The Tiny Temple of a Forgotten God

Undead Bishop Pelmarne! If so, what on earth was the race of the Holy Knight Commander? One thing was for sure: nothing would surprise him at this point.

...Hey!

Surely, Tae-hyun believed, there wouldn't be any Archisus believers among the demons.

"Deserters of the Ancient Empire. I need to find the temple of the Archisus Church. Are there any temples left on Sky Island?"

"Wh-why would you look for such a heinous thing?"

"...Because I am the Pope of the Archisus Church?"

"Eek! Forgive us! We forgot!"

It was a fact they had naturally forgotten because they were too busy getting beaten up! Ah, that man is the Pope of the Church?!

What on earth did these bastards think of me as until now?

Did they think of him as some thug who climbed up to Sky Island just to beat them up? No matter how he looked at it, they really seemed to have thought exactly that...

The maps inside the Sky Castle were extremely old. Although there might be discrepancies with the current terrain, just having this map information was something to be incredibly grateful for. Other players were currently scouring the area, trying to draw new maps or search for existing ones.

"But Your Holiness. The Garuda bastards have invaded, and Sky Island is currently in utter chaos."

"Can't you handle that much on your own while we move?"

Tae-hyun was well aware that Sky Island was in chaos. Battles were breaking out everywhere, and the community boards were flooded with identical posts. Large guilds that were unlucky enough to be targeted by concentrated attacks cried out for help, while those lucky enough to avoid the onslaught curled up and pretended not to see. Every man for himself!

But that was only a concern for the large guilds with a lot to lose. Tae-hyun had nothing to lose. The Sky Castle...

...I wouldn't really miss it.

Honestly, even if someone stole that piece of junk, it wouldn't affect him at all! He had already found most of what he wanted anyway...

You're naive, Carbanog. I've already done it.

After checking the library, he had already set up bomb traps all over the place. He didn't necessarily have to defend it, but it was Tae-hyun's habit to install bombs whenever he occupied a place. Even when crossing a stone bridge, tap it with a bomb first!

"Since Sky Island is in chaos, maybe we could do some more plundering..."

"Shut up and just find the Archisus Church."

Tae-hyun shut them up instantly. Honestly, instead of "Ancient Empire Deserters," it would be more accurate to call them "Ancient Empire Bandits"!

"Smith. You have to step up."

"He's right, Smith. We need you."

"But I..."

A top-tier ranker with the Legendary Class, Holy Knight—Smith! Although his fame was somewhat overshadowed by the sheer buzz surrounding Tae-hyun and Lee Se-yeon, he was still a ranker who consistently maintained his skills. A silent powerhouse!

"I heard you broke through level 300 this time?"

"Yes."

"When do you plan to make it public?"

"I'd like to take a bit more time..."

He was the second ranker to break through level 300, right after Lee Se-yeon! Unlike Lee Se-yeon, Smith had stubbornly raised his remaining levels through mob grinding in the Demon Realm. It was a leveling method that perfectly reflected Smith's personality!

In truth, Tae-hyun and Lee Se-yeon's methods were far from normal. Chasing after Legendary quests, hunting ancient giants... These weren't methods you could use anytime, and the penalty for failure was massive. In return, the rewards were immense, and above all, they generated incredible buzz. Why was Tae-hyun the most popular player in Pandemonium Online? Because while everyone else was grinding mobs, he was roaming every corner of the game, clearing every Legendary quest in sight!

Yet, Smith remained unshaken by what the other two were doing. He stubbornly hunted, hunted, and hunted some more. Though his direction differed from Tae-hyun's, Smith was a player whose persistence and stubbornness were second to none. And the result of that was showing right now!

"The New York Lions want you to step up again quickly too. You absolutely have to play next season."

Despite being recruited for an exorbitant sum, Smith had suddenly stepped away in the middle of a successful run.

"I don't think I'm ready for the Arena League yet. I will prepare more."

Because the New York Lions had a deep roster, they had waited for him. Any other gaming team would have pressured him immediately.

"I will participate next season."

"Right! If you know that, then you should step up even more!"

"But this is different from being a league player..."

"It's all the same! And this is something you need too. All the top-tier rankers are receiving massive support. Lee Se-yeon? She has an empire. Kim Tae-hyun? He has a kingdom. Besides, all the successful rankers have territories of their own. Now, if you don't have a territory, you'll fall behind in the competition."

The words of the guild leader who had come to find Smith were true. While others were gathering materials, crafting, and receiving NPC assistance in their territories to quickly get what they wanted, those without territories were bound to fall behind.

"We are prepared to serve under you! Please, lead us!"

"You don't dislike us, right? Right?"

"It's not that... but I don't think I'm the type of person who can lead others."

"No! You're far better than bastards like Kim Tae-hyun or Lee Se-yeon!"

"You're several times better than Su Ning, too!"

"Player Smith. Our guild is ready to provide you with full, unconditional support."

Pressure poured in from all sides! Indeed, the leaders of the large guilds that had climbed up to Sky Island had come to find him.

Having tasted the bitter reality of territory management on Sky Island, the large guilds realized: this was truly a task too difficult for a single guild to handle! It didn't matter when things were peaceful, but once a quest like this broke out, being a large guild meant nothing. Sensing the necessity, the guild leaders gathered to have a "dignified" discussion about forming an alliance.

Humans always repeat the same mistakes! Just like the Guild Alliance had done, the guild leaders who gathered to form an alliance fought like cats and dogs. However, there was one difference: they were extremely desperate and cornered. Otherwise, they would have long since said, "It was filthy working with you, let's never meet again!" But because they needed each other, they racked their brains. As a result, a plausible idea emerged.

The guild leaders shuddered at the sheer brilliance of their own idea. It was perfect! They immediately contacted the New York Lions and Smith... and that was how they had ended up here.

"Smith! Smith! Smith!"

"Smith! Smith! Smith!"

"Hey, what are you doing? Hurry up and praise Smith."

"Smith! Smith!"

The guild leaders pushed Smith, who was notoriously weak to the expectations of others! With guild leaders, New York Lions executives, and all sorts of people pinning their hopes on him, Smith finally made up his mind.

"...Understood."

"Oh...! So you'll do it?"

"If I am to take the role of guild leader... in return, you must all follow my orders."

"Of course!"

"Absolutely!"

"Haha! Trust us! Why wouldn't we listen to the guild leader's orders?"

The guild leaders answered instantly, but in their minds, they were thinking something entirely different.

Well, Smith is nice, so he won't notice if we just make up some excuses later.

What is there that we can't promise right now?

"...Very well. I understand. I will take on the role."

"Oh... Ohhh!"

"Now we just need to decide on a guild name! I actually came up with one, how about—"

"...Let's go with White Knight."

"That sounds great!"

"That's perfect!"

"Wait, isn't Black Dragon much bet—"

"Th-thank you! Thank you, warrior!"

The residents of Sky Island were overjoyed to see Tae-hyun. Tae-hyun's party had appeared out of nowhere and wiped out the rampaging Garuda warriors!

"Seriously, why do we have to save people like them?"

"It would have been better to just let them die."

Behind him, the Ancient Empire Deserters grumbled, but Tae-hyun ignored them. Keep barking, you ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠dogs! I'm doing a quest!

"I heard there's an Archisus Temple around here. Do you happen to know where it is?"

"The Archisus Temple, you say?"

An elderly village chief stepped forward and answered in a startled ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠voice.

"I heard that the Archisus Temple was deemed far too dangerous, so it was shut down a very long time ago..."

"...What on earth...?"

What could possibly be dangerous about a temple! But even if he argued, there was no way the chief would know. It was a decision made around the time of the chief's great-great-grandfather, so what could he do?

"The Phytos Church is also a terribly dangerous order, so if they have a temple here, they might as well shut it down too."

Feeling inexplicably wronged, Tae-hyun decided to drag everyone else down with him. Archisus wasn't going to suffer alone!

"The Phytos Church was also shut down long ago."

"Oh."

Tae-hyun was satisfied. To think the Phytos Church had been shut down too. How wonderful!

Suddenly feeling curious, Tae-hyun asked, "Then are there any temples active here at all?"

It seemed that almost all the major church temples had been shut down under the pretext of being dangerous. And Tae-hyun's prediction was correct.

"So you shut down all the temples?"

"Yes. They were closed long ago because they were deemed dangerous... though we don't know the exact reasons ourselves..."

Yeah. I was thinking the exact same thing.

What?!

Tae-hyun was shocked. The rabbit god, Carbanog, was a forgotten deity. And to a degree that couldn't even be compared to Archisus. For Archisus, only the church had disappeared, but there were still quite a few believers left. Granted, they were all a bit unhinged, but still...

In contrast, Carbanog was an ultra-minor god with absolutely zero believers or churches! It was so bad that he could only summon rabbits.

Ah. Sorry.

He had indeed been too harsh! Tae-hyun apologized. After all, it was true that Carbanog had helped him immensely.

So, where is the temple?

Tae-hyun raised his head. There was a tiny rabbit statue, and next to it, a small statue of a rabbit hutch. It was so small and cute that it looked like a novice sculptor's practice piece.

...Don't tell me this is the temple?

......

Tae-hyun suddenly felt incredibly sorry. Carbanog...!