How to survive in the Romance Fantasy Game Chapter 756: Anomaly’s gift 2.5

Watching everything unfold from far above the world were two invisible divine beings.

Neither of them could be seen by the people gathered inside the hidden temple.

Yet they were there.

High above the clouds, far beyond the reach of ordinary mortals, Eris had created a large screen of light that displayed everything happening inside the cave.

Riley stood beside her, silently watching the scene.

Hundreds of people were kneeling before the enormous statue.

Their voices had merged into a single prayer, repeatedly calling out to the Great Anomaly.

Riley stared at the screen for a while before letting out a quiet sigh.

"Can you feel it, Riley?"

Eris glanced toward him.

"Their prayers?"

Riley remained silent for a moment.

He tried to concentrate.

He could hear their voices through the screen.

He could see their movements.

He could even feel the strange divine energy gathering around the temple.

But the thing Eris was talking about...

Their faith.

Their belief in him.

Riley couldn’t actually feel it.

"To be honest..."

He rubbed the back of his head.

"I can’t tell."

Eris blinked.

Then she smiled.

"I guess you really are still a lesser god for now."

Riley gave her an unimpressed look.

"Thanks for reminding me."

"I wasn’t insulting you."

"You sounded like you were."

"I wasn’t~"

Riley sighed again.

Eris continued explaining.

"Even if the quality of your Divinity is extremely high, your actual connection to divine faith is still rather weak. Feeling something as minuscule as the faith of a few hundred mortals isn’t something you’ll naturally notice yet."

She pointed toward the screen.

"But if you focus properly, you should be able to reach through their thoughts."

Riley looked back at the people praying.

"And accept their faith?"

"Exactly."

According to Eris, accepting their faith would allow Riley to establish a stronger connection with his followers.

Their belief could then strengthen his Divinity, which in turn could strengthen his Authorities.

It sounded simple when she explained it.

In practice, however...

Riley wasn’t having much luck.

He had already tried concentrating on the people inside the temple, but all he could sense was a strange collection of emotions and divine energy.

Nothing that felt like a clear connection.

It was almost like trying to hear a whisper from miles away while standing in the middle of a storm.

Riley frowned.

"You said I have to take advantage of them, right?"

"Mm-hm."

"Are you really sure about that?"

Riley looked at the screen again.

The people were still praying.

Some of them were shaking with excitement.

Others had their hands clasped tightly together as they prayed for their families, their futures, and whatever desires they had carried into the temple.

"They seem a lot more fanatical than I thought they would be."

Eris shrugged.

"As I said, such a small group doesn’t matter much."

Riley raised an eyebrow.

"That’s easy for you to say."

"I created this world, Riley. A few hundred believers aren’t going to suddenly overthrow the Church of Light."

She paused, then smiled.

"Besides, I doubt you could topple the world’s main religion just because you gave a few people some miracles."

"I wasn’t planning on doing that."

"I know."

Eris’s smile widened.

"That’s why it’s fun."

Riley ignored her.

His attention returned to the screen.

The prayers were growing louder.

He could feel something happening, even if he couldn’t properly identify it.

Something was connecting the people below to him.

It was faint.

So, faint that he might have completely missed it if Eris hadn’t told him to look for it.

"So, what am I supposed to do?"

"Just wait for your cue."

Eris folded her arms.

"Once their faith reaches the right point, you should try granting them something."

"Something?"

"A blessing. A miracle. Anything that proves their prayers were heard."

Riley stared at her.

"Do I really need to show up there?"

"Not necessarily."

Eris tapped her chin thoughtfully.

"But it would certainly make the biggest impact."

Riley immediately had a bad feeling about where this was going.

Eris’s eyes suddenly lit up.

"You could try possessing that statue."

Riley looked at the enormous statue displayed on the screen.

"...Possess it?"

"Mm-hm."

"You want me to possess a statue?"

"Imagine it."

Eris began speaking with exaggerated enthusiasm.

"The Great Anomaly suddenly speaks through the statue they’ve built in his image. You could give them a few words of wisdom, maybe acknowledge their prayers, and prove that their god is real."

Riley stared at her.

"That sounds unnecessarily dramatic."

"That’s the point."

She smiled.

"Faith loves dramatic things."

Riley couldn’t argue with that.

Still, he looked toward the statue again.

There was another problem.

"I don’t think I can actually do that."

"Possess an inanimate object?"

"Yeah."

Riley focused on the statue for a moment.

His Divinity was strange.

His Authority was even stranger.

He could interfere with reality in ways that shouldn’t have been possible.

But that didn’t mean he could suddenly take control of an object and make it move whenever he wanted.

Eris seemed to realize the same thing.

"Hmm..."

She tapped her finger against her chin.

"You’re probably right. You haven’t developed that kind of technical control yet."

Riley sighed in relief.

"Good."

"But..."

Eris smiled again.

"You could always bless one or two of them."

Riley’s expression immediately became serious.

"That might actually be more reasonable."

A small blessing wouldn’t require him to physically appear.

He wouldn’t have to possess anything.

And it would still prove to his followers that their prayers had reached him.

It was a reasonable suggestion.

The only problem was that Riley still couldn’t figure out how to actually do it. "I don’t exactly know how..."

"Fufu..."

Eris covered her mouth as she giggled.

"Considering how talented you are, I had assumed you would get the hang of it instinctively."

Riley gave her a tired look.

"You make it sound like I’m supposed to know how to do all of this already."

"Well, you are an anomaly."

"That’s not an answer."

Eris simply smiled.

"I suppose getting access to your Faith Chamber isn’t going to be quite that simple."

Riley paused.

"Faith Chamber...?"

"Yes."

Eris pointed toward him.

"Think of it as a chamber within your Divinity that records those who are faithful to you."

"A chamber that records my followers?"

"Exactly."

She nodded.

"Once you have access to it, you’ll be able to see those who have placed their faith in you. You can observe their connection to your Divinity and, more importantly, choose which of your faithful you want to bless."

Riley’s eyes narrowed slightly.

"That sounds useful."

"It is."

Eris’s expression became a little more serious.

"But you don’t have access to it yet."

"Why?"

"Because you haven’t accumulated enough faith."

Riley looked back toward the screen.

The hundreds of people kneeling inside the temple were still praying.

"So even though all of them are praying to me right now..."

"It’s still not enough to open the chamber."

Eris shrugged.

"You’re still relatively new to this whole godhood thing. The amount of faith you’ve gathered so far is probably too small to unlock the more advanced functions of your Divinity."

Riley sighed.

"So I have to wait."

"Not necessarily."

Eris smiled.

"You could try pushing yourself right now."

Riley glanced at her.

"While they’re praying?"

"Mm-hm. Their prayers are creating a concentrated source of faith at this very moment. If you focus hard enough, you might be able to force your way toward the Faith Chamber."

She paused.

"But..."

"But?"

"It would probably take some time."

Riley immediately understood.

"And I don’t exactly have time to sit here and meditate for hours."

"Exactly~"

Eris pointed toward the screen again.

"So, for now, manually blessing one or two of them is your only real option if you want to take advantage of your followers."

Riley looked at the crowd.

Hundreds of people.

All of them praying.

And he was supposed to choose one or two.

"Since you still can’t properly hear their prayers or feel their faith, you’ll have to move your attention toward them yourself."

Eris raised a finger.

"Look through the crowd and find one or two people who interest you."

"Then what?"

"Focus on them."

Her finger moved toward the screen.

"Once you’ve selected someone, command your Divinity to dwell within them."

Riley listened carefully.

"And after that?"

"Leave a message within your Divinity."

"A message?"

"Yes. Something simple."

Eris smiled.

"Tell them that their prayers have been heard. Tell them that the Great Anomaly has noticed their devotion."

Riley stared at her.

"And that will be enough?"

"It should."

Eris’s smile became more mischievous.

"Imagine how dramatic it will be when someone suddenly realizes that their god has actually answered them."

Riley could already imagine the chaos that would cause.

Still, there was a certain logic behind her suggestion.

If these people believed strongly enough that he had personally answered them, their faith would likely become even stronger.

And stronger faith meant stronger Divinity.

It was essentially a cycle.

Riley just had to figure out how to start it.

"Alright."

He looked toward the screen again.

The crowd remained kneeling.

Hundreds of people had their heads lowered, their voices blending together as they continued their prayers.

Riley slowly examined them.

Men.

Women.

Young and old.

Some prayed with determination.

Others seemed desperate.

Some looked excited.

Others looked almost completely devoted already.

Then Riley noticed someone.

A random red-haired man.

He wasn’t particularly remarkable compared to the others.

There was nothing special about his clothes, his appearance, or even his position within the crowd.

Riley’s selection was almost completely random.

Yet something about him stood out.

He was scared.

While everyone else seemed caught up in the prayer, the red-haired man kept trembling slightly.

His head was lowered, but Riley could see his hands shaking.

He didn’t look like someone who had willingly embraced this place.

He looked like someone who had come here because he desperately wanted something...

And was now wondering whether he had made a mistake.

Riley watched him for a few seconds.

Huh.

For some reason, that was enough to catch his attention.

"Alright then..."

Riley closed his eyes.

He focused on the man.

He tried to ignore the hundreds of voices surrounding him and concentrated on that single person.

At first, nothing happened.

Then Riley gathered his Divinity.

A faint sensation began spreading through his body.

"Let’s see if this works..."