NOVEL WEB Chapter 5
Chapter 5: Part-Timer Becomes a Totem (5)
First, I learned a Blessing.
I had no choice because I’m really just Totem A without it.
My points went from 250 to 150, and one of the empty Blessing slots was filled.
[Name: Malak]
━ Available Blessings: Healing Totem (Lower)
━ Available Points: 150 -> 170
━ Followers: Paya
━ Enter Community
Even now, the points are going up.
My followers are working so hard, I can’t just complain.
Let’s try something. I clicked on the newly acquired Blessing with my eyes.
The ground within a 100-meter radius glows faintly blue.
The visuals are good. The gloomy altar has become a little more sacred.
I’ll have to check the effect when Kanto and the warriors return.
…Nothing to do, should I browse the community?
It feels like I’ve become a jobless bum fiddling with the computer while my family earns money.
[Close-Range Spy: This happened just a while ago~
I was leaning against a tree, resting, when a high-ranking demon started picking on a nun, asking why she was sitting with her legs spread… Even after the nun closed her legs, he continued to spew insults…
High-ranking Demon: Ha~~~ Really, these young ones these days are empty-headed… Showing their panties so carelessly. Well, I guess that’s what you’d expect from a slut?
Me: !! You bastard. Calling a nun a slut, you’re the lowest of the low… Stop it.
High-ranking Demon: Haa? You… Are you this bitch’s (holding up his pinky) thing? Are you going to take the beating for her?
So I told him to hit me, and he actually did… -_-;; But I gritted my teeth and endured it.
High-ranking Demon: One! Two!! Three!!…! Huff…. Huff…. One million twenty-one! One million twenty-two!!!
It hurt so much, but I kept my eyes wide open and didn’t let out a single moan, and then the high-ranking demon said~
High-ranking Demon: You…. Why the hell are you going this far for a bitch? Those unwavering eyes…. What the hell are they!!!!! You…. What the hell are you!!!!
Paladin: …Ah…. Just a… an ordinary wandering paladin who can’t stand to see a woman being bullied… I guess.
Then the high-ranking demon stared blankly for a moment and then started laughing…
High-ranking Demon: ….Pfft…Puhaha…..KHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!
Me: Eh….? Why…. Why are you laughing! Are you bipolar?! Is your head hurting?
High-ranking Demon: Ah… There was one before… A ‘fool paladin’ who said the same thing as you… It’s an old story…
And he jumped up and flew away…. The demon worshippers who were watching cheered ㅡㅡ;
Demon Worshipper 1: Wooowooo~~~!! That’s amazing, damn it~~!!!
Demon Worshipper 2: Hey, you’re pretty good!
Demon Worshipper 3: This is the paladin’s heart of martial arts…!
Other Worshippers: (Stand up and give a standing ovation)
Nun: (Glaring while sobbing)…. Really…. Don’t do anything reckless, you fool paladin!!!
And then the nun suddenly kissed me. ㅡ,ㅡ;;;
It was a really troublesome day, wasn’t it~?]
…Let’s not read the latest posts for a while.
Should I go to the last page again?
I’ve looked through it a few times, and the posts from the early days were of better quality.
Fierce stories of paladins fighting for their lives. The early posts were like a text version of the game.
Compared to that, now…it’s just an eyesore.
First, let’s look for information. I need to figure out exactly what’s the same and what’s different compared to the game.
The safety of my followers depends on the amount of information I have. My safety depends on their safety.
Suddenly, a question popped into my head. If this totem breaks, will I die too?
Or do I have to stay in another space until a new totem is created?
It was clear that this was information I couldn’t get anywhere else in this community.
Information that only I can find out. And I have to risk my life to find out.
Trying to shake off the uneasy feeling, I searched through the sea of the community, looking for informative posts that could help me understand this world.
* * * * * *
Kanto and the warriors arrived at the tribe only after sunset.
“Malak-nim! We have returned with a landslide victory! We slaughtered them without losing a single warrior! Your name, Malak-nim, will echo throughout the mountains!”
He’s always exaggerating. This isn’t some neighborhood hill, how can my name echo just from killing a few infected animals?
━ I know of your victory. Come and receive my Blessing.
I had passed 500 points earlier, so I strengthened the Blessing. It’s called ‘Healing Totem (Intermediate)’.
I really didn’t want to strengthen it, but I invested in it because no other Blessings appeared until the end.
It’s not my style to save up points and only use them in a crisis.
Besides, it’s still early stages. I should use them in advance and prepare sufficiently instead of saving them.
“Ooh! You can use Blessings now!”
Kanto and the warriors entered the altar with bright smiles.
They were all covered in dark green blood, so it wasn’t a pleasant sight.
“This is the Loa’s Blessing!”
“I feel refreshed somehow!”
“My fatigue seems to be disappearing!”
“The aching in my body is gone!”
Kanto and the warriors exclaimed in admiration as they entered the space that glowed faintly blue.
It’s not just fatigue recovery, is it? Then it’s no different from Bacchus.
[Healing Totem (Intermediate): Moderately heals followers within a 100-meter radius. Greatly increases natural healing rate.]
I’m worried because I don’t know how much “moderately heals” actually heals.
It shouldn’t be just like applying a lot of Madecassol. I hid my anxiety and waited patiently.
It was after 5 minutes that the wounds on the warriors’ bodies began to heal.
The blue light surrounding them seeped into the wounds and regenerated their flesh. Fortunately, it wasn’t at the level of Madecassol or Bacchus.
“Chieftain-nim! Look at this! My wounds are healing!”
“My burn scars are disappearing! They’ve been there for 10 years!”
“I think my hair is growing back too…?”
“That’s your imagination.”
Even if it doesn’t regenerate severed limbs, it seems to heal most injuries.
One of the first skills the playable character in learns is ‘Healing Touch’.
It was a skill that restored a small amount of the character’s HP, and it seems my Blessing is about that level.
No, wait, I can heal multiple people at once, so it’s better.
━ This Blessing is one of the most insignificant I possess.
Anyway, they seem satisfied, so I boasted a little to raise their expectations.
━ If you defeat many enemies, you will receive more Blessings, and if you defeat strong enemies, you will receive better Blessings.
“This is an insignificant Blessing? Hahaha! The unification of the tribes is not far off!”
Kanto, who was grinning like a country bumpkin who saw a city for the first time, slapped the warriors on the shoulders and smiled.
“Tonight, we shall enjoy alcohol and women! We will hunt more beasts tomorrow!”
Kanto, after making his bold declaration, enjoyed the Blessings with the warriors for several hours before leaving.
Alcohol and women. I need those too.
I can’t enjoy entertainment even if I want to in this body. I gave up and was checking the community when…
“…How is the totem?”
Someone was sneaking up next to me, so I looked and saw it was Paya.
She was holding a towel and a water bucket, and the bucket was tilted as if it was a bit heavy.
━ Nothing special. What’s up?
Would the totem change in just a day? It’s just a piece of wood.
“I came to take care of it.”
Paya said so and put down the water bucket, then wet the towel with water and wiped my body, or rather, the totem.
Every time the towel passed, the totem became shiny, so it didn’t seem like ordinary water.
Is it some kind of barbarian wax?
━ Hmm.
I felt awkward because the little girl was voluntarily wiping my body.
This wasn’t even my real body, and Paya wasn’t a very young child, but still.
“Is your recovery going well?”
━ It’s going smoothly.
“Is the recovery process painful?”
━ It’s bearable.
“That’s good….What is the world where the Loas live like?”
The world where they live. I don’t know about Loas, but I came from Earth.
It’s very peaceful there, unlike here…no, wars happen sometimes, so maybe not entirely.
But I think it’s a livable place.
━ It’s a decent place.
Of course, I had no intention of telling her that straight out.
“Are my parents there too?”
Ah, I remembered a setting I had forgotten.
Barbarians believe that when they achieve great deeds, they go to the dimension where the Loas live after death.
I don’t remember exactly, but…it was a setting similar to Valhalla, I think.
Anyway, as a religious group, there would be many stories about the afterlife.
Even though it wasn’t implemented in the game.
━ I cannot speak of the matters of the dead.
I decided to just avoid it.
I had no reason to tell the truth, nor the courage to lie.
Actually, I’m lying a lot even now.
“…Is that so.”
Paya slowly nodded and focused on taking care of the totem.
I received a full-body massage that I had never received even on Earth.
“I’m finished. Have a comfortable time.”
Paya left after making the entire totem shiny.
A comfortable time…for me right now, it’s just a boring time.
I went to sleep listening to the sound of insects chirping.