Somebody Stop the Pope – 15



Episode 15

5. Showcase

1.

After the Chaos Gate was completed with the disappearance of Lich.

A time has come that may be more important to me than the Gate Conquest.

“Then let’s start the emergency press conference at 11:00 PM on October 17th. First Team Leader Kim Dong-sik of the Special Investigation Bureau of the Ability Management Department Team 2 will give a brief briefing on the current situation.”

Chorrrrrrrr!

A full-scale press conference began with the sound of camera shutters clicking everywhere.

And Team Leader Kim who was sitting next to me and looked obviously tired began his presentation.

“Hello citizens. I am Team Leader Kim Dong-sik of the Special Investigation Bureau Team 2 of the Ability Management Department. I will now begin my presentation.”

Team Leader Kim continued speaking in a slightly stiff voice.

“The gate subjugation process is as follows. At around 9:32 PM the gate’s appearance was confirmed and at 9:37 AM the emergency response team of the Ability Management Department arrived at the scene and began controlling the area and evacuating citizens. And… at 9:55 AM. The situation was resolved when the Lich which was the core of the Chaos Gate was destroyed by the Awakened Kim Si-woo who arrived at the scene.”

Tadadadadak-.

At Team Leader Kim’s words the reporters quickly tapped away at their laptops.

Although the press conference was held late at night at 11 p.m. the temporary press conference room was still packed with reporters.

It wasn’t just domestic reporters.

Foreign correspondents including from the United States and China were also watching the press conference from various locations.

Most of them kept their eyes fixed on me while typing on their keyboards.

Team Leader Kim paused for a moment and looked at me cautiously.

I nodded slightly at Team Leader Kim’s gaze.

Then Team Leader Kim immediately began to continue his presentation.

“This concludes the briefing on the process of suppressing Chaos Gate. We will distribute information on the damage status in a later press release. Now I will tell you about what you the citizens have been waiting for.”

The temporary press conference room became as quiet as a mouse.

The reason so many people gathered despite the press conference being held late at night.

Unbelievable videos that started spreading on YouTube and various social media platforms an hour ago.

Because what was revealed at the press conference was a story about me the main character in that video.

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Team Leader Kim glanced around the quiet press conference room and spoke in a more serious voice than ever.

“I would like to make it clear in advance that the content I am announcing from now on is the official position of the South Korean government including the Ministry of Ability Management.”

Chorrrrrrrr!

The shutter is pressed again.

All the cameras in the press conference room are focused on me.

“Kim Si-woo the awakened being returned to Earth through the Yeouido Hangang Park gate designated as Gate C-42 at approximately 11:42 AM on October 12. He is also the main character in the Yeouido Hangang Park video that recently became a hot topic on various social media.”

The once quiet press conference room suddenly becomes noisy.

Reporters everywhere raised their hands and demanded the right to speak but Team Leader Kim ignored their questions for a moment and continued with his presentation.

“It is also estimated that Kim Si-woo’s Awakened One possesses powers at least equivalent to Disaster’s but we have not yet been able to accurately measure the magnitude of that power.”

Some of the reporters who had been listening to Team Leader Kim’s words which might have sounded vague at first began to express their discontent and shouted.

“What on earth do you mean by it can’t be measured?”

“Didn’t you clearly announce that the Republic of Korea’s Ability Management Agency’s Awakened Person Detection ability was the best in the world just a month ago?”

“Please don’t stop me from asking questions!”

But soon they were stopped by other reporters and staff from the Ability Management Department who were nearby and as soon as the commotion died down a bit Team Leader Kim looked straight at the camera and spoke.

“We have been able to conclude that the abilities that Kim Si-woo has shown so far are completely unrelated to magical powers. Therefore we have secretly convened a National Security Council and unanimously decided to give him an out-of-spec grade.”

The reporters’ expressions were filled with shock at the announcement.

Team Leader Kim smiled faintly at the reporters’ expressions and finished his presentation with a bright face.

“I hereby declare that the Republic of Korea is an irregular holding country as of this time.”

“I have a question!”

“Are you sure it’s irregular?”

Despite the numerous screams from reporters Team Leader Kim ended his presentation without taking any questions.

He turned off the microphone in front of him then looked at me and spoke.

“We have finished our presentation. Now Siwoo you may say whatever you wish.”

“Are there any guidelines? Can we say things like ‘We will establish the Limen Church as the state religion of the Republic of Korea’ and ‘If you don’t believe in us you will definitely go to hell?’”

“…That’s a bit.”

“I’m joking. I wouldn’t do it even if you told me to.”

It’s been a pretty perfect showcase so far.

I liked Team Leader Kim’s showmanship and the attention people paid to me.

And things are going very well.

[A quest occurs!]

[Declaration]

Type: Sub – DLC

Description: A lot of people are focused on you. Maybe this is the perfect time to showcase your denomination.

Completion Conditions: Finish the press conference by mentioning <Limen Church> at least 3 times.

Reward: Free DLC trait exchange voucher

The system message also proved it.

I smiled faintly and then looked at the countless reporters and cameras staring at me.

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I’m not that nervous.

In this way I have also given speeches in front of tens of thousands of people in Eden.

And I’ve thought many times about how to talk about it on Earth.

There was no reason to be afraid of the media nor was there any intention of being afraid.

That’s why I.

“Nice to meet you. My name is Kim Si-woo and I lead the Limen sect.”

In a very soft voice he blurted out the most important words about me and my future.

2.

Since I took the mic countless questions have been pouring in.

The content of the questions that followed at the beginning was not much different from when I was first investigated by the Ability Management Department.

So I just told him what I had prepared in advance.

He came from a world called Eden was the Pope there and what kind of things he experienced.

But those questions didn’t last long.

“Due to time constraints I will take one last question.”

The moderator quickly limited the number of questions because I seemed a little tired. If the moderator hadn’t done that I probably would have spent the whole day asking questions.

And when the host came out like that the reporters were on high alert.

This is because what the reporters were mainly interested in was not stories from the past but what I would accomplish in the future.

So everyone raised their hands competitively and I gave the floor to the one who was looking at me with the most provocative eyes.

Then the reporter jumped up from his seat and grabbed the microphone the agent handed him.

“This is Jo Seong-ha a reporter for the Daehan Ilbo. From what I’ve heard so far it seems like you’ve been running a religious order in a world called Eden. So do you plan on running a religious order on Earth as well?”

I nodded in response to his words.

“I plan to do that.”

The reporter who asked me a question about my answer immediately started to rush at me as if he had bitten the bait.

“Can we interpret that to mean that an irregular officially recognized by the South Korean government will impose religious beliefs on its citizens?”

It was clearly a rude question.

Team Leader Kim who was next to me turned pale in the face.

But I rather welcomed the question.

I thought that even after five years the reporters would still be the same and that thought turned out to be correct.

And I have already anticipated such questions and prepared model answers.

“Why do you think I would impose my religious beliefs on you?”

“What you showed at the Chaos Gate in Kuro-gu seems like nothing more than a show of missionary work. Also talking about a religious sect from another world at such an official event will rather cause resentment among the people…”

“I will make one thing clear.”

I said cutting off the reporter.

“I will not force my beliefs on you.”

Although I have lived in Eden for 10 years I am ultimately a Korean who grew up in Korea.

That is why I am well aware of the negative image that religion has in South Korea.

Faith should not be forced.

Besides if you think about it the god Limen is a truly unknown god that never existed in this world. It is obvious as day that forcing people to believe in such a god will only have negative effects.

So the choice I made was.

“I will communicate with you from now on and just show you. And it is up to you to believe or not believe what I show you.”

It was about handing over the power of choice to others.

Because forced faith was meaningless.

I finished my answer by smiling even more broadly at the reporter who had asked me the question.

“It’s like trading someone’s faith for something.”

In the end the reporter had no choice but to put down the microphone with a look of dissatisfaction on his face after hearing my answer.

It seems that this is not the answer I was expecting.

As soon as the moderator confirmed that the reporter had stepped down from the floor he immediately picked up the microphone to end the press conference.

“This concludes today’s emergency press conference. The press release regarding the awakened Kim Si-woo will be distributed at 9:00 AM the next day…”

The press conference was slowly coming to a close with the moderator’s remarks.

As I was absentmindedly looking at the reporters I was able to spot one reporter who was looking at me with more earnest eyes than anyone else.

It was a feeling of earnestness that was completely different from that of other reporters. Should I say it was similar to what Min-su had shown?

So I decided to be quirky just this once.

“Moderator can I ask the reporter over there one more question?”

“Of course.”

“The reporter on the far left in the second row.”

Despite my whim the staff at the Intelligence Management Department immediately handed the microphone to the reporter I had pointed out.

The reporter who was handed the microphone immediately stood up and began asking questions with a moved expression on his face.

“Thank you so much for giving me the opportunity to ask you this question. I am Seo Tae-ho a reporter for Sejong Ilbo.”

“Nice to meet you.”

“I have a great personal interest in the Limen Church. I would like to ask you about how you plan to carry out your activities in the future.”

It was a gaze that had already fallen in love.

And since it was a very good question I answered it with a satisfied smile.

“I’m thinking of starting with MeTube. I plan to approach people naturally through a medium that is familiar to many people.”

“Do you have a separate YouTube channel? If so please let me know the channel name.”

That question made me pause for a moment.

And he spoke softly looking at the cameras placed in front.

“We haven’t opened a channel yet but I think it would be good if you guys could come up with a name for our Limen Church’s YouTube channel. Limen would be really happy if you did that.”

“Thank you for your reply! I will definitely try my best to participate!”

At this point it seems more like a confession of faith than a press conference.

anyway.

Thanks to the help of that would-be fanatic reporter who showed up at the press conference I was able to finish what I had prepared to say.

“Then I will conclude this emergency press conference.”

The historic first showcase of me and the Limen Church has come to a successful close.

And after the press conference countless message windows began to appear before my eyes.

[You have completed the sub-quest <Declaration>! This is given as a reward.]

[The number of believers in the Limen sect has exceeded 10000!]

[You have completed the main quest <Establishing a Church>.]

[The number of items available for purchase in the DLC Shop increases.]

-Notable features: <Baptism>

– Special positions worth noting: <Missionary>

[A new main quest <Cult Expansion> has been created. For more information please check the quest message window.]

Something was definitely happening.

Our Pope please stop this