Chapter 4
Chapter 4
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 4
Chapter Title: The Beetle's Blessing
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Choi Seong-un confirmed that his Divinity level and the Subdomain: Bugs level had risen.
The Divinity level, at least in the early stages, only served to increase the Faith cap, so there was no need to pay it much attention right now.
Far more important was the fact that his Subdomain: Bugs had leveled up.
It had only reached Level 2, but that was enough to unlock the ability to bestow "blessings."
'Now I can customize them.'
In the game Lost World, when a player's Subdomain leveled up, they could grant special abilities to believers who supported that Subdomain.
Officially called "God's Blessing" in the system, players just referred to it as "customization."
For example, with a Subdomain: Fire, you could make them resistant to heat. With Subdomain: Plants, you could grant resistance to various plant poisons.
From another perspective, it was evolution.
These blessings altered the race's physical form and were passed down to their descendants.
'But there are issues.'
Bestowing a blessing on even a single individual cost 10 Faith.
Choi Seong-un currently had 36 Faith, with a max of 50.
Since there were about three decent blessings per Subdomain, blessing just one person would deplete his Faith entirely.
'Of course, if that blessed individual keeps producing offspring, their numbers will grow naturally, so it's not entirely too expensive...'
But he couldn't wait forever for that.
Considering he'd need to acquire more Subdomains later, bestow blessings through them, and support with other miracles, he had to bless Rakrak's Tribe soon.
'I need to gather more Faith.'
Fortunately, there were many ways to gather Faith, and plenty feasible at this stage.
'First, I should appoint Rakrak as Priest.'
Priest was a useful role until entering the medieval era.
Appointing one cost a bit of Faith and allowed him to send appropriate hints through dreams.
Plus, Rakrak was a "special individual" with one high unique stat.
'Is it thanks to saving a companion from the saber-tooth? Or did those stats lead to that experience? Either way, Will is a good stat.'
The Will stat provided the foundation to persistently strive without giving up on challenges.
9 might seem low, but average individuals weren't even displayed if their stats were mediocre.
'Next is the altar. Temples and such are still out of reach, but building an altar should be fine.'
An altar for primitive faith, where prayers to the god were offered, was the basics of basics.
This kind provided steady Faith supply and solidified the tribe's Faith through rituals led by the Priest.
'And to hold rituals, we need sacrifices, of course.'
Consuming a sacrifice on the altar in an appropriate manner for the Subdomain yielded a massive amount of Faith.
The rarer, more valuable, and harder-to-obtain the sacrifice, the stronger the proof of faith in the god—and thus, proportionally more Faith.
But there was a trap here.
'Reminds me of the early Lost World meta.'
Once the mechanics between sacrifices and Faith became known, many players got hooked on special builds.
Offering the rarest, most valuable, and hardest-to-get items in the game on the altar for huge Faith gains.
The "human sacrifice" build.
Because nothing was more precious than people.
But it didn't last long as a trend.
It flashed with high win rates at first, but counters emerged quickly.
Using tribesmen or kin as live sacrifices inevitably wrecked internal affairs.
Fear of the god overshadowed reliance on it.
Social order rigidified; Priests imposed unintended restrictions and laws, sacrificing violators.
Technological civilization stalled, and human resources that should yield greater value got converted to Faith, making it hard to switch builds.
'Of course, using other races as live sacrifices can work in some cases...'
But that wrecked diplomacy instead of internal affairs.
Unless in special circumstances like the real-world Aztec civilization, it wasn't better than standard builds.
Choi Seong-un had no intention of human sacrifice, but he did need sacrifices.
'Rakrak's Tribe needs to take on challenges.'
He judged their location suboptimal.
A peninsula hard to expand toward the continent.
Much of it wasteland, lacking early useful resources.
To get ahead, they needed adventure.
'Not human sacrifice, but live offerings are needed. Something big, ideally.'
But nothing big lurked near Rakrak's Tribe.
They'd settled a hill overlooking the wasteland, but the forest they thought large was just formed by streams from the hill.
The forest wasn't vast. Beyond it, more wasteland.
The biggest prey there? Rabbits, maybe.
Deep in the wasteland: saber-tooths that attacked Rakrak, stronger drakes, buffalo herds preyed on by top predators.
But urging the freshly settled tribe back into the wasteland was problematic.
'For now, pour remaining Faith into blessing Rakrak and think from there.'
Choi Seong-un looked down on Rakrak's Tribe.
Rakrak had recently felt changes in his body.
For one, his outer scales were turning black.
He'd feared illness at first, but after molting, the new scales were smoother, glossier, harder yet softer than before.
Like a beetle's shell.
Other changes too.
Once scrawny, Rakrak was now reaching average size.
But his strength surpassed all.
Hauling trees for huts, no one could carry bigger ones than him.
Amusing incidents occurred too.
A bright red mushroom grew in the forest, unseen before.
Rakrak suspected poison but touched it with scale-less finger skin—no reaction.
Deeming it safe, he nibbled a bit. Next day, fine, so he ate one whole.
Not tasty, but no issues.
Yet other Lizardmen in the tribe who tried following him swelled up just from touching it.
The swelling subsided after days, confirming poison.
These changes were wondrous; the tribe felt awe toward Rakrak's transformations.
Rakrak felt it too.
Perhaps gifts from the Nameless Beetle God.
'But why would the god grant me such power?'
Days later, Rakrak learned the reason.
Rakrak slipped away from the tribe, walking the wasteland.
Searching for someone.
After days of travel, he spotted a Lizardman's back.
The one he sought.
Joyfully charging, he couldn't close the gap.
Exhausted, collapsing to his knees, the figure slowly turned.
The bright sky darkened; the face hid in shadow.
Rakrak strained to see, but couldn't.
The mysterious Lizardman extended a hand.
Rakrak thought to be helped up—but no.
Suddenly, a buffalo skull filled his arms.
Huge horns between the eyes, hollow sockets and nostrils, teeth firm in the upper jaw.
Rakrak handed the skull to the Lizardman.
He placed it over his own head.
Extended his hand again.
Rakrak checked his empty hands.
Looking up, the figure was gone.
Rakrak awoke from the dream.
"We must hunt the buffalo."
First words from Rakrak upon waking, summoning the tribe.
Jaol grumbled.
"To hunt buffalo, we'd have to go deep into the wasteland."
Jaol had once led this clan, the largest Lizardman.
She'd yielded to Rakrak without fuss upon finding the sacred land, but held the next greatest influence.
Rakrak nodded.
"The Nameless Beetle God wills us to catch the buffalo."
"The god? Did you see him?"
"Yes. He appeared in my dream tonight."
Rakrak began, recounting the dream.
Anyone could tell the god desired a buffalo offering.
The tribe murmured at Rakrak's tale.
Jaol shook her head.
"Hunting buffalo requires all our hunters. Who protects the weak if they all leave? Hunters could get lost. Too dangerous."
Valid points.
Rakrak didn't dislike Jaol's opposition.
Blind faith excluded diverse opinions.
But Rakrak had considered it.
"I'll go alone."
"What?"
"The god appeared to me. He means for me to do it."
Jaol growled.
"No. Many in the tribe trust and follow you. You'll scatter us? And how do you hunt buffalo alone?"
"Watch."
Rakrak grabbed his spear and stood.
A crude stone-tipped javelin, his favorite weapon.
He stepped forward, pointing at a distant withered tree.
Stamped once, hurled.
Not an arc—a perfect straight line.
Thud. Spear embedded; the tree cracked with a screech.
Awe at the feat silenced Jaol; the tribe cheered.
Rakrak glanced at Jaol, then walked to the hill's edge to retrieve it.
Pulling the spear, he froze at the sight below.
Rakrak smiled.
"Jaol! Look. Our quarrel was futile under the god's will."
Something approached below the hill.
The buffalo herd he meant to offer.
Not huge, but easy enough to hunt.
They sniffed water atop the hill, approaching slowly.
Yet they'd never encountered buffalo on the long path here before.
They must be lost too.
Buffalo endlessly circling the same areas—getting lost was odd.
'Unless by the god's arrangement.'
The tribe gasped at the herd.
The god hadn't appeared to scatter them.
Rakrak pulled his spear shaft and declared.
"Those who would offer glory to the god, follow me!"
Rakrak led; the tribe's hunters followed.