or intellectual perks like [Sharp Instincts] or [Basic Stratagem].

But the most important of the two is the Unique Ability. Randomly assigned to each player in quantities of one or two, these abilities are the ultimate roll of ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the dice.

And honestly, most Unique Abilities that fall under the 'utility' category—rather than providing direct combat or intelligence stat boosts—are complete garbage.

Their effects are vague, their impact is barely noticeable, and they are utterly useless in battle. Usually, if a player rolls such an ability, they immediately delete the character and reroll. That is the standard response.

But the number of Unique Abilities I possessed was... quite large. Not just one or two, but several. The only catch was that every single one of them was a utility ability.

...Wait, these are considered utility? Their performance was so absurdly overpowered that I seriously questioned if they even belonged in the same category as those garbage utility skills. I was utterly dumbfounded when I first saw them. The mere claim that I could deceive an Elf was ridiculous. Was such a thing even possible?

Demons couldn't see through my acting? If a poker face was harder than an Elder Dwarf, wasn't that just actual stone? Red Dragons could be persuaded? Those short-tempered lizards? And the Demon King himself would be terrified? That tattooed, posturing edgelord?

And on top of those, I had two more general-purpose abilities.

They might look incredibly good on paper, but in reality, they were nothing more than a piece of fine art. In other words, they were purely for display.

The currency obtained from [Daily Attendance] had only one use: the [Gacha / Draw]. However, the amount of currency rewarded daily was abysmally small. To accumulate enough for a single draw, you would have to save up until the very late stages of the game.

And by the time you reached that point, you would already have no rivals left, making whatever you pulled from the [Gacha / Draw] practically meaningless.

That wasn't the only issue. To begin with, the probability of rolling a utility ability was extremely low. The probability of being assigned multiple unique abilities was even lower. And if you somehow bypassed those astronomical odds, you then had to pull these two specific, general-purpose garbage skills, [Gacha / Draw] and [Daily Attendance], at the exact same time.

Managed to pull it off through sheer, miraculous luck? Well, now it was a test of skill. If you succeeded up to this point, you had to defeat every other player until the late game using nothing but your raw physical mechanics, completely devoid of any useful combat perks. That was why players mockingly called it a 'work of art'—something meant only to be admired, never used.

My analysis of my abilities ended there. Currently, my profession was a cult leader masquerading as a 'Strategist.' Naturally, the next logical step was to delve into religion. However, I knew next to nothing about the religions of this world. The game had never touched upon religion in detail. After all, this was a strategy game, not a theology simulator.

Fortunately, Yerin was of great help during this time. Since she was just a child, I could ask her questions without raising any suspicion. The religion of this world, as I learned from her, was... praying and wishing. It was just an endless repetition of those two actions.

Hymns? None. Blessing rituals? None. Confession? Limited to the first five people in line. Calling it 'bland' would be an understatement. It went beyond boring; it felt like a bureaucratic civil service system. There was none of that intense, passionate 'Korean-style religious fervor' I had expected.

Words alone have their limits. The moment people grow accustomed to something, they lose their sense of wonder. And the moment that limit is reached—that is the moment my life comes to an end.

Eventually, people might start saying things like, "Is that guy not handing out revelations today?" or "Did the weather vending machine break down?" Before that happens—I must construct a true sense of 'mystery.' In that regard, the blandness of this world's religion was actually to my advantage.

The modern world was a place overflowing with a vast sea of media generated by billions of people—something these medieval folks couldn't even begin to fathom. And I had been an avid observer of that media. This applied not just to games, but to other forms of entertainment as well. When I wasn't playing games, I enjoyed watching movies, and when I wasn't watching movies, I watched dramas. Naturally, that included stories centered around religious themes.

A certain movie that perfectly fit my current situation came to mind. [The Black Priests]—a film where fanatics appear and threaten the protagonist. It wasn't exactly a wholesome story. It was about spreading a religion like a multi-level marketing scheme, acting as if a god truly existed to make people believe.

I hesitated for a moment. The people of this world possessed absolutely zero 'content immunity.' Things that would make a modern person snort and say, "Who would actually believe that?" would be perceived as cutting-edge, divine miracles here. This was, quite literally, a shock equivalent to jumping straight from the Bronze Age to nuclear weaponry. So I pondered. Should I really do this?

"What happened to the spy we captured last time?"

"We severed his head and placed it in a jar of salt."

From this moment on, I am the fanatic, Hannuri. In a way... this is simply the propagation of civilization.

I half-closed my eyes and regulated my breathing. It was time to stay true to my duty as a cult ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠leader. My shoulders squared. And then—just like the fanatic Hannuri.

My conscience didn't hurt in the slightest. Is this what true acting is? It's terrifying. Not a single shred of doubt regarding my faith crossed my mind.

Let's begin. A dry, hollow voice that sent shivers down even my own spine spilled from my lips.