Ch.101101. The Immortal Cult (2)

“Cult of Immortality. That’s a name I haven’t heard before.”

The Cult of Immortality!

While the word “immortality” gave him a glimpse of their ideology, Jeong Dong-geon was about to ask Jin A-yeon, who stood before him, for more precise information when—

“I’ll explain that.”

“And you are?”

A man who had been quietly observing the situation from behind Jin A-yeon raised his hand, offering to explain personally.

When Jeong Dong-geon turned his gaze toward him, he saw a middle-aged man around his own age.

Perhaps due to being an Awakened, the man maintained a youthful appearance despite his middle age. He confidently addressed Jeong Dong-geon’s questioning look.

“My name is Han Seong-geun. I was originally the leader of the resistance forces here at Ulsan Airport.”

Jeong Dong-geon glanced around at this statement that Han Seong-geun had been the resistance leader before Jin A-yeon arrived.

Jin A-yeon, the current resistance leader, showed no particular reaction to Han Seong-geun’s introduction, accepting it as natural. None of the survivors seemed disturbed by his introduction either.

‘It seems to be true.’

Based on their reactions, Jeong Dong-geon concluded that Han Seong-geun’s introduction was factual and backed by legitimate authority and confidence, not something hastily fabricated.

However, handing over leadership of a survivor camp to someone else in this apocalypse required tremendous courage.

“So you were the leader. I see Jin A-yeon is the leader now. What’s the reason for that?”

“Jin A-yeon is stronger than me and has accomplishments to her name, so I handed over the resistance leadership position to her and took the deputy position instead. A pretty young woman makes a better symbolic leader than a dull old man like me.”

When asked about the reason, he explained it as if it were no issue at all, citing Jin A-yeon’s strength and symbolic value.

Jin A-yeon was the strongest Awakened at Ulsan Airport and had the achievement of recapturing Fukuoka.

She had proven herself worthy as a leader, and since she had the symbolic value of being a hero compared to the unknown Han Seong-geun, he had stepped down from the resistance leader position to become her deputy.

“I agree.”

Jeong Dong-geon responded with a bitter smile, unable to disagree.

By the same logic, Jeong Dong-geon himself, despite being a former survivor camp leader, had pledged loyalty to the younger Choi Yu-na and served under her.

In this world, visible power was what mattered, and even if one regretted giving up a leadership position, it was entirely possible to yield it for survival’s sake.

And given how much respect Jin A-yeon seemed to command, Han Seong-geun had likely benefited rather than lost from the arrangement.

“So. What exactly is this Cult of Immortality?”

“They’re a group that controls zombies and worships some being as their god.”

“Hmm.”

While the zombie control part was unclear, the mention of worshipping a being as a god elicited a strong reaction from Jeong Dong-geon and his group.

After all, Jeong Dong-geon and his group belonged to the Balhut Cult, which worshipped the dragon god Bahamut.

Even if it didn’t refer to Bahamut specifically, the emergence of a similar cult naturally provoked some reaction or emotion.

“What kind of being?”

“Well. Members of the Cult of Immortality refer to this being as ‘The One’ and claim it’s a being whose name they dare not speak.”

When asked about this being, Han Seong-geun indicated that even he didn’t know much about the god the Cult of Immortality worshipped, saying only that they referred to it as a being whose name they dare not speak.

Even cult members themselves spoke this way, which led Jeong Dong-geon to sense that the god the Cult of Immortality worshipped was completely different from the dragon god Bahamut and had an opposite nature.

“…I see. But your claim to be a resistance…”

“That’s because Ulsan is currently under the Cult of Immortality. Public opinion in Ulsan, the governance of the city—everything is under the Cult of Immortality.”

Like how the Balhut Cult had swallowed up Gyeongju, Ulsan was currently under the control of the Cult of Immortality.

And the camp established at Ulsan Airport was a resistance force opposing this Cult of Immortality. At this, Jeong Dong-geon…

‘Hmm. This reminds me of how Gyeongju was divided into North and South Gyeongju.’

Frankly, it was very similar to what the Balhut Cult had experienced.

Of course, the difference was that unlike Jo Sun-do, who ruled North Gyeongju like a tyrant, here there was clear cooperation and trust between people, and they were protecting civilians.

Even now, feeling the wary gazes of civilians hiding inside Ulsan Airport, Jeong Dong-geon judged the situation to be the opposite of Gyeongju.

‘Moreover, if Jin A-yeon has joined, Han Seong-geun is likely on the side of good, not evil.’

And in this apocalypse, reputation equaled trust.

The presence of Jin A-yeon, the hero and main figure in recapturing Fukuoka, could give credibility to the resistance.

He could now understand why Han Seong-geun had handed over the leadership position and taken the deputy position to support Jin A-yeon.

“Did the Cult of Immortality oppress you from the beginning?”

“No. At first, to gain our trust, they drove out the zombies that had settled in Ulsan. That’s why we considered them heroes.”

Thinking of Jo Sun-do, Jeong Dong-geon asked if the Cult of Immortality had oppressed them from the beginning, but Han Seong-geun replied that wasn’t the case—they had actually been heroes.

Yes, the Cult of Immortality had been the heroes who saved Ulsan.

“Heroes, you say.”

At those words, Jeong Dong-geon muttered “heroes” with a perplexed expression and gave a suspicious look, to which Han Seong-geun responded with a bitter smile.

“Imagine it. Seeing someone casually walking through a sea of blackened zombies as if parting waves—wouldn’t you consider that a miracle? They appeared, splitting the sea of zombies in half, and the zombies came under their control. Then they promised us citizens of Ulsan that the city would no longer face the threat of zombies.”

‘Similar to Lord Bahamut’s approach… no, similar but slightly different.’

Bahamut had also gained Gyeongju’s trust in a similar way.

To be precise, rather than driving away zombies, he completely wiped them out, and afterward, through sincere discussion and persuasion with Gyeongju’s representatives, he made them follow him.

Of course, Bahamut’s promise to protect Gyeongju during those discussions had made the persuasion process smoother, which aligned with Han Seong-geun’s explanation.

“Then why form a resistance? If Ulsan is safe.”

“Yes. At first, we weren’t a resistance. We were just a survivor camp settled around Ulsan Airport that hadn’t joined the Cult of Immortality. For a while, it seemed like they were keeping their promise.”

“You say they kept their promise. Does that mean they failed to keep it later?”

But there was a difference.

“…The problem was the laws they established.”

“Laws?”

“This is the proclamation issued by the Cult of Immortality.”

Unlike the Balhut Cult, which had sought advice from Hwang Seung-man and his subordinates from the beginning to establish laws to govern Gyeongju, the laws established by the Cult of Immortality had provoked backlash from Ulsan citizens.

Han Seong-geun showed Jeong Dong-geon the proclamation issued by the Cult of Immortality, still seeming unable to believe it.

“Is this even a reasonable proclamation?”

The proclamation was as follows:

1. All political activities including survivor camps and their leaders, political associations, gatherings, and demonstrations are prohibited.

2. Any actions denying or attempting to overthrow the rule of the Cult of Immortality are prohibited, as are fake news, manipulation of public opinion, and false incitement.

3. The Ulsan community is under the control of the cult.

4. Strikes, work slowdowns, and gatherings that cause social disorder are prohibited.

5. Each survivor camp must acknowledge their subordination to the Cult of Immortality within 48 hours of this proclamation’s distribution. Violators will be punished as enemies disrupting Ulsan’s peace.

6. Measures will be taken to minimize inconvenience to the daily lives of ordinary citizens, excluding anti-cult forces and regime subversion forces.

Violators of the above proclamation may be immediately arrested, detained, searched, and summarily punished.

“This is essentially declaring a dictatorship!”

It was essentially telling survivor camps to die.

The proclamation meant survivor camps couldn’t make any demands of the Cult of Immortality, couldn’t oppose the policies established by the cult, and even had to give up all their rights and submit to the cult—a completely one-sided demand.

‘Even the early Balhut Cult with its strong religious character wasn’t this extreme!’

Considering that even the early Balhut Cult had formed a coalition government through sufficient dialogue with the dragon god Bahamut when it became a force, this proclamation was essentially a declaration that anyone opposing the Cult of Immortality would be treated as an enemy.

Moreover, it implied they would even interfere with how people obtained food, which was fatal for survivor camps that depended on scavenging remaining supplies in the city.

“Still, some people accepted it.”

“This? Really?”

“While you were unifying Gyeongju and advancing to attack Pohang, we were growing weary from six months of fighting zombies. Some people inevitably felt it would be easier to submit to the Cult of Immortality, which had at least driven away the zombies.”

However, there were those who welcomed this proclamation.

Survivors exhausted from the war with zombies began to believe and follow the proclamation of the heroes who had driven away the zombies.

After all, they had been the ones who drove zombies out of Ulsan and had clearly demonstrated their power.

If such a proclamation had occurred before the apocalypse, it would have been an outrageous decree that would have shaken the entire Republic of Korea, but the singularity of the apocalypse made it necessary for them to accept this proclamation.

“At first, we weren’t a resistance either. But thinking this was wrong even in an apocalypse, I settled near Ulsan Airport with like-minded individuals. Since the Cult of Immortality was based in the south, it wasn’t a problematic action.”

But there were more who resisted.

Survivors oppressed by zombies were no longer weak citizens; each was an Awakened with powerful abilities.

Could such Awakened simply accept the proclamation they issued?

While the Cult of Immortality had been the main force driving away zombies, conversely…

“I suddenly wondered: where did the zombies under the Cult of Immortality’s control go? Where were they disposed of? We have no idea.”

The point was that the Cult of Immortality had failed to earn their trust.

Han Seong-geun explained that the cult had never revealed where the zombies they controlled had gone, nor had they ever mentioned disposing of them.

Indeed, if they harbored ill intentions with that massive number of zombies, what would happen to those like Han Seong-geun who didn’t follow the Cult of Immortality?

Just thinking about it brought only chilling, gloomy imaginings.

‘This is the opposite too. We succeeded in uniting against zombies, humanity’s enemy.’

If they had simply wiped out all the zombies and then resolutely shown their determination to eradicate zombies, they could have gradually built trust with those who had defected.

The Balhut Cult had built such a liberation narrative and developed it in Pohang, now becoming an organization loved by many residents.

The Cult of Immortality, which aroused suspicion by controlling zombies, versus the Balhut Cult, which gained trust by eradicating zombies.

Seeing these opposite paths, Jeong Dong-geon almost wanted to suspect this was some hidden camera prank.

“And indeed, all the zombies in Ulsan Metropolitan City disappeared. Were they all gone because they were under the Cult of Immortality’s control? Or did the cult secretly remove them? We weren’t given such information.”

“Indeed, we also found it strange that we didn’t see any zombies or survivors when coming here.”

“That’s because the Cult of Immortality took them to Ulsan under the pretext of a rescue operation. Of course, we don’t know where those residents went.”

In reality, Jeong Dong-geon and his troops had advanced into Ulsan feeling numerous discrepancies and suspicions at a scene so different from the apocalypse.

Why were there no zombies on the streets, and no people living in the villages?

From Han Seong-geun’s perspective as an Ulsan resident, it was inevitable that suspicions would arise when so many zombies disappeared at once and village residents vanished without any information being provided.

“External news was becoming increasingly chaotic, but Ulsan alone remained quiet, which made us suspicious. So we eventually investigated the cult. Fortunately, I had acquired a stealth skill through my Awakening ability, so I could monitor the Cult of Immortality established across the bridge without being detected. As a result of the investigation, I determined that the entire city was enveloped in an inexplicable sense of discomfort.”

Luckily, Han Seong-geun had the ability to investigate the cult’s suspicious activities and could monitor them without being detected.

And he sensed an unidentified discomfort throughout Ulsan.

“I saw Ulsan citizens who had started following the cult suddenly appearing as if they had become different people. Some of them were my acquaintances.”

“What do you mean by ‘becoming different people’?”

“I’m not sure what it was either. Whether it was the cult’s teachings, madness, or just how everyone was behaving because of the apocalypse—their behavior was gradually becoming similar to zombies.”

He had detected that members of the Cult of Immortality were becoming strange.

Han Seong-geun said he wasn’t sure whether it was the cult’s teachings, madness, or the apocalyptic atmosphere, but he made the shocking statement that their behavior was becoming similar to zombies.

“Like zombies?”

“Sitting on the ground silently, suddenly showing violence, or… engaging in orgies in public places… Honestly, it was too difficult to keep watching my acquaintances’ disgraceful behavior, so I fled immediately.”

“Isn’t that what drug addicts do when they’re high on strong drugs?”

“Ah, exactly that. Yes, like being addicted to a strong drug. No intelligence, looking so shabby they could be mistaken for zombies.”

Han Seong-geun tried to explain the situation at that time with rambling words, as if he had seen something incomprehensible, and Jeong Dong-geon summarized it as being like drug addicts.

When Jeong Dong-geon summarized it that way, Han Seong-geun agreed, saying the Ulsan citizens seemed like they were high on strong drugs.

“That’s when I sensed something ominous. What was the cult doing that people were becoming like this, yet they took no measures? And why was there no news about this on the Ulsan community forums—why was it so quiet? One suspicion gave birth to another. What on earth was happening in this land?”

“That must have been difficult for you.”

And as if making a confession, he said that things he couldn’t understand kept happening in Ulsan.

Jeong Dong-geon offered words of comfort for a reality that was difficult for an ordinary man to bear.

“They’re necrophiliacs.”

“Necrophiliacs, you say?”

As Han Seong-geun paused, momentarily overcome by painful memories, Jin A-yeon cursed the Cult of Immortality as some kind of corpse lovers, as if she couldn’t bear it anymore.

“I mean they like corpses! Those guys, contrary to the word ‘immortality,’ are turning people into zombies! They feed cult members to mutant zombies to create stronger zombies!”

It was a shocking statement.

She seemed to have witnessed these scenes with her own eyes, claiming they had actually committed such acts.

“They even raised corpses from graves!”

“The senior members of the Cult of Immortality are suspected to be necromancers, as commonly described in fantasy novels. I suppose the Cult of Immortality means a cult that worships the undead.”

Han Seong-geun calmed down Jin A-yeon, who was furious at such inhuman acts, and explained that the Cult of Immortality was a cult that worshipped the undead.

“As Jin A-yeon said, around the time she joined us, we witnessed those shocking scenes and formed a resistance. The fortunate thing was that there were still many sane Awakened throughout the city. They gathered, and we somehow managed to extend our influence to the Taehwa River area where the bridge is.”

“My ship was there too. We had to secure the port area somehow.”

After witnessing those scenes, Han Seong-geun informed his camp and established a resistance centered on Ulsan Airport.

Then he sought collaborators within Ulsan city and built up strength to counter the Cult of Immortality with these collaborators.

They seemed to have had sufficient success, as they managed to secure the area around the Taehwa River as their territory.

But there was one question.

“But why wasn’t this fact known outside? Couldn’t you have sought help from public opinion on external community forums?”

Despite everything going so terribly wrong, public opinion in Ulsan remained suspiciously quiet.

Even now, after encountering Ulsan Airport, the posts on the Ulsan community forums only talked about the usual peace in Ulsan.

“The Ulsan community forum is under administrator control. The forum administrators are members of the Cult of Immortality. The moment we post something, it gets immediately deleted, bombarded with dislikes, or we get harassed.”

“So public opinion was already being controlled?”

The answer was simple.

From the moment they issued the proclamation, they had been controlling public opinion.

The Cult of Immortality controlled public opinion in Ulsan, and even the owners of the Ulsan community forums were members of the cult.

With the community forums for sharing information under their control, it became impossible to expose what was happening inside Ulsan.

“That’s right. We essentially lost the means to request help from outside. Even if we reported this news to other communities, we’d just be treated as throwaway accounts. How could we spread this information? To prove something, we’d need information officially recognized by the Ulsan community, but those bastards control all public opinion in the Ulsan community.”

“But the internet and SNS… ah.”

If this were before the apocalypse, such flimsy control of public opinion by capturing just one community forum wouldn’t have worked at all.

In a modern society where information is shared in real-time, any suspicious signs would immediately be shared and monitored.

But this is the apocalypse.

Having internet access was a privilege only available to relatively well-off survivor camps, and using the internet or community forums itself was almost an act of flaunting wealth.

Moreover, even if they shared this information on the internet or SNS, there were no external forces who would sympathize and help them.

“Yes. Unless a post is verified by the local community forum, it’s treated as a throwaway account or a rumor. And officially, Ulsan is known as a clean zone free of zombies.”

“That makes it even more suspicious!”

And above all, could their claims be trusted?

That was also a problem.

Even if they exposed the fact that something was wrong in Ulsan on other community forums, unless it was verified by the Ulsan community forum, no one would believe them.

It would likely be treated as just another attention-seeking post from a throwaway account or a rumor, buried under waves of other posts.

“The Cult of Immortality, huh.”

It was a force with a name he was encountering for the first time, and at the same time, probably an enemy the Balhut Cult would have to defeat.