A House Call for the Cult Leader
“So, Park Kangsu tried to have me killed?”
“Y-yes... *hic*...”
Just as I thought.
The Entry Office employee was a member of Gakseonghoe.
They say cultists are everywhere.
To think they had even infiltrated the Administration Office.
“He said... he'd kill Hunter Lee Taepyeong, gather all your Contribution Points, and make everyone stronger...”
—*Thwack!*
“Ack!”
I smacked the back of the man's head.
“And you actually believed that bullshit?”
“I'm sorr—”
“Like that bald cult leader would ever share anything with you idiots.”
“Ugh... *sniff*... *waah*...”
The Entry Office employee—no, the Gakseonghoe cultist—wailed miserably.
To get a job at the Administration Office, he must have been smart and well-educated.
How do you fall for this?
Seriously, how?
“Uuuugh...”
Watching a grown man blubber like a baby was getting on my nerves.
Just as I was about to smack the back of his head again—
—*Click!*
The door swung open, and Kang Mina walked in.
“Hunter Lee!”
“I wasn't about to hit him, I swear—”
“Are you alright?!”
She wasn't looking at the kneeling man.
Mina was asking me, the one who was about to deliver the blow.
Whew.
That was a close one.
“I'm fine, as always.”
“The... the blood?”
“Oh, this? It's not mine, obviously...”
Vampires, lizardmen, orcs, and a bunch of other things.
I'd slaughtered so many things on my way out that I couldn't even pinpoint whose blood it was.
“Anyway, it's not my blood, so don't worry.”
More importantly.
“About this bastard.”
“Did something happen during the entry process...?”
It wasn't that something *had* happened.
Well, something almost happened.
But since nothing actually happened in the end...
“No, nothing like that.”
“T-then what is it?”
“He's a Gakseonghoe cultist.”
“G-Gakseonghoe?!”
Mina gasped in shock.
I nudged the guy's knee with the toe of my shoe.
“Hey.”
“Yes... *hic*...”
“Spill everything. Now.”
The Gakseonghoe cultist began to sing like a canary.
Mina's face, initially filled with confusion,
gradually contorted with rage.
“Those crazy bastards...”
She grit her teeth, swallowing a curse.
“Hunter Lee, the Administration Office will handle this. We will wipe them out. Not just Gakseonghoe, but Park Kangsu, that son of a—”
Mina looked at me with a face full of determination.
“No.”
I shook my head.
It wasn't that I didn't trust the Administration Office or Mina.
I just wanted to beat the crap out of him myself.
“I'll take care of it.”
“B-but...!”
“I want to do it.”
Mina hesitated at my firm tone.
“Just buy me some time.”
“H-how long...?”
“Just until I teach Park Kangsu some manners.”
“...!!!”
I glanced at the clock on the wall.
“Three hours should be plenty.”
The main hall of Gakseonghoe.
A glittering chandelier hung from the ceiling.
In front of a statue of the Babel Tower, which hung where a cross normally would,
“Brothers and sisters of Gakseonghoe!”
Park Kangsu was preaching, spitting spit as usual.
“Why do we climb the tower?!”
“Salvation!!!”
“Why do I, Park Kangsu, seek to protect our brothers and sisters?!”
“Peace!!!”
“Yes! Unlike other hunters who only care about their own well-being...”
—*BOOM!*
The entire door was blown off its hinges.
“Kyaaaah!”
“W-what is that?!”
“Protect the Leader first!”
The main hall fell into utter chaos.
Stepping over the shattered door was none other than—
“Hey, Park Kangsu!”
Lee Taepyeong.
“You con artist bastard!”
The air froze instantly.
Not only the cultists, but even Park Kangsu stood there with his mouth agape, unable to utter a word.
“H-h-heretic!!!”
“It's Lee Taepyeong! The heretic Lee Taepyeong!”
A few cultists snapped out of it, recognizing Taepyeong and pointing fingers.
“Crazy bastard!”
“Where do you think you are, crawling in here?!”
Curses and shouts erupted.
But Taepyeong ignored them all, striding directly toward Park Kangsu.
“H-heck...!”
Just like the cultists—
no, even more confused than them was Park Kangsu.
It was only natural.
He had sent three of the strongest hunters among his followers.
Yet, Lee Taepyeong had returned alive.
“S-stop him! Stop the heretic!”
At Park Kangsu's shriek,
men in suits scrambled to block Taepyeong's path.
“Stop right there!”
“If you approach the Leader any further, we will have no choice but to subdue you!”
A few who posed as Awakened thanks to Park Kangsu's blessing barked threats.
“How?”
Taepyeong asked.
With a smile on his face.
Under normal circumstances, he might have looked like a pleasant young man.
But covered in blood as he was now, he looked like nothing but a crazed murderer.
“I asked how you're going to subdue me.”
“S-stop! I said stop!”
“No, answer the question.”
“If you don't stop, we will—!”
—*Flash!*
Orbs of light began to coalesce in the men's hands.
And the moment they began to take shape—
—*Slash!*
—*Slice!*
—*Shuck!*
Passing precariously close to their fingers,
the Sword of Calamity cleanly sliced through the orbs of light.
—*Hummmmm!*
If the blade had been off by just a single centimeter—
no, even half a centimeter—
dozens of fingers would be rolling on the floor right now.
“Think carefully.”
“H-heck...!”
“Because next time, it'll be your wrists.”
A crimson flash emanated from the Sword of Calamity.
—*Hummmmm!*
As the ominous hum reverberated through the hall,
“Ugh, argh!”
“Blegh!”
“Urgh...!”
overwhelmed by the sheer bloodlust,
the cultists began to scream,
collapse,
and retch.
Only the Awakened who were at least Level 10 managed to remain standing.
But even they—
shuffled back,
and back.
They only retreated.
Having witnessed what just happened, none of them dared to charge at Lee Taepyeong.
“Move.”
His voice was ice-cold.
“My business is with that guy over there.”
Taepyeong pointed the tip of his sword at Park Kangsu.
“W-w-wait...”
Park Kangsu's face turned pale as a sheet.
“S-stop him! Block him!”
But,
step,
step.
No matter what Park Kangsu screamed,
the men in suits kept backing away, step by step.
The crowd parted like the Red Sea, opening a path.
Taepyeong walked slowly down the red carpet.
“D-don't come any closer!”
Park Kangsu's voice echoed loudly through the hall.
But Taepyeong had no intention of listening to his bullshit.
Step.
Step.
Step.
One step at a time,
Taepyeong advanced.
—*Crash!*
The crystal podium was knocked over.
—*Flutter!*
Gakseonghoe's fake scriptures scattered across the floor.
—*Thud!*
Park Kangsu, who had tripped and fallen while backing away, shrieked.
“W-wait! Hunter Lee Taepyeong!”
—*Crack!*
A fist slammed right into Park Kangsu's face.
—*Slip...*
From the impact, his neatly styled wig slipped right off his head.
“I told you to address me with respect.”
“Hu-Hunter...!”
—*Clatter!*
Teeth showered from his mouth the moment he opened it.
Yet, Taepyeong's expression didn't even flicker.
“Let's show each other some basic manners, Leader.”
“Hu-Hunter! Hunter! I'm thorry...!”
—*Smash!*
Once more.
A fist struck dead center on Park Kangsu's face.
—*Drip...*
This time, hot blood gushed from his crushed nose.
—*Hummmmm!*
The Sword of Calamity hummed, as if crying out that this amount of blood was not enough.
“If I let you off quietly, you should have stayed flat on the ground and lived like a dog.”
“Ugh...”
“But you didn't know your place and sent assassins?”
“I-it's a misunderstanding... a misundahstanding...!”
“You want me to send you to that god you keep babbling about, don't you?”
Taepyeong clenched his fist again.
“S-stop...! Stop!”
Park Kangsu, struggling desperately, shrieked.
“P-purchase...!! Purchase!!!”
—*Chime!*
Along with the sound of a system notification,
—*Flash!*
a brilliant light instantly enveloped Park Kangsu.
It was a barrier.
“Hah.”
A barrier purchased with Contribution Points.
Wasting Contribution Points on a mere single-use barrier?
Taepyeong looked down at the barrier with a crooked smirk.
“Look at this bastard...”
Spending Contribution Points like water when they weren't even his?
Points extorted from his own followers?
Just to save his own skin?
“You're beyond saving.”
Taepyeong muttered and lowered his fist.
And instead of his fist,
—*Hummmmm!*
he raised the Sword of Calamity.
To be honest, Taepyeong didn't have any grand plan.
He would simply—
—*Clang!*
strike the barrier—
—*Clang!*
until it—
—*Clang!*
shattered into pieces.
He's a lunatic...!!!
Cowering inside the barrier, Park Kangsu was horrified.
—*Clang! Clang! Clang!*
This was a top-grade barrier that cost a whopping 10,000 Contribution Points.
Even if it was single-use, it was an item that shouldn't break under any ordinary attack.
However,
—*CRACK!*
this was far from an ordinary attack.
—*Fissure...*
—*Crack...*
—*Shatter...*
“N-no!!!!”
Park Kangsu reached out as if trying to hold the barrier together.
But it was already too late.
—*Screeech!*
The moment the Sword of Calamity shattered the barrier,
—*Chime!*
the sound of coins jingling rang out once more.
A glowing sword appeared in Park Kangsu's hand.
Like the barrier, it was a single-use item, but its performance was high enough to be viable inside the Tower.
He immediately thrust the sword—
—*Whoosh!*
straight at Lee Taepyeong's neck.
I-I'm saved...!!
However,
—*Clang!*
a hand of ice erupted from the void stone and grabbed the single-use sword.
“W-what...!”
Taepyeong chuckled at the sight of the ice hand.
“Good job, Imir.”
Having served its purpose, the single-use sword dissolved into ash and vanished.
—*Melt...*
The ice hand melted away as well.
All that remained
was Lee Taepyeong holding the Sword of Calamity,
and Park Kangsu staring up at him empty-handed.
—*Tremble, tremble.*
Park Kangsu clasped his hands together and began to beg.
“I-I'm thorry, I wath wrong...”
Regardless,
Taepyeong pulled something out with an indifferent face.
“...”
What Taepyeong held in his hand was none other than...
The Jar of Contribution Point Absorption...!!!
Park Kangsu was quick-witted.
He immediately realized what Taepyeong was planning to do.
“P-please... please...!”
“Shut up.”
Taepyeong flipped the Jar of Contribution Point Absorption upside down.
—*Shove!*
And shoved it right over Park Kangsu's head.
—*Flash! Flash! Flash!*
—*Chime!*
With a cheerful ringing sound,
the jar began to drain Park Kangsu's Contribution Points.