Chapter 52 – Janet

‘Damn it….!’

Just then, Jin-seong’s consciousness descended rapidly as if being pulled by a huge gravitational force, and in an instant, he returned to the bench where he was sitting.

“Jin-seong! Jin-seong!”

Lee Yeo-jin was trying to wake him up.

Jin-seong jumped from his seat.

“There’s an explosion on Janicolo Hill!”

“I know.”

Jin-seong thought to himself.

‘The crying angel is already making her move.’

The streets were full of people in chaos, not knowing what to do.

-Is it an outbreak?!

-There’s no way that there’s an outbreak in the Holy Kingdom!

-Then is it a terror?

Tourists and locals alike were shouting in confusion.

‘…..We need to be prepared for the impending doom scenario.’

‘I need people who can help me….’

Just then,

“What, what’s going on?!”

While Lee Yeo-jin was being anxious about the explosion, a group of people approached Jin-seong and Yeo-jin.

“Ah, sorry!”

One Italian man with a thick beard ran into Yeo-jin.

“It’s okay!”

Lee Yeo-jin seemed sorry after hearing his apology, but Jin-seong wasn’t.

In a blink of an eye, Jin-seong twisted the man’s arms in the back and smashed him to the floor.

Bang!

“Ahh! What the hell are you doing?!”

“……”

Without saying anything, Jin-seong took Yeo-jin’s phone and wallet out of the man’s pocket.

“Huh….?!”

Surprised, Yeo-jin hurriedly looked for her phone and wallet in her arms, but of course, they were not there.

Jin-seong spoke as he handed them to her.

“….Here, guys like him often try to pickpocket tourists who look lost or new to the place. Be careful.

Despite a huge explosion that just happened, the pickpocket still did his job.

“Ah…..”

She nodded several times at Jin-seong who spoke to her with a calm voice.

“Th, thank you!”

“…..”

Jin-seong nodded then, he turned to the pickpocket, lying on the floor.

“Pickpocket? In such chaos?”

“Damn it, you speak Italian, huh?”

Jin-seong smiled at the man who had his face smashed to the floor.

“Hey, you want to make money, right?”

“…..What?”

Jin-seong spoke to him as he let go of the man’s arms.

Standing up, the pickpocket spoke, stroking his sore jaw.

“Of course. Is that even a question?”

Jin-seong showed the man the money he had exchanged, and handed it to the man.

“Wh, what are you doing?!”

It was a bundle of money.

“One thousand euros. If you do what I ask you to do, you’ll get the double.”

When the man received the money that was equivalent to 1.3 million won in Korean, the pickpocket widened his eyes and looked at Jin-seong and the bundle of money in his hand back and forth.

“God damn! Rich Asians! What do you want! Tell me anything!”

The man smiled with his arms wide open as if to welcome a friend he had finally met again after 20 years.

Jin-seong and Yeo-jin returned to St Peter’s Square.

Jin-seong was reading the breaking news on the screen of his phone.

[….There was a big explosion in the western Vatican, on the hill of Janicolo. There was concern that it might be a terrorist attack or outbreak, but it turned out to be a gas explosion in the management office. There were no casualties, so the authorities…..]

“Phew, thank god. It was just a gas explosion….”

Lee Yeo-jin, who was also reading the news, was relieved.

“It’s not an accidental explosion.”

“…..What?”

“This is just the beginning of what is to come.”

Using clairvoyance, Jin-seong learned that the ‘crying angel’ is keeping an eye on the Vatican.

‘It means that the Vatican will fall soon.”

Originally, the fall of the Vatican should occur with the death of the first saint.

‘The first Saint Agnes passed away when I was 20 years old, three years from now.’

However, the fact that the saint was already ill was proof that the progress of the major incidents is happening much faster than before his return.

Jin-seong suddenly remembered that he had received a necklace from the first saint.

When Jin-seong held out a necklace in his hand, Lee Yeo-jin asked him in surprise.

“What is that…?”

“I see……”

The necklace he received while in the conscious state was in his hand.

It was a necklace called a locket, in which one can keep a small item or a picture inside.

‘The saint’s faith is indeed amazing.’

The power of the first saint is different from the power that ordinary people talk about. It isn’t about possessing outstanding physical abilities, magical powers, or other superior abilities.

‘She has reached the state of being able to distort causality through belief.’

And that belief was a miracle based on faith.

Jin-seong pushed the silver locket and opened it.

Inside the locket was a picture of a young blonde girl and the saint Agnes.

The young girl in the picture was the kid he saw at the square earlier.

“……”

Just then,

Chssss…..

[The user of Acacic Record has entered a new crisis.]

[The main quest is updated.]

[Assimilation rate increases.]

[Information needed for the new quest is uploaded in Jin-seong’s consciousness.]

Jin-seong thought as he read the notification.

‘Finally, the main quest is updated.’

Ever since he killed Park Moo-hae at the Forest of Decay, Jin-seong has been preparing to overthrow the Presbytery, which put down its roots in the Korean government.

However, the quest that was given priority to Jin-seong at the moment was the Vatican crisis.

+

Division: Anomalous Main Quest #3

Description: The Vatican has provoked the angel to wrath with arrogance and dogma.
The result is divine punishment, and it cannot be stopped even with the power of the saint.

The time remaining until the destruction of the Holy Kingdom:

47:59:55 seconds.

You can take two routes for this scenario.

First Route: Exodus

Difficulty Level: E

Goal: To safely evacuate the third saint from the falling Vatican
If succeeded: The failure of the construction of the Babel Tower, the destruction of the Holy Kingdom, the death of the first saint, the survival of the third saint, ruined relationship with the third saint, major arcana.

If failed: The death of the first saint, the death of the third saint, the destruction of the Holy Kingdom, the failure of the construction of the Babel Tower.

Second Route: Salvation

Difficulty Level: Unmeasurable

Goal: To protect the Vatican for 12 hours from a crying angel

If succeeded: The ruined relationship with the angel, rescue of the previous saint and improved relationship with the third saint, access to the holy relics, major arcana.

If failed: The death of Lee Jin-seong, the death of the third saint, the accelerated construction of the Babel Tower.

Warning: If the third saint is evacuated from the Vatican, the scenario of Route 1 will be automatically completed, and you will not be able to enter the Vatican again until the angel’s punishment is over!

+

[You can obtain two achievements and a hidden achievement from this quest.]

Jin-seong checked the two scenarios.

‘What this scenario is referring to is the destruction of the Vatican.’

“Hmm…..”

However, Jin-seong simply nodded at the serious scenario as if he wasn’t surprised.

In his previous life, the angel appeared in the Holy Kingdom three years from now, when Jin-seong was 20 years old.

‘….And at that time, Yushin barely saved the next saint from the destruction of the Holy Kingdom.’

One day, Yushin has rescued a girl from the collapsing Holy Kingdom. She was the next saint, and her first impression was cold.

She neither spoke nor smiled. She never left her room. But surprisingly, the first person to become close with her was Jin-seong.

And the first saint, too, lost her life in the Black Tower.

‘…..Never knew I’ll meet her again this way…..’

Just then,

“…..”

A girl appeared in front of them.

It was the girl who stared at Jin-seong at St Peter’s Square.

A girl, wearing shorts, had a playful expression on her face.

‘She’s the same even when she’s young.’

Jin-seong thought as he faced her.

“Hey.”

The girl called him.

“Are you Lee Jin-seong?”

It was a sharp tone as if she was anxious to hurt someone. However, Jin-seong calmly opened the locket and showed her the picture inside.

“…..”

The girl nodded after checking the picture.

“I’m Joan Laurent.”

She spoke sharply with her hands in the pocket.

This child is the next saint, Joan Laurent.

As the Janicolo gas explosion incident cleared up, the square became quiet again.

Jin-seong asked, looking at Joan Laurent who was sitting in front of him.

“What did the abbess tell you to do?”

“….She said that you would know.”

“Hm.”

Of course, Jin-seong knew what Agnes wanted.

‘Taking her to Seoul is not a big deal for me.’

This child could be taken to Seoul by simply opening the door of a nearby house, or even a monastery.

Punishment of the crying angel.

Which means the destruction of the Holy Kingdom.

The angel’s power is comparable to that of the demon king.

And the first saint knew that there was no way to prevent the destruction of the Holy Kingdom.

‘The next saint is the one who’ll receive the power of the angel in the future, which is why Agnes is trying to evacuate her to a safe place.’

However,

Contrary to Agnes’ wishes, Jin-seong had no intention of taking Janet to Seoul.

‘If the Holy Kingdom disappears, the world loses the place for salvation.’

In his previous life, Yushin gave up the Holy Kingdom and chose to destroy the Babel Tower.

As an aftermath, the construction of Babel Tower could be stopped. However, as the Holy Kingdom collapsed, it became almost impossible to check and subdue the demon kings that later emerged throughout the Eurasia continent.

‘We can’t lose the Holy Kingdom.’

And of course, the variable in the current situation was,

Yushin.

However, Jin-seong decided to not think about Yushin any further.

‘Even if it’s Yushin, he can’t beat me now.’

Jin-seong nodded, recalling the skill he had added in slot No.2 of the Queen of Pentacles.

Jin-seong was determined to boldly carry out his plan from now on. First of all, he needed the cooperation of Joan Laurant.

“Joan, you know a lot of fun places here, right?”

“….Fun places?”

Jin-seong spoke as he smiled.

“I’m sure the abbess showed you the places where the relics are.”

In his previous life, Joan used to tell Jin-seong the fun things she did when she was young.

A smile appeared on Joan’s face as if she understood what Jin-seong was saying.

“Follow me.”

Joan started walking ahead. Then she turned around and looked at Jin-seong.

“Don’t call me Joan, call me Janet.”

“Why?”

“People who are close to me call me Janet.”

Jan liked Jin-seong.

He neither sweet-talked to her nor bothered her by asking too many questions. Besides, when he asked to go see the holy relics, she felt a sense of kinship with him.

Then, Lee Yeo-jin spoke to Joan.

“Oh… Your name is Janet? What a pretty name.”

But Joan answered sharply as she stared at Yeo-jin.

“You can’t call me Janet yet.”

“Ah, okay….”

Seeing Yeo-jin’s disappointed face, Janet chuckled as if she found that funny.

Lee Yeo-jin asked Jin-seong.

“But where are we going right now?”

“To steal the relic.”

“What….? Ah…..”

Yeo-jin thought that he was just joking around.

But that was her misunderstanding.

‘It would be nice if I can find that spear.’

Jin-seong was ready to steal all the relics in the Vatican to take down the crying angel.