Kim Ji-yeon, the newly appointed secretary, exceeded all expectations in her role.
Her vision was constantly recorded, giving her an extraordinary memory and, thanks to artificial intelligence, she was quite clever as well.
Moreover, there was never a task I assigned that she couldn’t comprehend, and she even took care of details I hadn’t mentioned—she was a meticulous secretary.
As a humanoid, she truly shone as a perfect assistant.
She was also proficient in organizing and analyzing information, making her one of the best office priests.
However…
There was one significant flaw.
And it was so big that it overshadowed her other advantages.
“Pope, Pope.”
Kim Ji-yeon approached me calmly after completing the errands I assigned.
And then she began to babble in a frantic tone.
“I just finished the document organization you asked. It’s all done. It was simpler than I thought. Easy peasy. Admit it, I’m a genius, right?”
“…Thank you for your hard work.”
From my past experiences, I knew that Kim Ji-yeon had a calm and rational personality.
I didn’t know how she was before the possession, but at least now, as the humanoid ‘Witness,’ she acted that way.
Yet that personality was currently suppressed. Her functionality was deteriorating.
‘At least her speech has definitely gone off the rails.’
I heard she broke after taking heavy damage from the final boss before her return.
I didn’t know why she was injured while fighting a card game, but I was told the shock from that time was gradually breaking her.
Would she eventually end up speaking in three or two syllables? Just thinking about it made me dizzy.
Anyway, Kim Ji-yeon, being versatile like a robot, was an exceptional secretary. It was worth appointing her as the Pope’s Exclusive Secretary.
I smiled at the chaotic humanoid and gave her additional instructions.
“Then, please report.”
“Wait, wait.”
Kim Ji-yeon promptly pulled a few strands of wires from her hand. She connected them to my smartphone placed at the edge of the office desk.
Zap, zap.
For some reason, sparks flew, and ominous sounds began to resonate.
Is this safe?
Worrying it might explode, I cautiously pulled my chair back.
I didn’t forget to wrap myself in Sacred Power. Even if my smartphone exploded, it wouldn’t hurt me, but being cautious doesn’t hurt, right?
“Done, done.”
After a moment, Kim Ji-yeon gave me a thumbs up.
What in the world did she just do?
Returning my chair to its original position, I received my smartphone, and a tiny SD character appeared on the screen.
A tiny humanoid, about the size of four combined applications.
It looked like a shrunken version of Kim Ji-yeon, and its lack of a face made it adorably cuter.
Soon, the character spoke.
“Hello. I am the artificial intelligence created by entity [Witness], named ‘Wip.’”
An AI created, huh? I could roughly guess how this happened.
“Did you just move this child into my smartphone?”
“That’s what I did. It’s connected to me. Its language function is working fine. Thank goodness!”
Kim Ji-yeon nodded lightly, satisfied, and continued.
“Starting today, I’ll use it to assist the Pope.”
“Does that mean you’re planning to take a break now?”
“No, no, I’m still gathering information. I’m working on the task you assigned last time.”
I did ask her to look into the Black Sun impersonator.
It was a daunting task of gathering data from scratch with no foundation whatsoever.
It wasn’t an easy task, so even a humanoid would take some time to collect that information.
Plus, it was much better to have this AI report than to endure Kim Ji-yeon’s dizzying speech patterns.
“Then, please keep up the good work.”
“Sure, sure.”
Kim Ji-yeon politely bowed and headed over to the desk designated for secretarial work, connecting the wires to the computer.
It seemed she was using the internet for that.
If I leave that to her, she should yield results soon.
I closed my eyes and focused on the humanoid for a moment before looking at my smartphone.
The tiny character, Wip, asked as if waiting.
“Shall we begin?”
“Go ahead.”
“Understood.”
Wip replied in an intelligent voice and then waved its hand.
The screen changed, and a document appeared that looked more like a presentation than a report.
[Nuset Order Superhuman Report –]
– Author: Pope’s Exclusive Secretary ‘Witness’ Kim Ji-yeon >ㅁ</
It looked neat in writing, but that emoticon made it seem quite frivolous.
If Kelaout saw this, he’d be aghast and start lecturing.
“Don’t show this to the Archbishop.”
– For pre-verification, I’ve already shown it to him.
“…But did he say anything?”
– He did, but he was at a loss for words against entity [Witness] and ceased his lecture.
Even the stern, serious Archbishop gave up?
Unexpected, but not surprising. No one could endure Kim Ji-yeon’s speaking style, no matter how formidable Kelaout was.
– From witnessing the Archbishop’s tired expression, I learned a lesson and decided to report on behalf of entity [Witness].
“Well done.”
Certainly a rational choice for an AI.
– Now, let’s turn to the next page.
[Based on the testimonies collected from the internet regarding the entrusted task, I analyzed all ‘superhumans’ related to the Order ^-^7]
Once again, the writing had no real issues.
If only that pointless emoticon were gone, it would have been better.
As I furrowed my brows while reading, Wip hurriedly spoke up.
– Unfortunately, since entity [Witness]’s AI broke its facial expression management function, it developed a faulty obsession with emoticons. I hope you understand.
Well, there was nothing to say there. It’s like a human with a disease acquiring quirks.
“Proceed.”
– Yes. Entity [Witness] established a unified standard for the varying ‘superhuman’ states across worlds using the collected data. Additionally, I analyzed all the members and surrounding people.
As I expected, it had done a splendid job on its own.
That’s why I hired Kim Ji-yeon as a secretary, despite her chaotic manner of speaking.
– I will now show you the results.
With a wave of Wip’s hand, the screen transformed again.
It was a document summarizing the analysis results.
[1. Clitia Eluke/Pope/Lv.19]
→ A priest with a divine power as vast as the sky and a noble and pure spirit.
→ She has met the conditions to become a demigod, but is still lacking in ‘perfect divinity’ among the divine beings.
The summary was neat, but there were some confusing expressions.
“What are these levels based on?”
– It’s a numerical conversion of each member’s abilities for easy understanding. It’s the result generated by the analysis device built into entity [Witness], so it may not be entirely accurate. Just for reference, level 10 is an ordinary person, level 20 is a superhuman, and level 30 is a demigod.
In other words, I would become a demigod with just two more levels.
Having gained enlightenment last time, I could evaluate this analysis as not too bad.
“So, what is this ‘perfect divinity’?”
– The three elements are body, spirit, and mind. All three must contain a faint divine aspect to reach the true level of a demigod.
It turned out there was another condition besides the unity of the mind. Is that why I couldn’t become a demigod despite obtaining enlightenment?
After all, the theory I learned about demigods was all self-taught.
It wouldn’t be strange for there to be unknown parts emerging.
“According to this data, I just need to train my body more.”
– Correct. A certain reincarnated martial artist once mentioned that only after resolving the imbalance of ‘perfect divinity’ through real combat did he finally reach a higher level.
Does that mean my lack of real combat experience prevented me from becoming a demigod?
It’s true that since my days with the hero party, I rarely engaged in combat. I had been too busy as a Pope.
Back then, even just focusing on indoor tasks and healing was overwhelming with all the work.
There was no way I could dash into the battlefield.
‘What a pity.’
I thought I was on the verge of attaining the demigod state.
It turned out I was still a few steps away.
It meant it wasn’t the time to celebrate but to work harder.
However, as I realized I was closer than I thought, I felt that with a little more effort, I could achieve my goal soon.
After shaking off my complicated thoughts, I spoke up.
“Now, please show me the analysis results of the other individuals.”
– Understood.
With Wip’s response, the screen changed, and information about other superhumans was lined up.
[2. Kelaout/Archbishop/Lv.17]
→ A priest with divine power as deep and vast as the ocean and a profoundly serious mindset.
→ The perfect divinity is well-trained yet still incomplete overall.
[3. Zhang Yao/High Holy Knight/Lv.13]
→ A Holy Knight with a skillful ability in disguise and concealment.
→ Still requires a lot of effort.
Kelaout was as expected, but Yao didn’t meet my expectations.
He claimed it was because of his ‘one-star birth,’ but I would need to put in a little more effort to find out if that’s truly the case.
[4. Reeve/Saint (Pending)/Lv.18]
→ A priest with powers close to that of a holy knight.
→ Unable to exert her full power due to the severed connection with the goddess, but she can still perform sufficiently with her physical abilities and sacred items.
[5. Whispering Leaf/High Holy Knight (Pending)/Lv.17]
→ A summoner connected to the Void monsters through mind and body.
→ Even without the summon, she possesses powers comparable to that of a high holy knight.
The analysis results for these two were just as I had anticipated.
But still, it seemed Wip was indeed much stronger than Yao. If this continues, we might have to replace the high holy knight…
Yet, if I changed it right away, it would hurt feelings, so I should keep an eye on their progress.
In actual combat, Yao might perform better, so it was still too early to replace anyone.
“Is that everyone?”
– Yes. Additionally, the hero Liam is at level 28. The Guardian Dragon Hekatrith is at level 26, but sealed power brings him down to 15.
“I see.”
Two demigods and five superhumans.
With this level of power, we should comfortably be able to take down the Great Demon if it reappears in Korea.
However…
I couldn’t let my guard down yet.
‘Don’t let your guard down.’
The impersonator of the Black Sun used a spell that absorbed the malevolence of all sorts of unusual beings.
Even the Evil God and Evil Dragon were overpowered and had their dark intentions snatched away.
But what if that being could absorb something other than malevolence?
What if it possessed power surpassing Liam?
I could only envision a troubling future no matter how I thought about it.
Thus, ideally, I wanted to raise the capabilities of all superhumans as much as possible.
“I will take care of that. Please check the training plans for the other superhumans.”
– Understood.
Thus, the review of the superhuman report concluded.
Afterward, I sat still in thought and spoke up.
“Is there anyone among them who might soon reach the level of a superhuman?”
– It’s hard to say someone will soon become a superhuman, but there is one person approaching that point.
Nodding her head, Wip switched the screen.
[Jo Ha-jin/Ordinary Person/Lv.9]
– A survivor from a zombie apocalypse world. While his physical abilities are excellent, he lacks any special skills.
– He possesses a special item that prevents him from turning into a zombie despite being infected with the virus. Instead, anyone who consumes his blood will become a zombie.
“……”
Jo Ha-jin.
That was the data for the Safety-Obsessed Patient. It wasn’t too far off from what Hainha had previously investigated.
If he has no special abilities, it’s unlikely to expect much growth.
With those thoughts in mind, as I quietly read the text, an idea suddenly struck me.
It was a brilliant thought that made my eyes light up.
“Wip. Quickly find a technician among the returnees.”
– Is it for the repairs of entity [Witness]?
“That’s part of it, but… I’ve come up with a brilliant idea. From now on, please draft the design for the tool I’m about to describe.”
I tapped Wip lightly, smiling with delight.
“A tool that forces Jo Ha-jin’s blood onto villains. How does that sound?”
Just then, I pictured Jo Ha-jin in my mind, making enemies forcibly consume his blood to turn into zombies.
This is what you might call a ‘reverse vampire’ tactic.
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