Worship, or Jealousy (4)
"...Let's drop it. No — the people gathered in this warehouse seem fine, but... the ones hiding in that gas station? I think we should just leave them. I mean it."
It was a far colder verdict than anything I'd expected to hear from Seeun.
"At the gas station... did something happen? Don't tell me those people—!"
Did those bastards pull some shit on Seeun when she went to help them!? Those crazy sons of bitches dared to mess with our Seeun...!
"Ah, no. I'm fine. Nobody did anything to me. It's just..."
Park Seeun bit her lower lip lightly, glanced down at the floor for a moment, then lifted her head as if steeling herself and looked me straight in the eye.
"I saw a gathering of disgusting insects. Real pest-level creatures."
Without the slightest hesitation or reservation, she called the people I'd just rescued — the ones who'd taken shelter in the gas station — insects. And in the eyes of the Park Seeun who said those words, a deeply personal emotion burned with raw intensity.
Hatred. The light in Park Seeun's pupils fed on hatred and flared into flame.
It was the kind of emotion only someone who had suffered at the hands of a similar breed of people in the past could radiate. Whatever the gas station survivors had done, it had clearly shaken Park Seeun's feelings to their core.
So I asked again. This time as gently as I could.
Softly...
I rested my hand on Seeun's shoulder.
"What happened, Seeun?"
Just a little, the fury in her eyes seemed to settle.
"Something... did happen, yeah..."
Park Seeun had set out for the gas station in high spirits, shouldering a portion of the relief supplies from the van Kim Seyeon had driven over.
She strode in boldly and set the supplies down on the floor with a deliberate thud, wanting to leave a strong impression on the survivors sheltering inside.
She even hardened her expression so that no one would dare treat her rudely or make unreasonable demands simply because she was a woman.
"Um... who... might you be?"
Which was why the first words from a gas station survivor — startlingly composed, even calm — left Park Seeun momentarily speechless. The survivors who had taken refuge inside the station were sitting or standing against the walls, every gaze fixed on her.
"I-I'm a companion of the man who rescued you. I've brought relief supplies. I'll distribute them to each of you, so please stay calm. Understood?"
The reaction that followed her carefully prepared speech was even more extraordinary.
"Ahh, a companion of that noble gentleman from earlier...!"
"The fruits of our faith have borne out! What a blessing!"
"Thank you. Truly, he must possess such a pure and noble soul! We shall never forget this grace...!"
It was a reception so warmly favorable it left Park Seeun's mind blank for a second.
Even when she handed out the supplies afterward, there was none of the savage scrambling of people fighting to grab things first. Instead they formed an orderly line and received their share with both hands, polite and well-behaved.
That demeanor planted a seed of unease in her rather than reassurance — which was only natural. The fear that they might be acting so kind and courteous precisely to lower her guard, only to spring some sudden move, refused to fade.
"Right now... Oppa Hoon is distributing supplies to the people who took shelter in the warehouse. Please wait just a moment. I'll bring Oppa Hoon over here."
"Ohh, so we too shall be able to meet him face to face!"
"What a blessing, to behold our benefactor in person...!"
"...While you wait, please keep as quiet as possible. None of you can cross the Sanctuary boundary line, and outside there are monsters everywhere. If they have sharp ears, we're in serious trouble. Understood?"
"Yes, take your time. We shall hide here as silently as dead mice. Isn't that right, everyone?"
One might have expected a chorus of "Yes," but whether they had taken Seeun's earlier words to heart — or rather, the words of the man standing before her now, with those unnervingly clear eyes — they simply nodded in mute agreement.
W-wow, people like this actually exist. A real apocalypse really does spit out every type of human imaginable...
Still unable to shake the sense that something was off, Park Seeun nonetheless lowered her guard a fraction in the face of such kind and courteous survivors and slipped back outside the gas station.
She fully intended, once she returned, to tell Jeong Hoon Oppa — to tell me — that they'd rescued some surprisingly decent people.
Of course, that resolve didn't last long.
"Brother, isn't it truly astonishing? That such a noble soul could exist in a world like this... Might this not also be one of Heaven's graces bestowed upon us and our brothers and sisters, who have resolved to reclaim the 'Sanctuary'?"
The moment that bizarre remark rang out from inside the gas station and drifted all the way outside, Park Seeun could walk no farther.
She simply stopped dead in her tracks and had no choice but to strain her ears toward the voices spilling from the station.
"It is exactly as you say, Brother Hyojun. Our hardships are clearly beginning to receive their due reward. If only we can 'awaken' the gentleman who saved us... and that young woman from earlier, nothing could be better."
Those were remarks that could not, by any stretch, be interpreted as ordinary conversation between ordinary acquaintances.
On top of that, Park Seeun felt a déjà vu so familiar it made her skin crawl — and so hateful it made her blood boil.
It felt as though a terrible memory from her childhood, one that still tore at old wounds, was clawing its way back to the surface.
No. No way... there's no way...!
"Ahh, to think those two might join us...! Just imagining it fills my heart with joy!"
"It will not end as mere imagination. It shall surely become reality. Is not the very fact that we still draw breath amid this hellscape itself a reality? Therefore, the day we seep our convictions into those two... join hands together... and sever the head of that loathsome 'Jeong Hoon' is not far off. Truly not far off, my brothers and sisters!"
W-what...?
Whose head were they going to sever!?
Jeong Hoon? Oppa? Our Oppa Hoon?
Why? Why all of a sudden? How...!
"Ahh... at last!"
"Everyone, let us push just a little harder. The summit is right before our eyes! The one who stole every comfort and happiness that rightfully should have been ours — the one who monopolizes the 'Sanctuary' and looks down upon the people in his arrogance! Let us bring Jeong Hoon down without fail, and reclaim what is justly ours!"
"Long live, long live...!"
"O Lord..."
Th-those insane bastards...
How — how could anyone think like that?
They were ranting about reclaiming the fruits that Oppa Jeong Hoon and the rest of us had earned through so much blood and sweat, as if it were something left in their care for safekeeping.
Even in a moment like this, spewing that grotesque doctrine-soaked garbage and stirring people up!
Human beings... what the hell were human beings even...!
"Now, now. Let us not forget to keep our voices down. Did that lovely young woman not just caution us? Quietly, loving silence... let us wait for their return. Let us wait for those who will draw near and share our ideology. Those who will accept our convictions, become our brothers and sisters, and stand at the vanguard to bring Jeong Hoon down alongside us...!"
The endless voices of madness pouring from the gas station struck Park Seeun with enormous force.
No — beyond mere shock, starting from her expression, her entire body froze solid and cold. An ice age had arrived. Darkness settled into those two eyes that had once shone so bright and passionate.
A manner of speaking she hadn't heard in so long, and yet knew all too well.
Even the turns of phrase those pieces of trash — the ones who had savagely torn apart a once-happy family, the ones she'd gladly chew up and spit out if she could — had so loved to use.
Religion. And not just any religion — the stench of a foreign, hateful cult.
With her chest frozen solid, crushing down every scrap of conscience a person ought to possess, Park Seeun put on a facade of calm and stuck her head into the warehouse where Jeong Hoon and the others were waiting.
And I, having just received a real-time account of all of this, wanted to shout inwardly:
Seeun, you saw the people in Yeouido running the Jung Hoon Cult and playing at being a cult yourself — why are you acting so shocked all of a sudden...
But thanks to the patience that Lawful Good had drilled into me, that retort didn't make it out of my mouth. Instead I exhaled once, then lowered my voice with a touch of levity and whispered.
"Seeun. You saw what Seoju — Jang Seoju — was doing in Yeouido, didn't you? Why the long face over something like..."
It was an attempt to thaw the frozen atmosphere just a little. It was a mistake.
"What are you talking about, Oppa! These are a completely different breed of cultists from Unnie Seoju's 'games'! They're after Jeong Hoon — after Oppa Hoon's life! Those fucking insect bastards dare—!"
Park Seeun reacted with fierce, razor-sharp intensity.
She even raised her voice enough that the celebrity survivors recovering a short distance away flinched.
Seeun... so you've been treating what Jang Seoju does as just a game this whole time!
Ah — no! That's not the point...! I almost said that out loud!
Composure. Get your composure back. The reality that I'd rescued a bunch of cultists who were playing the cult game in a completely different way from Jang Seoju had nearly obliterated my inner calm in an instant.
"Hoo... I don't know what happened to you in the past, but... we still shouldn't startle the people who received our help. Right, Seeun?"
When I gently reined her in again, the sharp edge of Seeun's energy gradually subsided.
As I stroked her shoulder with the hand resting there, her attitude softened even further.
After a moment, with a face tinged with guilt, Park Seeun glanced toward the survivors on the opposite side from me and spoke in a crawling voice.
"...Okay. I was being too sharp. Sorry, Oppa Hoon... hearing that those bastards were after your life just made something snap and the heat rushed up all at once..."
Park Seeun bowed her head deeply as she apologized.
Oh no. This dejected look isn't what I wanted at all. From her perspective, she was trying to help me by telling me that disgusting truth. Maybe I came down on her too hard. This won't do. I need to step up a little more actively.
"Ah...? O-Oppa...?"
I pulled Seeun into my arms.
Without hesitation, without restraint. Holding her close, I gently stroked her back and whispered.
"It's okay. You're a good kid who knows how to apologize, Seeun. Leave what to do about those people to me. You don't need to worry about how to handle people like that. Oppa's the one who should be sorry for putting you through that."
"...Okay."
There was a brief pause, but Park Seeun answered with certainty.
Yeah. That wasn't just empty comfort. I genuinely didn't want Seeun fretting over how to deal with those lunatics.
Those bastards — I'd make sure to punish them later in a way that wouldn't trigger a PK penalty. I'd make damn sure they never again spewed that filthy garbage that made Seeun feel sick... no, that they never again harbored that kind of brain-dead ideology in the first place.
There was no shortage of ways to inflict suffering or usher someone out of this world without killing them with my own hands, after all.
"Ah, everyone, my apologies. I spent a little time speaking with my companion."
After giving Seeun a proper comforting, I returned to the survivors.
But their gazes were strange. Definitely different from before. Earlier they'd looked grateful for my help while still half-skeptical... but now... hmm...
How to put it. Should I say they were looking at me with far more... reverence? That was honestly the only description that came to mind. Why were they acting like this? Had Seyeon explained something in that short time?
"I-it's quite all right... but earlier... we overheard a bit of your conversation. Are you... really...?"
"Hm?"
"Are you... Jeong Hoon? That Jeong Hoon? Not just someone with the same name?"
"Uh, well, yes, but..."
A sudden rush!
Precisely because I happened to be outside the boundary line (I'd already told them only I could go out), the celebrities suddenly swarmed me.
And I experienced a spectacle I would never again witness in my entire life.
"P-please, save me! Let me into the Sanctuary — please let me into the Sanctuary!"
"Me too, Jeong Hoon-ssi! No — Jeong Hoon-nim! Please, I'm begging you! I'll do anything — anything! Please!"
"Jeong Hoon-ssi, I've heard so much about your exploits! I've always wanted to meet you! I've always held you in the highest respect and pictured the moment we'd meet! So please... please just save me!"
Celebrities — people who in ordinary society had always maintained their dignity and striven to present only their most beautiful selves — began clinging to me with postures so low, so abject, it defied imagination.
Ordinary people would be one thing, but having a whole pack of celebrities clustered together pleading with me was deeply unsettling even for me.
Well... it wasn't entirely incomprehensible. Until about twenty minutes ago, these people had been one meal away from becoming dinner for flying monsters. They'd been in a situation where they couldn't even begin to imagine winning against those things.
And in that situation, they'd met the man who wiped out those monstrous flying creatures in an instant. Me.
Not just anyone — Jeong Hoon, the first person to successfully complete the high-difficulty challenges of Field Bosses, Area Bosses, and Dungeons — and they'd received his help.
If I had spent more than a month enduring every kind of hardship under constant threat to my survival... and then found myself staring death in the face only to be saved in an instant...
Wouldn't I have begged for my life just like these people? That thought crossed my mind.
"Please... I'll do whatever you say! I can do anything! I-I'm the best dancer in the group!"
"I can sing! I sing really well!"
"I-I was always told I was the prettiest! I'm really pretty! Not as pretty as your companions, but...! Once I wash up and put on some clothes, I swear...!"
Every single one of them — except for one person, Juni, who had been serving as their leader — grabbed onto my pant legs and poured out every kind of plea. Yes, every single one except Juni.
"Hoo... I can't even stop them. Honestly."
The familiarity I suddenly felt at her weary sigh nearly made me chime in with something like, "Well, they must have been terrified." Why was it that I felt more kinship with the one person who wasn't groveling before me?
...More importantly, I needed to peel off these people who were stuck to me with no intention of letting go. At this rate I'd be pinned here and never make it back to the Sanctuary.
"Seyeon, Sora! A little help—"
Ah. Right. Outside the Sanctuary boundary. They couldn't help. Damn it!
"Everyone, please just take the relief supplies first... and then make your requests to Oppa Jeong Hoon! We won't abandon you, so—!"
"Calm down, calm down! You're idols — why are you acting like this? You're shattering every illusion!"
"I feel like the illusions were already thoroughly smashed, but..."
At least Mina, Jung Yun, and Jung Miju were doing their best to calm the people clinging to me.
A strong premonition settled into my mind that I absolutely could not leave these people sucking their thumbs outside the Sanctuary until June arrived. Especially not this group of celebrity survivors, whose looks weren't merely above average — they could outclass hundreds of ordinary people.
Maybe... yeah. That kind of approach might work. I should step outside the warehouse for a moment and discuss it with the party.
Hm...?
"Seyeon? Sora? Seeun?"
Why were those three huddled together chatting so cozy? They were the longest-standing veterans, together since the Gyeonggi-do days, so a little bonding wasn't a problem per se.
"Ah, i-it's nothing, Oppa..."
"It was nothing important. More importantly, about these survivors..."
"Shall we step outside and talk for a moment, Jeong Hoon-ssi? Everyone! We won't go far — just a brief meeting... could you wait just a little, just a little while?"
Ohh, Kim Seyeon had read my intentions perfectly. Good. Let's settle on a plan quickly... and figure out a way to invite these people into the Sanctuary before June. The more heads put together, the better!
It was in that very moment, while Jeong Hoon was struggling to soothe and calm the celebrity survivors.
"Unnie Seyeon..."
"Hm? Seeun. Earlier, what were you talking about so intently with Jeong Hoon-ssi..."
Without even waiting for Kim Seyeon to finish, Park Seeun — her eyes gone dull and sunken — whispered into Kim Seyeon's ear.
"Huh? What... what did you say?"
As every detail poured into her ear, the gentleness steadily drained from Kim Seyeon's expression. The light vanished from both her pupils, and darkness settled over them as a matter of course.
"W-what's wrong, Unnie Seyeon? Seeun, what on earth happened at the gas station..."
"Unnie Sora. We need your help."
"U-uh?"
Having finished explaining to Kim Seyeon, Park Seeun fixed her gaze on Han Sora, the light still gone from her eyes. Naturally, Han Sora took one look at that extinguished stare and thought, Hieek! Y-yandere eyes? and recoiled in fright.
Of course, Han Sora too...
"...Let's go kill them right now. Those cultist insect bastards. One arrow each through the head and they'll die instantly. Guaranteed."
The moment she heard the full story, the light vanished from her eyes as well.
"No, Unnie. If we kill them, everyone will know. It spreads up to two kilometers. It'll be chaos."
"She's right. We can't kill them. At least..."
Kim Seyeon let the sentence trail off. Behind her glasses, those eyes held nothing but hatred directed at people she had never even met.
It was hatred dyed deep for those who intended to harm her man — no, who intended to inflict enormous suffering upon him.
"We can't kill them with our own hands. Not with our own hands... that is."
The three of them seized the moment when every gaze in the warehouse was locked on Jeong Hoon, huddling close to whisper a secret operation.
An operation to make those who had dared define their man as an "enemy" pay a fitting price.
They resolved to carry out the coldest, cruelest plan possible — one that would deliver a wretched end upon the "enemy."
...And then, the very next day.
May 12th.
Jeong Hoon received the grim news that the gas station had collapsed, and that the survivors sheltering inside had been buried alive and slaughtered in a horrific massacre.