"Cough cough cough..."

  Ulu woke up once again to a fit of violent coughing.

  He felt miserable, as though his lungs were about to be coughed up. There was a sickly, sweet taste of blood in his throat.

  "Your body is just too weak," Visah'Su' slow voice echoed in his mind. "Last night's battle was still too much of a burden for you."

  "...Sorry, Lord Visah'Su," Ulu said, feeling helpless. "I... I'll try harder."

  Visah'Su snorted and didn't say anything more. After all, his goal had been accomplished: he had made Ulu believe that his physical decline was due to last night's battle, not because of his own arrival.

  But Ulu didn’t know that, and in fact, he was relieved that Visah'Su didn’t continue mocking him.

  Right now, he was genuinely afraid that Lord Visas would abandon him too.

  Ulu glanced outside. The sky was just starting to brighten, indicating that he hadn't slept too long.

  To be honest, he was extremely tired. If he could, he really wanted to stay in bed and sleep until this time tomorrow.

  Normally, he could do that without a second thought. Even though there was a group of starving refugees outside the church, waiting for him to distribute relief rations, he could continue sleeping without any mental burden, reasoning that not opening the door was God's will.

  But now, his friend was searching the world for the... ahem, for Visah’Su's finger on his left hand. Ulu couldn’t afford to reveal any weaknesses, so he reluctantly forced his tired body out of bed.

  Hmm... Did I properly cover myself with the blanket before I slept?

  Ulu wondered for a moment, but the thought passed quickly.

  "Lord Visah'Su," Ulu sat on the bed for a while to catch his breath, then carefully asked, "What should I do today?"

  "Just do what you normally do," Hiroshi said lazily. "The situation has been stirred up after last night's battle. The focus isn't on you right now, so just maintain the status quo. Do whatever you would usually do at this time."

  "I understand," Ulu nodded, then struggled to get up. "I'll go to work now."

  But before he could take two steps, he stopped in his tracks.

  "What's wrong?" Hiroshi asked.

  "Uh..." Ulu scratched his head awkwardly, "I don’t usually get up this early to work. Do you think it might be a bit... unusual for me to be so diligent today?"

  Hiroshi replied with a half-smile, "A lazy person suddenly becoming hardworking, worried that others will think you're hiding something, huh?"

  Ulu gave a sheepish smile.

  "Well, it's up to you. I don't know how you usually act," Hiroshi said. "I'm not your mother. Don’t ask me everything. I’m going back to sleep."

  "Understood, Lord Visasah'Su."

  After that, Hiroshi was silent, as if he had really gone to sleep.

  Ulu glanced outside again, mentally calculating when it would be more normal for him to leave. Then he regretted it— it was still early enough that he could sleep for another hour or two. Though, it would be easy to lie back down, but getting up again would be much harder.

  He decided to hold out for a bit longer.

  Ulu sighed softly, then sat down at his desk. His eyes instinctively fell on the mirror on the desk.

  The person in the mirror—Ulu could hardly recognize him. His eyes were filled with exhaustion, his face drained of color, looking like someone who had just crawled out of a coffin.

  He was a completely different person from just a few days ago.

  And the cause of all these changes was the legendary power of Visah'Su.

  But to gain this power, he had almost lost everything he once had, and put himself in danger... Was it worth it?

  Ulu stared at his reflection, his eyes filled with confusion.

  "Looking like this, you might as well have 'I'm not normal' written across your face," Hiroshi's voice suddenly echoed from within, and then, as if he had straightened himself, he used his "little finger" to look at Ulu with subtle mockery in his tone. "If you really can't handle the pressure, you can cut me off now, throw everything away and run. That way, you might at least save your life... maybe."

  Ulu immediately snapped out of his thoughts and anxiously glanced at the upright middle finger. "L-Lord Visah'Su, aren't you going to rest?"

  "Weakness and fear keep me awake," Hiroshi replied ambiguously.

  But that was the truth.

  This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

  After his arrival last night, Hiroshi had not only gained more control over Ulu's body (now with an extra hand), but their souls had also become more in tune with each other. So now he could sense the subtle changes within Ulu’s mind— the fleeting confusion and regret from earlier.

  Were these feelings good?

  No, they weren’t.

  To be safe, Hiroshi decided not to pretend to sleep anymore. He felt that he still needed to do some "therapy" for Ulu.

  Previously, Hiroshi had played the role of a seductive evil god, using both "threats" and "temptations" to bring Ulu to this point. But now, it seemed that merely doing this wouldn’t be as effective anymore, so he decided to shift tactics and try becoming a “kind counselor” or something similar.

  So, Hiroshi, as though he were on Ulu's side, gave him the only option left: abandon everything, run as far as possible, and perhaps survive.

  But would Ulu choose that path?

  The answer was obvious.

  Ulu hesitated for only a few seconds, then shook his head repeatedly. "No, no, no. It's not that time yet. I understand, Lord Visah'Su, as long as I have your help, I shouldn’t fear anyone."

  "Heh, realizing that much is an improvement," Hiroshi said. "At least you’re starting to show signs of being my disciple."

  Ulu froze for a moment. "D-Disciple?" he asked in surprise.

  It was the first time Hiroshi had "praised" him in the past two days. While Ulu wasn’t sure whether it could be considered praise, the fact that Visah'Su's acknowledged him as his disciple was enough to leave him stunned.

  "Heh..." Hiroshi tried to straighten up his finger even more, as though that would make him look more imposing. "My soul is within you. You can use my power. So, what else could you be but my disciple?"

  Ulu’s heart surged with an indescribable emotion as he looked at Visah'Su's upright middle finger.

  In the past few days, Ulu had experienced great highs and lows.

  The highs came from obtaining Visah'Su's finger and gaining the extraordinary power, while the lows came from nearly losing everything to gain that power, and even the title of "Father Rhyo" would be hard to maintain.

  Visah’Su's mocking and coercion had made Ulu feel... so lonely and afraid.

  To be honest, after the famine he endured twenty years ago, he hadn’t felt this way for a long time. It was as if he was back to those days when he had lost everything and was starving, with no one to help him.

  But now, Visah'Su had recognized him as his disciple.

  In that instant, Ulu felt an indescribable... sense of belonging.

  And he had only known Visah'Su for two days.

  "I understand, Lord Visah'Su," Ulu’s heart gradually calmed. "With your support behind me, I have no reason to fear."

  "Heh, before you say that, maybe you should clean yourself up first," Hiroshi chuckled. "You look so pitiful I don’t even want to look at you."

  Ulu was startled, then quickly cast several healing spells on himself, improving his complexion a little before letting out a sigh of relief.

  Seeing that his words had had an effect, Hiroshi was quite satisfied.

  What? You think it’s shameful for a legendary figure like Visah'Su to do psychological counseling for a regular person like Ulu?

  Well, what about when the great people of history had to act like understanding confidants before becoming great? At least Hiroshi didn’t need to change genders.

  He hadn’t planned to stop there, though. Since he had started, he might as well dig a little deeper.

  Hiroshi turned his attention to the bookshelf.

  When Ulu saw his middle finger turning towards him, he felt a phantom pain. "Lord Visah'Su, what are you...?"

  "Find me a couple of books about Rhyo," Visah'Su said. "I’ve slept for too long, and the world has changed a lot. I need to catch up."

  Ulu immediately grabbed The Rhyo Covenant from the shelf. As the sacred text of the Rhyo Church, this book should be the best to explain the meaning of "Rhyo."

  Hiroshi noticed that this particular copy of The Rhyo Covenant looked much more worn than the other books.

  But it wasn’t worn from poor care— it had clearly been read many times, unlike the new textbooks that never get touched.

  Could it be...

  Hiroshi calmly had Ulu open the book, and sure enough, there were dense notes all over the pages, looking like a student's study guide.

  "Did you make these notes?" Hiroshi asked.

  "Uh, yes."

  Ulu nodded instinctively, then immediately regretted it.

  After all, he was now recognized as Visah'Su's disciple (at least, that was how he saw it), yet he was displaying such devotion to the Rhyo Covenant, which seemed somewhat… unfaithful to Visah'Su.

  But there was nothing he could do; he hadn't opened this book in a long time, and had long forgotten the notes he had left on it.

  "Why did you make notes in it?" Visah'Su asked. "Turning this book into this state, isn’t that blasphemous to the Rhyo God?"

  "Uh, well, yes, a little." Ulu said awkwardly. "But this book is for my own use. It's not for preaching, so it doesn’t matter. As for its condition... it’s mostly for the exams."

  "Exams?"

  "Yes." Ulu nodded. "Every four years, the cathedral holds an exam that the priests from smaller churches can sign up for."

  "And what does it involve?"

  "Well, those who perform well can be promoted directly to the cathedral, becoming bishops or even servants to the pope." Ulu quickly added, "But that was all when I was young and na?ve. The last time I took the exam was ten years ago. I just did it casually, not really putting my heart into it."

  "Casually, huh? Without effort..."

  Visah'Su looked at the nearly worn-out pages and the dense notes scribbled all over them.

  "Doesn’t sound very convincing." Visah'Su commented coldly. "How many times did you take it?"

  Ulu fell silent for a moment, unsure whether he was recalling something. After a long pause, he sighed and said, "Three times."

  Three times—twelve years.

  A person's youth.

  "Didn't pass?"

  Ulu forced a smile. "Even if I passed, I wouldn't stay here."

  "Why didn’t you pass?"

  "Well, there's no real reason." Ulu unconsciously reached up to scratch his head, but then realized he raised his left hand, which felt disrespectful. He quickly switched to his right hand, but the move seemed too deliberate, making the situation even more awkward. "It’s just that my grades didn’t meet the standard. If they say I didn’t pass, then I didn’t pass."

  Visah'Su quietly processed this information, his mind racing.

  Honestly, Visah'Su found this rather surprising. From Ulu's description and the condition of the Rhyo Covenant, he could almost see a young man who studied diligently for twelve years, all for the sake of a better life. But now, that same youth had grown into Ulu, a man who seemed... well, like a middle-aged failure. The contrast was unsettling, even for Visah'Su.

  In the game, Ulu was a minor character with little storyline, and players wouldn't care about him—after all, for someone to become notable enough to be discussed by players, they needed to be at least at the level of someone like "Roger the Biter."

  Visah'Su couldn’t find more details about Ulu from the game, such as his past, so he would have to witness it with his own eyes.

  However, Visah'Su wasn’t without resources. He possessed a piece of information that could completely alter Ulu's worldview. But now wasn’t the right time to release it. Visah'Su felt that it would be far more impactful to reveal it when combined with Ulu’s struggles as a young scholar.

  "It’s almost time." Ulu glanced at the sky again and closed the Rhyo Covenant. "Visah'Su, I need to go to work."

  "Go ahead." Visah'Su said indifferently. "Don’t forget, I’m right behind you."

  Ulu nodded heavily and then returned the Rhyo Covenant to the bookshelf.

  It was as if he was locking away that young man from the past, sealing him in memory.