How a Former Pastor Lives in Another World

7

The Pro of Prayer

Kairon had left the empire and crossed the kingdom to join the armed pilgrims of the Vatican.

He was a mercenary who had lived a life on the edge of a blade for quite some time.

It was for the sake of advancement that such a worn and weary mercenary like Kairon had applied to join the armed institution.

He was thirty years old.

He had spent twelve years as a mercenary.

He had seen unspeakable things, and each time, he felt the limits of his status.

But it was the clergy, of the same commoner origin, who did not fall short of knights or nobles.

The greatest religion on earth.

The clergy of the Solar Order are deeply entwined in the society of this continent.

And they have a lot of money.

The gold that flows in from all over the continent is beyond Kairon’s wildest dreams.

The landscapes of the theocracy he saw on his way here, or the generously prepared candles, were enough to tell.

Kairon believed that if he rose within the order, he could firmly grasp that wealth and power.

But for someone who had lived off the sword, walking the path of the clergy was not an easy task.

However, the only way for an outsider to become a high-ranking clergyman was to join the armed institution.

The job doesn’t change much.

It’s just that the client changes from a mercenary guild to the theocracy.

Kairon, being a follower of the Solar Faith himself, thought it would suffice to just change the title of his profession.

“Prayer, what on earth do I start with?”

At the words of the examiner, a nun, Kairon pondered.

In the first exam, he couldn’t stand a despicable human and beat him up, which earned him extra points, but now he was at a loss on where to start with the sudden call to pray.

Was prayer something one could do indefinitely just by starting?

“Almighty Solteras…”

While he pondered, one by one, the examinees began to kneel on the floor of the assembly hall.

The unlimited prayer meeting had begun.

Chiron, receiving the nun’s gaze as if to ask why he wasn’t kneeling yet, hurriedly knelt down.

Then, he closed his eyes and began to recite a prayer without direction.

“Oh, oh… Almighty Sol, Terashi. Thank you for letting me spend today safely… and, for the delicious meal? Please let me do well on the test, I want to become… allow me to receive the priestly ordination, and… help me earn a lot of money…”

It felt incredibly awkward to suddenly offer a prayer.

The content was so frivolous, he wondered if such prayers were even appropriate for this meeting, but no one stopped him.

After all, prayer is a conversation with the divine.

Even if one doesn’t receive a response, it’s about believing that the Lord hears one’s voice and speaking about this and that.

Chiron’s prayer was different from those of the noble clergy, but the essence of prayer is clearly ‘conversation’, so whether expressing gratitude, making requests, or even venting anger, it’s treated as prayer.

Just continue the conversation towards Him.

Only the divine will respond, and only He knows if it’s right.

Chiron continued his forced prayer, conscious of the unending voices of prayer around him.

It had been barely ten minutes. After just 10 minutes of prayer, he ran out of things to say.

It was a mystery how the other examinees around him could repeat their prayers with such content.

They even said it shouldn’t be the same content…

“Oh, please let me earn a lot of money and pass the test…”

That’s when it happened. A gentle touch landed on Chiron’s shoulder.

The examiner nun whispered in a soft voice.

“Brother, please come with me.”

“Ah…”

Chiron sighed and opened his eyes.

He was the first to be eliminated.

***

Born between Cardinal Muller and Holy Knight Amanda, Aaron had prepared thoroughly for this initiation test.

A faithful follower of the Solar Church and having seen his mother rise from an armed nun to a Holy Knight, he was early educated on how to deal with heretics.

He even chuckled at the mention that the unlimited prayer meeting was the second test.

The mercenaries and monastic practitioners present here had different experiences from his own.

“Brother, please come with me.”

Starting with the first one, the examinees began to be eliminated in rapid succession.

As the hundreds of recited prayers dwindled and the voices gradually faded, Aaron was confident of his top-ranking passage.

Not all of them will be eliminated.

However, their first assignment will be determined by combining the scores from the first and second tests.

They will start at the very bottom among the battle pilgrims.

But the top ten are different.

They are granted a special status and authority among the pilgrims, the first hierarchy.

In other words, passing as the top candidate means a remarkably fast start.

Thus, after receiving the ordination as a priest, one becomes an armed priest and, upon achieving further success and passing the promotion test, can become a Paladin, a holy knight.

In short, being the top candidate in the entrance exam is a shortcut to success.

Aron intends to climb higher than his mother, who was a Paladin, to become an Archbishop that not only oversees the armed forces but also the central diocese of the Papacy.

If so, even the position of Cardinal, and the Papal seat elected by the Cardinals’ votes, are not impossible.

“Brother, please rise.”

One by one.

The prayers that echoed in the hall had significantly diminished.

Aron still had the leisure to pay attention to others’ voices.

With a slow but precise and clear pronunciation, he extended his prayers.

“Sister, please rise.”

Now, the last one.

Only one competitor remains in the hall.

If he surpasses this one, he will be the top candidate of the entrance exam!

“Almighty Solterasi, protect me with your eternal light. Lead me with your holy wisdom, and even if the path I take is shrouded in darkness, guide my soul with your sacred light.”

“…”

But somehow.

Isn’t it a bit too persistent?

“Always be joyful, always pray, always give thanks. I know that this is the will you have conveyed through your saints.”

And the content is substantial.

No blockages, no interruptions.

While Aron, whose content is running low, tries to extend his prayers as much as possible by breaking them up, the competitor continues without any blockages or interruptions.

With a crisp voice loud enough for everyone to hear, it’s as if they’re carrying a prayer pouch that endlessly produces prayers.

‘What on earth? Why doesn’t it seem to end?’

Aron has never felt his prayers to be lacking before.

He was a devout believer, born and raised in the religious nation, under the care of respectable parents.

As a clergyman, he received proper early education.

“Was he born praying? Why doesn’t it end!”

It wasn’t just Aaron.

The priests and nuns of the order were silent as mice, watching the lively and unwavering prayer.

“……”

Each one of them had spent a long time building their faith within the order, yet none could take their eyes off Ray Anderson.

They looked at him with eyes filled with awe and admiration.

“Ray Anderson……”

“I heard he’s a sixteen-year-old subdeacon, but to recite prayers so fluently.”

“It’s not just a matter of reciting prayers.”

-Namu Amita Bul……

-Soltera Hu Akbar.

“There are unknown languages mixed in between. It doesn’t seem made up; there must be some meaning to it……”

“Could it be… glossolalia?”

“……!”

At that word, all eyes turned.

Glossolalia is a gift of language bestowed upon the devout believers of the order.

Not a language of this world but that of angels, glossolalia is also known as a language that can communicate with the Holy Spirit.

That young subdeacon.

To think that a mere sixteen-year-old boy has achieved such a level of faith!

How deep and blind must that belief be.

“Dunwell Archbishop personally stamped the pass certificate for the first test.”

“The Archbishop?”

Dunwell, the head of the Eclipse institution, the Archbishop.

He volunteered to be the examiner for this entrance test.

For him to highly rate and personally stamp the certificate of such a talent?

“The valedictorian of the year… there’s no need to look further.”

“Subdeacon Ray Anderson… he might even become the youngest Paladin.”

Everyone gasped in amazement, and finally, Aaron’s prayer was blocked.

3 hours and 32 minutes.

Though there were occasional murmurs, this was a feat of considerable effort.

It was possible thanks to the faith built up over time.

For Aaron, securing the top spot was almost a given.

Yet, he wasn’t first in the preliminary exam.

The one who continued to recite prayers, having secured first place in both the first and second exams, is still at it.

“Director Isabella, shall we call that brother in?”

At those words, Director Isabella, the examiner, shook her head.

“He is praying so devoutly. It is our duty to watch over him until the very end.”

Ray’s prayer continues, even though he is the only one left in the hall.

In a sense, he must be lost in a trance of prayer.

Even a lay believer wouldn’t dare disturb someone in the midst of prayer.

The priests and nuns decided to wait a bit longer, expecting Ray’s prayer to end soon.

Little did they know, he would continue praying for another seven hours.

***

In his past life, Pastor Kim was a star pastor of a mega-church.

When it comes to the topic of prayer, most modern Protestant pastors could be called masters of prayer meetings.

The foundation of Protestant prayer is the belief in the power of the spoken word.

While there are silent forms of prayer like meditative or contemplative prayer, the Pentecostal denomination to which Pastor Kim belonged primarily practiced loud, unending spoken prayers.

Of course, it would be shameful for a pastor to pray less than his congregation.

On the pulpit of a mega-church, in front of over a thousand believers, he had to recite prayers longer than anyone else,

Sometimes stepping down from the pulpit to lay hands on each believer’s head and pray for them,

Ensuring the content of the prayer was both dignified and respectable.

Even annual events like the Holy Spirit Expectation Conference or revival meetings often involved praying all day, making prayer fatigue a chronic condition for pastors.

Especially during the Holy Spirit Expectation Conference, when external pastors were invited for a 24-hour continuous prayer meeting, it was a horrendous violation of labor laws…

“Ah, so are you going to sue God for violating labor laws?”

With a superior so high above, there’s nowhere to complain.

Nevertheless, Pastor Kim was a true professional among professionals.

He embraced thousands of believers and even led prayers at revival meetings in remote, large prayer houses.

And that was not all.

For a while, Pastor Kim, who had brought turmoil to the congregation with the outbreak of a virus, had also raked in millions of won in offerings during a live broadcast on Neutube.

The gaze of the believers, fixed solely on that one person, was immense.

Even during exorcisms to drive out evil spirits, he had engaged in all-day battles, reciting prayers.

The conclusion was that Ray was a pro, unparalleled in the act of prayer.

“O Soltera in heaven, let the whole world honor the Father, let all nations come to be, and let the will of heaven be done on earth.”

“Give us our daily bread, forgive us our trespasses, lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.”

“For thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory forever. Remember my sins when you ascend to heaven to judge.”

It started with a light modification of the Lord’s Prayer.

“Have mercy on us, O Soltera, have mercy on us. Again, have mercy on us. In your mercy, bestow compassion and forgive those who repent…”

Revising the Apostles’ Creed was basic, along with the prayers of the Catholic, Orthodox, Anglican, Nicene Council, and the Gospels. Even…

“Buweijagang, bujayuchin… O Father Soltera, consider me your child without distinction, and be a friend with faith, buwoyushin…”

The Confucianism’s Three Bonds and Five Relationships learned in liberal arts classes.

“Amitabha Soltera, Infinite Life Buddha, Infinite Light Buddha.”

In the Buddhist scriptures…

“Soltera Hu Akbar! Solteradulillahi, Samisolterahu liman hamida…”

And even Islam.

Having suitably revised the content of various religious prayers, the end was beyond measure.

Why such a hodgepodge for someone who was supposed to be a pastor?

This was all knowledge and experience gained from seeking a way to live after being afflicted by divine possession, a testament to the saying, ‘Life is full of ups and downs.’

‘I’m the one who followed Pastor Park to exorcisms. I’ve got a different level of experience.’

On weekdays, following the chairman pastor to cast out demons, handling Friday services, dawn services, and the second service on weekends.

It wasn’t for nothing that Chairman Pastor Park left his son pastor behind and marked him as his successor.

If you’ve been making someone run from nine o’clock Friday services to five o’clock dawn services for over ten years, and sending them on business trips to the Vatican and mosques for Sunday 2 PM second services to exorcise demons, you ought to give them something.

Gooo…!

That was when it happened.

Ray felt a warm energy on his skin.

Realizing that it was the power of holiness, Ray tilted his head curiously at this phenomenon.

“Oh… It seems the Holy Spirit is gathering.”

“Is it responding to Brother Ray’s prayers?”

The Holy Spirit? What’s that?

Ray opened his eyes slightly to a tale he hadn’t heard in the last 16 years.

And what do you know? Right before Ray’s nose, a soul appeared!

“Yikes! It’s a Flying Soul!”

A soul with wings!

And not just any soul, but one carrying the ‘white’ karma, unblemished by even a speck of dust!

“There is a holy spirit nearby! Everyone, welcome the spirit with reverence!”

“It seems the brother Ray has been sought out!”

While others couldn’t see the form of the soul, they felt its overwhelming holy power.

Ray saw it with his own eyes and knew, but if the holy spirit had come because of him, that was a big problem.

‘I mixed in so much fake prayer, didn’t I?’

From the middle onwards, he had poured out almost every foreign prayer he knew.

If there had been an Earthly Protestant, they would have pointed fingers, shouting, ‘Heretic!’

It was a good thing this was another world, and he hadn’t been caught.

Then, what could be the reason the holy spirit sought him?

‘This guy, what’s he doing, babbling nonsense as if he’s speaking in tongues?’

He was sure that’s what they must be thinking.

‘If I get on the bad side of the holy spirit here, my long-life project could go down the drain!’

Hearing the priests murmuring, it seemed that in this power-filled theocracy, holy spirits did come visiting.

They came for the prayers of the devout.

Then, Ray’s course of action was clear.

“……?!”

[???]

The clergy looked on in puzzlement as Ray suddenly rose from his place.

The holy spirits watching Ray intently felt the same.

“Is he trying to end his prayer?”

“Why now? If the holy spirit has come, he should continue praying to seize this opportunity.”

“Ah! Perhaps subdeacon Ray hasn’t noticed the presence of the holy spirit!”

Voices filled with regret.

He heard them all.

Ray’s rising was not to end his prayer.

The kneeling I’ve done until now was to gain momentum!

In the past life’s South Korea, there existed a unique prayer culture, a fusion of Protestantism and the Korean ethos.

And that is…!

“Rejoice! The Savior has come!! Let all the people welcome Him!!”

The Praise Prayer Meeting!

An endless relay of praise prayers used when the prayer content runs out!

‘The Pentecostal Church’s ultimate technique, hymn number 645 medley, go!’

The devout prayer hall of the Middle Ages.

A culture shock of prayer culture, 500 years ahead, has begun.