Please Stop The Pope - Chapter 16

   3.

 

   

 

   After a long and tumultuous night, the morning dawned without warning.

 

The evacuation order for my neighborhood had already been lifted.

 

   I had already neatly erased all traces of the gate.

 

   After spending the night at the Ministry of Ability Management’s safe house, my family was able to return home by lunchtime the next day.

 

   First, the biggest change that occurred overnight was the following.

 

   

 

   [Cult of Limen]

 

●Goddess: Primordial Goddess – Limen

 

Plane of Origin: Eden

 

   Number of followers: 16,422

 

   -Possessing attribute

 

   <Charity Lv.1> -Subsidiary organization

 

   -Subsidiary group

 

   N/A

 

   Possessed Divinity Points: 2,500 points

 

   *Currently, your sect is rapidly gaining fame.

 

   **However, you have not yet been able to translate your fame into faith. Currently, you need to spread your doctrine in order to keep your adherents faithful and effective.

 

   

 

   The number of believers has increased noticeably.

 

   Of course, it may seem that 20,000 people is a very small number when my fame is spreading not only across the country but also around the world, but if you think about it, it was a very natural result.

 

   Just look at the reaction on the internet right now on my smartphone.

 

   

 

   “Last time, we sold the Disaster-class Returnee and the S-class Hunter to Japan in a set, and now we’re bringing in a cult leader.”

 

   “Now we can’t blame China either. It’s a masterpiece, but they really went too far.”

 

   “But doesn’t that mean that an undead type gate alone is at least S-class?”

 

   “I can smell the government’s people secretly assisting him.”

 

   “Honestly, I can’t tell from just one time…… but doesn’t he look like a cult leader?”

 

   “He looks more like Kim Jung-hoon than a cult leader”

 

   “Kim Jung Hoon is a big man”

 

   “He’s the one who bullied me in school.”

 

   

 

   “In Wook, does your brother look like such an asshole?”

 

   I asked In Wook, who was beside me checking the internet reactions with me.

 

   In Wook thought about my question for a moment, then shrugged his shoulders and answered.

 

“Um…… you don’t look like a religious person, do you?”

 

“No. I mean, do I look like an asshole?”

 

“You don’t look very religious. I mean, I don’t sense the holiness of a religious person or anything.”

 

   Look at this guy.

 

He never answered the question.

 

   I take it as a sign of affirmation that he’s neither negative nor positive.

 

   In Wook hesitates, wondering if he should have answered earlier, then reluctantly answers.

 

   “Honestly, other than the wings sprouting from your back, I didn’t feel like you were very holy. If you spread your wings a few more times, do you think you’ll get more followers?”

 

“I couldn’t even if I wanted to”

 

“…… you can’t do it at will?”

 

“It’s free, but someone said it shouldn’t be free.”

 

   “Who?”

 

   “Some guy, like a referee.”

 

<Causality Conformance Judgment>, which I was able to see while resolving last night’s Chaos Gate.

 

   I couldn’t quite put my finger on it yet, but from what I remembered, the concept was that if I performed a certain level of miracles, my Causality would go straight into a test.

 

I’m not sure what happens if you fail that test, but I’m pretty sure there’s a penalty.

 

   It also meant that, as Limen had warned me, <Causality> could forcibly limit my power in certain circumstances.

 

For the time being, I’d have to be careful.

 

   Yesterday, <Causality> was on my side, but there’s no guarantee that it will always be on my side.

 

   Anyway.

 

   Until I hear more from Limen, I’m going to save my big divine skills like <Purifying Wings> for the time being.

 

   “You’re even more boring than I thought. Don’t you think it’s unfair that people don’t believe you?”

 

   “I don’t know.”

 

   I smirked in response to In Wook’s question.

 

   “It’s just the way people are. You don’t believe something until you see it with your own two eyes, and I don’t know if I’d believe a guy like me who’s mentioning a never heard of religion before in a press conference.”

 

   “Isn’t it something that the government has recognized?”

 

   “Well, they’re only vouching for me being ‘irregular,’ not for the denomination.”

 

   If I had pushed hard enough, I might have been able to get official recognition of the denomination.

 

   But that’s a no-win situation.

 

   Even if the government were to say that it would recognize it as an official religion, it wouldn’t inspire faith where it doesn’t exist.

 

   You’re not going to get anything out of it, and you’re going to be in debt to the government.

 

   It’s a lose-lose business.

 

   It would have been much wiser to make concessions to the government and compromise with them in a respectful manner.

 

   “Still, it’s not a bad start. In fact, it exceeds my expectations.”

 

   With that, I opened the DLC store in front of me.

 

   Soon, I was greeted with new items that had been updated overnight.

 

   

 

   [Items in the DLC store have been updated].

 

   

 

   Overnight, the DLC store changed quite a bit.

 

   There are now a number of different items available where there were originally only two, and the first thing that caught my eye were the two starred items.

 

   [Currently available for purchase].

 

[Characteristics].

 

1. <Baptism(★)> Lv.1: Awakens believers into players through a baptismal ceremony. <This has a 180-day cooldown and can be used on a maximum of 10 people per time. The number of people who can participate in the baptism increases as the talent level increases.

 

*Price: 1,000 DP (can be redeemed with a free Talent Voucher)

 

   Special Roles

 

1. <Missionary (★)>

 

   Type: DLC – Office

 

Requirements: Skill <Doctrine Interpretation Lv.10> or higher

 

   Representative attributes.

 

   -<Sermon>: Permanently increases the <Faith> stats of those who hear the sermon, proportional to the missionary’s <Faith> stats. Also, if the listener is not a member of the denomination, the chance of enrollment or conversion is increased, also proportional to the Missionary’s Faith stat.

 

   Purchase Cost: 1,500 DP

 

   

 

   “Hmmm.”

 

   Just what I needed.

 

   Starting with that <Baptism> talent, which allows me to awaken ordinary people as players, and most importantly, that <Missionary> title.

 

   <The Missionary was even more urgent to me than the Inquisitor, which was the last update to the store.

 

   Fame isn’t the only thing a church needs to expand.

 

If all a church needs is fame, how is it any different from a fan club?

 

   The doctrine is the identity of the organization.

 

   And the missionaries who spread that doctrine are the most important part of its expansion.

 

   Normally, the Pope would be the one preaching the doctrine himself.

 

   “I can’t do what I don’t know.”

 

   To be honest, I don’t really know a single thing about doctrine.

 

   I’ve given victory speeches and the occasional sermon, but the bishops under me do all the preaching.

 

   In Eden, I had people like them to support the faithfulness of the Church, but I don’t have that here.

 

   A church that can’t even preach its own doctrine.

 

   Even the most reviled cults have doctrine.

 

   But the problem here is the condition of that <Missionary>.

 

   Is there anyone on Earth who possesses <Doctrine Interpretation Lv.10>?

 

   That’s when I was looking at the items in the DLC shop and pondering with a serious expression on my face.

 

   

 

   [As the number of believers on Earth increases, the range of Causality granted to your Lord increases].

 

   [Your Lord is greatly pleased and grants you <Trust>!

 

   

 

A new message flashed before my eyes, and soon a familiar voice rang in my ears.

 

   

 

“Can you hear me, Shi Yu?”

 

   

 

It was Limen’s voice.

 

   4.

 

   

 

I thought I might wake up Shi Yeon who was napping while talking to Limen, so I went outside.

 

『You didn’t want to wake your sister, so you went outside to talk…… Shi Yu is such a sweet big brother. He wasn’t so nice to me.”

 

   “Since you’re joking around, it looks like you have a lot of time to kill this time.”

 

“Well, this is an oracle, after all. Fifteen minutes in Earth time? It would have been hard last time, but I have people here who believe in me now.”

 

   I walked slowly forward, listening to Limen’s voice.

 

There were quite a few residents walking around, but they just passed me by in silence.

 

   Was it because I was wearing casual clothes?

 

I was worried I’d be a nuisance outside, but thankfully, it seems I was wrong.

 

   “Phew.”

 

   “Why are you laughing?”

 

“It’s funny that I’m so worried about how I’ll look if I’m recognized because I had one press conference. I guess that’s why I’m afraid of celebrity disease.”

 

   “Celebrity disease? Is that something I have to cure?”

 

   “There is such a thing as ……. What’s going on, anyway?”

 

   『I think we need to give Shi Yu some help if we’re going to organize the sect on Earth. Shi Yu doesn’t have any talent in that direction, right?”

 

   I felt that way for ten years in Eden, but Limen has a delicate side.

 

   Whenever I had a hard time or a problem, she would always take care of me in this way.

 

I smirked at the sound of her voice and replied.

 

   “There are many more experts than me, so why should I step in? That’s what a pope is supposed to do, leave everything to the practitioners and talk to them once in a while.”

 

   “You should have learned your doctrine from other priests.”

 

   “Why don’t you give me some doctrine now?”

 

   Rimen replied in a troubled tone.

 

   “I’m sorry. I don’t know much about doctrine.”

 

   “Didn’t you make it up?”

 

   “I taught the first Pope myself…… but it wasn’t really a doctrine, more like, ‘I want my people to do this,’ or something like that. After that, they interpreted it and developed it, which I was happy to see, so I left it alone.”

 

   This wouldn’t have happened if I hadn’t left it open to interpretation in the first place.

 

   But given Limen’s personality, it’s a plausible story.

 

   I’m inclined to agree with her, but it’s not the worst thing that could have happened.

 

   “Judging by the excitement in your voice, you must have a solution.”

 

“Is it obvious?”

 

“It’s weird that you don’t seem annoyed.”

 

“I’m a little embarrassed that Shi Yu seems to be able to see right through me. That’s right, I’ve come up with a solution. I can’t let Shi Yu suffer alone.”

 

   Cute.

 

   Okay, let’s hear it.

 

   I chuckled and nodded.

 

   “I wonder what the solution is.”

 

   “I’ve just made a deal with your dimension’s main system, and it’s passed the causality screening, so it should be here in front of you soon.”

 

A moment later, a new message popped up in front of me.

 

   

 

[When purchasing the special rank <Missionary>, you can spend an additional 1,000 Divine Points to send 1 <Missionary> from <Dimension: Eden>].

 

   

 

   I blinked a few times as I checked the message window that had popped up in front of me.

 

   That is, if this message window I was looking at right now wasn’t wrong.

 

“Eden is sending a missionary?”

 

   “Yes, although it’s a shame we can only bring one at this point.”

 

“You’re going to abduct a priest to Earth, just like you abducted me to Eden, are you saying?”

 

   I mean, the same person who kidnapped me to Eden is going to kidnap me from Eden to Earth.

 

At my words, Limen protested, as if I was being unfair.

 

   “Well, in Shi Yu’s case, it was more of a abduction…….”

 

   “You’re a habitual abductor.”

 

“But this time, it’s really unfair! She was actually picked from a group of people who voluntarily came together!”

 

   ……Picked?

 

   “You mean you’ve already decided?”

 

   “Of course. As long as Shi Yu agrees, we can come over through the Chaos Gate as soon as tomorrow.』

 

   It’s not some rocket ship, it’s a missionary crossing the dimension by overnight express.

 

   But I had no choice in the matter.

 

This was not the time to play hot and cold.

 

   “Buy.”

 

   Without further ado, I opened the DLC store and purchased the Missionary title.

 

   Soon after, a message popped up in front of me.

 

   

 

   [You have spent 2,500 Divine Points to purchase the special rank <Missionary>!]

 

   [The <First Missionary> will cross the dimension at the call of the Pope].

 

   [Check the coordinates of the designated <Chaos Gate>].

 

   

 

   Oh, right.

 

   You didn’t ask the most important thing.

 

   “So who is the person crossing over, surely it’s someone I know well?”

 

   In response to my question, Limen replied in a gleeful voice.

 

   “Gifts aren’t much fun if you know what’s in them. You have to enjoy opening them.”

 

   “Who taught you that?”

 

“Guess who?”

 

   ……I guess it’s my karma.

 

I wonder what kind of bastard is coming to Earth.