They all call me an Outer God.

Chapter 13 Mysterious Items
James just grinned, revealing a large gold tooth: "That's exactly the problem we're going to solve next. You know, we doctors value our patients extremely much. Because of that disgusting guy, I almost lost one of my important patients."

Plus my entire salary for this year.

"You need to understand... that's my entire salary!"

James's voice was shrill, which inexplicably reminded Ria of the sound of fingernails scratching glass. He watched as the fat, bird-beaked doctor paced around in circles a few times before turning to look at him.

Do you understand what it feels like to work for nothing all year without any salary?

“I understand.” Ria could empathize with his doctor in this regard. He crossed his arms and looked serious, as if recalling some unpleasant past.

Nobody's money comes from thin air, but other people's money is none of his business unless they give him all of it.

James, unaware of Ria's thoughts, was still secretly pleased that he had found a kindred spirit. He personally took the "Illustrated Guide to Mysterious Items" from the bookshelf and handed it to Ria.

"This thing is just a pirated copy, and most of the content is fictional. The real thing is a mysterious item, but since you are my patient, I can tell you which parts inside are real."

After saying that, James took a blue-capped fountain pen out of his pocket, opened the cap, and started drawing on the book.

Ria thought it would take him a long time, but to his surprise, the bird-beaked doctor handed him the book in less than two minutes.

"Is this the end?"

Lia opened the book and flipped through it a few times, finding only a handful of places marked with pen ink, and these places only had names on them.

Doesn't that mean all the mysterious items recorded in the encyclopedia are fake except for a few names?! What does Fifty Swain represent, a tax on intelligence?
Ria felt sorry for little Angena: "Do you support a refund?"

"Not supported."

Seeing the doubt on Ria's face, James reached out and closed the book for him, the deliberately aged papyrus paper also covered by the cover.

"Fifty Schwarzs knows the names of a few mysterious items. It's not a bad deal. These things are not as simple as you think. Go to church once and you will understand."

James took his coat off the log rack and draped it over his shoulders, inviting Ria to go to the church with him to find out more.

After a moment's thought, Ria agreed to his request. He had a gut feeling that James was much stronger than he had imagined, but no one knew exactly how much stronger.

Now that the other party has offered to take her to the church to explore good things, Ria naturally won't let this opportunity pass.

So he looked up and asked, "What preparations do I need to make?"

"Just make yourself look like a believer, it's not difficult at all."

James drew a sun symbol on his chest, and a moment later, he suddenly drew an inverted cross on the symbol.

"We can have no faith, or we can believe in any god; it all depends on our own will, understand?"

“Praise the sun,” he whispered, his hands slightly outstretched downwards.

Ria looked at him and copied his gesture, making a special pattern on her heart. How could he not understand? Although this behavior was a great disrespect to faith and would offend the true gods, there was nothing that could not be done as long as it was to achieve the goal.

Just imagine, the sun represents warmth and light, yet this very church of the sun is surrounded by monsters at night—how ridiculous!

Instead of being so afraid of monsters, they should worship the red moon of that night.

Perhaps the Red Moon will take pity on us at night and rid the people of Winstown of this menace.

"Praise the sun."

Ria lowered his head, placing one hand on his chest. He closed his eyes, and when his eyelids, which concealed his grey-blue pupils, lifted again, the doctor beside him couldn't help but gasp.

Those eyes revealed fervor and supplication to God, making him more like a believer than anyone else. Even if you asked someone who grew up in the church to identify him, that person would only point at Ria in astonishment and keep saying "Oh, the sun!"

"I am guilty, and I beg the Lord to have mercy on my sins, to cleanse my soul, to have compassion on me, to forgive me, to heal me, I plead for your purification and mercy—"

is that so? "

Ria performed it in the most enthusiastic tone, then turned to ask James how it went.

He couldn't help but laugh at his own words.

The words were not directed at James, but at the cobwebs on the upper shelf of the bookshelf.

The way he looked at that spider, which was no bigger than a fingernail, was as if it were a truly omnipotent god.

"Heh...very good, very good, very good, hahahaha!"

James made no attempt to hide his expression; he laughed so hard that he hunched over, causing his fat to crease even more, until the poor button could no longer bear it and snapped to the ground, bounced a dozen times, and rolled to the bottom of the bookshelf.

“That’s amazing! You’re so interesting! Everyone in this world is wary of gods who might appear at any time, but you’re not at all.”

Your behavior just now was so bad that even the gods probably wouldn't have noticed anything amiss. Of course, I'm just joking; they could destroy you to ashes with just a glance.

As he spoke, he reached out to pat Ria's shoulder, but the next second Little Swarth suddenly rushed out and almost bit off half of his hand.

"What a food-grubbing freak."

"Ow!"

Little Swarth slowly turned his head behind him, and after realizing that Ria had no intention of attacking, he blinked his golden round eyes twice and made a "coo-coo" sound similar to that of a real owl.

To some, this sound means death.

Owls are known as messengers of death; legend has it that when an owl smiles at a person, it's the unfortunate soul's death knell.

Ria silently turned her head, looked at the fat bird on her shoulder that was laughing like a fool, ignored it, and paid James the money. Little Swarth, feeling bored, naturally shrank back.

James accepted the money with a smile, and the new faith quickly spread to Ria.

"Don't you think there's anything strange about it?"

Ria probed James with a blank expression, but James just chuckled and said, "It's not surprising that anything strange happens in this world. I don't know which one you mean."

His reaction didn't seem fake. Ria suddenly realized that her ability to absorb other people's faith might be an exception, something that no one else could do, otherwise the doctor wouldn't have reacted this way.

In other words, the doctor didn't realize he was forcibly exchanging faith; he might have just thought it was some kind of goodwill, and that once that goodwill reached its maximum, life would submit to Ria.

In fact, Ria knew very well that it was not an ordinary emotion, because the eyes of those whose eyes had been deeply affected by his gaze were not simply affection, but awe.

The more capable a person is, the stronger their belief will be; however, they are also less likely to have their thinking influenced.

Ria also didn't intend to turn James into a fool who only worshipped individuals; he felt that he couldn't do that in his current state.

And so, the two of them, fully prepared, stepped out of the bookstore.

(End of this chapter)