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Chapter 196: Awakened Ones, Cultivate Them (1)
While we formed a strike team to eliminate the Sword of Destruction, Asgard was locked in a fierce battle against the Black Thunder.
“The Apostle of the Soul God is truly strong.”
Odin, who had been struggling against Thor, gazed into the air as he spoke.
A battlefield screen had appeared where his gaze landed.
“According to reports coming in from various places, the apostles have suddenly become stronger and are overwhelming the enemy. Is it because they’ve gotten more SP?”
“That’s part of it. Their skills probably improved too. We gained a little something.”
In the process of extracting souls from the Soul Extinction Orb, I absorbed several soul-based skills.
The apostles can’t use skills like I do, but their skill efficiency has likely improved significantly.
“Haha. Lord God. Then I’ll go take down the Black Thunder first.”
Thor disappeared, transforming into lightning.
In contrast, Freyja at least asked for permission.
“I want to try out the power you gave me as soon as possible. May I go?”
“Sure. Go ahead.”
With the two gods dispatched, Asgard's elite forces followed behind.
Aside from Odin, Loki, and Artemis, everyone was now gone.
After briefly watching them leave, I opened the map of Okeanos.
The power of Triana, which had blocked the Black Thunder’s advance, had vanished, and the enemy had started re-entering.
Although Laevateinn had been destroyed, the advance of the Black Thunder was still ongoing.
It would be difficult with just them…
What should I be thinking?
For now, I should focus on what I need to do.
“Loki, how are the communications with the other god realms going?”
“Since you said you'd go personally, both the Buddhist and Hindu factions welcomed the idea. But the Taoist side gave a rather vague response.”
“Why? I'm only sending an avatar.”
“Not sure... They said okay, but also mentioned it might take some time.”
It takes time?
How long does it take to open a portal?
These guys... Something feels off.
“That’s suspicious. Maybe the Taoists betrayed us too? Some of your gods are there, right? What did they say?”
“The dispatched gods said that’s not the case... but they also said they’ll discuss internally and asked for more time.”
“Alright. I’ll leave avatars in the other two realms first, so open the portals there.”
“Got it. Will do.”
While Loki handled communication with the other realms, Odin approached me.
“Soul God, thank you truly. Thanks to your help, Asgard was saved.”
“It’s too early to relax. The Black Thunder is still invading, Ares remains, and Zeus still reigns as the Creator.”
“Still, the immediate threat is gone. Once this is over, I will be sure to repay you. You are our benefactor.”
Odin genuinely expressed his gratitude.
From the way he's acting, it feels like he'd grant any reward.
Though... there’s not much I want from them.
Asgard can’t even pay off their SP debt, after all.
[Kim Jiho, you’re insane. Your skill is absolutely insane!]
A message from Thor popped up, along with a self-recorded video.
[Kahaha!]
Thor hurled his massive hammer, Mjolnir, and the Black Thunder scattered like dust.
The black lightning, which had taken on divine forms, couldn’t withstand even a single strike from the hammer and vanished powerlessly.
[These annoying bastards die in one hit. And when I kill them, I even gain SP!]
SP too?
They normally didn’t give much SP when taken down...
Could it be that with the skill evolution, they now yield SP when absorbed?
[This is so fun. It’s a shame I’m the only one doing this!]
Thor, pumped up, dashed out to destroy more Black Thunder.
With a divine equipped with my soul skill, he’s become practically invincible.
Watching him gave me a great idea.
“Odin. Then, instead of a reward, could you lend me a few more of your deities?”
“Deities?”
“Yes. Thor is completely wiping out the Black Thunder right now, but having more reinforcements would help, right?”
When I showed Odin the video of Thor going on a rampage, he watched with great interest.
“Indeed... he really has grown stronger.”
“I’ve been holding off the Black Thunder on Okeanos’s path, but that’s over now. They’ll come in full force. Thor and Freyja are doing great, but we’ll need more power.”
“Hmm. But if too many deities leave Asgard, maintaining the divine realm becomes difficult.”
“That’s fine. Even intermediate gods will do. They’ll become stronger like my apostles.”
“Well, if that’s okay... I understand. I’ll send some of the deities.”
“Kim Jiho, but... sorry, could you agree to return them after the war ends? Through the system.”
Loki asked with a genuinely apologetic look.
“Thor and Freyja may say that now, but they’re Asgard’s core and will eventually return. The intermediate gods, though... they might love being your apostle so much they won’t want to come back.”
Thor and Freyja had been ecstatic just from receiving SP upon becoming my apostles.
They’d return because of their status in Asgard, but the intermediates... Loki was probably right; once they tasted SP mediation, they’d never want to go back.
Well, I’m not looking to hijack gods from other realms...
“Alright. That’s fine.”
“Ohh, thank you. At this rate, we’re not repaying you, we’re going into debt... Is there anything you need?”
“What I need...”
I wasn’t planning to receive SP from them.
What do I need most?
Probably, advancing to SSS-rank.
To do that, I must fulfill the final condition: earning 1 billion SP from Earth.
Earth’s SP revenue has passed 800 million, but there’s still about 200 million left to go.
To increase that, the options are...
Either the population increases, or the number of Awakeners rises.
Increasing population is a long-term issue.
Since each person gives only 0.1 SP, we’d need 2 billion more people...
When is that ever going to happen?
“In this era of low birth rates, we should be thankful if the population isn’t decreasing.”
“Globally, isn’t it different?”
“Anyway, that leaves us with one thing.”
“We have to awaken more humans.”
“And we just happen to have the right conditions for it.”
[The probability of natural awakeners is increasing. If one believes in the god Kim Jiho, awakening becomes extremely easy.]
“Loki. Then tell the remaining Asgardian believers on Earth to believe in me too.”
“Huh? What... You’re trying to take my followers?”
“Oh no. I’m not taking anyone. Just tell the non-awakened Asgardian believers to believe in me too. They say it becomes very easy to awaken if they believe in me.”
“Ho… really?”
“Yeah. Wouldn’t it be good for you if you had more awakened believers too?”
“True. They bring in more SP than regular people.”
“Exactly. The more awakeners on Earth, the more SP mediation income I get. So tell your followers to believe in the god Kim Jiho alongside you.”
“...Will that work?”
“Nothing to lose by trying. Give it a shot.”
“Fine. The places I need to contact just keep increasing…”
Grumbling but still proceeding with the task, Loki.
Suddenly, his shadow spread on the floor, then split and divided.
Then shadows started rising.
They’re clones, identical to Loki.
“To the Stockholm temple of Asgard: from now on, we…”
“To the Washington temple…”
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“To the Seoul temple…”
Dozens of clones begin communicating with temples under Earth all at once.
Meanwhile, the original maintains communication with other divine realms.
“Loki is working hard. God of Souls, then I shall go deal with Black Thunder.”
“Go ahead.”
As Odin disappeared, Artemis, who had been idly flicking her bowstring, turned to me.
“Should I go too? I hear they’ve gotten stronger, and I’m curious.”
“Yeah. Show off your power a bit. You’ve probably gotten stronger too.”
“Alright. I’ll sweep them all and then head to Earth’s temple, right?”
“Yeah. I’ll leave a clone in the other divine realms and then join you.”
Artemis waved at me and vanished in an instant.
As expected of gods—they move in the blink of an eye.
“…Really? There are already gods promoting belief in Kim Jiho? Saying you’ll awaken if you believe?”
[Yes. Gods from the creation myths of each country are taking the lead in promoting this. In Japan, even Amaterasu appeared on TV to promote it, causing a panic.]
“Why?”
[Well, she’s telling people to believe in a Korean…]
Understandable, from a Japanese perspective.
If their chief deity from mythology is promoting a human from a neighboring country, it’s bound to be awkward.
Imagine if Hwanung started praising a Japanese person—it would be pretty upsetting.
But hey, there’s no downside to believing in me.
Awakening becomes easier, which is a good thing.
It becomes easier for me to reach SSS rank.
Apostle gods get more SP through soul mediation.
People who believe in me can awaken more easily.
If you set national pride aside for a moment, it’s a win-win deal for everyone.
“Kim Jiho isn’t just a Korean. He’s a god. A god! He’s the god of souls. Tell them that if they believe in him, they’ll quickly become awakened. They don’t even need to change their religion—just recognize him as a god. The fate of Asgard depends on this!”
[Is… is it really that serious...?]
“Yes! Time is of the essence. Train your believers quickly. Cancel all the other ads and promote belief in Kim Jiho. Hurry!”
One of Loki’s clones gives a passionate speech.
Soon, the other clones begin to follow suit.
Meanwhile, my apostle gods…
They really work fast.
The minor gods I absorbed from smaller realms, those without much SP, probably stayed behind in the Garden of Apostles rather than joining the Asgard battle, and suddenly all moved to my Seoul temple…
When did Amaterasu even go all the way to Japan to proselytize?
Maybe gods from those regions have quicker travel methods or something.
“Whew. What a mess.”
While the clones continued speaking with flying spittle, Loki finished his communications and approached me.
He shook his head with a slightly tired expression.
“The gods you absorbed from those minor realms are really giving it their all. Gods usually don’t run around working this hard. They’re more used to being obeyed.”
“Which makes sense. They are gods, after all.”
“But now they’re acting like some kind of salespeople… geez. SP mediation must really be worth it.”
“Probably because they used to struggle without enough SP. Now they have a chance to earn unearned income.”
“Ha. Unearned income… That’s exactly the right phrase. I’m jealous…”
Loki looked at me with genuine envy in his eyes.
Then he shook his head and got back to the main point.
“The Buddhist faction has agreed to open their doors. Kim Jiho, you can head to Hinduism next.”
“Great. I’ll just leave a clone and move on.”
“I’ll keep trying to persuade Taoism. You go visit those two realms first. Also, here’s something I heard while contacting the temples earlier…”
Loki furrowed his brow as he spoke.
“There are reports that a large number of Christian believers have suddenly gone missing, and it’s become big news. Light descended from the sky and took them away, saying they were being led to God’s kingdom, created by the Lord. Some say angels came to greet them.”
Right away, Michael came to mind.
The creator Yahweh, building his own world in another dimension.
Didn’t he say souls are hard to create, so he negotiated with Zeus to take them…?
But instead of secretly taking them, he showed it off so openly?
“Must’ve been Michael, right?”
“Most likely. I don’t like how he made a spectacle out of it. Like he was advertising it.”
Michael may have betrayed us, but he said he wasn’t hostile to me.
He just asked me to fight Ares and buy time while they migrated.
But even if they don’t fight me directly, people leaving Earth is still a loss for me.
It could be a serious obstacle on my path to becoming SSS-class.
Especially if he’s going to keep advertising like this…
“Will Michael try to take more people?”
“I think he might. If he only wanted their souls, he wouldn’t have made a show of it.”
“People leaving is bad for me…”
“Yeah. We need to take this seriously. For now… visit those two worlds.”
Then Loki opened a portal for me.
“I’ll gather more intel in the meantime.”
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