Level Up Inquisitor [EN]: Chapter 14

14. Apostle

“Cr… Crazy.”

“No way…….”

Users muttered, dumbfounded.

Hiding on the building to avoid the Tragueoul, they couldn’t close their mouths after seeing Aile take down the field boss monster all by himself.

Putting aside the unexpected explosion item, the movements and reaction speed he showed while attacking the Tragueoul were beyond the level of ordinary users.

His sense of balance, which allowed him to hang on without budging despite the fierce struggles of the boss monster, and the movements that were only seen in highlight videos of top players, gave them goosebumps.

Moreover, most of his armor was a basic beginner’s set, and his equipment didn’t look that good, yet he was much stronger than his visible stats.

From the users’ point of view, who couldn’t know that Aile was receiving grace from Ru because he belonged to the Order of Light, they could only gape, unable to understand what they were seeing.

“Why is a guy like that in a place like this…….”

“Wait… But why is he just standing there without picking up the items?”

A man who noticed something strange pointed at Aile.

In a situation where he should be shouting with excitement or quickly picking up the items, Aile was just staring blankly ahead.

* * *

[You have become an apostle of ‘Ru, the Judge of Light’!]

[The influence on the faith increases dramatically.]

[Apostle-only skills have been activated.]

[Madness stat has been activated.]

These phrases floated before Aile’s eyes.

One might be bewildered by the status windows that suddenly appeared without explanation, but surprisingly, Aile understood the concepts related to them, and they all entered his head without exception.

What an apostle is, what to do in the future.

And what he would get in return for listening to ‘Ru’s request.

Just like when users first started War Lord, the system naturally internalized the basic controls and the feeling of using skills; all the general knowledge about the apostle system flowed into his head.

Aile, who suddenly came to his senses, first applied the title he had obtained and opened the status window.

Name: Aile

Title: Holy Punisher

Faction: Order of Light

Level: 13

Class: Inquisitor

Main Stats

Strength: 47(+12) Agility: 33(+10) Stamina: 40(+10) Magic Power: 20(+10) Faith: 12.2(+10) Madness: 11(+10)

Passive

[Fanatical Martyr (Basic)], [Blade of Hatred (Basic)]

Active

[Sentence of Punishment (Apostle)], [Designate Heretic (Apostle)]

‘Holy Punisher’ Title Effect – All stats +10, Damage against heretics +3%

Faith: Goddess of Justice, Light, and Madness

Position: Apostle of Ru

Goddess’s Favor: 51.86%

Contribution: 205 (Cumulative 205)

“Huh…….”

Aile exclaimed softly and rubbed his eyes.

At first glance, it might seem like a status window with decent content compared to his level, but nothing particularly outstanding.

But if you look a little closer, you can see that it is definitely not the case.

His position in the Order, which was only the lowest novice priest, had become an ‘Apostle’, and the Madness stat was also activated in bright color.

Unlike the 5th exclusive stat given to each class, Madness, located in the 6th slot, was an exclusive stat given only to each apostle.

It gave a powerful bonus that enhanced all combat-related stats, separate from the bonus according to the goddess’s favor, and it was a stat that gradually increased as he defeated heretics.

Originally, it was not a stat that could be obtained at this point, but Aile, who was directly chosen by Ru, was a complete exception.

‘Apostle…….’

Aile, who had stopped still, stared blankly at the system message.

Apostle-only skills that are not affected by the maximum skill limit, and apostle-only stats that increase all stats if you keep raising them.

These were truly fraudulent benefits, and if these things were a system given only to a special minority of users, it could be seen as a collapse of game balance.

But this was not a privilege that only a few users could enjoy, but a secondary content prepared for all users.

However, there was a reason why no user had ever been found to be an apostle.

It was a matter of timing.

The apostle system he was given now was a very late-game content that could be obtained much later.

There were few monsters in the 500 level range in the world of War Lord, but they were on a different level from the previous ones.

The monster’s health, attack power, speed, and even the difficulty of the pattern.

In all aspects, the specs increased rapidly compared to the previous stage, and it was very difficult for users to form a party and catch even one ‘trash mob’.

Knowing that this rapid increase in difficulty could not last long if the same hunting and spec-up were repeated endlessly, the developers added elements to add new variables.

Of course, as the monsters got stronger, there was a point when the users’ specs also increased by one level, and that was the apostle system that Aile got now.

If the 5th job-specific stat was to increase the efficiency of skills, the apostle-only stat obtained by becoming an apostle improved all the player’s stats.

From level 500, the amount of experience required also increased rapidly, so the leveling speed became very slow compared to before, so the stats obtained by simply leveling up were not enough, and they added new elements to increase specs.

Of course, general users who do not have faith also had an alternative system called awakening, and it was a system that could be obtained without any worries if the level was high enough.

‘The problem is that I already received it.’

Aile’s level is only 13.

He received the apostle system that he should have received at level 500, a whopping 487 levels ahead.

Considering that one of the common conditions for raising the 6th stat is that the hunting target must be a monster of a similar level, the low-level Aile can raise the stats that others will have to barely raise by catching difficult monsters later on, incomparably easily.

Furthermore, compared to others who start raising additional stats from level 500, Aile can gradually raise them from a much earlier point, so he can accumulate stats that cannot be compared to them.

At that time, Ru’s system message flashed in front of Aile’s eyes, who was concentrating.

[‘Ru, the Judge of Light’ is looking at you triumphantly.]

‘As expected… She was watching.’

Originally, the seven gods in War Lord were supposed to be half asleep until the level of the leading player exceeded level 500.

And after someone was first appointed as an apostle after exceeding level 500, the scenario was that all the gods would wake up and fight for the leadership of the world.

But the situation changed when Ru, the goddess of light, the only one of them who broke the schedule and woke up from sleep, appeared.

Ru clearly said that she had gathered all her power gained after waking up and used it to make herself an apostle.

In her expression, ‘faith’.

It seemed to mean the influence that could intervene in this world, and she did not use that power to increase the power of the Order [religious organization] or for other purposes, but she invested everything only to appoint Aile as an apostle.

Ru’s actions, which may seem like she has given up all the advantages she gained as the only god who woke up first.

But she was not a charity worker, and Aile also knew exactly what Ru wanted in return.

‘She definitely told me to collect faith…….’

In Aile’s estimation, the gods of War Lord seemed to gain influence through the activities of their believers or apostles.

That means that if Aile, who was appointed as an apostle, actively engages in activities, whether it be missionary work or heretic hunting, Ru, the god of light he follows, will also be able to continuously collect influence.

And Ru’s purpose was to gain overwhelming leadership in the inevitable competition with other gods in the future with the influence gained through him.

“What if the developers find an error and invalidate it?”

Aile, who had organized his thoughts, suddenly looked at the air and asked.

Anyone who sees it will send strange glances, but there was no one around, and a definite answer came back.

[‘Ru, the Judge of Light’ sends a message.]

[She says that this situation is so complicated that it cannot be reversed unless the server is rolled back.]

‘That’s what she means…….’

When the system message came back, Aile smiled faintly.

Server rollback.

The act of returning the entire game to a past point in time.

It was an extreme measure usually taken when a serious flaw or bug that is difficult to fix is found in the game.

Players’ levels and items, as well as quests they have done, boss monsters they have defeated, records they have hardly set, and even data on all transactions made in the game are returned to before the set point in time.

No matter how much they try to appease the users by giving them various rewards, it is not an easy measure to take because the risk is so great.

However, in the case of an unexpected situation such as one of the gods waking up earlier than expected, it was possible to reverse it while considering such risks.

Of course, only in the case of ‘general games’.

But in this case, it was impossible.

War Lord had long surpassed the category of ordinary games.

It was a huge market where a huge amount of capital was exchanged even at this moment, and it was also another world with over 100 million users.

But what if such a huge market is turned back a few days ago?

A situation that is not enough to be simply called a disaster will occur.

This was a risk that even the War Lord developers couldn’t handle.

I was worried that the developers might notice the situation, put Ru to sleep, and take away my apostle position again, but there was no need to worry about that.

Even a few hours of rollback would be a challenge with a huge risk, but seeing that it has been quiet without any news for days, there was no answer even if the developers belatedly realized it.

Aile threw the next question at the satisfactory answer.

“I understand the goddess’s will well. However, there is one thing I would like to ask, should I proceed without regard to means and methods in collecting faith?”

[‘Ru, the Judge of Light’ shakes her head.]

‘Hmm…….’

Aile paused at Ru’s answer and pondered.

It seemed that the goddess he followed wanted to move according to justice as set.

The seven gods are aware that War Lord is in the game, but the originally set tendencies and directions seem to be kept as they are, regardless of that.

Of course, the justice that Ru is talking about is so radical that there seems to be no situation where he will be greatly frustrated by being bound by restrictions, but it seems necessary to refrain from doing things like PK [Player Killing] first to users who are passing by without any sin.

[‘Ru, the Judge of Light’ informs you that this is the last message.]

The goddess sent her last message because she could no longer answer.

It seemed that even sending text to the user consumed a certain amount of influence.

Most of the questions were answered as information came into his head as he became an apostle, and it didn’t matter because all the most 궁금하던 [curious] parts were solved through questions.

‘Should I do Jeolla-do once.’

A smile naturally appeared on Aile’s lips as he grasped the situation.

The device that he had been hoping for so much as a full-time player to catch up with the leading rankers was finally prepared.

So that Aile, who started a year late, could overtake them… No, rather, a powerful device that could overwhelm them because he started late.