42. Our House is Back in Business! (3)
The faithful who had witnessed a miracle straight out of myth returned to the Balhut Cult's main temple.
Upon arriving at the temple headquarters, the first person they sought out was none other than Choi Yu-na. They reported the incident to her, hoping for her assistance—and naturally, Yu-na, who was eager to spread the cult's influence far and wide, beamed with delight as she opened her mouth to speak.
"If the Dragon God has gifted us a place of worship, then the rest is for the Balhut Cult to handle. I'll summon Yoo Soo-seong right away."
This was the hour of missionary work permitted by the divine!
For Yu-na, who yearned to proclaim the Balhut Cult and Bahamut's name across all of Gyeongju, it was the perfect opportunity, an absolute golden chance. Of course, she interpreted the god's allowance of religious freedom as a sign of his mercy—but she was already convinced that no one would believe in their old faiths anymore.
"Yoo Soo-seong. This is an urgent matter."
"I've already heard from Jeong. We'll put all our efforts into the interior work."
Bahamut's temple itself was one of the most vital facilities the cult had to manage. Through it, they received daily supplies of pure, purified water and electrical energy from Bahamut, which was the key to maintaining a semblance of urban life in Gyeongju, however limited. Naturally, smooth logistics required well-paved roads—and with Bahamut's aid and the heroic efforts of architecture professor Yoo Soo-seong, a direct road from the temple to the headquarters was already complete.
Using this road, they could transport building materials to renovate and decorate the worship hall Bahamut had gifted them.
"Then we'll need shuttle bus drivers too."
And now, only one thing remained: securing quick transportation to the temple.
Yu-na immediately thought of buses, and in fact, buses were designated as key military logistics vehicles for the Balhut Cult. For expedition teams frequently venturing outside, these cheap, high-capacity transports served as comfortable troop carriers. Moreover, on long expeditions requiring massive resource recovery, buses doubled as cargo haulers—making them wildly popular.
"We'll select buses suitable for service."
"I appreciate it, Jeong Dong-gun."
For the Balhut Cult, now rulers of Gyeongju, procuring buses for shuttles was a simple task. They could requisition expedition buses or recover abandoned ones from the city. North Gyeongju streets were littered with derelict and damaged buses, so Jeong Dong-gun ordered his troops to patrol and retrieve them while on duty.
"Fix 'em up."
"Hey, Jeong. We're ironworks guys, not auto mechanics."
"You do both. Get it done."
"Haha, this damn Jeong. We're busy as hell oursel—"
The rest could be handled through connections. That connection was Gyeongju's ironworks, the cult's manufacturer of weapons and public goods. Jeong Dong-gun parked the wrecked buses there and asked Choi to repair them. Choi, swamped with other work, started to scold him sternly—but then...
"It's on Yu-na's orders."
"Can't argue with that. We'll fix 'em right now! Hey, you lot! Priority job incoming!"
Invoking Yu-na's name made everything smooth. Since she'd declared it a major task, failing to leverage her name would likely earn her rebuke instead.
With Jeong Dong-gun name-dropping Yu-na to wrap up preparations swiftly, the Balhut Cult began posting announcements on their community site. They declared weekly Sunday worship for Bahamut starting today, explaining the reasons—and Gyeongju's citizens, upon seeing the news...
"Finally, we can practice our faith?"
"Hahaha! I was scared it might turn into a cult otherwise. About time!"
...responded not with criticism of the cult's proclamation, but with pure joy. They had been waiting for this moment, eagerly anticipating Sunday. These were the true believers who sincerely embraced the cult's doctrines—devotees more excited than anyone for this event.
"It's a chance for my family to awaken. Can't miss that."
"It's not much different from going to church every Sunday anyway."
"If the Balhut Cult says so, it's worth believing once."
The biggest draw was the merit of awakening without hunting zombies. The opportunity to become an Awakened was irresistible. Sure, community posts claimed you could awaken by simply killing one zombie—but real combat involved far more variables.
"Even one zombie is a nightmare for an unawakened."
"And zombies never come alone. In Gyeongju, they're scarce now, so it's hard in a different way."
Zombies weren't conveniently isolated for easy kills by the unawakened. Back when they swarmed, fighting even a single one often meant battling packs. Worse, some zombies were sound-sensitive; a noisy fight could summon hordes from nearby. Battling zombies had always been a life-or-death gamble, and even with the sweet reward of awakening, throwing yourself into it required immense courage.
"It's a chance for our kid to awaken too."
"My dad as well."
"In this world? Of course we bring our parents."
Even fit young people risked death to awaken—let alone children or the elderly. For Awakened with kids or aging parents, the thought of dying and leaving them defenseless was terrifying.
"Isn't the merit that it's safe? I can't tell my kid to hunt zombies."
"Mine's only seven."
"Can't ask a twelve-year-old to fight zombies, right?"
But the cult announced a safe method in a secure location—and for family-supporting Awakened, that alone was a huge merit. It erased qualms about attending the cult's event. If anything, providing a way for their loved ones to survive independently felt like insurance or social welfare straight to their hearts.
"But can we trust it?"
"Bahamut researched it personally."
"Then we trust it!"
Above all, the project's overseer being none other than the Dragon God Bahamut—patron of the Balhut Cult—instilled total confidence. When first announced, even some cultists doubted—but one word that Bahamut was personally in charge silenced them. Within the cult, no one questioned or disbelieved the Dragon God.
"He declared it during Jo Sun-do's trial!"
"Exactly."
Bahamut himself had announced during Jo Sun-do's trial that he'd found a way to artificially awaken people. Many saw this as fulfilling that promise. And so...
"...it's more popular than I expected."
The awakening project was a resounding success. Crowds flooded old temples and shrines according to pre-apocalypse faiths, but dozens of shuttle buses were mobilized, and cult police were inevitably deployed for traffic safety amid the throngs.
"Heh heh. Proof we have so many devout followers!"
'Can't deny it! The evidence is right in front of me!'
Bahamut couldn't refute Yu-na's claim of devout masses—not with the masses swarming before his eyes. Calling this a pseudo-cult was impossible now; it was a legitimate religion through and through. His once-silent temple, filled only with quiet emptiness, had become a bustling marketplace.
"If this solves the Awakened shortage... next up are the surrounding cities. Time for us to venture beyond Gyeongju."
Yet if all these visitors awakened, the cult's chronic Awakened shortage—and simmering tensions between Awakened and normals—would vanish. Bahamut grieved the cult's explosive growth even as he rejoiced at resolving long-pending issues, now turning his gaze outward. Gyeongju's internals were mostly settled; focusing beyond was natural.
"Huh? Surrounding cities? Do we really need to care?"
"Hah?"
Yu-na tilted her head, puzzled. "Why do we need to push aggressively? We're fine as is, aren't we?"
'Ah...'
Strictly speaking, she didn't grasp why expansion was necessary. Never a politician or entrenched elite, Yu-na sought only Gyeongju's normalization—not personal power grabs. From her view, why venture into dangerous lands when they'd reclaimed peace? Gyeongju was self-sufficient.
'If we're just maintaining the status quo, she's not entirely wrong.'
Maintaining current peace wasn't unreasonable. Water and power flowed endlessly if sparingly; restarting sewers and generators would enrich urban life. Nearby farmlands were being reclaimed one by one—lacking pre-apocalypse abundance, but enough to survive.
But reasons for expansion were clear.
"Gyeongju alone doesn't secure the cult. All of Korea's gripped by zombie apocalypse. We're the only ones who've reclaimed a city. Other cities are still zombie-infested."
"Right?"
"What about those zombies elsewhere? They're already shambling here on foot. Jeong Dong-gun's expeditions and cult security handle them now—but if a city's worth surges at once, defending would be tough."
"Oh no!"
Other cities remained unconquered, brimming with undead. Even Gyeongju's reclamation relied on Bahamut's "cheat"—survivor camps would need ages to match that. If accumulated zombies swarmed, could Gyeongju hold?
"We could repel them, sure. But Gyeongju's resources are finite. Urban life's sustainable now, but shortages will emerge. Priority: secure safe trade routes to buy or sell what we need."
Status quo couldn't last forever. Growth demanded materials—and safe trade routes for them. Plus...
"Above all, we can't rule out disasters beyond variant zombies."
"Zombies stronger than variants?"
Variant zombies evolving into new strains was a real threat. Ordinary zombies had mutated into variants that wiped out camps—plenty of precedent. Yu-na herself remembered her old camp falling to variants; the trauma lingered.
"Yeah. Variants can zombify even Awakened, right? A zombified Awakened becoming a variant... ordinary variants are scary enough. An Awakened variant? Terrifying."
"Ah."
Yu-na's own past testimony proved Bahamut's logic. She couldn't counter.
"Understood, my lord. We need to expand from Gyeongju."
She nodded, praising her god once more. It was entirely plausible: variants infected Awakened, and those could spawn super-variants. To counter that, outward expansion made sense—even to her.
"Exactly. Armaments, trade routes—essentials. And with mouths to feed growing... more food too? We're liberating nearby farms, but more is always better."
"Yes. We need it."
Weapons, routes, food— the more, the better. Secure them maximally.
"That's why... I target Pohang."
"Pohang?"
"Yes. After unifying Gyeongju, our next step is Pohang."
Bahamut believed it satisfied every need.