Ch.4040. Our House is Open for Business! (1)

# When Each Nation Responded to the Apocalypse in Their Own Way

The Balhut Cult in Gyeongju successfully concluded the trial of self-proclaimed King of Gyeongju, Jo Sun-do.

Jo Sun-do desperately appealed his case, but since the war crimes tribunal was essentially established to judge him, there was no chance his appeal would be overturned in the second trial. Above all, this was the solemn command of Bahamut, the dragon god of the Balhut Cult.

Even if Hwang Seung-man, who would now act as judge in Bahamut’s place, showed mercy, it would only be for Jo Sun-do’s underlings. The ringleader himself would definitely face execution.

“So now we begin the project to awaken all cult members.”

“Yes. Jo Sun-do’s protests have strangely provided the perfect justification for this project.”

Above all, Jo Sun-do’s dishonesty had sparked a new reform. Since Jo Sun-do had loudly proclaimed the privileges of the Awakened while clearly demonstrating their negative aspects, no one had grounds to oppose this reform.

With some Awakened already angry about Jo Sun-do’s cruel behavior, even the faction advocating for Awakened rights—who secretly didn’t want to lose their privileges—couldn’t voice opposition. After such an ugly downfall, they couldn’t speak in his defense. The fact that the reform was being initiated by the god of the Balhut Cult also played a significant role.

“Well, if our god commands it, the Awakened wouldn’t dare express discontent.”

‘Still, isn’t that dictatorship? I’d at least like to make a show of persuasion…’

Who would dare voice complaints when Bahamut had already declared the reform? Yu-na suggested that even without Jo Sun-do’s downfall, cult members would follow Bahamut’s orders without complaint, but this cowardly dragon thought that was unreasonable.

At heart, he wanted to at least make a show of persuading his followers. That’s why, even though the Awakened project was complete, he was setting a grace period and proceeding cautiously while monitoring public opinion.

“Hehehe. That nasty self-proclaimed King of Gyeongju turned out to be useful after all.”

‘Wow. I thought she’d toned down her temper, but that hasn’t changed at all.’

Of course, Yu-na didn’t care either way. Rather, she was pleased that Jo Sun-do, who had been useless to the Balhut Cult until now, had finally served a purpose in his final moments.

The girl, whom cult members called the Dragon Priestess or Saint, smiled wickedly, greatly rejoicing in Jo Sun-do’s downfall. This super-cowardly dragon felt a chill down his spine seeing Yu-na’s wicked expression, but what could he do? She was the contractor he had chosen.

“By the way, I understand there’s an artificial awakening method, but I don’t know the process at all. How will we increase the number of Awakened, my lord?”

However, Yu-na’s joy over Jo Sun-do’s downfall was short-lived. She asked Bahamut how they could increase the number of Awakened.

The project was already complete, and some cult members were already benefiting from it and awakening. However, not even Yu-na, let alone the cult’s executives, knew the actual awakening method. Naturally, as the cult leader, Yu-na should have known how to increase the number of Awakened now that the project had begun.

“We’ll use this temple.”

“This sacred temple?”

‘Well, not quite that grand. It’s just my home where I live.’

Bahamut’s answer was that they would use this temple. Yu-na was surprised and asked if they would use this sacred temple, while Bahamut wondered when his home had become a sacred temple, feeling somewhat deflated.

“Yes. The air in this temple is filled with pure magical energy. If an unawakened person trains for awakening here, they can be awakened.”

“That sounds easy when you explain it!”

He briefly explained the artificial awakening method. The temple was filled with pure magical energy, so by using the magical energy in the air, unawakened people could be awakened if they underwent awakening training.

Yu-na looked at Bahamut with a surprised expression at this seemingly simple method. However, such a simple method certainly had its drawbacks.

“But awakening necessarily takes seven weeks. Specifically, once a week. The temple needs time to recharge magical energy and time to consume it. The total process takes seven weeks.”

“That’s so long! Can’t we shorten it?”

It took a full seven weeks to awaken someone. Yu-na was shocked that it would take more than a month and a half. It was extremely long.

The Balhut Cult itself had only been established for a little over two months, yet the time needed to create new Awakened was more than half of that.

“I’ve experimented with shortening the seven-week period, but determined it’s impossible. My limited brain suspects that unawakened people consume all the magical energy charged in their bodies over a week, then recharge with magic from the temple. This process naturally promotes awakening by familiarizing their bodies with magical ability.”

“Then, are there any advantages?”

However, he drew the line that this drawback was an unavoidable limitation. After various experiments, Bahamut stated that this drawback couldn’t be overcome, which disappointed Yu-na. Still, she asked Bahamut about the advantages, believing there must be some.

“When awakened through this method, all abilities except luck increase by a minimum of 1 to a maximum of 5.”

“Yes! Let’s do it right away!”

Her answer was immediate. As soon as Bahamut finished speaking, Yu-na loudly declared she would adopt the method immediately.

Of course she would—the statement that all abilities except luck would increase by at least 1 to 5 was mouth-watering news for any Awakened. Without needing to hear more, she determined it was absolutely necessary.

“Is that good enough?”

“In a world where even 1 point of ability can mean life or death, gaining at least 1 to 5 points in all abilities except luck is absolutely worth it, even if it takes time. It’s like starting at level 2 to 6 instead of level 1!”

“Is it that significant?”

An Awakened’s abilities, excluding luck, consisted of five attributes: strength, health, agility, wisdom, and magic power.

The average Awakened started with 10 points in each ability, with some talented individuals receiving additional abilities or having some abilities reduced upon awakening.

So gaining 1 to 5 points in all abilities was definitely a merit. Considering that Awakened gained 5 ability points with each level up, this meant that those awakened through this method would advance faster than those who awakened by killing zombies.

It was also a golden opportunity to greatly increase the average quality of Awakened in the Balhut Cult.

“We can greatly increase the average level of cult members. Now that we’ve unified Gyeongju, we have the resources. Let’s increase our Awakened this way.”

That’s why Yu-na was so pleased and determined to adopt this method. Starting with a random level between 2 and 6 meant this was absolutely necessary if possible. This one advantage outweighed all the disadvantages, but…

“There’s one problem though. Cult members must visit this place every week.”

“Ah.”

The problem was that cult members needed to visit the temple for this project. Although they had returned to their daily lives, it might be difficult for cult members who were busy making ends meet to take extra time to come here.

The Bahamut Temple wasn’t easily accessible like a church in the city; it was located deep in Namsan Mountain.

“But there’s a road, so they won’t get lost. Should the cult operate a shuttle bus?”

“That’s not a bad idea.”

Of course, Bahamut had paved a road to make it easier to get here, and the Balhut Cult continuously maintained the road for easy access, recognizing the temple’s importance and always giving it top priority. So visiting the temple itself wasn’t difficult.

If the Balhut Cult guaranteed transportation convenience for cult members by operating shuttle buses, it would be possible to bring many cult members to participate.

“Ah, how long do they need to stay in the temple?”

“Minimum 1 hour to maximum 2 hours? After that, they can leave.”

“Hmm.”

The problem was that they couldn’t just arrive at the temple and leave immediately. There was another drawback: they needed to stay at the temple for a minimum of one hour to a maximum of two hours.

Of course, since it was a safe way to awaken without fighting zombies, they couldn’t complain much, but the time requirement was still a disadvantage.

“But we can awaken many people simultaneously.”

“That’s great!”

However, this method had the tremendous advantage of being able to awaken many unawakened people simultaneously.

At a time when expeditions struggled to capture even one zombie, making it difficult to create new Awakened, having dozens or hundreds of Awakened appear simultaneously without hunting would be a great force for the cult.

The problem was finding a way to keep cult members from getting bored and ensuring they would follow through…

“Oh, I have a good idea!”

“What is it?”

“The cult doesn’t have weekend services yet, so let’s create them now!”

‘What are you talking about?!’

Yu-na proposed turning this project into a religious event for the Balhut Cult. Bahamut was greatly surprised by Yu-na’s sudden counterattack!

“Our Balhut Cult was originally a religious group worshipping the god Bahamut! But until now, we haven’t officially offered worship or prayers to the god Bahamut! In other words, we’ve been completely failing as a religion! So much so that I couldn’t deny it if you called us incompetent!”

‘But I never wanted that in the first place.’

But it was a fact!

Although it now operated as a proper government institution, the Balhut Cult was fundamentally a religious organization dedicated to serving the god Bahamut!

So there would be nothing strange about adding official religious events like worship or prayer even now. If anything, Bahamut might be the strange one!

‘What is she… wait, does she have a point?!’

Even Bahamut was so surprised by Yu-na’s words that he had to admit she had a point!

The Balhut Cult was, like it or not, a religious group. Even now, as it functioned as a government, it continued to operate without abandoning its identity and name as the Balhut Cult.

‘I need to think. Think of a novel argument to refute that! …I can’t think of anything!’

Unfortunately, Bahamut couldn’t come up with any logic to counter Yu-na’s argument. After all, the Balhut Cult had begun when Yu-na physically took over a cult in Gyeongju.

In other words, it was an organization born with cult DNA from the beginning!

“As far as I know, worship requires professional priests or pastors…”

“We have them.”

So Bahamut, trying to avoid religious activities at all costs, suggested that priests or pastors were needed to spread religious teachings.

Unfortunately, Yu-na said they already had priests and pastors to spread the cult’s teachings.

“What?”

“We have priests and pastors to provide those teachings. Oh, and Buddhist monks too.”

‘Oh no! I forgot this organization was originally a cult from the beginning!’

Since it was originally a religious cult, of course there would be priests or pastors to spread the cult’s teachings!

Although they had the label of being a cult, the religious figures in the organization were all properly educated religious professionals. Considering that Yu-na mentioned they even had Buddhist monks…

“Within the Balhut Cult, there are priests, pastors, and even chief monks who officially ran churches in Gyeongju. Hehe. We have plenty of people who can teach the dragon god’s teachings! How’s that? Sufficient, right?”

“Ah. Yes.”

‘Please don’t use all of Balhut Cult’s resources for this… I don’t know, it’s scary.’

The current Balhut Cult was a powerful force that could utilize everything in Gyeongju.

Do you think such a formidable Balhut Cult is a joke, dragon?

Yu-na’s death beam is equal for everyone.