Chapter 92: Cult (4)

What had given them the audacity to use my name to swindle all these people?

Then again, they probably never imagined that I would appear before them in person.

Had someone I knew not become entangled in this mess, I would never have learned that a cult like this even existed, much less found myself standing here now.

“Lord Person123...! Please, save us!”

Someone cried out, their voice trembling with rapture.

Others immediately joined in, calling my name with the same fervor.

—Yes. This is much better. Kill the cult leader and claim the congregation for thyself.

The Demon King’s voice echoed inside my head.

Naturally, I had not staged this whole spectacle for anything like that.

I glanced toward Jiu noona.

Like everyone else, she remained prostrate on the floor, perfectly still.

I hoped this would finally bring her back to her senses.

“Your cult leader is a fraud.”

The moment I spoke, the chapel fell silent once more.

One by one, the believers raised their heads and stared at me with vacant, bewildered eyes.

“Everything he told you was a lie. Using my name, claiming that you would be saved, demanding your money and your worship—it was all nothing more than a scheme to deceive and exploit you. I never asked for any of it.”

Uneasy murmurs spread through the crowd.

One man, visibly shaken, spoke up.

“Th-then... the world really is going to end, and you, Lord Person123, will save only the chosen faithful...”

I cut him off.

“That is all nonsense.”

“...”

“There is no such thing as ‘only those who believe in me will be saved.’ I am an ordinary human being, just like the rest of you. I am merely a Climber who extends the Time Limit on Nightmare difficulty. I am not someone who should be worshipped.”

Ordinarily, mere words would never have been enough to pull people this deeply immersed in a cult back to reality.

But this time, they had no choice but to listen.

The very person they had worshipped was standing before them, denying the entire doctrine himself.

“So go home. All of you.”

I swept my gaze across the chapel.

“I will do everything I can, until the very end, to prevent the world from being destroyed. So return to your ordinary lives. And never let yourselves be deceived by a cult like this again. That is the only thing I ask of you.”

I gestured for them to stand.

The crowd hesitantly began rising to their feet.

A moment later, they started filing out of the chapel one by one.

Even then, many remained rooted in place, staring at me in a daze.

“Go. Now.”

Only after I repeated the order did the last of them finally begin to leave.

Jiu noona kept looking back over her shoulder as she followed the others outside.

‘Hah...’

That had to have gotten through to her.

At least, I hoped it had.

I wanted her to stop putting everyone around her through hell and simply return to living a normal life.

—I truly cannot fathom thee.

The Demon King spoke again.

—Why dost thou reject their adoration and worship? Thou couldst gather these worms beneath thee and expand thy following beyond measure.

His nagging had practically become part of my daily routine.

He never seemed to tire of ordering around a body that did not even belong to him.

—Watching thee squander such opportunities is infuriating, thou wretched worm.

I ignored him and turned my attention elsewhere.

The cult leader, who had been attempting to slip quietly off the platform, froze the moment our eyes met.

“You’re staying. Where do you think you’re going?”

“...”

I motioned toward the prosecutor, who stood near the chapel entrance, still staring at everything in stunned silence.

The congregation was gone.

Now it was time to finish this.

I forced the cult leader and the High Priests to kneel in a row on the platform.

“I-I was only trying to spread word of your greatness among the people...”

The cult leader immediately began making excuses.

I merely stared at him.

He lowered his gaze and fell silent.

“From what I overheard, some rather important people are involved in all this.”

I had already accomplished what I had come here to do, and the Religion of the Heavenly One would not survive as an organization after today.

But since I had come this far, I might as well tear the entire thing out by the roots.

“Talk. Who is behind you?”

The cult leader and the High Priests exchanged anxious glances, but none of them answered.

The prosecutor spoke instead.

“There is a strong possibility that the Climber Association is involved as well.”

...The Climber Association?

Why would the Association be involved in something like this?

The cult leader and the High Priests still refused to speak.

It was clear that they had no intention of cooperating willingly.

—Give me three seconds, and I shall have them singing. Surrender thy body unto me.

I ignored him.

Instead, I pointed toward the enormous hole in the chapel ceiling.

“If you continue being uncooperative, the second shot will not miss.”

“...”

There was no possible way he could believe I was incapable of killing him.

Not to boast, but it was already common knowledge that I had killed two people with Destruction Ray.

When I allowed a trace of killing intent to leak out as well, the cult leader’s face turned as white as a sheet.

At last, he opened his mouth.

“W-we... We were only following orders...”

“Whose orders?”

“The Vice Branch Manager of the Korean Climber Association!”

After that, the cult leader told us everything.

In its own way, the truth was startling.

The figures behind the Religion of the Heavenly One were the Vice Branch Manager of the Korean branch of the Climber Association, a powerful National Assemblyman whose name virtually every Korean would recognize, and several other politicians connected to him.

Once the entire story came out, it became clear that the cult had been conceived and founded from the very beginning by the Vice Branch Manager.

The objective was exactly what one would expect.

Money—and the creation of a private cartel under his control.

The cult leader was not the true head of the organization.

He was merely the man at the bottom of the chain, obeying the Vice Branch Manager’s orders and tirelessly recruiting new believers.

The politicians were his accomplices, accepting money from the cult and granting various favors in exchange.

I ordered the cult leader to produce all the evidence.

The prosecutor sat down immediately and began examining the bribery ledger stored on the cult leader’s laptop, along with the emails they had exchanged.

The more he read, the darker his expression became.

“This is far beyond anything I imagined. To think it had grown to this scale...”

Only a few years had passed since I cleared the first floor of Nightmare difficulty.

And in that brief span of time, they had built a cult of this magnitude.

In a world where no one could be certain whether civilization would still exist a year from now, these people were still desperately clawing after wealth and power.

It was nauseating.

“Can you arrest all of them?”

The prosecutor’s expression remained grim as he answered.

“I will do everything within my power. But there are far more influential people involved than I expected. Honestly, I cannot promise how far I will be able to pursue this...”

He lowered his head.

“I’m sorry.”

What he meant was simple.

Even with evidence, bringing them all down would not be easy.

I nodded.

“Then I’ll help.”

How many other cults like the Religion of the Heavenly One existed out there?

There was no way to know.

Either way, this seemed like as good an opportunity as any to deal them a serious blow.

I opened the Communication Channel.

***

Not long after Person123 had uploaded his guide for the sixth floor, he made another post.

That alone was unusual.

[Person123: I recently discovered a cult known as the Religion of the Heavenly One, which has been exploiting my name. The individuals behind this organization include Kim Ji-hoon, Vice Branch Manager of the Korean branch of the Climber Association, National Assemblymen Baek Gyu-ho and Park Tae-min...]

It was a public denunciation of a specific cult.

And beneath it, listed one after another, were the names of every individual connected to the organization.

[Person123: ...If any religious organization is using my name to demand money or worship, understand that they are nothing more than a cult. Please remain vigilant. As for the Religion of the Heavenly One, I expect every individual involved to be properly punished.]

The Republic of Korea erupted into chaos.

—Person123 Issues Stern Condemnation of Person123 Church...

—The Truth Behind the Religion of the Heavenly One: Vice Branch Manager Remains Silent...

—Political Establishment in Turmoil as Public Outrage Intensifies...

The Salvation Faith, the most mainstream branch of the Person123 Church, was the first to react.

They moved with the urgency of people who had just discovered flames beneath their feet.

“...Lord Person123! It was not us! Our Society of Hope for Human Salvation has never coerced a single believer into giving us their money or their faith!”

It was a desperate attempt to proclaim their innocence and devotion.

From the very beginning, they had denounced every other denomination of the Person123 Church as a cult.

Within minutes of Person123’s post, the leader of the Salvation Faith appeared on a live broadcast, publicly distancing the organization from the Religion of the Heavenly One and shouting at the top of his lungs that the two groups were nothing alike.

He also announced that, effective immediately, every Salvation Faith branch and foundation throughout the world would undergo a comprehensive audit.

The organization truly feeling the pressure, however, was the Climber Association.

The Vice Branch Manager of its Korean branch had been exposed as the architect of a cult that had exploited Person123’s name.

Worse still, Person123 himself had made the accusation publicly.

The Association President issued a statement even faster than the Korean branch.

“...I strongly urge the board of the Korean branch to convene immediately and dismiss Vice Branch Manager Kim Ji-hoon from his position. Depending on the results of the investigation, headquarters is also considering revoking the Korean branch’s operational authority...”

It was a direct demand that the Korean branch cast Kim Ji-hoon out without delay.

The investigation in Korea had only just begun.

Should they not wait for the facts before passing judgment?

Headquarters had no interest whatsoever in that kind of caution.

Person123 had personally intervened.

The Climber Association had absolutely nothing to do with this affair.

It was the unilateral misconduct of a single official within the Korean branch.

They needed to establish that distinction before anyone else could question it.

Like the Salvation Faith, the Association also announced a full-scale audit of every branch worldwide.

“...Goddamn it.”

At his home, Vice Branch Manager Kim Ji-hoon stared at the news playing across his television.

His face was hollow.

How?

How the hell had everything come to this?

His ambitions had once seemed limitless.

Through the Religion of the Heavenly One, he would expand his underground influence, aggressively draw politicians into his sphere, and create the largest cartel in the Republic of Korea.

And everything had been proceeding perfectly.

Until only a few days ago.

Then a single post from Person123 brought the entire structure crashing down at once.

Had Person123 only exposed the Religion of the Heavenly One itself, they might have severed the tail and survived.

But he had identified everyone involved by name.

Bang. Bang. Bang.

“Mr. Kim Ji-hoon! This is the Prosecutor’s Office!”

As the pounding on his front door continued, Kim Ji-hoon let out a hollow laugh.

His only consolation was that everyone else’s house was burning alongside his own.

Baek Gyu-ho was an old political fox who had survived more crises than most people could count.

But even he could not maneuver his way out of this one.

The opponent standing against him was practically an untouchable holy figure.

There was no battle for public opinion that could possibly be won against Person123.

***

The office of National Assemblyman Baek Gyu-ho.

“Damn it... Damn it!”

His eyes bloodshot, Baek Gyu-ho hurled his phone across the room.

He was a six-term member of the National Assembly of the Republic of Korea.

Within the political establishment, he was the very embodiment of living power.

And now that power stood on the verge of collapsing like a sandcastle beneath the tide.

At the Prosecutor’s Office, some man named Lee Tae-seong was directing the investigation without restraint.

Public anger intensified by the day.

As though that were not enough, pressure had begun arriving from governments around the world.

China, for reasons no one could understand, had apparently lost its mind entirely.

It warned that if those responsible were not punished immediately, it would take “appropriate measures” of its own.

Officials had even begun discussing export controls on raw materials and new tariffs.

There was no one left willing to stand beside Baek Gyu-ho.

He was adrift in open water.

Far from receiving support, he was being pressured to resign from every direction.

The National Assembly had already read the mood of the public and begun severing its ties to him.

Public outrage grew hotter by the hour.

Worse still, Person123 had personally stated that he expected those responsible to be punished.

Any attempt to bury the matter would invite consequences no one could contain.

The entire National Assembly could be swept away.

Once Baek Gyu-ho resigned, the investigation would proceed without obstruction.

And his final destination would inevitably be a cold prison cell.

But he had no intention of falling quietly.

Not alone, at least.

“Those goddamn sons of bitches...”

His face twisted with fury.

“So they’re all going to pretend they know nothing?”

He had survived in politics for a very long time.

That meant he possessed enough dirty secrets to match.

Baek Gyu-ho intended to wield that knowledge like a blade and drag everyone down with him in one magnificent act of self-destruction.

At that moment, someone knocked on the door.

“Pardon the intrusion, Assemblyman.”

Two unexpected visitors entered.

The Director of the NIS and the Director of the Tower Climbing Special Agency.

Baek Gyu-ho glared at them venomously.

The NIS Director spoke first, his tone carrying the finality of a verdict.

“Don’t do it.”

“...Don’t do what?”

“Do not do what you are planning. Resign quietly.”

It was obvious what a cornered man like Baek Gyu-ho intended to do.

He let out a low chuckle.

“You have to leave a trapped rat at least one hole to crawl through, or it will bite the cat on the nose.”

His eyes narrowed.

“Isn’t that right? Why, exactly, am I supposed to die alone?”

The Director of the Tower Climbing Special Agency answered.

“It is not as though you are literally going to die.”

“...What did you say?”

“The rat hole has already been opened for you. Resign quietly, and you may at least keep your life.”

The color drained from Baek Gyu-ho’s face.

He understood immediately.

This was a threat against his life.

“A-are you threatening me?”

His voice trembled.

“Are you threatening to assassinate a sitting member of the National Assembly of the Republic of Korea?”

The Director of the Tower Climbing Special Agency looked exhausted.

“What else can we do? This is where matters have led us. You must understand that we have no other choice.”

Person123 wanted Baek Gyu-ho punished.

Therefore, Baek Gyu-ho had to be punished without exception.

But if Baek Gyu-ho lost control and began exposing everyone around him, the political establishment of the Republic of Korea would be thrown into chaos beyond anyone’s ability to contain.

Silencing him through death was, in fact, one of the options under consideration.

“...Who ordered you to do this?”

Neither man answered.

But there was no need to ask.

It did not matter.

One way or another, everyone except the people directly implicated had already given their silent approval.

And those who knew nothing would simply look the other way.

At last, fully understanding the position he was in, Baek Gyu-ho collapsed into his chair.

All strength had left his body.