Rise of the OtherGod Apostle: Not a Cult Leader, but a Serf?!

#094Reader Mode

T/N: Please support the author on RIDI! I need a manhwa!

#094

…So, are you saying that if I keep landing myself in these perilous situations, you won’t even pretend to hear me out the next time I claim I’ve got it under control?

I guess that’s fair.

From Athanas’ perspective, he’d already warned me. But I had insisted, “Look, I can’t give you the details, but trust me, I’ve got this. Don’t worry about it!” He let me charge into danger, only to find me the following day, sheepishly admitting, “Okay, so that didn’t quite go as planned.”

I shouldn’t have downplayed the danger of the situation before. That was my mistake.

Athanas must think I’m a complete moron who can’t even properly assess risk. Especially considering how he’s really driving this point home, making me promise and all.

First, report the mistakes I made without making excuses. Promise not to repeat those mistakes. And if I screw up again, he won’t entertain my suggestions anymore…

Basically, he’s telling me to do everything by the book, follow protocol to the letter. It’s efficient and rational, I’ll give him that.

“I understand. Thanks for giving me a chance to make things right. From now on, I’ll do my best not to lose your trust.”

“..….”

Even though I gave him the response he wanted, Athanas’ expression was still hard to read.

What more does this guy want from me?

Talk about picky.

He seems like the type who’s a real pain in the ass to raise favorability with.

⋆⁺₊⋆ ☾⋆⁺₊⋆

I feel like we’re using Valentine’s prayer room as our own personal nap spot lately.

This time, I managed to wake up without missing lunch. Although, I did have a slightly embarrassing moment when I tried to wake Athanas…

…That bastard and his terrible sleeping habits.

But thankfully, at least it’s not the same habit he had back in his heretic-slaying days. If Athanas still had that reflex of grabbing his weapon as soon as he opened his eyes and aiming it at whoever was nearby, I would’ve been too terrified to even consider waking him.

Honestly, I was scared shitless earlier when I thought he was about to strangle me.

Athanas woke up looking all confused when I suddenly begged him to spare my life after he grabbed me. He asked me with this dead serious face if being strangled was really the first thing that came to mind when someone hugged me…

…In Heretic Slayer, if you equip Athanas with a bare-handed weapon, his sneak attack animation is literally a chokehold.

Even when he’s asleep, the Athanas in Heretic Slayer can grab and strangle the enemy in front of him with a single button press, killing them without making a sound.

Obviously, I couldn’t explain that to him, so I just made up some excuse about being startled because I wasn’t used to that kind of physical contact.

His reaction to that was pretty hard to read, too.

Anyway, after lunch, it was time for me to head back to the orphanage for more volunteer work. Gotta keep up the whole double agent act and pretend to still be searching for Adelaide…

I might as well see if I can impress these kids and earn some favor points while I’m at it.

When I favorably impress young children, will I get a notification about my “Rank” going up? Or will it just say they were deeply moved again?

What’s the criteria for achievements that increase my rank, anyway? How much favor do I need to accumulate before I unlock a new skill?

There’s so much I want to know.

…It would be nice if this damn system gave me some more detailed info.

The most important thing in any experiment is getting accurate measurements, right? But the system keeps giving me these vague, ambiguous values.

Rank has increased ‘very slightly’.

What the hell is that supposed to mean?

Just tell me precisely that it increased by 0.000003 or something. That way, I should be able to figure out what happens when a certain amount of favor builds up and my rank hits a new threshold.

Above all else, it pisses me off the most that there’s no system log to read through.

Isn’t being able to view past logs, like, the most basic feature in video games?

I was genuinely shocked to find out that wasn’t an option.

If it’s gonna be like this, I feel like I’m going to get all mixed up later on about who’s in what state when the number of favorably impressed targets starts to grow…

At the very least, throw up some kind of indicator on the people I’ve impressed.

It would be super handy to see their name above their head and their status next to it.

There’s no visual effect when I use the skill, either…

If I ask someone I think I’ve favorably impressed to hear me out for a sec, but the skill doesn’t activate, wouldn’t that be a total shitshow?

Of course, in a situation like this where I can count the number of favorably impressed targets on one hand, it’s not really something to stress over.

Anyway, I’m not planning on using my skill left and right recklessly.

I don’t plan on raising my favorability with others too much, either.

Because apparently, the stars will take notice if my rank gets too high.

If a lowly goblin bastard starts glowing in the dark, it’ll just get killed off faster, right?

In nature, the privilege of having flashy colors belongs to the strong.

The weak ones have to live like they’re not even there, blending in with dull colors.

“Fabio!”

The moment I stepped into view, a little boy who had been peeking out from behind the fence came bounding over, wrapping me in an enthusiastic hug. His eyes sparkled with pride as he eagerly shared the news of acing his morning spelling test.

I praised him for his stellar performance, but couldn’t help noticing the curly-haired kid sulking in the corner, looking like he’d just swallowed a lemon.

Failed the test, no doubt.

Usually, I’d let the gloomy ones sort out their own feelings and come to me when they were ready. But today felt different.

“Marcelo, did something happen today?” I asked casually.

“Nothing,” he mumbled, trying to brush it off. But c’mon, coaxing the truth out of a 6-year-old who is already frustrated is easy. Especially when it’s this obvious.

“…Why do I gotta learn writing anyway?” he finally burst out. “If I get the blessing, I can read the Holy Text! Regular writing’s just for ordinary folks! It’s so boring, I don’t get why I have to study it.”

He had a point. It is f*cking boring.

Studying writing here meant memorizing dry sentences from the Doctrine or its commentaries. Tedious even for a grown-up like me, let alone a bunch of 6-year-olds.

Learning from fairy tales or kid-friendly stories would be way more engaging…

But in this medieval era, even novels were a rarity. No way were there going to be any children’s storybooks. I mean, why waste precious pages of an expensive luxury item like a book on content for kids?

I think attempts to compile folk tales into books happened around the 19th century…

If I were the protagonist of a transported-to-another-world story, this would’ve been my big chance. I’d write (copy) a children’s book, instantly becoming a renowned literary giant. Taking this moment as an opportunity, the conversation would go:

“Gather ‘round, kiddos, and feast your eyes on this… a fairy tale!”

“A fairy tale? Well, heck, if I get to read fun stuff like that, sign me up for reading and writing lessons pronto!”

But sadly, this was the Dark Realm. That kind of development just wasn’t about to happen. And there was no way I was about to out myself as a player.

So for that reason, I couldn’t solve Marcelo’s studying woes.

Even if I launched into a lecture on how beneficial studying is, it wouldn’t change his mind.

Hell, I’ve heard the “exercise is good for you” spiel countless times, but that never made me a fan of sweating it out.

But then suddenly, a possible method came to mind. What if I could make studying more appealing while also testing out some theories on earning more ‘favorable impressions’?

“I get it, Marcelo. Why bother learning something you think you’ll never use, right?” I said with a conspiratorial grin. “But what if we try something that could make reading and writing more fun?”

⋆⁺₊⋆ ☾⋆⁺₊⋆

Time to dive into a little experiment on the art of making ‘favorable impressions.’

First, can you score those points through means other than face-to-face interactions? Like, for example, written words?

If writing a letter could win someone over, it would open up a whole new world of possibilities, transcending the limits of time and space…

But what I’m even more curious about is whether I could possibly favorably impress a total stranger?

Let’s say I set up an anonymous advice box and start writing back pearls of wisdom to people’s problems. If one of those anonymous strangers is moved by my brilliant counsel, what would the notification window say?

‘Someone you don’t know has been deeply moved’?

But then again…when I initially impressed Andrea, I had no idea he was a servant of the Distorted One, yet the notification window still displayed that information.

Chances are, even if it’s a stranger, their name would pop up in the notification. Plus, judging by Andrea’s example, I might even be able to confirm if the impressed individual is an ‘Othergod’s servant’.

…If only I could access a list of all the people I’ve wowed on the status screen.

Stupid shitty system…

Anyway, proving that indirect impressions work would open up a whole new set of scenarios to play around with.

For example, if letters can do the trick, what about books?

If I write (copy) a bestselling self-help book that changes lives, will my rank increase with each impressed reader? And if those readers start spreading my genius advice, impressing others in a ripple effect? Is multi-level impressing even a thing?

…Okay, let’s not get ahead of ourselves. First, I need to confirm if written words really have the power to impress and influence people.

Thud.

The hefty stack of wax tablets landed on my desk with an audible thump, and I couldn’t help but start to regret it a bit. It seemed my bright idea had backfired spectacularly, judging by the daunting pile of anonymous advice requests.

When will I ever finish writing all these replies?

I’d naively assumed only a handful of kids would participate when I suggested this little anonymous advice box. Of course, I was wrong.

Didn’t I carelessly say I’d do it?

The concept had been simple enough – write your letters on the wax tablets, leave out your name, put ‘em in the box, and I’d respond. Simple.

Kind of like an old-school version of an online anonymous forum, really.

The reason for anonymity was purely to test ‘favorable impressions’ on strangers. Of course, I’d made up a much more educational excuse when pitching it to Andrea.

“Writing anonymously will let them express themselves freely without worrying about mistakes! Plus, they’ll be curious to read what their classmates wrote, so it encourages reading practice too. And hey, some things are just easier to share when your name’s not attached, right? It’s a great way to really understand what’s on their minds and any concerns they might have!”

Thanks to that little yappin’ session, I learned that the same person can be favorably impressed twice, however; it didn’t increase my rank though.

…Now I have to actually write all these the replies.

Being the first day of the advice box service, there wasn’t much content on the tablets yet as I scanned through them. The most popular category of questions was about the person I was ‘dating.’

I let out a deep sigh.

Really, kids? Haven’t I been grilled enough about this today? I’m running on fumes here…

Apparently wearing that reliquary had piqued their curiosity to no end. I had to get creative with my replies, mixing what little tidbits of truth I knew about Athanas with some strategic unknowns and white lies.

…I’m also making headway with the plan to press the players’ trigger button simultaneously.

Gossip spreads like wildfire from the lips of little ones—viral marketing at its most potent. A proven method that’s been working wonders since way back in the Silla era.

Not that I put on this reliquary just to start some Seodongyo-style whisper campaign, of course.¹T/N: “서동요 효과” (Seodongyo effect): This refers to a famous Korean folktale called “Seodongyo” in which a young man named Seodong spreads a rumor about a beautiful woman to attract the attention of a king. The term is used to describe the effective spread of information or rumors through word of mouth.

The next most popular category seemed to be diary-esque entries. Yesterday’s happenings, playground scuffles, critters spotted out in the backwoods… Nothing too difficult there. I wrote some quick, appropriate responses and was done with it. Same for the slew of questions about myself that followed.

Oh, what’s this…?

Two clever people decided to use this chance to ask about their math homework.

…Bonus points for using anonymity very resourcefully.

Anyway, I had promised to reply no matter what, but rather than simply handing them the answers, I jotted down a step-by-step guide to solving the problems.

It’s not that hard, just elementary level math, so it should be fine to teach this much.

Still, their sneaky attempt to exploit the system irked me just a bit. So in return, I tasked them with puzzling over a ‘little problem that’s been on my mind lately’ as a way to give them a hard time.

Let’s see how they like tackling the classic seven bridges of Königsberg brainteaser!²T/N: The ‘Seven Bridges of Königsberg’ is a famous historical problem in mathematics that laid the foundations of graph theory. It is considered a “single stroke” problem because the challenge was to find a path that would cross each of the seven bridges exactly once, without crossing any bridge twice, and return to the starting point. This is similar to the idea of a single stroke math problem, where the goal is to use each digit exactly once without lifting the pen from the paper.

Famed for being impossible to solve, due to it posing a single stroke problem of finding a way to ‘cross seven bridges once and only once’.³T/N: A ‘single stroke’ math problem, also known as a single line math problem or freehand math problem, is a type of recreational mathematics puzzle where the goal is to write a valid mathematical equation using all the digits from 0 to 9 exactly once, without lifting the pen or pencil from the paper. In other words, the equation must be written in a single continuous stroke.

Little opportunists, agonize over why it’s impossible while holding your head!

⋆⁺₊⋆ ☾⋆⁺₊⋆

And the next day…

I found myself staring at a wax tablet, my head in my hands. The answer was written there, neat and dense, almost mocking me with its presence.

This…shouldn’t have an answer, should it?

The one-stroke problem, famously proven impossible by Euler, had become a riddle even elementary school students could solve. But before that, it was a notoriously difficult problem that had stumped mathematicians for ages. It certainly wasn’t something a mathematician from the Middle Ages could solve in a single day.

…Clearly, this was solved by someone who already knew the answer.

I couldn’t help but chuckle as I unexpectedly obtained a clue about another player.

It’s great that I got a clue, but…

The other person was in a position to identify who I am, right?

But I still don’t know who the other person is?

…I’m screwed, aren’t I?