Somebody Stop the Pope

Chapter 4

Earth had certainly taken a strange turn, but it was still the return I had so longed for, and the reunion I had desperately wanted.

After roughly setting a direction for what to do next, I spent time with my family without thinking about anything else.

I woke up from a nap and comforted Shiyeon, who was on the verge of tears again, and called my grandmother to let her know her grandson had returned.

Speaking of my grandmother, her reaction to the events of yesterday was the most surprising to me.

“You worthless boy. If you returned, you should’ve contacted grandma immediately.”

She spoke as if I had merely been away on a short trip rather than being seemingly lost forever.

This puzzled me so much that I asked Inwook about it. According to him, grandmother often dreamed of me.

In her dreams, she had seen me walking silently toward an endless horizon, and sometimes she dreamed of me fighting winged monsters.

So, she believed I would eventually return alive.

If it had been someone else, they might have dismissed it as just a dream, but my grandmother has quite a sensitivity to these sorts of things.

Should I call it a so-called “second sight”?

I should ask Reimen about it when I get in touch. Grandma’s dreams were all too similar to what I experienced in Eden.

Anyway.

Grandmother said it was only natural that a boy who left would return, and she would come back home after finishing her ongoing travels.

Afterward, I spent the evening eating chicken with Shiyeon and Inwook, ending my first day back home very happily.

And now, the following morning.

“Oppa! Let’s order tteokbokki later today, okay?”

“Promise.”

“Great! I know a place that makes excellent tteokbokki, so let’s eat out later? I’m off now!”

“Take care.”

I smiled as I watched Shiyeon walk off to school.

She was definitely better than yesterday when she had been on the verge of tears all day.

My adorable baby sibling.

I had initially planned to take her to school today, but she insisted on going alone.

Said she was more than capable of getting to school by herself. So, I promised to buy her something delicious after she returned from her academy later.

Of course, with Inwook’s money.

“Isn’t it today you start the training?”

Inwook asked, standing next to me, watching Shiyeon head to school.

“That’s what they say. They’re picking me up at 10.”

“If you’re serious about the plan you mentioned yesterday… you’ll probably need to get your ranking reassessed. But hyung, does the system really exist?”

“It really does exist.”

I felt so wronged.

That’s what I said while covertly bringing up the interface of the system I had been with for ten years in front of me.

『Kim Si-Woo』

●Affiliated Religion: Reimen Church

●Titles: Black Pope and 32 others

-Details of Abilities-

*Currently synchronizing

*Data from 〈Dimension: Eden〉 is in the first synchronization phase. Estimated time of completion: Unknown.

*Synchronization time can be shortened by unexpected variables.

Normally, my skills and various attributes should be displayed, but for some reason, they’re not showing up properly yet.

However, the fact that the message window was appearing in front of my eyes indicated that my system was running.

I couldn’t exactly show this to Inwook.

Did I look like I felt wronged?

Watching me, Inwook scratched his head awkwardly and continued speaking.

“To broadcast player-exclusive content, you need national certification. It’s not that I don’t believe you, but the mana detector they used didn’t detect any mana from you, remember?”

“Is mana that important?”

“Of course, it is. There are two things that make a player a player: mana and the system. Most returnees are said to be the same.”

“Who said that?”

“I heard it from players I’m close with. I’m quite connected in that field. You know that person you saw in the video yesterday? I’m pretty close to him. You might not be familiar, but he’s in the top 100 players in South Korea and is reaching for S-rank; he’s an A-rank hunter.”

He must have been talking about the protagonist of the video Inwook was editing yesterday.

The guy explaining how to take down monsters like orcs on the screen.

I listened to Inwook’s words and suddenly said, “He looked like a novice…..”

“What?”

“Ah, I misspoke.”

I inadvertently spoke my true thoughts.

Honestly, from what I saw, he was nothing special. His swordsmanship seemed worse than the lowest-ranking holy knights in my church.

But seeing Inwook’s expression quickly harden, I realized they must actually be pretty close.

In such cases, the best solution is to quickly change the topic.

“He seemed to have a lot of subscribers yesterday. When you have time, could you introduce me?”

“Were you not joking yesterday?”

“Exactly 89 days left.”

“Of what?”

“Starting life on Earth from zero.”

The conversation I had with Inwook last night was about proselytization.

Securing followers on Earth has to be different than in Eden.

Besides, I don’t know the extent to which the system’s concept of 〈adherents〉 goes.

But I can be sure of one thing.

To expand the faith, we need to become well-known first.

Either the religion itself becomes famous, or someone belonging to that religion becomes famous.

In Eden, the Reimen Church became known through the latter.

See, by fronting Reimen’s name and slaying demons and monstrous beasts indiscriminately, the influence grew naturally.

And I didn’t think this would be too different on Earth.

Moreover, unlike in Eden, where the only advantage for expanding influence was through missionaries, Earth has a variety of mass media.

Broadcasts, newspapers, etc.

Amid all the mass media, I was interested in.

“Trust me and introduce me. Tell them it’s not like they’re losing anything.”

“… You’re really doing MeTube?”

“Hey. It’s not just about doing MeTube; it’s about conducting online worship through MeTube.”

MeTube.

As it happened, Inwook worked as a MeTube editor. He was even recognized for his abilities.

Given the easy path, why make things complicated by taking the long way around?

I smiled slyly at Inwook, and he sighed, looking at me.

Then, nodding slightly, he said.

“… First, let’s make sure you get certified as a player. I’m not sure about the returnee ranking, but I know that your current ranking might not allow you to get certified….”

“Can I get reassessed once I’m re-ranked?”

“How?”

“How else?”

Just get reassessed in a grand manner.

Right?

***

“Currently, this is an operation area; trainees, please wait in your current position.”

“Since there’s still time before the person in charge arrives, feel free to introduce yourselves among the trainees. Consider each other as companions for the next week.”

I nodded indifferently at the Ability Management Bureau employees briefing us up front.

This place, to where the Ability Management Bureau employee brought me promptly at 10 a.m., was quite different from what I expected.

When I heard it was a “returnee adaptation program,”

I honestly thought we’d get boring training in a school-like setting.

But what greeted me was Yeouido Hangang Park, with wyverns flying around.

It was the very place I had encountered upon crossing over from Eden just yesterday.

Of course, the situation did not appear as chaotic as it did yesterday.

Soldiers in uniforms were bustling about, and I could see people carrying weapons like swords and spears.

While the scene still felt alien to me, it at least seemed controlled, unlike yesterday.

Judging by how calm and organized the people appeared to be, it was clear they had gotten used to such situations.

A world where wyverns appear right in the middle of Seoul…

What a bizarre reality.

“Ahem. Nice to meet you.”

As I was silently observing people, a man hesitantly approached and spoke to me.

Turning at his voice, I saw before me a swordsman who looked like he had stepped out of a martial arts drama.

He seemed like an extra you’d see, a real martial artist himself.

“Have you also returned from another world? It’s truly a pleasure to meet you. Allow me to introduce myself. I am Oh Hyuntaek, a direct disciple of the Namgung family. I look forward to working with you for the next week.”

Suppressing my headache with my fingers, I forced a smile.

Right, not every returnee has to be from a fantasy world, right?

In a world that borrows from fantasy settings, there could be martial arts settings too, why not?

Earth is already quite out of its mind.

Adding another element won’t return it to normalcy. Let’s just accept reality as it is.

“Pleased to meet you, I am Kim Si-Woo.”

“May I call you Hero Kim?”

“As you please.”

“Thank you, hero Kim!”

He said as he assumed a fist-together gesture, bowing once more.

I was about to lose it.

How am I supposed to respond to this?

“Having spent 20 years in that other world, adapting to Earth is no easy task. The world I lived in was…”

“Murim?”

“Oh, you got it right. Are you familiar with murim? Haha! It was a world known as Central Plains…”

He droned on for a good while after that.

Talking about his reputation in the murim and how he was a recognized hero.

Incidentally, he was also classified as a regular tier. He said this was because his internal energy was completely erased during dimension travel.

After finishing his story, Oh Hyuntaek patted his chest and said to me,

“Haha! But internal energy isn’t everything to a martial artist. Don’t worry. Despite having lost all my internal energy, I’ve robustly honed my physical skills. I can easily cut down any monsters appearing on Earth.”

“I see.”

“But may I ask what you were doing before your return, hero Kim?”

“Oh, me? I was a pope.”

Giving a rather dismissive answer, I once again glanced around.

Including Oh Hyuntaek and me, there were a total of five people who seemed to be returnees.

They probably deliberately gathered returnees who lost their powers, evidently ensuring no threat appeared among us.

Certainly, the Ability Management Bureau seemed self-assured about their mana detectors.

Everyone else apart from me seemed to have been filtered out effectively.

“Alright, everyone, please pay attention.”

Meanwhile, Dongsik, the Ability Management Bureau officer who had interrogated me the previous day, appeared before us.

Gathering us quickly, he began speaking with a subtle smile.

“I’m Dongsik from the Ability Management Bureau, and I’ll be in charge of your adaptation program for the following week. Originally, the training would’ve proceeded at the Ability Management Bureau building, but a rare opportunity has come up.”

With that, Dongsik pointed a finger toward the Han River.

A translucent barrier shimmered with a violet hue, and in the sky, the black hole I had seen yesterday still lurked.

However, compared to yesterday, the hole seemed smaller.

“What you are witnessing is a phenomenon called 〈Chaos Gate〉. It primarily spawns monsters classified as ‘Magical Beasts,’ and the gates are categorized as super-large, large, medium, and small based on size. The C-42 Gate you are observing is classified as a medium gate, and it seems to be in a lull…”

While the returnees were quietly absorbing Dongsik’s gentle explanation, suddenly,

Woooom!

“… Or maybe not?”

Just as Dongsik sported a bewildered expression, new message windows began to appear before my eyes.

『〈Dimension: Earth〉 seeks to accurately gauge the power you possess.』
『Emergency Quest Generated!』
『Assessment』

Type: Emergency

Description: The system has determined that it lacks sufficient criteria to quantify your power. As a result, the system will gather data based on causality. Stop the Chaos Gate from going berserk.

Completion Condition: Seal the Chaos Gate in front of you.

Reward: ???

Then, after a moment.

Kwuoooaaahhh!

Screech!

The sky, which had been quiet, erupted with the screeches of wyverns.

Eeennng.

With the blaring sound of sirens, military personnel and other combat forces rapidly began forming ranks.

“Establish an anti-air network!”

“Players capable of long-range attacks, prioritize intercepting the wyverns trying to escape the barrier!”

A highly chaotic scenario.

Screech!

Despite a swift anti-air defense formation, a wyvern managed to breach it and charged straight towards us without a hint of hesitation.

Seeing this, Dongsik turned and shouted at us.

“Run awa….”

Without hesitating, I blocked Dongsik’s path and asked him.

“Dongsik, can I ask you one thing?”

“In this situation?”

“Do you know how I can request to have my rank reclassified? I think there’s been a mistake.”

“Why ask now…”

As Dongsik displayed a dumbfounded look, the wyvern was rapidly approaching with its jaws wide open. I simply swung my right fist casually at the wyvern’s head.

Then,

Screech—!

Baaam!

With the wyvern’s death cry, its head was buried into the asphalt, its massive body going limp simultaneously.

“Hmm.”

Perched on the unmoving wyvern’s neck, I looked at Dongsik and said,

“So, I want to get a reclassification, as I think my rank was assessed wrongly.”

“… Reclassifications are… reserved for… rare, special cases….”

“Excellent.”

“… Pardon?”

A special case indeed.

Well, it’s not that difficult.

Quietly standing up, I spoke calmly,

“I’ll show you aplenty, so judge for yourself whether it’s a special case or not.”

TL’s Corner:
There are quite a few changes from the novel to the manhwa. I think they condensed 5 novel chapters into 1 manhwa chapter.