The False God and the True Believer

Fake gods, real gods.

The Shining Stars Cult is a fake, pseudo-religious group. Now, one might argue that the very definition of a "cult" implies a fake religion, making the prefix "fake" redundant, but in this context, it’s a necessary distinction.

The Shining Stars Cult is so far from being a real cult that it’s embarrassing to even call it one; it’s just a meme used in Lee Jia’s streams. Among the "believers" of the Shining Stars Cult, not a single person—other than Lee Jia herself—actually worships the Shining Stars. They even go so far as to draw fan art of the fictional goddess with exaggerated, massive breasts, which is about as far from the nature of a real cult as you can get.

Unlike the fake Shining Stars Cult, "real" modern cults have a deep, terrifying connection to anomalies, items, and ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Awakened individuals. It makes sense, really. Anomalies, items, and Awakened are phenomena so incomprehensible that they defy all human knowledge, making them the perfect subject matter to weave into a religion.

A religion is a group that shares faith, hope, and morality regarding a spiritual or transcendental entity. It’s no exaggeration to say that human history has been inseparable from religion since the dawn of time.

Yahweh.

Whether the "gods" of traditional, "real" religions that have permeated human history actually exist in reality is a debate that doesn't need to be settled. Those who believe in a religion will believe the god exists; those who don't will believe the god is a fiction. Religion, therefore, isn't about asking whether an entity exists, but whether you choose to believe in it.

Because there are parts of religion that logic and science simply cannot explain, creating a cult isn't actually that difficult. You just create a plausible-sounding "fake god," then go around telling people you believe in it, and voilà—a new cult is born. Of course, whether or not people choose to believe in that fake god is entirely up to them.

Whether it’s a cult or a real religion, "faith" in an unseen entity has always been the fundamental rule of the group. But after the appearance of anomalies, the nature of cults changed drastically.

Anomalies are beings that transcend humanity, much like gods. But unlike gods, they can actually be seen. Anomalies are incomprehensible, much like gods. But unlike gods, they can be encountered directly.

Anomalies—beings that can be seen and felt, yet can never be explained or understood by science—became the perfect target for cults. Since they could actually be seen, there was no need to force faith on anyone.

As time passed and the world stabilized, the number of groups worshipping anomalies gradually increased, and the number of people who believed that "Awakened" and "items" were blessings bestowed upon humanity by these anomalies grew as well. Of course, the percentage of cultists is negligible compared to the followers of "real" religions, but the fewer the believers, the more extreme they tend to become.

Modern cultists are so extreme that the term "fanatic" fits them perfectly.

The irony is that, no matter how real an anomaly might be, an ordinary person will never, ever encounter one. Anomalies only appear in Anomaly Zones, so for a non-Awakened civilian to walk into an Anomaly Zone on their own is, frankly, an act of insanity.

…And the fanatics of these cults actually committed that act of insanity.

A few years ago, they walked into an Anomaly Zone, encountered an anomaly, and lost their lives. The anomaly, having absorbed the fanatics and grown even stronger, was only barely contained after the death of an Awakened.

The death of an Awakened. That was the death sentence for the entire cult.

The Awakened Association is the organization that manages the Awakened. The Association’s most precious assets are, without a doubt, the Awakened themselves. When one of their own died because of "cult fanatics," the Association used its absolute power to its fullest extent to suppress these groups.

The wrath of the Awakened Association was not something a mere cult could withstand. As a result, because of that incident, most cults were literally dismantled, and those that survived went underground, losing their power to avoid the Association’s gaze.

Well, as you can see from the "sinner" who joined my stream, not all cults have disappeared. But the kind of madness that would drive someone to walk into an Anomaly Zone on their own? That’s mostly gone.

The remaining cults have devolved into nothing more than criminal gangs sucking money out of clueless followers. Since the cults with "madness" have all been dismantled, the sinner who appeared on my stream probably just joined some run-of-the-mill cult that exists only to drain its members' bank accounts.

…Probably.

The sinner’s confession dragged on for quite a while. The cult the sinner had joined was, even by my standards, a malicious criminal organization. Just like other cults, they demanded money, forced labor under the guise of "religious activities," and even coerced members into participating in bizarre rituals, like summoning demons.

…Haa.

I had a headache. The sinner’s story was far more serious than I had anticipated. It felt too heavy to be just another "interesting dark story" for the stream. The sinner claimed he couldn't leave the cult because of a female college student, but he wouldn't reveal the exact reason.

"Why? Was that student threatened by the cult? Did you sacrifice yourself to save her from them or something..."

[…That’s not it.]

"Well, at least it’s not the worst-case scenario. Then what is it? You can’t leave because you want to keep talking to her, is that it?"

[…]

"If that’s the case, I only have one thing to say. Cut ties and get out of there today. Seriously, is a woman everything in the world? It’s way more fun hanging out with the boys than chasing after the opposite sex, you know."

"…That’s what I heard on the community boards. Ah, anyway! There’s nothing left to hear. Quit today."

[Well, if it were that easy, I wouldn't have come to you for confession, Jia-nim.]

"So, why is it hard? You have to tell me so I can give you a solution or not."

[That… is quite difficult to say.]

"Is it a topic that’s a bit awkward to talk about on stream?"

[Yes.]

"Ugh…"

I really stepped in it this time. I should have filtered him out the moment he introduced himself as a cultist. Still, I continued to listen to his confession to fulfill my duties as a streamer, but the sinner still wouldn't give me a clear answer.

He clearly seemed to be in a difficult situation, but if he wouldn't talk, there was nothing I could do to help.

"…Do you have anything else to say?"

[No.]

"Didn't you come here because you needed help?"

[Yes.]

"But you have nothing else to say to me?"

[Yes.]

"…If you need my help, turn off the stream and send me a voice message. I’ll listen once."

[Understood.]

And just like that, the confession of the sinner who claimed to be a cultist ended on a very uncomfortable note.

…

…

…

The atmosphere of the stream had been completely ruined by one sinner from a cult of questionable authenticity, but fortunately, the callers who followed were all crazy people with even crazier stories, so I managed to salvage the mood.

"I’ll end the stream here for today."

After ending the stream, I was about to shut down my computer when I realized that guy—the cultist sinner—had sent me a direct message.

The content of the message was as follows:

[Jia-nim, I am truly sorry about earlier.]

[It was a story that was a bit awkward to reveal on the stream…]

[I’m not sure if this is just a coincidence or not.]

[But the 'god' of the religion I belong to is also a Fervent Follower.]