The Whole World Is the Demonic Sect
> Search term: Heavenly Demon Divine Sect
> Search term: Heavenly Demon Divine Arts
Classification: Finger Technique
Principle: Supernova gamma-ray burst
Founder: First Heavenly Demon
Classification: True Footwork
Principle: Planetary-scale gravitational wave distortion
Founder: Second Heavenly Demon
Classification: Lightness Skill
Principle: Entropy reversal
Founder: Third Heavenly Demon
"It searches just fine!!!!!"
Gong Ryun screamed at the search-results window on his personal device.
"There's nothing wrong with this at all!!!"
Search for Heavenly Demon Divine Sect and the entries poured out in a clean cascade. Nothing about them looked forbidden or even mildly disadvantageous.
"Un-rang!! What the hell is going on here!!!"
Un-rang broke out in a cold sweat and scrambled to explain.
"Hear me out, Gong Ryun!!! I had no choice!!!"
"You bastard!! What do you mean you had no choice!! You lied to me!!"
"It was all for your sake!!"
"What is that even supposed to mean!!"
"I was afraid that if you started learning about the Demonic Sect, you would fall into it!!!"
"What kind of nonsense is that!! How does a little knowledge make a person fall for something!? It's not some forbidden lore that addicts you just by reading it!!"
"It is nearly that bad! Do you have any idea how well developed the Demonic Sect's soft-power strategy is!? You start with a search, then you watch Demonic Sect dramas! Demonic Sect movies! You join Demonic Sect social media!! Then you read the Demonic Sect scriptures!! Then you start learning Demonic Sect martial arts!!! And just like that, you have fallen into the Demonic Sect!!"
"Come on, no way!! There's no chance I'd do that!"
"Do you know this, Gong Ryun? In the Orthodox Faction they keep children as far away as possible from Demonic Sect content while they are young!! That is how formidable the Demonic Sect's cultural production and image-making really are!! In fact, a considerable number of Orthodox scions who were exposed to Demonic Sect dramas and films as children grow up with a friendly impression of them—and some of those children even convert to the Demonic Sect later in life!!"
"Hey! But I'm not a kid!"
"Aren't you almost one?!! A man thrown into the world without even basic common sense, learning everything from scratch!! What if you casually take an interest in the Demonic Sect and, without knowing any better, just join them!!! You are sneakily naive, Gong Ryun—you fall for that kind of thing easily!! If that danger exists, better to cut off the source of information at the root! It was, in its own way, a decision to save the nation!"
"Wh… what…!"
Gong Ryun had just learned a hidden truth.
And he had trusted Un-rang's advice!
"W… wait! So the Demonic Sect wasn't some isolated group shoved into a corner of the world and cut off from everything? They're actually easy to approach?"
"That is so. In this galaxy there are Demonic Sect corporations, Demonic Sect entertainment companies, and Demonic Sect martial arts."
"Then… the Demonic Sect has been around me this whole time?"
"It would not be strange if one of the people you pass on the street belonged to it. Your regular tteokbokki shop was Demonic Sect from the beginning, was it not?"
"Th… that's true…?"
Hold on. Then what about the other people around me? There was no guarantee it was only the tteokbokki-shop lady. Those cult-leader clients from the commission—were they Demonic Sect too?
Gong Ryun immediately started making calls left and right.
First, Brigit.
"Hm? Me, Demonic Sect? Nope."
"Whew, right? You're just a regular Unorthodox type, yeah?"
"I've got relatives in the Demonic Sect, though."
"Huuuh??"
"Why so shocked? My family alone is seven siblings. Everyone has at least that many. How many relatives do you think that makes? One or two joining the Demonic Sect isn't weird."
"I… I guess?"
"That driving commission I hooked you up with last time? That was through a relative's connection, passed along a few hands."
"Ah. Now that you mention it, you were the one who introduced those people."
"And I've got Orthodox relatives too."
"Uh… is that even okay? One side of the family Orthodox, the other Demonic Sect? Don't they fight?"
"It's personal belief—who's going to complain? And when the whole family gathers for the holidays, nobody brings up Orthodox-versus-Demonic-Sect talk. You don't do politics when everyone's sitting at the same table."
"Ah. So it's that kind of vibe…"
Next, Loro.
"Ehh? Of course I'm not Demonic Sect."
"Hmm. Figures? Just an Unorthodox hopeful, right?"
"But I kinda wanna go Demonic Sect, though."
"What? Why?"
"Because it's cool!!! Look at how much style they have!!"
"For a reason that thin??!"
"Life is lived for the style points, hyung-nim! Anyone can see the Demonic Sect is cool, right!"
"…"
"Ah. And the martial art I learned turned out to be a Demonic Sect art, you know? The more I use it, the better it fits me. Honestly I've been thinking about just joining so I can get the related manuals sponsored! Hahaha!"
"The new art you learned? You mean that Hyeol-ma Spear Art?"
"That's the one! Who knew a manual I bought on a crazy sale would help this much!! This has got to be fate! A bond ordained by the Martial God himself!"
"What Martial God. Come on."
Then Medilla.
"This one is Unorthodox. Not Demonic Sect. From the beginning, this one has lived without leaning on any faction. And there was never a problem with that. Living in the sewers means one meets no one, so there are no threats either…"
"Have you ever considered joining the Demonic Sect?"
"Originally, no."
"'Originally' means what, exactly??"
"Lately the tteokbokki-shop unnie keeps trying to recruit this one into the Demonic Sect. Honestly, it is extremely tempting. This one is considering it rather positively."
"Huh?? Why would you join the Demonic Sect?"
"Listen well. Because… the ones who made magical-girl anime are the Demonic Sect! The scenarios, the voice actors, everything!!! The Demonic Sect has always been famous for making excellent animation!! Most of the true anime masterpieces are Demonic Sect productions!!"
"…???"
"And if one joins the Demonic Sect! There are incredible benefits!!"
"…Like what?"
"The tteokbokki unnie said that if this one joins now, she will obtain a handwritten signature from a magical-girl scenario director!!! She has connections through acquaintances!!! Is that not truly astonishing!!!"
"You're seriously deciding based on that…???"
"Ahem! Of course! This one is not a child, and would never decide on that alone!! From a martial-arts perspective as well, the Demonic Sect has highly developed formation techniques, so it would also be excellent for academic study—that thought has crossed this one's mind!!"
"I… see. Hmmm…"
"Eii!! Why that worried face!! Joining the Demonic Sect is merely one possibility this one is considering! This one is not some otaku so far gone as to be mad only for magical girls!"
…
After making the rounds of every contact, one thing was clear: the Demonic Sect was right next door.
Even if they weren't direct members the way the tteokbokki-shop owner was, everyone was connected to it somehow, at least indirectly.
"The Demonic Sect is one of the three great powers of galactic murim—of course you'd run into it~~ Even if this is an Unorthodox planet~~"
And the man who had completely cut off all information about that Demonic Sect—Un-rang—exactly what had he…
When Gong Ryun dug further, Un-rang's meddling turned out to go even deeper than that.
In the settings of Gong Ryun's search engine, he had used the "Exclude results containing certain words" function to block every search result related to the Demonic Sect. (Back when Gong Ryun had first gotten his personal device and had no idea what he was doing, Un-rang had kindly set up the initial configuration for him—and casually tweaked the search settings while he was at it.)
Whenever Demonic Sect talk came up in ordinary conversation, Un-rang would abruptly change the subject.
If the topic somehow still came up, he would lie and say the Demonic Sect was shady and that Gong Ryun should be careful.
And every news outlet Gong Ryun normally read belonged to Orthodox Faction media conglomerates. (They were the channels Un-rang had recommended.)
So the information was unbalanced, and the articles were generally unfriendly toward the Demonic Sect.
"Oh dear, that won't do~~~ You always have to look at the Orthodox, Unorthodox, and Demonic Sect press all three ways, evenly~~~ They each have different viewpoints~~"
The Succubus Madam's wise jab landed cleanly.
At this point, a question was inevitable.
What exactly did the Demonic Sect do? Until now he had thought of them as an armed group plotting to overthrow the system.
What creed and what faith did they hold that had made Un-rang so determined to keep him away?
So Gong Ryun asked the important question.
"What kind of group is the Heavenly Demon Divine Sect, exactly? What does this organization even want?"