I Save The World In A Doomsday Text Game

Chapter 224-1: Amateru Sakiina’s Harvest Sickle (1)

[The Gon-negi pressed a hand to his forehead. After a long silence, he sighed, “Lady, please leave.”]

Lin Xun’s thoughts raced.

He had gone so far with this shrine maiden disguise, there was no way he could accept failing now because of the Deep-Sea Siren Shell.

“If this really doesn’t work, I’ll just kill the Gon-negi and possess him!”

Right now, inside the shrine, even using the Master Instructor Shell, victory wouldn’t be guaranteed.

He’d have to use the President Shell to first subdue the Gon-negi, then kill him to prevent any noise.

As for whether murdering a shrine official would trigger some kind of alarm, he had no idea, but at this point there was no other option, he’d have to gamble.

Lin Xun was about to switch Shells and strike down the Gon-negi when suddenly, game text appeared.

[Your vision flickers. The youthful statue of Amateru Sakiina on the altar erupts in brilliant radiance, streams of multicolored light bursting forth.]

[The cold stone transformed into smooth, pale skin. The dim eyes slowly gained life…][In the blink of an eye, a slender young girl leapt down from the altar to stand before you.]

[The girl, wearing a pointed straw hat, swung her small hoe. A tender green rice seedling materialized in her hand.]

[She offered the seedling to you, speaking softly: “Come find me…”]

[As soon as she finished, she turned quietly away. Your vision wavered again.]

[The statue still stood unmoving on the altar. Beside you, the Gon-negi remained in place, hand pressed to his forehead, seemingly oblivious to everything that had just happened.]

[You have obtained the God-Gifted Rice Seedling (Item)]

Lin Xun quickly opened his inventory to check.

[God-Gifted Rice Seedling (Item): A tender green seedling sown by the legendary harvest deity. Plant it in soil, and within one day you will reap ten thousand bushels of rice.]

[Using this item, you can awaken the true statue of Amateru Sakiina.]

He frowned.

According to what he knew, Amateru Sakiina was a lesser new god under the command of the Ancient Heavenly Enma.

But he now belonged to the Chaotic Origin Dragon faction, and the two were clearly enemies.

Yet Amateru Sakiina had performed a divine miracle, telling Lin Xun to come find her…

This item, the God-Gifted Rice Seedling, could awaken the true statue, which was located in the third worship hall deep within the shrine.

Lin Xun had originally thought there might be some special event in the hall and had wanted to explore. Now it turned out the enemy boss herself was beckoning him over.

For a moment, he lost all desire to go courting death.

But then he reconsidered, sensing something wasn’t right.

Even if Amateru Sakiina hadn’t manifested a miracle, Lin Xun would have done everything he could to break into the third worship hall.

This sudden phenomenon actually seemed like it was intentionally alerting someone.

“Could it be… things aren’t as simple as I thought?”

Lin Xun imagined all sorts of scenarios.

Maybe Amateru Sakiina secretly sympathized with the Old Gods but, forced by the New Gods’ might, had no choice but to pretend loyalty.

And now that she had encountered him, a descendant of the Dragon God, she wanted to draw closer…

If Amateru Sakiina truly meant him no harm, even a little favor spilling through the fingers of a god would be a huge windfall.

“I’m not even officially a shrine maiden yet. I can’t get into the third worship hall. Better deal with the current problem first…”

[The Gon-negi stated plainly that the incense smoke was not red, so you did not meet the requirements to become a shrine maiden. He urged you to leave.]

[Will you leave the shrine, or argue with him?]

[You put on a puzzled expression, insisting that you were a virgin, and there was no way this could be the result. It had to be that the incense was defective!]

[Seeing you argue, the Gon-negi drew out another stick of incense, sliced open his own fingertip, and smeared blood onto it.]

[He recited an incantation again, and the incense lit without flame. Crimson smoke curled into the air.]

[As a man, the Gon-negi personally demonstrated that the incense worked fine. He explained that this batch of special incense was handcrafted by the shrine attendants, meant exclusively for this testing, and had never once failed.]

[Moreover, he had overseen shrine maiden selection for many years, having examined at least several hundred candidates. Even when women failed the test, he had never seen smoke this blackish-gray…]

Lin Xun stared wide-eyed, completely ignoring the ‘blackish-gray’ part. Slowly, a question mark formed over his head:

“This… can be used to test men, too?”

Apparently, when incense was burned in the first worship hall, it could detect purity in anyone, regardless of gender.

It was simply that Ishiyama Shrine had no strict requirements for male clergy, so this verification was only performed on shrine maidens.

[You shook your head, insisting again that the incense must have been faulty, and requested the Gon-negi give you another to prove your innocence.]

[You quietly slipped him another five thousand Spirit Essence.]

[The Gon-negi saw how firmly you maintained your claim. Indeed, even a courtesan from the pleasure quarters would hardly produce smoke that black. Let alone you, a noble young lady, the daughter of a Master Instructor. The result really did seem unreasonable.]

[For a moment, he, too, began to suspect the incense might be defective.]

[After hesitating briefly, he accepted the Spirit Essence and handed you another incense stick, then turned to leave the hall, shutting the door behind him.]

[You have obtained Special Incense (Item)]

[You stared at the incense in your hand, lost in thought…]

“Five thousand Spirit Essence… just to buy one more attempt…”

Lin Xun opened the Shell panel, intending to find a suitable Shell.

“The Yellow-Robed Bishop, that pervert, is the first to be ruled out.”

“The others, the Blacksmith, the Earth Giant, the President of the Direct Vision Association, the Little Dragonkin, they don’t look like they’ve lived chaste lives either…”

Though there were plenty of Shells in the panel, there was no way to tell at a glance which one met the requirement. If he wanted to make the incense smoke turn red, he would have to test them one by one.

But he only had a single stick of incense left, there was no room for trial and error.

For a moment, Lin Xun scratched his head in frustration, unable to think of a solution.

Then his eyes happened to fall on the Offering Purple-Red Incense in his inventory.

He still had seven sticks of that high-grade incense left over from the last time he worshipped the Dragon God. But those incense sticks were meant for offerings, not testing, they weren’t appropriate for this situation.

Suddenly, he slapped his thigh, a flash of inspiration sparking in his mind.

He would materialize the Special Incense into reality…

After some quick maneuvering, he stuffed the incense back into the game.

Using the finger with a bandage stuck on it, he resumed playing.

“An right hand artisan ought to still count as pure, right…?”