The World I Was Supporting Was Real - Chapter 105



105. Sweating means you’ve worked hard

* * *

The first day of the taste test—

And it’s probably obvious, but the results of Luca-Cola were remarkably huge.

News that ‘the church is handing out a brown, liquor-like drink’ spread like wildfire, and people were lining up left and right to experience the flavor of the cola.

“If it’s called Luca-Cola… does that mean Sir Luca, the Holy Knight, created this drink?”

“It’s definitely similar to alcohol, but the bloating feeling from alcohol is gone, and at the same time, it’s way more tingly on the tongue! I actually like it!”

“I’d like to buy some, can I find it at the cathedral?”

“Yes! You can come by the shop inside the cathedral anytime! For a week, we’ll be offering it at a 20% discount, so come on over anytime!”

The unit price of Luca-Cola, which had been carefully determined, was by no means cheap.

With the money for one bottle of cola, you could easily buy food for about two days, depending on your portion size.

This price was set, considering the possibility that supply wouldn’t keep up with demand if it were priced too low, and also considering its role as a lure product to guide people to religion.

If this were a necessity, there might have been grumbling like “That’s not like the cathedral, which has always focused on relief efforts” or “Guodonists are just merchants after all” –

But cola was, after all, a kind of luxury item, so it mixed among the people without any particular resistance.

Who could possibly object to setting a price and selling a luxury item that didn’t exist in the world before?

In the end, despite its high unit price, the cola sold like wildfire to the wealthy in the capital city-

And in less than three days, they had achieved the tremendous feat of a ‘sell-out of the initial mass production run.’

“Are you, are you really saying that much was collected in just three days…?”

“That’s right. If we include the amounts several nobles bought on credit, there’s still more money to come in.”

“Unbelievable… at this rate, we can speed up the work of filling the empty Iguguodon Cathedral with new things! Not only that! We can expand the scope of all educational programs under the Saintess’s name by several times…!”

Faced with the overwhelming amount of money earned from the cola, the Pope went silent for a moment, mouth agape, staring at the glittering things-

“No, no, what’s gotten into me… I almost sold my soul to wealth.”

He shook his head, knelt down, and offered a prayer.

“Ah… Iguguodon. I will never forget that all of this is through your grace. Our holy Lord, you have bestowed cola upon us, your lambs…”

Just as the prayer ended, Erin cautiously opened her mouth.

“Regarding the management of the funds, I wish to entrust it to His Holiness. What are your thoughts?”

“Is there any question, Holy Saint? I solemnly swear before you that not a single coin will be wasted, but used only for God and those who suffer.”

Pope Agnus III was fundamentally a good man, but also deeply devout and, at the same time, a political figure.

Meaning, he was not one to be ignorant of the fact that embezzling funds in this situation would be of no help to the Gweodeon Church.

“Then, if you’ll excuse me.”

Having handed over the sales proceeds to the Pope, she moved towards where a knight, having just finished his meal, was situated.

“Welcome, Holy Saint. You have worked so hard today.”

“It is you who have worked hard. I only wandered around the Gweogeodeon Cathedral, but you three had much more to do than I.”

“Igogodon!”

“Rabbit, you’ve worked hard.”

*Hop!*

Erin easily caught the rabbit that had been on Ophelia’s head.

At first it was awkward, but now she was confident she could catch the rabbit ball that suddenly popped out anywhere, at any time.

She lightly stroked the rabbit’s head when, suddenly…

“…Ra, Rabbit?”

The rabbit, held in Erin’s arms, suddenly wriggled, then –

“Kyaa…?!”

It slipped its small body through the gap in her holy robes.

The rabbit, nestled like a sandwich between the sacred power pouches, fussed around between her breasts before poking its face out.

“Pya! Igogodon!”

“Um… Mr. Rabbit?”

“It seems Mr. Rabbit is rather keen on receiving the blessings of the Saintess’s wide and beautiful divine power pouch.”

“I-is that so…?”

“Yes. For days now, he’s been telling me, ‘I wish to embody the Saintess’s great teachings of creating cola with my entire being.’”

I couldn’t quite see how embodying great teachings had anything to do with wedging himself between breasts and setting up camp there, but –

Still, the feeling of the fluffy rabbit settling in wasn’t entirely unpleasant.

Besides, the rabbit was, after all, a messenger of the gods. Especially since the Demon King had been wary of the rabbit even until recently.

“Mr. Rabbit. Are you uncomfortable?”

*Shake, shake.*

“Igo-go-don!”

“Um… I haven’t showered yet, so I might be a bit sweaty…”

At the same time as Erin’s voice, slightly flustered and trailing off with shyness – her face turning a bit red – reached my ears –

—*Frrrfrrrrrfrrrr!*

The two perked-up ears twitched rapidly back and forth.

“Kya! Misigi-go-don!”

“Y-yes…?”

“To be soaked in sweat is proof of hard work. He says he’s honored to witness evidence of the Saintess’s noble efforts.”

“H-he said that?”

“He did.”

Ophelia’s expression was so serene that I couldn’t even find the words to add anything.

Well, if the rabbit, messenger of god, doesn’t take offense…

“Uuu… So cutee… Rabbit-nim…”

Luka, who had been staring blankly at the scene, snapped to attention as soon as he met Erin’s gaze, and then lowered his head.

“Ah, um… Saintess! That… there’s something I wanted to ask you.”

“What is it?”

“I’ve heard the story, but is it really alright? That is… about the name of the cola…”

Luka fidgeted with two fingers, looking completely lost.

It wasn’t hard to understand his reaction; his name had been slapped onto something huge like a cola without him knowing.

“Perhaps, are you a little reluctant?”

“No! It’s not like that at all. It’s an honor, rather! But, that… the hard work was done by Reina-nim and the wood-attribute magic tower people, so it feels like I’m taking the credit …”

“That’s not it. I heard you were soaking aura swords in water all day?”

“Y, yes, that is true, but…”

“Besides that, you also helped carry the water and, rather than accepting payment, you worked so hard so Reina-nim strongly insisted that your name should be included. I also believe that Luka-nim’s contribution is in no way small. So, This time, you can relax and be proud.”

“Is that… really okay…?”

“Of course!”

“Good job don.”

“Even the Rabbit-nim…!”

“Hmm, Luka-yang. While humility is also an important virtue, excessive modesty can muddy the waters. Isn’t accepting and acknowledging what you’ve earned the right attitude for a holy knight, I believe?”

At that moment.

Linea, who had been observing carefully, spoke with caution.

“That’s right. I think Luca-nim’s contributions are definitely not small either.”

“Li, Linea-nim…?”

“While making the cola, I had to stop by the wood-attribute magic tower for a bit, and he was really taking care of everything. If they had tried to erase Luca-nim there, I would have said something myself. So you can be proud.”

“……”

Linea, noticing that all eyes were on her, carefully opened her mouth.

“……Did I, perhaps, make some sort of mistake…?”

“No, it’s just… I was wondering if Linea-nim had ever voiced her opinion like this during a meal before…”

“Li, Linea-niim…! Thank you so much for saying that…!”

As Erin finished speaking, Luca leaned on Linea, tearful.

“It means so, so much to me that it was Linea-nim who said that…!”

“No, I, it’s not like I did anything to deserve this much praise…”

Linea’s face flushed with embarrassment, but she didn’t push Luca away.

Meanwhile, Ophelia, with the rabbit that had jumped from between Erin’s breasts back onto her head, watched the scene with clear satisfaction.

A plate of paladin.

Although, it all began because of the whims of the one god, Iguogudeon-

The three different people brought together by the god’s whim were, as time passed, becoming more and more one.

* * *

[Iguogudeon: Kya]

[Iguogudeon: A textbook ending, iguogudeon hahahahahahaha]

Finally.

The feeling of wrapping up a “Different World Cola Toss” episode, a trope optimized for the ‘nu-reong-i’ (a term for a certain kind of fan, often associated with particular tastes), made me mash the ‘k’ key to satisfaction.

The process of making it, while a bit more complex to save money, and the result, a little different…

Well, honestly, if it had just been a ‘click’ and ‘cola-twing’ development, it wouldn’t have been any different from other comics, and my inner hipster would’ve surely voiced its discontent.

[GimmeMoney: The god’s new drink will spread across the continent, illuminating the god’s name]

[GimmeMoney: Thinking that all of this came down from the generous decision of Master Ego-gu-uh-dun, I can’t help but tremble]

[GimmeMoney: Thank you, Master Ego-gu-uh-dun]

[Ego-gu-uh-dun: Yeah yeah, you should serve the god even better in the future, right?]

[GimmeMoney: Of course, that goes without saying]

Anyway.

Cola has entered the world, and the people are shown loving it.

Selling it makes money, and the financial issues of the church are resolved.

My female characters inside are drinking cola and enjoying it…

Watching that wasn’t too bad either.

What if, from now on, they showed a medley of female characters, including Eirene, singing cola’s praises like a round song?

What if they even added a service scene, showing them making suggestive expressions because the cola is so delicious, with their chests bouncing unnecessarily??

‘Ugh, drool!’

Just the thought made the ‘nu-reong-i’ in me drool nonstop.

It’s the author, not some random person, so since they know what I like, there’s a good chance they’d show those kinds of descriptions if I asked.

But—

‘Isn’t there something bigger than that?’

Even now, it wasn’t like I was lacking, but I still felt this greed for something big to hit.

Without messing with the established world, what could I do to dramatically increase the impact that a cola could have?

Not just something tasty, but something that could bring value. What kind of plausible development could make that happen?

The writer was leaving the entire development up to me, so I was trying my best to come up with a decent story –

but, the truth is, I’m not even an expert on this world, I’m just a reader peeking into the writer’s mind, so how am I supposed to come up with some brilliant and original idea?

Then.

A thought suddenly flashed through my head, and I carefully placed my hands on the keyboard.

[IguoguoDon: Writer]

[IguoguoDon: Is *Omakase* possible?]

[GimmeMoney: Huh…?]

Okay, okay. I guess I have to explain it all.

We all know we’re doing WWE stuff now, no need to bring that up again, right?

[IguoguoDon: So, I mean, if I give you money, is it possible for you to develop a fitting and plausible story?]

[IguoguoDon: I’ll just throw out the general direction, and the development will be up to the world’s response? What’s-his-face?]

[GimmeMoney: Of course it’s possible]

[GimmeMoney: Though the development will change depending on the amount]

[IguoguoDon: Oh really?]

I carefully thought about the items I used to sell in that online game I was enjoying so much.

Helmet. Shoes. Ring (right/left). Top. Bottom. Gloves. Weapon. Title.

And a bunch of other miscellaneous loot-farming stuff…

“Hah…”

A sudden, fresh wave of why the hell I even bothered with that garbage game washed over me.

But whatever, what I *can* glean from all this is—

[Iguogudon: (Sponsor / 150,000 Won / *Ting!* )]

[Iguogudon: Boost the power of cola in this world! In a way that doesn’t wreck the lore, but with some freedom!]

—One stark fact.

Even if I combined all my donations up till now, they wouldn’t even touch the cost of a single helmet.

And fact two.

The helmet was the third most expensive item I’d ever sold.

Fact three.

I haven’t even touched the money from selling the most expensive weapon yet.

“Three facts, one plate!”

I muttered to myself, then just laughed alone in front of the monitor for a good while.

Thinking about how easily I’d come up with a line that sounded like something straight out of a biblical passage from a comic—

—For the first time.

For the first time, I didn’t feel like a reader watching a manga—

But like a real god, a *true* deity of an existing world.

* * *

*Sploosh!*

A man in ragged clothing was fishing endlessly in front of a cliff where waves crashed and foamed.

“…….”

Fishing, after all, is a battle of time.

The success or failure of the day depends on how long you can keep youra*ssplanted.

And so, as the man endlessly waited for a fish, something far more intense than that came to him in his mind—

‘!!!!!!’

Instead of a fish, something more powerful arrived.

It was a divine revelation.

Yes. A divine revelation.

A profoundly mystical experience that could only be described with that word.

“……Huff!!!”

The man, in that moment—he came to realize what he was.

* * *

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