Chapter 52 Great Peace Sect (8)
The Great Peace Sect (8)
Episode 53
A groan escaped my lips.
"Fuck."
No—it was more like I ground my teeth as the curse spilled out.
The walls, the path to school, the playground, even the school building where students should have been—everything had collapsed.
Just a day ago, Seongmun General High School had been perfectly intact.
"...Looks like my little sister's been taken."
Park Ha-rin crossed her arms beneath her ample chest and lifted her gaze.
Her golden pupils shifted slightly to the side, scanning the bloodstained footprints on the ground to trace where they led.
"My sister's boot prints are over there, and judging by how dried the blood is, those must be the most recent. The ones beside them smell like those three brats who keep dropping by, so those must be their shoes. If she walked on her own, there's no need to worry. As long as she's alive, right?"
I was too stunned by the insane woman's absurd logic to react. I just silently furrowed my brow.
"...?"
Beside me, Kang So-eun shifted uncomfortably and glanced at me.
—...Park Si-hyun.
We had sprinted here from Korea University to Seongmun General High School by the shortest route possible.
I'd had a bad feeling ever since I lost contact with Park Se-eun and her trio of friends.
But by the time we arrived, the school was already reduced to ruins.
'Did Park Se-eun get taken this easily, without even lasting a few days?'
It made no sense. This was the same little sister who had killed even the protagonist with 「Conquer」 and overwritten the world's history. Someone subdued her and dragged her away without a fight?
'What the hell happened here?'
『Using 「Read」 to scan the past.』
Fragments of the past flashed before my eyes.
—Kyahahahahaha!
A sinister beauty appeared in my vision, annihilating the school with black mana.
...A monster whose entire body could be blown apart, only to regenerate instantly.
'That ability...!?'
What the hell?
There was no such bizarre character in the original story.
I bit my lip hard and clenched my jaw.
For the tutorial to go this far off-script and introduce such an overwhelming variable... This changes everything.
This isn't the tutorial from the original game anymore.
'This has completely diverged from the zombie apocalypse I knew in the original.'
"Looks like... we've reached the point where we need to farm."
"What are you planning to do now?"
Kang So-eun fidgeted nervously beside me as she spoke.
I looked seriously at Kang So-eun and Park Ha-rin.
"We level up by wiping out villains, then infiltrate the Great Peace Sect."
The situation had already strayed far from the tutorial I knew.
A completely different development from the original.
This wasn't the time to leisurely hunt villains and meet survivors like in the original.
'Damn it, I've got a bad feeling this is about to escalate like crazy.'
Park Ha-rin gave me an odd look, her eyes scanning me.
"Si-hyun. As adorable as you are, this doesn't sound like infiltration. More like a field trip to kindergarten?"
"Don't look down on me just because I'm smart!"
Annoyed, I flicked her forehead. Park Ha-rin snorted and dodged effortlessly.
"Just kidding."
But the way her eyes gleamed with mischief at me in that moment didn't feel like a joke at all.
Then—
Fwoosh!
The air of Earth suddenly brightened.
"!"
A curtain of pure white light descended from the sky.
Like a tower—
The falling light manifested on the ground like porcelain.
A radiant white tower materialized, scattering light across all of Seoul.
"A tower?"
A magical phenomenon that shouldn't be possible on this Earth.
Near the Han River banks, where the Great Peace Sect was based.
That tower was most likely their doing.
Almost immediately, an invisible wavelength radiated from the tower.
『The Model White Bone Tower summons the dead.』
Kugugugugung!
The sound of shuffling zombie footsteps grew louder.
In the distance, hordes of zombies began converging.
I scooped up Kang So-eun and leaped upward, landing lightly on a rooftop.
"Ah! The zombies...!?"
Kang So-eun stammered in shock, and Park Ha-rin, who had appeared beside me in an instant, narrowed her eyes.
Kang So-eun had every reason to be stunned.
Every zombie in Seoul was now sprinting toward the white tower.
Even the colossal zombies, formed from tens of thousands of fused undead, were all heading for the tower.
"...Don't tell me the Great Peace Sect can control zombies...?"
An overwhelming number of undead were gathering at the 「Model White Bone Tower」.
Even from the rooftop, we should have drawn the zombies' attention—yet they ignored us completely, mesmerized as they charged toward the tower.
The power to control such an immense horde of zombies...
There was only one possible source at this point.
'The Tower's Administrator.'
"...Things just got complicated."
In the thousands of times I cleared the tutorial, something like this had never happened.
That tower had never appeared in the game I knew...
No, that was a tower you'd be lucky to see even once by mid-game.
Right. The situation had already completely diverged from anything I knew.
'As expected, games and reality are different... Variables, after all...'
Originally, it should've been a leisurely modern zombie flick vibe—dealing with villains trying to rape women, misunderstandings and conflicts with survivors, getting politically ostracized as an infected if bitten by zombies—that was the charm of a zombie apocalypse.
'But now, there's no time to leisurely enjoy that crap and grow stronger. There's a clear "irregular" in this story.'
I found myself suddenly worried about Park Se-eun.
Fortunately, that crazy bitch Tirpe seemed to view Se-eun favorably, so she probably wouldn't suffer too harshly. For now, I had no choice but to believe that.
'I already castrated them all, so just wait a little longer... Oppa will come for you soon.'
We quickly turned our steps toward Korea University.
#
Deep within the underground chambers of the Great Peace Sect.
A middle-aged man sat on a pure white chair.
He gazed fondly at the girl across from him.
The beautiful girl on the receiving end of that look immediately scrunched her face in disgust.
"What the hell are you staring at, you disgusting pedo bastard?"
The vulgar words reflexively burst out of her.
She was a silver-gray-haired beauty.
Younger-looking than Park Ha-rin, but with slightly softer eyes—Park Si-hyun's younger sister.
Park Se-eun desperately tugged her skirt down to cover her thighs from the man's gaze. But the length was practically that of a school uniform skirt, so it was useless. She gave up and crossed her legs instead.
Her outfit, unlike the female devotees' robes of the Great Peace Sect, resembled a wedding dress.
The man leisurely scanned Se-eun's figure and smiled.
He was a middle-aged pretty boy, looking far younger than his fifties.
"Beautiful."
"......Ah, fuck."
Goosebumps erupted all over Se-eun's arms.
But the most she could do was cover her exposed cleavage and thighs—she couldn't gouge out those eyes.
Biting her lip hard enough to nearly draw blood, Se-eun glared at him with dagger-like eyes.
'Should I just kill him for real?'
As if reading her thoughts, the man spoke.
"That arrogant mindset of yours will be the express lane sending your friends straight to hell."
Se-eun flinched, clenched her fists, and forced her lips to relax.
She quietly gripped the hem of her skirt instead.
"...Fucking bastard, your words make me sick."
The man chuckled as he rose from his chair.
"Holy Maiden. Such vulgar language doesn't suit you."
'Ugh... Fucking creep. Cringe.'
The man grabbed her gray side ponytail and inhaled its scent.
As if unwilling to miss a single strand, he ran his fingers through her hair.
'Psycho...'
Se-eun felt like bugs were crawling all over her from head to toe as her hair was pulled.
But while her expression only grew more murderous, she couldn't bring herself to smash her fist into the man's haughty nose.
"Don't forget. Had I not shown you even a shred of mercy, your friends would have already ended up like those beneath us."
Because he had threatened her like this before.
With no choice, Se-eun suppressed her anger and glanced downward.
The floor was made of glass. And beneath it—
—KIIIIEEEEEEEEK!
Zombies with bulging eyes shrieked as they were crushed. Tens of thousands of them were packed together like paper stars in a jar.
Eyes pressed against the glass floor glared up at Se-eun with bloodshot intensity.
"......Eugh."
Even Se-eun, as a girl, couldn't suppress a shudder of disgust.
If her friends ended up trapped down there because of her...
'They'd be eaten alive...'
She'd be tormented by guilt for the rest of her life. Just the thought made her breathing grow ragged.
Se-eun shook off the disturbing image and steeled her weakening resolve.
"...Just what the hell do you people want? Why are you doing this to us? ...Why are you calling me a Holy Maiden?"
"You are the Holy Maiden."
Se-eun barely held back the curses threatening to spill out.
"You are the pure Holy Virgin destined to wed me in sacred matrimony by divine revelation."
Finally unable to contain her revulsion, she snarled.
"You fucking psycho! You think you can touch a minor like me and walk away unscathed? You locked my friends in the Holy Maidens' Sanctuary, didn't you?! Calling them Holy Maiden candidates, what kind of conscience does a grown-ass man like you even—!"
"Didn't you know? The more seeds of God, the better. Sowing is never done in vain. The Holy Maiden candidates, too, would rejoice at receiving my divine grace. Merely carrying my child in their wombs would be the greatest blessing for them. Well, since our male executives are men too, it's only fair to share the women they desire."
"...Huh. You're saying you'll get me and my friends pregnant?"
The massive shock made the trembling in her shoulders stop dead. But that tremor soon migrated to her pupils instead. Her upturned blue eyes burned with murderous intent.
"You fucking bastard!"
The moment she lost her temper and screamed, she kicked the chair aside.
A seasoned straight punch aimed at a vital point—honed from years of training in special combat techniques alongside Park Si-hyun.
However.
Thud!
"!"
Her fist was caught effortlessly.
The sound of displaced air was unmistakable. But the cult leader's hand intercepted her strike without so much as a flinch, then crushed her fingers in his grip.
"Ghh—AAGH!"
Her clenched fist felt like it was being pulverized. Tears welled at the corners of Park Se-eun's eyes. She collapsed to her knees before him, a scream tearing from her throat.
Crack—crunch.
"L-Let go, you son of a bitch—! Nghhk?!"
The pressure on her fist intensified with every curse she spat.
When she lifted her tear-filled gaze, her body froze solid.
Thud. Thud. Thud.
A shifting mass of black darkness took on a vaguely humanoid form.
Amidst it, only the pitch-black pupils remained fixed on her.
Lifeless, corpse-like pupils.
The man's hand trailed down the smooth curve of Park Se-eun's cheek.
"Even your resentment is beautiful."
A shudder ran across her skin. Just looking at that grotesque smile made her feel like her spirit would break.
......Oppa.
And yet, even in a moment like this, the only person who came to mind was him... How pathetic. At this point, it wasn't just dependence—it was full-blown addiction.
Still, if she were being honest... she wanted to see him.
But she knew that was nothing more than wishful thinking.
...Oppa hadn't come for her in over a week.
"Your resentment will soon be replaced with joy—joy for me."
No matter how confident her brother always was, he wouldn't stand a chance against the Great Peace Sect's might.
The cult leader, the deputy leader, the enforcers, the aides, the lawkeepers, the overseers—
The sect's upper ranks were suspiciously powerful, as if they had prepared in advance for the Tower's arrival.
Even if it were Oppa... against the executives...
He can't win.
Tears dripped onto the floor as she stared down. A despair she couldn't place welled up from somewhere deep inside. Regret clawed at her for her own complacency.
I shouldn't have hesitated... I should've run right away, like Han-yeong said... I shouldn't have saved Kim Yeong-han either.
If she had been just a little more cautious, would things have turned out differently?
Just as she bit her lip in regret—
"Bring him in."
Disciples appeared from the hallway.
They were dragging someone along.
"H-Halmeoni..."
An old man familiar to Park Se-eun was being hauled forward helplessly by the cultists.
They forced him to his knees before the cult leader and bowed in deference.
"How pitiful a sight—a hospital director stripped of his title. But I shall grant you another chance."
A connection uncovered during their investigation of Park Se-eun.
Lee Jeong-don, the university hospital director she treated like a grandfather.
The cult leader stared at him and commanded:
"Verify the saintess's purity."
Lee Jeong-don possessed the ability of Body X-Ray Vision.
Examining Park Se-eun's internal state would have been trivial.
"...Halmeoni."
But Lee Jeong-don kept his mouth shut and refused to activate his skill. His entire body trembled faintly from the aftereffects of the torture he'd endured.
—Halmeoni. Make sure you have a separate bunker to stay in. If you can't, just come to our house.
Park Se-eun and Park Si-hyun had warned him about the Zombie Apocalypse, their voices laced with concern.
How much longer do I even have to live? Why bother worrying about that? He hadn't taken it seriously.
But the Zombie Apocalypse had come to pass, and while rescuing people with his abilities, he'd been captured by the Great Peace Sect.
Back then, he hadn't thought much of it—but the moment he heard Park Se-eun was involved, nothing but regret filled him.
Park Se-eun was crying.
Lee Jeong-don lifted his wrinkled eyes and spoke.
"...What does it matter whether a child like her is pure or not—"
Crunch!
"GYAAAH—!"
"Halmeoni!!"
The cult leader stomped down on Lee Jeong-don's thigh, pressing harder.
"If she's pure, she'll become my companion. If not... well, I'll accept her as an impure saintess candidate. Though normally, all candidates are pure... I suppose exceptions can be made."
Lee Jeong-don's face twisted in agony as he shuddered violently. Finally, his lips parted.
"...Se-eun, that child..."
His mouth twisted bitterly.
"...is not pure."
A single sentence—one he forced out while suppressing even his most basic ability.
The cult leader sighed in disappointment.
"How... unfortunate. Lies don't work on me. She is pure."
In an instant, his hand closed around Lee Jeong-don's throat.
"Ghk—!"
Choking, the old man's body dangled limply in the air.
The cult leader grinned as he turned to Park Se-eun.
"You...!"
Se-eun's ice-blue eyes twisted with fury.
"Come to think of it, there's been someone making quite a stir in Seoul lately. His name was... Park Si-hyun, wasn't it?"
A flinch.
"Lately, we've been getting quite a few interesting people joining the Great Peace Sect. Among them... there was definitely someone named Park Hyeon-si."
All color drained from her face. The man's smirk deepened.
"We received reports that he altered his appearance, but to infiltrate us while keeping his name so obvious—I can't tell if that's bold or just reckless."
Se-eun, now deathly pale, shook her head like a child.
"No... No... Oppa can't—"
"Still, given how openly he's been roaming the streets these past few days, rescuing survivors, we didn't let our guard down. We made all the necessary preparations."
She bit her lower lip hard enough to draw blood. Then, for the first time, pure hatred burned in her eyes.
"If anything happens to Oppa or the doctor... I'll sacrifice everything—every last drop of my life—to pull out my power and kill every single one of you."
Even the man hesitated at the venom in her threat, his smile stiffening slightly.
"Then shouldn't you obey me without resistance? Unless you want your brother, Lee Jeong-don, and your friends to die?"
He slid a document across the table toward her.
A sheet of paper inscribed with strange black sigils.
The contract every believer had to sign to join the Great Peace Sect.
Until now, she had refused, sensing something ominous.
But.
"If you become one of us, your brother will be spared."
Se-eun looked at Lee Jeong-don, still gripped by the cult leader's hand. The doctor, pale as a corpse, shook his head weakly.
Se-eun shut her eyes tight, then picked up the pen with trembling fingers. She signed.
A sinister glow flickered across the paper. Satisfied, the cult leader nodded and released Lee Jeong-don.
"Cough—!Hack—!"
The doctor gasped for air, collapsing to the floor. Se-eun rushed to help him.
"Grandpa, are you—?"
But the nearby believers dragged Lee Jeong-don away, disappearing down the hallway.
Se-eun tried to follow, but the cult leader blocked her with an outstretched hand.
"Now your brother and the old man will be safe."
He extended his hand again, as if escorting her. Se-eun, jaw clenched, glared down in humiliation before finally placing her shaking hand in his.
"Come. The congregation awaits. At the celebration, we will finally become one."
Se-eun scowled as if to say Go to hell, but followed him anyway.
If he tries to lay a finger on me, I'll kill him first.
Yet her shoulders trembled at the memory of Tirpe's power. A tear of frustration slipped down her cheek.
There was only one thing she wished for now.
Oppa... Run.
All she wanted was for her brother to escape safely.
* * *
Song Yeong-jun, the delinquent from Seongmun General High School who had survived Tirpe's rampage, had just finished his prayers in the chapel.
[『The Rest of the Gravekeepers Buried Underground』 has granted 「Believer So Yeong-jun」 +1 Strength, +1 Agility, +1 Stamina, +1 Mana.]
He glanced around. The chapel, large enough to seat tens of thousands, was packed.
Every believer was deep in solemn prayer, the hall utterly silent.
At the far end stood a white altar. Upon it rested a massive stone statue.
The figure of a saintess clad in tattered rags. Though her face was veiled, her lips curled in a benevolent smile. The goddess worshipped by the Great Peace Sect—the one who brought them peace.
Every believer prayed before this statue and received strength in return.
Yeong-jun, too, basked in the surging power filling his body.
The days of being hunted by zombies felt like a distant nightmare now.
That's right. No more desperate hunts, no more running for his life. Just by praying safely in this warm, secure place, he grew stronger.
And that wasn't all.
Every day, they were given plentiful food, clean water, and safe lodging.
Ah—the Great Peace Sect, the only sanctuary in this hopeless world. Boundless reverence for the goddess welled up inside him.
To think that after living in constant terror, he could now enjoy such peaceful days.
Once more, Yeong-jun bowed his head in gratitude for the day's blessings.
Then—
He spotted someone.
Kim Yeong-han, trembling as he prayed fervently in his seat.
Please... Please... Grant me strength.
The strength to save Park Se-eun...
But his prayers went unanswered,
『"The Rest of the Gravekeepers Buried Underground" grants [Strength +1] to "Believer Kim Yeong-han."』
Only a meager blessing, far humbler than what others received, was placed in his hands.
His fists clenched so tightly that veins bulged on the backs of his hands. He glared at the goddess's statue in fury.
The corners of the statue's lips seemed to curl in mockery.
There are things I absolutely must accomplish... Why?
'Why are you doing this to me... I have to save Park Se-eun...!'
Even after praying so desperately, why wouldn't the goddess listen? Why wouldn't she grant him strength?
Could she truly read his innermost thoughts?
His teeth ground together, his eyes reddening—
"Hey, hey. Kim Yeong-han. You should show some sincerity in your prayers. Who'd be pleased with such a lifeless offering?"
It was Song Yeong-jun, the same guy who had always subtly needled him back at school. Kim Yeong-han saw no reason to respond. But Song Yeong-jun was relentless, even in the face of silence.
"Yeah, keep at it~ It's because of you that Park Se-eun ended up like that. Not that you'll ever be able to save her, though. Haha."
Lightning struck inside Kim Yeong-han's skull. He stared blankly at Song Yeong-jun, who had already sauntered away, waving his hand dismissively.
'You fucking... bastard.'
He wanted to smash the back of that skull right then and there.
But Kim Yeong-han had always been a troublemaker, so he was already a person of interest.
The sidelong glances from the other believers weren't innocent either. They treated him like trash—someone unworthy of the goddess's blessings.
Under those oppressive stares, Kim Yeong-han slumped, his head hanging low.
It had already been ten days since the Great Peace Sect had brought an end to Seoul's apocalypse by controlling the zombies.
He didn't know about other regions, but he remembered hearing that this phenomenon was unique to Seoul.
'It's a good thing... but also a bad thing.'
With a mix of relief and suffocating frustration, Kim Yeong-han looked outside.
Beyond the walls, five colossal zombies stood like statues, guarding the sanctuary.
If they could control monsters that powerful, what chance did he possibly have?
'Park Se-eun...'
Just as the free prayer period ended and the midday service was about to begin—
Kim Yeong-han's eyes widened.
Screeeech—
The entrance swung open wide. Someone stepped into the chapel.
A woman in her mid-forties with a bob cut, her heels clicking sharply against the floor.
The deputy leader.
Her ornate believer's robes fluttered as she strode to the center of the chapel.
Others followed in her wake, filing into the chapel one after another.
A beauty with disheveled, faded black hair.
The executioner, Tirpe, her face uneasy as she bit her nails and shuffled forward timidly.
Next was a bespectacled man—a sharp-looking aide.
Then a stern-faced man in his fifties—the legal officer.
A carefree young man in his early twenties—Inspector Son Yeong-hu.
For the first time, the Great Peace Sect's high-ranking officials had gathered in one place.
The gravity of the situation filled Kim Yeong-han with indescribable unease.
'No way.'
Finally—
He appeared.
...Or so he thought.
"??"
A 70-year-old man who couldn't have been taller than 160 cm.
Lee Jeong-don.
His eyebrows twitched as he glanced back.
And then, the person the believers had been eagerly awaiting finally arrived.
A handsome middle-aged man with a messianic aura.
The Great Peace Sect's leader.
He stepped into the chapel.
Lee Jeong-don clicked his tongue and strode ahead.
"Why am I playing the role of the parents at a wedding... Even officiating isn't enough, huh?"
The believers were stunned into silence—
"...."
A woman's pale hand rested atop the leader's.
Kim Yeong-han's eyes twitched.
He froze, a single question swirling in his mind.
She was...
A stunning beauty with long brown hair, shooting the leader a displeased glare.
"...Leader? You're walking a bit too fast, aren't you?"
Kang So-eun.
Behind her, a procession of women appeared one after another.
A professor with her purple hair pinned up—Jang Hye-jeong.
A cute art student with short lavender hair—Yu Yeon.
Park Se-eun's close friends—Lee Ji-hyeon, Ga Da-hui, Oh Han-yeong...
And countless other beauties trailed behind the leader in a line.
All of them were the 'Holy Maiden candidates'—women who had been confined separately in the Holy Maidens' Sanctuary, completely isolated from the other believers.
Finally, the leader stopped at the base of the erected statue.
The executives lined up on either side of him, bowing in reverence.
The leader smiled faintly as he accepted their greetings.
The Holy Maiden candidates stood in formation, their faces tense.
The aide approached the leader.
"Leader. Regarding Believer Park Hyeon-si..."
"That is not important."
The leader raised a hand, cutting him off. The aide's eyebrows twitched.
"Isn't that right, Deputy Leader?"
The leader smiled at the deputy leader.
"As you say, Leader."
The deputy leader returned the smile and nodded.
And then—
『Kim Seon-hwa has "borrowed" the appearance of 'Great Peace Sect Deputy Leader Im Hwa-yeong.'』
The leader grinned.
『Park Si-hyun is transforming his body using 「Optimal Progression」.』
『His face is being redrawn with 「Depicts」.』