The Gods' Foolish Game

Chapter 4: The Prayer for a Child

Everyone was stunned.

As the saying goes, a name can be mistaken, but a nickname never lies.

In the Faith Game, the number of male players who choose to become priests is already small, and the number who choose to follow Genesis is even smaller.

So when these two rare choices came together and were matched with him, the probability was as absurd as winning the lottery.

"The Fertility Goddess" was the players' teasing nickname for "Progeny Priests." This term originated because priests of Genesis, when blessing or healing their companions, had a chance to cause their companion to "become pregnant."

This side effect, stemming from the deity's Edict, did not mean actual pregnancy. The organ affected was not necessarily the womb, and the thing gestating was not necessarily a legitimate life form. The biological classifications—phylum, class, order, family—could be randomly mixed, and the appearance could be anything imaginable.

Because Genesis revered procreation, using divine power sometimes led to these awkward, laughable situations of "passive impregnation."

However, one should not underestimate this accidental "pregnancy." Each time a "new life" was nurtured inside a treated companion, the healing effect increased by a third.

Thus, Progeny Priests were extremely potent healers.

Song Yawen waved his hands frantically, shaking his head like a fan.

"Brother, please, don't heal me! I'd rather accept a priest of the opposing faith than let you swell my belly!"

He would rather die than accept healing from a male Progeny Priest.

If he got healed by him, how could he ever show his face in public again?

Would he have to tell people he had been impregnated with a "child" by a male teammate?

Ugh—

Nangong was also stunned. As a priest herself, she naturally knew the proportion of "male Progeny Priests" among the clergy.

Winning the lottery like this was both amusing and frustrating, but more than anything, she felt grateful toward Cheng Shi.

She understood that he was trying to persuade the teammates to accept her, and she appreciated it. However, since the beliefs of the other two were still unknown, she did not dare reveal her own.

After all, players following the Decadence path were often criticized heavily.

Even if she and Cheng Shi were not enemies.

Xia Wan stood nearby, observing Nangong’s hesitation. It was precisely this hesitation that made her realize Nangong was not a sworn enemy of Genesis.

A wave of relief washed over her, though her expression remained cold as she said:

"I am a Genesis Hunter."

A Genesis Hunter—a hunter who followed Genesis.

Another follower of Genesis.

Everyone was surprised that someone as cold as Xia Wan had chosen to follow Genesis, except for Song Yawen, whose expression darkened.

He also realized that Nangong was not an enemy of Genesis, but the Life and Decadence paths each had only three deities, meaning there was a 50% chance she was his enemy.

Just as he was debating whether to hide his faith, Chen Chong waved his hand, cutting off the discussion.

"The faith division is not our fault, nor do we need to bear too much pressure over it. Since the two priests are not opposed, we can simply divide the healing duties."

He pointed at Nangong, then at himself and Cao Sansui.

"Nangong will be responsible for healing me and the mage. As for the followers of Life, you handle your own."

Then, he turned to Xia Wan and asked:

"Since you are a follower of Genesis, I assume you have no objection to Cheng Shi?"

Xia Wan glanced briefly at this decent-looking Progeny Priest, her expression unchanged, and gave a slight nod.

Her cold face revealed no embarrassment, but Cheng Shi’s expression became rather subtle.

And an even more subtle one belonged to Song Yawen.

"I..."

To be honest, Song Yawen really wanted to refuse, but he knew when to back down.

They had already wasted too much time at the start. Since everyone had agreed to this arrangement, refusing now would make him seem ungrateful.

The team could not afford a major conflict from the very beginning.

If it really came down to it, he could just try to avoid getting injured.

Accepting healing from a "male Fertility Goddess" was something he simply could not do!

Chen Chong effortlessly took the lead. Seeing that no one objected, he addressed the group again:

"Enough small talk. The trial gives us between half an hour and an hour to prepare. We don’t yet know the context of this war, so we won’t recklessly leave the landing zone. During the preparation time, everyone should complete their Edict as soon as possible, then find a defensive position."

The so-called Edict referred to the ritual in which players sought blessings from their respective deities.

When players chose to follow a deity, they were granted an initial Faith Talent. After passing the Talent Trial, they could receive additional Faith Talents.

Depending on their score on the Path to Divinity, players could carry a different number of talents.

These talents greatly enhanced a player's combat ability and even formed the foundation for different** builds.

Of course, talents could be passive or active. To use an active talent in a trial, players had to first fulfill their deity’s Edict at the beginning of each trial.

For example, the Edict of Genesis was "Embrace procreation, create new life."

In simpler terms—mate.

To grow stronger, one must first mate.

As the first deity of the Life path, Genesis was both the prelude to life and the origin of all things. It united yin and yang and revered procreation.

Thus, to seek its blessing, one had to lead by example.

However, since trials matched players randomly, and everyone was a stranger, no one would willingly overcome their embarrassment and shame just because "Genesis followers really need to mate."

Thus, fulfilling this Edict perfectly was nearly impossible.