Chapter 92
What gave them the confidence to sell my name and deceive people?
Then again, they probably never imagined I would appear right before their eyes.
If my acquaintances hadn't been involved, I wouldn't have even known about this kind of Cult, and I wouldn't be here doing this.
"Person123...! Please save us!"
Someone shouted in a deeply moved voice.
Several people cried out my name like that.
- Yes, this is how it should be. You can just kill the Cult Leader and take over the Church.
Ma-Wang's voice was heard.
Of course, I wasn't putting on this whole show to do that.
I looked over to where Older Sister Jiwu was.
Like the others, my older sister was also lying face down without moving a muscle.
I hoped this would finally bring her to her senses.
"Your Cult Leader is a fake."
As I opened my mouth, the chapel fell silent again.
People raised their heads one by one and stared in this direction with blank eyes.
"It's all just a cult trying to deceive and exploit you, claiming they will save you by bringing up my name and saying you have to pay money or offer prayers. I have never wished for such things."
The atmosphere grew restless.
One person asked with a deeply shocked expression.
"In the end, the world will be destroyed... and Person123 will only save a small number of believers..."
I cut them off and spoke.
"It's all nonsense."
"..."
"There is no such thing as only those who believe in me being saved. I am just a human like you all, and merely a climber extending the Nightmare Difficulty Deadline. I am not an object of worship."
Normally, trying to persuade people who have fallen into a Cult with words wouldn't work.
But they wouldn't be able to ignore this.
Because I, the very person they worshipped, was directly denying it.
"So everyone, please go back home now."
I said while looking around at the people.
"I will do my best until the end to prevent the destruction of the world, so please live your normal daily lives. And do not fall for this kind of cult again. That is my only wish."
When I made a gesture for them to stand up, the people hesitantly raised their bodies.
A moment later, people began to leave the Chapel one by one.
However, there were still many more people just staring at me in a daze...
"Please hurry and go."
Only after I said it one more time did the remaining people leave the Chapel.
Older Sister Jiwu also went outside while continuously looking back in this direction.
'Phew...'
“This should be enough to bring her to her senses, right?”
“I hope she stops causing trouble for the people around her and lives well.”
- I truly cannot understand.
Ma-Wang's voice was heard.
- Why do you refuse reverence and worship? You could just gather all these lowly creatures and multiply your followers even more.
Ma-Wang's scolding is practically half of my daily routine now.
He didn't even seem to get tired of constantly bossing me around when it wasn't even his own body.
- It's frustrating to watch, you lowly creature.
I ignored him and looked to the side.
The cult leader, who had been sneaking glances and trying to crawl down below the dais, froze upon receiving my gaze.
"You need to stay. Where are you going?"
"..."
I gestured to the prosecutor who was standing near the entrance of the chapel, blankly watching the situation.
Since I had sent all the people away, it was time to clean things up.
I made the Cult Leader and the high priests all kneel side by side on the Dais.
"...I-I was only trying to preach your greatness to the people..."
The Cult Leader flapped his trap.
When I stared at him quietly, he lowered his gaze and shut his mouth.
"From what I heard you say, it seems some high-ranking people are involved."
My original goal had been achieved, and the Cheonin Church wouldn't be able to maintain its organization anymore, even like this.
But since things had come to this, I planned to root them out completely as far as I could.
"Tell me. Who else is behind you?"
The Cult Leader and the High Priests only exchanged glances and didn't open their mouths.
The Prosecutor spoke up for them.
"There is a high probability that the Climbers' Association is also involved."
...The Climbers' Association?
Why is the Association coming up here?
The Cult Leader and the High Priests still kept their mouths tightly shut.
It seemed they had no intention of confessing obediently.
- I will make them confess everything in three seconds. Hand your body over to me.
I lightly ignored him.
I pointed my finger at the hole pierced in the ceiling of the chapel.
"If you're going to be this uncooperative, the second one won't miss."
"..."
They would think that I really could kill them.
It wasn't a brag, but the fact that I had already killed two people with the Line of Destruction was well-known.
When I pressured him by even leaking killing intent, the Cult Leader finally turned pale white and opened his mouth.
"W-We... were just following orders..."
"So whose orders?"
"The Deputy Branch Manager of the Korean Climbers' Association!"
After that, the Cult Leader spilled everything one after another.
I suppose you could call it quite a shock...
The one behind the Cheonin Church was the Deputy Branch Manager of the Korean Branch of the Climber's Association.
And a heavyweight member of parliament whose name every person in the Republic of Korea knew, along with several other politicians including him.
According to the more detailed inside story, this Cheonin Church was an organization proactively planned and established by that bastard of a Deputy Branch Manager from the very beginning.
The purpose was naturally money and the formation of their own secret cartel.
The Cult Leader wasn't the head, but merely the tail who received directives from the Deputy Branch Manager and diligently gathered Followers.
The political circles were accomplices who received money from them and provided various forms of help.
I ordered the Cult Leader to bring all the evidence.
The Prosecutor examined the bribery ledger contained in the cult leader's laptop, as well as the exchanged emails, right on the spot.
The more he checked, the stiffer the Prosecutor's expression became.
"This is beyond imagination. To think it would be of this scale..."
It had only been a few years since I cleared the Nightmare 1st Floor.
Did they establish a cult organization of this size in just those few short years?
Even in a world where no one knows if the World will be destroyed even a year from now or not, do people really want to covet money and power to this extent...
It was a truly sickening fact.
"Will you be able to round them all up?"
When I asked, the Prosecutor answered with a grave face.
"I will do my best. But there are more heavyweights involved than I thought... To be honest, I don't know how far I'll be able to go... I'm sorry."
He was saying that even with evidence, it wouldn't be easy.
I nodded my head.
"Then I'll help you."
Who knows how many more cult organizations there might be besides this Cheonin Church.
I felt that I needed to suppress them once and for all while I was at it anyway.
I turned on the Communication Window.
* * *
Person123 posted the 6th Floor Information.
Not long after, he rarely posted another message.
[Person123: I recently discovered a cult organization called the Cheonin Church that is using my name. The figures behind this organization are the Deputy Branch Manager of the Korean Branch of the Climber's Association Ji-Hun Kim, National Assembly member Gyu-Ho Baek, Park Tae-Min...]
A post targeting a Cult Organization called the Cheonin Church.
And it involves listing the names of the involved figures one after another.
[Person123: ...If there are any religious groups forcing money and faith using my name, please be aware that they are all just cults. Furthermore, regarding the Cheonin Church matter, I look forward to the involved parties being definitively punished.]
The Republic of Korea was completely turned upside down.
- Person123: a sharp rebuke towards the Person123 Church...
- What is the true identity of the Cheonin Church? The Deputy Branch Manager has no stance as of yet...
- Political circles in chaos, boiling public opinion...
The Salvation Church, a mainstream denomination of the Person123 Church.
Startled as if burned by fire, they were the first to react.
"...Person123! It is not us! Our Humanity Salvation Hope Society has not forced the faith and money of our Believers in the slightest!"
It was to appeal for their innocence and devotion.
From the beginning, they had maintained the stance of denying all other Person123 Church denominations besides themselves, calling them all cults.
Not long after Person123's post went up, the President of the Salvation Church immediately held a live broadcast to denounce the Cheonin Church and cried out at the top of his lungs that they were absolutely not a Cult like the Cheonin Church.
He also announced that they would conduct a massive audit of all Salvation Church branches and foundations worldwide, starting from this very moment.
In truth, the ones who really had a fire lit under their feet were the Climbers' Association.
A situation where Person123 himself had directly proclaimed that the Deputy Branch Manager of the Association's Korean Branch was the mastermind behind the Cult Organization selling Person123's name.
The Association President expressed his stance even faster than the Korean Branch did.
"...We hope the Korean Branch will convene a board of directors meeting to immediately strip Deputy Branch Manager Kim Ji-Hun of his position. Depending on the circumstances, headquarters is even considering the revocation of authority for the Korean Branch..."
It was pressure on the Korean Branch to drag Deputy Branch Manager Kim Ji-Hun down right away.
In Korea, a hasty investigation had just begun, but how could one remain neutral until accurate results came out?
The Association Headquarters had no such thing.
After all, it was a matter that Person123 had personally stepped into.
They had to draw a line faster than anyone else, stating that the Climber's Association was completely unrelated to this incident and that it was solely the unilateral misconduct within the Korean Branch.
The Association also announced that, like the Salvation Church, it would conduct a full audit of all branches worldwide.
"...Fuck."
Deputy Branch Manager Kim Ji-Hun's residence.
Kim Ji-Hun watched the news flowing from the TV with a haggard face.
Just why... did it turn out like this?
His dreams had been grand.
They are expanding underground forces using the Cheonin Church, actively co-opting political circles, and forming the largest Cartel in the Republic of Korea.
In fact, it had been progressing very smoothly up until just a few days ago.
With just one post uploaded by Person123, it all came crashing down.
If he had only targeted the Cheonin Church, they could have at least resorted to scapegoating, but the situation was that he had completely nailed down even the involved parties.
Bang, bang, bang—
- Mr. Kim Ji-Hun, it's the prosecution!
Listening to the sound of the front door being pounded, Kim Ji-Hun let out a hollow chuckle.
The one point of comfort was that all the other houses were also going down in flames.
For Baek Gyu-Ho, even if that Yangban was a worn-out old monster in the political arena, it was impossible this time.
The opponent was a figure no different from a sacred sanctuary against whom a public opinion war was entirely impossible.
Member of Parliament Baek Gyu-Ho's office.
"Damn it, goddamn it...!"
Baek Gyu-Ho hurled his telephone with bloodshot red eyes.
He was a Six-term National Assembly Member of the Republic of Korea and a living embodiment of power in the current political circles.
That power was on the verge of collapsing like a sandcastle.
In the Prosecution, a bastard named Prosecutor Tae-Seong Lee was ruthlessly directing the investigation, public opinion was raging, and as if that wasn't enough, international pressure was pouring in from national governments.
Even China, for whatever reason it had lost its mind, was threatening that if the involved parties weren't punished immediately, it would take appropriate measures itself, by bringing up raw material export controls and tariffs.
There was no one to take his side. He was completely isolated.
Far from anyone taking his side, pressure to resign voluntarily was coming in from all directions. The National Assembly understood the prevailing sentiment and went into scapegoating.
Public Opinion was boiling day by day, and above all, since Person123 had directly nailed down that he looked forward to the punishment of the involved parties, it was an issue in which the aftermath would be unmanageable if they tried to gloss over it. The National Assembly could truly be turned completely upside down.
After his resignation, the investigation would proceed at lightning speed, and naturally, a cold prison was the place Baek Gyu-Ho would be heading to.
He had absolutely no intention of falling obediently. At least, not alone.
"These fucking bastards... You're all going to feign ignorance, is that it?"
Having survived for a long time in the political arena, he also knew many shameful secrets.
Baek Gyu-Ho planned to make a grand spectacle and self-destruct together with everyone.
*At that moment, a knock was heard.*
"Excuse us, Assemblyman."
The guests who had come without warning were two people: the Director of National Intelligence and the Climbing Department head.
The Director of National Intelligence spoke to Baek Gyu-Ho-Ho, who had a venomous expression, as if delivering a sentence.
"Do not do it."
"...Do what?"
"I am telling you not to do what you are thinking of right now. Resign quietly."
It was obvious what a cornered Baek Gyu-Ho would do.
Baek Gyu-Ho let out a cackling laugh.
"You have to give a cornered rat an escape route, or it will lash out. Isn't that right? For whose benefit would I die alone?"
The Climbing Department Head opened his mouth.
"It's not like you are actually going to die, are you?"
"...What did you say?"
"The mouse hole is already open. Resign obediently and at least save your life."
Realizing it was a threat to his life, Baek Gyu-Ho stiffened, his face growing pale.
"A-Are you threatening me right now...? You're saying you'll kill a Member of Parliament of the Republic of Korea?"
The Climbing Department Head made a tired expression.
"What can we do? The situation has turned out like this. Please understand that we have no other way either."
Because Person123 wanted it, Baek Gyu-Ho absolutely had to be punished, and if Baek Gyu-Ho went crazy and ran wild, the Political Circles of the Republic of Korea would be turned upside down to an unmanageable degree.
Silencing him with death was also one of the options.
"...Who ordered this?"
There was no answer.
There was no need to ask. It wasn't important either.
In any case, everyone except the parties involved would have implicitly agreed to this, or even if they didn't know, they would turn a blind eye.
Having completely realized his situation, Baek Gyu-Ho slumped down into his chair in despair.