Chapter 82
Chapter 82: Demon Realm (5)
Kim Moon-sik, the deputy director, had been a perennial deputy director at a small South Korean mid-sized company, Good Software.
There were only ten employees below the deputy director in the small company.
Deputy Director Kim, who had grown the company since its early days, had exceptional company loyalty.
'Let me run auto-hunting and go home to find a gold pot to boost my specs a bit.'
At the company, he played a gacha auto-hunting RPG game on his smartphone.
At home, he was a diligent company employee who spent time on Continental Online.
That day too, he had definitely planned to receive a bonus after work and raise his character's specs.
When he returned home, the moment he logged into Continental Online, he lost consciousness.
"Honey! You're not planning to rest at home again today?"
"Dad! Do we have to go hungry again today?"
When he came to his senses, a Black family was treating him as the head of household, spouting crazy demands to go catch fish.
Kim Moon-sik was startled and fled straight out of the old wooden house.
The landscape outside the house was shock itself.
"What is this......"
The slums of the Garcian Kingdom.
A filthy, dilapidated street covered in filth greeted him.
His face was reflected in the muddy water on the ground, and he had become Black.
"This is me?"
If the status window hadn't appeared before his eyes, he wouldn't have been able to grasp this phenomenon clearly.
Fortunately, the form of the status window was familiar, and thanks to the community function, he realized that he had been possessed.
Moreover, strange chants came from outside, so understanding this situation wasn't difficult.
Kill the Possessors and eliminate them!
Eliminate these otherworldly entities that steal our bodies!
One, he had been possessed into Continental Online.
Two, if discovered, he dies.
'What kind of crazy world is this?'
Religious groups touring the borderlands of the Garcian Kingdom preached the subjugation of Possessors and toured each city.
'The people of this world treat us like prey.'
Being a min-maxed character after possession is nonsense.
First and foremost, securing a way to survive.
So he wanted to rely on the community.
[You must reach level 20 to create a post.]
He could read posts, but to write posts and leave comments himself, he had to exceed level 20. Getting help from people in the same situation was difficult.
Even trying to hide and live wasn't easy.
'Adventurers verify with Holy Water?'
At best, becoming a lower-rank adventurer was an option, but even this was nearly impossible.
How could he enter the Labyrinth with a complete stranger?
'There's also the possibility that I'll be exposed to my party member and turned in.'
Usually one would choose a Black Mage here, but Kim Moon-sik leveraged his gaming experience and chose [Warrior], a close-range class.
'I should take the Blood Knight tree to make solo play easier.'
Fortunately, some [cash items] came with his inventory, so Kim Moon-sik used them to level up quickly.
After reaching level 20, he contacted a group of Possessors using [Community].
That was the entirety of Kim Moon-sik's life.
"So are you telling me that in the system you're a Warrior, but in reality you've become a Black Mage?"
Erik was greatly shocked after hearing all the explanations.
It was shocking.
'Like Janson.'
Janson, whose attack-related stats were 0 in the [System], had reached the physical realm of a Sword Master.
Deputy Director Kim, of the [Blood Knight] class and Black Mage Group, was a Black Mage who had five tiers in reality.
The Black Mage Group was also cultivating Possessors in a similar manner to him.
'This is serious.'
Erik seriously realized the gravity of the situation.
Fortunately, they had captured a position equivalent to a division head of the Black Mage Group.
The interrogation continued.
"How is the Black Mage Group?"
"We've moved the headquarters location to the Demon Realm in the Eastern Great Forest!"
Kim Moon-sik described not only his entire life but also his life after joining the Black Mage Group in detail.
"What work is in progress right now?"
"The current project is the extermination of Saints and Holy Maidens!"
With Erik's question, Divine Power blossomed, and each time, Deputy Director Kim's answers came faster and more accurately.
Eventually, he reached the point of spilling out important information without even being asked.
"The person who was with me was Director Thomas, and he's a Possessor! I heard he was at some consulting firm."
"The CEO isn't a Possessor, but he studies the world of Possessors from time to time."
"I heard that the CEO appears as a Field Boss in the game!"
He spilled everything he knew.
His sole purpose was one.
"......P-Please kill me now."
He wanted to escape from the terribly excruciating pain of his soul burning.
It really hurt so terribly.
"Please, no more of that pain......"
The Divine Power that ignored Pain Resistance stat was excruciating, and the fact that they'd heal him with it felt even more terrifying.
Erik had already repeatedly burned him and brought him back to life several times.
The repeated pain made Kim Moon-sik long for death.
"-Blessing."
After hearing all this, Erik used [Divine Blessing] on Kim Moon-sik.
With hazy smoke, his body twisted grotesquely.
"Will you sacrifice the lives of 10,000 and die peacefully?"
Living in a stranger's body and adapting to this other world must be difficult.
Erik understood that.
However, there were limits to that too.
"The pleasure of murder, disqualified from humanity. Your achievements are proving your life."
Possessors, whose lives are revealed through status windows.
Those achievements weren't just created by killing people.
'They only arise when you do it with enjoyment.'
Just as Erik himself had destroyed Black Mages and gained related achievements, other Possessors also gained achievements related to their actions.
Even this bastard wasn't a Black Mage class, yet he possessed such achievements?
"There is a line in everything in the world."
Kim Moon-sik had crossed that line.
'Does everyone think others are fools and suckers for maintaining that line while living righteously?'
Erik had hated that type since the Park Ji-hun days.
Poverty, financial hardship, a rough life, surrounding environment, and such.
Those who blamed everything and lived illegally.
He found those who earned money from illegal gambling sites and drove high-end foreign cars while pretending to be something on SNS pathetic.
'You don't do things you shouldn't do because you shouldn't do them.'
Anyone could do these things if they just had an evil heart.
However, most people don't.
'The level differs, but people living are all the same.'
It was the same here.
'Janson, Park Chang-ho, Kang Pung-ho, Nishida Ryo, Marquis Aaron—they made different choices.'
Marquis Aaron was a high-level Possessor who had completed a Class Change.
However, he had absolutely no achievements or titles with the intent of harming humans.
So Erik didn't kill him but made him stand trial.
'Even Elf Yuren.'
The Possessors locked in the detention camp were the same.
Erik was the type to even build a city where such harmless Possessors could live.
Even in the same circumstances, humans can always choose the best option.
"The problem is those who chose efficiency instead of the best......"
That's what Erik thought.
So Kim Moon-sik's end could never be easy.
Sssssssss!
Before long, pure white smoke flickered before Erik's eyes.
Kim Moon-sik's existence had completely disappeared.
***
Shortly after burning the Possessor, Erik headed to the Papal Palace with his party.
The [Isolation] there had also been destroyed, so he intended to join the Pope soon.
"From what Erica told me, even Black Mage Possessors are dragged to the Divine Edifice."
"Huh? Really?"
As they walked along a cliff, he told Ruelle about the power of his Divine Edifice.
"Perhaps all Possessors are affected by my power."
"Then......Wouldn't even the one who descended be consumed?"
"That might be the case, but the one might not be a Possessor."
"What do you mean by that? If we're talking about the villain in that movie Lord of the Rings, it's Sauron!"
While resolving Ruelle's curiosity, Erik also organized his own thoughts.
"I heard that the method the Black Mage Group proposed was a merger and acquisition. Perhaps the owner of that body is this world's Black Mage."
Thanks to interrogating Kim Moon-sik, several reasonable assumptions were established.
As they walked together, naturally Jang Du-sik and Janson joined the conversation.
"Hey, brother. Then wouldn't it be okay to use them? What about using the excuse that God forgives sins?"
"Oh! Boss, that makes sense. If they see the Divine Edifice and confirm their own death....... Couldn't we create a traitor?"
It seemed like a reasonably good opinion.
Erik hadn't avoided the idea of pulling Kim Moon-sik into the Divine Edifice and using him differently.
"No, those bastards aren't the type to repent after entering the Divine Edifice and seeing their own portrait."
However, Erik was certain.
That method would never work on Possessors.
"Janson, you're different."
45 years since possession.
Janson was the type for whom this place felt more like home than Earth.
However, the tens of thousands of Possessors brought in recently were different.
'From year 1 to year 3.'
Park Chang-ho, Nishida Ryo, Kang Pung-ho.
A fact already proven by three people.
'When those guys became believers......’
They had only gained 23 GP.
When they rescued the Imperial forces, GP increased by tens of thousands.
Even after Janson became a believer, GP increased by around 10,000.
"-That's why those bastards from Earth will absolutely not easily gain faith."
After finishing the explanation up to this point.
"If those guys only gave 23 GP......"
Janson looked at Jang Du-sik with an astonished expression.
His face suggested, 'How in the world did you do that to have such little loyalty to the boss?'
"Hey......lackey, I'm going to make those guys into proper humans."
Jang Du-sik gripped the club tightly, vowing to instill faith in those guys.
However, only Ruelle showed a different reaction.
"Even if I'm here?"
She placed her hand on her slim waist and looked at Erik.
Her posture was haughty.
'Hmm.'
Erik gave it serious thought.
What do people from Earth become enthusiastic about?
Divine Edifices?
The scriptures of noble clergy?
Prayers offered while paying tithes?
Grand battles and the realization of great achievements staking one's life?
'No.'
If that were the case, even if not Nishida Ryo, the responses from Kang Pung-ho and Park Chang-ho would have been different.
But it was 23 GP.
So Possessors more familiar with Earth needed to move in a different way.
'Idols.'
An intuitive single word came to Erik's mind.
To realize this, there would be many things to prepare...
Erik looked at Ruelle.
"You're staring at me quite a bit?"
Her face flushed, but those eyes continued to gaze confidently.
'If it's Ruelle.'
She had sublime beauty and a breathtaking figure.
No Earth idol could possibly imitate her.
'Much less if it's singing, then singing; if it's dancing, then dancing.'
Moreover, Erik knew Ruelle's attention-seeking tendencies well.
He understood it beyond just knowing.
Rather than spouting strange things like Dongtan Look for no good reason.
The conclusion he reached was that it wouldn't be bad for her herself to become a trend-setting Power Influencer and the world's idol.
"M-Me?"
Ruelle was startled after hearing all the explanations.
"That......an idol? A Power Influencer? M-Me?"
"Wasn't it the Imperial Princess who followed the Priest's clothing style? Ruelle's influence is by no means small."
The meaning was clear.
Just as the Imperial Princess who leads trends in the Imperial Palace, she would become the Empire's idol and become a great being leading the world's trends.
"Hehe~."
Ruelle licked her lips and rushed off in small, quick steps.
"Look at her go!"
Her footsteps were light and cheerful.
***
"Holy Erik."
The Pope looked at Erik.
His party approaching the Papal Palace along a towering cliff all had bright faces.
Even after being surrounded by Demon Realm monsters and fighting terribly not long ago, they smiled cheerfully.
"I too should be like that......"
One must know how to laugh even in hardship. A true first-class person.
It's a passage that appears in scripture.
That much indicated that the past world had been harsh.
'Now the present world will become like the ancient world in scripture.'
The Pope laughed bitterly.
Demon Realms increased across the continent, and even Black Mages controlling monsters appeared.
'Where is the world heading from now on?'
He worried like that.
Then, Holy War Knight Commander Julius spoke to the Pope.
"Holy Father, the sword he wielded was certainly......"
Just as Erik had examined the Papal Palace, they too had observed Erik's battle.
Divine Power illuminates darkness, so even while trapped in [Isolation], they could observe each other.
The sword Erik wielded at that time.
It was clearly the Sacred Relic that disappeared from the Church, the 'Sword of Creation.'
'A vanished Sacred Relic in the hands of the Saint......’
The meaning was clear.
It wasn't that the Sacred Relic ran away on its own legs, so why was it in Erik's hands?
One might have questions, but Erik was a being whose existence itself made all explanations possible.
The sole and first Saint of the Church.
"It found its master."
"Indeed, that's the case."
"As God descended upon this land and waved six wings, wielding the Sword of Creation, the darkness of the world was erased."
The two made the sign of the cross and murmured the doctrine softly.
After finishing their brief prayer, Erik's party had already come nearby.
"Holy Father, Holy War Knight Commander Julius—we greet you."
Erik made the sign of the cross and looked at the Pope and Julius.
Then his gaze swept around the Papal Palace.
'How dreadful.'
Monsters filled the area below the cliff.
Even as believers burned corpses with Divine Power, it seemed endless.
So Erik kindled his Holy Fire imbued with his own Divinity and threw it down the cliff.
Whoooosh!
As the small spark fell down the cliff, golden light flashed, and the corpses of the monsters quickly turned to smoke and began to disappear.
Seeing that sight, Julius clutched the bridge of his nose and expressed his amazement.
"He just grows stronger by breathing."
The first Saint.
That flame wasn't just Holy Fire.
It was a flame imbued with nothing less than God's will.
'Not a single divine word is heard in establishing Divinity.'
It was amazing.
Moreover, he didn't seem to be struggling particularly.
Because Erik himself was a being equivalent to a god, but from the perspective of those who didn't know this, he was nothing short of a monster.
"Truly sublime Divinity."
The Pope also let out an exclamation.
'Getting into detailed explanations is a pain.'
From Erik's perspective, he had a premonition that these two would talk on at length about his power.
"There is something I must say to both of you."
Thus, Erik immediately broached the main topic.
"Holy Father, declare a Holy War right now."
His manner of addressing the Pope without proper courtesy and immediately speaking his piece seemed somewhat irreverent.
However, no one in this place considered Erik irreverent.
"Driving back the dark power is also the Church's duty."
That's because everyone present had been engaged in a terribly fierce battle until just before.
"However, those bastards have already disappeared from the Demon Realm."
A cross appearing in the Pope's pupils.
God's miracle clearly showed the Pope the appearance of the Demon Realm.
The darkness in the Demon Realm where the sun cannot rise—piercing through it was the eye of Divinity.
"Those bastards have relocated their headquarters to the Demon Realm in the Eastern Great Forest."
Erik had interrogated Kim Moon-sik and learned the location of their new headquarters.
With such an explanation added, Erik brought out the most important words.
So.
"At this opportunity, we must draw out all the Holy Spears and erase those bastards from this world."
Holy Spear Throwing.
It was time to bring out the Church's final weapon, which was said to have erased the territory of a vast kingdom in the past.