The young Priest was locked in the confessional.

He needed to reflect on why he had failed to resist the temptation of magical entertainment and had instead become addicted.

But he refused to truly reflect.

Using Magic for entertainment violated the commandments, but entertainment intended to spread the Goddess’s glory was in line with them.

’In conclusion, I did nothing wrong!’

Although he had agreed to enter the confessional, it was merely a verbal compromise.

Being duplicitous was also against the code of conduct for a Priest.

But the subtle thrill of secretly breaking the rules was irresistible.

It was as if a strange switch had been flipped inside him.

It made him want to try even more rebellious things.

In the confessional, the young Priest expertly recited the scriptures. He was so practiced that it had become muscle memory, requiring no thought at all.

What he was really thinking about was his auto chess lineup.

’I took first place in my very first game, and the process of finding pieces was so smooth. Was that just good luck?’

’No, impossible. It must have been a revelation from the Goddess!’

’Spreading the faith through a game. This is my mission now.’

’Why should the achievements of a Holy Professional be limited to annotating scriptures and establishing doctrines?’

’Sooner or later, I’ll create a game that explains my understanding of the doctrine. It will surely influence more people than any scriptural commentary.’

However, his understanding of the game was still not thorough enough. Innovation required a mastery of the basics.

So the most important thing now was to completely master auto chess in order to understand what a game truly was.

’In that case, I don’t need to limit myself to the Holy Professional lineup. Learning about all lineups is all for the sake of better spreading the doctrine someday.’

’I must dedicate my finite life to the infinite pursuit of gaming entertainment!’

’My Lord Bishop, one day you will understand.’

DONG—DONG—

The chimes from the clock tower echoed within the ancient walls of the Church, startling a flock of crows resting on the eaves.

This was the signal for the end of evening lessons at the Church, and it also announced the end of the young Priest’s day-long penance.

He pushed open the heavy door of the confessional. The evening sun shone on his face, bringing with it a little warmth.

Despite having spent the entire day in a cramped room, he didn’t feel the slightest bit tired. On the contrary, he was buzzing with excitement.

He had already theory-crafted many different lineups in his head and was itching to test them in a real game.

The period after evening lessons was one of the few times of day when the Holy Professionals were free.

Usually during this time, he would go to the library to read biographies of historical figures in the Church—a form of leisure that didn’t violate any commandments.

This was why he had been able to immediately recall their deeds upon seeing the Holy Professional synergy pieces.

Today, however, he didn’t head for the library. Instead, he changed into plain clothes he wore only a few times a year and walked out the main gate of the Twin Tower City Church.

There was no curfew during the exposition, so the city was still bustling at night.

The Priest noticed large, temporary tents set up in many places along the street. Inside were auto chess game machines, costing only One Copper Coin per hour.

After asking a passerby, he learned that these were units that would eventually be shipped out by game machine distributors. They were currently in a trial operation period, with a 50% discount on the fee.

The Zog Group was holding a limited-time auto chess ranked-play competition with prizes, which would run until the end of the exposition.

The top ten players with the highest scores would receive generous rewards; even the lowest of them would get a limited-edition game machine.

"Wouldn’t people just team up to grind points?" the Priest asked the passerby, confused.

"Of course not. Even though the machines are all together, you aren’t guaranteed to get into the same game. It matches you with opponents based on your score on something called the ’network.’ The matching rules are really complicated," the passerby explained.

"I see. Thank you."

The Priest was tempted. If he could win a game machine...

But thinking it over, it wasn’t realistic. Where would he even put it? Besides, he didn’t have that much time to grind for a high rank.

After hesitating outside the large tent for a moment, he decided not to play there.

It was right on the street; there was a risk of being spotted by a fellow clergyman. He had no desire to end up in the confessional again.

His auto chess craving was acting up. He had developed a condition where he’d feel terrible if he went 24 hours without playing.

He decided to go to the headquarters of Zog’s Game Store, that huge building on Chrysanthemum Street.

’Other members of the Church would definitely not go in there, so it should be safer.’

Arriving outside the Chrysanthemum Street store.

The giant Red Middle logo was visually stunning.

He took a deep breath outside the store. ’I’m not doing this for entertainment, but for a greater cause.’

Having successfully convinced himself, he strode with firm steps into this "Abyss of depravity."

Unfortunately, the Priest’s new venture was cut short before it could even begin.

There were no open spots in the store.

After the press conference, the hype for auto chess was unprecedented.

Inside the store, even the premium private rooms, which cost a hefty Five Silver Coins per hour, were all booked.

In the first-floor hall, every "lucky soul" who managed to get a machine had at least five eager spectators standing behind them.

Some parents even brought their young children, just to expose them to the most popular trend among Mages, hoping it might awaken their talent for Magic.

To manage the queue, a ticket machine for taking a number was placed at the entrance.

When the Priest saw the Illusion above the machine displaying that 3,568 people were currently in line, he knew he wasn’t going to be playing today.

Since that was the case, he had no choice but to join the crowd of onlookers and at least watch others play.

He made his way to the machine with the largest crowd.

The crowd was packed three layers deep, and he could only vaguely see the player surrounded by them.

It was an old man with a full head of white hair.

"What lineup is he playing?" the Priest asked another spectator who was a head taller than him.

"He’s not playing. He’s trying to pull a board cosmetic. I think it’s called the Silver Badge Court of Judgment board? He’s already spent several Gold Coins on it."

’The Silver Badge Court of Judgment?’

’Isn’t that the most famous station of the Church’s Judgment Court? They made it into a board cosmetic?’

’If he can’t get it after spending several Gold Coins, I’ll probably never be able to get that cosmetic... unless I get promoted to Bishop.’

The player paid the staff a few more Gold Coins.

Currently, adding money to one’s account could only be done via cash payment.

A large pile of Treasure Bottle Illusions appeared, and a new round of draws began.

Blue, white, white, blue...

All he got were blue skies and white clouds. Another hundred pulls or so and he could have just redeemed the Silver Badge Court of Judgment directly.

Finally, a powerful golden light flashed. The player pulling stood up in excitement, allowing the Priest to get a clear look at his face.

"Ah!" the young Priest gasped, not because the player had pulled a golden legendary, but because he recognized the person making the pulls.

"My Lord Bishop! So you also..."

————————

In Zog’s Game Store’s monitoring room, Zog smugly observed everything that was happening.

’The Church is as rich as ever. Other people top up a few bundles at a time to pull for Treasure Bottles.’

’But this Bishop shows up and just keeps topping up for ten minutes straight.’

’In the spirit of providing personalized service, Mr. Bishop has already unlocked a higher single-transaction top-up limit.’

Then he looked at the young Priest in the crowd.

’It wasn’t a waste for me to secretly tweak the data during the demo, increasing the Priest’s probability of finding Holy Professional pieces. The perfect new player experience. He’s totally hooked.’

’I should have gotten into gaming ages ago. After so many years of robbing, I never got much money from the Church. Now they’re just handing it over.’

’An Ancient Dragon who doesn’t use his brain will be an Ancient Dragon for life.’

On the monitor, the Bishop and the Priest, having had their awkward reunion, exchanged a few words and then approached the front desk.

’What’s this? Got carried away and now you regret it? You want a refund?’

’No way!’

’It’s not like you two are minors. And even if you were, there are no refunds here at Zog’s.’

However, to the Dragon’s surprise, not long after the two went to the front desk, Elsa came to the monitoring room.

"Zog, the Bishop from the Church wants to see you. He says he wants to cooperate on a game project."