Chapter 1
Chapter 1 — You Know Everything
[(Strategy) A Twisted Truth Cultist Guide Written by a Veteran with 20,000 Hours Played Only as a Cultist Because Watching Noobs Struggle Was Too Frustrating]
— Author: Lidni’s Foot-Washing Servant
[The Forerunner of the Twisted Truth.
The Evil God of peculiar knowledge and grotesque sorcery.
A cunning magician who tore out his own eyes as a sacrifice, devoured the World Tree, and seized infinite wisdom.
Lidni knows everything.
But since you people seem to know nothing at all, I decided to write a Twisted Truth Cultist Guide.
If you disagree, it just means you’re wrong, so empty your brain and follow along.
A Twisted Truth Cultist starts with the “Eye That Perceives Truth,” and that ability is practically universal, making early survival much easier.
On top of that, the skills are divided into no fewer than eighteen types. In terms of versatility alone, the cultist class can be said to be the best among cultists.
Humans or goblins are not bad choices, but personally I strongly recommend playing a half-elf cultist.
If an elf serves an Evil God, the enraged God of Nature places a harsh curse on them. You’re asking what kind of nonsense that is?
As I already said earlier, the fact that you feel like arguing means I’m right and you’re wrong.
The reason I recommended half-elves will be explained in detail later in the Mysticism section and the Build section, so stop questioning it and read everything carefully for now.
No more, no less—you must choose exactly “Blind Devotee” and “Rusting Mind.”
The reason is….]
I paused in the middle of writing and stopped my hand, falling into thought.
This is tricky.
How could I deliver all the useful, high-value information without making it boring?
‘Combining the traits [Blind Devotee] and [Rusting Mind] lets you worship other Evil Gods infinitely at the same time, which is great?’
No, that was too vague.
To make it understandable, I would have to explain it in detail—but that would make it too long.
These days, if something doesn’t have a three-line summary, most people just hit the back button. I had to shorten it as much as possible.
‘This is giving me a headache….’
Why did I have to become so obsessed with the cultist class—both difficult and weak—and end up writing guides like this?
What made it worse was that balance patches were released every few months, yet the cultist—already the worst class—kept getting nerfed every single time.
Because of the setting, they said?
[Oh dear! The Evil Gods have once again been shunned by the people this month! Without faith, they cannot grow their power at all. Our condolences to the cultists!]
The patch notes—written in the characteristic “cheerful” tone of North American developers—always contained lines like that.
Even if cultists were weak according to the lore, how could they never buff the class even once?
While grumbling under my breath, I continued writing diligently.
‘It’s already dawn.’
I had been so focused on writing that I had stayed up all night.
I stretched my tired fingers and stood up for a moment.
My eyes were starting to close. Maybe I should get some caffeine.
“Hm?”
I took a 1+1 coffee I had bought yesterday from the refrigerator and was about to open it when I suddenly frowned.
Words had appeared on the screen that I had not written.
[Seeker who walks the journey toward the Twisted Truth.]
The sentence appeared in a bizarre font that looked as though it had been scribbled by hand.
Before I could even process what was happening, another line began typing itself without my hands touching the keyboard.
[The Wise One has been moved by your profound devotion.]
The moment I read that sentence—
My vision suddenly began to blur.
[Lidni watches over you. Learn new knowledge and endlessly seek the truth. Proclaim to the world the glory of the one who beheld the Twisted Truth!]
My eyelids suddenly grew heavy, and my sight turned hazy.
“…What?”
Unable to resist the wave of drowsiness, I staggered in place before collapsing to the ground.
As my consciousness faded, the final sentence appearing on the screen caught my eye.
For some reason, unlike the earlier lines, this one was written in a neat, clean typeface.
[May your footsteps safely bear fruit….]
“Why do you worship something like an Evil God?”
At the sudden question thrown by a filthy-looking boy, I could not immediately open my mouth.
It wasn’t because I couldn’t think of an answer.
Given enough time, I could explain for half a day why someone should worship a capricious and irritable Evil God instead of a kind and benevolent good god.
The culprit that forced me to clamp down on my mouth—itching to speak—was the strange black text floating before my eyes.
《Abel, a poor pickpocket from the slums (Tiger Beastman, 12). A cheeky brat who barely survives together with his older sister, Marlin. Since his attitude toward you is extremely insolent, it would be better to eliminate him.》
“…….”
A brief profile and a suggestion to commit murder floated in the air.
It was an extremely unrealistic sight, but surprisingly, it wasn’t that difficult to accept.
At the very least, it was easier to handle than the shocking reality that I had lost consciousness and awakened in a completely different world.
I turned my head and looked around.
Whenever a new landscape, person, or object entered my field of vision, information in the same handwriting floated up.
《A forest with a suspicious atmosphere. Unusually thick branches and dense leaves completely block the sky, creating a dim and gloomy mood.》
When I looked at the forest surrounding us.
《Vans, swordsman of the Cheonhwa Mercenary Company (Human, 39). A serious drunk who gulps down beer the moment he wakes up in the morning. What an idiot!》
When my gaze drifted to a drunken mercenary.
《Marlin, burglar of the slums (Tiger Beastman, 14). Abel’s older sister. Already possessing exceptional thieving skills at a young age—a future master thief.》
Even when I made eye contact with a girl who rushed over with wide eyes and quickly hid her brother behind her back, useless information appeared.
None of it was particularly helpful, but it did provide some indirect assistance in understanding the situation.
“Don’t ignore me. Answer me. Why do you believe in something like an Evil God, you idiot?”
“Abel, stop it.”
The girl who covered her younger brother’s mouth slowly stepped back.
Although her eyes glared boldly, interpreting my silence and wandering gaze as something else, her hands trembled violently.
“Calm down, human.”
At that moment, a red-skinned orc resting a spear on his shoulder raised his arm and blocked my view.
“I understand that you’re angry because he insulted the god you serve, but endure it for now. You can vent your anger after everything is over. Even if we gathered only for money, we’re still members of the same expedition, aren’t we?”
A small conflict with a tiger beastman boy who hated cultists.
An orc mediating between us and guiding the atmosphere.
A familiar situation.
There was no way I could fail to recognize it.
I had already experienced it thousands of times.
…This is the cultist tutorial.
Every piece of evidence pointed toward an absurd truth.
<Nightmare Dungeon>.
The game whose strange gameplay had made me pour all my free time into it after quitting my job.
This was the world inside the game where I had exchanged twenty thousand hours of my life for dopamine.
Is it really…?
Even though it was the most logical guess, it still felt ridiculous.
It almost seemed more believable that after playing the game nonstop for days on nothing but coffee, I had finally begun dreaming about it.
But if my guess was actually correct, I couldn’t just stand here doing nothing.
The reason was written in enormous letters floating high in the air.
《E-Rank Labyrinth — Nest of the Sneaking Ghoul Pack》
《The ghouls who own this filthy hideout are extremely sensitive to the scent of the living. They especially go mad for the smell of blood, so be careful.》
We had to run immediately.
The moment I reached that conclusion, a foul stench began rapidly approaching from the forest beyond.
They were here.
The cultist newbie shredder. A miracle cure for low blood pressure. The wall of despair for low-level players.
A monster that, despite receiving endless praise, never forgot its humble purpose of tearing apart players who had just begun the tutorial.
“Intruders….”
A ghoul.
The undead creature, armed with sharp teeth, clawed hands, and an astonishingly hideous appearance, emerged from between the trees.
《Sneaking Ghoul (Level 3)》
《At present, you are absolutely no match for a ghoul. It is recommended that you throw the others to them as bait and flee.》
There were only two of them, but in the tutorial they were practically invincible.
The orc frowned deeply. The siblings looked around nervously. The mercenary kept drinking.
“They’ve arrived already. This is different from what that bookish priest of the Harmony Church explained.”
Gripping his spear with both hands, the orc stepped forward bravely.
“Still, don’t worry. This great warrior Tunrak will protect you all.”
His steps were bold, without the slightest trace of fear.
His thickly muscled shoulders and back looked incredibly reliable, and perhaps because of that, the siblings relaxed a little.
…Ignorance is bliss.
I immediately turned around and began searching for a direction.
I had to hurry.
“For eternal battle—!”
The orc shouted at the top of his lungs and charged forward, thrusting his spear.
Even to someone like me, who knew nothing about spear fighting, his stance looked sloppy.
The ghoul tilted its head slightly to the side and easily dodged the spear before immediately extending its arm.
Crunch!
“Ghk—ugh….”
Sharp claws pierced straight through the center of the orc’s chest and burst out his back.
It was a fatal wound that no one could survive without healing magic.
The self-proclaimed great warrior trembled briefly before collapsing limply.
Just like that.
《Tunrak, fledgling warrior (Red Orc, 24). Though he looks like a seasoned warrior, he has never fought a real battle. A fool who trusted only his muscles and died while posturing.》
It was unfortunate, but there was nothing that could be done.
That guy could never be saved.
I had tried countless methods to save him as if I were in an endless time loop, but it turned out to be essentially a forced event.
Rather than wasting time on something meaningless, it was better to use the unfortunate orc’s sacrifice as a stepping stone for survival.
“Wha—what the hell is this!”
The ghoul lashed out at the drunken mercenary as well.
He was a more experienced fighter than Tunrak who had just died, so he would buy a little time.
Even though he was fairly strong, bringing him along later would only cause trouble. He was a trap character planted by some malicious developer.
It was better to abandon him.
“What are you doing?”
After confirming which direction to go, I ran past the tiger beastman siblings frozen in place.
“Hurry up and run.”
The young siblings were nothing like those nameless extras in horror movies who freeze in danger and die pointlessly.
After flinching briefly, the two quickly began running after me.
Tap tap tap!
The sound of hurried footsteps pounding against the dry ground echoed through the forest.
“…Mr. Cultist!”
The girl Marlin, whose beastman physical abilities allowed her to catch up to me quickly, asked urgently.
“Where are we going? If we run away, can we survive?”
It was a question that also appeared in the game.
I recalled the dialogue options that appeared at moments like this.
[1. Be silent.]
[2. If you don’t keep quiet, I will tear your mouth apart.]
[3. Ignore her.]
…I didn’t want to become the kind of pathetic adult who treated a child like that.
Choosing words that would reassure her as much as possible, I answered gently.
“Follow me. I’ll keep you alive, Marlin.”
“…!”
Marlin’s eyes widened.
“How do you know my name?”
“That’s an obvious question.”
While catching my breath, I raised the corner of my mouth slightly.
“Because Lidni knows everything.”