After All, Cults Are Not to Be Trusted
Today was the day Gong Ryun would once again join the cultists for an investigation of Morlaren Canyon, after quite some time away.
It was his first outing since those gloomy days when depression had left him dragging himself around. The last time they had met, the cultists had told him they would be consulting other specialists about their findings for several days and would be unable to explore the canyon. Apparently those consultations were finally wrapping up, and the canyon survey was about to resume.
“Hello!”
They were already waiting for him near the western entrance of the city. Clumped together in their purple mascot robes, they made quite the picture, so Gong Ryun threw them a hearty greeting.
“Oh! Driver! Long time no— hm?”
The leader of the cultists started to return the greeting, then froze mid-sentence.
“Wait… Driver…? What on earth happened to you? You look completely different today!”
“Oh! You noticed?”
“My inner eye can see it—the flow of your internal energy has stabilized to an astonishing degree! We only parted for a few days and already… No! Don’t tell me—!!!”
“Haha. That’s right. I punched through to the Profound Realm.”
Gong Ryun rubbed his nose with a casual swipe of his finger.
The leader and every other cultist in the party gaped at him.
“Good heavens!!! Driver!! On this backwater planet, at your age! And after overcoming every physical limitation of your body!”
“Mm… I wouldn’t really call them limitations.”
“A man who can’t use lightfoot techniques, voice transmission, the inner eye, footwork, sword arts, spear arts, or fist arts claims he has no limitations? That’s abnormal.”
“…Well… about that…”
“And yet you’ve reached the Profound Realm. This is magnificent. Your talent truly is extraordinary. A man like you doesn’t belong rotting away in a place like this.”
We absolutely have to get him to join the order.
That was the thought running through the leader’s mind.
The rest of the party piled on with praise and congratulations. The swordsmanship expert, the hot-blooded Musin atheist, the conch manager, and the PR ambassador each spoke in turn.
Gong Ryun felt oddly bashful under the barrage of praise.
Bolstered by their vigorous congratulations and support, the expedition set out.
Vrrroooooooom!!!
Their destination this time lay deeper in the canyon—a wider, more sinuous stretch of cliffs carved into the earth. The area was unusually thick with rock moss, and for some reason even the moss in this canyon looked vicious: bright red and needle-sharp.
Vrrroooooooom!!!
They drove straight into the heart of the canyon and resumed their survey work. Using all manner of equipment, the cultists skipped through the air with lightfoot techniques just as they always did, flitting from one section of the canyon to another.
Gong Ryun stayed by the vehicle, resting most of the time, and only stirred when a wild animal occasionally tried to attack.
The deeper they went, the more of the local beasts they encountered—and among them were some truly unexpected specimens.
Kkyuoooooo…!!!
A body as plump as a pig’s, covered in soft, fluffy fur. A galactic mole—creatures that normally lived in underground waterways.
But the surprising part was…
Kkyuoooong…!!
These were the gentle variety. Unlike their aggressive cousins, the ferocious moles, gentle moles never attacked anyone and simply sprawled about sleeping in perfect contentment.
Yet the gentle mole right in front of him radiated killing intent around its eyes. Those pure, round orbs were gone; bloodshot red lids stared straight at him. It had probably been wandering in search of food and drifted into this area by accident.
Seated in the vehicle, Gong Ryun locked eyes with the suspicious mole.
And then…
Kkyuook!!
The mole lumbered closer. Slowly. It looked like it was about to attempt something resembling a claw swipe.
But no matter how ferocious its appearance had become, this gentle beast had never been built for hunting.
CRACK!!!!!
Gong Ryun casually swung a crushing palm—his modified joint-lock technique—and the mole’s entire head went flying. After reaching the Profound Realm, his palms had only gotten stronger.
The headless body toppled to the ground.
Gong Ryun was amazed. He had never once seen a gentle mole attempt an attack before.
Everything living here was like this. The plants and animals of this place turned violent.
“I’m telling you, that mild-mannered gentle mole actually attacked me…”
A little later, during a lunch-and-rest break, Gong Ryun munched on a sandwich while explaining what he had seen to the others.
“Why do all the plants and animals here look so vicious? Even the moss is red. The vines grow like barbed wire. The animals are savage.”
“It’s common for flora and fauna to change appearance depending on a planet’s environment. Cases where they become this saturated with killing intent, however, are rather rare. We were already planning to research it, actually. Looks like we’ll need to find another specialist to consult.”
“Hmm… is that so. Still, I never expected moles to be living here. I thought they only lived underground.”
“Deep canyons don’t get much sunlight, so it must feel similar to the underground. And moles arise naturally, after all.”
“Naturally?”
“It’s a reproductive method called spore reproduction. Spores leave their bodies, drift through the air, settle in dark, damp places, and swell up like mushrooms. When they get big enough, they become moles. That’s why they’re nearly impossible to eradicate. Fascinating, isn’t it?”
“Eugh.”
“They’re a species scattered across this entire galaxy. Wherever humans go, a spore or two always tags along, so they’ve followed us to every corner of the stars. They’re not particularly strong and don’t cause major damage, so outside the big cities people usually just leave them alone.”
“In a way, they’ve achieved perfect evolution.”
“Exactly.”
They continued chatting while polishing off their sandwiches.
“By the way, Driver. Now that you’ve reached the Profound Realm, you must have experienced all sorts of pleasant changes.”
“That’s right. My body feels lighter, and the circulation of my internal energy has sped up.”
“Hahaha! That’s the process of the body accepting the truths of the universe and efficiently restructuring itself.”
“And my head feels clearer. Is that also one of those ‘truth of the universe’ things?”
“Partly.”
“Partly?”
Slurp. The cult leader took a loud sip of his drink and replied,
“Your brainwashing has been undone. That’s why your head is clear.”
“Ah. So the brainwashing was undone.”
…
……
“What brainwashing?”
“Nothing major. Incidentally, you mentioned that a few days ago your depressive symptoms hit especially hard. That’s probably one of the side effects of the brainwashing. An aftereffect that makes a person more emotionally volatile.”
“?”
Gong Ryun was about to ask something when the conch manager cut in from the side.
“Prospective convert, prospective convert. You need to offer the post-meal prayer.”
He held out a purple conch the size of a human head and suggested the after-lunch prayer.
“No, that’s not the important part—what do you mean by brainwashing?”
“I think the Sacred Conch has something to say as well. Come on~”
“Hey, hold on. Brainwashing people? That doesn’t even sound scientific. Client, you really can’t joke properly, can you? Is this some kind of dad joke?”
“It’ll only take a moment~”
“Ugh, fine. How does the post-meal prayer work again? Oh right. You hold the conch to your ear and listen to the sound.”
Gong Ryun pressed the conch against his ear.
Something like the soft shaaaa of ocean waves seemed to wash over him… A sense of calm settling over mind and body. Was this what ASMR felt like?
He quietly closed his eyes, savoring the brief moment of peace.
For some reason, a fairy-tale image drifted into his mind—the enchanted conch speaking to him.
—That’s right.
Fwip!!!
And then tentacles shot out of the conch.
Slimy, slender purple tentacles plunged straight into Gong Ryun’s ear canal. It happened in an instant.
“Huh?”
Gong Ryun made a vacant sound. He still hadn’t grasped what was happening.
Squirm. Squirm.
The tentacles burrowed deeper into his ear.
They touched his brain.
“Ngh? Uh… no… euh… eugh… ngeh…!”
Strange noises spilled from Gong Ryun’s mouth. His body stayed locked in the posture of holding the conch to his ear, unable to move. His eyeballs trembled violently, yet his pupils went slack and empty. His body jerked with intermittent, instinctive resistance, but he was already completely subdued and conditioned; the thrashing was nothing more than a sharp, futile rebellion.
The leader stepped close beside the immobilized Gong Ryun.
“We’ve known each other for quite a while now. We’ve been building this up little by little the whole time. After every sandwich lunch it was always like this. Of course you wouldn’t remember. You had no idea, did you?”
“Eugh… euh…”
“Because this involves the mind, we have to proceed carefully. So we’ve been taking it slow and gentle… until now.”
“Eughheh… my… brain…”
“Who could have predicted you’d suddenly enter the Profound Realm? The body remolding that comes with it completely reset all the brainwashing we’d stacked up. Well, it’s fine. We hadn’t done anything major yet—just made you feel a bit more favorably toward us, that sort of thing.”
“Euh……ah…”
“But every cloud has a silver lining. Now that you’re in the Profound Realm, both body and mind should be much sturdier. We can afford to brainwash you a little harder!”
“……”
“You’ve gone quiet—must be in a trance state. Right then. What shall we plant first? Ah. Yes. What’s your favorite color?”
“…Sky… blue…”
“Not purple? Think carefully. Wasn’t it purple?”
“Purple…?”
“What is your favorite color?”
“Pur…ple……?”
“Smooth as silk. Raising the tentacles’ brainwashing intensity really speeds things up. You’re going to make an excellent convert, Driver.”
“Ten…tacles…?”
“This is all because of you, Driver. You’re simply too tempting a talent. Originally I planned to coax you in with words, nice and easy. But the more I thought about it, the more certain this method seemed.”
“…?”
“It is a tremendous honor. Rejoice! You are feeling the touch of Lord Hernesh Himself! I’ve been watching you carefully, and you have real talent! All you lack is total volume of internal energy! You’ll probably climb the ranks of the order faster than I ever did and stand at Lord Hernesh’s side! Before the Living Tentacle Star, Ziwei Hernesh!!!”
The cult leader smiled with genuine kindness, sincerely believing that conversion through maximum-intensity brainwashing and corruption was the best path for Gong Ryun.
A loving father to his daughter. A talentless martial artist. A parent who had once failed.
But now he was a devotee who dedicated himself to the order, a father who had restored his daughter’s smile.
That man laid a gentle hand on Gong Ryun’s shoulder and made a vow.
For this pitiful young man who reminded him so much of his own daughter—trapped in the countryside, wings never allowed to spread because of a defective body and mediocre surroundings—he would carve the deepest purple grace of all.