NOVEL WEB Chapter 1
[Synchronization Complete]
A translucent blue message box appeared in front of my eyes. It was the so-called 'System', that kind of existence.
[Welcome to the hidden route of 'How to Save Our World'.]
"Damn it," I cursed.
[Main Quest <Conversion>]
Content: As the first believer and leader of the Kyros Faith, help the God Kyros to drive away the Evil God Diego.
Goal: Convert more than 80% of the population on the Celeste continent to become a believer of the God Kyros within 3 years (currently 0%).
Success: ???
Failure: Death (Soul Annihilation), World Destruction.
[This quest is automatically accepted as the Main Quest of the Hidden Route.]
I couldn't help but swear.
It was time to admit it.
That I had entered the game.
A few hours ago.
I finally saw the ending of <How to Save Our World>, a game I had been playing for a whole month and also known as 'HSAW'.
HSAW was a game that I bought for 30,000 won, I was lured by its flashy illustrations.
30,000 won might not be considered a lot of money for others.
But it was the money that I gained by working hard. Smiling, chatting, and catering to the needs of annoying customers at my part-time job for hours.
And I had spent that money on this...
"This is a game?"
A crappy game.
HSAW was a choice-based RPG game with a medieval fantasy world setting, where the protagonist was literally a loser.
If I made a wrong choice in the story even once, the protagonist would die or the world would end in a bad ending.
And once I died, I had to start over from the prologue.
Not to mention, unlike the flashy illustrations, the in-game characters were 2D.
"I guess they spent all the budget on the illustrations."
It was obvious without saying.
The game review window was full of harsh criticisms, and there were countless refund requests. Even if I ignored all the other flaws, the difficulty itself was hellish.
If I had given up on the game like other players, my future wouldn't have turned out like this.
But because of my personality that had to finish what I started, I saw dozens of bad endings and finally reached the true ending.
The loser protagonist finally saved the world and let peace set in.
"Ha, seriously. It was fun while it lasted, but let's never see each other again."
With the intention of deleting the game right away and never looking at it again, I smiled brightly and tried to press the game's exit button.
But at that moment, a message appeared on the screen.
[Congratulations! You are the first to clear the true ending.]
Because the game was too hard, I've heard that there weren't many users who tried to reach the true ending.
But I never expected to be the first one to clear it. I was happy to have the title of 'first', and smiled when the next message followed.
[Do you want to proceed with the Hidden Route?]
[Yes/No]
[Warning! The Hidden Route has the same story as the original game, but the difficulty is higher!]
...Hidden Route?
I had never heard of a hidden route in this game. It must be something that only appears after seeing the true ending, so this must be another first for me. First clear, followed by the first Hidden Route.
The warning message below the choice bothered me a bit. But I didn't have much to think about.
"I've done this so many times. How hard can it be?"
My competitive spirit rose and I pressed the 'Yes' button right away.
Any Korean probably would have made the same choice as me. But I, Jeong Ji-hyun, would soon regret this choice.
Because right after pressing the button, my vision turned blurry and a splitting headache hit me simultaneously. Soon after, I lost consciousness.
That was what happened a few hours ago.
I woke up in a world with an unfamiliar ceiling, and in front of me was a system message.
[Main Quest <Conversion>]
Content: As the first believer and leader of the Kyros Faith, help the God Kyros to drive away the Evil God Diego.
Goal: Convert more than 80% of the population on the Celeste continent to become a believer of the God Kyros within 3 years (currently 0%).
Success: ???
Failure: Death (Soul Annihilation), World Destruction.
[This quest is automatically accepted as the Main Quest of the Hidden Route.]
'Why did it have to be HSAW?'
But, that wasn't all.
"Are you kidding me right now?"
The main quest that appeared at the same time was unbelievable.
The main content of HSAW that I played was simple. It was to make the male protagonist 'Terdius Austin' save the world.
The one who helped Terdius was none other than the God Kyros. The God of Kyros Faith, which most of the Celeste continent, the main setting of HSAW, believed in!
But why, why are there no believers of Kairos Faith right now? And, why is my given quest conversion?
First, I decided to calm down and calmly racked my brain.
So, to summarize, the god that most of the continent believes in right now is probably Diego, the Evil God in the original work.
In conclusion, it's not only about pushing Diego away but also about having 0% of Kyros' believers.
This means...
You want me to be a cult leader.
And I didn't even have the right to refuse.
'No, this is really too much!'
As if it wasn't enough to be dropped into this world out of nowhere, you want me to be a cult leader?
And when I thought about the 'warning message' of the hidden route, I felt angry.
'The story is the same!'
In the original work, the ratio of Kyros Faith and Diego Faith was 5:5, half and half.
But this world was not 5:5, but more like 0:10.
"Damn system..!"
This is a different story!
I expressed my anger towards the system in my mind. After a few minutes, I finally accepted reality.
Maybe it was because I had read a lot of web novels and webtoons in my previous life. I was able to adapt faster than I thought.
"Hoo, hoo."
I took a deep breath and thought calmly.
It was a crazy situation, but I had no choice. I didn't have the right to refuse in the first place, and it was a matter of soul annihilation. And maybe, if I finish this, I might be able to leave this world.
Of course, that doesn't mean I want to go back to where I came from.
The life of 'Jeong Ji-hyun' who had no friends, no family, and my specs wasn't that good either.
A job seeker who failed to get a job repeatedly with average education and grades. That was my life.
'Well, what's the point of that now?'
I had to complete the main quest to survive. Fortunately, I still had 3 years. Depending on how you look at it, it might be a short or a long time.
"I'll survive somehow, I will."
Even if it was by doing a cult route.
But why is there 'World Destruction' in the failure penalty?
'Doesn't that mean I'll die anyway if the world is destroyed?'
I closed my mouth tightly as I thought so.
'This is too much,' I sighed heavily and slumped on the bed.
There was a stumbling block to survival.
My eyes went to the mirror near the bed and my changed appearance came into view.
First of all, my race was different from my previous life.
Pale skin with clear veins, golden hair, blue eyes, slightly upturned eyes, and a thin body.
'A sickly pretty boy... no, a sickly pretty young man.'
The only part that was similar to me was the tear mole under my left eye.
'No, wait. The age is the same too. Twenty-five.'
The original name of this body was Revelof Holden.
He suffered from a terminal illness. It was known as 'Malone's disease', a disease that only existed in this world.
Well, that's not important right now.
'If you're going to possess someone, why not possess the male lead or someone close to him?'
Anyway, I knew well about Revelof Holden.
He briefly appeared as an extra at the beginning of the game and was someone the players passed through at least once in any ending.
'There's also the fact that Revelof Holden's memories somehow flowed into me.'
Anyway, the original work started with the male protagonist Terdius visiting the territory of Revelof's family, the Holden earldom.
There was a brief appearance of the Holden earldom's situation in the original work.
「When Terdius Austin entered the Holden earldom as the start of his mission to convert the Herpheon Empire, where the majority of the people worshiped the Evil god Diego. The Holden earldom was facing its second disaster. The first disaster was two weeks ago when the second son of the Holden family committed suicide. And the second disaster was...」
That's right. I was that second son who committed suicide here.
But the flow was different from the original work.
In the original work, this body should have died a few hours ago, but it changed when I came in.
'But, the story should be the same.'
Then the start of the original work would be in two weeks.
Actually, I didn't need to know the flow of the original work right now.
'Don't I just have to convert people?' That was all that the main quest wanted.
It was then.
[Tutorial Quest Occurred!]
[Tutorial Quest <Religion Creation>]
Content: Create a religion for the God Kyros.
Goal: Consult with Kyros and name your religion.
Success: ???
Failure: -
[This quest is automatically accepted as a tutorial quest of the hidden route.]
I snapped out of my thoughts after the appearance of a new quest. It was fortunate that this quest had no failure penalty. It must be because it was a tutorial quest.
But there was something that bothered me in the quest content.
'Consult with Kyros?'
No matter how I thought about it, this was impossible. It didn't make sense. Even if this world was inside a game, Kyros was a god.
How can a mere human like me consult with a god?
'Maybe I have to consult with him through prayer or something.'
Ugh, I don't want to do that.
Squeak—
Suddenly, a creepy ringing sound came to my ears.
-Greetings, my child.
As soon as the ringing stopped, a low male voice followed. But unlike normal voices, it didn't sound through my ears, but through my head.
'Could it be, Kyros?'
-Hehe, yes. I am your god, Kyros.
No, is this real? Is this possible?
I was so surprised that I just blinked. In all the web novels, webtoons, games, etc. that I had encountered, direct communication with a god was impossible.
There was a significant gap between gods and humans.
And yet, I heard Kyros' voice directly.
Not only that, it was a two-way communication!
'How is this possible?'
-I am weak right now.
Suddenly, Kyros' voice became smaller. And then I understood.
'Oh, I see.'
Just as I knew, 'gods' were beings that became stronger as their myths were spread and their believers increased.
But right now, Kyros has only one believer.
-My child, you are my only believer and the envoy who will work for me.
'Yes, I know that. But can you stop calling me child?'
-Why? Aren't you a child? Compared to me, you are like a newborn baby.
'If we go by age, maybe. But if we go by power, aren't you also a baby among gods?'
I said calmly, and then I heard Kyros sobbing.
What? Why is he crying?