Bohemia Church (5)
Tension, pressure, anxiety—should I call it that? I wasn't really feeling any of it, but the atmosphere was staged in a way that made it seem like I should be.
"Before we talk, mind explaining why you've brought a non-believer into headquarters?"
Gu Ha-yeon fixed Christine with a piercing stare as she posed the question. It was ambiguous enough that it felt less like a question and more like an interrogation.
"Gu Department Head. I'll be direct-da! I brought her to remove the Siren that's got you-nikka!"
"What are you talking about?"
"You need to snap out of it-nikka! Have you forgotten your purpose-yo?!"
"My purpose... What exactly is my purpose?"
"This conversation isn't getting through-da! Ae-ri, please-da!"
"Got it."
I hadn't expected things to escalate this fast without even a proper chat.
"Hera, if you would."
I'll start with a scan.
Hera immediately scanned Gu Ha-yeon's neuralware for the cracked code...
Scan complete. That's odd. No Siren crack code detected.
"What?!"
"Ae-ri, what's wrong-nikka?"
"Well..."
I was at a loss for words. She wasn't brainwashed by Iris after all? Then why the hell was she in the Bohemia Church? And not just as some regular follower, but as a youth department head—an executive position, no less. Any normal person with a functioning brain wouldn't join a cult like this. This was straight-up abnormal.
"Ae-ri! Why aren't you talking-nikka?!"
"Gu Ha-yeon. Why are you in the Bohemia Church? Especially if you haven't been hit by Siren."
"What-yo?! Gu Department Head isn't brainwashed by a Siren crack code for real-nikk?!"
"Yeah, I checked. Nothing there."
As Christine and I had this absurd exchange, Gu Ha-yeon suddenly burst out laughing.
"Hahaha! So that's it. Still the same busybody hypocrite, huh, Miss Christine."
"Gu Department Head, you! If you're not brainwashed, then why are you in the Bohemia Church-nikka?!"
"Fine, since you're so curious, I'll tell you. It pays well."
"What-yo?"
"Whoa... an answer I never saw coming..."
It was truly unimaginable. "It pays well"? What kind of money-grubbing bullshit was this?
"You know how the agency views our agents, right? Sure, I took pride in protecting the nation. But separate from that, the nation never compensated me for my loyalty. No, it treated me more like expendable trash."
"That's..."
Christine fell silent after hearing Gu Ha-yeon's words. Fair point—intelligence agents were basically disposable, not just in this novel world, but in reality too. Take that one case where someone sold classified agent info. Info on agents deployed in dangerous zones, no less. The traitor was scum for selling lives cheap, but the real crime was the nation cutting them loose like used rags. To the state, agents' lives were worth less than flies—replaceable consumables.
"But what about the Bohemia Church? Yeah, it's full of fanatics and it's a cult, I'll admit. So what? The Saintess rewards loyalty... no, more than that. A nation that just sees you as trash can't even compare."
"But Ha-yeon, you... you..."
Gu Ha-yeon approached the stunned, stammering Christine and whispered.
"Deep down, you think the same. So drop the phony hypocrisy!"
Suddenly, blue flames erupted from Gu Ha-yeon's prosthetic leg as she launched a kick straight at Christine.
"By the name of Gu Ha-yeon, Youth Division Deputy Head in charge of church order, I declare: apostate and heretic—execute immediately."
The flames intensified, filling the room entirely.
??? — Dark Space
"Whew, that was close to getting barbecued."
I shuddered, recalling how I'd nearly been incinerated without a trace. My vector field hit its limit right away, and if Christine hadn't blocked it, I wouldn't have escaped like this.
"Is Christine okay?"
The life-tracking code implanted in Miss Christine is still active.
"So she's still alive, right?"
For now, assume she's clinging to life at minimum.
Clinging to life... At least she was still breathing, which was a relief.
"We bolted outta there in a panic—where the hell are we now?"
I had no clue where I'd fled in the chaos. It was pitch black, like some kind of cave?
Structurally, it's the ceiling space between the first and second floors of the building.
"The ceiling?"
Looks like I was in the ceiling void. With space this big between floors, one earthquake and it'd all collapse—I'd post about it on the forums and get buried in likes, no doubt.
"No, no time for that. While Christine holds off Gu Ha-yeon, I gotta hit the treasure vault. Hera, any idea where it is?"
I'll activate H.E.R.A System: 008—see for yourself. Faster that way.
008 was echolocation, right? Echolocation.
Hera fired it up, and sound waves burst from my body, bouncing back and converting audio signals to visuals, mapping out a wide area.
"Nice."
Perfect for scouting. I scanned for likely treasure vault spots. Then I spotted a bunch of green stick figures—like those wireframe models—guarding something.
"That it?"
Had to be the vault. Ironclad security, as expected.
"Still, I can crawl through the ceiling to get close."
As I moved toward it, something else pinged on echolocation.
"Huh?"
Not far from my position, two green stick figures were tangled up. One burly, one scrawny. The big one was aggressively clinging to the small one, who looked terrified, trembling.
"I hate not knowing shit like this..."
I knew I didn't have time. But it reeked of trouble—the bad kind.
"Hera, give me options."
Ignoring that scene and heading straight to the vault gives a 78.89% chance of regret.
"High odds."
If Hera calculated that, it was legit.
"Fine. No regrets—family motto!"
Not really, but whatever.
The burly stickman and the scrawny one. As I reached the ceiling above their room, voices drifted up.
"Y-you can really debut me as an idol?"
"Heh heh heh, just trust me. You know I'm an elder in the Bohemia Church, right? And the Saintess is a top-tier singer. One word from me, and you're in."
A shady man-woman convo. Ominous vibes.
"What the...? That voice sounds familiar."
The woman's voice rang a bell. Not the guy's.
"Hera, can you punch a quiet hole to peek without noise?"
You're overworking me. Already done.
"Hera's the best."
I peered through the hole Hera had made and saw the scene below.
"Ahhn♥ Don't grab like that so suddenly..."
"Young skin's the best. So firm and bouncy."
Down there, a pig-faced middle-aged creep was groping the chest of the woman whose voice I recognized, kneading away.
"What? Why's she here?"
Of course it was familiar—it was Ra Mi-yeon. But why was Ra Mi-yeon letting this pig fondle her like that?
Ever since I transmigrated and became a woman, shit keeps getting weird.
Classic plot twist—the original story derailing. Otherwise, no way the heroine "laundry machine" Ra Mi-yeon would be messing with a pig like this.
Sponsorship?
I recalled her backstory: talented idol trainee who never debuted, scraping by until she joined Hwang Bo-jun's MCN and started broadcasting.
Should I help?
She'd been cold to me, so part of me wanted to let her stew out of spite. But—
"N-no, I can't! This isn't right!"
"You came this far—where do you think you're going?!"
"S-stop! D-don't come closer!"
I remembered who I was. Not Hwang Bo-jun, but Ju Ae-ri. Back home, I'd been preyed on, seen it happen countless times—scumbags exploiting dreams for their own gain.
"Yeah. I hated those types. Hera, do it."
Already handled. Drop down. Want a dramatic boom for effect?
"Too flashy. Pass."
Tch. Fine.
Did she just tch? An AI with attitude? I dropped right into the room. The pig freaked, yelling "Wh-who the hell are you?!" and trying to call for help outside—but Hera's canceling field blanketed the room, soundproofing us completely.
I glared down at the filthy pig.
"Who am I? Your hero, you little piglet fuck."