Ch.4242. Our House is Open for Business! (3)

The religious followers who witnessed a miracle straight out of mythology returned to the main hall of the Balhut Cult.

Upon returning to the cult’s headquarters, the first person they sought out was none other than Choi Yu-na.

They wanted to report this incident to her and receive her help. Naturally, Yu-na, who had been eager to spread the influence of the cult, smiled brightly as she spoke.

“If the Dragon God has gifted us with a chapel, then the rest is for our Balhut Cult to handle. I’ll call Mr. Yu Su-seong right away.”

This was a time for evangelism permitted by God!

For Yu-na, who wanted to spread the name of the Balhut Cult and Bahamut throughout Gyeongju, this was a perfect chance and opportunity.

Of course, she interpreted the fact that God had allowed religious freedom as His mercy, but Yu-na was already convinced that hardly anyone would believe in the old religions anymore.

“Mr. Yu Su-seong. This is an urgent matter.”

“I’ve already heard from Mr. Jeong. I’ll dedicate all resources to completing the interior construction.”

The temple of Bahamut itself was one of the most important facilities for the cult to manage.

Through the temple, they received purified water and electrical energy from Bahamut daily, which was the secret to maintaining urban life in Gyeongju, however inadequate it might be.

Naturally, well-paved roads were needed for smooth transportation of goods. The road leading to the temple had Bahamut’s help in its construction, and thanks to the great efforts of Yu Su-seong, a construction professor, a direct road from the temple to the main hall had already been completed.

Through this road, they could transport construction materials to renovate or decorate the interior of the chapel that Bahamut had gifted them.

“Then, we’ll need shuttle bus drivers too.”

So now they needed just one thing.

Transportation to quickly reach the temple.

Yu-na immediately thought of buses as the means of transportation, and buses were actually designated as important military supplies for the Balhut Cult.

Buses, which could transport many people at low fares, served as troop carriers that allowed soldiers to comfortably travel on expeditions outside.

Moreover, since expedition teams needed to recover many resources once they went out, buses could also double as cargo transporters, making them increasingly popular.

“I’ll select suitable buses for operation.”

“I’m counting on you, Mr. Jeong Dong-geon.”

For the Balhut Cult, which now ruled Gyeongju, finding buses to use as shuttles was a very easy task.

They could requisition buses used by expedition teams or recover abandoned buses from around Gyeongju.

As it happened, there were many abandoned or damaged buses in North Gyeongju, so Jeong Dong-geon ordered his subordinate soldiers to patrol North Gyeongju and recover abandoned buses.

“Fix it.”

“Hey, Mr. Jeong. We’re ironworks employees, not vehicle mechanics.”

“You’re doing both jobs now. Just do it.”

“Haha, damn you, Jeong. We’re also busy—”

The rest could be handled by calling in a favor from an acquaintance.

That acquaintance was none other than the Gyeongju Ironworks, which manufactured weapons and industrial products for the Balhut Cult. Jeong Dong-geon parked the broken bus at the ironworks and asked Mr. Choi to fix it.

Mr. Choi was about to scold Jeong Dong-geon for making such an unreasonable request when they were already busy with other work, but…

“Yu-na ordered this.”

“—so I’ll fix it right away! Hey guys! We’ve got an important job!”

Using Yu-na’s name made everything OK.

Since Yu-na had declared this an important matter, not using her name would more likely result in being scolded by her instead.

As Jeong Dong-geon leveraged Yu-na’s name with Mr. Choi, the Balhut Cult quickly completed preparations for religious activities and began posting on the community site operated by the cult.

They announced the start of Sunday worship services for Bahamut while explaining the reasons, and when the citizens of Gyeongju saw this news…

“Can we finally have a religious life?”

“Hahaha! I was afraid of being labeled a heretic if I did something wrong. Now finally!”

Rather than criticizing the cult’s announcement, they welcomed it.

In fact, they had been waiting for Sunday to come, as if they had been anticipating this situation.

These were evidence that there were cult members who truly believed in the doctrine preached by the Balhut Cult, and they were the ones who had been waiting for this moment more than anyone else.

“It’s a chance for family members to become Awakened. Can’t miss that.”

“Actually, going to church every Sunday isn’t that different from before.”

“If the Balhut Cult says so, it’s worth believing.”

The most common appeal was the merit of becoming an Awakened without having to kill zombies.

The opportunity to become an Awakened was bound to be popular.

On the surface, the community said that one could easily awaken by killing just one zombie, but unlike what the community information suggested, in practice, many factors had to be considered.

“Even killing one zombie is tough for a non-Awakened.”

“And zombies are never alone. Though in Gyeongju, it’s hard to even find zombies, which is difficult in a different way.”

It wasn’t as if zombies conveniently stood alone on the street, perfect for non-Awakened to kill. In fact, during times when zombies were plentiful, fighting not just one but groups of zombies was the norm.

Moreover, some zombies were sensitive to sound, so if a battle created loud noises, it could attract nearby zombies.

In the end, fighting zombies was a life-risking endeavor, both then and now. Even if the reward was sweet awakening, throwing oneself into such a gamble required considerable courage.

“It’s a chance for my child to become an Awakened too, right?”

“And my father as well.”

“In this world, of course I should bring my parents to participate.”

Additionally, if even physically fit young adults had to risk their lives to awaken, it was naturally much harder for relatively vulnerable children or the elderly to become Awakened.

Especially from the perspective of Awakened with young children or elderly parents, they instinctively knew that if they had an accident and disappeared, those left behind would struggle to survive in this world.

“Isn’t the merit that we can awaken safely? I can’t ask my child to kill zombies.”

“My child is only 7 years old.”

“Telling a 12-year-old to kill zombies… that’s just wrong, right?”

But when the cult announced they had found a way to awaken safely in a secure place, Awakened with dependents saw this as a merit in itself. They felt no resistance to participating in the religious event held by the Balhut Cult.

Rather, the fact that the cult provided a means for their families and children to survive on their own, even if they themselves were gone, resonated deeply with them.

They accepted it as a kind of insurance or social welfare.

“But can we trust this?”

“They say Bahamut himself researched this.”

“Then we must believe it!”

Above all, the fact that the project was overseen by none other than Bahamut, the Dragon God worshipped by the Balhut Cult, gave people sufficient confidence.

When this project was first announced, there were naturally skeptics within the Balhut Cult, but they disappeared at the mere mention that Bahamut himself was responsible for the project.

Within the cult, there was not a single person who would doubt or question the words of the Dragon God Bahamut.

“He already declared it during Jo Sun-do’s trial!”

“That’s right.”

Moreover, Bahamut himself had already claimed during Jo Sun-do’s trial that he had found a way to artificially awaken people.

Many took this as Bahamut fulfilling his promise from that time.

Therefore…

“…It’s more popular than I expected.”

The Awakened project was a huge success.

Based on the religions they believed in before the apocalypse, crowds flocked to various chapels and temples.

Dozens of shuttle buses were mobilized, and as crowds gathered, it was inevitable that the cult’s police forces would be deployed for traffic safety.

“Hoho. This is proof that we have many devout believers!”

‘I can’t deny it! The evidence is right before my eyes!’

Bahamut couldn’t possibly deny Yu-na’s statement about having many devout believers.

With the evidence right before his eyes, he couldn’t dismiss this as a pseudo-religious cult.

At this point, it wouldn’t be strange to declare it a proper religious group rather than a cult.

Bahamut’s temple, which had been filled with quiet stillness, became as bustling as a marketplace, with what seemed like every resident of Gyeongju visiting.

“If this resolves the Awakened issue… we still have the problem of surrounding cities. It won’t be long before we expand beyond Gyeongju.”

However, if all the visiting residents became Awakened, it would solve the shortage of Awakened that had been troubling the Balhut Cult, as well as the conflicts between Awakened and ordinary people that had been sporadically arising.

While Bahamut was saddened by the cult’s excessive prosperity, he was also pleased that all the problems he had been postponing were now being resolved, and he decided to turn his attention to external matters.

Though the internal affairs of Gyeongju were mostly settled, it was only natural to now focus on matters outside Gyeongju, but…

“Eh? Surrounding cities? Do we really need to concern ourselves with that?”

“Huh?”

Instead, Yu-na tilted her head as if questioning what he meant.

“Do we need to take such an aggressive stance? We can live without any shortages as things are now.”

‘Ah…’

Strictly speaking, she was closer to not understanding why they needed to expand.

She had never been a politician close to the power structure or the establishment, and even the power she held was only aimed at normalizing Gyeongju, not strengthening her own authority.

So from Yu-na’s perspective, now that they had finally regained peace, she questioned why Gyeongju should venture into the dangerous outside world.

Couldn’t Gyeongju survive well enough without expanding?

‘If it’s just maintaining the status quo, Yu-na’s words aren’t entirely wrong.’

In truth, if they only wanted to maintain the current peace, Yu-na’s words weren’t so wrong.

Though limited, they had an infinite supply of water and electricity, and if they reactivated sewage facilities and power plants, urban life would become even more abundant.

Moreover, they were reclaiming farmland around Gyeongju one by one, so compared to before, while there might be many shortages, it was enough to live on.

But there were clear reasons why they needed to expand outward.

“No, Gyeongju alone doesn’t secure the cult’s safety. All of South Korea has fallen into a zombie apocalypse disaster. We’re the only ones who have successfully reclaimed a city. That means other cities are still filled with zombies.”

“That’s true.”

“What do you plan to do about the zombies in other cities? Even now, zombies from other cities are walking to Gyeongju. Currently, the expedition team led by Jeong Dong-geon or the Balhut Cult’s security forces are easily exterminating them, but if all the zombies from a city come here at once, defending against them would be a challenge.”

“Oh no!”

The outside world had still not reclaimed its cities, and those cities were full of zombies.

Even Gyeongju itself wasn’t reclaimed by the Balhut Cult’s own power but through the “cheat” called Bahamut. Considering this, it was reasonable to expect that survivor camps would need a lot of time to reclaim cities occupied by zombies.

In such a situation, if all those accumulated zombies came to Gyeongju at once, would Gyeongju have the strength to defend against that zombie wave?

“Of course, we could probably defend against that zombie horde. But unfortunately, Gyeongju’s resources are also limited. While we’re maintaining urban life sufficiently now, shortages of certain resources will inevitably appear. So our priority should be securing safe trade routes where we can buy or sell what we need.”

And they couldn’t always maintain the current state.

Gyeongju needed to grow further, and for that growth, certain resources would be necessary.

There was a need for safe trade routes to quickly obtain those resources, and…

“Above all, we can’t assert that there won’t be disasters beyond mutant zombies.”

“Are you saying zombies stronger than mutant zombies could emerge?”

Moreover, the possibility that mutant zombies could evolve into new types of zombies was also a factor.

Considering that ordinary zombies had evolved into mutant zombies and annihilated numerous survivor camps, it was a statement with considerable merit.

Even Yu-na remembered that the survivor camp where she had stayed had collapsed due to mutant zombies, and that memory remained as a trauma in her heart.

“Yes, can’t mutant zombies turn even Awakened into zombies? If so, Awakened who become zombies could become mutant zombies. Regular mutant zombies are already terrifying, but how much more frightening would an Awakened mutant zombie be?”

“Ah.”

The evidence proving Bahamut’s logic was Yu-na’s own testimony.

Yu-na couldn’t refute Bahamut’s words, and…

“I understand, Lord. We need to expand beyond Gyeongju.”

She nodded in understanding and exclaimed, “Indeed, you are God!”

Yu-na could fully accept Bahamut’s logic about the need to expand outward to overcome the potential crisis of new mutant zombies, considering the possibility that mutant zombies had already infected Awakened and turned them into zombies, and that these infected Awakened could potentially become new mutant zombies.

“Yes. I particularly think resolving weapon issues and securing trade routes are essential. Additionally… the number of mouths to feed keeps increasing, so we need additional food supplies. We’re continuing to liberate farms around Gyeongju, but still, the more food, the better.”

“Yes, we need that.”

Weapons, trade routes, and food.

These were things that were better to have in abundance, so if they could secure more, they naturally wanted to.

“That’s why I… want to target Pohang.”

“Pohang?”

“Yes, after unifying Gyeongju, our next destination should be Pohang.”

Bahamut believed that Pohang was the place that could satisfy all these needs.