Chapter 235: Ch 235: Back in Jisan Village
The days inside the Happy Ending Sect’s underground bunker were
monotonous and strange.
Those who took turns praying.
The corpses brought in fresh every day.
And the people who gave impassioned speeches about how those corpses
had been good people in life, and thus worthy of meeting a happy ending.
The people who wept at those words, smiling and applauding.
The bodies crammed into the black boxes.
The sight of a small, deranged society was grotesque, and yet among
themselves they were at peace.
’Truly cult-like.’
Cruel and insane practices.
And, in contrast, a closed sense of comfort.
The believers were strangely kind, treating each other warmly, intimately,
calling one another family.
All in this survival bunker, cut off underground.
[Ah, that too is a technology of rule. A sense of solidarity, belonging, and
the confinement of daily routine are what keep a group from ever leaving.]
Yes. Maybe it’s only natural. But still...
’...It feels like something’s missing in the details.’
[Hm?]
The little details that should make this unreasonable situation possible.
For example... ordinarily in cults, rituals like these involve some sort of
shared act.
’Like drinking a certain beverage, carrying a specific branch, imitating an
animal...’
Some small symbol that only they share.
A practice that is a little magical, unique, symbolic, easy enough to do, and
helps foster religious belonging.
’The same goes for clothing.’
I had expected them to share at least one unifying color or ornament.
But here in this underground bunker, everyone was just wearing ordinary
clothes. No real sign of initiation.
Even the school uniform the sect official wore... well, as a ghost story it’s
symbolic, but it wouldn’t feel out of place even if you just called it normal
clothing.
’In some eerie way, it would have been more striking if everyone was
wearing school uniforms.’
But since only the official wears one, it feels neither here nor there.
’I mean, how are they even forming unity?’
That this inhumane group is sustained on nothing but the ideas of ’Ireum-
nim’ and ’happiness’ is... baffling.
Is it really just, brainwash with Ireum-nim and kill people, the end?
[Oh, what a witty analysis! My friend, you could even make a splendid cult
group of your own. The prophet role you played on the train was deeply
impressive!]
[Why not create a fine organization even now? Something intriguing,
uncanny, cheerful... And this is a truly radical proposal, but I’ll allow my
cotton-stuffed body to be taken as its symbol!]
T-Thank you, but I’ll pass for now.
Anyway.
To be very honest, hm... those gaps feel almost like blanks.
From the perspective of a wiki.
’As though the worldbuilding parameters were never filled in.’
Because the focus is only on visceral stimuli and disgust, constructing
events and ghost-story horror, it feels like the realistic details are missing.
Yet it’s precisely those details that provide the foundation that supports the
story.
’...The Happy Ending Sect was one of the most recent sects added to the
Church of the Luminous Unknown on the wiki.’
So maybe that’s why. I even wondered if it would have been different had I
ended up in a sect added in the early days of registration.
’Something like the Quota Worship Sect?’
But I erased that thought.
It’s probably better like this—being able to feel nothing but disgust, without
great disturbance.
’...Better than a visceral, crawling sense of dread, anyway.’
Let’s be grateful it isn’t that.
I simply sighed at the clumsy balance, trying to grow used to the pain in my
stomach as I watched cruel and revolting sights.
[Ah, certainly a sharp analysis, but... Tell me, Mr. Roe Deer.]
[Haven’t you ever thought that some cult groups only reveal their true
nature once you’re inside the in-group itself?]
So he’s saying you’d have to be initiated to experience the real thing...
’I’d rather decline.’
At least over the past two days, I hadn’t been pressured to swallow blank
scripture fragments and be reborn into the authority of Church of the
Luminous Unknown.
There had been no veiled suggestions or pressure. If it were another cult,
that kind of thing would have been all the more chilling.
Here, it seemed more like intentional calm.
’Maybe because they see me not as a contaminated human but as a ghost
story itself, and so they’re taking the long view.’
I asked Ho Yoowon too, but he only shook his head.
"Ah, no, nothing of the sort."
...So that’s how it is.
"It’s hard to say there’s anything worth calling information to look into.
Right? Still, it’s convenient to have an easy chance to talk with you
separately, Roe Deer-nim."
That was true.
Within this underground bunker, the Happy Ending Sect had assigned us to
what could be called... living spaces set on an equal footing.
Hemispherical chambers, connected like an ant nest.
[Authority Zone]
Unlike the clustered, antlike dormitories where new initiates were packed
close together, given only the bare minimum for survival, this place was
slightly apart. The area was wider, emptier... independent. As though a
personal territory had been granted.
Strange sealed rooms with no CCTV at all.
[Like a lion’s den. If these were the living quarters of those who hid
underground at the world’s end, they might look just like this.]
For reference, aside from the spaces assigned to each of us, the nearby
’Authority Zone’ seemed to be empty.
Except for those two in school uniforms.
"Authority Zone... In the Church of the Luminous Unknown, I think they
call Darknesses ’Authority’. Isn’t that right?"
Correct.
Now that I thought about it.
Question :
Knowledge about the Church of the Luminous Unknown
How much did Ho Yoowon know about them?
"I know as much as needed. I’ve read the experimentation logs mentioned
in Cheerful Research Institute."
Ah.
Derived from earlier research, the name of a god worshiped by a
certain cult currently in rapid growth was adopted and used as the
subtitle for this research.
...The very experimentation logs that were beside the incubation chamber I
woke up in.
Apparently, Ho Yoowon had tracked down other traces mentioned a few
times in the underground Cheerful Research Institute as well.
"A radical religious group that worships Darkness and seeks to become
Darkness, expanding rapidly. It seemed like just the place to find
information I’d missed before. And..."
Ho Yoowon met my gaze.
"In the experimentation log that created you, Roe Deer-nim... it said the
name was taken from this religious group’s god, didn’t it?"
...!
"I’m a little curious about what connection you might have to the group.
Ah, that’s not a question, of course."
...
"Then I’ll ask a question this time, Roe Deer-nim."
The topic that had been cut off back in the elevator.
A single question, almost obsessive.
"How do you know about Sekwang Special Metropolitan City?"
...Huu.
’I can’t exactly say I read it on the wiki.’
There was no helping it.
Answer to answer
: Substitute with another question
"..."
Ho Yoowon’s laughter stopped.
For a brief moment, expressionless eyes looked straight at me. And then, as
if flipping a switch, the smile returned.
"Can’t answer... I see."
...
"I’ll remember that, Roe Deer-nim."
There were no follow-up questions.
An uneasy end to an uneasy Q&A.
And, that evening.
Just one ordinary routine event returned, detailed enough to feel believable.
The Happy Ending Sect’s meal time.
"Let us share happiness."
"The gaze of Ireum-nim."
Here, every morning and evening meal required full attendance. Everyone
sat and ate together. No exceptions.
Even those contaminated by ghost stories sat side by side with the new
initiates.
Incidentally, across from me sat the school uniformed officials... ugh.
’At this rate, they’d probably kill an initiate and say they made them
happy.’
I swallowed the retort and kept quiet.
Soon the meal began.
I sat still, glancing at the exposed cement walls and ceilings of the
underground bunker, then looked down at the table.
Canned rations.
"Can’t eat?"
I turned my head.
One of the uniformed officials was leaning on a hand, looking at me.
Then she tapped the boy next to her, the one who looked exactly like her.
"Hey, hey, what do dragons usually eat?"
The boy just shrugged. She smacked his back lightly, then smiled brightly
at me.
"Ah. Should introduce ourselves! Introductions are important... Right, I’m
Lee Seoyu, and this is Lee Seobin. We’re twins. I’m the older sister!"
She beamed.
"Some people call me ’Isseoyu~’ in the Chungcheong dialect!" [1]
So cheerful.
Which only made it more awkward.
This normal, sunny demeanor from someone who had killed without
hesitation, brainwashed through hallucinations and whispers, and tried to
abduct others.
That unsettling casualness of giving real names inside a ghost story. And...
’They really are twins.’
Now that I was here, I recognized them... They’re the Happy Ending
Sect twins who had appeared in several Church of the Luminous Unknown
tales.
I’d even seen their faces on a few WeTube thumbnails.
Though this was my first time hearing their actual names.
"Do you maybe eat, like, something unusual? Human brains or something?
Or livers?"
But looking at them like this, they really just seemed like high school
students.
So after some hesitation, I asked at last.
Reason for outfit choice
"Ah, my school uniform?"
Her head fell off.
"Curious?"
And it rolled across the table.
Long hair tied with a red ribbon wriggled on the tablecloth.
"Are you reallyreallyreallyreallyreally curious?AreyoucuriouswhyIm
wearingthis?Reallyreally?Really?"
No.
I think I’m good...
Polite remark for table manners.
"I see! I see!"
’Just drop the subject, please...’
Maybe because they’re insane, there’s never any warning.
I’d wear out mentally before I even found a way to return to a human shape.
Everything was just tiring and... overwhelming...
Then.
Thud.
"Aigoo..."
On my right.
The old woman sitting next to Ho Yoowon bumped his arm and spilled her
water cup.
His clothes got wet.
"Oh no, are you alright?"
But instead of checking the water on his sleeve, Ho Yoowon immediately
moved to help the old woman up. He cleared the table in front of her and
wiped her clothes.
...He’d go that far?
"What a good person."
"A good person."
...I felt eyes on us.
From every table, whispers spread as they watched Ho Yoowon’s actions.
’...’
That evening, Ho Yoowon seemed to chat softly with the old woman, and
before long, he went so far as to invite her into his ’quarters’.
"I’ll tell you an interesting story."
No one stopped him.
[Oh. I can feel the audience’s anticipation.]
Yes.
Anticipation.
One of the Happy Ending Sect’s officials, who had introduced herself as
Lee Seoyu, whispered as we walked away.
"If you’re going to make Grandma Kim Bokja happy, be sure to tell me in
the morning. We have to hold the ceremony for her!"
...
My stomach lurched.
But I didn’t stop Ho Yoowon.
’It must be for information.’
If anything went wrong, I would step in myself.
So I slowly followed after him as he supported the old woman toward his
quarters...
And we entered.
Bam—
But the moment I shut the door and leaned against it.
Ho Yoowon released the old woman and stepped back.
And the old woman straightened up without difficulty, standing tall.
’...!’
She spat out a round glass-like bead she’d been holding in her mouth.
Immediately, her form shifted and hardened...
A cold, tired look.
Eyes as sharp as a hawk.
Pale face, short blue hair.
Someone I knew.
’...!!’
Assistant Manager Eun Haje.
’Wait a second.’
What’s happening?
My brain froze, unable to process the situation.
And then, like a bolt of lightning, realization struck.
’No wonder he helped the old woman.’
Assistant Manager Eun Haje had infiltrated this Happy Ending Sect facility
disguised as an old woman...!
And there was only one person who could’ve arranged that.
Ho Yoowon!
"So you sent someone in, and then you came in yourself too?"
"No. It’s coincidence. I didn’t expect to meet you like this either."
"Sure, sure. Of course."
Assistant Manager Eun Haje collapsed into a seat with a wet splat.
Then, after briefly showing an expression that looked like she wanted to
sock Ho Yoowon, her eyes lit up as she noticed the bruise on his face.
"Director, you got hurt?"
"Ah. This one’s hand is a bit heavy..."
[How shameless.]
Exactly.
The finger Ho Yoowon used to point at me naturally drew Assistant
Manager Eun Haje’s gaze in my direction.
She nearly went pale, but steadied her breath and asked calmly.
"...Isn’t this a Security Team member?"
"That’s right. And in fact, Falcon-nim also knows this person."
"..."
Assistant Manager Eun Haje’s eyes sank.
As if recalling the names of all the Field Exploration Team staff she had
worked with... and their fates.
But before she could finish that thought, Ho Yoowon spoke first.
"Been a while, hasn’t it? This is Roe Deer-nim."
Assistant Manager Eun Haje froze.
Her gaze left Ho Yoowon entirely and fixed on me.
Her mouth opened.
"Roe Deer?"
...
Yes, Assistant Manager.
I shaped the letters with smoke.
’It’s fine.’
In fact, I was in a better state than when I had met with the Security Team
members.
I was in a state where I could think clearly again, and I was freer than when
I’d been in the isolation cell.
To meet Assistant Manager Eun Haje at eye level, I cautiously sat down at
the doorway as well.
I forced myself into the tone I’d used before.
I made a mistake and it caused problems, which is why I ended up like this,
but it’ll be fine.
I’m looking for a way to recover.
"..."
Assistant Manager Eun Haje stared at the floor. Her face, hidden by hair,
was momentarily out of sight. Then.
"Right. Roe."
She met my eyes again. Her face had all agitation wiped clean. Only
composure remained.
"Of course you can recover. Hey, having ridiculous side effects from
Darkness is part of becoming a true Daydream employee."
She tapped my arm that lay inside the black smoke.
"You’re clever, so there’ll be another way. Think about what you want to do
once you recover."
...
Thank you.
"Thanks for what? Hey. I’ll just stand next to you whenever you want a
cigarette."
I don’t think that’s possible, but...
Anyway, I was able to talk a bit more about the events that had happened
and about Assistant Manager Eun Haje grumbling that she couldn’t smoke
while disguised like that.
It was a short but fairly pleasant time.
Hearing that I had worked with Supervisor Park Minseong even brought a
faint smile to her face. Of course, it vanished when we returned to the main
topic.
"Ms. Falcon, I didn’t call you here just for idle chatter with Roe Deer-nim."
"Sorry."
Assistant Manager Eun Haje apologized immediately, though there was still
an expression like, ’What are you going to do about it, prick?’ left on her
face.
Hm. Unexpectedly, we seemed to have grown fairly used to one another...
’I was worried last time when this scumbag even managed to control
Assistant Manager Eun Haje’s body.’
It was a relief to see Assistant Manager Eun Haje behaving in character.
’Still, I should check on her later.’
For now, this first.
Assistant Manager, were you sent here under Director Ho’s orders?
"That’s right, I was. It was hell. Fetching corpses and everything..."
Assistant Manager Eun Haje grumbled that she’d only done a couple of cult
infiltrations back when she was a reporter.
"Isn’t this place worshipping Darknesses in an underground shelter and
killing people? Happy Ending, huh? If they want happy endings, why not
give them to themselves instead of foisting it on innocent people?"
Each word was painfully correct...
And this appears to be a place where they gather prospective converts. It
might be hard to squeeze useful information out of them.
"No. It’s precisely at the initiation ceremony that you can dig up a lot."
Huh?
"Usually with cults, once they drag someone
in, they soon show their true
colors."
Assistant Manager Eun Haje grinned.
"And to do that, they’d have prepared things, right? There must be
something somewhere in this facility. So then—"
"That’s all well and good, Ms. Falcon, but don’t forget why we came in
here."
Ho Yoowon cut in.
"Have you checked about Sekwang Special Metropolitan City?"
"No, wait, you’re just going to say that in front of him...? Well, whatever.
Anyway, to dig up that information here, we first need to figure out what
exactly these people are up to and use that as a base to approach it... Huu."
She sounded like she’s completely fed up.
"Wait a second. Weren’t I sent here because you confirmed a future where
I’d learn something about the city?"
...!
’Future?’
A memory flashed into my mind. Right before I boarded the train to Tamra,
Assistant Manager Eun Haje had come rushing to my room at the company
housing and said something.
If that’s something Ho Yoowon learned during his project-related
activities...
’Then his behavior up to now makes sense.’
Ho Yoowon had already confirmed the future.
– On January 2nd, you’ll be marked as deceased. – I confirmed it... in a Darkness that shows the future.
That ’Assistant Manager Eun Haje will discover something about Sekwang
Special Metropolitan City’... a future like that.
Recognition followed in a chain.
’Wait, then did he personally get recruited on purpose to infiltrate the sect?’
If it’s the title of director, then it wouldn’t be strange if he had sensed
something on the day or the day before and made some sort of arrangement.
That would explain why the Happy Ending Sect official managed to get in
smoothly all the way into the company’s main branch basement without
raising more alarms.
It seems he pulled some trick to quietly thin out the security staff that day to
minimize any clashes.
To be able to come in without suspicion.
And of course, I ended up dragged into that scheme too, which doesn’t feel
good... But more than that.
’...Through what Darkness did he see the future?’
That accuracy.
Darkness is a paranormal phenomenon, and the stronger it is, the more
dangerous and incomprehensible it tends to be.
What is Ho Yoowon using?
Question : Darkness that confirms the future
"...Was that directed at me? That’s strange. I’m certain the Q&A had
stopped at my turn to ask."
Damn.
"It seems you don’t have the right to ask until it’s my turn, Roe Deer-nim."
I, wearing a gas mask, and Ho Yoowon, smiling, stared at each other for a
moment.
Assistant Manager Eun Haje, watching this mess with a look that asked
what on earth was going on, soon shrugged and spoke.
"Well then, since we’ve got more people now, it’ll be easier. If both of you
would also join in the search, Roe and Director."
"Search?"
"Yes. I was planning to gather some information on this facility itself...
hm."
Assistant Manager Eun Haje shrugged again.
"Even if this bunker itself is a Darkness, somewhere there must be an
entrance, don’t you think? A way leading up to the surface."
That... would surely be the case.
’Most spatial-type ghost stories have an exit route into reality.’
If you came in, there must also be a way out.
Even if it’s a ghost story of the Church of the Luminous Unknown, they
wouldn’t break such a basic condition.
Though this underground bunker may not be fixed in one location, at any
given time it must connect somewhere.
The converts wouldn’t know, since they awaken here after losing
consciousness, but those more deeply involved would.
For example, the twins.
"And maybe it’s worth noting, but those twins in school uniforms, the key
figures here. I never saw them in the dining hall during lunchtime."
Assistant Manager Eun Haje added that it seemed they were doing
something ’other than managing converts’.
At any rate, the point was that it would be good to find a clue about the
entrance.
That would let us trace back toward the center.
"Usually cults put the most precious thing the farthest from the entrance, in
the deepest center. Of course, so they can flee if they must."
"Aha."
Ho Yoowon didn’t object.
And after a moment’s thought, I answered.
Then near that area, there might also be some device to check outside.
"Oh, that could be."
In fact, this was a certainty.
In the wiki records on the Final Ritual Chamber, there were several
descriptions suggesting you could see outside from within.
"There’s no way they’d put it in the convert’s quarters. If you show the
outside, it ruins the educational effect."
A place apart from the converts’ living quarters.
On higher ground.
Where an insider could easily confirm it.
And that was...
’Here.’
[Authority Zone]
With its anthill-like structure, the ceiling was high, so there had to be areas
closer to the surface.
In the end, we decided to very carefully explore this zone, avoiding the
twins.
"Good. If you two go together, then this grandma can move around more
easily too."
Assistant Manager Eun Haje swallowed the glass bead again.
And shortly after.
"Here it is."
We found it.
The very end of the Authority Zone. An empty section.
There, if you opened the small round cover near the ceiling...
"It’s glass."
A fixed device like a little telescope, made so you could peer outside.
"Hey Roe, want to take a look?"
Gladly, I did.
I rose lightly, shrouded in smoke, and pressed my eye to the round opening
where the cover had been lifted...
A span-wide opaque glass telescope view.
...
...!!
"Roe?"
I looked again.
But the scenery didn’t change. Old houses, mountains, utility poles, dirt
paths, hanok.
That was...
Jisan Village.
This Ritual Chamber of the Church of the Luminous Unknown was lodged right underneath Baek Saheon’s hometown village.