Chapter 1: Prologue
But the man wasn’t happy about it. He groaned and leaned back in his chair, instinctively letting out a stretch.
"Ahhgh!" Jack angrily ran his hands through his hair. Despite trying dozens of times, Morrigan kept dying every time!
"Every time! Why do I fail every time!" Jack shouted, almost on the verge of tears.
Jack, an ordinary Englishman, kept trying but got no results—just frustration.
"Whatever," Jack said, realizing with surprise how late it was. After playing continuously for 6 hours, his body was exhausted.
Lifting his tired body, Jack let out a groan from the pain in his backside. With a grimace on his face, Jack could only sigh. "Damn it, why can’t I just live off playing games!"
Jack was tired of going to work every day and slaving away like a drone, but unfortunately, money didn’t grow on trees.
"Though, maybe I can find a new route tomorrow!" Jack thought, contemplating a thousand different ways to kill Alice as he threw himself onto the bed, quickly succumbing to sleep.
******
Around 5 o’clock, Jack returned home after a long day at work. The first thing he did was sit down at his computer and start up his Otome game.
While the game was loading, Jack grabbed a glass and some cola from his cupboard. Then, he prepared his noodles for the night ahead.
After all, tomorrow was Sunday. No work. Jack had already decided to spend the entire day playing the game.
As the familiar interface of the game appeared, Jack wiggled in his seat like a child. After a moment, the start menu popped up.
Just as he was about to jump straight into the game with a quick move, something new in the mod options caught his attention.
"What is this?" Mods were additions made to make the game more fun.
But Jack didn’t remember installing a mod yesterday. Reading the name of the mod, Jack paused for a moment, surprised and curious. "This is strange..."
The mod’s name was filled with question marks, with no clue as to what it could be. Jack raised an eyebrow in confusion—was it a virus? He wasn’t sure, but his curiosity overpowered his doubts.
"Let’s see what this is," Jack said as he activated the mod. After turning it on, he noticed that the screen stayed black for a while. His eyes widened in surprise, and he anxiously tried to figure out what was happening, but to no avail.
"Why won’t this damn thing load!?" Jack tried to exit the game, but nothing worked. His worries faded as the game finally started. Relieved, Jack eagerly tried to figure out what was going on.
The slowly brightening screen revealed a room.
The room was large and luxurious, but it wasn’t very clean. Although the items were neatly arranged, dust could be seen on the shelves. "Wait! Isn’t this Morrigan’s room?"
Jake’s eyes trembled with excitement. Had he found a new route? A hidden route, no less. "Was there really such a route? Or was it the mod?"
"But this should be impossible," Jack said with disappointment. The creator of the Otome game didn’t allow mods that were advanced enough to completely change the game or add new routes.
This was something Jack didn’t understand at all, but he didn’t question it. This mod must be special. "Still, I’ll finish this route while I have the chance."
The first thing Jack noticed as he excitedly scanned the room was that Morrigan wasn’t there. "She’s probably off registering at the Academy, heading to New Camelot, the capital of the Holy Mary Kingdom."
The game *Saint of the Goddess of Light* was generally inspired by the Arthurian legends.
The continent of Albion, the largest continent in the world of Aure, was an age of chaos during which Fairies, Demons, Dragons, Vampires, Dwarves, and Dark Wizards were in their golden age.
However, from among the oppressed people, a man loved and blessed by the Goddess emerged: Arthur Pendragon.
Arthur Pendragon, with the Goddess’s sword Excalibur, exiled all non-human races to a dimensional void known as Avalon.
Yet, Dwarves, Elves, and Dragons formed alliances with humans, becoming some of the remaining races in the world.
Dark Wizards were hunted, weakened, their temples to the God of Darkness were destroyed, and the Church of Light was established.
At the same time, Fairies settled in part of Avalon, while Demons took control of another part of Avalon, and most Vampires united under the Vampire Queen Carmilla.
A few Vampires still remained in the world of Aure.
This was the basic story of *Saint of the Goddess of Light*. Alice was the new saint blessed by the Goddess.
The era following the Age of Chaos was the Age of Wars. This era, which began with the death of Arthur Pendragon, lasted for 300 years and saw dozens of kingdoms declare their independence from the disintegrating Albion Empire.
The first of these was the Romania Jermanus royal family, claiming direct descent from King Arthur. Their kingdom had deep connections with the Church and was known as the Holy Mary Kingdom, which possessed the most fertile lands on the Albion continent, with wide plains and abundant drinkable fresh water.
Next were the Wargans, a people settled in the northern part of Albion, known as the Barbarians. This region, famous for its harsh winters, neglected roads, and constant provocations against the Holy Mary Kingdom, was home to a war-loving people. Unlike the basic hierarchy, the Wargans were governed by a war council, made up of the strongest individuals.
In the southern part of the continent was a place with abundant rainfall and forested areas. Here, human and elf kingdoms were mixed, and there were more than ten small kingdoms and duchies.
The eastern part of Albion Island was a desert, home to the Orc Empire. Orcs were a race created by the God of Monsters after Arthur Pendragon’s death, and this deity also created many other monster races, including goblins and cat-people.
The Orc Empire frequently clashed with humans and stole grain. They engaged in at least five major wars and more than thirty minor conflicts every century.
Dwarves lived in the largest mountains of the northeastern part of the Albion continent, possessing the highest level of technology and using cannons to protect their mountains.
Dwarves were one of the most beloved races on the Albion continent.
Vampires lived in the hidden lairs of the Dark Wizards. Their goal was to bring back the legendary vampire queen Carmilla.
The history of the Dark Wizards is complex. The first historical record mentions Morgana Le Fay, Arthur Pendragon’s sister.
Morgana was known as the Queen of Darkness who initiated the Age of Chaos and subdued the entire Albion continent.
In Emride, there were thousands of dark magic users and monsters.
The fear of Morgana was so great that even Morrigan, known as her reincarnation, was deeply feared and hated.
Before Jack could continue his thoughts, the sound of a door opening came from the screen. "Is that Morrigan?"
Looking at the newcomer, Jake eagerly awaited Morrigan’s arrival.
After a while, a girl entered through the door. Her cold blue eyes and long black hair flowed down.
She wore a gothic outfit in a mix of black and purple. As Jack had guessed, she had returned after enrolling in the Academy.
This was also the first reason for her gradual transformation into a Villain.
Despite her cold appearance, Morrigan was actually a very innocent girl inside.
Her father, Duke Alfred, had sent her alone to a distant mansion because he did not want to see his eldest daughter, and her mother hated her existence.
Although the servants neglected her, Morrigan was a girl who bore no grudge against anyone.
In the world of Aure, a person’s elemental affinity was determined at the age of 12.
If you had an affinity for fire, you would fight in the army.
If you had an affinity for water, you would become a healer.
If you had an affinity for earth, you would either fight or work in construction.
If you had an affinity for wind, you could serve in a magic tower as a postman, soldier, or other magical roles.
There were also rare affinities like Time, Infinity, Necromancy, Lightning, and Ice. The rarest were Light and Darkness.
Those with Light affinity usually served in the church, while those with Dark Magic were executed. Morrigan was an exception.
It was forbidden to execute a noble without the king’s special order.
Morrigan was betrothed to Prince Julius by her father.
Even though Morrigan had great hopes despite not having met Prince Julius, she was going to meet him for the first time at the Academy.
However, things did not go as she wished, and she was rejected and expelled by Julius.
As a result, Morrigan lost faith in life. Just as she was about to commit suicide, she was invited to the Hades cult, the largest Dark Magic cult, by a hidden servant in her mansion.
Listening to the servant Thomas, Morrigan joined the cult, and in the end, the game was completed according to the statistics and choices the player controlling Alice had throughout the game.
Every route ended invariably with Morrigan’s death. For Jack, this was senseless and frustrating.
"Why? What did I do?" Jake saw Morrigan sitting in the chair with a blank expression, her blue eyes lifeless. "Am I really a monster?"
Seeing Morrigan’s emotionless eyes, something inside Jack broke. He wanted to say she wasn’t a monster.
"Maybe it would be better if I died." Morrigan looked at the knife in her hand with indifference. Jack anxiously pressed random keys. "Come on, work! What does this mod even do?!!"
Jack struck the keyboard in sudden anger. The tab that opened on the monitor surprised him. "What is this tab?"
The tab had dozens of features, but only one was active. "Is only one active?"
Jack examined the ability. The ability called Revelation allowed for interaction.
Jack’s first reaction was disbelief. No matter how fanatical a fan was, real-time interaction in a game was impossible.
"But this is my only chance..." Without waiting any longer, Jack clicked on the Revelation ability.
The Mana displayed at the top, shown as 100/100, dropped by one point.
A chat section opened. Jack quickly typed a message.
"Stop, don’t do it." Jack hit the Enter key immediately, sending the message right away.
At that moment, as Morrigan was about to commit suicide, she suddenly stood up in shock. "Who are you?! Show yourself?!"
Jack’s eyes widened in astonishment. How could this be! "This is just a game! How can this be!??"
Jack calmed down and immediately reprimanded himself. How could a game be real-time? Still, Jack sent one more message to dispel his doubts.
"Hey!! Hello, I’m Jack!" Sending the message, Jack laughed and leaned back. He did not believe the game was real-time.
"{Pitiful mortal... Kneel and pay your respect to me...}" Morrigan showed a small sign of agitation due to the voice in her head, with astonishment and doubt crossing her mind. ’Was this voice a god?’
Morrigan decided to obey to avoid risking angering a god. She knelt and offered her respect. "Great God, I present my pitiful existence to you..."
Reciting the words she had learned from books, Morrigan began to pray.
Meanwhile, Jack fell backward in shock and hit his head on the floor. "Ow, that hurt, damn it!"
"But—but is this real?" Jack remained stunned for a while. It should have been impossible, but the mod had achieved it.
’Maybe I can do it?’ Jack looked at Morrigan, who was still kneeling and continuing her prayer, and pondered.
He would change Morrigan’s fate and give her a better life.
Alice, Norman, Julius—forget them. Morrigan was the only one important to Jack.
Jack sat back in his chair and eagerly watched the abilities offered by the mod.
Still, his attention was drawn to a sudden notification on the left side.
{’Title of "God of Darkness" has been successfully acquired.}