Please Stop The Pope

Chapter 88

Undercover

1.

Manager Kim hurriedly arrived at the temple.

“Alright. Manager Kim. Shall we continue the conversation?”

“As I mentioned before, the Seolhwa Guild is a medium-sized guild affiliated with the Guild Coalition. The guild has only been around for about 6 months. Recently, they’ve expanded by recruiting two A-rank hunters. While A-rank hunters are still in the minority, you can see the notable details directly on your tablet PC. Here.”

As expected, Manager Kim was thorough in his preparations.

Maybe I should ask President Seo if he can hand over Manager Kim to our church permanently. He’s been very loyal, and finding a secretary of his caliber isn’t easy. If I exercise a little bit of power as an Irregular, maybe I can get him.

“…It’s gotten quite cold.”

Manager Kim suddenly trembled as if feeling a chill.

“Yeah, it’s getting pretty cold now.”

“My body just started to shiver suddenly…”

He’s quite perceptive.

I’m really envious.

“Let me see.”

I picked up the tablet PC as Manager Kim mentioned and tapped on the screen a few times.

Then, the file that Manager Kim had opened appeared.

This was more information about the guild leader, Baek Seolhwa, rather than the Seolhwa Guild itself.

I already knew a bit about Baek Seolhwa from Minsoo.

Baek Seolhwa, a young, beautiful guild leader with exceptional skills.

Because of her looks and abilities, she’s gained celebrity-level popularity, and her YouTube channel, MyTube, has 9 million subscribers.

She is so famous that she often appears not just on MyTube but also on TV shows and variety programs.

“The Seolhwa Guild is essentially a guild for her. Interestingly, most of the guild members are her followers, and aside from Baek Seolhwa, there are no noteworthy hunters.”

“Outwardly, her image is great. She does a lot of volunteer work, donates, and has a strong fan base.”

“There are more people in this world who wear masks than those who don’t. Especially those like Baek Seolhwa, who craves the public’s attention.”

“It’s a bit uncomfortable since we’re also living off attention.”

“At least you’ve consistently caused trouble…”

Manager Kim almost continued, but then suddenly stopped, shaking his head, and quickly returned to the main topic.

“The easiest way would be to pay the bidder a certain fee and acquire the dungeon’s bidding rights. But looking at the situation with you and the guilds affiliated with the Guild Coalition…it seems almost impossible.”

“Yeah, that’s right.”

They say there’s no business like a money business, but if I offer a high price, the other side would be sure that there’s something special in the dungeon.

That would make them less likely to give up the rights, and in the worst-case scenario, the Baegmyeong Church might catch wind of it and swoop in.

The Guild Coalition and the Baegmyeong Church were still in a cooperative relationship.

Thinking back to the incident in Busan, those from the Baegmyeong Church seemed to have some capability in tracking sacred relics, but there was no guarantee they’d know about this one.

In a situation like this, offering extra money to acquire ownership of the dungeon?

I’m sure those from the Baegmyeong Church would come charging in, their eyes burning with greed.

“There is a way to acquire the bidding rights through a proxy.”

“That’s illegal.”

“Of course, it’s illegal. I just wanted to point out that such an option exists.”

No matter how much immunity I’ve been granted, that only applies to punishing villains.

This is a personal matter, so it would be ridiculous to bring up that immunity here.

If journalists get wind of it, it would be a perfect excuse for them to tear me apart.

If I haven’t done anything wrong, I’d have no justification to intervene myself…

“Wait a second.”

“Hmm?”

“If you said she has many personality flaws, then it’s unlikely she hasn’t done anything bad. Isn’t that right?”

If she hasn’t done anything bad, it’s more likely she hasn’t been caught.

Manager Kim looked at me with a knowing gaze.

I proudly spoke to him.

“I can’t give up. At worst, I’m even considering pushing through forcefully.”

Regardless of sacred scores, I absolutely had to complete the quest related to the sacred relics.

There were so many possibilities with sacred relics.

If I was lucky, it might even be possible to summon a relic powerful enough to establish a branch of the temple, and the Japanese government has been continually asking for us to build one.

In fact, recently, many Japanese people have been applying to become official members of our church.

Among those awakened as sacred users in Japan, many have been choosing the Lumen Church.

In this situation, sacred relics?

I couldn’t give up even one.

Moreover, if we give up, it would certainly fall straight into the Baegmyeong Church’s hands.

“I expected you to say that.”

Manager Kim sighed deeply and nodded.

“If someone forces their way into a dungeon that someone else has already bid on without any justification, it’s bound to cause a lot of controversy. Now that the Irregular Special Law has passed, if rumors start circulating that an Irregular is abusing their power, it wouldn’t look good for either you or the Limen Church.”

“You may not understand, Manager Kim, but this is very important for us…”

“That’s why I’ve prepared a plan B. Let’s listen to it and think about it.”

I nodded at his words, and Manager Kim started explaining the ‘plan B’ he had prepared.

After about 10 minutes of explaining the ‘plan B.’

Manager Kim, having briefly shared his idea, cleared his throat a few times and wrapped up his explanation.

“This is just a draft. It’s a hastily conceived idea, so there are many areas to develop, but if this is what you want, we can proceed in this direction…”

“Manager Kim.”

“Yes?”

“Why don’t you just come join our church? I can double the salary you’re currently getting. Wow, I never imagined this. You’re even better than me.”

“…Hmm, if that’s the case, shall we proceed as planned?”

“By the way, did you give this operation a name or anything?”

At my question, Manager Kim answered in a small voice.

“Undercover…I suppose.”

“Well, that makes it sound like a spy operation. I like it. Let’s go with that.”

A project that balanced both fun and practicality, Operation Undercover.

[The system restriction that was placed on you will be lifted shortly.]

[5……4……3……2……1]

[The system restriction has been lifted.]

“Finally, it’s over.”

The 168-hour restriction placed on me had ended.

In other words, my one-week vacation was over, and I was able to get back into the field.

After checking my physical condition through various commands, everything was functioning normally.

I took a deep breath and nodded.

There hadn’t been any problems, but my body had been itching over the past week.

After all, a guy who’s used to running around can’t just sit still. It was getting uncomfortable just staying still.

That aside.

“Here it is.”

“Thank you, Director Kim.”

We were at Geumo Mountain, located in Gumi City, Gyeongsangbuk-do.

I was talking with Director Kim in his car.

“Awakened Kang Chae-ah has confirmed the functionality several times and even tested it, so there’s no need to worry.”

“It’s definitely convenient when it comes to magic. Us religious folks are a bit lacking in this area.”

I grasped the necklace he handed me and nodded in satisfaction.

Operation name: Undercover.

As the name suggests, the operation can be summarized as follows:

Wear a necklace enchanted with hallucination magic by Kang Chae-ah while participating as a porter (a laborer) in the Seolhwa Guild’s dungeon raid.

Wait until the target is discovered.

Once the target is found, quickly gather it up and quietly leave.

I think that’s a pretty good summary.

Of course, Director Kim had placed more detailed elements between those steps, but the core of the operation was in those three lines.

After all, the purpose of this operation was to obtain the otherworldly sacred relic without causing too much controversy.

However, the chances of it going according to plan were extremely low.

There were just too many variables.

“For now, we believe this is likely a double dungeon. If it was an Abyss dungeon connected to another world, our detection team would have already detected it.”

“Double dungeon?”

“It means there’s another dungeon hidden within the original dungeon. Usually, it’s triggered by a specific event, and since the Dimension Opening, such dungeons have only been discovered four times, making it a very rare occurrence.”

It was the same Department of Ability Management that had detected the Abyss dungeon in Busan last time.

According to Aiden, South Korea’s Department of Ability Management may not have the same combat strength, but their detection capabilities are recognized even by the United States.

They possess a large number of skilled detection-type players, or so I’ve heard.

In any case, this place definitely felt unsettling.

[You are approaching the target point of quest ]

If it weren’t for this system message, I might have doubted it myself.

But the system doesn’t lie.

That was a principle I had adhered to since the moment I encountered the system.

“As long as you’re careful about Baek Seolhwa, there shouldn’t be any major issues. The necklace is a method mainly used by our black agents when infiltrating. If it’s Baek Seolhwa, she might be able to detect the tiny amount of magic in the necklace…”

Whoooooo—

I applied divine power over the necklace.

“There’s no need to worry since I’ve hidden the magic with divine power.”

“…Is that possible?”

“It’s easy. You just create a thin barrier of divine power over the magic.”

The barrier might make the magic disappear if it touches the necklace, but controlling it this precisely wasn’t difficult for me.

Upon hearing my answer, Director Kim nodded with an expression as if he had given up on understanding.

“Alright. As long as you’re wearing that necklace, others will see you as an ordinary man in his mid-thirties. Kang Chae-ah, the awakened one, has set it up like that.”

“Please tell Chae-ah I’m thankful.”

“Lastly, I’ll tell you that the treatment for daily wage porters is far worse than you can imagine.”

“Ah, I’ve already heard about that. Our temple administrator gave me quite a detailed explanation.”

I had already heard plenty about the daily wage porters from Jin Seo-jun.

They were the ones who helped carry loads in dungeons or gates.

The treatment of porters affiliated with a company was relatively okay, but daily wage porters mostly worked in the legal gray area.

Players with weak combat abilities or regular people in urgent need of money usually worked as daily wage porters, and because they operated outside the law, verbal abuse and harsh treatment were common.

But, according to Jin Seo-jun, it was the only way to participate in raids without being part of a guild, so there was no other choice.

“The Seolhwa Guild has had issues with daily wage porters in the past. However, those problems were quietly buried without anyone knowing.”

“They had a criminal record, huh.”

No wonder.

When I applied as a daily wage porter, they didn’t even check me properly before accepting me.

Of course, Jin Seo-jun had told me that the situation was pretty similar elsewhere.

I’d get to experience it all firsthand soon enough.

After putting the necklace on, I got out of the car.

As I was walking, Director Kim spoke quietly through the half-open window.

“Then, I wish you success in completing your objective without any problems. I’ll be waiting nearby.”

“I also secretly prepared a secret weapon just in case, but don’t worry, you can head home.”

“Secret…weapon? Could it be someone…?”

“Hey, if I tell you, then it’s not a secret anymore. Anyway, I’m off.”

After finishing my conversation with the slightly uneasy Director Kim, I immediately walked forward.

I felt like the protagonist of a spy movie, and it was a refreshing feeling for the first time in a while.

The mountain air was nice, almost like I was taking a forest bath.

After about 20 minutes of leisurely walking, I heard loud noises in the distance.

I walked towards the noise, and there, players were gathering, inspecting weapons and supplies.

The snowflake pattern on their outfits indicated that they were affiliated with the Seolhwa Guild.

“What are you doing here?”

A few Seolhwa Guild players, noticing me, quickly approached.

I gave them a bright smile, showing no sign of wariness, and spoke in as meek a voice as I could muster.

“I’m Kim In-wook, the daily wage porter. I was told to come here…”

For reference, Kim In-uk was the fake name I would be using this time.

I came up with it thinking of In-uk.

“We’ll check, so wait here.”

A moment later, a man confirmed my alias through his smartphone and nodded. He pointed his finger to the right and said,

“Porters, wait over there. We’ll send someone to take care of you, so stay put.”

“Yes, yes.”

The spot he pointed to had six people already sitting and waiting, their faces all looking exhausted.

They all had worn-out expressions, as if they had a lot of stories to tell.

I went over and sat between them.

When I did, the other porters in the group stared at me with suspicion.

Their glares were intense, but I decided to maintain a cheerful face. After all, you can’t spit on someone with a smile, right? So, I threw out a few words of encouragement.

“The weather’s really nice today. Have you all eaten yet?”

It seemed like today would be an interesting day as well.