SWNOVELXO Chapter 73
Chapter 73: Limen is watching
1.
The time since my return to Korea has flown by in the blink of an eye.
Training new recruits, organizing baptism ceremonies, and even planning new MyTube content—it’s been an incredibly hectic week. At the same time, it’s been a rewarding one.
The official followers who applied to join our church exceeded 320,000, and the number of players aligned with the Holy Light faction has surpassed 300.
Thanks to that, I’ve accumulated ample Holy Points, which allowed me to upgrade existing traits and facilities.
The first thing I invested Holy Points into was, of course,
[Sanctification Chamber Lv. 1 → Lv. 3]
[You can now produce Intermediate Holy Water and create a wider variety of sacred artifacts.]
[Intermediate Holy Water: Holy energy is moderately infused into this holy water. It greatly enhances physical recovery and can reconnect severed body parts. It is excellent for emergency treatment and offers strong resistance to dark energy.]
Compared to the basic holy artifacts like the general-use holy water or the holy stone bracelet with minor effects, Intermediate Holy Water was powerful enough for practical use in real situations.
From my own observations, the “Recovery Potions” currently traded on Earth couldn’t match up to Intermediate Holy Water.
Recovery Potions produced by production-class players on Earth weren’t particularly effective—they merely supplemented modern medicine at best. If they were outstanding, players with recovery abilities wouldn’t be so rare.
Of course, if it were an “Elixir,” a recovery potion that only a few of Eden’s alchemists could produce, it would likely rival top-tier Holy Water. But there’s no way players on Earth, barely five years into their development, could create something like that—unless they were a returning player well-versed in alchemy.
Moreover, compared to Recovery Potions, which required various materials, Intermediate Holy Water required no such ingredients, making it far more cost-effective.
The only downside? Its production rate was limited per hour.
In any case, I upgraded not only
Thanks to these efforts, I was now close to completing the main quest,
Thus, a productive week passed, and during this time, not only our church but South Korea itself underwent a monumental change.
That change was none other than the
「Hiroto Sasaki, Japanese Prime Minister: ‘To put an end to the long-standing conflict between Japan and South Korea, we must first face history with integrity. I sincerely apologize for the tragic historical events between our two nations.’」
「President Seo Shin-woo: ‘It’s time for the walls of hatred that have divided our nations to crumble.’」
「A historic Korea-Japan Summit! Another miracle orchestrated by the Irregular
「Connecting Korea and Japan:
“Power is the best, isn’t it, Your Holiness?”
“International politics has always been a jungle.”
“People are the same everywhere, aren’t they?”
I nodded slightly at Luna’s remark.
As a clergyman, I shouldn’t say this, but I never thought they approached this with genuine intentions of peace.
It’s likely that President Seo and Prime Minister Sasaki had some political trade-off behind the scenes.
In other words, my existence was the driving force behind the success of this summit. And I had no intention of denying that.
“Let’s just work harder from now on.”
“Emotions don’t disappear overnight, after all. You’re absolutely right.”
“We’ve only taken the first step.”
Regardless of the catalyst, it was a fact that the two nations had taken steps forward. Therefore, we must continue striving for peace.
According to Min-soo, who manages our church’s online applications, the number of Japanese applicants is increasing day by day.
Setting aside political calculations, fostering interactions as members of the same church will ultimately help improve Korea-Japan relations.
And this was a change that would undoubtedly please Limen.
“While focusing on training the new recruits for now, it’s about time we move on to the next step. Starting with the Purifiers.”
The Purifiers—an organization that had once bombed the Abilities Management Bureau headquarters.
They had gone so far as to orchestrate operations to recover a demon king’s vessel, and through Lee Se-hee, we’d confirmed that their subordinate organization,
We had already discussed this extensively with the government. And unexpectedly, we even received help from an unanticipated source.
“If push came to shove, I was ready to travel across the country to track them down one by one. But luck is on our side—a collaborator has emerged.”
“A collaborator?”
“Though I’m not thrilled about it…Come in, Barbarian.”
The door to my office swung open, and in walked a towering man draped in wolf fur.
It didn’t need an explanation. Of course, it was Aiden.
Aiden entered the office with a boisterous laugh.
“When’s the celebration party?”
“I’ll host one at your funeral.”
“Your Holiness is as prickly as ever.”
Aiden quickly scanned the office and locked his gaze on Luna. His grin widened unpleasantly.
“Oh, what a stunning lady! If I’d known, I would’ve dressed to impress. Ha-ha!”
Luna frowned deeply at Aiden’s unsolicited flirtation. Her voice dripped with irritation.
“Your Holiness, are you close with this idiot?”
A starkly different reaction compared to when she first met CEO Choi.
She’s sharp, that Luna.
I shook my head at her question.
“Not a chance. He’s the one who thinks we’re close.”
You’d expect Aiden to take offense at Luna’s blunt remarks, but surprisingly, he let out a hearty laugh.
“What is the lady saying?”
Ah, he just didn’t understand.
Luna had spoken in Eden’s common language. Judging by his lack of reaction, I translated with a smirk.
“She said you’re a sweaty idiot.”
“The most beautiful roses have thorns. A hero doesn’t just pass by a beautiful woman. I think I’ve finally found my reason for coming to Korea.”
That was, without question, the worst line I’d heard since returning to Earth.
And Luna wasn’t the type to let such remarks slide.
Woohoo-woo!
I looked at Luna, who had already summoned her hammer, and gave her some advice.
“He won’t die anyway, so just hit him without worrying.”
2.
The Irregular truly lived up to its name.
Despite being directly hit five times by Luna’s mace, Aiden was completely fine, showcasing an extraordinary feat akin to a circus act. The situation concluded as Leo barely managed to drag an enraged Luna out of the temple.
“I’ve brought a gift.”
The “gift” Aiden brought was, as he said, precisely what I needed.
It was information.
The information provided by the U.S. government through Aiden was of a quality that couldn’t even be compared to what the Paranormal Management Division possessed.
From guilds likely associated with the Purifier to influential figures in the political and business world who had been recruited by them.
Their tentacles had spread into far more diverse areas than I had anticipated.
They were not only connected to several major guilds within the Coalition but also exerting influence in politics, disregarding party lines.
However, it wasn’t yet a situation where I could fully trust the information from the U.S.
In this situation, my choice was very simple.
“Siwoo, you’re the boldest Pope I know. I guarantee it.”
“There’s nothing more accurate than checking for yourself.”
“It hurts my heart that you doubt our friendship, but it can’t be helped. Love and friendship grow stronger through trials.”
“Don’t talk nonsense.”
The method I chose was to randomly pick one piece of the information and verify it directly.
After flipping off Aiden, I slowly directed my gaze forward.
This was a residential area in Cheonan.
It seemed like an area that had once experienced a Gate or Dungeon rampage, as scattered construction work was ongoing.
Honestly, it wasn’t such an unusual sight.
Even in the capital region, there were many places where restoration work was underway.
“There, maybe.”
Within that landscape, I found an orphanage.
The place, with a small playground visible, had a nameplate that read Hope Orphanage.
The current time was 4 PM, a perfect time for children to be playing, and indeed, several children were running around in the playground.
Compared to the surrounding houses, which seemed to have been built quite a while ago, the building was extremely clean. It was evident even to the naked eye that it hadn’t been long since it was built.
At first glance, it seemed like a very ordinary and well-kept orphanage.
But
“According to the information you handed over, this place is supposedly related to those ‘Altar’ people, right?”
According to the U.S. intelligence, this location had subtle ties to the Altar, the so-called branch of the Purifier.
It was described as a place periodically visited by individuals presumed to be affiliated with the Altar.
Aiden gave a vague response to my question.
“Yeah, but don’t blame me if it’s wrong. I didn’t gather that information myself anyway. I’m just the messenger.”
“What, are you scared the info might be wrong?”
“…No way. I don’t remember ever being afraid in my life. Even in the face of thousands, tens of thousands of enemies, I was always brimming with confidence. What could I possibly fear?”
Judging by the way he was glancing at me, though, it seemed the holy spear he was hit with back then must’ve hurt quite a bit.
Still, since I hadn’t confirmed the veracity of the information yet, I decided to let it slide for now.
A stern scolding could wait until after the truth was verified.
“So, what’s the plan? Are you going to sneak in or something?”
“Sneak in? With you? How would I sneak in with someone your size?”
“Then how are you going to gather information…?”
“I’ll just walk in boldly. There’s no reason to be sneaky.”
I confidently walked through the front gate of the orphanage.
The children playing in the playground stopped and collectively turned to look at me.
Their gazes were different from the usual curious stares kids give.
Instead, their eyes were filled with vigilance.
What exactly were they so wary of?
With those wary gazes fixed on us, Aiden and I quietly stepped into the building. Soon, a middle-aged man appeared from inside.
His hair was slightly streaked with gray and he had a calm impression behind black-rimmed glasses.
“It’s been a while since we’ve had unexpected visitors. Usually, people call in advance. I’m Shin Hyung-seop, the director of this orphanage.”
He spoke in a gentle voice, and I responded with a smile.
“I’m Kim Siwoo. By the way, is it not okay to visit without an appointment?”
“Not at all. I’m not sure why you’ve come, but please have a seat, and let’s talk.”
He said this while guiding us to a room marked the Director’s Office.
Inside the director’s office, other than the faint aroma of coffee, there wasn’t anything particularly unusual.
The bookshelf against the wall held books on education and what seemed to be fairy tales for children. The space wasn’t large, but it exuded a cozy atmosphere.
“What kind of tea would you like?”
“I can’t accept tea as an uninvited guest. I’m fine, thank you.”
I smiled and took a seat, and Aiden followed suit, sitting across from me.
“I was quite surprised to see someone I usually only see on TV appear so suddenly.”
“Oh, do you know who I am?”
“Of course. It’s hard not to recognize someone who’s on the news all the time. How could I not know Mr. Kim Siwoo?”
Shin Hyung-seop said this while taking a sip of his leftover cold coffee.
“It’ll make things a little easier since you know me. Our Limen Order is looking for places to directly support.”
“We’re always grateful for sponsors. As you might know, running an orphanage requires a lot of money. Government funding has also decreased significantly since the Dimension Opening…But may I ask how you came to find our orphanage? Many people support us, but our facility isn’t particularly famous.”
At his words, I silently stared at him, more specifically, at something floating above his head.
[Passive Skill
[Listing the evil deeds of player
[
After looking at the message window, I slightly raised the corners of my mouth and said,
“Wouldn’t it be more important to talk about why I’m here rather than how I got here?”