Chapter Two: The System's Lottery

Link truly didn’t know how to address that cheap old father of his. If possible, he would have loved to drag Barrett out and give him a thorough scolding. As a working man born in the eighties, the importance of property was self-evident; before crossing over, he’d been fretting about buying a house. Now, in this new world, he finally had his own place—albeit a church, but at least it was a large house. Yet before he could even settle in, it was about to become someone else’s. He felt a sudden tightening in his gut, a mix of anxiety and discomfort.

“No way am I letting that grim reaper with a stick snatch my house.” Link glanced at Dubai’s smiling face, suppressing the urge to punch him, and forced a smile. “Father Dubai, you don’t need to worry about the money. I’ve found a wealthy and devout believer; soon, they’ll make a generous donation to the church, and then I’ll have the funds to repay you. Trust me, it won’t take long—at most half a month. Besides, as far as I know, our repayment deadline is in half a month, isn’t it?”

Dubai raised an eyebrow, clearly unconvinced that Link could find such a wealthy believer, assuming it was simply a delaying tactic. Still, he didn’t mind; as Link said, the deadline was indeed half a month away. When the time was up, he could simply come and seize the church. With the promissory note in black and white in his hand, he had no fear that Link would renege.

He nodded, “Very well, I’ll return in half a month. I hope you can fulfill your promise and secure a donation. After all, two thousand Sola is no small sum.”

Sola was the universal currency in the world of Sola Sky—a coin made from a special metal through unique alchemical procedures, with no other metals allowed in its composition. This had successfully replaced gold, silver, and copper as the world’s hard currency.

After hearing Dubai’s words, Link truly wanted to drag Barrett out and berate him; two thousand Sola was indeed a considerable sum, but this church could easily fetch ten thousand Sola if sold. Yet Barrett had mortgaged it for just two thousand—utterly wasteful beyond measure.

Suppressing his urge to lash out, Link saw Dubai off and began pondering how to survive this crisis. The wealthy believer was, of course, just a stalling tactic; if he couldn’t gather enough money in half a month, the church would really be lost.

“Barrett, oh Barrett, my cheap old man, you’ve left behind such a mess that it truly hurts!” Link sighed helplessly, biting his nails as he fell into deep thought. “I have plenty of ways to make money, but business requires capital—right now, I’ve got nothing, and time is short. There’s no way to scrape together two thousand Sola in half a month. Am I supposed to gamble or rob someone? That’s a trap. My gambling skills only beat little kids; at a casino, I’d lose everything. Robbing is even less viable—the owner of this body barely has a combat strength of five, can’t even beat kids a few years younger. Who could I rob?”

The more he thought, the more frustrated Link became, feeling a sort of disappointment toward the body’s original owner. The world of Sola Sky, much like those otherworlds in web novels, had its own practice system—battle energy and magic. Neil was a student of magic.

But Neil’s talent was abysmal, his physical condition even worse, and his teacher, Barrett, was a useless failure. After more than ten years, all Neil managed was to gather a tiny bit of magic power and learn a useless illumination spell. If not for being Barrett’s only adopted son, he wouldn’t have become a priest at all.

After brooding a while, Link remembered the system within him and muttered, “Looks like I’ll have to rely on this unreliable system. But how do I develop believers? The Star God Church doesn’t execute apostates directly, but they certainly don’t let them go unpunished…”

Having found the doctrines and methods for dealing with apostates in Neil’s memory, Link felt his scalp tingle. Still, with this unreliable system, if he didn’t apostatize, he’d be finished within three days. So, whether he wanted to or not, apostasy was inevitable.

“To break away from the Star God Church and develop the Church of the Father God, Elia is a problem. Looks like I’ll have to get her to change her faith first.” Thinking of his little sister by adoption, Link sighed helplessly and immediately went to the back hall, where he found Elia cleaning. The only comfort was that Neil, the body’s previous owner, was already a little religious charlatan, so Link wouldn’t seem out of place acting the part.

Elia saw Link and immediately broke into a bright smile. “Neil, you’re back! Has Father Dubai left?”

“Yes, he’s gone,” Link replied, nodding. After a moment’s contemplation, he asked, “Elia, what do you think of the Star God Church?”

Elia paused, a puzzled look crossing her face. “It’s not bad, I suppose, Neil. Why do you ask?”

Link felt a bit nervous, but thinking of the system and Dubai, he could only steel himself and put on a pious expression. “Elia, I feel the same way, but I think the Star God Church hasn’t done enough. As a religion devoted to saving humanity, Star God hasn’t shown us any miracles. This has left me puzzled for a long time. Until last night, I had a dream that finally answered my questions.”

“What kind of dream?” Elia asked, her curiosity piqued.

Link, looking even more devout, spread his hands and sighed, “It was a magnificent dream. In it, I saw a true god—a being far greater than all other deities.”

Elia was surprised. “Greater than the other gods? Greater even than Star God?”

“Star God? No, compared to this true god, Star God is like the light of a star competing with the blaze of a fire. This true god is the creator of all, the father of gods, Father God Link!” Link finished his proclamation with an air of solemnity, though inwardly he nearly gagged. It turned out that bragging about himself in this way was no easy task. He wasn’t worried about boldly claiming that the Church of the Father God was supreme—religion in Sola Sky was chaotic, and whether gods actually existed was uncertain. There were countless bizarre faiths like the Church of Creation, the Divine Emperor Cult, the Pantheon, and so on; if not a thousand, then at least eight hundred. All asserted their gods were the greatest, yet none had come to harm. So even if Link claimed all other deities were his creation, it was no big deal.

After Link’s words, Elia was stunned, silent for a long time before asking hesitantly, “Neil, who is Father God Link? Does such a god exist?”

“Of course, child,” Link said, growing ever more into the role, his face gentle with a smile. “After creating the world, Father God fell into a deep sleep from exhaustion, only recently awakening. Seeing humanity arguing endlessly over religion, he gathered all the gods and set forth a plan for a unified faith. But the gods are not permitted to directly interfere in the mortal world—a law personally decreed by Father God Link, binding even himself. So, to accomplish this vision of unity, Father God sought out a representative to spread his divine glory.”

Elia listened, increasingly bewildered, and after a long silence, asked in astonishment, “Neil, is Father God Link’s representative… you?”

Link nodded with an air of solemnity. “By Father God’s will, though I’m still amazed myself, it is indeed true. Elia, I have become the representative of Father God in the mortal world, so I can no longer serve the Star God.”

Upon hearing this, Elia fell silent, her gaze strange as she studied Link, until his nerves began to fray. At last, she asked, “Neil, are you telling the truth? Does Father God Link really exist?”

At her question, Link’s heart leaped—there was hope! He hurriedly nodded, “Of course. Would Neil ever lie to you? Besides, you know what kind of person Neil is; he would never deceive Elia.” Yes, Neil would never lie to Elia—but I am Link, not Neil, he added silently.

Elia was quiet for a long time, her expression shifting in ways that made Link’s heart race, until finally, she seemed to make up her mind. She smiled beautifully. “I understand, Neil. Whatever you decide, I’ll support you. If you’ve become Father God’s representative, then I’ll believe in Father God too!”

Link’s eyes lit up. “You’ll believe in Father God Link as well?”

Elia nodded. “Yes, because Neil can’t be a priest of the Star God Church anymore, can he? To always be with Neil, I’ll do my best to change my faith.”

As soon as she finished, a bright white light suddenly appeared above Elia’s head. Link saw her full name appear, followed by ‘Novice Believer’—clearly marking her faith level.

At the same time, the system’s voice echoed in Link’s mind.

After hearing it, Link’s heart was pounding wildly. With Elia present, he suppressed his urge to immediately draw the lottery, mentally reciting ‘No,’ only to regret it instantly—what if the opportunity slipped away?

Relieved that he hadn’t canceled the chance, Link breathed easier; otherwise, he’d be beside himself with grief.

Looking again at Elia, at those clear, innocent eyes, Link was filled with guilt. Deceiving a girl who trusted him completely was hardly pleasant. Possessing Neil’s body brought no guilt—Neil was dead, and reincarnation was just repurposing a discarded vessel. But toward this pure girl, he truly didn’t want to deceive her.

“Forgive me, Elia, I lied to you. But rest assured, from now on, I’ll make sure you live a happy life. When my church grows, I’ll make you the saint—second only to me, above all others—and never let you suffer again.” After apologizing to Elia in his heart, Link silently vowed to make it up to her.

Afterwards, Link settled in to await the lottery moment. When midnight struck, nearly driven mad by anticipation, he finally heard the system’s voice.

At once, Link didn’t hesitate—he mentally affirmed, and a phantom roulette appeared before him.

On the wheel were six categories: ‘Herbs,’ ‘Spirit Pets,’ ‘Equipment,’ ‘Skills,’ ‘Buildings,’ ‘Divine Arts,’ each occupying a sixth of the wheel. No specifics were given, but Link knew exactly what items were available; this device was identical to the lottery system in the knockoff web game he’d played before crossing over.

That infamous game tossed together a mess of items from wildly different worlds—besides ordinary Western-style gear, it even included Saint Cloth from a certain anime and flying swords from cultivation novels. Other types of items were similarly mixed, drawn from both cultivation novels and famous foreign games—a true super-mashup, a knockoff ‘masterpiece’ beyond compare.