After declaring that I would banish anyone who made fun of me, the interview commenced in a solemn atmosphere.
At first, the interviewees were laughing and chatting, but they quickly transformed into serious faces as they answered questions. The playful smiles were wiped clean from their faces.
Seo-yoon and Jun-seok Hwang weren’t much different. Their earlier mischievous grins had long disappeared.
The interview continued exactly as I had hoped.
‘Now this is how it should be.’
It seemed everyone was keen on avoiding banishment. That was a fact I could only welcome.
Interviews should be conducted in this serious manner. Only then can we select the right talent.
If everyone is just laughing and chatting, you can’t accurately gauge the capabilities of the applicants. I considered it essential to take necessary measures.
With a satisfied smile, I continued the interviews. It was about time to wrap things up.
“Seo-yoon, please ask the final common question.”
Upon my directive, Seo-yoon quickly posed a question to all the applicants.
“Please name one charm of the Pope as we go around the circle. If you can’t answer, you’re out, and we’ll continue until only one person remains.”
A game-like question asking about my charm points. It wasn’t serious, but it reflected the uniqueness of the MZ generation, which I appreciated.
However, there was a fatal flaw, so I had to stop it.
“That won’t do.”
“Why… can’t we do that?”
Perhaps because it was an official setting, Seo-yoon asked politely. She really knew how to navigate social scenarios like a true office worker.
I kindly smiled and answered.
“Well, I have too many charm points. If we proceed until only one person remains, it will take way too long. Let’s just limit it to one answer each.”
“…Yes.”
Seo-yoon slightly squinted her eyes in confusion but quickly returned to her original expression and said,
“You heard that? Kim Yi-jeong, you go first.”
Finally, it was Kim Yi-jeong’s turn, the “creator of the supplementary teacher,” who immediately opened her mouth without hesitation.
“The first charm that obviously comes to mind is your beauty. If we’re just talking about appearances, I think you still look like a high school girl.”
“……”
As soon as Kim Yi-jeong started her flattering spiel, the other applicants waiting for their turn sneered in disbelief.
I was a bit taken aback too. How could she flatter me with such a composed face?
Of course, it was true that I could pass for a high school girl. Wearing a school uniform would probably make me look like one of those teenage girls.
But it was embarrassing to say such a thing myself. I figured it would be hard for anyone else to say that without batting an eye, yet Kim Yi-jeong’s expression was simply calm.
‘She’s reliable.’
The main role of the public relations officer was to manage Liam. Having someone so brazenly flattering could be a huge help.
Liam doesn’t follow anyone’s words but exceptions do exist. He somewhat listens to compliments about himself.
Of course, he doesn’t fully accept them, but the key point is that he does listen. It’s like a trainer controlling a wild monster using its food.
“Then it’s your turn, Na-young.”
“I, um, I always appreciate your politeness…”
The next applicant’s turn came, but nothing particularly impressive followed.
It was the same for the other applicants. Everyone’s effort was painfully evident, much to my disappointment.
Why did they have to squeeze their brains so tightly? They could have just mentioned something easy like face, body, voice, or character—there were already four good options right there.
In the end, the only one who responded with ease to the sudden common question was Kim Yi-jeong. There was no escaping the fact that my preference was leaning toward her.
‘There’s no one else.’
Out of the fourteen applicants, only one was worthy of a pass.
In other words, the successful candidate had already been decided. However, I resolved to think it over until tomorrow. There was no need to rush my decision.
“You can go back now. Thank you for your hard work.”
After finishing the interviews for the third group, Seo-yoon leaned her head on my shoulder.
“I’m tired…”
“Thank you for your hard work. Let’s go home and have some chicken.”
“Make sure it’s fancy.”
“What do you mean by fancy?”
“It means expensive and delicious.”
These days, even regular chicken had quite the price tag. But for someone to use the word “expensive,” it must be pretty high.
It might easily exceed twenty thousand won. A bit of a burden, but I nodded.
“I’ll cover it today. The sponsor income is coming in soon.”
The funds received from the tribe are settled at the beginning of each month. Now that the end of the month was nearing, there was indeed not much left.
‘For a while, I won’t have to worry about money.’
This month was busy with lots of things to do and adapting to modern society, which meant I couldn’t go live as often.
Additionally, I intentionally refrained from going live when I had free time to strip away any excess fluff.
Still, I managed to earn quite a bit. Combining that with the government-provided childcare benefit, I wouldn’t have to worry about living expenses for the month.
The decision to stream online turned out to be the right one.
“I need to work harder on my broadcasts from now on.”
Almost all the fluff had been stripped away. During the second stream, fifty thousand viewers had tuned in, but nowadays viewership fluctuated between ten and twenty thousand.
This meant that people were starting to get somewhat accustomed to Korea’s first returnee.
So it was time to buckle down and truly pick up the pace.
“I’ll be streaming every day starting today.”
“To keep your brother and the kids fed, that’s for sure.”
Seo-yoon chuckled while resting her head on my shoulder.
“Let’s start iTube too. I’ll soon be resigning.”
“Got it.”
As we were briefly organizing our plans, Jun-seok Hwang, who had been fiddling with a paper straw looking somewhat awkward, suddenly spoke up.
“But what is your relationship, you two?”
That was a quick question. It seemed he had been glancing at us over and over.
Honestly, Seo-yoon and Jun-seok hadn’t even properly introduced themselves yet. They had been too preoccupied with the interview.
I thought it was about time for a proper introduction, as they might see each other often from now on.
I smiled and pointed to Seo-yoon.
“This is my sister, Lee Seo-yoon. She’s not my biological sister, but you could almost consider her family.”
Seo-yoon lightly bowed her head at my words. A very composed greeting befitting someone seasoned in social interactions.
“And this is Jun-seok Hwang. As you already know, he is scheduled to be appointed as a priest.”
“Hello…”
Unlike Seo-yoon, Jun-seok bent slightly at the waist a bit stiffly. The clear difference between an office worker and a job seeker was evident in that moment.
“If there’s something you wanted to say, now’s your chance.”
I prompted for a free conversation, but Jun-seok, who was rather shy, kept his lips sealed as if it were obvious.
In stark contrast, the more outgoing Seo-yoon looked at our priest candidate and said,
“But what kind of blessing did you receive?”
“I see your minds are in sync. I was actually going to ask that too.”
“Oh? Is it a blessing even the Pope doesn’t know about?”
“That’s right. A blessing created by the Goddess is hard for me to comprehend.”
“He must be quite a remarkable person.”
While we were chatting, Jun-seok suddenly spoke up cautiously, his eyes flickering.
“Uh, Pope? So, does that mean this blessing can’t be nullified even by the Pope?”
“Excuse me?”
To nullify the Goddess’s blessing? What on earth was he talking about?
“That’s a blessing that the Goddess granted directly, so I can’t nullify it either. Even if the Great Demon were to come personally, they probably couldn’t erase the blessing.”
“……”
Jun-seok hesitated for a moment, his mouth opening and closing before he let out a chuckle.
Then he looked at me with an enlightened expression.
“Do you have something to say?”
“Yes. I just thought of something to say.”
“Go ahead.”
As if he were hesitant to critique a fashion, he took a long pause before finally speaking.
“Pope, last time on your stream, you mentioned you were more beautiful than the Goddess?”
“…Yes.”
I responded somewhat apprehensively, preparing to use a note-taking app on my smartphone. It sounded like something I would need to write down.
Sure enough, Jun-seok, with a heavy sigh, continued.
“Honestly… I think the Goddess is much prettier. Isn’t there a gap between you and her?”
“……”
It wasn’t as impactful as I anticipated, as I was somewhat prepared. I calmly pulled out my smartphone and started moving my fingers.
-Unfortunately, it seems you’re starting to go down the wrong path already.
-It seems there’s a problem with your aesthetic judgment.
It appeared I would need to keep evaluating the soon-to-be priest candidate after all.
*
“I ate well.”
The chicken I ordered once I got home was, as Seo-yoon said, expensive and delicious.
But I still couldn’t figure out what made it different from other fried chickens. Next time, I was thinking of just ordering from a cheaper place.
Anyway, after a hearty meal, I spent some time playing with my daughters, who had been taken care of by Liam all day.
“I’m sleepy…”
“I want to sleep.”
Fortunately, Erina and Ibailla had just started playing and quickly went off to bed. It seemed they had played too hard with Dad.
I was completely drained from playing the role of the interviewer, and I wanted to sleep as well. However, I couldn’t take a break from streaming. That was a promise to my viewers.
“Rohan, let’s go.”
I fought off my drowsiness and picked up Rohan, then headed into the inner room to sit in front of the computer.
For today’s stream, I planned to introduce my son.
[Honest Stream Day 1]
After changing the stream title and waiting, the chat window started to rapidly fill up.
– Pope
– I thought you wouldn’t stream today again.
– Honest??
– Oh, is that your son?
“Hello, everyone.”
I held Rohan’s tiny hand and waved it. Completely clueless, Rohan mimicked my motions.
Still, he seemed to find it fun, smiling brightly. It was an adorable smile that would calm down any viewers who had been annoyed at the delay after not streaming for days.
But as I quietly watched the chat, some annoying comments began to pop up one by one.
– He looks just like his dad.
– For real, it’s a perfect match.
– He’ll turn out to be a hero like his dad when he grows up!
It seemed everyone thought Rohan had completely inherited Liam’s looks.
I thought so too. Hence, it was hard for me to shake off the unsettling feeling.
“Everyone, does personality also run in the genes? I’m worried he’ll just end up being a sloth like his dad, always lounging around.”
I genuinely asked out of concern, but everyone just started keying in ‘k’ while chuckling. They seemed to think I was joking.
While observing the blossoming laughter in the chat, a donation came through. I recognized the username.
[Lerorna donated 100,000 won]
– I was truly in awe when I saw you at today’s interview; your beauty is stunning. I couldn’t let such beauty go unseen, so I’m donating.
The “creator of the supplementary teacher,” Lerorna, a viewer who was a strong candidate for the public relations position.
-?
– Ugh
– Is she brainwashed by the supplementary teacher?
– Did you get paid for that?
The mischievous commenters began to stir up reactions. It was an entertaining response that I could choose to ignore.
[Bilipabab donated 1,000 won]
– The Pope must banish any of his lackeys!
[Pork Steak Set donated 1,000 won]
– The ones who flatter the most are usually the most dangerous!
Following that, numerous viewers were expressing their discontent through donations. I couldn’t quite grasp their reactions.
I ignored the flaming chat and bowed down together with Rohan.
“Thank you for bravely sharing your truth despite the fierce backlash from others.”
In a chaotic world where everyone spoke lies, standing up and declaring pure honesty was truly admirable. I felt compelled to offer some appropriate benefits in return.
“For the viewer Lerorna, who maintains her integrity, I’ll grant you a privilege that allows you to be forgiven for any wrongs you might commit.”
Just as I was expressing my heartfelt gratitude, another donation came in. This time, it was also from Lerorna.
[Lerorna donated 1,000 won]
– Ah, did you misunderstand? I was talking about the young interviewer next to you, not you, Pope.
“……”
I stood there momentarily dumbfounded, then petted Rohan while smiling.
“Actually, it was a one-time offer.”
Indeed, there are no privileges that last forever.
Support me by donating at least $10, and you'll have the right to request any novel from Novelpia (excluding 19+ content) using a newly developed tool.
