Please Stop The Pope

Chapter 97

Breaking Down the Barriers

Sejong Daily reporter Seo Tae-ho was a reporter famous within the company for being a “Kim Siwoo fanatic.”

Despite the flood of breaking news stories such as scandals involving high-ranking officials and major guild corruption cases, he consistently uploaded articles about Kim Siwoo.

His unwavering dedication to Kim Siwoo began with the press conference in Guro-gu, where Kim Siwoo first appeared before the public.

Trading someone’s faith as collateral for something is something only merchants do.

The moment Seo Tae-ho heard Kim Siwoo’s words, he felt a shiver.

Although he was an atheist by nature, looking back on that moment, he could say it was as if he had fallen in love at first sight.

Since then, he had written countless articles about Kim Siwoo’s actions, even going so far as to formally join the Limen Church as a believer.

Though his department head scolded him, saying, “Stop writing about Kim Siwoo and write something else, you idiot!” it didn’t matter to him.

He believed it was his mission to spread Kim Siwoo’s story to the world.

The bald department head’s nagging? He could endure that anytime for the sake of his mission.

And today, he was once again writing an article about Kim Siwoo for the internet.

[Title: The Irregular of South Korea Shocks the World and Makes China Tremble in Fear!]

The last time Kim Siwoo performed a good deed was in the refugee village located in the northern part of Daejeon.

While many media outlets had shifted their focus to “the Saint of Daejeon,” Pastor Seo Seong-shin, who was referred to as the “Saint of Daejeon” after the continuous media exposure of Kim Siwoo, for Seo Tae-ho, the “Saint of Daejeon” meant nothing.

He was simply writing article after article about Kim Siwoo.

Ding ding ding—!

As he diligently wrote his article, an alarm went off on his phone, which was lying next to him.

「Limen Church Official Channel Live Broadcast in 3 Minutes.」

Yesterday evening, Kim Siwoo had personally left a notice about the live broadcast on the channel.

Since it was extremely rare for a live broadcast to be announced in advance, Seo Tae-ho had naturally set an alarm.

“I can’t miss the Pope’s live broadcast.”

He paused his work and immediately opened the internet browser. Then, he clicked on the Limen Church’s MyTube channel, which was bookmarked as number one.

Although the live broadcast hadn’t started yet, the chat was already in chaos.

I came here for a pilgrimage in advance. Is this the place that grants wishes?

Everyone! Please become an official member of the Limen Church.

Please watch the lecture video by Archbishop Leo uploaded on the channel.

Folder Lord! Folder Lord! Folder Lord!

Sis, I’m dying! Sis, I’m dying! Sis, I’m dying!

I’m from Japan. Black Pope. I respect and love you.

Although it wasn’t Seo Tae-ho’s first live broadcast, he thought the chat was unusually chaotic today.

“Tsk. The Pope is coming out personally; we should prepare with reverence.”

The “Archbishop Leo’s doctrinal lecture video” written in the chat was a total of 15 videos, and Seo Tae-ho had already watched those videos more than 20 times each.

If it were up to him, he would have gone straight to the Limen Church’s temple to meet them and hear the divine words, but the temple was still not open to the public.

‘When will I be able to visit in person?’

Once the purification work was finished and the barrier surrounding Ground Zero was dismantled, Seo Tae-ho believed that would be the day he could finally become a true believer of the Limen Church.

“Whoo.”

He exhaled deeply, waiting for the broadcast to begin.

Three minutes passed, and soon, Kim Siwoo appeared on the monitor.

“Hello, everyone. I’m Kim Siwoo, leading the Limen Church. I’d like to thank Lady Limen for allowing me to bring you some good news.”

‘Good news?’

It wasn’t Kim Siwoo’s first live broadcast.

He had done live broadcasts a few times recently, but this first remark of Kim Siwoo was far more serious than any of the previous ones.

Moreover, the broadcast wasn’t from the Pope’s office, where it had been filmed several times, but from an external location.

This broadcast felt different from the usual spontaneous live streams.

It was as if he was about to announce something.

Is something big coming?

Something big is coming;;

Something REALLY big is coming ooooooooooo

It wasn’t just Seo Tae-ho who was expecting something. The chat exploded with excitement.

“Before I share the good news with you, there are some guests who graciously joined our broadcast today.”

On the screen, Kim Siwoo was smiling.

“First, I would like to welcome the President of South Korea, Seo Shin-woo, who has joined us despite his busy schedule.”

“…President?”

It wasn’t a joke.

With Kim Siwoo’s introduction, the camera turned to show the President sitting in the guest seat.

And Seo Tae-ho’s shock didn’t end there.

For a brief moment, he clearly saw. Aiden Howard and Emma Miller from the U.S. were sitting next to the President.

Seo Tae-ho, who had worked as a reporter in the Awakened Department for five years, recognized them immediately.

And that’s when it happened.

Ding ding ding—!

His phone, which had been lying on the desk, rang.

“Boss. I’m busy right now, but I’ll call you back after watching this…”

Tae-ho! Tae-ho! Are you home?

“Yeah, why?”

You live near Ground Zero, right?! Rush to Ground Zero right now! I’ll send the filming crew right away, okay? Got it? This is a scoop, a scoop! No time to waste! Call me when you get there!

Click—

The boss hastily hung up, and Seo Tae-ho stared blankly at the monitor.

“Dear citizens of our nation. This is President Seo Shin-woo.”

Another monumental broadcast was beginning.

The live broadcast today, which began with President Seo Shin-woo’s reference speech, was already going viral.

The chat?

The speed at which the chat was moving had reached a point where even my visual tracking couldn’t keep up.

And I hadn’t expected that Emma Miller’s recognition would rise this much.

When Emma Miller appeared, the reaction was even more intense than when President Seo Shin-woo had first appeared.

According to Minsoo, Emma Miller was originally someone who avoided media exposure. To think that the once mysterious ‘Oracle’ Emma Miller would willingly appear as a guest on my broadcast was unexpected.

By using all the cheat codes—President, Oracle, Barbarian—the number of viewers and every indicator had surged to an unfathomable level.

On top of that, reporters were heading towards Ground Zero, so just that alone proved the topic’s explosive newsworthiness.

“Now, I’ll hand the microphone back to my precious friend, Pope Kim Siwoo.”

After the last guest, Aiden’s greeting, the speaking rights returned to me, and I slowly made my way to the podium.

“I would like to express my gratitude once again to our guests who traveled from far and wide to be here today.”

What I appreciated most about them was that they kept silent about why they were here until the very end.

They raised expectations just enough and then left, allowing me to announce at the perfect moment.

I looked around at the cameras filming me, then confidently continued speaking.

“First, let’s watch a video from the filming drone.”

The scene smoothly transitioned on the monitor.

The camera that had been filming me switched to the camera of the filming drone.

On the newly displayed screen, the scene of Ground Zero, which had undergone the purification process, was being broadcast.

Starting from the garden area of the previously revealed temple grounds, extending all the way to the outskirts, touching the Ark.

Where once only the ruins of buildings and the traces of intense tragedy remained, now every corner was blooming with vibrant life.

Flowers and trees were beautifully blossoming even in the winter of December.

The Ground Zero shown through the filming drone seemed to have already overcome the terrible disaster of the past.

“The magi contamination that once tainted Seoul’s Ground Zero has been completely purified. As you can see, life is beginning to grow here once again.”

This place was no longer barren land.

Looking down from above, this place had become a large and beautiful garden.

At the center of the garden, our church’s temple and facilities stood harmoniously, blending in perfectly.

Soon, the filming drone began to focus on the barrier surrounding the beautiful garden, the Ark.

The endless black barrier, the final defense that had isolated Seoul from the terrible disaster of magical contamination.

The reason Seoul hadn’t lost all its functionality was largely due to the presence of this massive barrier.

But now, there was no longer any magical contamination for the Ark to protect against.

“The Ark has finally completed its mission.”

Ark.

The fact that the name of the Ark, a massive vessel designed to survive a great disaster, was the same as the name of the black barrier seemed, upon reflection, to be perfect naming.

Wiiing—

Once again, the scene transitioned, and the broadcast began showing me.

I stared directly at the camera and slowly began to speak.

“Starting tomorrow, we will begin the dismantling of the Ark…”

But then,

[Your deity is delivering a prophecy!]

Suddenly, a message window appeared in front of me, and the voice I had longed to hear rang in my ears.

『It’s been a long time, Siwoo. I rushed over as soon as my urgent task was done, but it looks like you’re in the middle of something very important? Did I interrupt?』

‘…Limen?’

『I missed you! There are so many more believers now since I last saw you. I’m so happy. Looks like I chose a good Pope!』

Limen.

I was momentarily lost for words due to her sudden prophecy. Then, I saw the crowd watching the announcement start to murmur.

To them, it must have seemed like I suddenly stopped talking, so it was a natural reaction.

However, Limen didn’t care about their reaction and continued with the prophecy.

『With this many believers gathered and this place being my holy ground, there shouldn’t be any big issues.』

‘What are you planning to do?’

『I’m thinking of doing something to save our Pope’s face.』

At that moment.

[Your deity is directly intervening with the holy ground.]

[She is performing a miracle.]

Fwoooosh—!

The black barrier that had stood so high was now bathed in a pure white light.

The light that spread from the top of the barrier quickly covered the entire barrier.

And shortly after,

Swoooosh—

“Hmm?”

“Wowwwww!”

“So beautiful…”

The Ark began to slowly disintegrate from the top down.

The pure white light powder scattered into the surroundings, sparkling in the sunlight.

Some people gasped in awe, while others clasped their hands and closed their eyes.

The scene of the sacred light removing the black barrier that had isolated this place from the outside world was nothing short of miraculous.

I, too, gazed at the scene, mesmerized.

『On Earth, people would say this is insane, right? But Siwoo, you need to finish up if you want to look cool on the broadcast!』

The scenery was so beautiful that I must have stared at it without realizing.

‘Right, I should.’

By now, the traces of the miracle had reached the ground and were slowly descending toward me.

I gently smiled, then looked back at the camera in front of me. With a very quiet voice, I concluded my words.

“The disaster that once struck this place has finally ended. Now, it’s time for us to leave the Ark and welcome a new world.”