Can't I raise myself?

It didn't occur to me that the AI would actually find a way for him.

The altar before him was a place where the terrain sloped downwards, with a raised platform in the center. It was like the underground space where 'Shyarly' was located, but dug even deeper to form a massive hollow. The hollow was surrounded by construction resembling water channels, encircling the altar in the middle.

But the channels weren't filled with water; they held a blinding crimson.

The area around the altar wasn't a stone platform either, but was made of countless skulls piled up, like stairs leading to a throne.

At this moment, a figure stood at every landing point around the water channels.

And in the center of the altar was a blood-red greatsword plunged into a stone.

This was a sacrifice.

That being said, it was clearly not the kind of ordinary sacrifice found at 228 Black Ding Street.

[You heard the echoes of war.]

[A mad killing intent gradually consumed your sanity. To avoid losing yourself, you slowly took a few steps back.]

The prompt only disappeared when the altar was no longer within the character's field of vision.

Ryan clearly saw the blood in the channels earlier, continuously crawling up the carved patterns on the altar, as if pouring into that greatsword.

"Are they sacrificing to that sword?"

The Sword of Ares.

Ryan was certain that thing was the job-changing relic from the game.

However, in the game, this sword was dropped after defeating a powerful boss. Based on its strength, that boss was at least Tier 4, a subordinate of the Blood God's descent upon the mortal realm.

Otherwise, why would it only be unlocked after the main storyline? Without sufficient strength, going there would mean a total wipe.

Of course, players could choose not to fight it; it was a hidden class quest, after all, and didn't affect the game's progression.

But Ryan definitely didn't want to miss out, as this class was one of the top hidden classes in the game, no worse than the Silent Nun.

"Let's wait and see for now."

There was still time, so Ryan wasn't in a hurry.

He made a cup of coffee, drank it, and continued to wait with renewed vigor.

"Back to staying up all night grinding games again, how nostalgic."

Even though staring wouldn't do much, Ryan kept watching until the wall clock chimed twice, indicating it was midnight.

The faint red glow on the character interface, which had been flickering, suddenly vanished. 'Shyarly' slowly moved along the wall, seeing the figures who had been performing the sacrifice begin to retreat.

There was an exit at each position. After all those people had left, 'Shyarly' emerged and followed a path to the water channel.

She dipped her finger into the 'blood water'.

[Blood]

The system's identification was foolproof.

As for whether it was human blood or the blood of cattle and horses... perhaps it was all the same?

The skulls were definitely human. Judging by the situation, the Blood Cult had been preparing here for a long time. It was hard to imagine those lunatics having such patience.

[You heard the echoes of war.]

As 'Shyarly' stepped across the blood pool and onto the altar paved with skulls, the system message popped up again.

This time, 'Shyarly' didn't retreat but chose to continue climbing the skull staircase.

Since she was already here, Ryan was certainly not willing to leave just like that. Although the situation was different from the game, the job-changing relic was right in front of her.

However, he soon noticed that as 'Shyarly' moved upwards, crimson filled the screen, and her health bar began to drop bit by bit.

"Domain?"

[You have accepted the trial.]

"So this is what was waiting."

Ryan didn't hesitate and quickly fed 'Shyarly' a roasted chicken.

'Shyarly' had already leveled up to 11 in the past few days. Her HP was quite substantial; otherwise, she would have died after just a couple of steps.

As she got closer to the top of the altar, the rate of HP loss increased. Seeing that her HP recovery was starting to fall behind the loss, Ryan hesitated for a moment before taking a Magic Scroll - Constitution from his inventory and using it on 'Shyarly'.

Constitution was linked to HP. After the Magic Scroll increased her Constitution by 20%, her HP also increased.

"Still not enough..."

'Shyarly' took out a small bottle from her inventory again.

[Thousand Day Brew]

Ryan felt a pang of pain, but seeing 'Shyarly's' HP dwindling, he timed it perfectly and poured it into 'Shyarly'.

This was a bottle of wine with the effect of restoring 60% of current HP and providing a 10% damage increase.

It was the only bottle 'Lin Qi' had managed to obtain while grinding levels these past few days. The 60% recovery was practically a life-saving elixir, and using it on a low-level character like 'Shyarly' was truly a waste.

Moreover, the accompanying damage increase effect was useless.

Even though it's come to this, giving up now would mean watching 'Shyarly' die. It's better to take a chance.

With her HP instantly restored by more than half, 'Shyarly' continued to devour the roasted chicken. She finally stepped onto the altar before her HP dropped to zero and reached the Sword of Ares.

Boom~

At this moment.

A blood-red hue instantly covered the entire character interface. The ground, the ceiling, the air—everything was bathed in crimson. The skeletons that had previously been scattered around the altar had, at some unknown time, transformed into ghastly beings, scrambling to crawl onto the altar from all sides!

An invisible, colossal demonic shadow coiled above the Sword of Ares, as if a rift between illusion and reality was about to tear open for its descent.

[The flames of war have been ignited, burning from the ancient past to the present, never ceasing. The authority of old hangs high in the sky; you glimpse supreme greatness. From the throne of blood and bone, glory shall belong to the ultimate victor.]

The blood-red interface reached its peak, but at this moment, 'Shyarly's' HP was locked, leaving only a single drop, yet she did not fall.

"Did I trigger a job change quest?"

Ryan's brow twitched, and then his expression was replaced by astonishment.

[To obtain the power of the Chosen of the Old Ones, please achieve the following objectives--]

[1: Step forward and draw the sword from the stone.]

[2: Perform a blood sacrifice of eight thousand eight hundred and eighty-eight lives.]

"Holy crap, what kind of god-slaying profession is this???"

Author's Note (A Few Words)

This newbie is finally going to be put on shelves!

This book has truly been a bumpy road. Because of the original environment on CiciCat, I was hesitant about writing an original story for a long time before finally deciding to go for it.

Then, things were fine for a while after the book started. But this week, when I pushed for the click-through rankings, all sorts of problems arose.

Since the protagonist's cheat is to create and nurture alt accounts in a game, gender issues naturally arise. I actually explained this very clearly in the synopsis. The 'loyal' and 'capable' individuals standing in two rows beneath the protagonist's throne, I wrote 'them,' clearly referring to female accounts. Additionally, I mentioned in the synopsis that I was playing a female account.

I don't know if someone didn't see it or saw it and intentionally stirred up trouble, but they kept bringing up things like 'gay men,' 'lesbians,' and 'marriage' in the comment sections. If I had even hinted at such plotlines, I could understand your comments, but did I write anything like that?

Recently, some people have even been adding tags like 'yuri' and 'marriage' randomly. It feels like a group of people stirring up trouble to get attention. I was too lazy to explain at first, but seeing that some readers were indeed misled in the comment section, I posted a separate pinned comment to clarify.

So, I'll say it again here: this book features a nurtured female account. There are no gay men, no lesbians, no marriage, and certainly no giving away female characters. Alright, explanation complete. If anyone brings this up again, they'll only receive a ban.

Sigh, sometimes it feels like writing a book is a dead end. The environment is getting worse and worse, with people holding extreme views who lash out at the slightest dissatisfaction, easily influencing regular readers and ruining the atmosphere of a good book.

It's frustrating, and some people just criticize without reading carefully.

Everyone's anxious, anxious, anxious, anxious, anxious. I'm the king of anxiety, too. It's fine to relax online.

Having been a full-time writer for seven or eight years, this is a firsthand experience.

I'm saying all this just so you know that I don't want to deal with all that messy stuff. Just let me be a quiet, handsome man who codes!

I'd rather be handsome forever, have my wife stay young and beautiful forever, be rich forever, and write books happily!

I wish you all ten consecutive gold draws in gacha games, big lottery wins, handsome men, beautiful women, good health, eternal life, and hearty appetites. Thank you!

Oh, and one more thing: the book will be officially released tomorrow at noon, with an update at precisely that time. Please subscribe~

Chapter 47: Blood Knight and Tier 2 Silent Nun! [5k Request for First Subscription!]

Ryan thought and thought, but he couldn't recall any such ridiculously difficult blood sacrifice condition during his original quest.

To kill eight thousand eight hundred and eighty-eight lives for a job change?

Bah! This trash quest can be skipped!

Hey, I'm here to shoot, not to be your butcher!

If this were in a game, Ryan would turn around and leave, refusing to serve.

But at this moment, his gaze fell upon the words 'God's Chosen' displayed in the interface. Normally, a normal job change through a relic wouldn't be recognized as being chosen by a god, but this prompt clearly held special significance.

"Could it be a hidden class in addition to being a God's Chosen?"

It wasn't strange, considering 'Shyarly's' talent, to be chosen by a god.

It wasn't that 'Lin Qi' was inferior to 'Shyarly,' but rather that gods of different belief paths had their own temperaments. A God's Chosen was chosen by a god. As long as the god was pleased, even a pig could become a God's Chosen.

Of course, no god would be that bored, as gods needed followers to spread their faith. They were born from faith and then grew stronger.

If the 'God's Chosen' trait was added, then no matter what class was chosen, it would be incredibly powerful.

"I remember this class is called 'Blood Knight.'"

Knights, because they had no horses, were also called Knights without a Horse.

Blood Knights had very high constitution and magic power growth, as well as lifesteal abilities. They could kill and heal simultaneously. Their high damage combined with the healing effect would carry them from the early game all the way to the late game.

While not as bizarre and unpredictable as the Silent Nun, their direct combat ability was in no way inferior to the Silent Nun. If the 'God's Chosen' trait were added, then...

Admittedly, Ryan was tempted.

But being a God's Chosen meant being completely tied to that belief path, not just simply choosing a class.

Just like the League of Fire. According to Jonathan, there were many members in their organization who were recognized as heretics by the Gate of Janus, such as the Hand of Darkness and the Blood Cult. Many members of the League of Fire had transferred to these two belief paths.

However, a character's job change didn't necessarily have an absolute relationship with their stance, because apart from the God's Chosen, the job changes of the Chosen Ones were not noticed by the Outer Gods.

It mainly depends on luck.

Some people choose the Hand of Darkness class but do good deeds, thinking, "My heart and actions are as clear as a mirror, and all I do is for justice."

Others seem righteous, saying 'Praise Janus' and 'May God bless you' all the time, only to turn around and harm children. They are utterly wicked.

However, except for imperial factions like the League of Fire, any transcendent faction symbolizing light and justice, like the Gate of Janus, cannot trust anyone who follows heretical beliefs.

This is also why the League of Fire and the Gate of Janus are at odds. Their cooperation in Berman City is purely based on mutual interests; otherwise, High Priest Lia wouldn't have agreed to let 'Lin Qi' help.

"Who cares? Shyarly is the one following heretical beliefs, what does it have to do with me, Ryan?"

Ryan didn't mind. What logic or law? The one with the biggest fist is the one who makes the rules.

Come on, everyone, chant with me: Blood Sacrifice to the Blood God!

After the excitement, a problem arose.

Where am I going to get 8,888 offerings for it?

Even if it were that many pigs, Ryan couldn't get them!

What about 8,888 cockroaches?

Rats? Flies?

Bacteria?

Hmm... Ryan felt that if he really did that, the Blood God would kill 'Shyarly' the first chance it got.

Disrespecting the gods!

"Huh? Wait a minute..."

Ryan looked at the interface. As 'Shyarly's' hand neared the Sword of Ares, a small box immediately popped up.