The Holy Fraud - Chapter 1

Somehow, my body felt light. A cool breeze brushed against my skin, and a gentle chorus surrounded my ears. In that unfamiliar tranquility, I slowly opened my eyes.

What unfolded before me was a majestic stained glass window. Light in all colors poured down like a rainbow. The white marble floor where the light touched looked endlessly pristine.

Where is this place?

I slowly turned my gaze and looked around. The high-domed ceiling, easily dozens of meters high, was adorned with an elaborate holy painting.

The figures in the painting were surrounded by golden halos, and soft beams of light descended among them.

‘No way I should be in a place like this…’

I stood at the central altar of an incredibly large cathedral. And before me, quite a number of people were kneeling in prayer with their hands clasped. Judging by their white garments, were they priests?

Their expressions were overwhelmed with emotion, as if they were welcoming a savior.

“The Daughter of God has descended!”

“Oh Lord… You have finally sent the Saintess to us!”

Before I could even get used to the sacred and solemn atmosphere, I reflexively blinked.

My mouth hung open in shock and confusion.

But the more I looked around, the more it became clear that I was ‘somewhere I couldn’t recognize at all.’

‘I was definitely… just yesterday, being bombarded with calls and messages from my boss…’

My life, worn out by overtime, was rough, and even on rare days off, I would get messages like, “Come in immediately and finish the remaining work properly!”

I had often fantasized about quitting my job and being reborn.

After losing my parents in a car accident during high school, I had always been alone. I lived without any expectations for the rest of my life.

And last night, I definitely mumbled something as I fell asleep.

‘Ah, I really want to be reborn. Like, maybe as a Saintess! How great would it be to just receive blessings every day without having to work.’

And now… has that really happened?

I cautiously lowered my head and examined my body. I was wearing an overwhelmingly white Saintess robe. On the chest shimmered a holy emblem embroidered with golden thread, and the pure white hem of the skirt flowed down like soft silk.

Also, I had long silver hair rarely seen, and even my fingers were slender and white, unlike in my previous life.

Even without a mirror, I could tell.

This body wasn’t ‘me’ from the real world—it looked like someone else’s, no, the perfect body of a ‘Saintess.’

‘Wow… this is insane.’

My mind began to calculate quickly.

A life with no overtime, no nagging, a life respected by everyone…

No, if things were really as I imagined, isn’t this a total jackpot?

If I could live as a Saintess, I could forget all the misery of reality and spend every day being treated with reverence.

“Saintess…!”

Just then, an elderly man with a white beard reaching down to his chest—who clearly seemed to be the bishop of this temple—grabbed my hand, choking up. His hands trembled, and tears welled up in his eyes.

Then, as if he had been waiting, he lightly pressed his lips to the back of my hand in reverence. In a voice filled with emotion, he spoke, “The Lord has bestowed you upon us…! At last, God has sent the Saintess for the salvation of the Empire!”

Suppressing the thrill surging through my head, I closed my lips and gave a slight nod, trying to match the holy atmosphere.

It truly felt like the paradise life I had dreamed of without unemployment was becoming reality. At least, up to this point…

But then, suddenly.

—You there… just a moment.

A resounding, no, a deep and majestic voice echoed in my mind. The tone, as if reverberating from an expansive space, made my spine instinctively go cold.

‘What…? This isn’t my thought, or my voice…’

—Who are you?

At the same time, the air before me rippled like small waves. A powerful vibration that only I could feel. A strange energy, as if the sky were being torn apart, pierced through my body.

—You are not My daughter.

‘Huh…?’

I blinked.

What was this voice resonating solely inside my head?

It was undoubtedly a voice of tremendous dignity and holiness. But what it was saying was utterly absurd. Not His daughter? What did that even mean?

—The one chosen as Saintess has already been determined. Why do you, who are not My daughter, take such a confident stance in her place?

‘What? Wait a second, excuse me. Then why did You even bring me here in the first place?!’

I protested inwardly. Then the voice in my head grew even sterner.

—You have never received My blessing. Therefore, return at once.

My mind went blank.

Return?

Then what is this body, and what is this situation?

And is there even a way to go back?

I suddenly felt like I’d been struck in the head.

At that moment, it occurred to me that this voice might be the very god considered the sole deity of this empire.

And that the divine being the kneeling priests revered—named “Callisto”—was now declaring me a fraud.

‘What is this! Then why did You even send me here!’

The more ridiculous part was that none of the people in front of me seemed to notice my expression. Rather, they saw my pained look and bowed their heads with tears of emotion.

“The Saintess is communing with God!”

“Oh… what a holy moment!”

“God is testing the Saintess! You must endure, Saintess!”

I was dumbfounded. The god was exposing me as a fake Saintess, and yet they were accepting it as a sacred trial.

In the light pouring from the stained glass window, the priests offered prayers in their own ways. Some even lay flat on the ground, weeping.

‘Maybe… if I play this right, I can make it through.’

—What scheme are you plotting!

A surge of holy wrath erupted in my mind.

But I did not back down and simply smiled slightly.

A thought crept up within me: ‘Would it be okay to just fake it?’

Anyone could see they truly believed I was the real Saintess, and they were only further solidifying that belief. Unless I came right out and said, ‘Actually, I’m a fake,’ it wouldn’t be easy to overturn their mindset.

And most importantly, I had no intention of returning to that miserable life!

‘Alright. Let’s just go with it for now.’

I lowered my head slightly, put on the most beautiful Saintess smile I could muster, and murmured, “Oh Callisto…”

I clasped my hands and tried to sound as reverent as possible. From behind me, the bishop and the other priests gasped with emotion, saying, “Ohh, the Saintess is praying to God!” In my head, the voice of the god roared, shaking the very ground.

—Stop, you! Do not dare speak My name in vain!

But no one else could hear that voice. I lightly lifted the hem of my white Saintess robe and solemnly declared, “I… am the Saintess of this empire.”

Even I found the words ridiculous, but no one doubted them. In fact, even if I were to deny it, they would probably just interpret it as the Saintess’s humility.

“Ohh, Saintess!”

“Daughter of God… please guide us!”

I decided to interpret this moment in the most positive light.

No overtime, no nagging from a boss, a life of being respected and protected by everyone.

Just thinking about it made me happy.

—Are you trying to impersonate My power!

Though the god raged blatantly, no one around me could hear the voice. I was the only one reacting to it.

In short, the god’s words were simply vanishing into the air.

“The words of Lord Callisto are a test,” I said deliberately, using the most mysterious tone I could.

—I never said anything like that!

While the god screamed inside my head, the bishop and priests beside me accepted my words as divine revelation.

“The Saintess is praying for us!”

“A holy trial! So sacred…!”

By now, my heart was pounding. This was something that could never happen in the real world.

But what could I do?

The situation had already passed the point of no return, and I had no intention of stepping down from my starring role in this grand deception.

I was a bit worried—but I decided to leave that for later.

So far, they were giving me near-blind devotion. If I kept emphasizing that I could communicate with God, and spun some plausible lines, maybe I could actually live a good life in this world.

‘Wow, I guess days like this really do come! I’m going to live easy now!’

I raised my head and looked at the bishop and priests, their faces still soaked with tears. Then, with a soft smile, I spoke solemnly.

“I… will soon prepare a miracle for this empire.”

The bishop and priests let out cries of joy. The scene of so many people shouting “Ohh!” in unison was almost spectacular.

Then, the voice of the god screaming in my head came again.

—You wretch, how dare you speak of My miracles! Silence yourself at once!