I Became a 6★ Gacha Character-Chapter 554: Orc Must Die...? 4

A wooden statue that emitted holy power 24 hours a day without any conditions.

A lich's head that converted holy power into life force and mana.

Described like this, it sounded like some perpetual motion-like, broken artifact item, but when translated into gamer terms, it was surprisingly common.

The wooden statue was a portable safe zone, and the lich's head was an infinite potion.

Neither could be called exactly common in games, but they were items you could encounter at least once in most decent games. Like PC room elixirs from Maple Casino or spirit water from Black Desert. Whether offered as event benefits or crafted through grinding, permanent potions existed in quite a few games.

"This has been quite a shocking day..."

"But thanks to that, we got something good. With this, we should be able to ignore the wraiths' interference, right?"

"It might not be enough for combat, but it should definitely protect the tent."

So we headed back to our lodgings, bypassing the cardinals and Temple knights debating about the orcs' mass conversion in the Temple. Both the serene Akutuhum and Irene had said that the Temple wouldn't turn away the orcs unless they'd gone mad.

After all, Akutuhum had completed a pilgrimage while carrying a sacred item, and as a 5★, wasn't he on the same level as Irene during her 'Saint Candidate' days? In other words, he had achieved enlightenment through pilgrimage but hadn't yet been recognized as a saint—a 'Saint Candidate'—so the Temple would have no choice but to welcome him.

"Huh? What? Allied forces of different races? What's that about?"

Han Se-ah suddenly spoke up as we pushed against the flow of people gathering at the Temple. I glanced over to see what was happening and noticed her viewers all saying the same thing.

...What the hell, has it reappeared?

Looking more closely, it seemed the template I'd used when giving advice to Han Se-ah had suddenly become popular again. As Han Se-ah's broadcast spread to Western countries, my old quotes had persisted, and to the Yankees, he appeared to be "a mysterious reclusive master giving valid advice to the world's #1," making him a meme.

Combined with the abundance of conspiracy-loving Westerners, rumors had spread that I was a BB Games employee and Han Se-ah was pre-selected as the next successor, or that he was already waiting for Han Se-ah on the 90th floor, planning to take first place without broadcasting.

...After pulling a few pranks with the internet access I'd gained after 10 years, it had spread worldwide, earning me names like 'Mr.Pity.'

There was no way anyone would discover that Roland was Mr. Pity, but the overwhelming embarrassment was unavoidable. It might be funny when joking around in internet communities, but I had no desire to suddenly appear as the protagonist of some conspiracy theory TV show.

"Oh, that's definitely true. I've heard there are so many orcs outside, if we could just gather orcs and goblins to create troops."

Anyway, what the viewers were claiming while impersonating Mr. Pity's template was simple. With all these different NPC races appearing in the Tower, shouldn't we form an allied force of different races to fight the Demon Lord?

Stone dwarves as engineers and weapons suppliers.

Harpies for aerial reconnaissance and air combat.

Forest fairies as special forces for forests and difficult terrain.

And now the converted orcs to provide infantry numbers.

If we assumed that new races awaited us on floors 71, 81, and 91, forming an allied force of different races didn't seem far-fetched.

About twenty self-proclaimed Mr. Pitys suddenly appeared, and as posts mimicking Mr. Pity's three-line structure flooded the message boards, even viewers who were serious about historical accuracy began seriously calculating the possibility of a multi-racial alliance. At least this would make the journey back to our inn from the Temple less boring.

"By the way, this Goddess statue won't break because it's made of wood, right?"

"I wonder if we could ask the Magic Tower or stone dwarves to make it more durable."

While Han Se-ah suffered through the carpet bombing of nagging from the Mr. Pity legion, our group began treasuring the statue we carried.

Though it was a sacred object continuously emitting holy power, its essence was still a crude wooden statue carved with stone knives by orcs on their pilgrimage. It was a bit thicker than a human forearm, so it wouldn't shatter if bumped, but being wood, it was still somewhat fragile.

I couldn't help but smile as I watched one side suddenly bursting into various national anthems while insisting we form a multi-racial allied force, while the other side racked their brains for ways to protect the wooden statue.

※

And so we spent a day in Erpheso, the Empire's southern metropolis.

There was no reason to rush back to the Kingdom through the gate when we'd only received a statue half a day ago. While the world outside the Tower was peaceful, the 62nd floor would be a fiery hell due to the sticky oil we'd spread, so we should rest for at least three days before going back in.

If we needed to rest anyway, wouldn't it be better to do so in the Empire's metropolis? We didn't know what conclusions the Temple would reach or if the Temple knights would bring us any news. Plus, there was probably a desire to fill in the pitch-black minimap while leaving records.

For these various reasons, we ended up staying in Erpheso for a few days.

"Come on in! Have you heard of our stone dwarf special furniture, pride of the Kingdom!"

"Only three left! Lucky charms made from Tower mana stones!"

Since this was a major city that had grown through trade with the Kingdom, I was surprised to find more goods from the Kingdom than the Empire when we went out to explore the market street.

Hmm, is this how it feels when you travel abroad and see only Korean signs?

I'd come out partly to satisfy my curiosity about what the Empire's metropolis had to offer and partly to buy some food, but found it crawling with goods I'd seen in the Kingdom and the Tower. So I walked through the market, wondering if I should have some soy sauce chicken and beer tonight, or perhaps look for pizza prepared for players.

"Give me three of the ones with large chunks."

"Yes, would you like seasoning?"

"Just one, the kids don't like it."

The luxury furniture store sold stone dwarf-made furniture, while next door, small accessories made from crushed goblin mana stones were being sold as lucky charms. Then I turned my head toward a pleasant smell and saw a skewer stand generously sprinkling cumin on lamb skewers.

Lamb skewers, malatang, tanghulu, seasoned chicken, wood-fired pizza, pork hocks, bossam, and cold buckwheat noodles... it really was a mess.

Whenever I saw sights like this, the fact that this was inside a game hit me forcefully, making my head complicated. I wondered where in the Empire they grew and distributed the spices to make cumin powder, or if they'd just glossed over it as a game setting.

"Well, if it isn't the owner of the holy sword?"

"...Akutuhum?"

As I was lost in these strange yet fundamental thoughts, someone addressed me. It was Akutuhum, now wrapped in white cloth from his torso to the top of his head, presumably provided by the Temple.

He was trying to hide the fact that he was an orc by wrapping himself in cloth and wearing the Temple's symbol, but at over 2m tall, he stood out even more. A 2m giant completely wrapped in white cloth—who wouldn't find that suspicious?

When a handsome blond man over 180cm tall and a 2m giant covered head to toe in white cloth started conversing, people's gazes immediately converged on us.

"I'd like to speak with you calmly, but perhaps we should move to a more secluded location?"

"You have something to talk to me about?"

"Indeed. I wish to speak with the holy sword's owner who has met the Goddess."

Akutuhum scratched his head anxiously, apparently feeling the stares. Although he had gained faith through his pilgrimage, his joke about being only two years old since his summoning was true, so regardless of his enlightenment, he seemed uncomfortable with the attention.

Having left alone to avoid joining the women's gossip on our day off, instead of a date with a beautiful woman, I was now having a café date with a massive orc.

Still, I didn't want to continue this conversation with a 2m cloth pillar in the middle of the market, so I nodded and headed toward a suitable café. I'd just been wondering where all these cafés and lamb skewers had come from, but in this situation, they were quite convenient.

"Wel-come, si-... eeeh?"

"Do you have a room with dividers?"

"We, have, one, in the back...?"

While it was a modern-style café with partitions, the female employee found our combination quite strange. The friendly café employee who had been greeting us warmly began stuttering as her gaze traveled up, and up.

She blushed slightly when she saw my face, then looked higher and higher until she froze with an awkward smile upon seeing the towering white cloth. If not for the Goddess religion's symbol around his shoulders, she might have screamed.

Anyway, following the directions of the trembling employee who clearly wondered what was going on, we sat in the innermost room with partitions. Before we could even choose our drinks, Akutuhum began speaking.

"First, I want to tell the holy sword's owner—"

"Umm, what would you like to, holy sword, uh, Sir Roland?!"

This led to the minor event of the waitress who came to take our order being shocked once more, but what followed was even more surprising.

"—what I want to discuss is the Four Heavenly Kings. Specifically, the Heavenly King waiting for you all on the 70th floor."

How could a 20th floor minion orc know about the 70th floor boss?

Enjoy the chappy!