Cult Leader Maker (3)
The first floor of the Hanmaum Salvation Cult.
“…Huh?”
The moment Kim Eunbyeol arrived on the first floor, her eyes went wide as saucers.
Watching her astonishment, Han Guwon spoke in a voice brimming with pride.
“Quite a change from before you entered the Confession Chamber, wouldn't you say?”
Her mouth hung so far open she couldn't have answered him if she'd tried.
A massive statue bathed in sanctified sunlight, with bouquets of colorful flowers laid at its feet. LED monitors mounted on walls of pristine white paper, and an air conditioner humming away at the end of the corridor. The zombies flickering across the monitors and the cool breeze drifting from the vents struck her as utterly foreign — products of the modern world she thought she would never feel again.
“Some of the believers were already complaining about the heat, you see. It seems summer is arriving early this year.”
“…H-how?”
The library that had once been their home and shelter had vanished without a trace. In its place stood a flawless religious facility, spread out before her eyes.
The cult leader said nothing, simply leading her toward the monitors. Beneath the orange protective barrier reflected on their screens, an endless horde of zombies groaned and writhed.
“It hasn't even been a few minutes since you showed your sincerity, Eunbyeol, and already the fragments of faith are appearing.”
Han Guwon's hand slid gently across her backside.
“I had it wrong, it seems. The most conspicuous unbeliever among our flock was never Eunbyeol at all — it was standing right before our eyes.”
Kiiiieeeeeeek!
Her eyes wavered in time with the zombie's howl.
Han Guwon took her by the hand and led her slowly up to the second floor.
“…Our Lord saved me from hell itself.”
The instant they set foot on the second floor, a small, boyish voice rang out, and her heart began to pound like a drum.
“Ch-Chan! That's Chan!”
“Now, now, calm yourself. That is not Himchan.”
Tap… tap…
The two of them walked across the snow-white floor and stopped before a massive white door. The cult leader quietly soothed the thoroughly excited Kim Eunbyeol.
“That is a boy named Shin Jihoon, about Chan's age. I imagine he and Himchan will become good friends.”
“Ahhh, Cult Leader, my Chan, he….”
“Hahaha, your timing is perfect. From the sound of it, Jihoon has only just begun. Come — let us go and pray.”
Creeeeak—
The white door swung open, and the newly renovated prayer room welcomed them in.
Rows of chairs stretched from front to back, with a dais at the center. And there, already seated on either side of it, Yoon Ayoung and Seong Gaeul rose from their seats the moment they spotted the cult leader.
Scrrrape—
As Shin Jihoon's microphone fell quiet, chairs scraped back and the believers clustered at the front prostrated themselves before him.
“Hahaha, I trust I'm not too late?”
“Of course not, Cult Leader. Please, take your place.”
At Seong Gaeul's calm voice, the cult leader gave Kim Eunbyeol a slight nod. Understanding at once, she slipped into the crowd of believers, and only then did Han Guwon step onto the central dais.
“Pay me no mind — please, continue.”
At his benevolent voice, Yoon Ayoung and Seong Gaeul quietly took their seats. Once the believers, sneaking glances at the scene, had settled back into their chairs, Shin Jihoon gripped the microphone again with his small hands.
“Ever since the bad men took my daddy away, I cried every day. I cried because I missed my mommy, because I missed my daddy, and because I was so, so hungry.”
The adorable little voice traveled through the microphone and echoed through the prayer room once more.
“And every time I cried, the bad older boy hit me. He tormented the pretty older girls every day and ate all the food by himself, and I only got to eat the scraps he sometimes threw down.”
Here and there through the prayer room came the low groan of believers — Ahh… — moved by the child's simple, heartbreaking confession.
“At the moment I thought I would die from hunger, the Cult Leader appeared and defeated the bad boy. He brought me here to this place, and every day he gave me delicious food and snacks.”
“…I believe. I believe.”
Kim Eunbyeol quietly glanced around. Grandmothers and grandfathers she had never seen before, dressed in their believer's robes, were whispering I believe.
“Outside, it was always cold and I was always hungry. But here, there's rice, and I have the robot toy the Cult Leader gave me.”
Hahaha—
A small ripple of laughter ran through the room, while the cult leader watched Shin Jihoon with a fond expression.
“I will be forever grateful for the Cult Leader's grace, and when I grow up, I want to become someone the Salvation Cult neeeeds! Thank you!”
“Waaaah!”
Clap! Clap! Clap!
The polite bow that closed his little speech was followed by a roar of cheers and applause. The believers' faces glowed with bright smiles, as if they'd just watched an adorable child perform a charming routine.
Shin Jihoon dashed back to his seat, and Seo Taesan, seated beside him, gave his head an affectionate rub, looking thoroughly pleased with the boy.
Han Guwon, who had been watching the scene with his chin propped on his hand, straightened his posture with a faint smile.
In that instant, the slackened atmosphere pulled taut, and the believers snapped upright.
Out of the silence, Han Guwon spoke.
“What a clear and innocent child. The old saying holds not a word of falsehood — children cannot tell lies.”
Hahaha—
Laughter poured out in response, and Han Guwon paused for a moment, quietly returning the mirth. Then, the instant it died away, he spoke again.
“A young child untouched by the world. Even children who have never learned deceit or prejudice know one truth — that the world has already become hell.”
Though he held no microphone, his voice carried across the vast prayer room. The echo rolling back from every direction beat against the believers' bodies like the very voice of God.
“Now! Look outside!”
At the cult leader's gesture, every eye in the room fixed on the enormous monitor at the front.
“Hiiiiek!”
With a gasp from the congregation, footage of zombies hunting human beings played on repeat. A woman fleeing for her life tripped over a stone and fell. A swarm of zombies piled onto the pitiful fallen woman. A long, drawn-out scream, then the wet crackle of chewing filled the prayer room.
Some believers grimaced; others couldn't bear to watch and turned their heads away.
“Look at their faces!”
The video froze, and the faces of the zombies gorging on their frenzied feast filled the screen in close-up. They, too, wore human faces — no different from the woman they had brought down.
“What sin did they commit, that they now crave the flesh of their own kind? What terrible crime drove them to wear the skins of monsters?!”
Heat surged into Han Guwon's voice.
BOOM—
His fist slammed down on the dais as he pressed on.
“The comrade who shared your cup of drink only yesterday goes mad! The husband and wife who promised each other eternity tear one another apart! The child you cherished more than your own eyes devours its parents — and from this flood of sin and depravity!”
His words came faster and faster, and Kim Eunbyeol's hands clasped together without her willing it. His pleading voice reached all the way into her heart.
“The one called the savior of all mankind — never came! The one enlightened beneath the Bodhi tree — never came! The almighty one whom the last prophet obeyed — never came!”
The faith that had endured down the long ages was being torn asunder. The gods that had lived in the hearts of all who yearned for salvation had turned their faces away from them.
“But into this world, forsaken even by god, there came the exceptional ones! They spewed fire and water! They flaunted powers no one could name!”
As he spoke, Han Guwon's body began, slowly, to glow.
“The last embers of hope who were meant to strive for the preservation of mankind! Those who were meant to sacrifice for one another and save the lost! They did nothing but exploit those groaning beneath the calamity!”
With a collective cry — Ahhh— — the newly saved elderly and infirm of the cult raised their voices in lamentation.
Kim Eunbyeol looked at Shin Jihoon, tears welling in his eyes, then turned her gaze back to the cult leader. His words were sinking lower now, almost to a whisper.
“Only after witnessing that desolate sight did I understand! What I must do in this world! No — what I must do!”
Like a hot flame wrapped in cold, his words shook the believers' hearts to their foundations. And the voice that had ended in the faintest whisper rose again, gathering strength.
His hand swept toward the zombies on the monitor.
“Look upon these remnants of a broken world! My task was never to repair the fallen world! Nor to rebuild it!”
He flung both arms wide.
“It is to take these ruined ashes and make of them the manure for a new world!”
At his proclamation, the believers rose from their chairs as one and threw themselves to the floor. A thunderclap of joyful screaming rolled over Kim Eunbyeol's head as she joined the ranks without even realizing it.
“My chosen sons and daughters, who shall be saved by my own two hands in a world made new!”
“Aaaaah!”
“My children, conceived not of red blood but of pure white faith — and of salvation!”
Wisps of white light seeped from the prostrate bodies of the believers as if in resonance. The long trailing ribbons of light flowed slowly, majestically, toward the cult leader.
“Raise your heads! And look! Behold the remnant of this broken world — the sin of unbelief of the wailing wretch!”
“Kiiieeeeeeek!”
Kiiiiiiiik—
With an eerie shriek, the great white door swung open. To the believers who had lifted their heads just slightly, a small box came flying through the doorway toward the center of the room. A tiny cage, its sides barred with iron, bobbed and spun in endless restless motion.
The young zombie rattling against the bars in defiance met Kim Eunbyeol's eyes. She clapped both hands over her mouth and screamed out her son's name.
“Chaaaaan!”
“Kieeeeeeek!”
She gazed slowly at the son who answered his mother's call. His sturdy features, exactly half her husband and half herself. The designer black sweatshirt and yellow pants she had personally picked out for him at the department store as a birthday present. Every detail marked him as her boy — and yet, as he always did, Park Himchan did not answer his mother's cry with the word Mom.
In the eyes of the small creature of her own flesh, she saw murderous intent and hunger overflowing their banks. And in his cracked pupils, she saw the reflection of her own weeping face.
As she collapsed under the weight of despair, the cage moved steadily, indifferently, toward the center of the room. Reaching the foot of the dais, it floated serenely in place, and Han Guwon cried out.
“Do not fear! Do not doubt!”
At his ringing shout, Kim Eunbyeol's body drew back a little from the shore of despair. It felt as though the cult leader's words were meant for her alone.
Dumbly, her mouth hanging open, she watched Han Guwon approach the cage.
“Kieeeeeeek!”
In defiance of his approach, the cage rattled and shook without pause. The screech of nails against bars tore through the sanctified prayer room, and the believers' bodies flinched.
But Han Guwon calmly opened the cage's door.
The believers had braced themselves for the flesh-hungry, insolent little zombie to burst out at any moment — and their eyes went wide with astonishment.
“Kieeeeeeek!”
The young zombie inside began, slowly, to walk out. With stiff, creaking movements, it sank to its knees at the feet of Han Guwon, who was smiling quietly.
“Aaaaah!”
With Kim Eunbyeol's cry, a vial filled with white light descended from the ceiling and settled into the cult leader's hand. As every gaze in the room bore down on him, his hand slowly uncorked the vial and tipped it to the young zombie's mouth.
“K-Kieeeeeeek!”
The zombie retched out a groan of agony, and the cult leader's arm came to rest upon its head. Caressing it — stern as a father scolding a wayward child — he thundered,
“You unbeliever dwelling in the blood of my precious child — begone, this instant!”
With his roar, his body began to blaze white. The radiance that had flared almost too bright to look upon traveled slowly down his arm, flowing into the young zombie.
“Begone, now! The sin of unbelief shall at last be saved!”
“Keeeeeeeh—”
The creature's voice faded by degrees, and its head drooped toward the floor. After a long, long silence, the zombie shuddered.
At the sight, Kim Eunbyeol dropped to her knees and clenched her fists. Never in her entire life had there been a moment of such desperate yearning.
The shuddering zombie slowly began to turn its head.
Please. Please. Please. Please. Please.
Kim Eunbyeol's eyes, which had not blinked once, found the god she had never sought in all her days.
The head, turning slowly, looked around in search of someone. And then — the one she yearned for and the thing she yearned for met.
Stumbling to her feet, Kim Eunbyeol rose. Tears linked branch to branch down her chin, striking the floor.
His sturdy features, exactly half her husband and half herself. The designer black sweatshirt and yellow pants she had personally picked out for him at the department store as a birthday present. And those warm eyes that had always smiled at her like a mischievous little rascal.
“…Mom?”
“Aaaaaaaaaaah!”
Her foot slipped, and Kim Eunbyeol lunged forward, scrambling to gather Park Himchan into her arms.
“M-Mommyyy! Waaaah!”
“Chan! Chan! Yes, it's Mommy. Mommy's here. Now — now it's okay, everything's okay. The Cult Leader — the Cult Leader will protect us!”
Groping over Himchan's body again and again, Kim Eunbyeol looked up at Han Guwon. She could not bring herself to meet the radiance of his white light. She beat her forehead against the floor, over and over.
Thud— thud—
“Thank you! Thank you, Cult Leader! I believe! Now I truly, truly believe! I belieeeeve!”
“Aaaaah, I believe, Cult Leader!”
I belieeeeve—!
The prayer that had begun with Kim Eunbyeol spread through the congregation in an instant. The faint warmth became a sea of fire, setting the prayer room ablaze with heat.
Those who beat their foreheads against the floor just as she had; believers striking their own bodies; believers shaking their heads without cease; believers rising to dance — and to the weeping faithful in all their variety of devotion, the savior spoke.
“Pray! Only your desperate prayers shall make me stronger and more unshakable!”
“We belieeeeve!”
In the middle of that chain reaction of faith, Yoon Ayoung and Seong Gaeul, who had flanked the cult leader, knelt before him. Their hands folded demurely, their heads bowed low — a silent testament to their devotion.
“All of you — kneel before me, and obey in truth through your faith!”
Han Guwon spread his arms and lifted his head. In his upturned gaze, the shimmering light that filled the prayer room flickered.
“I am your parent and your protector, your lamp and your truth!”
Bright light erupted, and the cult leader's voice rolled out like thunder.
“Pray with one heart! For I am your eternal guide, and your salvation!”
I shall surely—
“Save you all.”