043 – Hidden Strength
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[Tomboy vs. Futa, Which is Better?]
LOL, I saw someone mention a Hero back in the old days of this community, so I analyzed every single line of dialogue this playthrough.
No wonder people can’t find the Hero with a disguise like *this*.
Why’s the Hero hiding that they’re the Hero, tho LOL.
Ah, well.
I can understand now why they concealed it. Sigh… Never mind.
I read every single line, without skipping a single one, just to reveal that this person is the Hero.
So proud ☆
You guys should try it too.
You’ll be shocked for real when you find out who the Hero is. FR
[Comments]
– Is this forreal fr?
– I get the clickbait title, but you gotta tell us who the Hero is, you b*stard
ㄴ LOLOLOL damn I’m so curious now WTF LOL The Hero is who??
– So the Hero is someone you can only find by not skipping dialogue… No wonder Koreans couldn’t find the Hero.
ㄴ (OP): FR, I felt something was off about what the Hero was saying while analyzing the dialogues one by one, so I kept probing and barely figured it out.
ㄴ So who is the Hero?
ㄴ (OP): I’m not the only one suffering this ordeal.
– (RedEyes): Obviously futa! Buried in huge breasts while your nether regions are going *spicy*? That’s heaven LOL
ㄴ Uh… uhhh… um…
ㄴ (RedEyes): Oh WTF. It was a bait title. Ugh…
ㄴ LOLOLOLOL OP needs to apologize LOLOLOL
ㄴ (OP): S-Sorry…
– OP murdered someone LOLOLOL
—
No wonder Ms. Lumia looked familiar…
It wasn’t because she was a significant NPC at the Arcane Campus.
It was because she was the second person I saved from a Doppelganger after getting Isekai’d into the Magic Kingdom.
‘If only I’d remembered sooner…’
Of course, having realized that only now…
“Are you the Saintess?”
“Are you really… really the Saintess?”
“Lumia, is it true? Is this the Saintess you were talking about… is it really her?”
I was surrounded by countless priests and bombarded with questions.
“Well…”
I wanted to tell these priests that they were wrong, but…
The biggest problem was that I, myself, didn’t even know what my position was.
“…Could I have some time, please?”
So, I asked for a little time.
“…”
“…”
“…”
“Ugh…”
In an instant, one could experience the miracle of all the priests falling silent.
*When did I learn a silence skill too?*
Since when have I possessed a Silence…
—
Lumia (20)
[Abduction] – Active
[Eavesdropping] – Chris Liandri
[Sleep] – Active
[Infiltration] – Active
[Silence] – Active
—
*???*
Why is this real??
*Am I truly a Saintess??*
The Goddess is showering me with skills like this, could it be I was actually a Saint all along?
“Please excuse me…I shall go and offer a prayer in solitude.”
Now, even I am going mad with curiosity.
Whether I’m a Hero, a Saint, or just the kidnapper Mikhail…
…
Thanks to all the priests vacating the premises when I expressed my desire to pray alone.
I was now sitting alone in the deserted grand cathedral.
“I wonder if this will work…”
I thought, gazing up at the enormous stone statue of the Goddess ‘Libera’, who was said to watch over the Arcane Magic Kingdom.
*It really looks like my mom…*
This statue…it feels similar to how I remember my mother’s appearance from my childhood.
*Well, it’s possible they’re alike.*
Truthfully, while my mother was quite pretty, in a South Korea overflowing with plastic surgery beauties, she had a fairly common face.
The feeling of resemblance must be due to my old memories fading, so I decided to shake off the extraneous thoughts and return to the main point.
“Greetings. My name is Mihyeon, oh Goddess.”
Currently, the Goddess is indeed influencing my status window, but she couldn’t display messages on it.
Therefore, most people would assume I couldn’t communicate with the Goddess through my status window.
*Well, I have nothing to lose by trying.*
If I could discern just the two answers ‘Yes’ and ‘No’ in our dialogue.
The inability to display messages wouldn’t pose any problem whatsoever in communicating.
“Goddess. If you can hear my voice, could you change the skills marked as ‘Active’ to usable?”
—
[Infiltration] – Available
[Silence] – Available
—
‘There!’
With that, I’d confirmed it was possible to receive the Goddess’s answers using the status window.
I, ‘Mihan,’ began asking about my role in the Arcane Magocracy.
“If I’m a Hero, please make the Infiltration skill available, and if I’m a Saint, could you make the Silence skill available?”
Thump-thump…
I pretended I wasn’t, but a little bit of expectation bubbled up.
Could it be that loafer, unemployed Mihan, was actually a Hero? Or a Saint? Was I actually hiding my true power?!
Others might call it pathetic, but hiding your true power – that’s where it’s at –
—
[Infiltration] – Activated
[Silence] – Activated
—
“…Uh, am I just a kidnapper, then?”
—
[Infiltration] – Available
[Silence] – Available
—
“…I didn’t even ask you to change it to ‘available’ yet?”
—
[Infiltration] – Activated
[Silence] – Activated
—
Ta-da! Not someone hiding their true power! Just a plain old zero.
And the Goddess herself certified me as a bona fide kidnapper!
‘I really didn’t want to swallow this red pill…’
My enthusiasm deflated like a popped balloon, but on the other hand, it was a relief.
Running around like a Hero or Saint? Nah, for a modern person, being a rich, unemployed bum was the best option.
“You didn’t even wait to hear the ‘kidnapper or what?’ part of the question before affirming it…”
I had many other questions I wanted to ask, but.
Hundreds of priests were waiting for me outside the cathedral, so, leaving only one last question, I decided to stand up.
“Perhaps… even though I’m neither a Saint nor a Hero, am I in a situation where I must strive to save the Magocracy?”
—
[Infiltration] – Activated
[Silence] – Activated
—
Judging by the fact they didn’t change to “available.”
It seemed I didn’t have to roll up my sleeves and sacrifice myself for the Magocracy, after all.
Okay, confirmed: certified loafer, unemployed!
Looks like the power of the Goddess I’ve been wielding was compensation for being a victim, spirited away and essentially kidnapped into this Arcane Magocracy.
…
‘…This is a bit much.’
Opening the doors of the Cathedral and stepping outside, I was greeted by a throng of priests, all staring at me with shining, expectant eyes.
But, blessedly, I wasn’t the figure they were hoping for.
“I’m truly sorry to disappoint everyone who had such high hopes for me.”
I told them the truth, hoping to extract myself from this burdensome situation.
“I’m not a Hero, nor am I a Saint.”
“And how would you know that?”
“It’s a confirmed fact, directly from the Goddess herself.”
“So… you’ve received a revelation from the Goddess Libera, is it?”
“Uh…”
“You’re saying you’ve heard the voice of the Goddess, a voice that only a Hero or Saint could possibly hear… aren’t you?”
I didn’t *hear* it.
I only *saw* her.
So Heroes and Saints can hear the Goddess’s voice?
I bet it’s an absolutely beautiful voice, isn’t it?
Unfortunately for them, I’m just Mikhail the abductee, acknowledged as such even by the Goddess, stuck with only seeing my status window, ya know?
“No, that’s not quite right…”
Ah, this look… I know this look well.
The look of someone who won’t believe the truth, even if I spell it out for them.
“…I’m really not.”
However, I couldn’t bring myself to agree with something that simply wasn’t true.
I tried my utmost to explain that I wasn’t a Saint, but…
“The Pope is on his way here.”
Right!
I cleanly give up!
‘Wherever you are, Hero, Saint! I apologize!’
…
—
SECRID (72)
[Abduction] – Active
[Eavesdropping] – Chris Liandri
[Sleep] – Active
[Infiltration] – Active
[Silence] – Active
—
“…”
A septuagenarian staring at me with a clearly bewildered expression.
Sacred.
He was an NPC that any player frequenting the Arcane Campus couldn’t help but know, even if they wanted to…
“…Could you repeat that, please?”
It was His Holiness, the Pope, the highest authority in the Papal State.
“You may find it hard to believe, but… I am neither a Hero nor a Saint. I have confirmed this directly with the Goddess…”
“…And how, precisely, did you confirm this?”
“With the Goddess Libera…”
“…So, despite not being a Hero or a Saint, you claim to know the will of the Lord?”
‘Careful now, if I say the wrong thing…’
I thought I was barely avoiding Mihail the kidnapper’s imperial prison ending.
Now I was facing a religious trial as a Hero imposter, or perhaps a Saint imposter.
“That is…”
I had no idea what to say. After endless deliberation, I finally arrived at a conclusion…
“I cannot hear the Goddess’s voice. However… I can know Her will.”
“…Pardon?”
“It’s difficult to explain in detail, but I assure you, it’s the truth…”
“So, Mister, you say that even though you are not a Saint… you can know the will of the Lord?…”
“Yes…”
“…Yes?”
“Uh… I just answered ‘yes’…”
“Ah… No, never mind.”
I was just telling them the truth, as plainly and honestly as possible.
*
“What?”
I could scarcely believe my ears upon hearing that a Saint had appeared.
After all…
“The individual who accompanied the Archmage in the search for Doppelgangers is said to be a Saint.”
“We depart immediately.”
Daisy, who was selected alongside me as a Saint, was certainly…
Long since passed away.
“…”
That was why I couldn’t help but think this.
That the calamity of mankind, lurking near the Archmage, was trying to harm humanity’s ultimate weapon.
And to achieve that goal, they were impersonating a Saint.
‘For this moment.’
Perhaps they had been concealing their identity for a long time, for this very moment.
It was perplexing, but the reason I, as the Pope, had been chosen by the Goddess as a Hero, yet had hidden my true identity all this time, was…
For this moment–
“No, I truly am not a Saint…”
‘…Just an honest man, it seems…?’
He insists he’s no saint, yet the other priests within the Holy See regard Mihan with a look that says the contrary could never be.
‘..Huh?’
Utterly bewildered, I first engaged Mihan in conversation to understand the inexplicable situation.
“So, Mihan-nim… you’re saying that even though you’re not a saint, you can understand the Lord’s will?..”
To understand the Lord’s will without being a saint…
What utter nonsense…
– It is truth.
“..Pardon?”
“Oh.. just, I simply responded ‘yes’ to you…”
“Ah… it’s nothing.”
– The child does not lie.
‘..Understood, Lord.’
For reasons unknown…
It was certain that the Lord was giving the man before me special consideration.
‘A future saint, perhaps?’
I decided to perceive Mihan merely as someone who would fill the vacant seat of the Saintess.