The underground bunker of the cult.
Dinner time, with the initiates sitting around together.
A voice rang out in the silence.
"Wow."
...
"Wow, this is amazing."
One of the ghost stories of the Church of Luminous Unknown wad looking at me.
"Only the Dragon came?"
Smiling brightly. Turning their gaze to the two empty seats beside me.
"The fox and Grandma Kim Bokja aren't here, only the Dragon."
...
"Hey. Why do you think those two couldn't make it?"
>Hypothesis: Mild forgetfulness.
>Reason: Natural aging.
"Are you teasing the fox for being older than you? Hahahahaha!"
Laughter spread through the dining hall.
"Don't worry! They're both fine. We made an exception because they seemed to want to go on a field trip."
Field trip.
[Oh dear, I suppose we've been found out.]
Perhaps.
I tried not to imagine what kind of situation they were in in an overly 'imaginative direction.'
But then.
"So, do you want to continue eating, or go see those them?"
…Ha.
>Rule: Breakfast and dinner are eaten together by everyone.
"That's right! But you're not an initiate, are you? So you're an exception."
...
"Come on, follow us! We'll show you. The others can continue eating"
"Yes."
The others nodded with smiles, then resumed their meal, talking to each other about things like 'Let us share happiness' and ‘Ireum-Nima’s gaze’. As if nothing was odd.
I got up from my seat, pulling my smoke tightly around me, and followed the twins as they walked... Listing the worst-case scenarios in my head.
'As long as the Assistant Manager isn't dead.'
And as long as Ho Yuwon didn't abandon me and run off, anything else would be fine.
The possibility of that is slim. I should remember that...
The twins left the dining hall, which was located to the east, and walked down a dark, cement-finished corridor to the place I expected.
A giant central chamber.
The place where the rituals were held.
And...
"There it is."
Among the many coffins, they pointed behind one leaning against the wall.
"Want to go in?"
The older sister was smiling broadly, and the brother had a blank expression.
After seeing their obvious yet unsettling appearances, I drew out thick smoke and sent it into the space behind the coffin.
Inside—
"Ah. You've arrived."
…Ho Yuwon, perfectly fine, and Assistant Manager Eun Haje still disguised as Grandma Kim Bokja, casually leaning against the wall.
For now, both of them seemed intact.
'Phew.'
I caught Assistant Manager Eun Haje's subtle glance and slowly stepped into the space.
It was...
'...Industrial equipment?'
It looked like some kind of facility.
The size was not as overwhelming as the main hall, but it was large enough, slightly bigger than the dining hall, with pipes and machine noises humming everywhere.
It looked like a compressed version of an old, worn-out factory implemented as a small facility.
[Indeed! A bunker equipped with production facilities.]
[Preppers sometimes build underground bunkers not just for simple shelter, but with long-term living in mind! This is a prime example!]
Steam was being emitted from the installed pipes. I detected the smell of disinfectant lingering in the air.
"Isn't it magnificent?"
I turned my head.
The twins were now standing inside this space.
Both of them were smiling.
"Curious about what we're making?"
...
"Ask. Go on. The fox who came before you already saw."
I looked at Ho Yuwon.
He glanced at the facility and said with a smile.
"It's a place where they brew alcohol."
...
...!!
"That's right. Ding!"
As the twins moved aside, the view they were blocking was revealed...
A giant container.
As tall as two grown adults, broad and square.
However, instead of ceramic, it was a large industrial water tank that looked like cheap plastic.
And I realized.
The smell lingering in the air wasn't disinfectant.
It was the smell of alcohol.
Raw spirit coming from that tank.
"What do you think? Isn't it cool?"
Right here, underneath where Jisan Village’s guardian shrine once stood...
They had rebuilt the brewing vat.
Exactly as before.
"Right here, in this very spot. Long ago, there used to be a festival where they drank alcohol brewed by the Mimicry Sect using the Church’s centipede. They say everyone heard Ireum-nim's voice there and saw their happy ending."
...
"But someone stole all the alcohol. They say even the centipede was completely taken. So someone has to refill it, right? We're going to give it a try!"
Wait a minute.
Then what are they planning to put in place of the centipede ...
"We thought about making alcohol from a Dragon or Fox, you know."
...!
"Ah, but you two aren't initiates! So that won't do."
That’s.
"If the alcohol is to have the effect of awakening Ireum-nim… shouldn't we brew it with the devout and miraculous authority of the Church of the Luminous Unknown?"
Authority.
The language of the Church of the Luminous Unknown for ghost stories.
"So we've prepared the Authority. Ah, here come the participants."
Footsteps could be heard behind us.
The footsteps of dozens of people, echoing through the vast hollow chamber.
"Congratulations on completing the initiation ceremony!"
...
I turned my head.
Beyond the entrance.
The initiates, having finished their dinner, were standing there.
Those at the front, lined up before the coffins, standing perfectly still.
Without making a sound, they looked inside with knowing smiles.
A strange sense of unity.
As I examined their faces...
...
Wait a minute.
>Question:
"Hmm? Roe Deer-nim, how many times have I told you it's not your turn to ask a question..."
>Question: Whether the restriction for Entity 130666's facial recognition impairment (mosaic) has been lifted.
"…You're saying strange things."
Ho Yuwon declared.
"I've never tampered with your restrictions, you know…"
...
Then.
Why are everyone's faces clearly visible?
From the first day, I hadn't seen anyone's face in this underground bunker as a mosaic or a melting mass.
I simply accepted it as it was. Because I had briefly left Daydream Inc., because I was accompanying Director Ho, and because of his words, 'Gain freedom for a while.'
I had accepted it naturally.
And so, now I am facing it.
The truth I missed.
"Let us spread happiness!"
The initiates' mouths opened, reciting their fixed lines.
I saw inside.
Inside their mouths.
What moved there as they pronounced the words...
It was not a tongue, but something else.
"Let us share happiness."
Bugs.
Red, fleshy mass resembling a tongue, a worm-like creature moving in their mouths instead of a tongue. Its movement was natural and skillful, as if it had completely replaced the function of a tongue, but at the tip of its mouth opened and tiny teeth were revealed.
"Oh, did you see? Isn't it cool? That Authority, you see. It's said to be a fear derived from fish parasites. It attaches to the root of the tongue, eating away at it, and replacing it. And..."
The whisper of the Happy Ending Sect.
"It spreads quickly …just by talking during a meal is enough."
And so I realized.
How arrogant my casually thrown, sarcastic question had been.
-‘No, how can they possibly form a sense of unity?’
How arrogant I had been.
Reality is not a wiki.
Just because the settings revealed on a wiki looked childish doesn't mean the situation lacks plausibility.
How superficially I viewed this situation.
In reality, phenomena always have mechanisms, reasons and a foundation.
Just because I didn’t know them doesn’t mean they’re not there.
-‘The little details that make this absurd situation possible.’
There were there.
-‘Some small symbol only they share.’
There it was.
'Ghost stories.'
All the initiates were contaminated by the same ghost story. That's why I could see their faces.
And that ghost story...
"Isn't it amazing?"
Is not one that I know.
I know almost nothing about what ghost stories the Happy Ending Sect uses as Authority. Only the big, impressive, wiki-registered ones.
…Would it even be helpful to read them now?
To try and analyze this insane situation around me, where the tongues of the initiates have all been replaced by parasites, and these parasites are probably controlling everyone's thinking and cognitive abilities...
[Oh, Friend. There's an idea you've overlooked.]
What?
[If it's all initiates, isn't there one person we haven't checked yet?]
'...!'
I stiffly turned my head.
Assistant Manager Eun Haje.
Her face, as I met her gaze, was perfectly clear, no mosaic, no blur…just like it was on the first day.
...
Smoke rose around me.
>Recommendation: Tongue inspection.
However.
"Ah. No need. Falcon-nim's tongue is fine."
Ah.
"Falcon-nim is already infected, so other parasites can't enter."
Wait a minute.
I made eye contact with Ho Yuwon, but there was no time to argue.
Because.
"Done with the talking? Then now… the initiation ceremony is over, so it's time to work."
The twins raised both hands high.
"Everyone, get into position!"
The people moved.
The initiates, still in line, entered the facility without hesitation. And...
They passed by me lightly, and advanced.
Further inside.
Walking onto the pipes and the walkways of facility equipment at a constant speed, as if on a conveyor belt, they went up...
And threw themselves in.
Splash, splash, splash!
People started plunging into the potent liquor.
'…!!'
With a clear and almost cheerful sound, they disappeared into the cheap white plastic tanks. They sank. The sound of splashing continued without interruption.
"It's going to be a great liquor, don't you think?."
Contaminating dozens of people with ghost stories, turning them into something less than human, and brewing liquor with them.
…Instead of the Centipede, the entire group of initiates became the ingredients.
That was the purpose of this initiation ceremony, and why the underground bunker was built here.
"Isn't it cool?"
...
A shiver ran down my spine.
"When it's finished, you should drink it too. Drink, and know Ireum-nim."
And then I realized that one more emotion had returned to me, something sharp and undeniable.
That was...
>Already known entity: Ireum-nim.
Revulsion.
"Hmm?"
>Doctrine of the Church of the Luminous Unknown:
>This world belongs to Ireum-nim. Only Ireum-nim’s will and choices have meaning.
"That's right! That's it!"
Is that right?
But in truth, they don't know.
Do they know the absurd truth behind this doctrine?
That truth is actually...
Ireum-nim
A being worshipped by The Church of Luminous Unknown, a pseudo-religious group appearing in <Dark Exploration Records>. According to the cult’s doctrine, it is said that only this being’s will and choices have meaning in this world.
In reality, its identity is [Spoiler].
The content that appears when you click on the spoiler.
The author(s) of the <Dark Exploration Records> wiki.
It's simple.
The wiki was initially structured following the format of a typical website. So when you submitted a wiki entry, a [Name] box appeared.
However, since anonymity was the basic rule, people left the [Name] box untouched.
Thus, when the contributor uploaded the ghost story as is… this is what it would say.
Author: Name(Ireum)
This format.
And so, all wiki pages ended up labeled this way, with 'Author: Name.'
The Church of the Luminous Unknown initially started as a small meta-ghost story built on this joke.
It was just a playful, chilling concept about transcending the fourth wall, where the characters in ghost stories become aware of their author.
But as countless people contributed, the idea spiraled and grew, feeding on itself until it eventually became a massive religious organization.
The Church of the Luminous Unknown has mistaken this 'Author: Name' designation for a great divine being and now worships it.
…Just like a real cult.
And what does this mean?
>According to the doctrine of the Church of the Luminous Unknown, there is a contradiction from its very origins.
>The Happy Ending Sect.
In fact, the Happy Ending Sect was born carrying a fundamental setting error.
"…Huh?"
Do you perhaps remember? What I had said before.
After facing the people of Jisan Village, and the Centipede shrine.
-“Those who are too weak to accept this truth may seek escape through death, but that is not true salvation.”
That's right.
>Death is not an escape.
>You cannot escape Ireum-nim.
"Th-that's."
>Therefore, death
>Cannot be happiness.
>Cannot be an ending.
It means there is no such thing as a Happy Ending.
Killing people under that pretense is also-
>A doctrinal contradiction.
>A meaningless act.
"..."
The Happy Ending Sect official fell silent.
Her smile was gone, her face still, beneath the red headband, and the worn school uniform.
A face devoid of life.
I suddenly realized that face was not as young as I thought...
And then.
"Does that matter?"
…!!
"Isn't this cult-like enough? People dying meaninglessly, the whole thing being a misunderstanding… it's something Ireum-nim would surely notice. We're doing well."
Splash, splash.
"That's right. Right now, a hundred people are jumping into the liquor, but if it's all just a pointless death, if the Happy Ending Sect itself is a joke, then isn’t that just fun?"
Something felt wrong.
This wasn’t the dull, performative kind of madness you see in ghost stories or horror films. Nor was it some forced ‘Aren't I scary?’ hysteria.
No.
It was real.
So this was...
"Unique, fun, with a twist. Isn’t it entertaining?."
Terror.
I looked at the twins, their faces of those good-looking teenagers in school uniforms. A look so contrived it felt artificial.
An appearance that felt so desperate… so deliberate in its personality.
"Ireum-nim would like it, right?"
...
"Ireum-nim would like it so much…He’d want to watch it longer, wouldn’t he?"
And I realized.
They already knew.
It wasn't ignorance.
What I had seen on the wiki, there's only baseless cruelty, shallow and unpleasant shocks, personality built by collecting fragmented, unpleasant stimuli.
But reality was different.
It's just that to them...
"Then that's enough."
Ireum-nim was fear itself.
The reason ghost stories spread throughout the world is because of Ireum-nim's will.
They know that.
Therefore, the only thing to do was to act in a way that best suits His taste. Committing senseless acts, staging things for amusement, doing cruel things, creating grotesque situations.
Trying to act in accordance with that taste.
"That is enough."
That was the true nature of the Happy Ending Sect.
TL Notes:-
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