Chapter 12
Chapter 12
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 12
Chapter Title: Pushover Goddess, Descent (1)
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Usually, Yuseong's "Daily Knowledge Acquisition Lessons" were straightforward and stuck in your head easily.
His opinions were so direct and clear-cut, and he often drew comparisons to Midgard's common sense, which made everything even easier to understand.
But today was different.
"Um, Luke. Could you clarify the difference between statutory law and civil law a bit more...?"
"If you want to know, look it up on the internet. Don't ask me."
"...Huh."
"Luke, I have a question about Protestantism..."
"What do I know about that?"
"......"
He sank the two of them in an instant, blatantly showing his foul mood. His glare alone was fierce enough to kill a man.
'...You guys do something wrong?'
'Why say "you guys" while looking right at me?'
'Don't you know why I'm asking?'
'Not me. Pissing off Luke just gets me bloody. Why would I? Ah, maybe that pointy-eared freak~.'
'Mirni, you! Are you trying to die?!'
'......'
'...Luxy?'
'......'
'...Ah.'
Only then did they pinpoint the source of this cutthroat atmosphere, and they couldn't help rubbing their foreheads.
Luke had been at odds with them in the past too. But the absolute worst was the relationship between none other than Luke and Luxy.
To put it precisely, Luke unilaterally despised her, while Luxy showed absolutely no reaction whatsoever.
'Something definitely happened.'
It was just a hunch, but he cautiously guessed it might be like with Mirni—Luke had probably tried to boot Luxy out.
As he alternated subtle glances between the man and woman...
"What're you staring at?"
"...Nothing. Nothing at all."
Leon held his tongue and cautiously turned his head away.
He could easily imagine the grim future that awaited if he tried to mediate.
This was the moment the fool who only preached justice had finally learned strategic retreat in the modern world.
—I hate it.
What exactly did she hate?
Leaving the house? Or giving up knowledge?
Or both?
Whatever it was, it was greed. She stubbornly bickered back and forth for a while.
In the end, that bitch Luxy spat out her piece without choosing anything and stormed straight into her room.
'That fucking bitch...!'
Even a full day later, his irritation hadn't faded a bit.
Were all mages as clueless as that one?
What a maddening mess.
'This mood feels like total shit...'
'...Where'd you learn to say that? More importantly, I told you not to read my mind!'
"...Now I can't even think freely alone. Damn it all."
He considered shutting down the game, but Io frantically stopped Yuseong.
"I'll just turn it back on anyway. Why the panic?"
"I get the problem, but is it really that big a deal?"
"......Ah."
He seemed to recall hearing something like that before.
The time flow in Valhalla, called the heavens, was all jumbled compared to the mortal world—so ten years here could be a hundred or two hundred years up there.
From Io's perspective, it meant possibly going a full year without news of them. No wonder she was desperate.
Still.
"That doesn't mean I can keep my smartphone on forever..."
It wasn't just the phone; even keeping the goddess statue visible on his computer had its limits.
"Can't I just carve your likeness out of wood and set it up?"
"Players count as believers...? That's just absurd."
"......For real?"
"......Hah."
Yuseong let out a wry chuckle. Living this long, this was a first for such nonsense.
Wait...!?
'Is this even possible...?'
As Io said, plenty of players prayed before her statue for the party-matching feature.
According to Park, the company president, global concurrent users had broken five million.
And the number of users in Io's faction was about 1.3 million.
Sure, many of those 1.3 million preferred solo play. But party hunting was overwhelmingly more popular, naturally.
This meant...
'Crazy... Passive honey dripping without lifting a finger?'
The number of believers was a god's authority, the symbol of their power.
Truly, the successful ones—no, gods—made it anywhere.
Yuseong smirked, envisioning the real-time waves of divinity being replenished by those 1.3 million believers beyond the screen.
'How can I exploit this...?'
Putting the Luxy issue on hold, Yuseong pondered what to do about Io.
An uncomfortable cohabitation like this would only build resentment over time. He needed a solution.
In that sense...!
"I need an expert's help."
"M-Me?"
"You're nuts, but you were a saintess too. Come up with something."
"......"
"Why?"
"...You always have to insult me like that."
"Aren't you nuts? Want me to say 'bitch' instead?"
"......"
Sylvia felt her temper flare but held it back.
She'd long known he hated her. What was there to get mad about? She tried to calm herself.
Yet, proving that reason and emotions were separate beasts, her words came out sharp anyway.
"Then maybe you should just rack your brilliant brain alone instead of asking a bitch like me."
"So you don't need Io's help going forward?"
"......"
"Why do you always pick fights you can't win? Bad personality and a dumb head to boot. Tsk tsk."
"!!!?"
Countless curses unfit for a saintess flooded her mind as her composure shattered.
But like how extreme anger can sharpen clarity instead, she admitted the truth.
'Sorry as an unbelieving sinner of a believer. But we still need the goddess's mercy.'
The party was receiving Io's help knowingly or not.
For starters, their fluent communication.
It'd been just over a month since arriving in Korea. Far too short to master a language.
The fact they were adapting without language barriers was thanks to the goddess's blessing.
But what if that blessing vanished?
If the goddess went absent?
'It'll be way harder than now.'
A brutal future born of communication breakdowns loomed vividly.
'And above all...'
Their old comrade Luke was helping them so willingly right now largely because of the goddess.
She'd seen her soothe and coax him countless times when he glared at them like he wanted to kill them.
Blasphemous as it was, the goddess had been their shield against the spear named Luke.
'In the end, we're the ones who lose out.'
Sylvia admitted it.
Not cooperating here would hurt no one but themselves—not Luke.
"...What should I help with first?"
"Now that's more like it."
"......"
Unlike her decision to help, Sylvia puffed out her cheeks, inwardly calling him a spiteful jerk.
Soon, after logging into [Midgard], her eyes sparkled in awe.
Not because of the high-fidelity 3D characters or the graphics recreating Midgard's environments.
It was the divine mercy she'd thought lost forever now washing over her entire being—astonishing beyond belief.
"Divine power! This is unmistakable divine power! How is this possible in a world without even mana...!?"
"Eh, I don't fully get it either, but apparently the players in the game I made count as some kind of believers."
"I see. So it generates divine power based on believers' prayers..."
"So, any ideas on how to make use of it?"
"Hmm, honestly, it's tricky. They only believe in the virtual space. No prayers in reality, so whether it can affect the real world is uncertain..."
Saintess or not, she had no clue about computers or game engines.
If she did, she wouldn't need Yuseong's help in the first place.
"Useless."
"...My apologies."
"Tsk, enough with the apologies. Spit out whatever comes to mind. Even a rotten saintess has to have a few tricks."
"Do you have to phrase it like some asshole with personality issues?"
"Fix your own personality."
"......Sigh. I'll keep quiet then."
Realizing conversation with Yuseong was a waste of breath, she sank into deep thought for a while.
Soon, as if struck by a hypothesis, she cautiously spoke up.
"...Luke, do you remember divine relics?"
"Ah, those?"
Divine relics. Items literally infused with a god's blessing.
Sometimes a figurine. Or a sword, or a mirror.
During the hero party days, they'd endured demon curses and attacks with them often, so plenty sprang to mind.
"So, what about divine relics?"
"Just a hypothesis on my part. If there's a relic that can store the divine power generated in this game, then maybe..."
"It could house Io's consciousness?"
"...Don't speak of the goddess's divine spirit so casually..."
"Whatever. I admit it's a decent hypothesis, but how do we make the relic?"
"Hmm. There are basically two ways to create divine relics. The god bestows it directly, or a single believer infuses their own divine power over a long period until it manifests. Rosaries usually fall into the latter category."
"You don't have a rosary?"
"I did... but while fleeing, I sold off most things that could fetch money..."
"......"
"...Just curse me already."
"...Forget it. What am I expecting from you anyway."
Called a saintess, but true to form, worse than a cultist.
"Then it's no different from having no method? Io can't exactly drop a relic in Korea. And you don't have divine power."
"...Well..."
"What? Is there another method?"
"......This one's not really used in modern times, but there is one more."
"What is it?"
"...Have you ever heard of idol worship?"
"......"
...Had this bitch finally lost her mind?
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