Chapter 80
Unlike last time, when I had to bring them back in the middle of such an urgent situation, even I could see that something about this scene looked strange.
How was I supposed to know?
That Pride would suddenly brainwash everyone and bring them all to me.
[The Decisive Reason the Germ Man Class Is the Messiah.jpg]
Similar posts flooded not only Korean forums but famous online communities around the world in an instant.
The content was quite convincing...
Posts matching ‘that person’ with my abilities.
And so, the rumor that my class was the Messiah spread like wildfire around the world.
─So Germ Man is that person?
└LOL, it’s hilarious when you write it so seriously.
└But it is a little suspicious, LOL. He’s way too strong.
─So the dungeon virus brainwashed people on its own, (excerpt omitted), and they prostrated themselves before Germ Man?
└Did you guys see the video? LOL. The word ‘Messiah’ just comes naturally.
└Everyone was praying... Legendary LOL.
Well, not all the reactions were positive.
The most ridiculous reaction was...
─Isn’t Germ Man the one who brainwashed everyone? That’s his ability, right?
└They say this was Germ Man’s first time in the UK. So this guy came to the UK for the first time, already knew the names of every person who’d recovered from the infection all across Britain, and had the power to brainwash them all and make them do whatever he wanted? Then... why would he even be a Hunter?
└LOL, getting beaten over the head with facts.
└They’ve got a point, LOL. If my ability were a hypnosis app, could I resist using it?
─What if the virus belongs to Germ Man?
└Didn’t the virus first spread more than twenty years ago? So... how old would Germ Man have been?
└To be precise, it was twenty-three years ago. Germ Man probably hadn’t even started elementary school yet.
└LOL. If he infected people all the way over in London before starting elementary school, he wouldn’t be the Messiah—he’d be a god.
└Long live God Germ! Kkyu-kyu!
└Kkyu-kyu!
Hmm... even I thought the stories were ridiculous from beginning to end...
Was there really anyone stupid enough to believe them?
Come on, no way.
**
What people didn’t know was that Kaiser had secured more control over his company than ever before.
After negotiating with the Shiite Hashashin, he had the Wall Street opposition within his company eliminated under the guise of a terrorist attack, while also winning over the Saudi military and toppling the Saudi royal family.
In the process, he enlisted the United States to support the military regime in Saudi Arabia.
The U.S. government had plenty of grievances against the Saudi royal family, too.
It was commonly believed that the U.S. government had close ties with Saudi Arabia, but that was merely a temporary cooperative relationship in international diplomacy.
In reality, even before the Awakened Age began, Saudi Arabia had thrown a wrench in the works for the United States on several occasions by wielding its oil as a weapon.
The value of oil remained high for some time even after the Awakened Age began, and Saudi Arabia used that leverage to slip in and out of the international order led by the United States.
A prime example was its refusal to join the WDDO.
Only recently, with the value of oil dropping considerably, had it once again come under pressure to join. But the Saudi royal family had resisted so stubbornly that it had driven the U.S. government to fury, and the government had seized its chance to establish a military regime.
The result was...
Saudi Arabia joined the WDDO.
Full dungeon access. (Except for the Mecca region, for religious reasons.)
It abandoned Islamic fundamentalism and shifted toward secularism.
And with that shift toward secularism, naturally...
Kaiser Corporation’s vast media operations were the first to move in.
Ryan Spencer, North America’s number-one-ranked Hunter, who had suffered a setback in Japan, entered Saudi Arabia and began his media career there by easily clearing the country’s highest-grade dungeon.
American-style media had entered Saudi Arabia, the most austere country in the Middle East. Naturally, its impact was enormous.
“The stock price, which dipped slightly after the Wall Street terrorist attack, has multiplied several times over. It’s not only surpassed its previous high—it’s reached an all-time record.”
“Is that so?”
Even under the circumstances, Kaiser seemed rather indifferent.
There was no need to make a fuss over something that had been expected all along.
To exaggerate a little, he’d predicted this outcome as soon as he sent PHMC to the Middle East.
What concerned him most right now wasn’t Kaiser Corporation. It was himself.
“By the way, have you spoken with SG Distillery again?”
“Yes. They’re adamant.”
Sophia shook her head firmly.
“Their policy is that their top-tier Cheonsang line will only be sold in Korea. On top of that, there’s a limit on the number of bottles you can buy, and they’ll only sell it for on-site consumption.”
“... Sigh. So, is it selling?”
“I hear all the famous Hunters go to Korea and drink it as part of their itinerary.”
Still, he couldn’t just swallow his pride and go to Korea to drown himself in liquor.
For now, he could drink it in the privacy of his own home, so nobody knew whether he was drinking it or simply storing it away...
‘I’ve only got half of it left now, huh.’
Kaiser had downed more than five hundred bottles in just three months—a truly astonishing amount.
That came to more than five bottles of 40-percent liquor a day.
Naturally, he hadn’t been drinking it in the ordinary way.
If he had, even he wouldn’t still be alive now.
Through their research, the alchemists had found the limit to how much alcohol they could extract while keeping the ‘Chemical Omega’ intact. That let him drink it at around ten percent alcohol.
At that strength, his consecration as a Crusader could handle it.
“You may go. I’d like to rest for a while.”
“Yes, Grandfather.”
After Sophia left, Kaiser was alone with his thoughts, which continued to churn.
He was still trying to figure out how to obtain more of the ‘Chemical Omega’ that could no longer be acquired.
At that very moment...
His granddaughter, who had just gone outside, rushed back in.
“G-Grandfather!”
Kaiser let out a small sigh, wondering if he’d spoiled her so much that he’d neglected to teach her proper manners.
“What is it?”
“Please turn on the TV! The BBC!”
Without waiting for Kaiser’s permission, Sophia hurriedly turned on the television and switched to the BBC.
There, on screen... Kim Segyun was saving people.
Everyone waited in an orderly line, then came forward and knelt down.
Kim Segyun gently laid a hand on their heads and murmured something. The people burst into joyful cheers.
‘... What am I looking at?’
Just as the bewildered Kaiser was about to ask for an explanation...
A small shout was caught by the broadcast microphone.
“It’s the Messiah! He is the Messiah! Behold this man (Ecce Homo)! Behold this man!”
The moment Kaiser heard those words...
His body shuddered as if he’d been struck by lightning.
‘So that was it!’
Chemical Omega.
A substance that was, quite literally, divine.
To create something like that...
‘... You really would have to be something like the Messiah.’
A Messiah class?
It might sound insane, but there was no limit to Awakening.
He himself was a Crusader who gained power in exchange for serving a god. Why couldn’t there be someone who was the very agent of a god?
“Good heavens... I made a terrible mistake.”
It was a night when Kaiser’s deep, regretful sigh grew as profound as the misunderstanding.
**
Idiots weren’t confined to the internet.
Some members of London’s opposition kept trying to link me to the dungeon virus, but...
“... So this first spread when I was about six or seven.”
One sentence sank their argument.
It really was ridiculous nonsense.
At the same time, the ‘Messiah’ class theory kept gaining traction.
“Let me make one thing clear: my class is definitely not the ‘Messiah.’ I’d also like to state that it isn’t a religious class of any kind.”
This was far too weighty a title for me to borrow and use for my own benefit.
Well, even if I denied it, the problem was that the people who’d had ‘religious experiences’ kept making statements like these...
─You wouldn’t understand if you hadn’t experienced it. His greatness lies in driving out the demon that controlled you like a puppet.
─He denied it? So what? The Messiah in my heart is him now.
And it wasn’t just ordinary Hunters...
─I don’t care if the Vatican excommunicates me for blasphemy! No one can break my faith!
─If he isn’t God, then who is? Look, my faith stat went up.
Even Vatican-affiliated healers were saying things like that. That was the problem.
... That was the really troublesome part.
The accepted wisdom was that faith didn’t necessarily come from a specific, established god. It rose when you believed fervently in something.
But people who didn’t know any better really believed this stuff...
In fact, many cults sprang up around things like this during the early days of the Awakened Age.
Now that people understood what was real and what wasn’t, there were far fewer of them. But there were still plenty of religious leaders who deceived and misled people.
“Phew. Anyway, those useless rumors really ate up my time.”
Originally, I’d planned to treat the people and head straight into the Gate...
But I’d lost time getting dragged around from place to place.
Still, at last...
I was standing before this Gate.
“Seriously, it was ridiculously hard just to get here.”
Of all the Gates I’d attempted that had been deemed impossible to clear, this might have been the toughest.
Well, it made sense, considering it was one of the world’s three forbidden zones...
Fortunately, no one was trying to stop me anymore.
If anything, as I prepared to enter the Gate to eradicate the infection completely...
“Long live Kim Segyun!”
“Long live the Messiah!”
“Wait, is he actually the Messiah?”
“Shh!”
... Countless people were cheering me on.
Good grief, my head.
With their cheers ringing in my ears...
I finally reached the goal of my trip to the UK.
[You have entered Gate Level 37, ‘City of Plague.’]
The streets of London were nowhere to be seen.
Before me lay nothing but a completely ruined city and people suffering from disease.
People?
Oh, right. This was one of those Gates with humanoid NPCs.
Well, I’d seen elves, dwarves, and even dragons. It wasn’t as if humans couldn’t show up.
At the same time, a message appeared before my eyes.
[To clear the Gate, treat all the patients inside!]
I already knew that much.
That was why countless healer parties had tried to clear this Gate, only to catch the disease themselves and suffer heavy losses.
Well, for me, it was easier than flipping my hand over.
I was just about to order Pride to clear it with a simple ‘click’ when...
[Your class is suitable for undertaking a sudden mission.]
[Sudden Mission! Use only the entity Pride to defend against the approaching threat of the Holy Knight Order as you cleanse the city.]
[Mission Success: Obtain the class-exclusive skillbook set, ‘Constellation Avicenna’s Research Journal I.’]
[Mission Failure: ‘Constellation Avicenna’s Research Journal I’ will be lost.]
... They’re practically cornering me, aren’t they?
A class-exclusive skillbook I could hardly ever hope to get.
No, I’d never managed to get one before.
The only skills I had were a few general skills and some item skills.
My class skills were still just Undead Rise and Dismiss Undead, the first ones I’d acquired. Neither had gotten any stronger.
If they were offering me that...
I had no choice but to do it.
“I accept.”
Nothing ventured, nothing gained.
And the moment I accepted the mission...
A cavalry force appeared over the distant mountain range.
The problem was that the cavalry...
“Does it even end?”
... It was an enormous force that seemed to stretch on without end.
The army galloped toward me, closing the distance in no time, and shouted in unison.
─Purification! Purification!
─Martyrdom! Martyrdom!
Their fanatical cries were enough to make my skin crawl, and I instinctively tightened my grip on my staff.
How on earth was I supposed to face that with Pride alone?
Even with Number One, it wouldn’t be easy.
Pride’s abilities were impressive, of course. The problem was that I hadn’t figured out how to use them yet.
Its freedom to differentiate into every possible type also meant that, unless I knew how to use it properly, I couldn’t bring out its full potential.
As I stood there at a loss...
“Everyone... take up your swords... Rather than let those fanatics exterminate us like this... let’s die fighting!”
A middle-aged man in finery, barely alive, managed to stand up, leaning heavily on his sword.
Don’t tell me this is...
I thought this was a single-action game.
Was it a strategy sim?