episode_0089

Nakwon – ‘Plaza’, a special base in Guro-gu, Seoul

The cult leader stood in front of believers whose faith was shaken.

He opened his mouth softly, as if the wave of attacks that had just been going on was nothing.

“I feel deja vu.”

Even though only a few hours had passed, a lot had changed.

“I’m a little nervous because I feel like I’m a famous scholar or celebrity holding the microphone at such a high place.”

Eyes of doubt, not faith, are turned towards oneself.

“Thanks to you, I spoke briefly and uncharacteristically just now. That might actually have been good for you.”

He smiled lightly and continued.

“What I have to say is neither a rebuttal to the words that shook you nor a confession of sin.”

“I will only talk about ‘us’.”

He pointed to himself and his congregation.

“Our journey so far has been a struggle to become ‘superhumans’.”

His calm voice echoed throughout the square.

“Say it again.”

“From the day I vaguely remembered that I was me, as if I woke up from a long dream, until now.”

From the day I realized you were you until now.

“Our lives have been a struggle to become better people.”

It has never been like that.

“Superman, superman riding a white horse, iron man, Ubermensch, transcendental, awakened, etc.”

Names that refer to better people that accumulate over time.

After mulling over each word, he looked at the believers and asked lightly.

“When did you think you became adults?”

He said to the believers:

I am.

“It was a nice day and I was in a good mood, but I felt like I had become an adult when I walked instead of running.”

I am.

“I felt like I had become an adult when I suddenly realized that my parents were not contacting me while I was drinking late into the morning.”

I am.

“I felt like I had become an adult when the Pikachu skewers I bought because I was so happy to see them on the street didn’t taste good at all.”

A process of self-awareness that everyone has.

“Like this, we became adults only after losing something we held in the past.”

Only then does someone who looks at us say they have grown up.

He said he had grown up.

Those who have gone through the process of becoming an adult realize the process of becoming more mature.

“The process of becoming a better person was not a process of embracing what you wanted, but a process of removing unnecessary things.”

“We learned from our parents what we should and should not do.”

“I went to school and learned the right and wrong answers.”

“I learned what makes money at work and what doesn’t.”

“Repeat.”

“Your journey so far has been a struggle to become better people that the world wants.”

He said, pointing to himself.

“If the actions I did were brainwashing, isn’t the process I just mentioned also a form of brainwashing in a broad sense?”

He shrugged his shoulders and looked back at Han Gu-won behind him.

“That’s why I was impressed by the scientific and logical approach that the author spoke of. I truly admire and praise you.”

Clap- clap- clap-

Thunderous applause echoing in the silence.

Han Gu-won’s expression slowly hardened for the first time.

Dependent personality disorder, learning helplessness, etc., numerous words that label human emotions as difficult words.

He pointed to Han Gu-won and raised his voice.

“Those who are more educated and have more always want logic and evidence. Do you know why?”

“Because they had more of them.”

“They always named us, defined us, and distinguished us. That’s how I proved myself.”

“With that, they proved that they are better people.”

“It doesn’t matter if you don’t agree with the laws and rules they named.”

“They just fit us into the mold they made.”

He again gestured to himself and his congregation.

“We dare not refute that.”

“To refute dependent personality disorder, you must know psychiatry and psychology. To criticize politicians, you have to know politics. To discuss justice, you must know the law.”

“In order to speak your mind and assert that your thoughts are right, you must ultimately become a better person than others.”

“But does this matter end when you become a renowned doctor or authority?”

“No. If they are not in their field of expertise, they are just ordinary people.”

“The vast amount of knowledge that has come down from the time when humans learned letters and recorded them is too distant for one person to understand.”

“In the end, you must decide the end of your efforts to become a better person. But what you see as you gasp and stare ahead is.”

Rich, intelligent, beautiful.

“There are still far too many people who are better than themselves.”

“What should I do? I guess I should run. I’ll have to run so hard that it takes my breath away to run a little further ahead.”

A long penance with no end in sight.

he shouted.

He held the microphone tightly and shouted, blood rising in his neck.

“Your whole life, every year, every day!”

“No!”

“Every minute and second of you!”

“It was a way to become a better person than others!”

“That’s why I ask you!”

“Were you truly happy!”

I lost my smile, and my heart stopped getting excited by the bright sunlight and fresh breeze.

The days of agonizing over more money and a brighter future.

“Was it happy to live a colorless life as a cog in society like others do?”

he asked.

“Fight with others sexually, fight with wealth, fight with a more beautiful spouse! Every day you prove that you are a better person than others!”

Were you happy?

As if the world was becoming more adult, I removed things I thought were unnecessary.

Now that I have lost my happiness.

“What else have we lost! Now we live in a world where good people are criticized! A world has come where people who do good things are looked down upon as foolish!”

Awareness built up by better people recognized by the world.

“Don’t pretend to understand everything and say that humans are selfish and unstable!”

The frame of the world.

“The framework of seeking only superhumans did not fit good people!”

You are the victims.

Victims caught up in the rules created by the world.

“Stop hurting yourself because of those who have more than you!”

He looked at the believers and shouted.

Immerse yourself and empathize.

“Stop abusing yourself for not being able to fit into the mold created by others!”

The days when I bowed my head because I couldn’t get into a good university.

The days when my pride was hurt because I couldn’t get a good job.

The days when I bit my lip out of frustration and jealousy while watching social media or video media.

Think about the unmissable days in your life!

“A night relying on a small light in the thick darkness. A night where only the distant cries of zombies sounded. You heard me there!”

White round circle.

The days where we healed each other’s wounds and pain.

Days where I regained the peace and happiness I had lost.

There he spoke to you.

“Happiness is not just about being ahead of others!”

“Fighting with others and being selfish is not happiness!”

“Happiness is not what the original world kept telling you about!”

The days that made you cry and suffer were not happy.

He clenched his right hand into a fist and lifted it up.

And shouted.

“You, snakes, and the world, listen!”

Pseudo (似而非).

Although superficially similar, they are fundamentally very different.

“If you criticize us for being different from the existing world!”

He shouted, slamming his fist down.

“This is the land of pseudo-believers!”

He raised his finger again and pointed to the sky.

“If you deny me trying to get back what I lost!”

He stabbed himself deeply in the chest with his finger.

“I will gladly become a cult leader!”

He threw the microphone and shouted at the top of his voice.

“I will establish the law of the good in a broken world!”

“I will establish a kingdom of good people!”

“Stand up! All you who groaned in pain!”

Stand up.

“Stand up! Cast off your superhuman shell and stand up as a human!”

Stand up as a complete human being, not as a superhuman who cannot become anything.

“Take off the lies that covered your eyes! Open your eyes wide and look behind you!”

Everyone turned around at his pointing.

“Behind every crown lies a guillotine! So, without the guillotine, there can be no new crown!”

As his words echo, the blurry shape in the empty lot becomes clearer.

A shape became clear to the eyes of the believers who were increasingly shaking.

“Take your life back! Get your life back!”

There was a guillotine there.

He shouted, pounding rapidly without even taking a breath.

“Kill the brainwashing and lies that deceived you with your own hands! Condemn all the lies that gave you trouble! Right here on earth! Now that lines have become an old-fashioned sentiment!”

The believer’s eyes saw a blade soaked in sunlight falling down.

Something’s throat was cut and blood poured out.

“The red blood of the past will seep into the new land! A great white tree will be born there!”

What appeared to be a guillotine in the eyes of believers slowly faded away.

And a small sprout sprouted in its place.

Gradually, the sprout grew in size and shook the ground.

Dudduddu-

All the believers were startled and stared at the religious leader as they heard an auditory hallucination as if the ground was really shaking.

He spread his arms and shouted.

“The name of the root that will spread throughout the world is ‘happiness’.”

Dddd!

A tree grows with its roots spread widely.

“The name of the tree that will reach to the end of the sky is… !”

Eventually, he whispered as he looked at the tree that had grown to the point where it reached the black curtain.

“… It will be salvation.”

────.

A terrible silence fell.

But everyone joined hands again.

I closed my eyes, lowered my head, and repeated the only truth.

Salvation.

Kiri-ri-rik- Boom-!

The weights on both arm scales were tilted to one place.

[You have solved the theme of Guro-gu Special Base ‘Plaza’!]

[congratulations! The Awakened’s Guro-gu dominance rate has reached 100%!]

A bright beam of light rose above the head of the cult leader who raised his head.

pop-! pop-!

As brightly shining fireworks exploded in everyone’s pupils, the square slowly melted.

Han Gu-won disappeared, and so did the guillotine and the white tree.

Everything disappeared and the fireworks that decorated the sky were the only thing that decorated Guro-gu.

[Bless your trials, suffering, and story!]

[Notice to awakeners around the world! The first city is born in Seoul, Korea!]

pop-! pop-!

As fireworks continued to explode, more messages were printed one after another.

[You have achieved your first achievement.]

[‘Achieved 100% initial dominance rate’]

[The ‘Holy’ stat will be unlocked as a reward!]

Before I had time to check my new stats, a pillar of light struck my body.

Paaa!

The body, emitting a more brilliant light than ever, slowly floated.

Two jewels popped out in front of me as I slowly soared into the sky of Guro-gu.

They were the ‘Stone of Radiance’ and the ‘Green Gem’ in the inventory.

The ‘green jewel’ glowed with intense light and flew somewhere.

The jewel that arrived on the ground seemed to have found the desired location and glowed brightly and melted.

Brightly scattered particles of light created a familiar door.

I smiled as I looked at that grand and huge door.

Suddenly, I remembered the words written on the jewel.

[Because it remains in my mind, it comes true.]

The most impressive salvation in Guro-gu.

pop-! pop-!

With the fireworks continuing to explode, the black curtain surrounding Guro-gu was disappearing.

The two beings that decorated the sky became bright particles and flew away.

The believers who saw the particles of light coming down to the ground like white flower petals and the door of salvation opened their mouths in bewilderment.

‘No. ‘This is not the end.’

With a mischievous smile, I tapped the blue gem, the ‘Stone of Radiance’.

I had already thought about how I would use it.

The ‘Stone of Radiance’ responded to my gesture and reached the mountain peak overlooking the city.

And it glowed brightly and was copied to the object I wanted.

Paaa!

A level 1 ‘priest stone statue’ placed on a mountain peak.

I smiled when I saw the sacred relics of the Salvation Church that I had not seen in a long time.

Then he looked down and shouted.

“Look and pray!”

A brilliant beam of light shoots out from the right hand towards the religious statue.

Uuuu!

The stone statue of the religious leader glowed with light, as if responding to the beam of light that touched the statue’s chest.

Level 2, 3.

The religious leader’s stone statue, which was becoming increasingly larger, spread its arms.

The stone statue of the religious leader, who had finished growing, looked down on the city with a holy and sacred appearance.

A sacred protective shield spread from the statue’s benevolent head.

I opened my arms like a religious statue.

I put my hands together and shouted as I looked at the believers staring at me.

“The light of salvation is always with you!”

Ahhh!

Amidst cries of admiration and cries, a brilliant jewel was placed in the center of the religious leader’s stone statue.

[City power ‘Grace’ unlocked.]

Paaa!

The waves of light spreading from the jewel mingled with the white flower petals fluttering across the ground.

It slowly spread throughout the city and glowed brightly.

Modern apartments, buildings, and buildings have changed.

Guro-gu was transformed into a white city with religious overtones.

my theme.

And the urban theme.

‘faith.’

While I was appreciating the city with eyes unfamiliar to me, a message came to mind.

[The name of Guro-gu, Seoul will be deleted.]

“… Church, teacher!”

Before I could close the message, a familiar voice rang.

“Aaaah! Kyojuniiyim!”

He nodded kindly as he looked at the person who was crying earnestly just by hearing it.

thud-!

“Aaaa—!”

Behind Park Young-ho, who was unable to continue his words and was kneeling in admiration, the faces I wanted to see walked out.

Sanctuary families entered through the gate of salvation.

Among them, Seong Ga-eul’s eyes were busy.

A city with such a neat and beautiful structure that it is hard to believe that it is Guro-gu of the past.

The new two-way door of salvation they entered.

And a huge stone statue of the religious leader perched on the mountain peak.

Tiring—!

[welcome. This is the only city of salvation.]

She flinched at the status message she saw for the first time.

She raised her head in surprise and her gaze fell on a man she had not seen for a long time.

He was smiling brightly at himself.

“Aaaah! Kyojuniiyim! Kyojuniiyim!”

“I believe it! I believe it!”

Below him, the believers who follow him as always.

She let out a light laugh and responded with a smile as she looked at him again.

Fortunately, you are still the same.

[This is your ‘paradise.’]