NOVEL WEB [Young Eluke Pope]
-Lv.1/Star Priest
As I entered the character selection screen decorated like a tavern, my previously created priest character was sitting, legs crossed in a rather sultry manner.
I had dressed her modestly, so there were no revealing aspects, but her pose this time was quite disturbing. What on earth do the creators think a priest is?
Though I wanted to sternly criticize this, I held back. After dropping spoilers twice, I couldn’t bring myself to do it.
Furthermore, since I barely got to play the last time due to continuously pointing out inconsistencies, I felt an urgent need to proceed quickly.
However, as a pope, I couldn’t just ignore this, so I expressed my discomfort simply.
“Poor posture. Deduction.”
I thought this was just about right. It was the result of maxing out compromise with reality.
Frankly, it was barely a fraction of what I wanted to say. Yet, to the viewers, it seemed like I sounded more critical than usual.
-Spicy Mode ON
-Scary today, Teachㅋㅋㅋㅋ
-Just point it out instead
-Philseong will cry again today
-Spoiled and now nitpicking?
“Nitpicking? I’ve been holding back as much as I can.”
I rebutted a viewer’s chat and hit ‘start game.’ The loading screen with a logo resembling the sun moved past, and soon, the game’s scenery appeared on my monitor.
My avatar, ‘Young Eluke Pope,’ stood before a pure white temple.
Before starting, I moved the character around to check if I’d get motion sickness.
‘Looks fine.’
Fortunately, I didn’t feel any nausea at all. Indeed, the blessing directly bestowed by the Goddess made a difference.
[havant donated 100,000 won]
-Are you okay with motion sickness?
Just in time, a large donation came in asking about my condition. As expected, it was Hainha.
There were also chats asking if I was okay. Thinking about it, I hadn’t told the viewers that ‘Haemaki’ prevents motion sickness yet.
“Oh, Havernt….”
I almost gratefully responded casually but quickly corrected myself.
“Thank you so much for the 100,000 won, Havernt. Don’t worry, the sacred item Haemaki is preventing motion sickness.”
I spoke gently, putting on a benevolent smile. And then, reactions started popping up in disbelief.
-Is it really a personality-changing sacred item?
-What’s up with todayㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
-Look at her using honorifics because of the money
-Capitalistic Popeㅋㅋㅋ
-Wait, it was read as Havernt?
The chat was in a frenzy, but I didn’t mind.
This was the right decision. Just because I found a way to correct myself in honorifics didn’t mean I had to keep speaking casually to the viewers.
In the past, I could’ve said whatever I wanted, but now it was harder to do that.
Surely, years of being a pope had impacted my mentality more than I expected. Of course, there wasn’t a lack of thought towards reputation and capital as well.
“It’s noisy.”
I simply left that remark and lowered Haemaki again. It was time to dive into the main story.
First, I opened the quest window.
[Objective]
-Help those in need
[Content]
-Bishop Christina requests to bless the struggling inhabitants of the village with the light of the stars.
[Reward]
-Skill: Blessing of Vitality
This was a quest I had only accepted before. Since it was the early game, it looked quite easy. I figured I could just wander around and click a few times.
Even with such a simple task, I couldn’t start last time because of 3D motion sickness. There wasn’t much to say about being called the weakest.
“Let’s go.”
After checking the location of the NPCs in the quest window, I set out that way.
When I arrived and checked, it was indeed a quest that progressed with just a few clicks. The conversations exchanged were filled with useless content.
“This is a waste of time. Director Philseong.”
I didn’t talk back to Philseong but simply voiced my discontent. I couldn’t scold a figure like a father.
[koinko donated 1,000 won]
-Spoiling, pointing out inconsistencies, and complaining? You’re a nuisance, ma’am…
“Shut up.”
I silenced a viewer who was disrupting the game while continuing with the quest. Meeting villagers and doing what they asked—it was a tedious repetitive task.
Naturally, as I progressed, I gradually got bored and exchanged various conversations with the viewers. Mainly about the game itself.
As a result, my previously blank knowledge of the game gradually filled up.
[Birapbabab donated 1,000 won]
-This is normally a part you skip quickly.
“Oh, is that so?”
Solar Scepter was mainly about forming parties and tackling large and small dungeons. I was currently going through a sort of tutorial. It was said that only after finishing this would the main story truly begin.
So it made sense they found it boring.
“Still, even if it’s a tutorial, they could’ve made it fun….”
I stopped there, intentionally trailing off. There was no need for me to mention it since the viewers would naturally carry on the conversation.
And just as expected, the chat buzzed with disappointment about the tutorial.
-To be honest, it is boring.
-Tutorials in Spura are particularly uninteresting.
-Other jobs aren’t like this.
-Info: Philseong hates priests.
Looking over these comments, it seemed other jobs weren’t as boring.
Why exactly was the priest so dull? I soon found out the reason.
[“Welcome back, Young Eluke Pope. Thank you for your hard work.”]
After finishing all the quests, I returned to the temple and spoke to Bishop Christina. However, this woman’s words were rather moving.
[“How was it? Weren’t you bored helping the people? It’s always like this. Serving the divine is nothing but a journey of taking on the most mundane tasks.”]
Surprisingly, the game’s data fragment, the bishop, was speaking just like a real bishop.
[“The starlight may be weak compared to sunlight, but for someone weary in life, it can offer solace. Young Eluke Pope, strive to become a priest like the starlight.”]
With those words, Bishop Christina’s dialogue came to an end, and I gained the ability to use ‘Blessing of Vitality’ as a reward.
Another quest popped up, but I had no time to pay attention to it.
I briefly pondered the words I had just read. The more I thought about it, the deeper the story resonated with me.
Unable to contain myself, I took off Haemaki and fully enjoyed the lingering emotions.
“I must give this plus points. It’s excellent.”
An intentionally dull setup followed by teaching the mindset of a priest—this quest was intricately designed more than I expected.
“To be honest, it wasn’t fun as a game, but this time the consistency was good. If I were in their shoes, I’d educate a young priest like that, too.”
The age of the bishop was still disappointing, and serving stars instead of the sun was a bit unsettling, but aside from that, everything else wasn’t bad.
“I already like it. I’m looking forward to what’s next.”
I soaked in that sentiment without holding back on the compliments.
Then, putting Haemaki back on, the emotions that filled my heart settled, and a calm serenity washed over me. Soon, the impression I had just received faded, allowing me to think objectively again.
“But why did they dress her like this?”
I pointed to the attire with a lot of exposure kept in my inventory for the priest character. I put it back on, and indeed, it felt quite disgraceful.
“Outfit excessively emphasizing seduction. Deduction.”
I stated coldly while changing her back into modest clothing. I even intended to get rid of that horrendous ceremonial outfit, but it was an item that couldn’t be discarded.
While the dialogues and quests were well-structured, why on earth did they design the outfit like this? There must’ve been a lack of consensus between the production teams.
-Here comes the old-fashioned lady again.
-Planning to argue with Philseong today?ㅋㅋ
-Still, she gave some praise today.
I felt both disappointment and satisfaction as I approached Bishop Christina again. It was time to receive the next quest.
[“Young Eluke Pope, I have another favor to ask. Can you hear me out?”]
Since refusing would halt story progression, I accepted without hesitation.
[“Thank you. Please deliver this to the bishop in the capital.”]
Soon, Christina handed me an item. However, the name was quite familiar.
[Fragment of Solar Scepter]
It was a broken piece of ‘Solar Scepter,’ which was also the game’s title. An important item related to the main quest.
Collecting all of these was the story of this game. As I gathered them, I would encounter various major NPCs along the way.
So, by following the story, I would eventually understand what roles the acquaintances I had met beforehand in the main screen played.
‘This is exciting.’
With an eager heart, I moved the character outside of town.
That was when Hainha’s donation came flying in.
[havant donated 1,000 won]
-After this, you have to party up to progress, like a hero party of 5.
“…….”
So party play isn’t optional but mandatory. This was an unforeseen twist.
I fell silent for a moment before taking off my sunglasses. Then, awkwardly smiling, I said, “Games requiring collaboration with other users aren’t really my cup of tea…”
What I enjoyed about Apollis Tales in the past was that it was fun, but also somewhat because it was a solo game.
Getting a group together leads to so many tiring situations. As someone who had fought in a hero party, I didn’t want to do that again.
“As someone who fought as the saint of the hero party, I can tell you that there’s always one culprit who ruins the atmosphere when five people gather. I know this firsthand.”
As I expressed this almost as a monologue, the chat erupted.
-Experience taleㅋㅋㅋ
-You really look like you’re in reality right now.
-So who was the trash?
Suddenly, I felt a headache coming on. I pressed my temples with my hand and forced a smile.
“First off, ‘The Sage’ was not it. That kid always listened to me. ‘The Great Warrior’ wasn’t either. He was stoic but not uncooperative.”
As I continued speaking, all the past incidents flashed through my mind. Everything was arduous just for me.
“And ‘The Guardian’ is also excluded. That person actually led our party. Now, we have two left. Who do you suppose they are?”
By the time I got to that point, the viewers had already figured it all out, as the name of the culprit had been brought up several times before I even spoke.
“I won’t disclose who that person is right here. We have to respect privacy, don’t we?”
Just as I pretended to keep it a secret after saying almost everything, the door suddenly burst open, and Liam strode into the room. He had an unusually nervous expression, unlike his usual self.
“What’s going on?”
The ‘atmosphere-ruining culprit’ approached me, looking down. He then revealed his repentance in an extreme way.
With his head bowed to the ground and hands clasped behind his back. The so-called ‘Wonsan Bombing.’
“Sorry.”
“…….”
This wasn’t the kind of reaction I was trying to provoke. But even while thinking that, I put on Haemaki.
And then softly said, “Lift your butt a bit higher. You want to die?”
Considering the hardships I had endured in the past, this was nothing.