Please Stop The Pope

Episode 32

The reason I dumped all the work on Leo was not because I was a ruthless black company owner who truly exploited Leo’s labor.

If you think about it, I’m a victim.

I’m also a victim of this manpower shortage.

If Limen had brought a few more people along when bringing Leo, wouldn’t it have been much easier?

Of course, I can also perform the role of a consecration priest, but I also had a mountain of work piled up that only I could do.

For example,

“At this point, why don’t you just join our church? I think it would be really convenient for me if Team Leader Kim could negotiate with the government side on my behalf.”

“Haha…”

Things like organic communication with the government.

Just as Leo has his own work, I also have my own work.

“I appreciate the job offer, but as we are civil servants, job changes are not so easy for us.”

“Shall I mention it to Minister Yoo Seon-ho?”

“Wouldn’t I get beaten to death by my wife rather than Minister Yoo Seon-ho?”

“That’s too bad.”

If it were up to me, I would have liked to fill the manpower immediately through open recruitment, but I couldn’t just do that.

To work in the Limen Church, one naturally had to be a believer of Limen.

Although the number of believers is being tracked by the system, we haven’t yet established a systematic doctrine.

In such a situation, if we rashly expand our manpower, problems are bound to occur.

That’s why I’m overworking Leo.

I let out a small sigh, took a sip of water, and said to Team Leader Kim from the Ministry of Ability Management who was sitting in front of me,

“With so many visitors coming to the temple, Limen must be really happy. By the way, what brings you here today?”

Is it because I took care of the National Guild Alliance guys earlier?

“Ah, we came because we wanted to ask you questions at the level of the Ministry of Ability Management about the recent abnormal phenomena.”

“Abnormal phenomena? Like gates or dungeons?”

“It’s about new awakeners. We discovered some peculiarities during the investigation, so we came to confirm it with you and acted rude.”

“With me?”

It’s been about a month since I returned to Earth, so what do I know about awakeners that they would come to me?

Just as I was about to be embarrassed, Team Leader Kim quickly handed me a tablet PC with the screen on.

“As you know, identifying and classifying new awakeners is one of the main tasks of our Ministry of Ability Management. The data you are currently looking at is also one of the documents created in that process.”

“You mean it’s data organizing the new awakeners?”

“That’s right.”

As Team Leader Kim explained, there were names that seemed to exceed 100 written on the tablet PC.

I roughly understood what kind of data it was.

But the reason for showing me these names was not easily guessed.

However, as if anticipating my reaction, Team Leader Kim immediately continued his explanation,

“The names shown on the screen are all people who claim to be believers of Baek Myeong Church and have awakened as players after receiving blessings from the god they serve.”

“Are you certain they have awakened?”

“We conducted tests through mana detectors, and confirmed that all the individuals on the list possess mana.”

“Hmm.”

It’s true that I haven’t been paying much attention to the Baek Myeong Church guys because I’ve been focused on the National Guild Alliance guys lately.

Ever since encountering the Baek Myeong Church guys at the Guro-gu Chaos Gate last time, I haven’t really come across them.

They tried to come out into the open recently, but they didn’t get much attention because I drew a lot of aggro.

Just as they were trying to become a hot topic on MyTube, the Limen Church and I absorbed all the attention like a sponge, so they must feel wronged in their own way.

“Originally, the awakeners belonging to Baek Myeong-gyo have refused to undergo testing through mana detectors.”

“Wasn’t it mandatory for awakeners to undergo testing?”

“It was under the pretext of conscientious objection. They claimed that the miracles that occurred to them could not be evaluated by mere humans…”

“…Those guys who have been doing that all along are suddenly responding to the tests like this?”

The reason was not far away.

I continued with a frown,

“It’s because of us.”

“Already, the political and financial circles are gaining momentum with claims of fairness, saying that Baek Myeong Church should also be recognized. Furthermore, in the Ministry of National Defense, there are even extreme claims that they must join hands with them to increase the number of players.”

It could be called a kind of butterfly effect.

As our church demonstrated the miracle of purifying Ground Zero, they are demonstrating the miracle of awakening players.

According to what I heard from In-wook, creating players is something even the United States and China cannot do.

In a world like that, if there is a power that can awaken people as players, it’s obvious that anyone would come running while drooling.

“As of now, it has not been revealed how they are awakening ordinary people. They said only sincere faith can save humans from weakness.”

“You need to believe to awaken?”

“That’s right.”

I didn’t feel any magic power from the Baek Myeong Church believers I encountered at the Guro-gu Gate last time.

However, it is true that I discovered something.

A very ambiguous energy that was neither magic power nor mana.

Therefore, the possibility that they are a religious group serving a god from another world could not be completely ruled out.

Even Limen, whom I follow, is a god from a completely different world than Earth, isn’t she?

But this feeling of discomfort that I’ve been feeling since last time just couldn’t be shaken off.

I swallowed the remaining water in the cup, sighed, and asked,

“In other words, you’re telling us to take care of the competitors ourselves?”

“Well… the expression ‘competitors’… is inappropriate…”

“But they’re not partners either, right? Ah, and let me tell you in advance, we are also capable.”

“Of what…”

“I mean, we can also awaken ordinary people. Well… I’m not saying it to imply we won’t fall behind, I’m just letting you know in advance.”

I had been saving it as a secret weapon to use later if missionary work really didn’t work, but those guys took it first.

I got hit.

I thought I could eat well through the temple in Ground Zero, but a competitor jumped in at this critical moment.

“Is it the era of great sect leaders rather than the era of great pirates or something like that?”

“Pardon?”

“Just talking to myself. Anyway, the fact that the Ministry of Ability Management is telling us this… can I take it as supporting us?”

At my question, Team Leader Kim gulped, probably nervous. Then, he slowly nodded and said,

“That’s right. Minister Yoo Seon-ho asked me to convey that he believes in the trust that the Ministry of Ability Management and the Limen Church have built so far and the trust that will be built in the future.”

It’s hard to refuse when he says it like that.

That old man, no matter how I think about it, he’s not ordinary.

I should have realized it when I heard he had lasted a long time in the political world, which is no different from a den of demons.

There was no reason or justification to refuse, so the answer was already decided.

I nodded and answered,

“Please tell him I understand.”

“We will continue to count on you in the future, Mr. Shi Yu.”

It was the moment when the problem called Baek Myeong Church officially rose before our church.

Ah, I don’t know why I miss those gloomy inquisitors so much today.

Regardless of whether the Baek Myeong Church friends created awakeners or not, the public opening of our church’s MyTube channel scheduled for 6 PM was very successful.

「Official Limen – 43,000 subscribers」

The number of subscribers recorded in just one hour after the MyTube channel was made public.

Every time I refreshed, the number of subscribers was increasing steeply.

It wasn’t a channel with many videos uploaded, and there was only one video introducing our church by Leo and me.

The content of the video wasn’t very special either.

It was about how we would operate MyTube in the future and how people could communicate with us.

However, just by looking at the comments left on that simple introductory video, I could roughly grasp the public sentiment.

-I heard this place is a wish-granting hotspot.

-I’m here for a holy pilgrimage.

-Please let me do well on the college entrance exam.

-Please let me pass the civil service exam this time!

-I want to visit the Limen Temple in person and have a conversation, but when can I enter?

-Wow;; There are still fools who fall for pseudo-religious bastards… Come to your senses, guys. They’ll suddenly start demanding money from you and eventually ruin your family.

-Who’s better between the Limen Church and Baek Myeong Church?

The ratio of views to comments is going wild. The view count surpassed 200,000, and the number of comments easily exceeded 70,000.

Of course, more than 90% of the comments were people writing their own wishes.

“They’re not seeking religious counseling but only writing their own wishes. It’s regrettable. This MyTube channel wasn’t made for this…”

Min-soo, who was watching the reactions with me, spoke in a regretful voice.

“It’s okay, hyung. This MyTube channel was made for this. Isn’t it nice to see everyone flocking and praying for wishes?”

“But…”

“Limen will also be extremely pleased. Right, Leo?”

“That’s right. Limen cherishes those who earnestly wish for something.”

This is how it always starts in the beginning.

It’s rare for someone to become a devout believer from the start.

“I want to see more and more people praising Limen’s miracles and benevolence.”

Except for cases like Min-soo, who directly witnessed Limen’s power.

I looked at Min-soo, who was feeling regretful, and smiled.

“It will soon be like that.”

Although we’ve been running around like crazy so far, we’ve reaped quite meaningful results.

Even though it was a problematic land, we built a temple on top of South Korea and successfully opened a MyTube channel.

When I first returned to Earth, the future looked pitch-black, but somehow, we’re steadily moving forward.

Yeah, where is this?

As I was satisfactorily examining the reactions on MyTube with my colleagues,

[Quest update has been completed.]

A quest message window appeared before my eyes for the first time in a while.

A notification window that started appearing yesterday when the number of believers began to explode.

I put down the tablet PC and checked the message with a nonchalant expression.

[A quest has occurred.]

[Church Expansion – Preparation]

●Type: Main – DLC

●Description: You have prepared a precious home for faith through the construction of the temple. The temple will serve as an excellent centripetal force for your church in the future. Therefore, the system has judged that your church has finished its basic preparations.

O Pope. Earth is currently exposed to numerous threats. It is time to officially grow the power of the church to prepare for threats that may strike from anywhere.

●Completion Conditions

1. 50,000 official believers (official believers refer to those who have submitted a church membership application)

2. 500 divine-class players who have chosen as their faith.

3. Achieve a total level of 15 for the traits and facilities possessed by the church.

●Reward: 10,000 Divinity Points,

*All 3 conditions must be fulfilled to complete the quest.

It was definitely the quest window I had been seeing.

However, I felt a strange sense of incongruity in the quest window.

Official believers?

I could understand and overlook that part. I had roughly guessed that the scope of believers would be redefined once again.

But the second condition was not easily understood.

“Divine-class players?”

I had checked several times since returning to Earth, but until I returned, the concept of divine power itself did not exist on Earth.

Then what the hell is that bizarre completion condition?

“Min-soo hyung.”

“Yes, Your Holiness.”

“I’m asking again just in case, but have you ever seen anyone using divine power other than me?”

At my question, Min-soo thought for a moment, then soon shook his head.

“…No, I haven’t.”

“Then this absurd completion condition…”

That’s when it happened.

[This message is being sent to all players belonging to .]

[As certain conditions have been satisfied, the restriction on placed on will be unlocked.]

[The system of is starting to prepare the update. Players of Earth. Prepare for the upcoming upheaval.]

“Of course.”

Yeah, there’s no way the system would leave me alone.