Subscriber of the Gods

Ethan’s first priority was to subscribe to a new god.

Originally, portal magic existed in MePan.

The ability to instantly travel between regions was a magic that had to be learned no matter what.

However, there was a problem. This portal magic was a magic that only the highest-ranking mages could use among the mages.

There were artifacts and superpowers with similar effects, but they were extremely difficult to obtain.

As a result, most people used portal scrolls, but these scrolls were sold by the top-ranking mages through contracts with the highest-ranking mages, so they were incredibly expensive.

Furthermore, they were limited in distance and could only be used to travel to specific cities, so there were many restrictions.

‘If there is a god with a similar power, I should subscribe to it.’

Ethan opened [New World].

“Hmm?”

As Ethan accessed the New World, there was a message waiting for him.

The mailbox was glittering brightly, and he was so concerned that he couldn’t resist clicking on it.

“Is it from that Ares from before?”

But Ethan didn’t read the message.

ETHAN opened the New World to find a new god to subscribe to. It was not the time to waste reading letters.

Currently, he was subscribed to two gods.

The first one he subscribed to was Heo Jun, whose power had been the foundation of Ethan’s survival so far. The power of Hercules had also been a great help in subsequent achievements.

That was how much influence the subscribed gods had.

‘I have five likes at the moment. There’s no need to hoard them. It’s better to subscribe to a new god or unlock different videos to increase my power.’

With just likes, he could subscribe to multiple gods.

He wasn’t sure if there were limitations on the gods he could subscribe to, but it was clear that he could subscribe to as many as the number of likes he had used.

‘I need to choose wisely.’

Just like before, the algorithm of the New World recommended various videos to Ethan. However, none of them were what he wanted.

Ethan quickly skipped through the videos.

As he did, he came across the numerous major deities that he had seen when he first opened [New World].

[Zeus] [God of Thunder]

The most famous one was undoubtedly Zeus, the supreme god of Greek mythology, known for his immense popularity and ability to gain subscribers.

“He has ten million subscribers?”

Zeus had a staggering ten million subscribers, making him the god with the highest number of subscribers in the New World.

Furthermore, his like count was also quite high.

Even in the brief preview videos, Ethan could see flashes of blue lightning.

“There seem to be more users in the New World than I thought. With ten million, it’s almost like all of them subscribing to him.”

Currently, Zeus was the god closest to being the victor of [New World].

However, Ethan hadn’t subscribed to Zeus.

‘Zeus would probably offer the power of lightning, but I don’t necessarily have to obtain it through subscription.’

Currently, Ethan had obtained a second job as a reward for obtaining his first job perfectly.

Therefore, he planned to choose the job he had favored the most during his previous playthrough to obtain a second job.

‘I can’t waste likes recklessly.’

He passed over Zeus and looked at other gods.

He needed a god that could immediately empower him.

While exploring different options, Ethan discovered one particular feature.

“Oh, I can search using keywords?”

-You can subscribe to suitable gods through keywords.

-We assist you in subscribing to the gods you currently need.

“If I enter a keyword, will it show a list of gods related to that keyword?”

First, Ethan searched for [Ability to Move].

Instantly, a list of gods appeared before him.

[Hermes] [God of Travelers, Messenger, and Thief]

The one that caught his eye was Hermes.

Hermes possessed winged shoes that allowed him to easily travel to any desired location.

Below that, he found gods related to portals and teleportation-related movement abilities.

Ethan immediately checked the reviews of subscribing to Hermes.

-This is a review of subscribing to Hermes. Thanks to the ability of the winged shoes, I was able to travel around easily, but the conditions were strict, and it wasn’t an immediate teleportation, so it was inconvenient.

-I subscribed because the other abilities were decent. However, since movement abilities weren’t the main focus, it felt a bit strenuous.

“Hmm.”

Hermes wasn’t the god Ethan was looking for.

Ethan continued searching for information on other gods.

During his search, the algorithm began to readjust, and immediately, it presented a god at the top.

It was a deity with very few subscribers.

[Hong Gil-dong] [Outlaw] (+) [1]

“Hong Gil-dong?”

The god’s name was Hong Gil-dong.

There were only two videos available, and the number of likes and subscribers was extremely low.

However, what Ethan could learn from the videos provided by Hong Gil-dong was perfect for his current situation.

[Wherever there is a treasure, a corrupt official is there. To take away the treasure from the rich and distribute it to the hungry commoners, our Hwalbindang Group must exist.] (+) [2]

‘I already subscribed to Heo Jun, now if I also subscribe to him, won’t I be concentrating just on Eastern gods? Well, it won’t be bad.’

It didn’t matter which god it was.

What mattered was being able to learn what he needed at the moment.

‘There’s only one review.’

-Deep Sea Exploration Department: He’s a great god for obtaining abilities like teleportation and portals instantly. While other gods offer various abilities, this god solely focuses on portal abilities, albeit with conditions.

‘It’s exactly the god I want.’

Ethan didn’t hesitate to subscribe.

-Would you like to subscribe to [Hong Gil-dong]?

-The required number of likes for subscription is ‘3’.

“Oh, the required number of likes has increased? What’s this? Could it be that as the number of subscribed gods increases, more likes are needed?”

Upon thinking about it, that possibility seemed high.

If the number of likes continued to be 1, the users of this [New World] would simply subscribe to gods without watching in-depth videos.

‘Just that alone would be enough to gain abilities.’

“It’s true that such a control mechanism exists.”

Nevertheless, it was fine. The number of likes he had was not insufficient.

Ethan immediately subscribed to Hong Gil-dong.

-You have subscribed to [Hong Gil-dong]!

-Two videos from the subscribed god will be unlocked!

“And additionally.”

Ethan inserted some gold.

-You have purchased the skip function for 1 million gold!

The skip function!

He had finally purchased the ability to skip backward and forward the videos.

With a smile on his face, Ethan immediately started watching one of Hong Gil-dong’s videos.

-[new!] How to Arrive on Time Anywhere

-[new!] How to Ride the Winds.

Ethan immediately started playing the first video.

In the video, a stylishly dressed Hong Gil-dong appeared, wearing a blue outfit and black sunglasses.

‘He looks strangely cool?’

-First of all, I want to say thank you to everyone who subscribed. I am Hong Gil-dong…

Ethan immediately skipped ahead for 30 seconds.

-People call me a righteous outlaw…

Another 30 seconds were skipped.

After skipping back and forth, the main point finally came up.

-For an outlaw, timing is crucial. While the corrupt officials can be found anywhere, I only have one body. That’s why I used the art of doppelgangers to deceive and outsmart them.

The art of doppelgangers was the core power of Hong Gil-dong.

It could be considered his most representative ability.

‘I remember he used eight doppelgangers.’

In his younger years, he had read books related to Hong Gil-dong.

‘I don’t think he will reveal the details of the doppelganger technique.’

-But that doppelganger technique has evolved. I don’t necessarily need doppelgangers. As long as I, Hong Gil-dong, am present in that place, things work out.

And with that, the first video ended. The second video, which played right after, was the main content.

‘In each video, there’s a new ability. It seems like a rule so far, but it’s not necessarily a fixed law.’

-How to Ride the Winds. Let me share that with my subscribers.

Ding!

-You have learned how to travel swiftly from east to west.

-New Skill Added: Wind Riding, East to West (A)

-The true name is called Wind Riding! The essence of this power is the ability to travel swiftly from east to west. It allows you to reach any desired destination. However, in order to use it, you need to physically visit the place you want to travel to.

The power Ethan gained from subscribing to Hong Gil-dong was exactly what he needed the most at the moment.

To use portals, he would have had to purchase expensive portal scrolls every time. But now, he could save that money.

Ethan smiled with satisfaction.

“This solves everything.”

It was worth using those hard-to-obtain likes.

Ethan immediately closed the New World.

Although his mailbox sparkled, he decided to leave it for now.

It wasn’t the time to read letters.

“First things first.”

Ethan used Wind Riding.

-The Count Whiskers’ Territory has been registered with Wind Riding.

-With Wind Riding, you can return to Count Territory anytime.

“Alright.”

Now, wherever he had been at least once, he could instantly teleport there as if using a portal.

“After gathering likes, this is all I have left.”

After subscribing to Hong Gil-dong, Ethan now only had two likes remaining.

If the more gods he subscribed to, the more likes he needed, then having only two likes seemed insufficient.

‘Besides, I still need to unlock the videos.’

To unlock the existing gods’ videos and subscribe to new ones, he needed to continue acquiring likes.

“I need to gather likes quickly while upgrading my specs.”

It seemed beneficial to achieve various achievements while upgrading his specs to earn likes. He realized that simply doing good deeds wouldn’t guarantee likes.

‘The number of likes I can obtain depends on how well I achieve those achievements in difficult situations.’

Simply hunting named monsters wouldn’t earn him likes either.

“First and foremost, I should focus on achieving good deeds achievements while hunting monsters.”

By doing good deeds and defeating named monsters, he could scratch together the likes.

* * *

Before leaving the Count’s territory, Ethan took out an essence from his pocket.

It was an expensive panacea that Count Whiskers had purchased for Ethan, believing it would effectively alleviate his condition.

“I can finally eat it.”

At that time, the potency was too strong for him to consume.

But now, his stamina had increased significantly, and he had become proficient in the skill of Decoction brewing.

He could easily turn this essence into a Decoction and consume it.

“But it’s still a high-level challenge.”

The difficulty varied depending on the potential of the ingredients. This essence was not something to be taken lightly.

Ethan opened the Donguibogam containing the essence of oriental medicine that Heo Jun had learned throughout his life.

‘The mindset is crucial.’

-Continuously polish, attempt, and achieve.

The most important aspect emphasized in the Donguibogam was the act of trying and repeating.

Attempt, repeat, and repeat again. Through these attempts and repetitions, enlightenment would come.

In that process, the skill Heo Jun had honed before Ethan knew it would become his own, as Heo Jun called “Mastery.”

-Failure is natural.

Ethan had experienced numerous failures while playing MePan. But someone once said that as long as you didn’t give up, it was not a failure but a process.

Ding!

-You have created a 200-year-old matured Lecard Decoction!

-Grade evaluation in progress…

-200-year-old matured Lecard Decoction [Grade S]

“Lecard Decoction?”

He had successfully brewed an S-grade Decoction, aged for 200 years.

“This is incredible.”

1. TLN: For those of you who don’t know who Hong Gil-dong is, he was a Robin Hood-like civil servant/military officer. But there’s also a novel that tells the story of Hong Gil-dong. If you are interested to read a little bit of it, you can read it here2. TLN: Hwalbindang is an outlaw group that Hong Gil-dong created in the novel that I talked about earlier. Hwalbindang means “league of those who help the impoverished”