When the Pope Becomes Competent - Chapter 172



Only Noblemtl

172. Skill Transplantation
2024.04.20.

It was said to be a mirror that showed the past, but I didn’t know it would really show me my past life.

So I stood there in a daze for a moment when I saw the message that appeared like a miracle.

‘You’re showing me my past life? Really… …?’

If that was the case, there was no reason not to check.

I pressed the Yes button, meaning acceptance, and soon the mirror displayed a new message. [You selected Yes

. Your past life will be revealed.]

Almost as soon as the message appeared, light flowed out from the mirror surface.

After waiting for a while, the light gradually subsided, and the mirror surface reflected the image of my past life that I had been so curious about. ‘… … Is this really me?’ I couldn’t believe it after just one try. I spoke to the mirror again. “Show me my past life.” So I checked my past life image again. Surprisingly, the mirror wasn’t showing me the wrong image in the first place. This time, too, the image of ‘that guy’ was reflected in the mirror. I tried several more times after that, but the image reflected in the mirror never changed. The shock made my hands lose their strength, and the mirror I was holding fell to the floor. Crunch! The mirror item shattered with a sharp noise. I sat on the bed without even thinking about cleaning up the shards. I kept thinking about my past life that the mirror showed me. It was then. “Hyung! Didn’t you hear something breaking here just now?” Dionik, who had just returned from the entertainment facility, opened the door and asked. He was startled by the mirror shards scattered on the floor, and then carefully began to pick them up one by one. “This is… a mirror? Did you break it, hyung? Why is your expression so blank? No, just move your feet.” He pushed my feet to the side as if he was trying to move the mirror for me, who was in a daze. I grabbed Dionik’s shoulder and stopped him. Then I poured out the truth to the guy who was looking at me in a bewildered manner. “It’s not certain yet, but… “I think I was me.” “… … What?” “I really was Nickelus.” Even after I said that, Dionik didn’t seem to understand what I meant. He just looked at me with concern, as if he suddenly thought I was talking nonsense. Since the mirror shards weren’t important right now, I lifted him up and took him to the sofa for a moment. “I told you before. I came from the world a thousand years from now. I just possessed the body of a guy named Nickelus, and I’m not the real Nickelus.” Dionik nodded and replied. “Yeah. That’s right. A thousand years from now, this world was completely destroyed and turned into a completely different world. My brother said that I was a completely different person from that completely different world.” “That’s right, I said that with my own mouth… Now that I think about it, it doesn’t seem like that.” “No, that means…?” “It’s true that I returned from the world that was destroyed a thousand years from now. But I didn’t possess the body of a completely different human.” I explained slowly, hoping that Dionik would understand right away. “So, I was Nickelus in my previous life, and I died once, was reincarnated into a completely different world, and then returned to my body 1000 years ago.” Starting with that, I explained in more detail how I found out about it. After completing the oracle, I received a mirror that showed the past as a reward. Just in case, I checked my past life in the mirror. Thanks to that, I found out that I was Nickelus in my past life… … . Yes. That was Nickelus in my past life, the mirror told me. It wasn’t someone else, it was Nickelus, and I was Nickelus. Dionik, who had listened to my story up to that point, suddenly asked, “So, how do you feel about confirming the truth?” “I don’t know if what the mirror showed me was the truth… but if I really was Nickelus, I couldn’t be happier.” “Are you happier than I could be? Past lives don’t really matter.” “It doesn’t matter.” I shook my head and slowly explained to him again. “I thought that I had been living by unfairly taking over the body of that guy Nickelus. I had taken his body, I had taken his life, and I had taken all the affection that he deserved.” “That’s… .” “But if I had been Nickelus in my past life, then it would be different.”

I couldn’t hide my bursting laughter as I continued.

“I just returned from my previous life. I was Nickelus himself, so I didn’t take Nickelus’ body.”

“Did you care that much? What’s the big deal about taking someone else’s body? It’s the one who got it stolen who’s at fault.”

“You might think that way, but I don’t. This was a very important issue to me. So now—”

After taking a deep breath, I continued in a slightly calmer voice.

“I feel relieved now. I think I can approach Luciana more sincerely. I think I can approach her as the real Nickelus, not as someone pretending to be Nickelus.”

“A real friend… … .”

“Yes. Not a fake, but a real friend.”

Dionik probably wouldn’t understand how sorry I felt for deceiving Luciana by pretending to be the real Nickelus.

Now, I could share old memories with her without feeling guilty.

Dionik stared at me, who was delighted, and then smiled back at me.

“Okay, if you like it, then fine. Let’s clean up the mirror together.”

After that, we sat down on the floor and picked up the mirror shards.

Was it because I had let go of the burden on my mind that I had been carrying?

I didn’t feel tired as I picked up the sharp mirror shards.

* * *

Just because I found out that I was Nickelus in my past life, it didn’t mean that there would be any major changes in my life right away.

I was still in a position where I had to kill Romun, and I was still living in the Fourth Moon’s hideout.

If I could just kill Romun, I could escape this somewhat stagnant situation, but it wasn’t that simple.

Didn’t you say that you couldn’t approach the palace easily because of the barrier surrounding it?

The Fourth Moon said that they were looking for a way to destroy the barrier and infiltrate the palace.

So I waited. For the Fourth Moon to find a way to destroy the barrier.

I waited, and waited.

Since I lacked information at the moment, there was nothing I could do but wait.

After waiting for quite some time, Yan finally called me.

“I’ve finally found it! A way to neutralize the palace barrier!”

“Really?!”

Yan nodded with a slightly excited look.

“As far as I know, the palace barrier was a barrier installed by an item. It was an L-class barrier item.”

After hearing that, I felt a brief moment of shallow despair.

Not even an S-class, but an L-class?

“If it was installed by an item that powerful, it wouldn’t be easy to destroy it, right? Have you really found a way?”

“Yes, I have definitely found it. However, I definitely need your help to carry out this method. And it might be… dangerous.”

“Dangerous… … .”

I have experienced so many dangers that it’s rare for me to be in danger.

That’s why I could say this without hesitation.

“Tell me, even if it’s dangerous. What is the method?”

“I’ll transplant a skill to you, Apostle.”

“Transplant a skill… … ?”

“I’ll literally grant you a new skill. “Through a ‘procedure’.”

Artificially transplanting skills.

This was the first time I had heard of it in my entire life, so I was a little skeptical.

“Is that possible? Skills are either innate or awakened later in life, and there are only two ways to obtain them. A procedure… … .”

“It’s difficult, but not impossible.”

Jan said firmly and continued to explain.

“The Priscillians still possess several ancient technologies that have achieved brilliant development. Skill transplantation is one of them.”

“Hmm… … .”

“And I heard from a member of the fourth month who was on a business trip today that they’ve captured the only practitioner who can transplant skills.”

Jan handed me a letter and showed it to me.

The letter, which seemed to have been sent by that member, said that they had found and secured the practitioner, just as Jan had said.

While I was reading the letter, Jan continued speaking with a cheerful expression on his face.

“If our members bring the practitioner here, we can immediately implant a new skill in you, Apostle.”

“Ah, I see what you’re planning. Are you trying to raise my Awakening rank by implanting skills?”

“Yes, that’s correct.”

Yan nodded and asked me.

“As far as I know, you’re currently an S rank, Apostle?”

“That’s right. If I transplant skills there, my rank will go up by one.”

The Awakened’s rank was determined by the number of skills and rank of the Awakened.

That meant that if the number of skills I had increased here, my Awakened’s rank could be adjusted upward.

“If my Awakened’s rank becomes L-rank, I will be able to pass through the Imperial Palace barrier without difficulty.”

“That’s correct. As I said before, the barrier item is L-rank. It won’t work on Awakened’s of the same or higher rank.”

Yan was right.

For example, if you cursed with an A-rank curse skill, you would need an S-rank or L-rank curse skill to lift the curse.

The superiority of all items, skills, and Awakened’s is determined by their rank.

For the same reason, if the barrier item protecting the Imperial Palace was L-rank, it would only work on Awakened’s of a lower rank than L-rank.

It also meant that the barrier wouldn’t work on those who were awakened at L-level or higher.

Thinking that far, I nodded to Yan.

“It seems like a good method, but will it work out as planned? You know that there are only a handful of L-level awakeners, right?”

“Yes, of course I know. Currently, among the Priscillians, there’s only one L-level awakener, Romun.”

“Is there even one here? There aren’t a single L-level awakener in the Finite Realm. That’s how rare they are. Even I, who was chosen by the gods, am only an S-level awakener.”

Although the Seon-gwan who lived in the distant past was an L-level awakener, now that she’s dead, there aren’t a single L-level awakener left in the Finite Realm.

That’s how rare an L-level awakener is.

And yet, with just one procedure, you can become an L-level awakener… …

“I don’t know if you can transplant skills and raise your level that easily.”

“No, it’s not easy. There’s a lot of pain involved in transplanting skills, and there’s also the risk of death.” “

… … .”

“That’s why I told you earlier that it might be dangerous.”

Jan looked at me with a serious expression.

Then he spoke to me in an equally serious voice.

“If you receive this procedure, you could die.”

After hearing that, I suddenly became curious.

Why would he recommend such a dangerous procedure to me of all people?

It wasn’t that I was angry because he recommended a dangerous procedure to me .

I was always willing to take risks for the sake of those I cherish. I was

just curious about the reason, so I asked Jan.

“Why should I receive it? Is there a reason?”

“Of course there is.”

Jan answered confidently, and then declared to me,

“Skill transplant surgery is not a procedure that anyone can receive. Only those with a special constitution can receive this procedure.”