Chapter 25

As expected…

Nemesia had no grasp of the hierarchy here.

‘No one knows this person is the Pope.’

Outwardly, she was just the “Pope Candidate’s daughter.” That meant, aside from the other candidates, no one was supposed to outrank Nemesia.

People often made one critical mistake—they assumed the Order must be systematically fair, since its mission was righteous.

But from what he had seen, this place was a jungle.

A brutal hierarchy where only the strong survived.

‘But this child blessed by the divine… is kind.’

If Nemesia had heard that, she would’ve said something like, ‘What part of me tricking even fanatics into submission seems kind to you?’

But Derek was sincere.

Kind, soft-hearted, vulnerable Nemesia—he finally had a reason to protect her as her Guardian.

‘From now on, fighting for her place in the ranks is my job.’

A subtle heat crept back into Derek’s pale, weary cheeks.

It was a faint but unmistakable sense of self-worth—something he hadn’t felt in ages.

‘I’ll give this everything I have.’

Derek made up his mind.

“Daddy, aren’t you mad?! Bite him! Bite his face off!”

Any act of defiance—

He’d destroy it.

“Thanks for thinking about me, Daddy!”

Nemesia, blissfully unaware that one day she’d be sweating bullets trying to hold this man back by the leash, just beamed brightly.

‘Daddy looks kinda happy.’

That was all she thought.

“Shall we pinky promise? Pinky swear!”

“Of course…!”

Their joined hands cast overlapping shadows.

Father and daughter—no blood between them—slowly beginning to resemble each other without realizing it.

And for entirely different reasons, they each felt a sense of pride.

* * *

A few days later.

A large, round table dominated the center of the room. A clean blackboard stood beside it.

This place looked like a classroom—and it was, in fact, where the Pope Candidates received their education.

But Nemesia no longer had the emotional bandwidth to appreciate how realistic the game environment looked.

‘This reminds me of the chapter… The damn chapter…’

Ten Pope Candidates had been selected through the initial selection exams.

Now they sat in large chairs, some small, some tall—kids of all shapes and sizes.

And behind each child stood an adult.

Twenty people in all.

Yet the room was dead silent.

Only razor-sharp tension filled the air.

Like the moment right before an Olympic race starts, everyone here was either silently on edge or pretending not to be.

And I was…

‘Shit… I’m screwed.’

Absolutely doomed.

This was bad.

‘You’re telling me… today’s the first test?!’

That’s right.

Today, the day I finally showed up for my first class—

Was also, unfortunately, the day of the candidates’ first exam.

And this particular day—

‘Why the hell is it today?!’

Game Category [Post] [Strategy Guide]

[To all newbies about to take the first test]

Hey hey~ 🙌🙌

Congrats on entering the “First Test” chapter 🎉

I’ve got one piece of advice for y’all.

Simple, right?

Ready?

Just die once and get it over with ^^!

…Because this chapter’s basically hell—you’re supposed to die at least once to get it right.

* * *

Thirty minutes earlier.

I blinked wide-eyed.

“Huh? The location’s changed?”

Four days ago, after escaping from the fanatics’ underground cell, I was forcibly given rest by the Order’s leadership.

Understandable—after all, the Pope Candidates’ health always comes first.

‘Because of that, I ended up missing both the second and third lessons.’

The problem? You get points just for showing up to class.

The Order had tried to accommodate me in various ways, but I still earned fewer points than the candidates who actually participated.

‘I’m in trouble…’

Drop below a certain point threshold, and even your living conditions change.

What if they downgrade my room because of this?

‘I can’t let Daddy sleep in a stable!’

Just as I was feeling increasingly uneasy—

I got word that today’s lesson would be held in a different location.

“They say it was a clerical error from the start.”

“Ahh. So where are we going?”

“The Room of Miracles.”

I froze.

…What?

“…Where?!”

“They said it’s the Room of Miracles.”

My dad’s eyes widened.

Seeing my expression, his face turned grave too.

‘Why that place?’

Wait a sec—

I ran over to the calendar on the wall.

‘Knew it! The dates don’t match up!’

The Room of Miracles.

Known among players for the incident that made them “wet their pants.”

‘The only time we go there is for the first test, right?’

The problem was, the timing was way off. I was certain it didn’t happen until much later!

‘…No. I guess it’s not that weird.’

After I blew up the underground fanatic cell, both the Order and the cult must’ve gone into panic mode.

It’s entirely possible the Order accelerated the Pope Candidates’ curriculum because of that.

‘And I wouldn’t have known since I was stuck on forced rest.’

Not an excuse. It was my fault for not thinking ahead.

Still… it’s not like I’m out of options.

‘I just… don’t want to go unprepared. Maybe I can skip it and just take the penalty?’

The Order had excused me from classes for health reasons, after all.

“Daddy! So, uh, let’s say…”

* * *

“No.”

Ciara, the official education overseer assigned to Pope Candidate Nemesia, cut her off without hesitation.

Behind her glasses, her gaze flicked downward.

‘Disappointed.’

Nemesia’s tiny, tearful face was the picture of dismay—so adorable, so pitiful.

The youngest of the Pope Candidates.

And honestly, the least likely to survive the upcoming exam—especially in a hellhole like the “Labyrinth.”

But also—

The child who had defied the divine oracle.

“The protagonist of the prophecy was clearly a boy in his early teens.”

“This doesn’t make sense.”

“What if something went wrong in the grand plan for the world…?”

For the first time in the Order’s long history, a divine oracle had been wrong.

Silently, but with overwhelming intensity, the entire hierarchy was shaken.

“Keep an eye on her, Ciara.”

And so, Ciara—who had quietly worked a desk job until now—was given a secret directive:

Monitor the youngest Pope Candidate. Report everything.

So when she got called in today by Nemesia, she’d actually been eager.

She just hadn’t expected this.

“You need to attend the first test.”

Nemesia’s face crumpled in real-time.

The way the child whimpered, clearly not understanding what was happening, made Ciara feel like she was the bad guy taking candy from a baby.

“I don’t feel good.”

“Well, then, I suppose you don’t have to attend… though you will be penalized.”

Exams were the only tool the Order had to compel Pope Candidates.

If you skipped one, there were consequences.

Ciara was wondering how best to explain that when—

Nemesia suddenly flinched.

“…Am I gonna get punished?”

Weird.

Why did it feel like she already knew about the penalties?

“You won’t be punished, exactly. You’ll receive demerit points. But if they pile up, yes, disciplinary action follows. Technically speaking, skipping a test is an automatic demerit.”

“So it is punishment!”

Nemesia clutched her own head in despair.

She looked like she was about to cry.

Beside her, her Guardian Derek was flailing.

“Y-your hair! It’s gonna fall out! Don’t pull it out!”

“What do you think my hair is? A dandelion fluff?! It won’t fall out that easily!”

“Your fingers are gonna get hurt!”

It was a ridiculous scene.

Panicked beyond reason, Derek scooped Nemesia into his arms to calm her down.

‘Still holding her like she’s a baguette, I see.’

Maybe he had improved, a little.

To those who knew him as the former hero of the Order, this would’ve been an unbelievable sight.

“As your instructor, I highly recommend not skipping this exam.”

“Ugh…”

Nemesia pouted in her dad’s arms.

Ciara’s eyes glinted subtly as she watched her.

She shared the same questions the higher-ups had.

Was this child who defied the prophecy truly a symbol of miracles?

…Or was she a harbinger of corruption and chaos, threatening the fragile balance the Order had barely maintained?

After much grumbling in her daddy’s arms, Nemesia finally agreed to take the test.

* * *

‘This is checkmate.’

My footsteps were heavy.

“…Do your fingers hurt?”

Daddy hovered nervously beside me.

“No, I’m fine. It’s just… my feet feel heavy.”

Really, really heavy.

‘But I couldn’t skip it.’

I knew exactly what kind of “disciplinary action” Ciara meant.

It involved being sent to a secret location owned by the Order.

‘And I really, really don’t want to go there right now…’

Even with Daddy by my side, I wouldn’t survive it at my current level.

I’d rather take the test.

“Pope Candidate Nemesia, confirmed!”

And so I arrived at the Room of Miracles.

The holy knight guarding the entrance—clearly tense—allowed me inside.
 

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Translator: Japchae