Sisterhood (3)

“Wh-wh-what?!”

I looked at Divine Light Garam, who was on the verge of tears, and gave a bitter smile.

I did feel sorry.

After all, she had been so kind to me, even giving me a valuable gift.

And I was rejecting the request of someone who offered to help directly.

In fact, from a purely strategic standpoint.
Taking Divine Light Garam was the right answer.

‘There’s a reason she’s a top-tier character.’

Of course, her true strength lay in PVP.

But that didn’t mean her skills were useless anywhere else.

A third-year who had completed almost all the training courses.

With the position of <Superior Mother>, a role only chosen nuns could attain.

And despite the rare precedent of being kind to those without [Divinity], she had the charisma to firmly lead her subordinates.

If I took her to the <Underground Waterway> dungeon, I could probably clear it with ease.

‘…But.’

I glanced over.

Smiling at Meowi, who was sticking out her tongue because the tea was hot, ‘Meeoow…’

‘This <Underground Waterway> dungeon will not only help me but also greatly grow our Meowi.’

Compared to Moon Bora and Ju Na-young, who could handle themselves, Meowi’s growth had been relatively slower.

An inevitable limitation of being born as 1★.

Even though I had guided her through various trials and shared countless opportunities with her, this was still the reality.

It was because of this that she managed to keep up somewhat. But the gap was starting to widen.

‘That’s why she needs to meet her.’

The one who will unlock our Meowi’s potential.

And, in turn, Meowi would help unlock the potential of a certain nun.

“I… I made a mistake.”

Divine Light Garam wriggled her fingers, embarrassed.

“Um, hyung? Then who are you planning to meet?”
“Choi Mari.”
“…!”

At my words, surprise spread across Divine Light Garam’s eyes.

‘How on earth do you know her?’
Her expression made me certain that she was here.

“Sister Choi Mari.”

Please let me meet the senior in the second year.

---

[Sisterhood] Third Floor Chapel.

A woman was praying with her hands clasped and her head deeply bowed.

A woman who, to anyone, appeared to be a devout nun.

The halo behind her was quite large.
It was definitely possible because of her high [Divinity] score.

Thud.

A slender yet strong hand was placed on the shoulder of such a nun.

“…Ah, Superior Mother.”
“Sorry for interrupting your prayer, Sister Choi Mari.”

The hand belonged to none other than Divine Light Garam.

She smiled gently at the girl called Choi Mari, who had an innocent and sweet appearance.

“What brings you here…?”
“You have a visitor.”
“Oh, for me?”

Choi Mari tilted her head in puzzlement.

Logically, there shouldn’t be anyone coming to see her.

However, she stood up awkwardly at Divine Light Garam’s nod.

“The visitor is waiting in the assembly room. It’s a private request… could you go?”
“Yes, of course.”

Choi Mari disappeared with a bow.

Divine Light Garam, who had been smiling at her, glanced at the A4 paper in her hand.

It was the paper that had been stuck to Choi Mari’s back until just now.

Inside, there were phrases like ‘half-wit’, ‘unbeliever’, ‘dropout’, and ‘pawn of Divine Light Garam’ that made one frown just by looking at them.

“…Such childish behavior…”

Divine Light Garam sighed.

Carefully folding the paper in her hand, she thought about the nun from earlier.

Name: Choi Mari.

23 years old this year.

An excellent talent born with four stars of God.

As someone naturally born with a high grade, she was a pure person loved by God.

‘…The exceptionally high <Divinity> score among her peers is proof of that.’

She was someone who deserved respect in anyone’s eyes.

However…

From Divine Light Garam’s perspective, it was something to be proud of, but the surrounding nuns held beliefs that made them frown.

—Yes, I believe even those without [Divinity] deserve God’s love. They are also children of the same Lord.
―…What are you saying, MariMari…?

The belief that those without [Divinity] should not be discriminated against.

Why Choi Mari, who grew up in the Order from a young age, held the same belief was unknown.

It could only be speculated that seeing the persecuted, she thought, ‘This is wrong.’

But that wasn’t what mattered.

What mattered was that, ever since that day, the other nuns’ attitudes toward Choi Mari had changed drastically.

They didn’t openly bully her, but anyone could see they were ostracizing and avoiding her, whispering behind her back.

It was almost akin to being completely isolated.

In truth, it was difficult to create such an atmosphere with just this.

Take Divine Light Garam, for example.

She openly expressed her opinion against exclusion.

Yet no one ignored or bullied her.

So, what exactly created this difference?

‘…Power.’

The power of the ability possessed.

To be more precise…

It was caused by Choi Mari’s unexplained output decline.

It could be puzzling.

Just a moment ago, she was said to be someone blessed by the gods.

‘That’s correct.’

As much as she was loved, her [Divinity] level was very high.

But her [Divinity Magic] was terrible.

Other nuns could easily perform healing, purification, and buffs, but strangely, it was difficult for Choi Mari to manifest any of these.

Even after manifesting, there were problems.

It was slow, and the effects hardly triggered, akin to a kind of defective product.

This led to rumors among her peers that she was useless despite her high divinity, contributing to her ostracization.

The gentle and kind Choi Mari simply blamed her own shortcomings and endured silently.

’…Sigh.’

She sighed.

Choi Mari was a precious junior whom Divine Light Garam cherished dearly.

Since she was a person who shared the same beliefs, how could it be otherwise?

But no matter how great Divine Light Garam was…

Choi Mari’s problem was not something that could be resolved.

In conclusion, this was…
The same was true for the <Failure> issue that befell Choi Mari.

‘…I’ve heard that if she doesn’t achieve results within this year, she’ll fail…’

There were countless worries.

Therefore, Divine Light Garam was puzzled.

If it were another nun known publicly, it would be understandable.
Choi Mari was just an unknown nun with no recognition.

Such a person…

‘Junior Yu Seha…’

How did he know and come?

And why…

‘Why her?’

---

“……”
“……”

A quiet, yet subtle silence ensued.

I scratched my cheek and looked ahead.

“……” (A roughly hesitant expression)

A nun, wary of me with her hands clasped together.

Deep orange hair like an orange.
Clear eyes that seemed to say, ‘I’m pure.’
A pretty girl with a gentle appearance.
She was Choi Mari, the <Divnity Class> member I had wanted to meet.

‘…Ahem.’

I cleared my throat to change the atmosphere.

“Um, Senior… Choi Mari…?”
“M-Meeep! Y-Yes?”
“…Nice to meet you. I’m Yu Seha… a first-year junior.”
“M-Meeep…”
“Um, so…”
“Meeep…”

Ah, this was tricky.
She had been like this since a while ago.

Every time I tried to speak, she flinched and backed away, like a small animal afraid of human contact.

And she had a serious case of self-doubt.

“M-meeep. To send such a handsome man before me… Oh Lord, are you finally sending a beautiful devil to tempt me? Or is this another one of your trials? Must I endure this temptation?”

“…I am just an ordinary person.”

“Meeeep…”

---

About ten minutes.

Barely managing to get her to listen, I explained the situation and why I had called her.

Drafting a secret contract was an added bonus.

Perhaps Divine Light Garam had informed her in advance, as she signed it without a care.

Choi Mari listened to my story in silence.

Tilting her head, she soon widened her eyes and shook her head vigorously at the explanation that I intended to take her in place of Divine Light Garam.

Her pupils spun, and she began to breathe heavily.

Cold sweat dripped down, and she looked beyond flustered—she was terrified.

“N-no, no, no, it’s impossible! It’s not just impossible; it’s truly impossible.”

“No, Senior. I assure you. If you join us, you too will surely–”

“M-meeeep! It’s impossible, impossible! To exterminate the evil lurking in the <Sewer>… It’s impossible for a dropout like me.”

Flinch.

The word “dropout.”

At that word, Meowi’s ears perked up as she sat in the chair.

Meowi stared blankly at Choi Mari.

Her eyes emitted a subtle light.
Even without hearing it, she could understand.

She must be seeing her past self overlapping.

The self that was always intimidated and only looked around…

“……”

She glanced at me.
I nodded.

Then, she stood up and gently grabbed Choi Mari’s hands, who was muttering, “Meeeep…”

“Senior.”
“Meeeeep?”

Choi Mari’s eyes widened at the sudden appearance of the furry creature.

She had been so focused on me that she hadn’t even noticed her.

“You can do it. The Seha I know would never say something he doesn’t mean!”
“…Meeeeeep?”
“Let’s do it together! You don’t really want to be called a dropout, do you? So, let’s give it our all!”
“……”

Meowi looked at Choi Mari with sparkling eyes.
Choi Mari stared at her as if she were mesmerized.
No, to be precise, she was staring intently at the two cat ears on Meowi’s head.

Drip.
Soon, a trickle of nosebleed flowed.

Meowi sensed something strange.
She took a step back.

“…Meow?”
“Um, um…”

Choi Mari fidgeted her fingers and let out a perverted breath.

Then she made a truly perverted request.

“W-Would you sit on my lap? A-And pet me… th-then I’ll go to the dungeon.”

“M-Meeeow?”

---

After a while.

Choi Mari petted Meowi on her lap with a happy expression.

Conversely, Meowi looked up as if to say, “Is this right, Seha?”

Hmm, yes, that’s right.

Honestly, I had never thought words or actions alone would be enough to convince Choi Mari to join us.

‘…She’s not someone you can communicate with in the first place.’

No matter how inspiring or heartfelt my words, Choi Mari wasn’t someone who would respond to them.

That’s why I hadn’t bothered trying to give an impassioned speech.

And that’s why I had brought Meowi along, even though she hadn’t known anything about the situation.

The reason was simple: Choi Mari was an incredibly unique character.

‘A character for recruitment, not for gacha.’

Choi Mari wasn’t someone you could get from spinning a gacha.

She was a character who could be added to the party by completing the special quest <Convince the Stubborn Nun Who Needs a Good Knock!>.

The problem was that the recruitment conditions were really tricky in many ways.

‘Absolutely a cat character.’

There had to be someone related to a cat to persuade her.

Nothing else would work.

Therefore, <Cat Tribe>.
Or a character in a <Cat Costume> was essential.

Well, I wasn’t too worried.

Because I had Meowi…

‘The two boasted high chemistry.’

<Chemistry System>.

In ‘GAL’, some characters had a favorability system where being together could be helpful or cause conflicts.

It could also affect combat power or potential…
Although it sounded important, in practice, it didn’t matter too much.

The developers deemed it too complicated to consider such factors, effectively abandoning the feature.

‘But Choi Mari is different.’

Her potential could only be unlocked through <Chemistry>.

And among all the characters, the only one who achieved 100 affection points was Ma Hana.

Or, in other words, our Meowi.

‘Also known as…’

The <Meowi Mari> combo.

A very unique and rare relationship where they become each other’s fortuitous encounter, amplifying their power.

The beginning of that collaboration was right before my eyes.

“Meeeep, meeep… sniff, sniff.”
“M-Meeeooow?!”

With this, the recruitment requirements had been met.

In that state, Choi Mari inevitably becomes a ‘Yes Girl!’ as proven in ‘GAL.’

Her flawed performance.

Here, Meowi’s <Potential Bloom> could be handled in the dungeon.

I sipped my tea with a slurp and brought up the topic again as if suggesting a walk.

“Senior Choi Mari?”
“Yes!”
“You’ll help with the dungeon strategy, right?”

Choi Mari nodded her head like a flash, unlike earlier.

Finally, smelling the top of Meowi’s head, I shouted confidently.

“What the heck…?!”

Let’s do it!