Chapter 151

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Chapter 151: Accepting a God as an Apostle

Looks like my status rose now that both Michael and Freyja are backing me.

Over 200 C-rank Hunters are suddenly requesting to become apostles.

But what really caught my attention is the gods who want to become apostles.

The limit is supposedly 1,000 apostles, but I don't know how that changes if gods are included.

First, I should accept the gods.

I'm curious about how efficient it’ll be too.

I sent a message to Kang Shia.

[Some lesser gods want to become apostles, so I’ll accept them first. It'll increase the efficiency of SP mediation.]

[G-Gods… as apostles? Understood. Then I’ll summon them to Korea under the pretext of an evaluation. Should I call them to the Daehyun Guild building?]

[Do that.]

After giving instructions to Kang Shia, I started communicating with my father.

[Even before the Black Thunder incident with Zeus, this was a hot topic among the lesser gods.]

“Really? Then why didn’t they ask the major deities for help?”

[Hmm... truth is, they don't really like the mainstream pantheon. Many of them used to be popular but declined due to the rise of major religions.]

He gave an example—the war god of Mitra, the sun god found dead recently.

Mitra originated from Zoroastrianism and was popular during the Roman era but declined due to the rise of Christianity.

No wonder it's hard for them to ask the gods who took their place for help.

Also…

“Honestly, if this hadn’t happened, the mainstream pantheon wouldn't have helped either, right? They probably don’t have the resources.”

[Hmm… that’s true. Mainstream religions have many believers, but they also come with high costs. We have to look after our own first.]

Makes sense.

They’ve just been released from their seals and are busy recruiting apostles themselves. Who has the time to help others?

[In that sense, what you're doing has attracted major attention among the gods. Some are suspicious because your offer seems too good, but many of them are friendly toward you since you freed them.]

“So, how many gods are we talking about?”

[Five gods have decided to challenge becoming your apostles.]

“Five, huh?”

Not too many, not too few.

Just right.

“What kind of gods are they?”

[These are gods who were sealed right before being completely forgotten by humanity.]

“Forgotten completely...?”

[As long as a god is mentioned, they can still receive a minimal amount of SP. Gods from Greek, Roman, or Asgardian myths may no longer be worshiped, but they retained power because people still talked about them. They were often featured in stories and heavily adapted.]

“So they don't need to be worshiped as gods to receive SP?”

[The efficiency is very low, but yes. Mentioning their names generates SP. Especially for higher-ranked gods.]

“Then Zeus probably gets mentioned a lot these days, so he must still be getting SP?”

[True. But if people feel hostile toward him, he’ll barely get any. SP doesn’t go to those marked as enemies.]

Huh.

So the system's kind of complex.

Still, I understand that for gods who've lost their names and for me, this is a win-win deal.

“Alright, let’s proceed with the apostle contracts. Where do I go?”

[I'll open a portal gate.]

Flash!

A sudden burst of light inside my house, and a white portal gate appeared.

As I stepped in, the world completely changed.

A world of pure white light.

I was standing on clouds, under the shining sun.

“You’re here.”

My father greeted me.

Behind him stood five Soulual forms.

Four male, one female.

Each had a distinct appearance and outfit.

Two men and the woman wore modern suits and a dress.

One man looked like a Native American with feathers in his hair.

Another wore only a loincloth like a sumo wrestler and carried a katana.

You could guess their origin just by looking at them.

They all stared at me with a mix of hope and anxiety in their eyes.

Trying to figure out if I’m their savior or a scammer?

“These are the gods who wish to become your apostles.”

“Nice to meet you.”

At my father's words, I bowed first in greeting.

They all returned the bow.

“It’s an honor to meet you, Soul God.”

“Thank you for giving us such a generous offer.”

“No, I should be the one thanking you.”

“Um… may I ask what exactly we’d be doing as your apostles? We’re prepared, of course, but…”

The loincloth samurai god asked with a solemn face.

The other gods swallowed nervously, looking at me.

As for what they’ll be doing as apostles...

“Nothing in particular.”

“…Excuse me?”

“I’m only recruiting apostles to boost the efficiency of my Soul Mediation skill. The rest is up to you.”

“Hold on, hold on!”

My father pulled me aside quickly.

Away from the five gods, he lowered his voice and spoke.

“Jiho, you can’t just let them loose.”

“I don’t intend to boss them around, though.”

“I’m not saying that. But if you just let them roam freely, won’t they become Zeus’s next target? Like Ares, preying on weakened gods.”

Right, Ares was targeting weakened gods.

If I just leave them after making them apostles, they could get picked off again.

I walked back toward the five gods.

“Honestly, I don’t plan on interfering much.”

“…I see.”

“But with Zeus after you, if we only form a contract and part ways, Ares might easily catch you again.”

“That’s true…”

“So how about staying in my Apostle’s Garden?”

Their eyes lit up at the mention.

“What kind of place is that?”

“It’s an independent space where my apostles reside. It’s safe.”

“That sounds nice.”

“I want to make a comeback as a god… Is it possible to be active on Earth?”

Some gods seemed delighted about the Garden, while others were reluctant to give up on Earth.

“You all seem too bold, thinking the Soul God is being overly generous. You are to be apostles—you must follow your god’s command.”

My father scolded the ambitious ones.

Those aiming to resume their activities on Earth shrank back.

The ones in modern clothes clearly wanted to return to Earth, while the feathered and loincloth-wearing ones seemed more drawn to the Apostle’s Garden.

“Then let’s do this—you can act independently but stay together in one place.”

“What do you mean…?”

“There’s an apartment complex where I live that’s full of vacant units. I’ll just buy the building and make it the new base for you gods.”

“Jiho, that could be dangerous…”

“No. Just because you’re apostles doesn’t mean you have to stay locked away in the Garden. Since dungeons appeared, these apartments have been abandoned. I’ll buy them all and turn them into a fortress for apostle-gods.”

My father’s concerns were valid.

From Ares’s perspective, this Seongsu-dong apartment complex might look like a delicious buffet.

But even a low-tier god, if granted skills like Soul Mediation and Soul Emission, could become a decent asset.

And while stalling for time like that, if I summon Thor, I might be able to subdue Ares.

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Right now, I need to treat these low-tier gods favorably so that they’ll gather others in similar circumstances...

“May we act freely?”

“There are gods among us who once ruled the world. Would you grant them the same freedom as well?”

“There’s a chance the number of soul god believers could decrease.”

The gods began bombarding me with questions.

I took them lightly.

“It’s fine. Do as you wish. I don’t need believers anyway. The Soul God cannot receive believers.”

“Really!?”

“To think you’d tell us something so important…”

“Understood. Since you’re granting us such convenience, I will become your apostle.”

Some gods were aiming for a comeback.

Others just didn’t want to die and clung to me.

There were various types, but once they realized I wasn’t planning to exploit them, they all came together, wanting to become my apostles.

“Well then, let’s proceed with the apostle contract.”

They all nodded in agreement.

Once I received their consent, I initiated the apostle contract.

[Would you like to form an apostle contract with the “Forgotten Gods”?]

[The apostle candidates are beings of divine rank. They will occupy 10 apostle slots each.]

As I began the contract, a message window popped up.

Even in the system messages, their names didn’t appear.

They were simply referred to as “Forgotten Gods.”

I had 1000 apostle slots available.

But since these were gods, each one took up 10 slots.

That made things a bit tricky.

C-rank apostles give 1%, B-rank 2%, A-rank 5%...

These gods had better be more efficient than ten C-ranks.

For now, I pressed “Accept” and proceeded with the contract.

[An S-rank god has been appointed as an apostle.]

[You’ve appointed a god as an apostle for the first time. You have earned the title “God of Gods.”]

[God of Gods]

[Grade: SSS]

[A title given to one who has taken a god as an apostle. An achievement only possible for a truly great god. Increases SP efficiency from apostles by 20%.]

Oh ho.

I didn’t expect a title like that.

Right now, I have two status screens.

Since I need to raise experience quickly with the Chaos status screen, I’ll leave the “Earth’s Number One” title on and swap out the “Godslayer” title.

I’ll only use “Godslayer” during combat.

[Name: Kim Jiho

Class: Soul God

Title: God of Gods

Soul Power: 5034

SP: 2.635 billion]

I swapped titles in the status screen.

Then, I watched as more messages appeared.

[A god has been appointed as an apostle. The efficiency of Soul Mediation has increased by 100%.]

100% per god!

But since each god takes up 10 slots, that’s effectively a 10% efficiency boost per slot.

Compared to A-ranks giving 5%, it’s a 2x difference.

It didn’t blow A-ranks out of the water, but considering that taking in one S-rank god is easier than recruiting ten A-rank demigods right now, this was very efficient.

With five gods as apostles, my Soul Mediation income was multiplied fivefold.

Wow.

If I get 100 gods, does that mean the boost becomes 10,000%?

But just as I was getting excited, the message brutally crushed my hopes.

[At your current level, the maximum boost to Soul Mediation from apostles is 4000%.]

Tch.

So the limit is a 40x increase, not 100x.

Still, even 4000% is incredible.

Just taking in 40 gods will hit the cap.

“So many skills…”

“We can use even Soul Emission and Soul Barrier, which once terrified us!”

“Incredible.”

These gods hadn’t yet experienced the boost to Soul Mediation, but just being able to use the skills that once threatened them was enough to bring joy to their faces.

“For now, please stay in the Apostle Garden until we can secure an apartment. You’ll need to gather at least some SP if you plan on making a comeback.”

“Understood.”

“Thank you, Soul God.”

I sent the five gods to the Apostle Garden.

Even there, they were labeled simply as “Forgotten God 1,” “Forgotten God 2,” and so on.

Not even their names showed up in the system—how pitiful.

Once they were all in the garden, my father asked me:

“How’s the Soul Mediation efficiency?”

“It’s increased fivefold. I’ll have to monitor it a bit longer to know the final results…”

“Fivefold? Each god gives a 100% boost?”

“Yes. If you know of any other gods in similar situations, please introduce them. I don’t think I should take too many human apostles after seeing this efficiency.”

“I see. It’s better for both us and the forgotten gods to become your apostles rather than get captured by Ares. I’ll keep looking.”

“Alright. Then I’ll go check how much my daily income has increased.”

“Go ahead.”

He opened a portal for me again.

Through that portal, I returned home.

Suddenly, it felt like I’d won the lottery today.

With the Chaos investment, I leveled up my SP Exchange, and my Soul Mediation efficiency skyrocketed.

Now I was curious to see how much my income had increased.

With a heart full of anticipation, I went straight to sleep.

The next morning, a message appeared.

[You have earned over 50 million SP through Soul Mediation.]

[From over 50 million SP, income is capped based on your Soul Power. Your current Soul Power is 5034.]

[You have acquired 50.34 million SP.]

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