episode_0357

As we went deeper into the cave, the sound of the waterfall grew distant.

The noise gradually died down and our footsteps created a dull echo.

“I feel a tingling sensation inside my body.”

The damp air seeped deep into my lungs. My nose stung with every breath I took.

The light beads that Gold had placed were floating across the ceiling of the cave, casting a soft golden glow, and the cave, illuminated by that light, was glowing a faint green.

“That’s because the cave is full of toxic gas. Because the gas is heavier than air, a normal person would lose consciousness and collapse as soon as they enter.”

I thought I knew what you meant.

A faint greenish toxic gas lay ankle-high, and occasionally a thicker green fog would snake by.

“You said the boss here was a snake? Judging by the size of the cave, it seems like it’s pretty big.”

The cave was large enough for the three of us to stand side by side.

The ceiling is densely packed with stalactites that resemble sharp teeth, and the walls are shaped like melted candle wax.

“It’s not that big, about 1 meter in diameter and 10 meters long.”

“It seems big enough… … .”

We wandered around the winding cave for several dozen minutes.

We could barely find the snake.

At first, I thought the darkness inside the cave was moving. It was only when the gold orb of light properly illuminated the darkness that I saw the shape of a giant snake.

The head is broad like a king cobra, but it is as big as an adult’s upper body. The scales covering its entire body are like black obsidian, and there is a horn sticking out from its forehead. The eyes are amber with vertically long pupils, and they shine so ominously.

“Oh my… … You don’t look like you want to get close.”

The thickest part of its body was so thick that it would take two adults to hold hands and hug it, and each scale was as big as a human palm. It was also lying face down on the ground, and the ground it touched had melted and turned into slimy mud because of the poison.

The time spent hunting the boss monster wasn’t that long. Gold made a few gestures to bring the boss to the brink of death, and then Sili finished it off.

At the end, Sili opened his mouth, taking out the boss’s poison and internal organs.

“I think it would be better for me to stay in this cave and train to build up my strength.”

“Yeah. That would be good. Even now, the fluid feels like poison… If I drink that much, it’ll get worse.”

Perhaps, just breathing would cause it to emit toxic gases, and like this snake, it would melt everything it touches. If we were to take Sili out of the sinkhole in that state, it would only be uncomfortable in many ways.

“I will return once I can control my body properly.”

“Aren’t you bored? The only thing in this sinkhole is a waterfall and poison.”

“Then… … Please come visit me sometimes. I’ll be training at the entrance to the cave where you can hear the sound of the waterfall.”

“Wow, I’m getting dizzy just thinking about coming down this waterfall again. Okay. I’ll come back after I clear this mission. If I can get there before then, I’ll come.”

We didn’t break up right away, but moved together toward the cave entrance.

And Gold watched for a moment as Sili ingested the poison and absorbed its energy.

Sili was sitting cross-legged and meditating like something out of a martial arts novel. Gold nodded at her. I didn’t really know what was going on, but I nodded along.

With this, I made three people, Aerof, Miho, and Sili, into bosses.

Now there are only two. If only I could make Uni and Lime the sinkhole bosses, this mission would be over.

.

.

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I came home with Gold and took a day off.

Just in case there was any poison left in her body, she washed her body clean, and after Ayoung used her skill to wipe away the dirt a few more times, she hugged Jisoo.

And as usual, I reported on what had happened so far and was briefed on what had happened outside while I was in the sinkhole.

“So the overall atmosphere isn’t all that bad?”

When I put the needle inside Jisoo’s body and asked her, Jisoo nodded and answered.

“If you’re going to judge whether it’s good or bad, it’s on the bad side. There are a lot more people who see my brother as a cult leader.”

“Well… … It’s not completely wrong. I guess there’s nothing I can do.”

“After the sex videos that my brother uploaded on his back account and the images of him happily eating women at a rally were broadcast to the whole world, my brother is just a rare devil among women’s groups because of that.”

“Is the backlash that bad?”

“Still, the believers are working hard to defend my brother.”

I shuddered slightly at the word Shindo.

Jisoo said that while I was going in and out of the sinkhole, the number of believers in the Crusade for Kronos increased significantly.

It started with the vivid experiences of those who shared their physical stats at the last sex gathering, and those who had been kind to me added more flesh to the content.

I heard that this time in particular, Sister Lee Seom also came forward.

When she was young, she was almost raped and suddenly woke up, killing a person for the first time. Since then, she has lived her whole life hating and despising men. She was a nuisance to Radius until she met me by chance, and now she has completely overcome her trauma thanks to me, and she even got pregnant with his child.

Thanks to that, I heard that there are now more people in the hunter community who look at me favorably than those who speak badly of me.

“Starting from the next meeting, I think it would be a good idea to only accept believers in the Crusade for Kronos and give out stats.”

“Then why don’t you just say you believe in that moment and leave? If it were me, I’d just steal the stats and quit.”

“It’s easy to join, but it’s a bit difficult to leave, especially for women.”

That was another story I heard for the first time.

Originally, there was no separate procedure for ‘joining’ religion.

If you want to believe in Buddhism, go to a temple and bow. If you want to believe in Christianity, go to a church and pray. If you want to believe in Catholicism, go to a cathedral and attend mass.

The same goes for quitting. If you just stop going to that place, that’s the end of it.

“The female believers receive the lewd priestly attire and take identification photos. The photos are then posted on the official website of the Church of Kronos.”

“A public execution? … … ”

“In order to withdraw, you must visit the headquarters of the church, write a withdrawal application by hand, and have an interview with Sister Hyejeong. The entire process will be filmed and uploaded to YouTube.”

“It doesn’t mean I’m at a disadvantage or anything, right?”

“The only disadvantages are that I can’t rejoin the Chronos Church for 3 years and I can’t receive stats for 10 years? Oh, and having to keep hearing warm words of support and encouragement from the believers of the Chronos Church is also a disadvantage, if that’s what it is.”

Jisoo showed me the official Kronos Church Nutview channel, saying that seeing once is better than hearing a hundred times.

Inside the screen, a woman who looked slightly frightened was sitting on the sofa. She was holding a piece of paper in her hand, and her eyes were focused on the paper, so it seemed as if she was going to read through what was written on it.

“Do I really have to do this?”

“Yes. If you read everything, your withdrawal process will be complete. Then, we will give you a small consolation prize and remove you from the Chronos Church list. We will also delete your ID photos posted on the Internet. However, please keep in mind that we will delete this video on the day you re-enter our church. ”

The woman closed her eyes tightly and opened her mouth.

“My name is Ahn Yu-hwa. I am twenty-one years old… …. My father is Kim… ….”

The woman who identified herself as Yuhwa briefly introduced herself and went on to explain why she joined the Kronos Church and why she was leaving.

“Get out of that cult around you quickly… … If a woman goes there, she will end up becoming a sex slave and will only lose her body… … There are a lot of stories like that… ”

Although Hye-jeong said many things that were difficult to hear, Hye-jeong did not cut them off.

I just listened quietly so that I could say everything freely.

And once the reading was over, the video ended.

“Still, it seems like leaving is pretty free. That’s fortunate. At this rate, I won’t be called a crazy cult member.”

“Brother. Please read the comments too.”

“Comment?”

I scrolled through the screen and checked all the comments below.

– Cheer up, sister!

– The envy and jealousy of the world have blinded your eyes and ears.

– It’s okay. Someday, I’ll end my wandering and come back.

– Are there any believers who would like to pray together in front of An Yu-hwa’s house today? In order not to be rude, I will just pray quietly and leave.

– Thank you so much to everyone who participated in the dawn prayer for Yuhwa!

– It was good to be able to pray for Kronos, for Jiham, and for our wandering believers.

– Oh. I’m jealous. If I hadn’t been on a business trip, I would have definitely participated. Those who participated in the good deed, please make sure to share your stats at the next gathering.

– I am a delivery man who delivers food to Yuhwa’s house. I thought it was fate that I ended up delivering to that house, so I wrote a letter of encouragement as if I was possessed by something and left it with her.

“Crazy… … … . What… is all this?”

There was not a single person who cursed me for leaving the Cronus religion.

They were just looking at Yu-hwa with pity and forcing each other to give her warm and heavy love so that she could return to the embrace of the Gronos Church.

“I told you. In some ways, this is disadvantageous. I think everyone thinks that if they do good deeds, they will be chosen at the next meeting.”

Didn’t they say that a place makes a person?

Even though I didn’t want to do anything shady, it seemed like something sinister was already happening somewhere I didn’t know about.