The Underwear Quest

The first thing I did upon returning home was dispose of the clothes the girl's holy water had ruined.

They were clothes from my days as a man, so I had no reason to wear them again.

Straight into the trash they went.

After that, I headed into the bathroom to wash up.

"Um, Lord Lumen?"

In the mirror, I witnessed something utterly absurd.

Several beams of light were shooting toward my body from somewhere, artfully covering every important part of a woman's anatomy.

I bent over. I moved around. The light followed right along, continuing to hide me no matter what I did.

It looked exactly like those cheap censorship effects from old anime, and I couldn't hide my disbelief.

Is this another effect of the Saintess skill?

"Are you kidding me?! I'm just trying to wash myself—get rid of this!"

What do you take me for, putting something like this on me?

I'm just going to wash up! How am I supposed to bathe like this? It's so inconvenient!

Ssssshh—

Apparently even Lord Lumen had to admit this was overkill, because the light covering my body vanished.

Only then did my naked form appear fully in the mirror.

"Whoa…"

Wow.

Is this really me?

Earlier the light had been too distracting for a proper look, but now that I could see clearly, admiration rose unbidden.

It didn't look like a person so much as a work of art.

Even completely bare, the first impression wasn't lewdness but beauty. If it hadn't been my naked body, I would have wanted to show it off to people.

"Mm, this is definitely… oh…"

But beauty was only the first thought.

A more… suggestive feeling crept in a beat later.

Honestly, I really had planned to just wash up. But how is a former man supposed to look at this and hold back?

People aren't always consistent, you know? What I thought earlier was earlier. A guy can change his mind.

Alright, alright—let's die once!

Fwoosh—!

"Ah."

The moment that filthy fantasy bloomed in my head, those damned clusters of light burst forth again.

Lord Lumen had instantly sensed that His Saintess was about to stray down a wicked path.

"Urgh. What a shame…"

How did He know I was only imagining it? Is He actually a real god?

And the mirror was now covered by light far brighter than before.

Earlier it had only blocked the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠critical areas. Now there was more light than skin visible.

"Lord Lumen, I know I was wrong, but I still need to see something if I'm going to wash. Could you ease up just a little?"

Silence.

Lord Lumen did not grant a second chance to a traitor.

Whether the Saintess protested or not, the light clusters continued to flaunt their presence right where they were.

Jesus forgave Peter even after he denied Him three times. What a petty god.

Left with no choice, I groped carefully beneath the light and washed myself as best I could.

Scrub-scrub.

Soft and springy.

I could feel the texture under my hands, yet from the body itself there was barely any sensation.

Even on the parts I figured should be sensitive.

Does a Saintess's body not feel pleasure?

A little disappointing.

"Hah… what am I supposed to wear? I don't have any girls' clothes…"

After finishing my bath, I opened the clothes drawer.

Underwear first.

I reached for a pair of men's boxer briefs.

And froze.

My body stopped of its own accord again.

Wearing men's underwear is unbefitting of a Saintess, is that it?

This time I had a comeback ready.

"There are no women's undergarments in this house. Should I just wear nothing, then?"

A no-panties Saintess.

Now that would be ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠a sight.

My threat must have landed, because my body started moving again. I was allowed to put on the men's boxer briefs.

"Hmph. For a god, You're not all that."

The thought of landing a hit on a deity put me in a slightly better mood.

But Lord Lumen was not about to take it lying down.

Ding—!

Wait, is this for real?

Just buy a pair of panties and I get a whole ten Faith?

It was a reward big enough to make my eyes go wide.

What on earth are panties to Lord Lumen that He'd hand out a reward like this?

I dropped lightning with one Faith. With ten, does that mean I could drop a meteor?

Ding—!

What is this. Did it actually think I wanted a meteor and offer to do it for real?

But this ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠is my room?

"No! No! Absolutely not!"

At my fierce refusal, the system message vanished at once.

I nearly got us all killed. My quick thinking just saved Korea.

…If that was Lord Lumen's idea of a joke, it was horrifying.

Anyway.

I was starting to grasp just how serious this god was about making a proper Saintess.

Handing out enough Faith for a meteor over a pair of underwear? That was a pure profit deal.

There was no time limit, though, so I figured I'd lounge around a bit before heading out.

I'll lie in bed and browse the gallery for a while.

I opened the gallery with a light heart.

"That's about me, isn't it?"

The Hunter Gallery was already in complete chaos.

Word that I'd set a new record on the first floor had already spread everywhere.

All the usual worthless bait threads had vanished, replaced entirely by talk of the Saintess.

Who is she, what nationality, is she pretty… the whole works.

So this really is a place for talking about hunters after all.

Among the posts were plenty comparing me to named hunters like my brother.

"It's only the first floor. Everyone's making such a fuss…"

I said that, but my fingers were already flying.

A post praising me.

Very good.

Grinning ear to ear, I mashed the upvote.

I mean, I did make up the name myself…

There's freedom of religion, so I can't go around crushing people just for insulting a faith.

If Lord Lumen wants to be a good god, He needs to learn how to take some heat.

On hold for now.

This bastard?

Not only insulting me, but dragging my brother through the mud too.

You're done.

I delivered the maximum punishment the internet would allow.

Downvote. Firmly pressed.

What did you just say?

…How did they know?

Though becoming a woman wasn't exactly my choice.

I was hoping to awaken as a handsome guy, thank you very much.

No matter where I looked, the gallery was nothing but talk about me. Hehe.

Honestly, it felt amazing.

Dopamine flooding in.

I wanted to screenshot every post from today and reread them forever.

"Praise me more!"

Everywhere, nothing but talk of me.

In this atmosphere, what would happen if I stepped forward and announced I was the Saintess of Lumen?

My heart was racing as I considered posting a verification thread—when one particular post caught my eye.

"What's this about?"

A post that didn't fit the gallery bait. My name wasn't even in the title.

And yet it had a surprising number of views and comments. It had even made it to the featured posts!

Curiosity got the better of me, and I clicked.

…Excuse me?

Arrest me?

The post ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠was mocking the pastor's statement, but I couldn't exactly laugh along.

World's number one?

No no no.

I just climbed the first floor?

I searched who Pastor Jin Myeong-hun was, and TreeWiki pulled up a dazzling résumé.

Vice President of the Korean Pastors Association—currently the largest religious organization in South Korea—and operator of the country's third-largest church. A heavyweight in religious circles, apparently.

In other words, a massive big shot.

"H-hiiiik…"

What if the government actually listens to him and cracks down on the Lumen denomination?

I need to proselytize.

I need to gather Faith.

I wanted to believe that a country like South Korea would never restrict freedom of religion—but that only applied before the Towers appeared.

After the Towers rose, the religious world underwent a massive upheaval.

Existing believers fled en masse, asking why God would create something like this.

In their place, the golden age of cults began.

They tied the Towers into their doctrines and evolved in such fanatical directions that even the government couldn't touch them lightly. They became full-blown zealot collectives.

And so every church nowadays had become a New Neo Church.

"Ugh, what do I do…"

The thought of the New Neo Churches turning hostile toward our Lumen denomination was terrifying.

Tremble-tremble—

Please, just let this blow over quietly.

At that same moment, the Blue House.

"What did you just say? Some two-bit pastor declared war on the Saintess?"

"M-Mr. President. That is…"

"If this news reaches the Saintess's ears even by chance, what do you plan to do?! Take action immediately!"

"Yes, sir!"

They had no idea that the Saintess had already heard the news—and was currently trembling in fear.