A Secret Deal (5)
I went up to the top floor of the little building with Karki.
It wasn’t some flashy penthouse, but a thick steel door still stood in our way with a sense of imposing weight.
Under the dim lights, I cleared my throat and said, “Open sesame.”
With a soft electronic chirp, the heavy lock disengaged.
Karki let out an impressed gasp beside me. “Waaaah! Boss, it is voice recognition!”
Unlike iris or facial recognition, voice recognition could be used even in the dark, and it picked out my voice with perfect accuracy.
“That shit must’ve cost a fortune.”
And he wasn’t wrong.
For a fortress like this, an investment like that was nothing.
“Let’s go in.”
I brought Karki inside with me.
The moment we passed the shoe rack and entered the living room, Karki’s jaw dropped.
“Wow.”
On the spacious desk sat a large monitor connected to a computer, along with all kinds of experimental equipment.
A robotic arm fitted with AI waved at us as if greeting us.
Instead of a TV, the wall was lined with tools of every kind, each one hung in its proper place.
This place was called the Man Cave.
Since I’d spent time grinding away in a factory myself, I’d always liked making and fixing things, so I’d built my own secret hideout.
Karki picked up a grinder. “This is insane. Is this, like, the Hermes of the tool world? With something this size, you could cut through an orc horn easy!”
He ran his hands over one thing after another, marveling like a kid in a candy store.
“I’ll make you your own lab at the factory too, soon.”
“R-really?”
Karki had always made my new suits for me.
And in my previous life, he’d even played older brother to Sungmin in my place.
If it was for him, there was nothing I wouldn’t do.
I pointed toward the room next door.
“Follow me. I’ve got something to show you.”
We passed through the living room and headed into the dressing room.
It looked like nothing more than an ordinary closet at first glance, but when I pressed a button, the wall rotated with a mechanical hum.
Karki’s mouth fell open.
From the prototype P1 to the latest P3, the Purple Devil suits were lined up like an exhibition.
P2, in particular, was still torn to shreds from being struck by lightning.
“You didn’t throw away a single one.”
“Of course not. They were all your work.”
“Boss…….”
Karki looked at me with eyes full of emotion.
All right. Enough admiring each other.
I sat down at the desk and laced my fingers together.
“Let’s begin.”
Karki nodded solemnly and opened his briefcase.
Photographs and documents spilled out everywhere.
He stood in front of a whiteboard, marker in hand.
“Then I shall report, boss.”
On the whiteboard, a web of connections had been drawn around a face photograph.
“Cheonyang-ji is the largest cult organization in Korea, with over 200,000 believers. Its basic doctrine is similar to Christianity, but it advocates apocalyptic beliefs…….”
There was a photo of Nike attached to the network of faces.
To show that he was dead, Karki had crossed his face out with a red marker.
…….
That bothered me.
Nike was a fanatic and a murderer, that much was true.
But from an instructor’s point of view, he had also been a capable teacher.
If Nike had never fallen into the cult.
If he had walked the right path as a Hunter.
How would his life have turned out?
I clenched my teeth.
Don’t waste time getting sentimental.
Either way, there could be no more victims.
And to make sure of that, I had to finish this job.
Karki went on, “Their main source of income is the believers’ donations and offerings. They exploit the members’ labor. Those damn garbage bastards.”
Having once experienced labor exploitation himself, Karki looked genuinely outraged.
What was oddly interesting was that cults were profit-seeking organizations too.
They invested believers’ money into real estate and all sorts of financial schemes.
They also made money through publishing and media businesses.
“Oh, right. If you bring in ten new believers, they give you a 500,000 won rebate.”
They paid people to proselytize.
Classic pyramid scheme.
As money was siphoned up from the bottom, the cult leader at the top of Cheonyang-ji amassed a fortune.
A grotesque heresy, one born from the marriage of capitalism and faith, had sunk its roots in and taken hold.
“This is the source of all evil. This bastard.”
Karki jabbed a finger at the man in the center.
He wore a robe, so his face was hard to make out.
But through the shadowed dark, I could see a sharp gaze.
What kind of man was he?
What kind of power did he possess to control the hearts of so many?
“Don’t you have a better photo than that?”
“Th-there…… they avoid media exposure so much that very few people actually know what their face looks like.”
Karki squinted this way and that as if trying to peer through the robe while checking the cult leader’s photo.
“Boss. What do you plan to do from here? Cheonyang-ji is a breeding ground for crime. Kidnapping, assault, human trafficking—those are just the basics. There are even rumors that people die at the leader’s paradise garden.”
I’d already been prepared to take risks.
To stand against the monster called Cheonyang-ji, I might have to put my life on the line.
“How can I get to him? That guy.”
I pointed at the robed man.
Like I’d done with Dio Guild, a direct frontal assault would be reckless.
Back then, things had been easy because they’d held Lee Yu-seol hostage, which had let me figure out their internal situation.
Wading into a closed-off group blindly was no different from suicide.
Karki said with solemn determination, “Boss. I will join Cheonyang-ji. Then I can become a spy, yes?”
“No.”
I rejected his suggestion outright.
I wasn’t going to take a gamble with him as collateral.
“It’s too dangerous.”
“Then we just escape, no? Call the police?”
Why were the authorities just letting them sit there?
South Korea was a country with freedom of religion.
Since there was no legal basis in the Constitution to restrain Cheonyang-ji, they couldn’t be punished.
But was that really the only reason?
I thought differently.
They hid behind the convenient shield of freedom while committing every kind of vile act imaginable.
It was also possible that politicians were tangled up with Cheonyang-ji.
I set the goal for this operation.
We were going to bring down the cult of evil known as Cheonyang-ji.
And to do that……
I had to move alone.
During the multi-gate incident, I’d been operating as a Hunter.
That was why I’d been able to overcome those hardships with countless comrades beside me.
This time……
It’s a hero mission.
I stood up.
“I’ll infiltrate on my own. Help me from the outside so I can get close to the leader.”
“Uh. That…….”
Karki scratched his head.
“It is not easy. Ordinary believers only get to see the leader from very far away, even during regular gatherings. And only in assigned seats, too. They say it could take five or ten years before you’re allowed to meet the leader one on one.”
At minimum, five years.
Too late.
I couldn’t wait that long.
In that case……
“Any other way?”
“Of course there is!”
Karki snapped his fingers.
“Use a route that is not ordinary believer, yes.”
He pulled another photo from the briefcase and stuck it to the whiteboard.
Cheonyang-ji’s leader sat on a throne-like chair.
On both sides of him stood men like spread wings.
There were twelve of them in total.
“These are the leader’s twelve apostles.”
I studied the photo closely.
Each and every one of them was carrying a Japanese-style sword.
Among them, a tall man standing right next to the leader caught my eye.
“This guy is the one who leads the twelve apostles.”
I’d heard of him before.
He was the founder of Ganro-ryu, the sword style created to protect Cheonyang-ji’s leader.
And he was an absolute master of the blade.
Nike had also been one of the twelve apostles.
“Since Nike’s dead now, there are only eleven apostles. So one seat is open.”
I caught onto Karki’s meaning.
Cheonyang-ji’s ordinary believers would accept anyone and everyone.
As long as you could pay, your qualifications didn’t matter, no matter how mediocre you were.
The twelve apostles were different.
There’s definitely some kind of Hunter privilege. Nike must’ve had it too.
Skilled Awakened were a precious resource worldwide.
Cheonyang-ji probably wasn’t any different.
“Then all I need to do is apply for the twelve apostles.”
“Bingo!”
That would be the fastest way to penetrate deep inside Cheonyang-ji.
“How do I apply?”
“Only by recommendation. After that, you go through tests.”
A needlehole.
“I haven’t found anyone worth recommending yet. Sorry, boss.”
Karki let out a long sigh and lowered his head.
He was just an ordinary civilian.
Not even Korean, but a foreigner at that.
For him to gather this much information was impressive enough.
I patted Karki on the shoulder.
“Good work. Brahma. Thanks.”
“Hehe.”
The Purple Devil’s sidekick.
Brahma’s work was done.
“Leave the rest to me.”
To get the right to apply for the twelve apostles, I had to meet a recommender.
I needed someone inside Cheonyang-ji who could be trusted, someone with a verified identity.
Was there anyone like that around me?
A Cheonyang-ji believer…….
While I was walking along, thinking it over, someone spoke to me from the crowd.
“Hello. You look very healthy. Would you maybe take a short psychological test for me?”
It was a smiling man and woman pair.
On the surface, they looked like ordinary college students.
“Cheonyang-ji?”
I looked down at them with sharp eyes.
“Huh? Ah, no.”
“We’re psychology students, actually.”
They were clearly flustered by the word Cheonyang-ji.
“So I’m right?”
“N-no…… no, we’re just college students…….”
I’d wondered if they might be a good opportunity, but these people were at the very bottom of the cult.
There was no way to work my way up to the core through them.
“Get lost.”
At a single word, the cult members—scared out of their wits—backed away.
A little while later, a woman approached from near Exit 9 of Hongdae Station.
She had her hair tied back in a ponytail, and although her face was youthful, her body was fit and full of healthy vitality.
“Choi Yongki. What’s the occasion? You actually asked to meet me outside.”
It was Ha Se-na, a Dio Guild member and a colleague of mine.
“It’s a date invite.”
“Yeah, right. So you can make jokes, too.”
She always sounded blunt on the outside, but if you looked closely, Ha Se-na was favorable toward me.
If she weren’t, she wouldn’t have come out at all.
I turned and walked ahead.
“Let’s go. I’ll buy you a meal to celebrate your promotion.”
Ha Se-na stared at me for a while, then matched my pace and walked beside me.
I picked a decent-looking place nearby.
They served pho, and surprisingly, Ha Se-na ate well, puffing out her pale cheeks as she went.
“……I wanna go to the sundae soup place.”
“Finish your food first.”
“I said I wanted to go to your grandmother’s sundae soup place. Isn’t it supposed to be really good?”
Ha Se-na was talking about my grandmother’s restaurant.
Under normal circumstances, I would’ve taken her there, but today I needed a private conversation.
“I’ll take you next time.”
After she swallowed the last of the broth, Ha Se-na set her chopsticks down.
“Ah, I’m full. That’s enough. Unless you’re really going to confess, just get to the point.”
I drew in a breath.
“Tell me everything you know about Cheonyang-ji’s leader.”
Nike had tried to kidnap Ha Se-na on the leader’s orders.
To figure out clues about the leader, I decided to trace things backward.
“Fine. The food was pretty good, so I’ll tell you.”
Ha Se-na looked straight at me.
“Cheonyang-ji’s leader is the biggest pervert in the world.”
For a moment, my mind went blank.
It was an absurd remark, completely at odds with the dark, ominous air I’d associated with the robed figure.
“He’s just a plain sex maniac. Him trying to kidnap me was probably because he wanted to do that shit.”
Not for Ha Se-na’s healing abilities.
Not for any Hunter-related power.
Just to violate a woman.
Nike’s words flashed through my mind.
“Hunter Ha Se-na. The leader desires you. If you resist, he said it’d be fine to cut off one of your arms and bring you back anyway.”
I tightened my grip, and the steel chopsticks in my hand bent.
Of course. He’s insane.
Outside the window, I could see the two people who had spoken to me earlier.
They were trying their best to persuade a young woman who looked somewhat timid.
Since she seemed like the type who had trouble refusing people, she listened to them for a while before eventually following along with them.
Should I stop them?
Or was it the fault of the person who got tricked?
No.
They were cancer cells.
A tumor eating away at society.
If I let them be.
Like Cancel Golem had once done.
They’d keep growing larger and larger until they swallowed South Korea whole.
Ha Se-na rested her chin in her hand.
“So what are you going to do?”
I straightened the bent chopsticks back into shape.
“I’m going to crush them. Every last one, from the foot soldiers to the top.”