<CHAPTER 1>

With a single sweep of his hand, the earth overturned, and the barren wasteland transformed into rich, fertile soil.

“Woooooah!”

As he walked barefoot across the freshly nourished ground, tender green sprouts emerged beneath every footprint, spreading into vibrant patches of leaves.

“Wooooow!”

He waved his hand once more, moving as though dancing. Trees sprang from what had once been a lifeless wasteland, while streams carved their way through the earth.

It was nothing short of a miracle.

“O Holy Apostle!”

“……”

An old man clung to him, sobbing uncontrollably with tears and snot streaming down his face. The moment he did, Seo Jun—the man they called the Apostle—felt his expression darken dramatically.

His eyes darted around, naturally—

No, instinctively—

Searching for the younger women.

Unfortunately, every one of them looked at him with nothing but pure admiration and reverence.

It was genuinely depressing.

“How you live from this day forward depends entirely on your own efforts. What comes next is what truly matters.”

“Yes! We shall never forget your words, Holy Apostle!”

“…Could you please stop calling me that?”

“Pardon?”

“…Never mind.”

Carefully peeling the confused old man off him, Seo Jun put some distance between himself and the crowd before finding a quiet place to sit.

After every task was complete, this had become something of a ritual.

Watching people celebrate, laugh, and find happiness from afar was the only pleasure left in his life.

Even so, a quiet sigh escaped his lips.

“I’ve seriously had enough of being called the Apostle.”

He couldn’t even remember how many years had passed since he’d fallen into this world.

His best guess was around thirty years.

“Hah… Damn it. I’m already in my fifties.”

Dragged here against his will and given nothing but the absurdly vague command—

‘Fill this world with prosperity.’

He had spent nearly three decades wandering endless desolate lands.

It wasn’t as though he had never tried to return home.

He had.

Again and again.

Every attempt had ended in failure.

Ironically, it was only after giving up on going home that his efforts began earning the admiration of others.

Before he knew it, people had started calling him the Apostle of Prosperity.

“Come to think of it… did I summon rain?”

A gentle drizzle began to fall.

Looking up, he saw dark clouds had swallowed the once-clear sky, scattering an early autumn rain across the land.

This isn’t the season for rain…

As that thought crossed his mind, a ray of light pierced through the storm clouds.

Seo Jun’s face stiffened.

Then—

Rumble—!!

BOOOOM!!

A blinding flash struck first.

An instant later, an earth-shaking roar battered his ears.

An attack?!

The lightning felt far too deliberate to be natural.

Still, his body was protected by countless layers of divine barriers.

Something like this shouldn’t even be able to scratch—

“G-Gah… GAAAAH?!”

The familiar agony coursing through his body jolted him fully awake.

Had he ever been struck by lightning before?

Several times?

No.

Countless times.

Over decades of wandering an unfamiliar world, he’d experienced just about everything.

Being struck by lightning had eventually become routine.

But this…

This one was different.

It felt almost identical to the lightning that had struck him the day he first arrived in this world.

That insane goddess… don’t tell me—?!

The face of the woman who had summoned him here with a bolt of lightning decades ago flashed through his mind.

No—

She wasn’t merely in his thoughts.

“The… Goddess of Prosperity…?!”

She stood directly before him.

Although it was their first meeting since the day he had arrived, there was no chance Seo Jun could ever forget her.

What’s she planning to do to me this time?!

He glared at her, his face twisted with irritation.

Yet the goddess wore nothing but a peaceful, gentle smile.

—You have fulfilled your assigned quota.

The unexpected words made Seo Jun blink.

“Quota?”

The goddess looked at him with unmistakable satisfaction.

—Even I am impressed by how quickly you restored prosperity to this land. No Apostle before you has ever accomplished such a feat. Choosing you was truly something to be proud of.

Oh, is that so?

Seo Jun remained completely unimpressed.

Ignoring his cold reaction, the goddess continued.

—Now that prosperity has taken root in this world, our contract has come to an end.

Contract? What contract?! You kidnapped me and forced me into decades of unpaid labor!

Well…

Technically, there had been something resembling a contract.

When lightning had nearly claimed his life, she had offered to twist his fate and save him—

In exchange for working for her.

That wasn’t a contract.

It had been a one-sided ultimatum.

And why should he have believed her in the first place?

He’d been perfectly healthy.

Never seriously ill.

Not even a chronic cold.

Despite Seo Jun’s hostile glare, the goddess merely smiled with boundless compassion.

—You may return now, Yoo Seo Jun.

Return…? Wait… don’t tell me…

—May prosperity always be with you.

The power of a true deity effortlessly nullified every ability he possessed.

His consciousness faded in an instant as divine light enveloped his entire body.

Lightning continued crashing down upon him.

Only after a long while did it finally cease.

The rain stopped.

The dark clouds disappeared.

And then—

“M-M-M-Master Apostle?!”

The people who had watched everything unfold could only stare in stunned disbelief.

The supreme being they had called the Apostle.

The great mage who had brought prosperity to the entire continent.

Where Seo Jun had once stood…

Nothing remained except black ashes drifting silently through the wind.