A Legendary Korean Gamer Stuck in a Japanese Isekai – Chapter 5

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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: bchen3
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“Ahem. As the Hero just mentioned, I understand you’re all confused, but in such a situation, I believe a conversation is even more necessary. Would you all lend me your ears for a moment?”

The King, after gathering everyone’s attention, gestured to the Pope, uh… what was his name again, that old geezer, to cough and begin the explanation.

“As you all know, you have been summoned here to ‘Elysium’ as Heroes, according to the prophecy of the gods.”
Just then, a hand shot up from among the users.

It was an ordinary-looking young man, appearing to be a college student in his early twenties.

“Do you have a question?”

“Are you the ones who summoned us?”

“That would be both right and wrong.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

The Pope, whose name I still couldn’t recall, stroked his well-maintained white beard, like a wise old man from a world-famous fantasy novel, and said.

“The summoning circle beneath your feet was indeed crafted by us, using rare materials gathered from all over the world, in preparation for the prophesied time when you would arrive. However, we are but mere mortals. Though precious, these materials are still from the human realm and cannot perform miracles such as summoning heroes across vast distances of time and space, let alone short spatial jumps.”

The Pope raised his scepter, using it like a walking stick as he walked towards us.

Dressed in antique robes and with a presence that rivaled any veteran actor, he approached the users. Our group of nerds, who were dragged away in the middle of a game show, began to panic.

Upon reaching the summoning circle, the Pope knelt and extended his hand towards the faintly glowing circle on the floor.

A cluster of pure white light gathered in his hand, but then—

Bzzt!

His hand was thrown back, sparks flying with a loud crackle.

Those who had gathered close by, watching curiously, were startled and stepped back, but the Pope simply chuckled with a kind, grandfatherly smile.

“This foolish old man, though holding the position of Pope in the pantheon, believes himself to possess a respectable amount of divine power. However, as you can see, I am unable to activate the summoning circle. And not just priests, even if the greatest archmage were here, it would be the same.”

“…Then?”

“It was not by our human will that you were summoned, but by the true masters of this world, the gods of the pantheon. Sadly, due to the intrusion of the wicked, they currently rule only half the continent.”

I had been listening quietly up until this point, but honestly…

‘This is useless.’

It was the usual world-building exposition you’d skip through if you could.

Given the situation, I thought I might miss something important, but this was something I could ignore entirely.

“…If those gods in the pantheon summoned us, can’t they send us back?”

“Well, we simply prepared the summoning circle according to the prophecy. We don’t fully understand its workings. While there are records of similar hero summonings in the distant past, they are treated as mere legends, and there’s not much information available. However…”

As if tired from his long explanation, the Pope paused to catch his breath and stroked his beard.

Seriously, it’s just setting up the story, why bother with so much detail…

“The gods will know the answer. After all, it was they who gave the prophecy that you would be summoned.”

Well, that’s a common trope.

And to learn the will of the gods, we’ll probably have to work like slaves, doing their bidding for some kind of reward… as is the standard in these RPGs…

“The gods await you in the pantheon. If you have any questions, why not ask them directly?”

Oh, I was wrong.

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The king, as if relieved to be rid of a troublesome task, left after entrusting us to the Pope.

The Pope, accompanied by priests and soldiers, led the users towards the pantheon, located within the royal palace.

It’s not a big deal to nitpick the game’s setting, but it’s strange to have a pantheon inside the royal palace.

Has there never been a conflict between royal and religious authority here?

Strangely, there’s no sense of power struggle between the king and the Pope.

‘…I don’t know about anything else, but the developer put a lot of effort into the NPCs.’

Even if a well-made AI is human-like, it takes a lot of work.

Moreover, seeing how they respond to us not in a one-to-one manner, but by handling multiple users and responding dynamically, they feel truly human.

I don’t know what the purpose of this is, but at least they’re committed.

Frankly, if this level of detail was put into a crappy game with no redeeming qualities, it would be a real shame.

At least this much technical skill easily surpasses AAA standards.

‘Still, it doesn’t change the fact that this sucks.’

I thought as I entered the pantheon.

If this was all the work of some kind of ideologue with a strong philosophy about games, they’d try to convey their message somehow.

Maybe they’re aiming for a natural reveal?

‘Maybe they’ll pretend to be a god in the pantheon and indirectly express their thoughts.’

For a decent twist, it’s possible that one of the 108 of us is the developer.

“Oh…!”

As I was lost in thought, gasps of admiration arose around me.

Looking around, I saw numerous statues of gods, carved from marble.

The marble statues, bathed in a light different from the sun shining from the ceiling, blended with the surrounding church architecture to create a sacred and solemn atmosphere.

‘No real church building can compare to this.’

But more than that, I was a little worried.

The texture, the light and shadow effects… this was insane. Considering the responsiveness and NPC programming, the game seemed incredibly demanding.

…This is all being rendered in real-time. Even with the capsule’s processing assistance, is my brain going
to be okay?

This workload can’t be a joke.

“I believe some explanation is needed here.”

As we moved past the area where the statues were displayed and entered the inner section, a space with a strange atmosphere appeared.

Except for the entrance and the opposite end, everything was pure white.

A space with a vague sense of height and width.

The entrance, built in a normal architectural style, felt out of place.

But even more alien was the opposite end of the entrance, existing like a black hole as depicted in old times, within that pure white space.

You could call it a portal.

‘…This is super fishy.’

It seemed I wasn’t the only one thinking this, as others also looked at the black portal with suspicion.

“In this world, when one reaches the age of 19, they undergo a coming-of-age ceremony where they visit the pantheon to meet the gods and receive their class.”

“Oh.”

Exclamations of admiration erupted here and there.

Is this the tutorial for the system?

I need to focus.

“Before explaining this portal, I would like everyone to bring up their ‘Status Window’.”

…Are NPCs allowed to be this meta?

“…Do you know what a Status Window is?”

Someone asked, as if reading my mind.

“Any sentient being in this world possesses a Status Window. It’s common knowledge here.”

What a convenient world.

I grumbled internally and called up my Status Window.

[Name: Yoon Si-hu]

[Main Class: Hero[EX] – None]
[Sub Class[0/3]: None]
[Life – 10.3] – Lv. 1
[Earth – 10.1] – Lv. 1
[Strength – 10.3] – Lv. 1
[Agility – 10.5] – Lv. 1
[Circuit – 0] – Lv. 1
[Mana – 0] – Lv. 1
[Divinity – 0] – Lv. 1

Skills (2/15): Babel’s Language (EX), Hero’s Fate (EX)

[EXP: 1062464]
[Achievements: 12-time World Champion, 7 others – Show More]

‘…I mean, my information is all over the internet anyway.’

It felt awkward seeing my real name instead of my pro gamer name, Kid.

But the stats are inconsistent… are they random?

I can’t see other people’s Status Windows, so I can’t compare.

I’ll have to compare them later when I have time.

What are EXP and Achievements, anyway?

We haven’t even started, but there are already significant numbers and titles.

“What do you see in your Main Class section?”

“It says Hero. And A… is that the rank? It also says ‘None’ next to it.”

“A… You’re a Hero with extraordinary talent. Your assumption is correct. The letter next to it represents the rank of the class or skill you acquire. However, even with the same A rank, a Hero and, say, a Skeleton, are worlds apart in their caliber and abilities. Hero is a top-tier class, its potential unparalleled by any other.”

‘…So the Hero rank is randomly assigned? EX… I don’t know what the lower ranks are, but if we go by the usual logic, it’s A, S, EX from the bottom up.’

I began to organize what I needed to learn later.

The Pope stroked his beard once more and continued his explanation.

“In fact, you Heroes are a very special case. As I mentioned earlier, those born in Elysium do not receive any class at birth. However, you Heroes already possess the Hero class from the start. No one in this world can have two Main Classes. It is a privilege granted only to Heroes.”

“Does that mean…?”

“If a Hero receives another Main Class from the gods, for example, the Swordsman class, an ordinary person would simply become a Swordsman. However, a Hero would become a Sword Hero.”

So the Hero class is like a suffix.

I think I understand the logic behind the setting.

It means that Heroes, unlike NPCs, have a much higher potential for end-game stats.

“The class given in this way is semi-permanent. Afterwards, by accumulating appropriate EXP and fulfilling certain conditions, you can evolve into a better class or acquire additional classes. And if you achieve extraordinary feats that even the gods acknowledge, you can even be granted classes not normally allowed. However, this is an achievement accomplished by only a handful of legendary figures throughout history.”

A hand shot up.

“How do we raise our EXP?”

“A good question.”

“EXP is gained by accomplishing something. It could be through training, studying, or even defeating beasts and monsters. It’s the accumulation of experience in the soul, elevating it to a higher level. That is EXP.”

So it’s experience points.

“And among them, the way to gain the most EXP is, as I explained last, by defeating beasts and monsters. Life is the most valuable thing, after all.”

So combat gives more experience than crafting or training. Well, it makes sense.

“And while a bit unique, there is one more way.”

The Pope stroked his beard and gestured to one of the priests with his left hand.

A priest approached and handed him a box.

The Pope opened it and took out a crystal-like object.

“This is an Essence Crystal. It is the sole currency of this world and serves as a vessel for storing ‘Essence,’ which can be converted into EXP through offerings.”

It’s basically a wallet, but this is quite unique.

A functional currency?

Is it a similar concept to Jonathan’s Ring from Diablo 2 or the Orbs from Path of Exile?

“The amount of EXP a person can absorb per day is limited. Any excess EXP lingers briefly before dissipating, but with this Essence Crystal, you can store it. Most monster cores can also be converted into Essence using this crystal. However, be warned that cores used this way disappear and cannot be crafted into items.”

It seems most of the users understood the explanation, being avid gamers.

There were some who seemed clueless, but…

“My explanation of EXP has become lengthy, but I deemed it necessary as it is an important matter.”

The Pope cleared his throat and continued.

“As you may have guessed, this portal leads to the place where you will meet the gods. From this point forward, you Heroes must meet the gods and choose your classes.”

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