Divine Seat
June 25th, Friday.
Sitting on the sofa, I had the sex doll linked to Amatsuka Koyori kneeling naked on the floor before me.
"As the Wind God commanded, I investigated the erosion dungeon that appeared in Hokkaido, along with the Japanese Association and Korea's Suwol Guild."
I stretched out my foot. I rubbed along Koyori's white thighs, then climbed higher and toyed with her breasts under my sole. Her soft flesh warped and flattened beneath my weight. I pinched her nipple between my toes and twisted.
"Hnnngh… I'll… make my report. A new dungeon gate appeared inside the erosion dungeon where Suwol Guild's first assault team had been dispatched. The first team was caught in the gate and wiped out."
"Wiped out? Not missing—wiped out?"
I stopped playing with her nipple and wrote characters across her body to convey my meaning. I was asking whether the team's corpses had been found.
"No bodies were recovered. More precisely, because of Suwol Guild's interference, the Japanese Association's Hokkaido branch can't do a thing. Still, the Japanese Association is operating under the assumption that Suwol's first assault team was annihilated."
"…"
I fell silent. Common sense said the Association's guess was almost certainly correct. I asked about the dungeon that had appeared inside the erosion dungeon.
"It's an A-rank open-type dungeon. Suwol Guild's second assault team has already been sent in… The Japanese Association's Hokkaido branch is simply watching."
"Why are they only watching? This is happening in Hokkaido—it's hardly someone else's problem."
"I understand it's a contractual issue."
So Suwol Guild had locked in a contract that put them firmly in the superior position.
Even a branch office was still the Association. Ordinary guilds rarely managed to seize the upper hand like that. Classic Suwol Guild, all right.
"You said the second team is currently clearing it. What's the progress?"
"They're finishing the erosion dungeon and plan to assault the open-type dungeon this afternoon."
I let out a long breath. Just like me, Suwol Guild was probably hoping Han Harin was still alive. The odds of that, though, were vanishingly small. And I had zero faith in Suwol's second assault team.
"Koyori. Can you step in yourself?"
If S-rank Koyori took the field, the dungeon would be cleaned up far faster than anything Suwol could manage.
"I operate in a different region, and that dungeon is already under contract with Suwol Guild, so it's impossible. If I forced my way in… it could become an international incident."
She was right.
This was also a matter of Suwol Guild's pride. They would try to handle it themselves without outside help.
If Koyori muscled in anyway, her own influence could take a hit. Since the contract was already signed, the Japanese Association's Hokkaido branch would oppose it too.
There was nothing I could do. With a restless heart, I played with Koyori all night long.
June 26th, Saturday.
Public opinion toward the Korean Hunter Association kept getting worse. They still hadn't caught the Thorn Mask who had committed the massacre. Online, people tore into the Association's incompetence and started digging up every past failure to pile on more abuse.
Reporters gleefully cranked out hit pieces, and even the major network news joined the pile-on.
Even so, this felt a little too coordinated.
Is someone using the media to keep the Hunter Association in check?
The government and politicians came to mind. Over the last few years the Association's authority had only grown. From the government's perspective, it had become enough of a threat. They'd been waiting for the right moment, and now they were seizing it to clip the Association's wings.
Pretty plausible… but not my problem.
The Association might be sweating, but as someone who wasn't even a member, I was just watching the fire from across the river. The press was only tearing into the Association itself, not hunters in general.
I do feel a little bad for Baek Jieun running around so frantically, though.
I was currently riding the KTX down to Busan. Baek Jieun had asked for help, but I'd turned her down and boarded the train to meet Park Su-ho. It wasn't for Su-ho's sake. A few things had been bothering me.
I arrived at Busan Station.
Park Su-ho and a group of Gwangwon Sect believers were waiting out front. Every last one of them was wearing some kind of training uniform that looked painfully tacky, so they stood out immediately. The cult vibe rolled off them in waves; people nearby kept a careful distance.
"Yujin hyung! Over here!"
"Seong Yujin-ssi! Welcome to Busan!"
"Our Gwangwon Sect discriminates against no one!"
Park Su-ho and the Gwangwon believers made a racket. The crowd around us started murmuring. Words like "Gwangwon Sect" and "cult" floated past. A few people seemed to have recognized me outright.
At this rate, rumors that I've fallen into a cult will be circulating any day now.
Irritation prickled.
I considered yelling at them once. Right as I was weighing it, Kang Jiwoo caught my eye. Even that tacky training uniform couldn't hide her pure, refined beauty.
She's even prettier in person.
Looking at something that pretty made the irritation melt away on its own. I walked over.
"Hyung! Come on! This is your first time with the Gwangwon Sect so it might feel weird, but once you experience it you'll definitely develop faith."
I stared straight at Park Su-ho.
His face looked far more lively than the last time I'd seen him. His eyes sparkled. It didn't feel like an act.
Brainwashed? Or did he actually fall for this cult for real?
Brainwashing was the more likely answer. He wouldn't have sent me that help text for no reason last time.
"Seong Yujin-ssi. It's an honor to meet such a famous hunter."
Kang Jiwoo spoke to me. I shifted my gaze from Su-ho to her. Looking at a beauty after looking at Su-ho improved my mood instantly. She smiled sweetly. The dimples that appeared in her cheeks were cute.
"Yes. I'm Seong Yujin. Kang Jiwoo-ssi, right?"
"I'm Kang Jiwoo, the seventh Guide of the Gwangwon Sect."
The Gwangwon Sect's ruling tier consisted of eight people total: the cult leader and seven Guides. The leader sat at the top, with the seven Guides beneath him.
The leader and the other Guides were all overseas. The Gwangwon Sect's roots weren't in Korea but in China, and it had been expanding its influence across the West as well, including the United States and Britain. In short, Kang Jiwoo was the branch head of the Korean Gwangwon Sect.
Kang Jiwoo held out her hand for a handshake. I took it. Soft skin met my palm.
After the introductions we climbed straight onto the large bus the Gwangwon Sect had prepared. The side of the bus was plastered with the aggressively cult-like slogan: "Believe and blessings will come! Gwangwon Sect!"
Most cults try not to look like cults. They know the public perception is terrible. The Gwangwon Sect was different. They didn't hide their religion at all. That made them one of the more dangerous varieties.
"Yujin-ssi. When I heard you were coming to our Gwangwon Sect, I was so happy."
Kang Jiwoo, sitting beside me, smiled brightly as she spoke. She was close. Her sweet scent reached me.
"…Honestly, I have zero interest in religion. Su-ho was just so relentless that I came once to shut him up."
"Yes, I know. Yujin-ssi is non-religious and doesn't believe in any faith, right?"
"Su-ho must have told you."
"No. I looked into it myself. You're famous, so a quick internet search brought everything up. You've been on broadcasts and there were several interview articles."
"Haha. So you watched all of those. That's a little embarrassing."
I grinned. Contrary to my words, I felt zero embarrassment. Having a beauty recognize me actually felt good. I was starting to understand why people wanted to become celebrities.
"People call our Gwangwon Sect a cult. But I swear we never force faith on anyone. We simply share the doctrine and try to persuade. Even if Yujin-ssi never joins the Gwangwon Sect, we won't dislike you or hate you."
Her voice, her expression, her eyes—everything about her was captivating.
If a woman like this does sex missionary work, joining a cult almost makes sense…
I could finally understand why Park Su-ho had fallen into a cult like the Gwangwon Sect.
…No, wait. That bastard Park Su-ho slept with a girl who looks like a Moai statue. Is Su-ho an idiot? Yeah, he's an idiot.
I glanced at Su-ho sitting in the back. He was holding hands with his Moai-lookalike girlfriend, flirting and chatting away. His mouth hung open in pure enjoyment.
Seeing it in person is genuinely grotesque. Su-ho used to be ridiculously picky about women's faces…
Who would have thought he'd date someone who looked like a Moai.
"Yujin-ssi. Would it be all right if I asked for an autograph?"
"My autograph? Jiwoo-ssi, even if I've appeared on a few broadcasts, I'm not a celebrity."
"Do people only get autographs from celebrities? They get them from sports stars too. And Yujin-ssi is a super rookie who might become an S-rank hunter someday. I'd like to get one in advance."
"…When you put it that way, I can't really refuse. All right. I'll sign for you."
"If it's not too much trouble, could we also take a photo together?"
The word "photo" made me pause for a second.
If the picture spread, baseless rumors that I'd gotten deep into a cult could start circulating.
But Kang Jiwoo, already smitten with my charm, was looking at me with sparkling eyes, hoping for a photo. It was hard to ignore a fan's request.
Well, if a problem comes up I can just hack it away. Or hold a press conference and clear it up.
"If Jiwoo-ssi wants it, a photo is nothing. Haha."
"Wow! I'm so excited. I was worried you'd say no. Okay, like this…"
Kang Jiwoo switched her phone to selfie mode and pressed right up against me. Her body touched mine. Her scent filled my nose. For the record, the training uniform she wore was on the thin side.
"It would look better if we got a little closer. Sorry."
"No, I'm fine."
Kang Jiwoo's chest brushed my arm. Soft. Even with her slender frame, she had at least a minimal bust. An A-cup, but still.
This woman… finally showing her true colors. She's definitely trying to convert me into the cult through sex missionary work. Not bad… Right now I'm about thirty percent okay with joining the Gwangwon Sect.
"Aww, the angle isn't coming out right."
Kang Jiwoo pressed even closer. Up five percent—now thirty-five.
Click, click!
Kang Jiwoo checked the selfies she'd taken and furrowed her brow, unsatisfied.
"Look at this. The photo came out a little blurry. Yujin-ssi, I'm sorry, but could we take it again?"
"Well, selfies are never easy. Take as many as you want."
The suggestion that she could just ask Su-ho or someone else to take the picture rose in my throat, but I swallowed it and kept taking selfies with Kang Jiwoo.
By the time we finally got a satisfactory shot, we had already arrived at our destination. It was out on the outskirts away from the city center. Three three-story lodging buildings, a sports field, an auditorium, and other structures came into view. Dense forest surrounded the whole place.
I expected it, but this really does feel like a church retreat.
There wasn't even a convenience store nearby. When I asked, they said the closest one was about a five-minute drive away.
Cult-like, all right.
I drew in a breath. The air, at least, was excellent.
"Yujin-ssi. Please come this way."
Kang Jiwoo smiled as she spoke to me.
"Huh? Jiwoo-ssi is going to guide me personally? Aren't you busy? I heard you're the one in charge here."
"Yujin-ssi is a special guest, so of course I should guide you. And I'm not particularly busy. There are plenty of people helping me, and the believers are all good people."
I glanced at Park Su-ho.
"Hyung, you're lucky. It's really rare for Jiwoo noona to handle someone personally. Then again, hyung is a B-rank hunter with a bright future."
Su-ho had already figured it out on his own.
So had I.
Of course a beauty like Kang Jiwoo should be dealing with me. Trash like Park Su-ho isn't even on my level.
I whipped my head away from Su-ho and followed Kang Jiwoo.