Cult Leader Maker (2)

Cult Leader Maker (2) — Hanmaum Guwon Cult, Basement Level 1: The Confession Chamber

"Praise be to the Cult Leader."

How on earth had it come to this? The thought circled in Kim Eunbyeol's mind, entirely separate from the lips that whispered without pause.

Truly, how had it come to this?

Was it the zombies' appearance in the world the problem? No, that was as pointless a question as asking whether the chicken or the egg came first.

Come to think of it, how long had it been since she'd eaten fried chicken? Wasn't it God's fault that she couldn't fill her stomach with actual food? No. She didn't believe in God, after all.

Meaningless thoughts chained together, tail-biting, all in a desperate struggle to overcome the crushing solitude. She blinked her eyes into the perfect darkness where not an inch ahead was visible.

And in that instant, Kim Eunbyeol began to grow confused all over again.

Am I—am my eyes open right now? Or are they closed?

Ah. They must be open, surely?

"Praise be to the Cult Leader."

Because the cause of her being dragged into this hell still hadn't vanished from before her eyes.

And because that very source of her suffering was now the only thing keeping a grip on her fraying sanity — she let out a hollow laugh at the extreme irony of it.

How many days had she been here? It hadn't even been a week, surely?

With a time sense she couldn't trust, Kim Eunbyeol put melody into her recitation, as though singing a song.

"Praise be to the Cult Leader~"

She stretched out long, drawn-out vibrato, too. And then—

"Praise be to the Cult Leader! Praise be to the Cult Leader! Praise be to the Cult Leader!"

She broke the meter into rapid-fire beats like a rap verse, spitting the words out like machine-gun fire.

The only thing that ever changed was that number, and Kim Eunbyeol felt an inexplicable, faint pride in it. Then, observing her own emotion, she diagnosed her own condition with perfect precision.

You're going insane, Eunbyeol.

She was not the kind of person made to endure this kind of solitude and suffering. Her rebellion had already come to a thorough, pathetic end on the very first day.

She remembered the moment she'd clutched her starved stomach — a stomach that couldn't even manage a single rice ball — while praising the cult leader. Compared to then, this was practically paradise.

There was truly nothing here.

Nothing like the disgusting fellow librarian who had sidled up to her husband despite knowing he was taken. Nothing like the zombies that had invaded her life like a nightmare. Not even the people of the library camp — people she'd ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠believed she could endure things with, so long as they were all together.

"I believe! I believe, Cult Leader!"

She actually missed the wailing of those damned cultists she'd hated hearing so much.

And every time she did, Kim Eunbyeol would think — no, remember.

"Mommy! I ate my spinach first place yesterday and the teacher praised me!"

Her own flesh and blood, far too frail to dare survive in a world like this. And her little rascal, whose boundless energy far outpaced the other kids and wore his father out every single weekend.

Had he escaped this calamity unscathed, running as fast as he did when he played tag with his dad?

The first day of her nightmare flickered past Kim Eunbyeol's mind's eye like a strobe.

The moment she picked up the phone with trembling hands. Her husband and the kindergarten, neither answering, call after call. The bridge collapsing before her eyes, and the tears that kept flowing, all of it seeming to tell her: You are truly, finally alone now.

"Hhk— hnggh, praise be to the Cult Leader."

"Moved to tears already, are we?"

At the sound of another human voice — the first in what felt like an eternity — Kim Eunbyeol's eyes went wide.

Two eyes, gleaming vividly through the bars of the cell door, were gazing back at her.

"C-Cult Leader."

"Yes. Believer Kim Eunbyeol."

Creeeeeak—

The iron door swung open, and as Han Guwon walked in, Kim Eunbyeol shrank backward. Backed against the wall at last, she began to mutter out of pure habit.

"P-Praise be to the Cult Leader. Praise be to the Cult Leader. Praise be to the Cult Leader."

"It seems your wicked aversion to our Salvation Cult has finally faded."

Han Guwon gently stroked the face of the trembling woman. He carefully removed her dust-caked glasses and wiped them, tender as could be, against his white ceremonial robes.

Having polished both lenses, he set the glasses back onto Kim Eunbyeol's face. Only then did she see it clearly, even in the darkness — the layer of black dust smeared across those pristine white robes.

"Do you know how many days have passed since Believer Kim Eunbyeol entered her repentance?"

"…I-I don't know."

"A full week. The cult has changed a great deal in that time. We've gained a few new family members as well."

Family?

Kim Eunbyeol's mind summoned her husband and her son automatically. And then she tasted that chest-piercing despair all over again. They could no longer be with her.

"Of course, Believer Kim Eunbyeol is our family now, too."

Han Guwon drew out a white believer's robe, glowing faintly even in the dark, and held it out to her. Gazing at the garment held out so meekly before her, Kim Eunbyeol felt a faint resistance stir.

"There's no need to fear. Whether you become family of the Guwon Cult or not is a matter entirely for your own will to decide."

At that soft, honeyed voice, Kim Eunbyeol felt something ring false.

The Han Guwon she had observed until now had been a typical thug — a good deal too sleazy, forever looking down his nose at everyone around him.

"Believer Kim Eunbyeol. What is family, do you suppose? To my mind, family means those who bear hardship together. In this very moment, everything that leans on one another in this place — that is family. But it seems family means something rather different to you."

The cult leader's eyes locked onto ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠her as though they could see straight through her. He plucked the faces rising in her mind with perfect accuracy.

"You miss Himchan terribly. The one who isn't here."

"…Did Gaeul or Taesan tell you?"

"Heavens, no. I simply see it. I see exactly what's in your heart — the way you long for your Himchan."

Han Guwon's hand caressed her softly once more. She didn't resist. There was no point — she already knew perfectly well that resistance changed nothing.

"No matter how I might offer you salvation, to the faithless it's nothing but tired old nonsense. I am well aware that there exist truths which fragile human hearts dare not fathom."

Han Guwon pressed closer still to Kim Eunbyeol, who sat frozen like a stone. His serpentine whisper flowed straight into her ear.

"For such a faithless soul as you, I have prepared one gift of salvation."

"……"

"It wasn't so difficult, really. A black sweatshirt and yellow pants suited him so well. Your son takes after his mother completely."

"…I'm sorry, what?"

At the clear ring of her question, Han Guwon's smile deepened.

"Himchan stayed at the kindergarten so quietly, waiting for his mommy."

"Ch-Chan? Wh-where is he… where is he right now?"

Kim Eunbyeol's hands shook, groping frantically across Han Guwon's body. He took both her hands in his own and steadied her.

"Calm yourself. Himchan is alive and well, under the Sanctuary's protection!"

"Aaah! Ch-Chan! S-send me up there right now! I have to see Chan! Chan, my Chan—!"

"You seem to be under a misunderstanding. Himchan has not yet received my grace. He remains cursed, you see."

The words struck Kim Eunbyeol's head like a bell. Right. Her small, delicate child could never have remained at that kindergarten still human.

Was a child turned zombie still her child? Of course it should be — the answer should be obvious — but the words wouldn't leave her mouth.

Ah. Chan, in the end…

Silent sobs broke through her eyes. Han Guwon wiped away the tears that streamed down her face and smiled with benevolent warmth.

"How truly sorrowful. It makes me wonder whether the sin of unbelief has fallen upon you, Believer Kim Eunbyeol, far too cruelly alone. But fear not, my daughter."

The solemn voice resounded through the confession chamber.

"Unbelief shall lead to faith, and faith to salvation. Obey me in faith. Then, by my grace, your son shall return to your bosom."

"Is-Is that true?! If I only believe, Chan can really come back?"

"Indeed. However — the original sin of your unbelief runs so very deep that a small price is required."

With the whisper of fabric sliding against skin, Han Guwon's swollen length stopped before her very eyes. While she wavered in flustered confusion, the cult leader's words began to shake her further.

"Draw out the grace that shall be given to your son. In your stead."

"…Th-this is so sudden…"

"I can still see that unbelief brimming in your eyes. You shirk a duty lighter than dust, weighed against saving your son. Do you not wish to save him?"

Her pupils shook violently, matching the crude thing bobbing before her. A heart that had wavered second by second, this way and that, finally tipped in a single direction.

"I believe. Now there is truly only you, Cult Leader. Please — please, I'm begging you, just let our Chan…"

"Let that desperation please me. Now, hurry and take in the sacrament."

With those words, her head slowly turned toward the cult leader's member. Her slightly parted lips took in the tip, and then little by little, deeper still.

"Mmmph— mmph—"

Kim Eunbyeol gagged, unable to adjust to a length and girth from a different dimension entirely than her husband's. The cult leader's cock began its slow advance and retreat, indifferent to the echo reverberating through her mouth like a cave.

"Endure it. Is it not less painful than the ache of never seeing your son again?"

"Mmmh— nngh— mmph—"

At the sight of her throat clenching tight like a pussy and her tears flowing without pause, as though someone had flipped a switch, the cult leader's member swelled to its very limit.

"Guess you and your husband never did much of this, huh? Your throat-pussy grip is a bit disappointing."

The cult leader spat the vulgar words and seized her hair in the same instant. Gripping that handle, he drove himself deeper, and Kim Eunbyeol's two hands clenched ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the believer's robe hard against her chest.

"Mmph— mmph— schluup— mmmph— mmph—"

"I'm about to finish, so open that throat wide!"

His hips hammered into her at a sprinting pace, and Kim Eunbyeol's whole body jolted with every thrust. She had kept her eyes screwed shut, enduring it — until, with a low groan from ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Han Guwon, they flew open.

"Nngh—"

In time with the cult leader's shuddering hips and his heels lifting slightly off the floor, her throat swallowed again and again without pause.

"You endured well, Believer Kim Eunbyeol. You are worthy of meeting your son."

At the satisfied look on the cult leader's face, Kim Eunbyeol felt a small wave of relief. Her face flushed faintly as she lowered her head, the pounding of her heart thundering in her ears.

Her body burned with heat, and yet — impossibly, for someone who had just swallowed semen like water — she felt no disgust at all.

"…Is-Is it over?"

"Of course. Now, let's get you dressed first."

Tissue floated out of the empty air and carefully wiped her face, plastered with spit and tears. In step with it, she watched her own clothes peel away of their own accord.

And in that moment — unlike the dreadful imaginings that had come so naturally — a pure-white believer's robe immediately wrapped itself around her body.

The cult leader, his own attire restored, drew her into his embrace with telekinesis. Even when a hand wandered playfully over her backside, no feeling stirred in her at all.

She was simply drenched in anticipation — soon, very soon, she would see her son again.

Creak—

Over the robe and into her panties, the intruding hand brushed softly toward her core.

"Mmmnh—"

Listening to her moans turn sweet, Han Guwon whispered to her.

"Now then — shall we go receive your salvation?"

"…Yes."

As the two of them left the basement behind, the light of the surface world poured down upon them like the dawning of glory.