Chapter 101
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Translator: True Detective
Chapter: 100
Chapter Title: Ignorance and Obedience
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The auras of Monk Do-heon and Father Baor were no longer detectable.
They were either dead or on the verge of death.
The next in line, Daniel, trembled.
He closed his eyes and focused on the footsteps approaching him.
He also continued his prayers, pouring out his rage.
He pleaded with God for great strength, wisdom, and courage to survive.
"In the name of God the Father, I repent all sins. Therefore, grant me great strength to move forward. Grant me great wisdom to solve problems. Grant me great courage to not yield. Amen."
Daniel continued his prayers, clutching the Bible and crying out to God without stumbling over a single word.
It didn't matter if no one was listening.
Daniel simply begged, pleaded, and yearned.
He had faith. Blind faith. Fanatical faith.
Indeed, his fanatical belief was effective, and a even stronger barrier protected Daniel.
It was not a miracle directly bestowed by God.
It was power manifested from the belief of one human named Daniel.
"Are your prayers finished?"
"...."
The Fixer looked down at Pastor Daniel, who was clutching his Bible and sobbing while confining himself.
A man who had chosen to lock himself in ignorance and sever ties with the world.
A human who had embraced false faith and tried to fulfill that will in the wrong way.
"No matter how much you pray, it's useless. Your prayers are meaningless."
"N-No! Surely, surely God is listening to my voice...!"
The Fixer struck the barrier enveloping Daniel.
The wall of faith Daniel had built crumbled instantly.
He had thought it was sturdy, but before the Fixer, it was no different from a sandcastle.
"Ah..."
"See? This is all your faith amounts to."
"N-No! That's not true! What do you... what do you know about my faith...! My devotion to God the Father...! Please... please... grant me... great strength... wisdom... and courage..."
Daniel kept wishing as he watched the Fixer's hand reaching out.
Great strength, great wisdom, great courage.
Daniel recalled the words of the General Assembly President.
The words that if he earnestly wished, God would surely respond.
The teaching that if he truly believed and hoped, God would surely help him.
The President's words couldn't be wrong.
His words were truth and light. The President's words couldn't be lies.
Did Daniel's faith reach the heavens?
God responded to Daniel's earnest prayer.
In a way he never wanted.
"Kuh!?"
The Fixer grabbed Daniel by the collar and lifted him up.
This was God's response to what Daniel had so desperately wished for.
"Wh-Why... God...! I've lived my whole life for you... Why are you ignoring me...?"
"Who knows. Is it really ignoring you? Think carefully, Daniel. This might be God's true response."
"Wh-What...?"
Daniel thrashed about as if betrayed by the God he believed in, calling out to Him, but the Fixer realized that God had properly answered his prayer.
Daniel had wished for greater strength.
So God had sent him trials to become stronger.
Daniel had wished to become wiser.
Thus, God had given him adversity to gain wisdom.
He had also hoped for courage to overcome a desperate situation.
In response, God granted Pastor Park Daniel immense hardship so he could gain greater courage...
God had never once ignored Daniel.
If he could only overcome the trials, adversity, and hardships given now, Daniel would surely gain the strength, wisdom, and courage he desired.
But could he overcome them? That was up to Daniel.
"Hngh.... Haaah..."
"Do you want mercy like those guys?"
"Pl-Please spare me... I'll repent... I'll repent, so please..."
"Pathetic. You should've begged for death instead. Burn or disintegrate. Choose."
"Nooo..."
Pastor Daniel, thanks to that absurd Blessing of Regeneration, couldn't easily die from being beaten or burned.
"Having trouble deciding? Makes sense. That curse burrowed into your body will forcibly prevent your death. The President you so faithfully believed in and followed—he planted that curse in you. Understand? You can't even die normally."
The Fixer confirmed the curse embedded in Daniel's body.
The curse planted by the Radical Faction's President under the name of a blessing.
The Fixer didn't yet fully understand what the "Angel's Trumpet" was, but he vaguely realized that the President was someone claiming to be an "angel."
The fourth and second doors remain unclosed. When the artist's hand returns, the feast will begin. Shatter the one claiming to be an angel. The clown's balloon went there. And seek the Non-Everyday Management Company. Chase the aberration from the upside-down mirror.
The words from the woman beyond the blue screen, presumed to be a veteran.
The Fixer remembered her warning.
Something from beyond the door where the darkness leaked must have fallen into the President's hands. That had likely strengthened Daniel and the Radical Faction humans.
"Right. You probably need a slightly different approach."
"A-A different approach...?"
"Yeah. You don't seem to have much self-esteem like that monk, or believe in God as much as that priest. Simply beating or burning you won't punish your sins. You need to realize it yourself."
The Fixer pulled something wriggling from his inner pocket.
Daniel paled in fear. He vaguely realized what the Fixer intended to do.
"Hey, Daniel. What are you blindly believing in?"
"I... be-believe in God... the Lord..."
"Really? Were those prayers truly offered to God?"
Daniel couldn't continue.
Did he really believe in God?
Had he truly devoted all his faith to God?
"From what I see, the one you believe in isn't God, but that President bastard. Isn't it?"
"....."
"As expected. Your misguided faith needs to be shattered. If you're a cleric, you should've believed in God like one. Believing in another human—what good is that? I'll make you realize your ignorance."
The Fixer thrust the wriggling crimson organism toward Daniel.
Gripping his neck tightly so he couldn't escape.
"N-No! Please... have mercy on me..."
"Daniel, this is called the Silent Codex. It will guide your foolish self to enlightenment. You've been trapped in false belief, right? Don't worry, Daniel. Now you'll understand the world much better."
"Ah, aaaah! No! Uwaa. Uwaaaah!"
The Silent Codex. It was the quest reward obtained after reviving the shrine maiden of Mujin Mountain.
The Fixer, who usually used the codex to clear his mind and gather information on aberrations, now focused on its other function: 'enlightenment.'
"Don't resist. I'm giving you enlightenment."
At the Fixer's words, Daniel felt extreme disgust.
Bloodless Victory Group, Brotherhood of Oath, and Human Front Radical Faction.
Among these three groups, the Human Front Radical Faction despised hybrids the most.
Thus, they considered mingling with aberrations a sin and loathed it.
Of course, their leader, the President, used aberrations freely.
In any case, Daniel thrashed at the sight of the wriggling Silent Codex.
Soon, the tool-type aberration covered Daniel's face, and tentacles entered his brain through his nose and ears.
Before long, the Silent Codex began transmitting new knowledge to Pastor Park Daniel, who had held false beliefs.
"Augh!? Ah... th-this is..."
Daniel, writhing in pain, soon opened his mouth and quietly accepted the pouring 'knowledge.'
Pastor Park Daniel, who had spent half his life deceived by the President's words and repeating false missionary work, tasted a new world.
Endless freedom, the truth of the religious group he believed in, and vast information on aberrations.
The Silent Codex slowly enlightened him.
Daniel, who had ignorantly worshipped the President instead of God, soon found peace of mind and lost his sense of self.
His faith shattered.
The President was a villain.
The President was not God's messenger.
The President was merely a human handling aberrations.
The President could not wield miracles.
The world he had believed in was destroyed.
The Silent Codex unearthed the truths Daniel had forcibly ignored.
"...Ah..."
Having realized the truth, Daniel slowly broke down.
His past faith collapsed.
Images flashed through his mind: the countless people hurt by wielding that faith as a weapon, and the hybrids he had personally executed.
Daniel confronted his sins, veiled by the curtain of ignorance.
He stared blankly at the Fixer.
The moment his blind faith crumbled, Daniel lost his anchor and was devoured by the codex.
Collapse of the self. The end of a cultist who followed the cult leader.
"What have I... done all this time..."
"You killed innocent people. And you were deceived by the President's words, worshipping a villain, not God. What you've believed in and followed isn't God."
"...."
"Only now do you gain enlightenment and shed tears? Too late. A sinner without conviction, greater cause, justice, or even a shred of goodness. That's you."
"I..."
"Don't make excuses that you didn't know. Do you know why you're worse than Father Baor and Monk Do-heon? At least they had their own sense of justice or conviction. But you? You're just the President's puppet. Ignorance doesn't excuse your faults. Ignorance itself is your sin."
The Fixer smashed the broken cult pastor's head, knocking him down, then retrieved the Silent Codex.
The tool-type aberration, which showed truth to those needing enlightenment, quickly climbed up the Fixer's hand at his call and hid in his inner pocket.
"Finally... it's my turn. Pleased to meet you, Fixer."
Having broken the three clerics in their own ways, the Fixer turned to the last survivor.
It was a sorcerer clad entirely in black.
The guide who had led the kidnapping team.
The Fixer checked the sorcerer's appearance without the gas mask and her description window.
Her voice was muffled, perhaps from damaged vocal cords, and her face was intentionally disfigured, hard to recognize.
This was the first low-rank sorcerer organization member he'd faced since possession, and a new type of sorcerer.
Though female, only her name revealed it.
"I'm Song Ju-hyeon, merchant of the Dark Merchant Guild. You can already see my name and affiliation."
"You gonna beg for your life too?"
"No. I have no such intentions."
The sorcerer waved her hand, stating she had no desire to survive.
"I'd like to invite you to Black Unit, Fixer. Any information you desire? Or talismans, unique items? Or even the aberration you're seeking? If you wish, I can accompany you to the depths."
The Fixer stared silently at Song Ju-hyeon.
She had no personal stake in this holy war.
She was simply someone hired for money.
She had joined the kidnapping team as a guide for the Repentance Evangelism Society's request to show the fastest path to the depths. That was all.
"You do anything for money?"
"Yes, Fixer. Like you, I take requests and do whatever is asked."
"Like me? Don't make me laugh. I choose my jobs carefully. I'm not like you, doing anything for cash."
"Of course. But there are people in this world who can't live doing only good like you, Fixer. People like me are needed sometimes."
Someone not even on the boundary between good and evil.
Such narrow logic wouldn't work on that sorcerer.
Only money and requests moved her.
Having accepted money for the request, Sorcerer Song Ju-hyeon accompanied the Nam Yu-ha kidnapping operation and guided the way to the depths.
There was no option to refuse a request, wanted or not.
Black Unit was a group that accepted all requests.
Even requests rejected everywhere else were taken by Black Unit.
It was the final destination for those with nowhere left to turn in the sorcerer underworld.
In a way, it was lower than the Moss House, the very bottom of the spirit arts world.
"Even so, I was deeply concerned about this job. I never imagined I'd get entangled with you like this. I don't know how to apologize to Ms. Nam Yu-ha, who must be heartbroken by my actions, and to you, Fixer... I'll help in any way I can."
"You didn't want to, but did it for money. Now you're begging for your life to survive? Ridiculous."
"I'm not begging for my own life, Fixer... As you've already noticed. I'm a clone human. If I die, another Song Ju-hyeon will take over. I don't mind dying. But the reason I'm begging you now is for Black Unit's future."
"Black Unit's future?"
"Yes. By Black Unit's rules, we must accept all requests. Due to our group's nature, refusing money or requests isn't an option. I knew this would offend you, but I had no choice."
No refusing requests.
That was Black Unit's way.
Because it was where the rejected gathered.
Here, they accepted everything.
"How involved is your group in this incident?"
"This was a request I took alone. If I die, Black Unit has effectively no involvement. I was the only one in Black Unit who took the Repentance Evangelism Society's request."
"You took their request because you couldn't refuse?"
"Yes. As I said, we must fulfill any given request. We have no right of refusal. That's how Black Unit operates. If we refuse, funding cuts off, and Black Unit collapses. Then the children we support, the outcasts we feed—all would vanish."
"Don't try to naturally appeal to sympathy. I have no reason to believe you in the first place."
"Even if you don't believe me... I have no choice but to beg for your mercy for Black Unit's future... We have no way to stop you, Fixer. If you say you'll kill us, we can only die. Understand that emotional appeal is all we have? Forgive me for clinging to your mercy."
The Fixer pondered briefly.
No lies were detectable in Song Ju-hyeon's words.
They might be extending help to places the Fixer hadn't seen.
Of course, that didn't mean their sins would go unpunished.
"I'll accept death however you choose. But please, show mercy to those working at the very bottom. Black Unit and its sorcerers have truly no involvement in this holy war. It's the truth... Please... be satisfied with me alone. I beg you earnestly."
He had vowed no mercy in this holy war.
But that didn't mean killing everyone uninvolved.
The Fixer gestured for Song Ju-hyeon to stop, meaning he understood.
"Still, I need to meet your leader. I'll see what kind of group you are with my own eyes, then decide whether to deal with you or leave you."
"Thank you... Fixer, then please take this..."
Song Ju-hyeon pulled out a pitch-black business card and handed it to the Fixer.
"With this, you can enter the sorcerers' dark market. You can go straight to Black Unit. Please accept it."
The Fixer took the business card from Song Ju-hyeon.
Then he reached out and pierced her chest.
The Fixer made no exceptions.
He had vowed to execute all involved in this holy war.
So he dealt with Song Ju-hyeon.
Precisely, one of Song Ju-hyeon's clones met death.
"...."
The Fixer looked down at the falling sorcerer and tucked away the business card she had given him.
It was connected to the largest sorcerer group, the Evil Black Brigade, so it was worth keeping.
"Darling... are you done?"
"Yeah. Let's head up."
The Fixer lit the sorcerer's body on fire and boarded the elevator.
It was time to return to the surface world.
To bring despair to those who were blissfully certain of victory, ignorant of everything.