Fear.
Terror.
Feelings once familiar to me were surfacing at the words of The Happy Ending Sect twins.
Even though I can no longer feel them now, I knew what they felt like, that shocking realization made me feel endlessly cold.
'They’re afraid of Ireum-nim.'
So they are doing all this to appease the wiki authors’ whims?
The entire Happy Ending Sect?
[Oh dear, but merely appeasing the audience is the work of amateurs! A true entertainer must have their own vision!]
Yet it only makes it feel even more desperate.
The desperation of being forced to do something you don't want to do.
Especially the more horrific the task was.
Crushed by an uncertain and malicious divine being, a struggle to escape its malice.
'Who's fault… is this?'
In the first place, if this whole world turned out like this because the wiki authors wrote it that way, then the answer is no, but if you think about it that way, the ghost story creators just wrote stories too.
Who on earth ever thinks the ghost stories they wrote will actually exist?
How should I accept this? How should I act in this situation?
Splash, splash.
Even amidst this, the sound of human bodies falling into the alcoholic liquid did not stop.
The initiates of the Happy Ending Sect, contaminated by ghost stories, lining up and jumping into the alcohol.
A mad sight.
"Come on, let's brew some liquor!"
The girl playing the role of the twin sister had, by now, put away her desperate demeanor and was once again shouting cheerfully.
"What fun do you think we’ll have with this alcohol? Aren't you excited?"
It felt like I couldn't breathe...
"Nope."
…!
"Wow. A cult being a cult."
I turned my head.
Assistant Manager Eun Haje was there with a bored, unimpressed look.
'Assistant Manager?'
"Deceiving laypeople to exploit them to the bone, then going off and talking a different line themselves. The epitome of a cult, aren’t you?"
Assistant Manager Eun Haje took a step forward.
"And the way you rely on others for your own standards of judgment, too."
...
"Roe. There's always a reason behind a grave."
The reporter who had once succeeded in her revenge stared at the cultists who had revealed their terror.
"Sure, I can understand feeling pity for them, thinking of them as victims brainwashed by a cult, but…"
Assistant Manager Eun Haje pointed.
To this underground bunker, the place where dozens had already died and are still dying right now behind us.
"We must not lose sight of the situation."
I realized.
Assistant Manager Eun Haje doesn't know the deeper implied meaning of the twins' words, the details I had pieced together.
She doesn't know about the Happy Ending Sect and Ireum-nim's relationship, or about the wiki.
But because she isn't lost in the details, she can point out things more clearly.
The essence.
"They are killing people right now for their own pleasure."
And I knew there are people who, even if they were under a similar environment, would never make such a choice.
...
My head cleared a little.
But still...
'Was there really a need to provoke them so openly...?'
I looked back at the twins.
The smiling heads slowly turned toward to Assistant Manager Eun Haje, who was in her Grandma disguise.
Creak.
"You're not really Grandma, are you?"
...
Damn it.
"I knew it, then I'll let you taste the alcohol first! Let's drink and know Ireum-nim, let’s see the Happy Ending."
"After getting exposed, you're still pushing that? Ah, Roe. There's no need for that."
I immediately stood between the twins and Assistant Manager Eun Haje, but she just shook her head.
"We've stalled long enough."
Craaaaack.
The sound of something splitting.
And then...
CRASH!
Water poured out with an explosive noise from the white body made of cheap plastic, not thick pottery.
The vat used to brew alcohol shattered open.
'…!'
Human bodies and parasites inside spilled out across the floor.
As more of the remaining living people threw themselves up into the air, I quickly caught them with fog, sweeping them roughly aside, while simultaneously checking that Assistant Manager Eun Haje was safe.
She quickly shot me a look, as if intending to escape amidst the chaos, but...
"Wow. It explodes well."
Ho Yuwon walked out.
In his hand was an empty vial.
'Explosion D-grade.'
…A Daydream Inc. potion.
The company director smiled faintly.
"No matter how much fun you have, leaving suspicious individuals unattended in such a critical place… your judgment is quite regrettable. Isn't that why such things happen? Seoyu-ssi, Seobin-ssi."
The twin officials stared blankly.
At the half-shattered alcohol vat, at the ones afflicted with the Nine-tailed Fox Disease.
"Ah, please don't misunderstand. It wasn't me who did this, it was the grandma over here… I just happened to pick up this empty bottle, that’s all."
“Ha.”
"Anyway… judging by your actions, you seem to feel fear towards the unknown… Well then—"
Joy appeared in Ho Yuwon's eyes as he looked at the twins.
The joy of one who has figured something out.
"Your identity. You’re still human, aren't you?"
The conduction for the binding was set.
The plague drew near.
"Would you grant me just one promise?"
And the twins, who had been staring blankly...
Smiled brightly.
"Hey, why don’t we just turn this entire space into one giant brewing vat?"
"That’s a good idea."
What?
"You go gather the initiates. I'll tell the dragon and the fox about Ireum-nim right here! Let's brew the Dragon and the Fox into alcohol too."
"Okay."
[They've chosen a frontal assault. Oh, we’re about to see a bloody and terrifying pandemonium unfold...]
[If any initiates manage to escape, it could become a quite entertaining ghost story! Liquor, a cult, and the fox plague, oh what a mix!]
Ho Yuwon, who was trying to bind the officials with a ban and turn them into puppets to extract information, while the officials of the Happy Ending Sect were planning to throw us into the brewing alcohol.
The problem was, I was caught right in the middle of this clash.
Ho Yuwon had naturally dragged me into his own mess.
"Then let’s start with the dragon!"
Lee Seoyu's head flew off.
It drew a long red trajectory, rolling on the alcohol-soaked floor, and strange flickers of red fabric-like shimmered faintly around it, projecting...
'Damn it.'
And the sparks of this madness could hit anyone.
Even Assistant Manager Eun Haje.
'No.'
Then.
…I lunged and ended up grabbing the rolling head first.
"Huh? Huh?"
The head grinned widely, trying to swallow me whole.
But I covered it with smoke first.
And then I r…ead...
Lee Seoyu
Real name: Lee Yun-seon. A 5th-rank Authority user belonging to the Happy Ending Sect, one of their Death Producers.
Using this Authority, she reconstructed her own name and persona to appear suitable for the Happy Ending Sect, driven at the core by fear.
One who fled from ■■■■■. She joined the Church of the Luminous Unknown through the teachings of the Mimicry Sect, but felt madness and fear towards those teachings and swallowed the scriptures of the Happy Ending Sect instead.
Contaminated by a total of seven ghost stories, and among them, the one she can skillfully use is the body dismembering ■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■.
I Endure.
'Not to erase, but to put a burden on the opponent until they can’t hold themselves.'
Endure.
I hold on.
'I've done this to Ho Yuwon too.'
Endure.
'Bear it.'
But…wait.
What was it to endure? Why did I have to bear it? What does it feel like to question that, what is feeling, andwhyamI?doingthis Ineedtogobacktotheisolationroomand.
"What is this, what, uh, familiar, uh, some kind of■■■■■■■■■."
The voice faded out, leaving behind something like a dying scream.
"Ireum-nim?"
...
I released my smoke.
The head rolled on the floor.
Lee Seoyu's body, separated from the head, collapsed over there, and my brain felt like it was also being crushed.
My mind clumsy and numb, barely functioning...
[Oh dear. Let's shake our head a little, Mr. Roe Deer.]
Head?
...
Bell chimes.
Chimes, ringing.
It pieces me back together.
Jingle.
I took a deep breath and snapped back to my senses.
'Thank you.'
[Think nothing of it, Friend!]
Ho Yuwon clapped his hands beside me.
"Wow. You're really fast!"
...
I ignored Ho Yuwon and looked at Assistant Manager Eun Haje.
"Let's go."
Yes.
>I know where the exit is.
We just need to go.
"Immediately."
Assistant Manager Eun Haje, who was already standing near the exit, darted into action.
We slipped out from behind the coffins.
Kicking aside the strong alcohol, which had begun to flood the central chamber, pushing through all the way to the far end.
Soon, footsteps matched mine. Ho Yuwon was running alongside me.
That was expected, of course, but still...
"He’s following."
The twin younger brother.
The one who had been standing there, blinking as if unable to comprehend the situation, was walking towards us, leaving his sister behind.
Ripples spread across the surface of the liquid pooled in the Chamber.
...
'We need to subdue him.'
It can't be helped.
I've used it once already, using it one more time won’t hurt.
'And if I report it to the Disaster Management Bureau...'
The initiates will also be handled.
And the Bureau would gain valuable intel from this. With that decision, I turned my body to face him.
Of course, he won't go down easily either.
'I think he was tied to some serial-killer ghost story.'
…the sound of gasping breath could be heard from somewhere.
The twin younger brother had almost reached the center of the chamber.
He was passing by the black box that processed corpses, and with his steps, a corpse drowned in alcohol was pushed, bumping into the box.
At that moment.
Thump.
One of the alcohol-soaked boxes opened on its own.
A number was displayed on the lid.
三
...
Wait a minute.
[Oh, is something special happening, Mr. Roe Deer?]
"How far is he going… huh?"
The one playing the role of the twin younger brother turned his head just as he stepped in front of the box.
And disappeared.
As if it were a lie.
"..."
Then.
三
二
From the open space of the pitch-black box, from the black void where nothing could be seen, two hands emerged.
The palms were placed on the floor, facing upwards.
...
Ah.
>Escape.
I grabbed Assistant Manager Eun Haje and bolted for the exit.
"Roe?!"
I knew what that box was.
That's...
'It's not something from the Happy Ending Sect.'
A product far older than that.
A remnant from the early ghost stories that were once posted on the wiki back when the Church of the Luminous Unknown was just beginning.
A story that often appeared at the top with overwhelming recommendations.
The Quota Worship ghost story.
Ascetic in the Box.
No good.
In the early days of the Church of the Luminous Unknown, many sought to grasp the true meaning of this world. Among them, a few devout individuals chose the path of long and arduous meditation and asceticism.
To suppress their madness, they sealed themselves within temple bells, attempting to maintain a clear mind without drugs or hallucinogens, relying solely on the intense pain caused by the striking of the bell.
Several years passed in that state.
Only one of the dozens of bells contained a surviving member, and that person finally declared that they had come to understand certain aspects of Ireum-nim's will.
The meaning is as follows.
I ran.
Towards the exit I had found.
Ireum-nim desires suffering.
The brief comfort, peace, and joy given to the components of this world are merely arrangements to prepare for greater shock and fear.
Even this realization itself is madness and pain, yet it is indeed an accurate answer.
However, the pursuit of knowledge does not stop. Those who follow this realization pursued their own understanding by sealing themselves in various artifacts, and soon understood in pain.
Ireum-nim places greater meaning on individual, special, and unique pain than on simple, large-scale pain organized by numbers and tables.
The more agonizingly tragic, slow, and detailed the suffering, the better.
Thus, they too decided to praise Ireum-nim's will by exhibiting long and extended periods of suffering.
That is…
The Quota Worship Sect.
This sect believes that detailed records of a few selected characters experiencing extreme fear and prolonged suffering, rather than stories with numerous casualties, can bring joy to Ireum-nim.
They worship the quota, the fixed number.
A ghost story with a set number of characters, suitable for turning pain into a story.
A ghost story that inflicts terrible pain on the characters.
Especially, that thing, no, that being...
Ascetic in the Box.
An Authority of the Church of the Luminous Unknown appearing in the Dark Exploration Record. It is a 6th-level Authority under the Quota Worship Sect.
According to the Quota Worship’s scripture, it severed its own legs and, through endless asceticism and meditation inside a sealed box, awakened its power, and became a creature within the box that secretes digestive fluids.
Quota Worshippers are those who focus on the most primal form of suffering.
After it devours the number of sacrifices allocated to the box’s lid, the box is closed, and it will never open until its chosen sacrifice dies.
The sacrifices who come into contact with the digestive fluids inside the box are bound to the Quota Worship Sect and become ascetics.
The ascetics remain alive and aware while being slowly and painfully digested inside the sealed box. Quota Wiship recites their pain in refined language into their minds. The longer, slower, and more detailed the suffering, the more doctrinally correct it is.
An ascetic cannot die until they are completely digested and dissolved.
The average digestion period is 27 years.
When the display of suffering ends, the creature enters a period of rest, feeding on large amounts of textile.
And when the rest period ends.
When a new sacrifice enters the box, the ascetic finishes their meditation.
The ascetic in the box will then extend their hands to gather the required number of people, and then begin displaying their pain.
These hands cannot be refused.
Do not approach them.
Your suffering shall begin.
"..."
We stopped walking.
At some point. There was a box by the bunker's exit.
Both hands were extended outwards, posed in a gesture of offering by Quota Worship.
二
The number was declared.
'...'
>Request: Method to move without passing through the exit.
"If it's an immediate escape tool from a Darkness, I know a few… but I don't have any right now."
Damn it.
Then there is only one option left.
>Request: Fall.
I released the smoke.
…It was fortunate that I didn't feel overwhelming fear. Without the terror of losing my reason, I could act immediately.
'I have to.'
To cause as much confusion as possible to the Quota Worship, to force open the exit...
Knock knock.
...
"Anyone home?"
A sound came from the exit door.
An oddly...familiar voice.
And then.
"Oh, here it isss."
BANG-
The exit door burst open from the outside.
As air rushed in, replacing the reek of alcohol with the surface’s breath, beyond the doorway a person revealed themselves.
"Ah. Finally found youu, Mr. Employee!"
…Assistant Manager Lee Seonghae?
'How the hell did she find this place?'
"Good to see you! And, well, there are some folks here who really wanted to meet you, Mr. Employee..."
Assistant Manager Lee Seonghae stepped to the side.
…And I realized the presence of the individuals standing behind her.
"Ack. Come see over heree, Mr. Agents!"
Disaster Management Bureau agents.
Hyunmoo Team 1.
TL Notes: -
The Quota Worship sect could also be called the ‘Fixed Number Worship Sect’, We decided to stick with ‘Quota Worship Sect’ as that was used in previous translations.
Discussion