Paladin of the Dead God

Chapter 1: The Choice

[Achievement Unlocked: Midas’ Touch]

[Congratulations! You have successfully seen all the endings of the available faiths!]

Isaac smiled at the pleasant notification sound.

As he achieved the ending of the ‘Golden Idol’, Isaac saw the world around him, including the people, turning into treasures of gold and silver. It was the result of him manifesting in the world as an agent of the Golden Idol.

Though unsure what would become of the world now, Isaac had seen the ending, and the aftermath was not his concern. This was the eighth time he had seen the ending of the notoriously difficult game, ‘Nameless Chaos’.

The game, created by ‘Unknown Software’, was known for its insane difficulty and user-unfriendly gameplay. However, it also had a fanatical user base due to its unparalleled freedom, open-world universe, and intricate details.

Soon darkness fell, and eight characters appeared.

Humans, orcs, elves, giants… These were the characters Isaac had created and played until now. Isaac muttered with a hint of regret, “Hmm… it seems I’ve milked this game for all it’s worth. Maybe there’s nothing left to do?”

In Nameless Chaos, players choose from eight different faiths and races to accomplish the objectives set by their gods. The interactions and storylines varied greatly with each choice, offering an immersive experience that was hard to tire of.

But having seen all the faith endings meant he had nearly exhausted all the content. As he hesitated to quit the game, an unfamiliar message appeared before Isaac.

[To commemorate the world’s first achievement, a new faith is now available.]

[Hidden Faith: You can now choose the Nameless Chaos.]

“Huh?”

A ninth faith selection, which he had never seen before, appeared on the character creation screen. It featured a bizarre tentacle symbol with flashing red eyes. Isaac was taken aback by the name ‘Nameless Chaos’.

“…A monster faith?”

The major faiths in Nameless Chaos were known as ‘The Nine Faiths’. However, only eight were playable, the ninth faith was not an option.

The ninth faith, ‘Nameless Chaos’, was a monstrous faith, worshipped by mindless tentacle monsters, maggot swarms, and writhing flesh. As a result, it was universally regarded as an enemy in the intertwined relations of the gods.

‘A real hidden faith?’

Isaac searched online for any information about the Nameless Chaos, but found no mention on any strategy sites, wikis, or forums. Though there were discussions about it being a mere easter egg, nothing substantial was found.

Not surprising. Nameless Chaos was a world of despair, notorious for its impossible difficulty and permanent character deletion upon death. That Isaac cleared all faiths was an anomaly.

‘Come to think of it, it said it’s a first-time achievement… no wonder there’s no information.’

He immediately started creating a character.

“Let’s see… how can I create an interesting character?”

Having gained a unique faith, Isaac decided to fully embrace its concept.

Nameless Chaos was a game of diverse professions and races, but faith was the core element. To bring out the concept of a special faith, a priest class would be ideal, but Isaac was tired of the priest endings.

‘What about a paladin?’

The idea seemed fitting. If Nameless Chaos embodies its concept, it would be shunned by all other faiths. Unlike priests, who lack survival skills, paladins, also called ‘Holy Bugs’, could survive tenaciously.

‘Anyway, I can change professions anytime during the game. Let’s aim for the paladin ending.’

Race: Human.

As Isaac rolled the character creation dice, a beautiful figure with gray hair and ashen eyes appeared. Although the game allowed high flexibility in character appearance, Isaac didn’t prefer the so-called ‘veteran fashion’ of bizarre looks.

‘A character should have a certain charm, after all.’

Fortunately, most random character appearances were beautiful. But Isaac didn’t stop there; he meticulously set the character’s appearance. It might seem meaningless, but he believed that the more effort put into a character, the more attachment one feels.

After finishing character creation, the attribute allocation window appeared. Isaac examined the stat window divided into strength, agility, vitality, intelligence, and faith. For a paladin, focusing on vitality and faith was ideal. However, Isaac, without much thought, filled up faith, excluding only the minimum stats necessary for initial equipment.

‘If it’s a special faith, I should enjoy its concept.’

Being a seasoned player, Isaac wasn’t worried about dying in the early stages. Once grown, the paladin’s strong defense would ensure survival. A priest-like paladin was what Isaac envisioned.

Then, the last choice appeared.

[The Nameless Chaos watches over you.]

[The Nameless Chaos wishes to grant you a power. Choose one of the following.]

[The Intestines of a Dead God: Absorb a portion of the abilities and traits of your ‘devoured’ foes.]

[The Sheep’s Cries in the Night: Open a portal to another world to summon followers.]

[Beneath the Skin: ‘Devour’ the insides of your opponent and use their skin as your outer layer.]

“……”

The choices were bizarre. However, Isaac was more surprised by the power of these abilities than their strangeness. Any other faith would have required significant achievements to unlock such high-level powers.

‘To offer such powers right from the start?’

While other faiths also granted decent abilities at the start, these powers were outright cheat-level.

However, Isaac also thought inversely.

Nameless Chaos was not a game that gave without taking. If it offered a great gift, there was sure to be a catch.

After some thought, Isaac chose the first power, ‘The Intestines of a Dead God’.

Although the exact nature of ‘devouring’ was unclear, the ability to absorb the opponent’s abilities and traits was a potent advantage.

Traits were more crucial than stats. Some traits couldn’t be learned even if desired.

Even a slim chance to acquire those traits was worth it.

As Isaac made his final choice, his vision started to turn white.

The real game was about to begin.

And soon, his head felt dizzy.

***

[The Nameless Chaos watches over you.]

The first thing Isaac saw was a shimmering blue eye.

It was a beautiful eye. The problem was that it wasn’t just one or two eyes. There seemed to be over a thousand, surrounded by red flesh, writhing muscles, and pulsating veins.

It was a bizarre vision Isaac had never seen in his previous eight playthroughs.

He felt like fainting but couldn’t close his eyes or look away.

Eventually, Isaac had no choice but to engage in a staring contest with thousands of eyes. It wasn’t an advantageous situation.

Blink.

Despite the odds, it was the thousand eyes that blinked first. However, Isaac didn’t feel victorious. Although one wouldn’t normally hear a sound when eyes blink, it’s different with thousands.

[The Nameless Chaos sees through such fakes]

An incomprehensible sound reached his ears, like a mechanical whisper right next to him.

[And guides you to a world truly fitting for you.]

Isaac felt the message, the designation, was oddly familiar. As he tried to remember what it was, another voice called out.

“…Get up and grab your sword, Isaac!”

Crack.

The mass of eyes and flesh that filled his view vanished in an instant, replaced by the sight of a burning village. Isaac quickly felt dizzy from the acrid smoke and the smell of blood.

Bang! Rumble…

The darkness of night strangely rippled. A massive stone tower collapsed with a loud crash. Houses were burning. Silent, skeletal figures swarmed among the flames.

“Isaac!!”

A scream-like shout echoed from somewhere. Isaac turned his head. A middle-aged man, struggling with three skeletal soldiers using a broken sword, was in view. Isaac then realized the man’s cries were directed at him, that he was Isaac.

Sitting down, Isaac realized he was holding a sword and tried to stand to hand it to the man. But before he could fully rise, the rusted blades of the skeletal soldiers pierced the man.

“Gugh, hah…”

Isaac couldn’t stand either. His head spun. Touching his forehead, he felt his hand wet with blood.

In a dizzying state, Isaac recalled the memory of building debris rushing towards him. He thought he was going to die, but somehow he was alive.

‘What’s this?’

Building debris? That wasn’t his memory.

Wasn’t he playing a game? Isaac tried to recall, feeling disoriented.

But those memories weren’t of ‘Isaac’ but of someone else.

Memories of ‘Isaac’, not the player, but the character.

Isaac’s head began to spin with the onslaught of a 14-year-old’s memories. The excruciating pain, burning smell, slimy touch of blood, and above all, memories that shouldn’t belong to him.

Isaac finally saw his reflection in a broken window.

Gray hair, lifeless ashen eyes, a frail figure looking no older than a young teenager. It was precisely how the character Isaac would have looked as a child before entering the game.

Then, a strange window appeared before him.

[Isaac (EX+) / Shock, Exhaustion]

[Race: Human/Nephilim]

[Job: Child (F)]

[Abilities: The Intestines of a Dead God, Touch of Chaos]

‘What?’

Even in his dizzy state, Isaac sensed what it meant. Isaac was the name he had given his character. But Nephilim? Isaac had never chosen the Nephilim race.

In the game, Nephilim meant a hybrid of angels and humans.

Blessed with beautiful appearances and innately high faith abilities but cursed with frail bodies due to the ‘Cursed Blood’ trait.

‘I’ve heard it’s a race awarded at an extremely low chance during character creation, but why now?’

Isaac thought back to his character creation process. He haphazardly increased faith, meticulously sculpted the appearance, and chose the faith with the worst relations with the gods. All these variables might have led to being awarded the Nephilim race.

Realizing this, Isaac understood.

He had truly entered the world of ‘Nameless Chaos’, and now he had to live as the character he created, ‘Isaac’.

Ssssshhhh─!

A sharp sound of air escaping came from somewhere. The skeletal soldiers that killed the middle-aged monk were approaching Isaac.

“Ugh…!”

Isaac started to run away hastily. He thought about resisting with the sword, but fighting was impossible in his weakened state.

However, he soon started to run out of breath.

It was the worst physical condition characteristic of Nephilims.

Although supposedly charismatic, Isaac doubted that charm would work on the undead.

Suppressing his urge to vomit, Isaac moved as stealthily as possible, avoiding the skeletal soldiers’ gaze.

Walking, he recalled the promotional catchphrase of Nameless Chaos.

[This is a world dominated by giants and gods.]

[You will die here, worthless and meaningless.]