Chapter 554: Preparation (1)

“Of course, it might not be accurate that the fragment of the outer god had been trying to maintain the human population. I’m a bit embarrassed to say this, but the information I could access at that time was limited… Above all, considering that I was the only one left at the last moment, there is also the possibility that Jin Qing simply lied to me. Or maybe the outer god was simply fed up with managing the continent.”

“When you mean the last moment…?”

“There was a time when I was left alone on an empty continent.”

“What?”

“…”

“…”

“As expected… You don’t remember.”

“What do you mean by that…?”

“It’s nothing.”

Kim Hyunsung looked at me with a slightly disappointed look.

He looked as if he to tell me he wished I would remember what happened in the subconscious world. Well, it didn’t matter whether I remembered or not, anyway.

It was better to leave it as a memory for Kim Hyunsung. If I told him I remembered it, I would have even more things to explain.

While continuously organizing the situation in my head, new questions and interesting parts kept popping out. It was mostly about Kim Hyunsung when he was left alone on the continent, as well as the fragment of the outer god and the mask trash’s relationship.

There were quite a few things that even Kim Hyunsung couldn’t fully understand, so even more questions were left unanswered.

“I think it’s better for us to get up for now. You must’ve had a hard time listening to me all night. If you’re too tired, you should go to bed for now…”

“No, the other guild members must be waiting for us. Rather than that, I would like you to tell me more about the fragment of the outer god. Why don’t we go out to town and have a meal?”

“Oh! That sounds good.”

‘Information.’

“Any information about the outer god is okay even if it’s trivial. I really want you to tell me more about it.”

“Of course. It’s me who would like to ask you to keep listening to me.”

True to his words, he looked as if he was very happy and relieved about telling me all of it. He must’ve thought that he could no longer handle it just by himself and asked me for help. Right at that moment, he looked as relieved as to how he looked in the subconscious world.

He knew what was going to happen in the future, but he had no idea how to correct it, or even where to start.

I was sure that the limit of our lovely regressor’s thoughts was: ‘We need to grow and increase our strength. We need to become even more powerful to protect everyone.’ Even though he must’ve drawn some conclusions of how big the threat was and how he should prepare for what was to come, it wasn’t his expertise to think of strategy and plans to counter it.

His face looked so relieved that even I felt happy for him.

“First, to explain what the outer god looks like, I think it’s appropriate to say they look foreign.”

“Foreign?”

“Yes, it’s indescribably alien. Rather than the elves and other ethnic groups that are different from us, the outer god gave us a feeling of awe that we couldn’t explain. He’s more like the gods who came down to the world. Of course, the outer god feels different from the other gods. If Benignore and the other gods are more like a human being, I think it would be appropriate to call the outer god a creature from a higher dimension.”

“Then… Other than Jin Qing, were there other followers of the-”

“Yes, there were. Some abandoned humanity and followed and believed in him. They called themselves apostles of god and exerted influence on the continent according to the will of the outer god. Of course, Jin Qing stood at the pinnacle of all that. Just as you now represent the Goddess Beningore’s Church, he was also a symbol of the outer god’s church.”

‘Did Jin Qing help collect divinity for the outer god?’

It wouldn’t be a stretch to think of that.

‘That bastard really was a chameleon.’

After the brigade and the church, that masked trash would’ve definitely survived even if he was dropped in the middle of the desert. Anyway, from that, I was able to learn that the outer god also needed divinity. In the first place, divinity was power, money, and everything else to the gods.

Whether his real purpose was the management of the continent or the destruction of the continent, it didn’t change that he needed divinity.

‘Hmmm…’

Based on my prediction, it probably wasn’t that difficult to gather divinity through the use of followers.

As Kim Hyunsung described earlier, he was a god who gave a great sense of awe. Even Benignore made others feel an indescribable sense of awe when they saw her in person.

Since even Kim Hyunsung felt that way, I was sure that the fragment of the outer god or whatever it was must’ve been a truly awesome sight.

The outer god’s mere appearance was enough to make most humans have indescribable emotions.

For example, if one were to shout “do you believe?” with a special appearance like a cult, those who were naïve would be swayed away easily. On top of that, it was also the trashy Jin Qing’s specialty to incite and fabricate, so he probably didn’t need to work hard to deceive a mass of people.

‘It must’ve been so easy.’

It was hard to even understand that only a part of the human race had become followers.

“The outer god also didn’t come down alone. There were also those who followed the outer god, and I remember their appearances were that of angels.”

He even had an army of gods. The situation was now completely in the outer god’s favor.

Kim Hyunsung began to tell me everything he knew. If I summed up the information roughly, the situation was basically like the following:

1. The outer god’s exact purpose was still unknown. On the surface, their purpose was to manage and limit the human population, and this was plausible considering that outer gods have not been assigned to manage a continent.

2. His appearance was basically like a god with divinity. But it was more foreign than other gods, including Beningore, and made humans feel a deep sense of awe.

3. Even Kim Hyunsung didn’t know the exact size of his strength. I expected the outer god to be stronger than Belial summoned to the present world, and attacks classified below the Semi-Myth level wouldn’t probably work against it. In other words, the number of people who could participate in attacking the outer god was limited.

4. The outer god had followers, and humanity called them angels. They were the outer god’s assistants, and their strength was estimated to be at least similar to demons such as Donovan and Limur.

5. There was a strong likelihood that he was summoned in the north first. The first light came from the north, and that’s when they had begun working.

There were many other factors, but those were the main points. There was room for more detail, but I wanted to take my time listening to the topic first and respond to it later.

The first thing I could do was build a forward base at the northernmost point.

‘The location might not be accurate, but it’s much better than nothing.’

To know the location where the outer god had been summoned was an indescribable advantage.

‘I guess being a regressor really is great.’

Of course, not all situations might go as they did in the First Timeline, so there was a limit to how much I could do. Even a small action could cause a large impact and start a butterfly effect. That was why even Kim Hyunsung was confused in many ways during the 2nd Timeline.

However, it was certain that the outer god would be summoned. The outer god was, after all, an enemy of the continent, and he and his army would appear in it.

There was no room for any butterfly effect there. Even if millions of butterflies flapped their wings in very distant countries, it was inevitable that the fragment of the outer god would come as a threat to our dimension.

‘This might actually be easy.’

I knew in advance and could prepare accordingly. I could train troops to fight the outer god and build a wall to greet it. I could to counter the outer god and continue to restrict the god’s access to the continent.

Even the most difficult trash, Jin Qing, was already out. We were definitely in an advantageous situation, especially when compared to the 1st Timeline.

As I pondered in my fatigued state, Kim Hyunsung looked at me with worry.

“Kiyoung-ssi, you look very tired…”

“Ah, yes. I’m a bit tired, but it’s endurable. Since I’ve been awake for a long time, I’m kind of hungry now. We should order…”

“I already finished ordering as soon as we entered the restaurant. If it’s okay with you, I ordered a simple bread and stew for us to eat.”

“Yes, that’s fine with me.”

“Yes, I’ve seen you eat that sometimes for breakfast. You looked so deep in thought; I didn’t want to bother you.”

“That’s all right. I would have ordered the same thing anyway…”

“That’s a relief. Why don’t you put your thoughts aside for now and start eating? I think you’ve been overdoing it even though your body hasn’t fully recovered yet. I’m worried that I might have pressured you too much.”

“No, you don’t have to worry about me so much.”

I was tired, but my physical strength was still higher than that of the general public. I didn’t think there would be a problem if I just stayed up all night for one day. I had secretly drank a fatigue recovery potion too…

However, since Kim Hyunsung saw a lot of things in the past months, he was very concerned about me, almost as if I could faint anytime.

It was funny, almost as if he didn’t remember that he was the one who had kept me awake all night, telling me stories. We couldn’t even continue our conversation as everyone was staring at us inside the restaurant.

Even if Kim Hyunsung cast muting magic around us, we couldn’t handle all the stares coming our way.

‘Why are there so many people this early? Our country people are so hardworking.’

I spotted smiles on people who were lifting heavy loads. I worried that they were breaking their work time since it was so early in the morning.

Heren definitely seemed full of energy even in the morning.

I saw a herd of people trying to gather a party and adventurers who ate breakfast to start their day. While staring at them blankly, a simple stew and bread were served, and we began to eat.

Kim Hyunsung kept talking to me, but what he said didn’t really harbor much depth. I wanted to think about something else, but my mind was only thinking of the 1st Timeline.

‘What is the point?’

‘For now, the most important thing is…’

I wasn’t sure of it yet, but it was a good story to keep in mind.

‘The divine.’

The masked trash no longer existed in our current Timeline, but there were still some who served him.

Those who believed in Benignore wouldn’t get swayed, but…

‘It’s only right to prepare for this.’

Regardless of whether the outer god did or didn’t have enough divine power, I had to prepare for it.

Even if I couldn’t explain to everyone the whole situation, I could tell them that something like the outer god was coming.

If I didn’t properly educate and explain the masses, some people could become tricked and give the god divine power. There were many things I had to do, but I should solve the problems procedurally.

As I smiled while nodding my head, and Kim Hyunsung, who didn’t know the reason for my expression, also smiled.

And, after exactly three days, the Continental press and other media across the empire released an article with the same headline.

[Goddess Benignore has descended into Honorary Cardinal Lee Kiyoung again. “An ancient devil with the mask of gods and angels will burn the whole continent and make all living creatures on this realm cry.” How should we prepare? -Kim Sung-kyung, a reporter for the Continental Press.]