Deliver Us From Evil (6)

I had considered every possibility that someone might still be alive in Building One. Unlike Building Two, Building One had only a single entrance that could easily be barricaded, and it housed far more people with superior specs. Of course, that didn't mean Building Two lacked talent. Just looking at the Preacher and the zombie that had given me the athletics ability proved that much. But how should I put it… the people living in Building One were different. They had been different even before all this happened.

They had received the cult leader's favor and enjoyed all kinds of education for free. They had devoted themselves to expanding the church's influence while pledging absolute loyalty to her. Behind it all were the countless miracles the cult leader had displayed. Still, I never imagined they would continue to worship her even after she had turned into a zombie.

My sister and I stayed perfectly still, pressed close together, holding our breath. Only after the footsteps had completely faded, the screams had died down, and all that remained was the horrifying sound of flesh being torn apart did I finally meet my sister's eyes.

My sister, who always carried herself with a certain nonchalance and had recently been acting like something in her had gone slightly off-kilter, rested her cheek against my chest and let out a slow, lazy breath.

“Are you taking a nap?”

“I want to.”

“If you fall asleep here, your neck's gonna snap.”

“Not my neck?”

“It means if you fall asleep here, we'll get caught and eaten.”

“Aaaah…”

With a somewhat indifferent expression, my sister wrapped her arms around me. I returned the embrace ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠even as I pondered our situation.

The cult leader had become a zombie. That wasn't surprising. If anything, what was surprising was that she hadn't turned into a variant. Or maybe she was a variant that only looked normal on the outside. Either way, the fact that the person who should have been the safest of all had ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠become a zombie and was now being offered human sacrifices felt… strangely off. Did these bastards have no learning ability at all?

While holding my sister, I debated what to do next. In a one-on-one fight, I was confident I could win without question. But I had no idea how many people might be inside, or what kind of weapons they might have. Bows, crossbows… Could I dodge them with seven agility? I wasn't sure about that either. I didn't want to gamble with my life on the line.

As I agonized over it, my sister tightened her arms around me and hooked her legs around my waist. She inhaled deeply through her nose.

“Oppa smells.”

“I washed, though.”

“You still smell even after washing.”

Oh, I see. I patted her back with a bored expression.

“Oppa.”

“Yeah?”

“What would you do if I became a zombie?”

It was a sudden question. When I stared at her blankly, unable to understand, she asked again.

“Would you raise me like the cult leader?”

I hesitated.

“Don't even dream about it, you crazy bitch.”

My sister smiled brightly as if it were no big deal. I pushed the disgusting girl away from me.

“Let's go. Looks like everyone's cleared out.”

We stood up at the same time and stepped into the penthouse. This was the penthouse where the cult leader had once lived. I had visited this place once as a child, and it hadn't changed much from what I remembered. The vast space spanned both the fourteenth and fifteenth floors, with an incredibly high ceiling and every luxury imaginable. The round bed placed in the scenic area spoke of the cult leader's decadent lifestyle, while the piano and bar were proof that she had enjoyed a level of wealth far beyond anything the ordinary believers could dream of.

Honestly, the sight made me feel like shit. So this was where all the donations, tithes, and every other excuse they used to squeeze money out of people had gone. And even that wasn't enough. The cult leader, now a zombie, was literally devouring every last drop of her followers' blood.

“Disgusting.”

“Should I shoot her, Master?”

“Calm down, Kang Ahyeon… Wait, how do you even know that phrase?”

“I saw it in the novel you wrote before, oppa.”

I pretended not to hear and descended the stairs with my sister. The cult leader's room was slowly being wiped clean of any human traces. Only the cross she was bound to and the immediate area around it remained as evidence. Oh, and the trail of blood leading from the fourteenth-floor door connected to the penthouse all the way to where she stood.

We approached the cult leader together.

“Grrrk…”

The middle-aged woman slowly lifted her head. Even by generous standards, she wasn't pretty. If anything, she was completely average. Her face, twisted with rage, stirred up old memories. What was it again? Back when I had called her “auntie.” Seriously, the age difference wasn't even that big. If a little kid who couldn't judge properly called her auntie, she should have just let it slide.

I clicked my tongue and stepped closer. The cult leader stretched her hands toward me, straining against the chains until they were taut, desperately trying to grab me.

“It's really fascinating.”

The cult leader had never seemed particularly talented. Or had she? I didn't get the impression that she was especially good at anything. But separate from that, she was someone ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠followed by miracles. Unexpected power, miracles no one could have predicted—she used them to heal the believers' illnesses. The paralyzed could stand again after being sprinkled with her holy water. The blind regained their sight. And that wasn't all. She had scattered gold dust blessed by her grace to turn lumps of iron into pure gold, made flowers bloom on completely dead land, and pinpointed the most regrettable choices to reveal solutions. She had performed countless other miracles.

Every time, the church's influence had only grown. She had accurately predicted who the next president would be and what the approval ratings would look like. She had even prophesied all kinds of disasters. The biggest one she always talked about was the Rapture, but she had correctly foreseen many other events as well. I doubted they had all been real. Half of it was probably luck, and the other half was acting. Hiring performers to pretend to be lame or paralyzed, then sprinkling them with some drug to make it look like they were healed… Yeah, it must have been something like that.

I stared at the cult leader and thought, Is that really true?

“Kang Ahyeon.”

“Yeah?”

“…If I kill this thing, will everyone lose their minds?”

“Probably? They seemed to treasure her a lot…”

I held the machete in my hand and agonized over it. The cooldown on Loot had finished. Was this just my own speculation? There was every chance it was. But what if I was right? What if my prediction was correct?

The hesitation didn't last long.

“Kang Ahyeon, if I kill this thing, will you resent me? Will you throw a fit and say it's because of oppa that the lunatics in Building One are chasing us?”

My sister, sitting on the bed, blinked at my words.

“Or do you want to try convincing me? Tell me why I shouldn't kill it.”

I'm not particularly smart. Or rather, considering my background, I think I'm quite sharp. But intelligence is useless if you don't use it. I figured that if my sister—who had studied extremely hard and gotten into the top university in the country—could come up with a plausible reason, she would.

“Umm… Do I have to?”

But my sister refused.

“If oppa wants to kill it, then kill it. Anyway, if we go up to the roof and cross over… they won't be able to follow us.”

Instead, my sister convinced me. She told me to kill it. To split the cult leader's head open with the machete.

“So… let's just kill her?”

She even urged me on. Under her encouragement, I looked down at the cult leader. The thing that growled and tried to grab my ankle. There was no trace left of her former self. I felt no pity. After all, there was only one way to confirm it.

I raised the machete and brought it down.

CRACK!

The cult leader's body shuddered violently as her skull split open with a sickening sound. Once her body went limp, I pulled the machete from her head and wiped it clean on the luxurious dress she wore.

Will it trigger?

With anticipation, I looked into the empty air. Before long, the message I had been waiting for appeared.

Was that her name? I thought it was Ju Ye-su. Well, she must have changed it. I casually put away the machete as another window slid down.

A hollow laugh escaped me. So all those miracles, all the means she had used to expand her church's power, had come from the system. At the same time, I had half-expected it. I laughed bitterly and lowered my gaze to examine the newly acquired Shop.

Shop, huh. I wondered what it contained and what the currency was. A mixture of anticipation and anxiety churned in my stomach. What exactly was in there?

With high ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠expectations, I opened the shop.

The long list of items greeted me. Hardtack, water, purification pills, first aid kits… Why the hell were there condoms? But this was clearly the shop I had imagined. It seemed to contain just about anything you could want. I scrolled through the list and was momentarily stunned by the sheer variety of items.

“Oppa?”

“Yeah, what?”

“Nothing… You just looked spaced out for a while…”

“It's just… the cult leader died so easily. It feels weird.”

It was nothing but an excuse. My sister probably knew that too, but she seemed to understand that this wasn't the time to pry. She simply said “I see” and wandered off to look around the room, leaving me alone for a moment. I took the opportunity to examine the shop more closely.

Among the items, there were quite a few worth more than one point.

Some items were ridiculously expensive for reasons I couldn't understand, while others made me wonder why they were even being sold. There was also ammunition. My sister had said she fired ten rounds at the Preacher and had ten left. I glanced at her out of the corner of my eye, then looked back at the shop. It was possible she had received the Shop as a temporary skill just like I had received Synthesis. It was too early to jump to conclusions, but if that were the case, it would actually be for the best. Having one person with the shop was better than both of us only having synthesis.

While browsing the shop, I noticed the menu at the top: Favorites, Purchase, History, Search. I didn't have any ability points to buy anything anyway, but looking around a bit couldn't hurt. Wondering whether this shop was brand new or if it was exactly as the cult leader had left it, I tapped on Favorites.

I froze the moment I saw a message I had never expected to see.

Thud. Thud. Thud.

Until the sudden sound of footsteps reached my ears.

“Oppa…!”

“Shh, come here.”

I hurriedly pulled my sister into a closet and hid. My heart pounded violently. Not because someone was coming this way. The New Heaven Rapture Mission Church. These crazy bastards had caused the Rapture. I held my breath and glared from inside the closet at the man and woman entering the penthouse. The machete gripped tightly in my lowered hand felt heavy.