Chapter 1: Saintess
Holy, pure, untainted.
The aura that radiated from her made the plants brighten. Animals bowed to the majesty of the pure, calm, and yet cheeky feeling.
It was the aura of the saintess, the one blessed by the gods. She strolled through the forest, her expression dull and stoic.
"This is so boring." She shook her head with a sigh, stomping her foot. "Why can't they just make me do something fun? Now I have to spend time in this stupid forest filled with nothing."
The moment she complained, the sneaking fox caught her eye. With a grin, she pointed her staff at the fox.
As the fox was enveloped in the bright white light, its expression appeared blissful before lying down, sleeping.
Afterward, Saintess continued on her journey, searching for excitement in the forest.
"Hm?" She stopped strolling as she lifted her head, noticing an enormous tree without a shadow.
The tree had heart-shaped, lime-colored leaves. Its size made even the saintess' church pale in comparison, and its magical feeling made even the blessings of the gods feel like a child's play.
"World tree?" She curiously observed the tree before grinning. "They can't find me in another world, can they?"
Following the question, she could hear spirits respond. Yes, saintess had spirits, her loyal companions in her lone journey of purifying the world.
"Go! Hahahah!" A little green spirit laughed, covering its stomach, happy for the discovery.
"Don't forget to cover your tracks." The red spirit mentioned before smirking. "Actually, I'll do it. You go and have fun."
The saintess looked strangely at the red spirit before sighing. "Reddy, no need. Greeny will feel lonely without you, and I also don't want to leave you alone."
Reddy chuckled. "Greeny will stay here as well, then."
As if by agreement, Greeny flew to the Reddy, leaving the saintess all alone. With a sigh, she shook her head. "I don't have a choice again, do I?"
The spirits laughed as they waved their hands before disappearing. "At least it's a good thing."
Saintess looked at the place the spirits stayed in before shaking her head.
"I'll return later." She said with a slight pause before grinning. "But now, I will go and have fun. Two hundred years of being a saintess isn't my thing."
Following her words, the saintess raised her staff as the holy magic enveloped her being. It didn't take long for the pure and innocent energy to envelop the whole forest before it was sucked into the world tree.
As the tree absorbed the energy, saintess could hear a voice inside her head. "Do you wish to enter?"
The saintess nodded with a smile. "Just get on with it."
"I hope you don't regret it." The ancient voice sighed as the saintess lost consciousness.
After an unknown amount of time passed, the saintess could feel her consciousness return. Opening her eyes, she looked around, finding herself in the middle of the bar.
Around her were many people talking and joking. With a confused expression, she exited the bar, spreading her divine sense and sensing the surroundings.
However, as if by miracle, her power, the one granted by the gods, couldn't see through the privacy of the ordinary residents and the mystery of the place she found herself in.
The only thing she had noticed was that she was in a small town with thousands of people around.
"I really am in another world." She smirked, happy that she finally found freedom. Humming a low tune, she happily walked around before seeing a weird scene.
There, a person more powerful than any other person she had ever met was face-palming while shaking his head, sometimes angrily replying, trying to keep a casual tone.
The opposing person was an individual with raven-black hair and sharp eyes. He didn't emit any feeling of profound knowledge, but his confidence kept the argument going.
With a curious tone, she used her power of communicating with the wind to listen in.
"It's almost comical how much it pisses me off; I think I might have a problem at this point, Eve." The person with raven black hair, whom the saintess conveniently nicknamed Raven, laughed as he said to Eve.
"That novel introduced System to webnovel! It makes me laugh how people didn't notice that trend in the East for twenty years." Eve shook his head with veins throbbing on his face.
Raven smirked as he enjoyed Eve's reaction, and Saintess did too. 'It's fun to watch people argue. I shall not appear. Yep, I shall not.'
And so, she enjoyed the argument between a powerful, easily irritated scholarly man and a total newbie.
After the argument settled, she spent more time in the town, noticing that many of its residents were shy, not willing to speak or even be seen.
"Lurkers." She named them, laughing every time she saw a person react but not join the conversation. However, she was one as well. A person who enjoyed chaos but didn't join in.
Continuously, new people appeared, asking the same questions and making the same mistakes. It made the saintess chuckle every time she saw them.
Then, she saw a weird person appear. It was a person who smelled yummy.
Covering her face, she shook her head, wondering why she considered a person to smell yummy.
After lifting her head again, she studied the person properly. The person had orange-reddish skin and purple hair. He was obviously younger than her, but his tongue was much more spiteful.
Then, she activated her power as she started studying the reason behind the person's smell. But before she could even find out, she saw the person join the circle in the square and say confidently.
"I am Peach."
Everyone in the square, lurkers, nonlurkers, even the powerful ancient existences, looked at the purple-haired person strangely. Then, they could hear the person continue. "I ate the Peach-Peach fruit, so I am a Peach."
The saintess looked at Peach carefully before smirking, feeling as if the town suddenly became much funnier.