Recalibration (2)

Regrouping (2) — Hanmaum Salvation Cult's 'Paradise'

The midday sun poured down in brilliant shafts of light. The ordinary right that zombies had stolen from humanity now descended upon the earth like a blessing. The evenly spreading sunlight passed through the translucent orange barrier and reached the rounded peak of a mountain rising in the distance.

There stood the colossal statue gazing down over Paradise. Its two arms spread wide in benediction over the city, and at its center, a jewel that had captured the sunlight was glowing.

That was the greatest reward I'd earned in Guro-gu.

The authority of the city.

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

Seriously, why does this damn system have to list every single number like some migraine-inducing countdown instead of just saying "one month left"? Same thing with the cooldown I saw in Yoon Ayoung's Prophecy. The thing really has a firm sense of taste, doesn't it.

I glared resentfully at the jewel set in the statue's center once more. A white jewel whose radiance was growing steadily stronger with every passing hour.

Very high odds that this thing was an item to empower the believers who had sworn their faith to me.

Empower. Reborn.

The pieces clicked instantly. That authority was almost certainly what would turn the believers I'd been singing praises about into awakened ones.

I nodded, savoring the word "apostle" written in the authority's description window. Exactly. That's what I've been saying all along. It was actually the strange arrangement that I'd been doing every single thing that required any real effort myself.

So now I, too, could sit back in the rear and strike a pose like a real cult leader?

I kept smirking as I watched the jewel continue to drink in more and more light. Just standing there with my hands behind my back, doing nothing, seemed to melt away all the irritation and exhaustion I'd accumulated back in Guro-gu.

"...Cult Leader?"

At the cautious voice calling me, I turned around. Kim Eunbyeol, pen hovering over her notebook, spoke with an apologetic expression.

"You've been silent for so long... I wondered if I might be presumptuously interrupting you..."

"Haha, it's quite all right, think nothing of it. Where had I gotten to?"

"You had spoken up to the part where the foolish demon, unable to fathom your holy will, tempted the believers with phantoms bearing your likeness."

"Ah, yes, that's right."

I answered with a smile and looked up at the sky.

Foolish demon, huh. You listening to this too, by any chance?

"There, I restored what the believers had lost — and in doing so, I recovered what I myself had lost."

When I resumed the narrative that had paused while I gazed at the jewel, the familiar scratching of pen on paper followed. Watching Kim Eunbyeol write something down with shining eyes as if possessed, I spoke again.

The glorious second chapter to be recorded in Genesis. Ah, was it the third?

"Divinity."

"Aaaaah―!"

Moaning, her face flushed with wet excitement, she kept transcribing the Genesis record. As I admired Kim Eunbyeol's squirming thighs — her excitement clearly beyond containment — I opened my status window.

With a pleased little hum, I checked what had changed since last time. The first new stat I'd seen since all my old stats were folded into Mimic Holy Body. Divinity — the first-achievement reward. And faith production, which had exploded compared to the paltry trickle hovering around a thousand a month ago.

This was an entirely natural consequence of acquiring far more believers in Guro-gu than the Sanctuary had ever held. If I'd picked up even one awakened believer there, the numbers would've climbed even higher. I shook my head at the missed opportunity, thinking of the awakened kid I'd barely managed to snag.

I'd already transported the still-unconscious kid to the Sanctuary through the two-way Gate of Salvation, spun up from the green jewel. Five days — maybe four — until the kid opened his eyes.

As my gaze drifted down the list, it narrowed at Lack Identification, still stuck at level 5. Wait, why hadn't I maxed this one out? It took up only a small sliver of my total faith points. And even that amount would regenerate in about a day of waiting.

Time for a light flex.

And with that, all three of my skills had hit their growth limits. Staring at the message that popped up every time I maxed a skill to the end of its track, I let my thoughts roll on.

Skill Growth Vouchers. Skill Evolution Vouchers. Well, having watched this system bastard for a good while now, I could read the pattern. Without a doubt, once some balance-neutering event rolled around, it would quietly dangle these as unlockable rewards. If I threw a tantrum demanding them right now, the thing wouldn't even blink.

I licked my lips quietly and looked back up.

Divinity: '1' (View Details)

Divinity. The Skill Editing Voucher, the free Shop pass, the faith-production pumping — the first-achievement reward had always handed out exactly what I needed most. I nodded as I looked at the crown jewel among them, the one whose name alone told you what it did.

The definitive path to breaking through the plateau my growth had been stuck on. The arrival of a brand-new stat.

I touched the "View Details" beside the number '1'.

Finally — the special buildings I'd been waiting for were unlocking. Seong Gaeul had been dead right; Seoul really was the breakthrough for both my growth and the cult's.

And on top of that, Religious Administration. Until now, running the cult had rested on two great pillars: Sanctuary Management and Believer Management. A new tab had appeared above them both. The system had finally recognized the cult as an actual religion — my chest swelled with grandeur.

Though the sight of my class — Pseudo-Cult Leader — quickly cooled my excitement. Hey, system. When exactly are you planning to strip off the "pseudo"? Anyway, was there more I needed to check? Pretty sure there was quite a lot.

I grabbed my slowly overheating head and gave it a weak shake. All I'd done was glance at my status window, and already a chaotic tangle of information was crammed in front of me. Yeah, no matter how I looked at it, this just wasn't the way I was wired. Gaeulmong. I needed my Gaeul.

"...Cult Leader, are you all right?"

At Kim Eunbyeol's voice behind me, my deeply furrowed expression smoothed out. The person to cool the heat of this infuriating headache was standing right there. No, wait. Heat like that needed to be suppressed with a different kind of heat.

I turned smoothly and closed the distance to Kim Eunbyeol. The closer I came, the more her hands — gripping her notebook and pen — trembled as if in anticipation. Standing before her blank, dazed stare, I reached out my hand. As if answering my fingers as they gently stroked her cheek, she nuzzled into my palm. Watching the joy trembling in her eyes, my wicked hand drifted slowly downward.

"Eunbyeol."

"...Yeees, Cult Leader."

"Would you read me what you've written so far?"

"...Yeees."

Hahh― hahh―

Even though I'd only been caressing the outside of her believer's robes, her breathing had already turned thick and sticky. Kim Eunbyeol clutched her notebook with trembling hands and opened her mouth. Meanwhile, my own hand made its way, very diligently, between her thighs, which were rubbing ceaselessly against each other. As I drew closer, a lewd warmth heated my palm.

"The believers' faith wavered at the phantom's words. They had already committed a grievous sin merely by listening, but the Cult Leader forgave them with love, and— nngh!"

She couldn't finish the sentence, her whole body shuddering. Her white robes darkened deeply where my hand had burrowed up between her legs. I kept stroking the steadily dampening fabric and whispered.

"It seems the Scribe Believer, too, is committing a sin."

"Ahh― I-I'm sorry, I― haaungh!"

"And with nothing more than the lightest touch, at that—"

"Hyaang!"

I pressed my stiffened middle finger into the already soaked fabric of her robes. Leaning up to whisper at the ear shaking wildly as she threw back her head:

"You're in heat, aren't you?"

"Haaughk―!"

Maybe it was the warm breath teasing the rim of her ear. She couldn't even force out a moan, just stared blankly with her mouth hanging open. I smiled as I watched the crotch of her robes grow wetter and wetter.

She could now hit climax from a single word and a touch, no Liquid of Subordination required. With my free hand, I patted the cheek of the fool-faced Kim Eunbyeol.

"You must answer when the Cult Leader speaks to you."

"Yeees― yeeees―"

"Good. Now tell me honestly. Where are you in heat?"

"...My pussy. My pussy is."

"Correct."

Shliiick―

As a reward, I ran my middle finger slowly and luxuriantly along her crotch once more.

"Haaauugh―! Nngh―!"

She writhed on the wave-like surges of pleasure, toes curling. The notebook and pen she clenched desperately to steady herself rattled about as if they might shatter. I used telekinesis to lift them out of her hands and into the air, then asked again.

"And why is the Scribe Believer's pussy in heat?"

"I... I think it's because I remember you bestowing your Grace upon me, Cult Leader."

"So you're telling me your body went into heat all on its own."

"Y-yes, that's right, haahng―"

Shlick― shlick―

I kept teasing her breathless and pressed on.

"Then it's your body committing sin, not your mind."

"F-forgive me, Cult Leader. Please, this wretched woman with her lewd body―"

"No. That is not a sin at all."

I contradicted my own earlier words with a soft, enigmatic smile. Confusion flickered through Kim Eunbyeol's eyes, darting this way and that. I took her chin in my hand and held her gaze. My face, filling her pupils entirely, whispered quietly.

"It is evolution, Eunbyeol."

"......"

"Your body received my Grace and was saved before your mind could follow."

"Ahh―"

I kept murmuring into her slowly widening eyes.

"The one sinning right now is, in fact, the Scribe Believer's mind."

"M-my sin..."

"Yes. Your flesh, preparing to receive the Grace ahead of time, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠is instead overflowing with faith toward me."

"Aaaa― n-no, that's not―"

"Shhh."

Ignoring her protests, I drew Kim Eunbyeol into an embrace. Stroking her back gently, I kept whispering.

"It's all right to sin. I don't hate you. I love you. I don't hate you. I love you..."

Under the ceaseless murmur of my low voice, the tension slowly drained from her body. I took hold of both her shoulders as she pressed into me, and met her eyes once more. To those glazed, unfocused pupils gazing at some far-off place, I whispered.

"Do you understand what you did wrong, Eunbyeol?"

"...Yeees."

"Tell me."

"...While my body was preparing to receive you, my mind did absolutely nothing."

"So what must you do now?"

"I-I must now always be ready to receive your Grace."

"Correct. Now you've returned to being the Scribe Believer of the Salvation Cult."

"Hee, hehe―"

I tapped her cheeks lightly in approval. Watching her smile in a perfect half-moon, I whispered again.

"What are you doing? Aren't you going to prepare to receive the Grace?"

"...Oh! Ahhh―"

Startled, she threw her head back and opened her mouth wide. And when she pushed her long tongue out exactly as I'd always ordered, I smiled.

Just as my [Liquid of Subordination]-laden head was about to reach her, a figure caught my eye. A massive frame, carrying the rifle I'd given him, walking toward us. It was Seo Taesan.

"Oh dear. Someone's coming."

"......Ah."

"Eunbyeol. You won't forget what I reminded you of today, will you — that I haven't yet bestowed your Grace?"

"N-no, I won't."

"Good. And what must you always do?"

"...Always be ready to receive the Grace."

Her voice was thick with longing and heat. Before turning to Seo Taesan, I leaned in one last step closer. An instant, and a question surfaced — the kind of question that would tell me, right now, just how obedient to me she truly was.

"...Even with Himchan around?"

"Yeees―"

The answer came flying out with zero hesitation, and I smiled. Handing her back the notebook and pen I'd been floating with telekinesis, I whispered.

"Soon, I shall bestow upon you a very special Grace."

"Ah―"

I passed by her — already shivering again, lost in some fantasy or other — and walked on. Seo Taesan, spotting me, bowed respectfully at the waist.

"Cult Leader."

"Vigilance Captain!"

The very first thing I'd done upon confirming my new authority was appoint Seo Taesan as Vigilance Captain. Among the men who could actually pull their weight in a fight, none showed me loyalty like he did.

I gave Seo Taesan's shoulder a light pat and spoke.

"Haha― say no more, I know. The Vice Cult Leader requires my assistance?"

"Yes, Cult Leader. I wouldn't presume to take up your time, but―"

"Oh no, no, not at all! Honestly, I don't know why every believer I meet says the exact same thing."

I waved off Seo Taesan as he dipped his head, glancing briefly at Kim Eunbyeol, and walked on. The sound of him falling in behind me at a respectful distance reached my ears. And then, before our eyes, a magnificent white building gleamed, drinking in the sunlight.

The dead center of the reborn 'Paradise'.

The Salvation Cult's new Holy Temple.