How A Mythical Holy Knight Lives As A Villain (Novel) - Chapter 12
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Chapter 12
The church and orphanage were truly a godsend.
“Are you going to church again?” Shin Soo-kyung asked Go Johan with concern.
“It’s more like volunteering at the orphanage than going to church,” Go Johan replied.
Soo-kyung was worried because of the strange stories Go Johan had been telling since he started reading, and his past of reading not just the Bible, but also Buddhist scriptures, ancient Indian Vedas, and even cult religious texts at a young age.
“…I think I should go with you once,” Soo-kyung said.
She was concerned that young Go Johan might be influenced by someone else’s will or fall into a strange religion, rather than choosing it freely.
“No need, Mom. Uncle Jae-kyung isn’t that kind of person,” Go Johan assured her.
“But still…”
“And it would be troublesome if you or others came. It’s just a quiet, small place. It would get noisy with talks of Shinsung sponsorship and such.”
“I… I guess you’re right?” Soo-kyung finally nodded and patted Go Johan’s head. “My son, you’re so mature.”
Just as Go Johan was about to sigh in relief, Soo-kyung added, “But I should still go at least once. Let’s go together later.”
“Later! Later, okay?” Go Johan hurriedly left with Lee Jae-kyung towards the church.
Although it was on the outskirts of Seoul, the surroundings were all mountains, and it was quiet as they didn’t accept new believers.
Suddenly, a loud explosion was heard from the church. Lee Jae-kyung’s eyes narrowed.
“I told them to be careful,” he muttered, not seeming worried about an attack on the church.
Go Johan felt the same. As they finished parking, Kang In, now dressed as a security guard, approached and bowed, saying, “You’ve arrived.”
“I heard an explosion,” Jae-kyung said.
Kang In smiled awkwardly and replied, “I told them to be careful… I’m sorry.”
The church looked very different from before. The once shabby exterior had been repeatedly repaired and was now much neater. The interior was also undergoing continuous construction.
Go Johan and Jae-kyung followed Kang In and soon stopped in front of an elevator. The doors opened with a ding, and they entered without pressing any buttons. The elevator began to descend underground.
“I feel proud every time I see this,” Jae-kyung said with a satisfied smile.
Jae-kyung had been a player even before Go Johan was born. Moreover, as a ranker who worked for Shinsung, his wealth was beyond imagination. And he wasn’t the only one.
The other four players, also former rankers, had considerable wealth. While it might not compare to massive guilds like Shinsung, it was enough to rival small, minor guilds.
All of their entire fortunes had gone into this church.
As the elevator doors opened, a black flame rushed towards Go Johan and Jae-kyung. Jae-kyung, with his sharp eyes, moved first. In an instant, he had drawn a long sword and scattered the incoming fireball into dozens of pieces.
“I said to be careful!” Jae-kyung shouted irritably.
“I’m sorry,” Yoon Seung-ah’s voice was heard.
“Who would do that to Seung-ah?” Jae-kyung shook his head. “What a mess, not being able to handle Seung-ah alone?”
The revealed underground area was impressive enough to rival the headquarters of any decent guild. The inner walls were made of rare metal said to block even ranker-level player skills, and there were high-quality training weapons.
“…Don’t say it so easily,” Shin Seul-hye appeared, looking completely blackened and with singed hair.
“Pfft,” Jae-kyung burst out laughing at her appearance.
Park Do-young and Choi Byung-soo struggled to their feet, looking equally disheveled.
“You’ve arrived?” they greeted.
* * *
“We should change the inner walls to mithril,” Jae-kyung said.
“Things must be going well at Shinsung?”
Jae-kyung frowned at those words. Shinsung’s annual salary was top in the industry, and the money received for each gate conquest exceeded billions of won. If they managed to acquire a decent item, it was a jackpot.
“What’s the use of good pay when it all goes into repairs?” All that money went into repairing the underground facility.
Meanwhile, in one corner, Yoon Seung-ah cautiously approached Go Johan.
“How was school?” she asked.
Go Johan remained silent, causing Seung-ah to smile slightly. Go Johan’s face contorted in response.
“…Seung-ah, you should prepare for school too.”
“…Pardon?”
“The paperwork is mostly done, so there shouldn’t be any problems.”
Seung-ah’s face hardened, looking like an abandoned puppy.
“…Perhaps I’ve become useless to you…?”
“What are you talking about?” Go Johan said.
“Anyway…”
Seung-ah, and children like her in the future, they…
“It’ll be hard for you to live normally. So, for now, try living like ordinary children.”
Their purpose was already decided. It would be an incredibly harsh life, something an villain wouldn’t have considered unless they had decided to become a demon.
Yet, it was meant as consideration.
“It’s okay. Things like that…”
“What do you mean, ‘things like that’?”
Seung-ah smiled silently, and Go Johan closed his mouth. Seung-ah’s face seemed to say that even she didn’t want to go to school.
“Do as you like. If there’s anything you want to do, tell the others.”
“Understood.”
At that moment, Jae-kyung was smiling. It was bizarre to see a nine-year-old boy lecturing a sixteen-year-old middle school girl.
“By the way,” Go Johan said as he stood up.
“There’s a bit of a problem.”
Everyone tensed at his small comment.
“I’m not complaining. It’s unavoidable, really.”
Yoon Seung-ah was talented enough to be chosen as a vessel for a great demon. Especially the power she awakened in that process…
‘She could handle all the rankers here simultaneously without much difficulty.’
It was naturally unreasonable for someone like her to train in such a confined space. But they couldn’t let her loose outside either.
‘It’s still unstable.’
Seung-ah’s power was unstable, and too much attention would be focused on her, given her young age.
“So, I was thinking,” Go Johan had been considering a solution.
“We should conquer a gate.”
They had already trained enough. The four players hadn’t had proper real combat experience since their recovery.
The others’ eyes lit up at Go Johan’s words.
“But it’s still too early to reveal ourselves,” Park Do-young said.
“If we move under Shinsung’s name, it might make Shinsung suspicious.”
That’s why the players had been holding back despite their itching desire to act.
“There’s no need to reveal ourselves,” Go Johan moved his hand.
In the world seen through divine eyes, a world made of all kinds of threads.
“This is enough.”
Ping. The moment the thread snapped.
“I-Impossible…”
“What… How…”
A gate had been generated in the underground facility.
* * *
It wasn’t creating something from nothing. Through his Divine eyes, Go Johan could see the changes in the world when gates appeared. He had already determined through experiments that it was possible to guide the location of a normal gate that was about to appear nearby, even if it wasn’t a Black Gate.
“I just activated a gate that should have appeared nearby, here in the church,” Go Johan explained.
They had already entered the gate, except for Kang In who had to guard the church.
“Haa… This feeling…”
Park Do-young and Shin Seul-hye seemed genuinely impressed.
There was no chance of the Association noticing the gate’s appearance. Although it was an ordinary church, Go Johan had already taken measures around it, just like with the Black Gate.
“Let’s do this once a week,” Go Johan suggested, brightening everyone’s expressions.
No matter how spacious the underground facility was, it was better than training there.
“Don’t get too excited. The gate’s rank is…”
Where they were standing now.
“I plan to always activate it at a slightly difficult level.”
It was a C-rank gate. Excluding B-rank and above gates that large guilds had to conquer, it was the highest rank of gate that could be conquered by a party rather than a raid group.
It was less than the standard 6 to 12 people for a party, but…
The Sword Demon was there, and the others were at the edge of ranker status or just below it. They were clearly eager to start hunting.
Kukukukuku!
As if sensing their presence, dark shadows loomed in the sky.
“A harpy nest, huh.”
Go Johan had guessed from the gate’s interior, but seeing it for real made it sink in.
While a single harpy might be insufficient for a C-rank gate, they formed groups and…
“Kieeee!”
They were classified as C-rank monsters due to their flying nature.
“First…”
At that moment, Go Johan slowly reached out his hand.
Kwadeuk. A sound as if something was caught in mid-air.
And when Go Johan moved his hand again…
Kwajijijijijik!
Most of the harpies flying towards them were torn apart and fell.
“…!”
Park Do-young and Shin Seul-hye were shocked.
“W-What…”
Even though they thought they had gotten used to it, they couldn’t help but be surprised.
The power of healing, the power to open gates, they thought there was nothing left to be surprised about, but…
“It doesn’t look like we need to worry,” Go Johan said.
It was their first time directly witnessing Go Johan’s power. They had expected him to be strong, but this was beyond common sense.
‘What kind of skill is that?’
‘Is it even a skill?’
‘What level is he?’
Many questions arose in their minds, but they held them back.
“Yoon Seung-ah.”
“Yes.”
“You must have felt stifled, but it’s okay here.”
Seung-ah’s eyes lit up at Go Johan’s words.
“We needed to check anyway.”
Go Johan pointed at the gathering horde of harpies, as if he had summoned them.
“Go all out.”
Just as he said they needed to check the extent of Seung-ah’s abilities…
Hwrrrk!
An intense heat rose from behind.
A massive fireball. And above it…
Hwrrrrrrrrrk!
Dozens, perhaps hundreds of smaller fireballs appeared.
“Burn them.”
With that small command, a flock of nearly a hundred harpies turned to ashes and fell.
“Not bad.”
Except for Go Johan, no one else could open their mouths.
And then…
[Shinsung Middle School]
As time passed, Go Johan turned 15 years old.