Chapter 73

At the sudden word, I stopped without realizing it.

'Why the hell is Cheonmyeonggyo coming up this early?'

Cheonmyeonggyo. They claim to follow Heaven’s decree, that they’re chosen under Heaven’s judgment—a so-called new religion.

“New religion” sounds nice, but it’s just a cult that popped up after the Gates appeared. Considering they regularly enter Gates, they’re not too different from a guild.

Cheonmyeonggyo’s doctrine can be roughly summarized like this:

Heaven desires destruction, and some have already been chosen for salvation. Those chosen will defeat evil, accumulate virtue, and be guaranteed life after the end.

Therefore, we must also be chosen. For the life after destruction.

And to be chosen? You have to serve the cult leader, the one who “knows the truth.”

'Not that I’d say they’re completely wrong.'

There’s no debate about whether Cheonmyeonggyo is a cult, but if I think about it... maybe I can see why it formed.

The world went to shit overnight—who wouldn’t be curious about the reason? People have gotten used to it now, but by nature, humans are obsessed with finding out why.

And since science doesn’t explain it, they cling to religion.

'And isn’t there... a god?'

I can’t say whether an all-knowing, all-powerful being exists or not.

But their doctrine is uncomfortably close to reality. The “saved” are hunters, obviously. “Defeating evil and building virtue” means killing monsters in dungeons.

The problem is that to undergo the “awakening,” which they call being chosen, you have to serve the cult leader. Basically, they’re selling snake oil about awakening people....

'Hmph.'

The Cheonmyeonggyo episode in the novel was one of those plot threads sprinkled early, only to explode midway. Major characters involved were the protagonist Kwon Taehan, S-rank hunter Tae Hyunjin, and Sung Uijae, who had already taken Australian nationality.

Even after it was resolved, traces of Cheonmyeonggyo’s believers and doctrine lingered here and there all the way to the ending. It was memorable.

But those bastards... showing up now?

'Well, I guess it makes sense. You need to build up karma before you get smacked down later.'

Wait.

Cheonmyeonggyo drew people in by making the unawakened awaken. And... by raising the ranks of already awakened believers.

And just a moment ago, Ryu Taeyoung had been venting about his own powerlessness....

'Don’t tell me?'

I eyed Ryu Taeyoung suspiciously as I replied.

“I’ve heard of them. They’re a cult, aren’t they.”

Was he trying to preach to me? Thinking about it, with this pathetic E-rank body, a cult like that would sound pretty convincing.

So I asked straight out:

“Are you a member of Cheonmyeonggyo? You trying to convert me?”

Figures. People who seem too nice—so nice it’s suspicious—you’re supposed to assume they’re cultists. It fit him perfectly. Sure, it wasn’t in the original, but hell, the original left out plenty. He could easily be a cultist.

But Ryu Taeyoung reacted strongly to my words.

“What? No.”

“I don’t know... sounds suspicious.”

“No, really, I’m not. I don’t have a religion. If I had to say, I’m closer to Buddhism. I sometimes go to temples. But I’m not Cheonmyeonggyo. I’m not trying to convert anyone.”

Yeah, but have you ever seen a cultist call themselves a cultist? I’ve never been dragged into one of those “Do you know the Way?” situations, but circumstantially it was suspicious enough.

I narrowed my eyes without answering, and Ryu Taeyoung spoke again, his voice firm but tinged with frustration.

“Besides, even if you tried to /N_o_v_e_l_i_g_h_t/ convert Jehyun, he’s hardly the type to be converted.”

“...Right.”

“I mean it. I just thought, with what happened recently, maybe Jehyun would know something.”

Wait. Something that happened recently?

Was the Cheonmyeonggyo arc already sprouting this early? If so, it wouldn’t hurt to know in advance.

“What kind of thing?”

“...Well...”

“If it’s confidential, you don’t need to say.”

A shame, but fair enough.

Ryu Taeyoung opened his mouth, then shook his head.

“No, it’s not confidential.”

“Then?”

“It’s personal.”

“Personal?”

What “personal” business could this guy even have? He barely had a private life.

'Ah.'

Could it be about his younger sibling?

I vaguely remembered a line in the original about some friction with his sibling....

'But wasn’t the sibling an Awakened too?'

Still, the idea that a public official like him—who practically lived for work—was troubled by “personal matters” was almost laughable. Unless it was about his sibling.

Ryu Taeyoung spoke cautiously.

“When you first awakened as an F-rank, Jehyun, how did it feel?”

“...Huh?”

What kind of question was that? Was he running a survey?

“Didn’t feel much of anything.”

“...The more I talk with you, the less you match my first impression.”

“What the hell’s that supposed to mean?”

I endured his roundabout way of talking for a moment, then pressed him.

“So what’s your real question?”

Ryu Taeyoung lowered his voice.

“What do you know about Cheonmyeonggyo?”

“Somewhere I heard of it. Online or something.”

Couldn’t exactly say “I read it in the original novel.” He paused, then twitched his eyebrow.

“Cheonmyeonggyo often tempts low-ranked or unawakened people, making it sound like they’re offering hope.”

“True.”

“They make it sound like miracles are possible.”

I sipped some water. Low-ranks and unawakened, huh....

'Wait—he wasn’t trying to convert me. He was suspicious of me?'

Because I’m an F-rank who keeps running in and out of dungeons?

'If I start talking about doomsday around him, he’ll slap a Cheonmyeonggyo label on me right away.'

Ryu Taeyoung stared down at the table, then looked me straight in the eye.

“Honestly, I get it. And I can see how low-rank Awakened would be more vulnerable. The unawakened at least have the hope that one day they might awaken. But low-rank Awakened... they don’t, do they.”

“Some ranks go up.”

“Not often.”

Yeah, he wasn’t wrong. Major characters’ ranks went up as the story progressed, but most hunters stayed stuck with what they first got.

After his long preamble, Ryu Taeyoung finally got to the point.

“I have a younger sibling.”

“......”

Called it.

As expected, that’s where this was going. I checked the time, thinking over what he’d said so far.

A sibling, likely low-ranked. Cheonmyeonggyo, which targeted low-rank Awakened. And Ryu Taeyoung himself, desperate to get stronger.

'Predictable as hell.'

I set my cup down and asked:

“Your sibling’s an F-rank?”

He stiffened slightly, then nodded. Figures.

“And they’ve shown interest in Cheonmyeonggyo. You tried to talk them out of it, but hit a wall, didn’t you?”

“......”

“Can’t blame you. People always think, ‘What if.’ I get it.”

“Huh?”

“But they’re unhappy with their rank, right?”

I didn’t need his answer—the look on his face said enough.

Cheonmyeonggyo’s words might sound partly reasonable, but that didn’t make them right. Not morally, but logically—they were complete bullshit.

Awakening was random to begin with. What, you think worshipping some cult leader will change that?

“Doesn’t matter how deep your sibling’s into it. It’s all cult nonsense. Not a shred of truth to it. You know that.”

“I do.”

“Have you tried persuading them?”

He opened his mouth, hesitated, then frowned slightly.

“I have, but... I can’t push too hard. I sort of understand where they’re coming from.”

“......”

'So the little bastard’s spoiled rotten.'

With the Special Response Team captain as an older brother, and instead of riding those coattails, they go crawling into a damn cult? You’d have to be out of your mind.

So that’s why he was bringing this up—because he was worried about his sibling, weighed down by guilt, and tying it to his own feelings of helplessness.

I couldn’t give him advice about his actual job, but on dealing with a sibling? That I could.

He’d bought me a meal. I could do at least this much. Besides, I knew a thing or two about siblings. Maybe not here, but in my original world, I had way too many of them until I was fifteen.

I stared at him for a moment, then asked a simple question before suggesting a solution.

“Brother or sister?”

“A... a younger brother.”

Perfect. I grinned.

“Good. That makes it easier.”

“...What?”

If it was a younger brother, the solution was obvious. I smiled brightly and laid it out.

“Beat him up.”

Ryu Taeyoung blinked at me like he’d misheard. What, he’d never once hit his kid brother? That was saintly to the point of stupidity.

“Beat him. Guys usually snap out of it once they’ve taken a few punches.”

“...Excuse me?”

“Why do you think he’s drawn to Cheonmyeonggyo? Did you ask?”

“...Just dissatisfaction and frustration at being an F-rank. Honestly, I can see why.”

“Bullshit.”

“...What?”

Oops. I hadn’t meant to curse out loud. I pretended to sip water and shook my head.

“Never mind.”

“...?”

“The point is, like you said, cults prey on people when they’re mentally broken.”

“Y-yes.”

“They dig right into weaknesses.”

“......”

I’d never been recruited into one, but I’d read enough to know. They strike when your head’s a mess....

And in 21st-century Earth, with dungeons bursting open every day? Shit, everyone’s got problems.

I smirked.

“So give him a shot of prevention. Knock sense into him until he straightens up.”

“......”

“Beat him.”

If he’s F-rank, his body’s nothing special anyway, right? For Ryu Taeyoung’s sake, I added another option.

“Or outsource it.”

“...You’re saying hire someone to beat him?”

“Exactly. I’ll take responsibility and turn him into a proper human being.”

Hard to offer that much trust, really.